Now called HSBC SVNS, the circuit will feature seven regular season events plus a Grand Final in Madrid where the top eight ranked teams will battle it out to be crowned the overall champions.
The 2022-23 World Series was won by the All Blacks Sevens, winning five of the eleven tournaments held during the season. New Zealand has won the overall World Series title 14 times.
A highlight of every World Sevens Series season is the plethora of outstanding individual talent on display. Here are seven to watch in 2023-2024:
Akuila Rokolisoa (New Zealand) - Rokolisoa has become an indispensable member of the All Blacks Sevens with his playmaking and prolific scoring. In the 2022/23 World Series, he scored a leading 415 points as New Zealand won a 14th overall title. Rokolisoa scored 44 tries which was only three tries short of the New Zealand season record held by Karl Te Nana.
In 2018 Rokolisoa was working as an electrician when he was invited to play for Counties Manukau at the National Sevens. He made such an impression he was selected for the All Blacks Sevens and won the World Cup in his first year.
Vaa Apelu Maliko (Samoa) - Samoa won the Cape Town Sevens in 2022 and were more competitive than the recent past. A big part of that was the dynamic form of Vaa Apelu Maliko. He finished the season as the top try scorer with 50 tries the most tries scored by a Samoan since Mikaele Pesamino scored 56 on the 2009-10 World Series, the year Samoa won their only overall series title.
Additionally, the 24-year-old won the DHL Impact Player award – for demonstrating the most consistency and delivering the greatest impact against four key criteria – carries, offloads, line-breaks, and tackles.
The hooker made 41 breaks, 122 tackles, 55 offloads and 214 carries throughout the 11 events illustrating his all-around worth.
Filipe Sauturaga (Fiji) - Due to his strong Seventh Day Adventist beliefs Sauturaga was denied the chance to play Sevens until he finished high school. He quickly made up for lost time cracking the Fijian team in 2021. His crowning glory was in 2022 when he was named Man of the Match and scored a try in Fiji’s 29-12 win over New Zealand in the World Cup final.
Last season Fiji failed to win a World Series tournament finishing second and third three times each. If Sauturaga, possibly the best offload merchant in Sevens, catches fire those results will likely improve. The Fijian squad features three new caps for Dubai and Cape Town. Fiji is coached by England Sevens legend Ben Gollings who scored a World Series record 2,652 points in a decorated career.
Jordan Conroy (Ireland) - Ireland’s soaring improvement is not only confined to fifteens where they won 17 matches in a row and were ranked the best team in the world. In Sevens, Ireland has been a growing force since becoming a “core” team two years ago. The Irish have won 56 of their 98 matches in World Series history since 2021 and twice made Cup finals.
With 136 tries in 159 matches, Jordan Conroy is a big reason for the improvement of Irish fortunes. He is one of the sharpest finishers on tour and is noted for his exceptional footwork.
Conroy once took time out from rugby to perform dance on a nationally televised program. The 2020 Olympian told the Irish Examiner earlier this year.
“I feel like I'm more in my prime mentally. I’ve had a growth shift mentally. I was 27 then and two years can make a lot of difference. I'm a lot calmer, a lot more assured in myself in terms of my ability and what I can offer, but it took a lot to get to that place.”
Marcos Moneta (Argentina) - Marcos Moneta has been described as the Lionel Messi of Sevens and even has a tattoo bearing the football legend's name. Moneta was named 2021 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year and was part of the 2022 and 2023 HSBC Sevens Series Dream Teams. He has scored 106 tries in 122 matches for the Pumas who achieved their best-ever finish last season winning tournaments in Hamilton, Vancouver, and London.
Justin Geduld (South Africa) - Besides New Zealand and Fiji, South Africa have been the most consistently competitive country in World Series history claiming overall honours four times. With a high turnover of talent ahead of the new season the Blitzboks will look to the experienced and prolific scoring playmaker to provide leadership again. Geduld has scored 1173 points (130 tries) in 308 World Series matches. In 2014 he was a member of the South African team that won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Edinburgh.
Maurice Longbottom (Australia) - Longbottom hoped to follow in the footsteps of relatives George and Bruce Longbottom, who played rugby league for the Rabbitohs in the 1980s. Maurice played some games for the South Sydney junior squad, but after being told he was too small, he quit to become a carpenter. In 2015 he was invited to play in the Ella Sevens, a tournament named after the famous rugby family. It was there he was contacted by then-Australian coach Andy Friend who immediately offered him a contract.
Longbottom has been a mainstay of the Australia team since. He has scored 792 points (112 tries) in 224 World Series matches. In 2021-22 Australia won overall World Series honours for the only time.
