The SVNS, known as the HSBC SVNS for sponsorship reasons, is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the competition was formed to promote an elite-level of international rugby sevens and develop the game into a viable commercial product. The competition has been sponsored by banking group HSBC since 2014.
Liam Justin Messam is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays TOP14 for RC Toulonnais. In Super Rugby, he previously played for the Chiefs, and for Waikato in the ITM Cup. Messam predominantly plays as a blindside flanker but can fill in at Number 8 as well as openside flanker. After the retirement of then Chiefs captain Mils Muliaina, Messam was named the team's new co-captain from 2012 onwards, alongside Aaron Cruden.
Rugby union in China is a growing sport; however, it is still not overly popular. China became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1997 and as of 1 July 2019, its women's XV side was ranked 24th and its men's XV side 80th in the world. Neither the women's team nor the men's team has yet qualified for a Women's Rugby World Cup or a men's Rugby World Cup. However, China has hopes of one day hosting the men's event, and World Rugby has indicated it supports taking the event there.
Kurt Baker is a New Zealand rugby union player, who currently plays as a fullback or wing for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby (MLR).
Sio Julian Savea is a New Zealand professional rugby union player. He currently plays Wing or Centre for Wellington in the National Provincial Championship and Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby. Savea formerly played for Toulon in the Top 14 and the Hurricanes in Super Rugby. Between 2012 and 2017, he won 54 caps for New Zealand.
The Hong Kong Women's Sevens held the first women's international rugby sevens tournament in 1997, and has since become an annual event. The 2020 edition marked the start of a new era for the Hong Kong Women's Sevens. For the first time, the tournament will be an official event in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series. The 2020 and 2021 tournaments were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anna Mary Richards is a former New Zealand rugby union player. She represented New Zealand and won four Rugby World Cups — 1998, 2002, 2006, and 2010.
Hannah Porter is a former female rugby union player. She represented New Zealand in fifteens and sevens rugby, and played for Auckland and Otago provincially. She was in the squad that won the 2002 and 2006 Rugby World Cups.
Dianne Kahura is a former rugby union player for the Black Ferns. She debuted in 1998 and played 12 tests for New Zealand. She played in the 1998 and 2002 Women's Rugby World Cup.
Tammi Wilson Uluinayau is a New Zealand former rugby union player. She represented the New Zealand women's national rugby union team, the Black Ferns, at the 1998 and 2002 Women's Rugby World Cup.
The 2017 Hong Kong Sevens was the 42nd edition of the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, and the seventh tournament of the 2016–17 World Rugby Sevens Series. The tournament was played on 7–9 April 2017 at Hong Kong Stadium in Hong Kong.
Regan Edward Ware is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a back for the New Zealand national sevens team.
Lewis Ormond is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a back for the New Zealand national sevens team.
The 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, was the 19th annual series of rugby sevens tournaments for national men's rugby sevens teams. The Sevens Series has been run by World Rugby since 1999–2000.
The men's tournament in the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens was held at AT&T Park in San Francisco. New Zealand won the tournament and took home the Melrose Cup by defeating England 33–12 in the final; South Africa won the bronze by defeating Fiji 24–19. The tournament was dominated by the World Series core teams, which accounted for all eight of the teams that reached the quarterfinals. Ireland was the highest placed non core team in ninth, notching wins against core teams Kenya, Wales, and Australia.
Michaela Blyde is a New Zealand professional rugby sevens player and a double Olympic gold medalist. She was the first female player to win back-to-back World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year titles, in 2017 and 2018. Blyde holds the record for the most tries by a New Zealand women sevens player in a single match and also the record for most tries in a single fixture when she scored five tries against England in Langford in 2017. Blyde has won gold medals at the 2018 Sevens World Cup, 2018 Commonwealth Games, 2020 Tokyo Olympics, 2024 Paris Olympics and six Sevens titles. In December 2023 She was the second woman to score 200 tries in the HSBC international seven series.
Lavinia Gould is a New Zealand rugby league footballer who plays for the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL Women's Premiership.
Christine Gordon is a Canadian born former Hong Kong rugby union player. She represented Hong Kong at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland, it was their first-ever World Cup appearance.
Akuila Rokolisoa is a professional rugby union player who plays as a back. Born in Fiji, he represents New Zealand at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.
Tepaea Cook-Savage is a New Zealand professional rugby union player who plays as a fullback for National Provincial Championship club Waikato and the New Zealand national sevens team.
