The Springbok Sevens will defend their HSBC SVNS Cape Town crown on 5 and 6 December this year, when the best of rugby and entertainment combine on a weekend that has become known as the official start of summer in the Mother City.
The highly popular Cape Town event will yet again be the second stop on the world series, a week after the 2027 season kicks off in Dubai.
South Africa’s globe trotters, who won both the HSBC SVNS Series and the World Championship in 2026, will return to DHL Stadium looking for a hat-trick of home titles, in what has proven to be one of the hottest events in the country.
Apart from their on-field successes, Tristan Leyds was named HSBC SVNS World Men’s Player of the Year. The Blitzbok playmaker is amongst a number of Western Cape players in the squad, another certain draw card for the local crowd.
World Rugby announced the dates and format of the 2027 season earlier on Wednesday, with the same six hosting cities from the last series doing so again, as well as the World Championship venues of Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux being repeated.
This confirms the dates for one of Cape Town’s biggest outings of the year, a weekend where the best athletes from eight men’s and eight women’s teams will gather, this time around with the added incentive of Olympic qualification, with the 2028 Los Angeles Games slowly but surely appearing on the horizon.
Tickets for the official start of summer in the Mother City will go on sale soon, and a variety of options will be available. Supporters are urged to sign up for updates on the process so that they don’t miss out – CLICK HERE to register.
The 2026 season attracted more than 530,000 fans across the world series, a 21 per cent increase from 2025, while Hong Kong set a new single-day attendance record of 41,457 fans on the way to a total crowd of 113,395 at Kai Tak Sports Park.
HSBC SVNS also surpassed one billion social media impressions for the second consecutive season, with digital engagement increasing by 60 per cent year-on-year and player followings growing by more than 13 per cent as the sport continued to reach new audiences around the world.
Furthermore, HSBC SVNS continues to demonstrate its importance in developing international talent, with around 50 players who previously competed on the world series now representing their nations in Test rugby in the Nations Championship and Nations Cup, underlining the strength of rugby sevens’ high-performance pathway.
