Resolution criteria

The winner will be determined by the team that wins the HSBC SVNS Series prior to the World Championship. This 'pre-series' consists of six events finishing with New York on March 14-15. Resolution will be based on official World Rugby results published at https://www.svns.com/en.

Background

The 2026 Series features six regular-season rounds leading into the three-event World Championship. Eight men's and eight women's teams compete in the six-tournament series, with New Zealand returning as defending HSBC SVNS World Champions after victory in Los Angeles. The participating women's teams are Australia, Canada, Fiji, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand and United States.