USA star lays claim to being world’s fastest player as Boks can’t touch him
If anyone needed a reminder, United States sevens star Perry Baker is fast, very fast. Even at the age of 36, he is lighting up rugby pitches with his searing pace, as South Africa will attest.
Up against the Blitzbokke last weekend at the Los Angeles Sevens in their pool A encounter, the former NFL player put on the afterburners in the middle of the field, leaving South African defenders scrambling to lay a finger on him. Baker left both Muller du Plessis and Shaun Williams in his dust, both of whom are no slouches. Despite being in his mid thirties, this is proof that he is still one of the quickest players in the game, as he helped his side to a 21-7 win.
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New Zealand went on to win this leg of the series, beating Fiji in the final. But it was actually the bronze medal match that was more intriguing, as Australia knew a victory of Samoa would crown them world series champions for the first time. They went on to win 21-7 to seal the series.
Australia head coach John Manenti said: “It is quite surreal to be honest.
“It has been an amazing six months or so with the boys, we have had our ups and downs, but these kids have fought hard and they deserve this and it is something that they will remember for ever.
“We are a bunch of misfits just having a crack, working hard for each other and the boys love each other which is a big thing.
“This season we wanted to be consistent from day one and we didn’t get there every tournament, but in general this overall victory is all about the consistency the boys have shown.”
Australia captain Nick Malouf said: “I am just so proud, I look back to the start of this season and we had six guys contracted, it has been quite some journey since then.
“Before this game we spoke about making three groups of people proud. The first was Australians, the second was the name on our backs – our families – and the third was the group of guys. I hope we did that.”
