In the men’s competition, newly crowned Dubai champions New Zealand and finalists Australia both missed out on the semi-finals in Cape Town, as the new-look HSBC SVNS format took a hard toll on the teams.

Defending Cape Town champions South Africa, however had no problem booking their place in the last four, winning all three of their matches to set up a Cup decider against France on Sunday. 

In the other half of the draw, a much-improved Spain were denied a last four spot on points difference, after conceding a late try against a rejuvenated Argentina to gift the South American side a crucial bonus point that meant they topped the pool and were assured a quarter-final against Fiji.

France then did more than enough to claim second in the pool, leaving last season’s Grand Final runners-up facing another minor-places play-off run. 

In the women’s competition, Dubai finalists New Zealand and Australia could be on a collision course for a second final in as many HSBC SVNS tournaments, after both going unbeaten on the opening day in Cape Town.

Jorja Miller overtook Maddison Levi in the season try-scoring rankings with a hat-trick in the final match of Pool A, as the Black Ferns Sevens went three-for three to top the table and set-up a semi-final against France.

Miller has 11 tries so far this season, one more than her Australian rival heading into finals day on Sunday.

Levi had a relatively quiet day by her standards, crossing the whitewash just three times. But Australia, who have never been beaten in Cape Town, eased to consecutive victories over France, Canada and Japan to set up their last-four match against USA on Sunday.