Maestro rejects new 7s Format

Sevens maestro Waisale Serevi believes that World Rugby should bring back the old format of the HSBC SVNS Series, where it involves 16 teams instead of 12. Speaking to SUNsports, Serevi said the old format was ideal for development, brought more excitement and kept fans thrilled throughout.

The old system had 16 teams of four pools containing four teams each while the new system had 12 teams participating. Each of the teams was put in three pools of four teams each. This step was taken by World Rugby to increase the competitive nature of the sport where each team had an opportunity to qualify for the Cup quarterfinals.

Serevi said in the previous format teams had more games to play while in the current system they have fewer games. He said having 16 teams allowed more game exposure for developing teams. 

It is noted that England, Scotland and Wales are merged and playing under the Great Britain banner, this has reduced three teams to one. Serevi said Samoa was relegated in the 2023/24 series because of the new promotion/relegation system. Another quality team, Canada was also relegated last season.

“We need the 16-team format and I don’t agree with the current format,” Serevi said. “It gives more chance for other teams to participate in the 16-team format.

“The old system had more games played with the shield, bowl and plate semi-finals. This gives teams another chance to win their way into playing another competitive game in the tournament.” 

Serevi said the current series is played on a ranking play-off system where the losing quarterfinalists play in a playoff for places as per their performance and ranking in the pool stages and quarterfinals. This, Serevi says, has taken away all the excitement associated with sevens rugby.

New Zealand remained the most successful team in the competition’s history with 14 series titles won, followed by South Africa and Fiji on four titles each. Australia, Samoa and defending series champions, France, have lifted the title once. 

However, Fiji and New Zealand are the most consistent teams in the series history with 19 top three finishes and 24 top six placing ever since the series started. Under the new format to determine the winner of the series, a grand final tournament is staged where the top eight teams compete for the series crown.

The winner is crowned champion despite not topping the series points table at the end of the 10 sanctioned tournaments.

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