Australia face USA, France and Spain in tough Dubai Sevens pool as new SVNS season opens

Reigning HSBC SVNS World Champions Australia have been handed a demanding pool draw for the Dubai Sevens, facing the USA, France and Spain in the opening stop of the new season at The Sevens Stadium on November 28-29.

Australia claimed the World Championship title in Bordeaux last season after a year-long battle with New Zealand, with Maddison Levi’s performances proving decisive in the final reckoning. The two sides entered the Bordeaux finale level on the World Championship standings, and it was Levi’s brilliance that separated them.

New Zealand had dominated the SVNS Series regular season, winning five of the circuit’s regular stops, but Australia timed their run to perfection, taking victories in both Valladolid and Bordeaux when the championship was on the line.

The USA, drawn in the same pool as Australia, arrive in Dubai having finished third overall in the 2026 regular season. They claimed bronze medals at both North American stops in Vancouver and New York, reached the Cup Final in Valladolid, and placed fourth on the World Championship standings. Kristi Kirshe and Sammy Sullivan were standout performers throughout the campaign, while Ariana Ramsey became the first American woman nominated for the World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year award — an honour that ultimately went to New Zealand’s Jorja Miller.

Miller and the Black Ferns Sevens have been placed in Pool B alongside Canada, Japan and Fiji. The draw sets up a potential rematch of the Paris Games gold medal match between New Zealand and Canada. Japan will be a threat after defeating Canada during the early rounds of last season.

Australia captain Isabella Nasser acknowledged that the World Championship win has made her side a marked team heading into the new campaign. “We knew that coming out of Bordeaux and Valladolid we had a target on our back and we knew that teams were going to come for us being in top spot,” Nasser said. “Complacency never announced itself and we knew that we had to put on a pretty good performance here to beat the Kiwis. They’re not an easy team to beat.”

Those comments came after a pre-season three-match series against New Zealand, in which Australia won two Friday night fixtures at the Kick On 7s before the Black Ferns Sevens took the final match at Accor Stadium.

Dubai opens a familiar SVNS schedule, with the circuit moving to Cape Town before the New Year, then on to Singapore, Perth, Vancouver and New York for the regular season. The World Championship will again be decided across Hong Kong (April 9-11), Valladolid (May 21-23) and Bordeaux (May 28-30).