Serevi: Vote for Tuwai

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Jerry Tuwai gestures after scoring a try during an earlier tournament. Picture: JOVESA NAISUA/FILE

Rugby 7s king Waisale Serevi has picked Seremaia (Jerry) Tuwai to win the World Rugby Men’s 7s Player of the Decade award on December 7.

Tuwai, fellow 2016 Olympics gold medallist Samisoni Viriviri, New Zealand’s Tomasi Cama Jr and Tim Mickelson, South Africa’s Seabelo Senatla, Cecil Afrika and Werner Kok, USA’s Perry Baker and Samoa’s Mikaele Pesamino, are the nominees for the men’s award which commemorates the best 7s player in the past 10 years.

Serevi, speaking from his Seattle home in the US, said Tuwai’s achievement in rugby’s abbreviated code exceeded other nominees.

“I see 7s rugby as an entertainment. It is an entertaining game and fans spill to tournaments because those who play 7s rugby are great entertainers,” the 7s wizard said.

“All players are good in their own right and it is difficult to choose the winner. I zoom in on the best entertainer of the code and who is the biggest achiever of the lot.

“I have played against Pesamino. He was an incredible player and so are the rest. If you look at achievements among the nominees, Jerry has won the most World Rugby Sevens Series title, and especially the first Olympic Games gold medal. He is my pick because of what he has personally achieved and his contribution to the team and to our country.”

Yesterday, for the first time, Serevi, regarded as the best 7s player of all time, declared that his prodigy from Buca Bay on Vanua Levu is better than him.

“Jerry is Jerry. He has shown what it takes to play 7s rugby. Because of his fitness, the training he goes through and the sacrifices he made, had all made him a strong player on and off the field.

“Jerry stands on his own and that’s why Jerry is better than me. He is my player of the decade.

“Vote for Jerry and I wish him the best as a nominee for the presitigous award.” Tuwai won the World Rugby Men’s 7s Player of the Year Award in 2019, Viriviri in 2014, and the rest of the nominees have also won the award, Baker twice (2017 & 2018).

Nine male and six female players from six nations have been nominated for the men’s and women’s awards.

World Rugby invites fans to vote for the men’s and women’s 15s and sevens players of the decade.

The winners will be announced in a special edition of the World Rugby Awards in 2020.

n Fans can vote by visiting world.rugby/tournaments/awards/fans-vote before it closes on Sunday.

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