South Africa captain Impi Visser believes changes to sevens format ‘confusing’ for fans
The 30-year-old is hoping to lead the Blitzboks to their first title in the city at this week’s Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens at Kai Tak Stadium
South Africa captain Impi Visser believes World Rugby’s “confusing” closed-shop sevens model has stunted the sport’s growth.
The elite HSBC SVNS Series was cut from 12 to eight teams this season, although for three concluding World Championship legs, which begin with this week’s Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, the numbers are back up to 12.
The streamlining has had a damaging knock-on effect, with second-tier teams limited to three competitive tournaments, unless they gained promotion to feature in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux.
One rung farther down the ladder, Hong Kong’s failure to advance beyond the semi-finals of January’s inaugural HSBC SVNS 3 ended their campaign after one competition.
Poised to win his 51st cap in the city after leading South Africa to the regular season title, Visser told the South China Morning Post: “You want to be growing the game and I don’t see how you’re doing that by going from a great product with 16 teams [as recently as 2023] to eight.
“I don’t know why the changes happened, maybe finances, but going from eight teams to 12, then back to eight [for next season] is confusing for people,” Visser said.