Fiji made history last weekend at the Dubai Sevens as they brought an end to their long-lasting title drought on the HSBC SVNS Series. In an intriguing Cup Final against giant-slayers Spain, the traditional sevens heavyweights returned to the top by pulling away to win 19-5 on Sunday.
Olympic silver medallist Filipe Sauturaga received Player of the Final honours after the team’s unforgettable triumph at The Sevens Stadium. While it wasn’t a perfect performance from the 30-year-old, Sauturaga was able to have a game-changing impact in the big dance.
Fiji beat Spain in pool play to kick off their 2024/25 season, and they backed that up with a 42-20 demolition of the USA and a nine-point win over New Zealand. After clinching a dramatic quarter-final victory 19-17 against France, the Fijians had their best match of the weekend.
Filipe Sauturaga was on fire as Fiji flew to the title at #HSBCSVNSDXB 🔥#HSBCSVNS | @HSBC_Sport pic.twitter.com/xSAHyeuiRx
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 2, 2024
Tearing it up in the Dubai final 🔥
Congratulations to Filipe Sauturaga your Player of the Final, presented by @HSBC_Sport #HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSDXB pic.twitter.com/Bw0Zr9gROl
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) December 1, 2024
In the semi-finals against last season’s League Winners Argentina, six different players scored tries for Fiji in their statement 43-21 win. Marcos Moneta and Luciano Gonzalez scored tries inside the last two minutes for Argentina to reduce the deficit from a frighteningly large margin.
The Fijians followed that up with a hard-fought win over Spain in the big one. Espana had beaten the All Blacks Sevens once in pool play and again in the semi-finals, and they proved to be a tough opponent for the eventual champions in the battle for Cup Final glory.
Captain Pol Pla opened the scoring for Spain in the second minute, but it was all the Fijians from there in terms of points, which included Sauturaga’s try. Sauturaga, Jeremaia Matana and Ikikimi Vunaki all contributed five-pointers as the Fijians ran away towards silverware.
Sauturaga also added a conversion, with Iowane Teba also converting an effort later on. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Player of the Final, with Sauturaga missing a couple of key tackles and another shot at goal.
But it was still the type of performance that warranted recognition.
In the women’s decider, former captain Charlotte Caslick was named the best on ground after a standout performance in a thriller against New Zealand. Caslick didn’t score a try but was front-and-centre as the Aussies dominated possession and controlled the match during the first half.
Caslick missed a tackle attempt on Jorja Miller which saw the World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year nominee score the Black Ferns Sevens’ opener. It was a tense battle all the way through which was ultimately decided by Maddison Levi’s 15th try of the weekend.
With that effort, Levi set a new record for the number of tries scored by a woman in a single SVNS Series event. It’s not difficult to understand why Levi was recently crowned the world’s best female sevens player, boasting an incredible and fascinating try-scoring ability.
“We just love the vibe of playing here and we love the weather, it’s a dry field, and I think it just really suits the way we like to play,” Caslick said on the RugbyPass TV broadcast post-game.
“Every year we roll out more and more young girls and that shows the depth of our program. I think the reason we do so well here is the fact that our program is so strong.”
The Aussie women’s side has been drawn in the mighty-tough pool for this weekend’s SVNS Series stop in Cape Town. Australia will take on Olympic silver medallists Canada and Brazil, with those two sides failing to make a memorable impact during the season-opener in Dubai.
Fiji will look to back up their ascent to champions status at the Dubai Sevens against Great Britain and Uruguay in Pool A in the men’s draw. Duba runners-up Spain will come up against Australia and Kenya as they look to maintain their high level of competition.
The SVNS Series leg in Cape Town will look a bit different with the 12 women’s and men’s sides split across four pools instead of three. With each team pitted against two other sides in pool play, only the top side will progress through to the semi-finals.
Catch up on the action from the HSBC SVNS Series live on RugbyPass TV, which you can sign up for HERE.
