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SVNS Series star on players’ ‘interest’ in pursuing Rugby World Cup move

Players of Australia celebrate victory after the final match between Australia and New Zealand on day two of the HSBC SVNS at The Sevens Stadium on December 01, 2024 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Christopher Pike/Getty Images)

Australia captain Isabella Nasser has expressed excitement about the possibility of players from the HSBC SVNS Series switching to 15s ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup. The showpiece event in women’s rugby will be held in England from August 22 to September 27 next year.

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USA sevens superstar Ilona Maher, who has more Instagram followers than any other rugby player with 4.6 million, signed with Bristol Bears in England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby as the social media phenomenon sets her sights on the upcoming World Cup.

That signing announcement has already sparked significant interest in PWR, with earlier reports indicating the Bears may move from Shaftesbury Park to Ashton Gate for Maher’s potential debut against Gloucester-Hartpury which could be rescheduled for January 5.

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Maher isn’t the only SVNS Series product who has at least expressed an interest in switching sports ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Former Australia captain Charlotte Caslick spoke with RugbyPass and rugby.com.au in October about the potential switch to Super Rugby Women’s.

At the last Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, Stacey Waaka, Sarah Hirini, Theresa Setefano and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe all contributed to the Black Ferns’ incredible run to the title. It seems that more SVNS Seres players will look to replicate those heroics in 2025.

“It’s definitely of interest for lots of girls, not only in our team but all over the Series,” Nasser said on RugbyPass TV’s HSBC Life on Tour in Cape Town.

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“To play both games, both platforms at a high level is incredible and it would do so much for the sport. So, 100 per cent of interest.

“Obviously, we have to earn our way there but yeah, definitely of interest.

“… There’s so much talent in sevens that could definitely transfer over to 15s and I think it would be awesome for the game.”

From Nasser’s Australia side, Levi sisters Maddison and Teagan have both previously spoken about their desire to represent the Wallaroos at the World Cup. Both Levi’s are among the world’s best players in women’s sevens, as last weekend’s triumph in Dubai showed.

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Teagan led the way with some bone-crunching stops on the defensive side of the ball and some playmaking brilliance in attack. That paved the way for Maddison to do what she so often does, which as fans around the world know means scoring tries.

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The reigning World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year was a class about during Australia’s run to a fifth consecutive Dubai Sevens crown. Levi scored 15 tries across the two-day event, which is the most by any woman in a single SVNS Series tournament ever.

But as coach Tim Walsh pointed out in an interview during the quarter-final demolition of Olympic silver medallists Canada, it’s the players around Levi that allow the try-scoring machine to shine. It’s players like captain Nasser who lay the foundations.

Nasser never stopped running at Dubai’s The Sevens Stadium, with the skipper leading by example in both attack and defence. The Queenslander scored a decisive try in the Cup Final win over New Zealand – a true captain’s knock in a thriller against the team’s big rival.

“I’m super honoured to obviously take up the captaincy role,” Nasser reflected.

“As I said before, Charlotte stepped away and she was always going to be such an important part of our team and world rugby.

“I feel really honoured. I probably haven’t really thought about it properly and looked back to see my journey but I feel really supported by my coaches and my teammates to take up this role.”

Following the Dubai Sevens, the HSBC SVNS Series heads to Cape Town’s DHL Stadium for the second event of the season. The upcoming tournament in the Western Cape will be held this weekend from December 7 to 8.

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J
JW 38 minutes ago
The All Blacks don't need overseas-based players

I'm not sure you realise how extreme it is, previously over half of SR players ended up overseas. These days just over half finish their career at home (some of those might carry on in lower leagues around the world).


1. Look at a player like Mo'unga who took time to become comfortable at his max level, thrust a player like that in well above his level, something Farrell is possibly doing now with Pendergrast, and you fail to maximise your player base as a whole. I don't think you realise the balance in NZ, without controlling who can leave there is indeed right now an immediate risk from any further pressure on the balance. We are not as flush as a country like South Africa I can't imagine (look at senior mens numbers).


2. Your idea excludes foreign fans, not the current status, their global 1.8mil base (find a recent article about it) will dwindle. Our clubs don't compete against each other, it's a central model were all players have a flat max 200k contribution. NZR decides who is worth keeping for the ABs in a very delicate balance of who to let go and who not. Might explain why our Wellington game wasn't a sellout.


3. Players aren't going to play for their country for nothing while other players are getting a million dollars. How much does SARU pay or reimburse their players?


4. I don't believe that at all. Everything so far has pointed to becoming an AB as the 'profile' winner. Comms love telling their fans some 'lucky' 1 cap guy is an "All Black" and the audience goes woooh!

The reality is much more likely to be more underwhelming

But the repercussions are end game, so why is it worth the risk?

Hardly be poaching uni or school boys.

This comment is so out of touch with rugby in NZ.

European comps aren't exactly known for poaching unproven talent ie SR or up not down to NPC.

So, so out of touch. Never heard of Jamison Gibson-Park, or Bundee Aki, or Chandler Cunningham-South, what about Uino Atonio? Numerous kiwi kids, like Warner Dearns, are playing in Japan having left after some stardom in school rugby here. Over a third of the NRL (so basically a third of the URC) are Kiwis who likely been scouted playing rugby at school. France have recently started in that path with Patrick Tuifua, and you hear loosely about good kids taking up offers to go overseas for basic things like school/uni (avg age 20+), similar to what attracts island kids to NZ.


But that's getting off track, it's too far in the future for you to conceptualize in this discussion. Where here because you think you know what it's like to need to select overseas based players, because of similarities like NZ and SA both having systems that funnel players into as few teams as possible in order to make them close to international quality, while also having a semi pro domestic league that produces an abundance of that talent, all the while facing similar financial predicaments. I'm not using extremes like some do, to scare monger away from making any changes. I am highlighting where the advantages don't cross over to the NZ game like the do for South Africa.


So while you are right in a lot of respects, some things that the can be taken for granted, is that if not more players leave, higher calibre players definitely will, and that is going to weaken the domestic competitions global reach, which will make it much hard to keep up or overtake the rest of the world. To put it simply, the domestic game is the future. International rugby is maxed out already, and the game here somehow needs to double it's revenue.


This is what you need to align your pitch with. Not being able to select players from overseas, because there are only ever one or two of those players. Sometimes even no one who'd be playing overseas and good enough for the ABs. You might be envisioning the effects of extremes, because it's hard to know just how things change slightly, but you know it's not going to be good.

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