Rugby
Jasa Veremalua is DHL’s first ever Impact Player
After ten rounds of thrilling action at the 2015-16 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, Fiji’s Jasa Veremalua has been crowned the overall DHL Impact Player after racking up some huge statistics.
The 27-year-old was a key player for Fiji all season, contributing significantly to their overall series win. Out of the top seven players, Veremalua had the most offloads by far, with 69 in total. In addition, he also made 135 carries, 116 tackles and 40 breaks showing his true class as an all round sevens player.
It’s a huge honor to receive the award and I just want to thank all the boys for the amazing series we have just had.
Jasa Veremalua
“It’s a huge honor to receive the award and I just want to thank all the boys for the amazing series we have just had,” said Veremalua. “I just love to play rugby and it’s good to win this.”
Veremalua piled on an impressive 360 points over the series to finish 13 points ahead of teammate Osea Kolinisau. Veremalua was presented with the DHL Impact Player trophy at the end of Series awards ceremony held at Twickenham stadium on Sunday evening.
Fiji, whoever they play have got seven impactful players. They are the trendsetters of this game, they embody it and everybody loves to watch them.
Rob Vickerman, current England Sevens player
The 2015-2016 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series came to a close at Twickenham Stadium in London this weekend, with Fiji crowned the overall Series champions after another breathtaking tournament. That’s back-to-back wins for the South Pacific islanders!
Rewarding Consistency of Performance
The DHL Impact Player accolade is awarded to the player who demonstrates the most consistency in delivering the greatest ‘impact’ in their performances when scored analytically against four key criteria of the game – line-breaks, carries, off-loads and tackles. In other words, players that consistently cut through, create spaces, enable opportunities and stop opponents in their tracks. The award recognizes players that are not necessarily the try-takers but also the try-makers – helping set up their team members to cross the line.
Rob Vickerman, current England Sevens player commented: “Fiji, whoever they play have got seven impactful players. They are the trendsetters of this game, they embody it and everybody loves to watch them. How Ben Ryan picks just twelve of those for each tournament I don’t know.”
Individual tournament winners were identified throughout the season, with overall winner Veremalua delivering the most impact in matches across the Series.
Veremalua played in all 10 tournaments and was instrumental in helping his team to finish as overall Series winners for the second consecutive season. Osea Kolinisau also from Fiji finished in second place in the DHL Impact Player ranking with Seabelo Senatla from South Africa finishing in third. Perry Baker (USA), Collins Injera (Kenya), Falemiga Selesele (Samoa) and James Johnstone (Scotland) rounded out the top seven spots on the table.
Ioane and Hoyland split London award
For the second time on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, the DHL Impact Player was shared as New Zealand's Rieko Ioane and Scotland's Damien Hoyland both split the spoils.
Ioane has been an attacking threat all year and while he didn't feature at every tournament due to Super Rugby commitments, he still managed to notch up 28 tries putting him seventh overall in the try scoring standings for the series. His carrying game in London was the key to him finishing joint top, with 24 carries in total. Ioane also made 14 breaks, 10 tackles and three offloads as he scored six tries in front of the Twickenham crowd.
Scotland secured their first ever Cup win after beating South Africa 27-26 and a key player within the team was Damien Hoyland. The 22-year-old made 26 carries, 11 tackles, nine offloads and five breaks as he helped his side to their historic victory in London.
DHL Performance Tracker
Using data provided by the DHL Performance Tracker, one point was awarded to a player each time they successfully complete any of the following actions during a match:
Tackles – when a player legally brings an opposition player with the ball to the ground
Offloads – when a player releases a pass whilst one or more of the opposition team are in the process of attempting to tackle them
Carries – when a player carries the ball forwards for a distance of more than 3 meters
Line-breaks – when a player penetrates the opposition defensive line
Head over to World Rugby’s Impact Player page or check out the Rugby stream right here on DHL InMotion to read more about this Series impact players. And the conversation is sure to continue to keep following hashtag #DHLImpactPlayer, @DHLRugby and Facebook.
Five things you need to know about the DHL Impact Player Award
DHL is the Official Logistics Partner of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
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