DHL Impact Player: O’Donnell runs away with it in Singapore

Australia’s Ben O’Donnell scoops up his third DHL Impact Player award for 2018 while helping his team into the Cup final.

Australia may have narrowly missed out on their second Cup final win of the 2018 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, but one Aussie player walked away with some silverware – his third of the season. Ben O’Donnell’s total number of carries, tackles, offloads, and line breaks outscored the rest and earned him the DHL Impact Player award at the 2018 HSBC Singapore Sevens.

“Ben O’Donnell – such an impressive player. He is the go-to player for this Australian team,” said former England Sevens Captain and DHL Ambassador Rob Vickerman after the final.

“It shows how formidable he is as a Sevens rugby player!”

Rob Vickerman, former England Sevens Captain and DHL Ambassador

The 22-year-old, who made his sevens rugby debut this season in Dubai, was previously named the DHL Impact Player in Las Vegas and Sydney. In just a few months, he has proved himself a true all-rounder on the world stage.

Colossal carries
While O’Donnell has demonstrated time and again that he is a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball, he’s been virtually untouchable with the ball in his hands. In Singapore, the young speedster carried 33 times, 11 more than his closest competitor.
 
“For one person on the team to get 33 carries – not only does that contribute hugely, it shows how formidable player he is as a sevens rugby player,” said Vickerman.

“And it’s just his debut season!”

Rob Vickerman

Combined with 11 tackles, 4 offloads and 6 line breaks, O’Donnell was simply too hot to handle in the sweltering Singapore Stadium. All told, he chalked up 54 points – four ahead of Fiji’s Waisae Nacuqu, whom he faced in the Cup final.

Overall, O’Donnell has made a colossal 168 carries this season – and that despite being rested in Hong Kong.

 “And it’s just his debut season,” said Vickerman.  “He’s a special one – he’s now got three DHL Impact Player awards – he’s certainly one to talk about.”

Closing in
Right now the talk is about how O’Donnell has closed the gap to Canada’s Justin Douglas and put himself back into contention for the overall DHL Impact Player award. With 313 points, O’Donnell is only 11 behind Douglas, who tops the DHL Performance Tracker with 324. Fiji’s Eroni Sau, who was the DHL Impact Player in Hong Kong, is not too far behind at 305.

“He’s a special one – he’s now got three DHL Impact Player awards – he’s certainly one to talk about.” 

Rob Vickerman

With only two rounds left, we’ll now have to see if O’Donnell can continue his run back up the leaderboard or if Douglas can put in another solid performance to fend him off. And obviously Eroni Sau cannot be ruled out. After three wins in a row, if Fiji dominates another tournament, we might just see his name moving up the DHL Performance Tracker.

Fiji on top
Fiji completed their impending rise to the top of the standings, moving four points ahead of South Africa after a dramatic 28-21 victory over Australia in the Cup final. The win marked the team’s third consecutive tournament victory on the HSBC World Rugby Seven Series. 

Australia’s runner-up finish moves them up into fourth position behind New Zealand, who remain in third.

The drama-filled final was an exhilarating display of end-to-end action. Going into the last minute of the game Australia’s John Porch showed his athletic finishing skills to dot down in the corner and with the conversion brought Australia ahead, for the first time in the game, by one point. 

Australia still had time for the restart and a knock-on gave Fiji possession back. Gareth Baber's team kept their cool and a 90-metre tournament-winning try, finished by Alosio Sovita Naduva, sealed an incredible 28-22 victory.

The Men’s Sevens Series now crosses the globe for the next round in London on June 2-3. 

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