Australia one win from back-to-back SVNS titles as New Zealand streak looms in Bordeaux

Australia opened their HSBC SVNS World Championship campaign in Bordeaux with a commanding 45-7 victory over Brazil on Friday, keeping them on course for back-to-back series titles — a feat the side has not achieved since late 2023.

The Aussies arrive at Stade Atlantique as the top-ranked team on the World Championship standings, having claimed the SVNS Valladolid title last weekend with a 27-14 defeat of the USA in the final. Heidi Dennis was named Player of the Final in Valladolid, and Australia now need one more Cup Final victory in Bordeaux to be guaranteed the overall World Championship.

The last time Australia won consecutive HSBC SVNS Series events in a single season was in Dubai and Cape Town in late 2023. In the two and a half years since, New Zealand have dominated the circuit, winning 14 of 21 events. The Black Ferns Sevens claimed the 2025 Grand Final in Los Angeles and have taken five of six regular-season tournaments in the 2025/26 campaign.

The equation heading into the three-day Bordeaux finale is straightforward for Australia: win the Cup Final and the World Championship is theirs. A loss to New Zealand in the decider, however, would level the two sides on competition points, triggering a series of tiebreakers — first match points differential, then the difference between tries scored and conceded.

Co-captain Madison Ashby, who scored Australia’s opening try against Brazil just three minutes in after Gisele Gomes Dos Santos had given the South Americans a shock lead inside 30 seconds, acknowledged the weight of the occasion without shying away from it.

“Any team here can win. The boys always say it, every team’s unreal, they’re elite,” Ashby said. “To go back-to-back, that’s our goal. Obviously no team likes to lose, we like winning and I hope that’s what we’re going to do this weekend.”

Kahli Henwood, Kaitlan Shave, and co-captain Isabella Nasser all crossed before half-time to put Australia 26-7 ahead at the break. Teagan Levi added a double in the second half, with Faith Nathan also touching down to complete the rout.

Australia face Fiji next in pool play before concluding the group stage against Japan on Saturday. Those results will shape their quarter-final draw and the path they must navigate to reach — and win — the Cup Final.