Rugby
Record-breaking performance puts Cross on top in Singapore and Series
It was nothing short of a dramatic weekend in Singapore. It was, in fact, historic. Canada was crowned tournament champions for the first time ever, beating the United States in a thrilling North American final no one predicted. And Wales’ Sam Cross tallied up a record-breaking 69 points on the DHL Performance Tracker to overtake Dan Norton in the overall standings, who has defended the lead since Vancouver.
The DHL Impact Player Award takes into account tackles, breaks, offloads and carries across the two match days. The 24-year-old Cross put up some striking stats across the weekend to help his team win the Challenge Trophy (formerly known as the Bowl). He blew away his Impact Player competitors, finishing a whopping 17 points ahead of Japan’s Kameli Soejima.
It’s great to win the award and to take the lead is doubly special for me.
Sam Cross
Cross made 17 tackles, 3 breaks, 17 offloads and 32 carries, giving him a total of 69 and setting a new record for a tournament in 2016-17.
More importantly, the Welshman’s numbers put him ahead in the overall DHL Performance Tracker, which has accumulated the players’ scores across the past eight rounds of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series. England’s Dan Norton had been in the lead after winning the DHL Impact Player three times this series (Dubai, Cape Town, and Canada), but Cross has now edged him out by three points (315 in total).
I’m not doing anything different than my normal game and it’s great to see that my numbers are having an impact.
Sam Cross
Elsewhere in the DHL Impact Player table for Singapore, Scotland’s Mark Robertson finished third, one point behind Soejima. Russia’s German Davydov, who won the award in Sydney earlier in the year, finished fourth overall.
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“It’s great to win the award and to take the lead is doubly special for me. I’m not doing anything different than my normal game and it’s great to see that my numbers are having an impact,” said Cross. “It was a good all-around effort from the boys here in Singapore and we’re happy with the Challenge Trophy.”
Canada makes history
Canada was crowned champions of their first ever HSBC World Rugby Sevens series tournament after beating USA 26-19 in a nail-biting final in Singapore.
Team USA hadn’t reached a final since they won the 2015 HSBC London Sevens, and Canada hadn’t featured in a final since the 2014 Glasgow Sevens, a match they lost.
The Canadians took the Americans by surprise, building an early 19-0 lead, but USA bounced back to make it 19-12 by the half. The game was on for a thrilling finale.
This will show that Canadian rugby has so much to offer.
Canada Coach Damian McGrath
USA evened the match at 19-19 after play resumed and the tension on and off the field was unmistakable. Team USA fans were preparing for an upset, while the Canadians were watching their hopes of a first win slip away.
For a while neither team was able to get the upper hand until Canada’s Lucas Hammond found an opening in the American defense to score and claim the victory.
We beat three of the best teams today. We are flying. An unbelievable feeling.
Canada Captain John Moonlight
“It’s hard to put that into words,” said captain John Moonlight afterwards. “We took a licking against Fiji yesterday, and from our coach. But we showed up today, we showed the world we can beat anyone. We beat three of the best teams today. We are flying. An unbelievable feeling.”
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