Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON
Samoa has missed out on qualifying for Sevens Division Two at the end-of-season event in Los Angeles.
After finishing second in their group, Samoa's men's team faced a playoff final against Germany but were beaten 31-0.
Last week, the HSBC SVNS organisation announced a change to the format, which no longer included a playoff for the top tier at the LA tournament - so challenger teams, including Samoa, could not win through to the top level.
Instead, there will be three division levels going forward, and LA playoff winners qualified for next season's division two.
Uruguay, USA, Kenya, and Germany qualified for the 2026 men's division two series, while the women's teams making the grade were Brazil, China, Kenya, and Spain.
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Samoa and the other unsuccessful playoff teams will begin the 2026 season in regional competitions, from which they will have a chance to progress through the levels.
The only other Pacific Island nation in LA, Fiji, failed to make the main semifinals in both the men's and women's tournaments.
They finished seventh and fifth respectively.
Fiji's Joji Nasova was joint top try scorer in the men's series, alongside Argentina's Marcos Moneta.
Nasova also finished as top points scorer with 158 points over the season.
In the main tournament, New Zealand's women's team was crowned world champions after crushing Australia 31-7 in the final.
They had already wrapped up the overall league title after winning four of the six previous rounds.
South Africa won the men's championship, defeating Spain 19-5 in the final.
This now wraps up the current sevens season. Next season (2025-26) the new format will kick in, comprising:
- Division 1 - Eight men's and eight women's teams compete in six SVNS Series events
- Division 2 - Six teams per gender compete in a second division across three events
- Division 3 - A standalone Challenger event with eight teams per gender, qualifying from regional competitions
Fiji's men's and women's teams will both be in division one next year, while Samoa is relegated back to a regional level aiming to reach division three.
