Six teams still in contention for SVNS World Championship title heading into Bordeaux finale

South Africa enter the SVNS World Championship finale in Bordeaux as favourites, but five other men’s teams — Australia, Argentina, Fiji, New Zealand and Spain — remain in contention for the title at Stade Atlantique this week.

The Blitzboks have been the dominant force in the back half of the HSBC SVNS Series, winning three consecutive titles and reaching back-to-back finals. Tristan Leyds earned Player of the Final honours when South Africa claimed the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time, and the team pushed all the way to the final in Valladolid last weekend before falling 26-19 to Australia.

That victory in Spain ended a drought of more than 1,300 days without an SVNS men’s title for Australia. Captain Henry Hutchison lifted his second-ever series trophy despite approaching the 70-tournament milestone on the circuit.

South Africa currently sit four points clear of Argentina in second on the World Championship standings. The Blitzboks will secure the overall title if they qualify for the final in Bordeaux on Sunday. Should they finish third and Argentina win the tournament, the championship would be settled by match points differential, with further tiebreakers available if required.

Argentina can still finish as high as first, though a last-place finish in France would drop them to sixth. A tournament win would take Los Pumas Sevens to 54 competition points. Australia, on the other hand, would reach 50 points by repeating their Valladolid heroics, but would require South Africa and Argentina to underperform significantly.

Fiji, Spain and New Zealand are all level on 26 competition points, with a maximum possible tally of 46 — a figure that could theoretically be enough to win the championship if results elsewhere fall their way. All three sides would need the higher-ranked teams to stumble across the weekend.

At the other end of the table, France and Kenya — both on 14 points — are not yet safe from relegation. A last-place finish for either side could see them overtaken by Uruguay, Germany, the USA or Great Britain, none of whom can finish higher than seventh but all of whom remain capable of climbing above the current danger pair.