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South Africa and New Zealand dominate the 2020 7s Dream Teams
This year’s HSBC 7s circuit was largely wiped out by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, but that did not prevent ambassadors Danielle Waterman and Bryan Habana from helping to select the 7s Dream Teams of 2020, line-ups where South Africa led the way in terms of men’s representation and New Zealand did likewise at women’s level.
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The chosen men’s dream team was: Scott Curry (New Zealand), Tavite Veredamu (France), JC Pretorius (South Africa), Napolioni Bolaca (Fiji), Jordan Conroy (Ireland), Aminiasi Tuimaba (Fiji) and Selvyn Davids (South Africa).
In the women’s section, Brittany Benn (Canada), Sharni Williams (Australia), Ruby Tui (New Zealand), Stacey Fluhler (New Zealand), Ghislaine Landry (Canada), Tyla Nathan-Wong (New Zealand) and Kristi Kirshe (USA) all gained inclusion.
The mark of excellence awards went to England’s Dan Norton and New Zealand’s Nathan-Wong, Bolaca and Lina Guerin (France) took the pressure play awards, while Ireland’s men and Fiji’s women won the momentum tracker awards.
Meanwhile, the top try-scorer awards were won by Conroy and Fluhler, with Veredamu and Fluhler collecting the impact player awards. World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said: “On behalf of World Rugby I would like to congratulate all 24 women’s and men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2020 award winners.
“Although the series this year was forced to conclude early there was no shortage of speed, skill and spectacular tries on display from players and teams, combined with unpredictable and awe-inspiring moments that embody the values of the game and remind us that rugby sevens is a truly unique and thrilling sport that will once again showcase itself to the worldwide audience at the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year.”
Ireland’s Conroy added: “These awards only give us more hunger as players and as a group to better ourselves and improve on our performances from this season. A big goal for us as a team is to achieve Olympic qualification and that vision remains undiminished. We are working hard to put ourselves in the best position to have a good season in 2021.”
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What a series she's had!
The winner of the Womens @DHLRugby Impact Player award for 2020 is @BlackFerns star @StaceyFluhler after achieving 279 total points. #DHLImpactPlayer #HSBC7sAwards ? pic.twitter.com/xMnM2PZ0Wp
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) September 22, 2020
