This past weekend, fans were treated to yet another thrilling SVNS festival of rugby in sunny Cape Town. Crowds of more than 75,000 enjoyed the sun-soaked festival atmosphere and enthralling rugby sevens action across two days at the DHL Stadium.
South Africa’s men delighted a huge crowd to win their first HSBC SVNS Cape Town title since 2015 with 26-14 victory over Olympic champions France, while New Zealand came back from two tries down to defeat the USA 26-12 in a thrilling women’s final.
New Zealand women’s captain Sarah Hirini said “I’m so happy! We were pretty disappointed with last weekend but I’m absolutely stoked here. We’re going home with goodies for Christmas! I’m very proud of our group, with three debutants in there.”
“Look at all the All Black jerseys, all the Black Ferns Sevens jerseys in the stadium. We love Cape Town, we love South Africa and they always turn out for us.”
France beat Australia 17-14 in the women’s bronze medal match, while Fiji claimed the men’s bronze with a 47-10 win over Spain in a repeat of the Dubai final.
New Zealand and Fiji lead the women’s and men’s SVNS standings after two rounds with four rounds remaining before the HSBC SVNS World Championship in Los Angeles.
Alongside the fast-paced skills on display, there was a funny moment in which the referee got a little too close for comfort, being bundled over during a New Zealand vs France men’s match. Rocked by a retreating French defender, the man in the middle found himself colliding with the attacking New Zealand player’s rock hard shoulder, before releasing an expletive and hitting the deck.
Check out the funny scene below:
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Go behind the scenes of both camps during the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021. Binge watch exclusively on RugbyPass TV now
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