New leader emerges in RugbyPass SVNS MVP race after Blitzboks win

RugbyPass SVNS Series writers will review each tournament this season with their MVP votes. Finn Morton, Ben Smith, Joe Harvey and Nick Wasiliev weigh in with 3-2-1 votes towards the RugbyPass Men’s and Women’s SVNS Series MVP leaderboard.

There’s been a change at the top of the RugbyPass Men’s SVNS Series leaderboard after the fifth stop of the season, with South Africa’s Shilton van Wyk moving into first place ahead of Viwa Naduvalo from Fiji.

Van Wyk was one of the early-season leaders in the race for MVP honours, topping the charts along with Luciano Gonzalez after the second event of the campaign in Cape Town. The 26-year-old starred as the Blitzboks took out that title, and it was the same story in Vancouver.

Tristan Leyds received Player of the Final honours after the Blitzboks recorded a dominant 38-12 win over Spain in the SVNS Vancouver Cup Final, but there wouldn’t have been any arguments if that honour had gone to Van Wyk.

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The Olympic bronze medallist crossed for a double and played a part in some other tries as the Blitzboks took control. Ryan Oosthuizen, Sebastiaan Jobb, Gino Cupido and Impi Visser were the team’s other try-scorers during the 26-point triumph.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” Blitzboks captain Visser said after the team’s Cup Final win at SVNS Vancouver. “Sometimes we take it for granted but it’s an amazing feeling and we’re really grateful for it.

“We’ve had a lot of changes – six changes from Perth to now and the thing we said we want to build is consistency. I think we’ve shown that through and through. We just need to keep up this momentum going into New York.”

Van Wyk scored one try in each of South Africa’s three pool stage wins, which included an effort in a tense five-point win over New Zealand. While van Wyk didn’t score in the 19-12 semi-final victory against Australia, the flyer still played a pivotal role in the result.

Van Wyk polled a maximum 12-vote haul from the Vancouver Sevens, while Player of the Final and teammate Leyds received eight. Spain’s Eduardo Lopez was another standout, having scored a double and setting up another in the semi-final win over Fiji.

Naduvalo did receive one vote from Australian writer Nick Wasiliev, but it wasn’t enough to see the try-scoring phenomenon retain top spot. The 29-year-old sits in second, 10 votes clear of Oosthuizen, Luciano Gonzalez and Terio Veilawa in equal third.

Vancouver was the second-last stop of the SVNS 1 season, before the new-look World Championships get underway next month. All eight teams from the first division will compete with four sides out of SVNS 2.

Next up, SVNS New York will be held at Sports Illustrated Stadium on March 14 to 15.

RugbyPass SVNS Series MVP 3-2-1 votes – Vancouver

Finn Morton

Men: Shilton van Wyk (South Africa), Tristan Leyds (South Africa), Eduardo Lopez (Spain)

Women: Jorja Miller (New Zealand), Maddison Levi (Australia), Kaylen Thomas (USA)

Joe Harvey

Men: Shilton van Wyk (South Africa), Tristan Leyds (South Africa), Jeremy Trevithick (Spain)

Women: Jorja Miller (New Zealand), Maddison Levi (Australia), Kaylen Thomas (USA)

Ben Smith

Men: Shilton van Wyk (South Africa), Tristan Leyds (South Africa), Eduardo Lopez (Spain)

Women: Jorja Miller (New Zealand), Maddison Levi (Australia), Jaymie Kolose (New Zealand)

Nick Wasiliev

Men: Shilton van Wyk (South Africa), Eduardo Lopez (Spain), Terio Veilawa (Fiji)

Women: Jorja Miller (New Zealand), Maddison Levi (Australia), Su Adegoke (USA)

RugbyPass Men’s SVNS Series MVP leaderboard

Shilton van Wyk (South Africa) – 21 points

Viwa Naduvalo (Fiji) – 19 votes

Luciano Gonzalez (Argentina), Ryan Oosthuizen (South Africa), Terio Veilawa (Fiji) – 9 votes

Akuila Rokolisoa (New Zealand) – 8 votes

Brady Rush (New Zealand), Tristan Leyds (South Africa) – 6 votes

Dietrich Roache (Australia), Paulin Riva (France), Ricardo Duarttee (South Africa), Eduardo Lopez (Spain) – 4 votes

Donovan Don (South Africa), Wallace Charlie (Australia) – 3 votes

Nacani Boginisoko (Fiji), Kele Lasaqa (New Zealand) – 2 votes

Pilipo Bukayaro (Fiji), Ryan Oosthuizen (South Africa), Marcos Moneta (Argentina), Andy Timo (France), Rob Rush (New Zealand), Ben Dowling (Australia), Henry Hutchison (Australia), Jeremy Trevithick (Spain) – 1 vote

RugbyPass Women’s SVNS Series MVP leaderboard

Jorja Miller (New Zealand) – 42 votes

Maddison Levi (Australia) – 22 votes

Kelsey Teneti (New Zealand) – 17 votes

Isabella Nasser (Australia) – 11 votes

Jazmin Felix-Hotham (New Zealand), Olivia Apps (Canada), Risi Pouri-Lane (New Zealand)  – 4 votes

Teagan Levi (Australia), Madison Ashby (Australia) – 3 votes

Mahina Paul (New Zealand), Kaylen Thomas (USA) – 2 votes

Hanako Utsumi (Japan), Reapi Ulunisau (Fiji), Maya Stewart (Australia), Tia Hinds (Australia), Jaymie Kolose (New Zealand), Su Adegoke (USA)  – 1 vote