Maisamoa, Ulunisau top impact standings
Fiji Airways Fijian men’s rugby sevens rover Manueli Maisamoa and women’s halfback Reapi Ulunisau topped the DHL Impact Player standings during the Sydney Sevens tournament.
Maisamoa scored 84 points from 16 tackles, 6 breaks, 12 offloads, 26 carries.
Ulunisau made 18 tackles, 2 breaks, 18 offloads and 25 carries to score 76.
Also impressive was 22-year-old Vani Buleki who finished third with 18 tackles, 2 breaks, 12 offloads, 22 carries.
For the first time in the Series, the Fijian men’s rugby sevens team were on the medal podium after beating France 29-5 to claim the bronze medal.
The third spot finishing saw the Ben Gollings coached- side move up to fourth spot of the HSBC World Sevens Series rugby points table. The Fijians walloped France 29-5 to finish third.
They are now placed fifth on the HSBC World Sevens Series points standings.
Our women finished sixth at the Sydney Sevens and also hold the same spot on the Series points standings.
They walloped Japan 40-7 in the 5th place semifinal but went down 36-12 to Australia in the fifth spot final.
The Saiasi Fuli-coached side needs to do a lot of catching up as they are 16 points behind Ireland and France.
Who won what in Sydney?
Meanwhile, New Zealand romped to victory in both the women’s and men’s finals of the Sydney Sevens to increase their leads at the top of the standings. It is the first time the teams in black have achieved such a tournament double since Hamilton in 2020.
The Black Ferns Sevens beat France 35-0 while the men improved on that slightly with a 38-0 victory against South Africa for their first Cup title of the 2023 Series.
It was the All Black Sevens’ fourth-biggest Cup final win and helped to make this year’s tournament the highest try-scoring event in Sydney with an incredible 459 tries scored across the weekend.
With three tournaments remaining, the Black Ferns Sevens are 12 points ahead of their nearest rivals Australia, who failed to make the last four on home turf, while New Zealand’s men are now nine points clear of the Blitzboks after five rounds of action.
Despite being well beaten in the showpiece match, France’s women will take plenty of positives from Sydney having reached their first Cup final in almost five years.
The ultra-consistent USA claimed their third bronze medal of the Series after edging out Ireland.