Terry Kennedy has been the leading marksman across this season's HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, which begin in Dubai last November ©INPHO/Martin Seras Lima
Terry Kennedy has reached the milestone of 50 tries in finishing as the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series’ top try scorer for the 2021/22 campaign.
Winning the Gilbert Top Try Scorer award is an outstanding individual achievement for Kennedy, who hit the half-century mark during Ireland’s 29-14 Cup quarter-final defeat earlier today at the HSBC LA Sevens.
That is an incredible 50 tries in 52 games, and he has contributed almost a third of Ireland’s try total (153) across the current World Series run.
Impressively, the IRFU Sevens Programmes have produced both leading try scorers in the Men’s and Women’s Series in 2022, with Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe (36 tries) topping the charts for the second time in her career.
Collectively, it has been a truly historic year for Ireland’s Sevens sides on the global stage, with best ever overall finishes for both the Women (fourth) and Men (fifth) as well as medals won in Seville (silver), Langford (bronze) and Toulouse (silver) respectively.
Kennedy grabbed seven tries in Toulouse and eight in London, and those handsome hauls were crucial in giving him a buffer over his chief try-scoring rivals, Corey Toole from Australia, the eventual series champions, and Argentinian star Marcos Moneta.
Toole ran him closest with 43 tries in all, but the St. Mary’s College speedster closed out the nine-tournament series with three more scores in Los Angeles to ensure he claimed one of the most-prized personal accolades in Sevens rugby.
Indeed, he is only the eighth men’s player in World Series history to score 50 or more tries in a single season, joining a very select group of the game’s most prolific finishers.
Vilimoni Delasau (Fiji) 83 tries – 2000
Mikaele Pesamino (Samoa) 56 tries – 2010
Dan Norton (England) 52 tries – 2013; 51 tries – 2017
Samisoni Viriviri (Fiji) 52 tries – 2014
Seabelo Senatla (South Africa) 66 tries – 2016
Perry Baker (USA) 57 tries – 2017
Carlin Isles (USA) 52 tries – 2019
Terry Kennedy (Ireland) 50 tries – 2022 (Dubai I 10, Dubai II 6, Malaga 5, Seville 3, Singapore 3, Vancouver 5, Toulouse 7, London 8, Los Angeles 3)
Kennedy began the current campaign in blistering fashion with 10 tries in the Dubai series opener, including hat-tricks against both Japan and Kenya. Nine months on, he has touched down against 16 different teams.
The 26-year-old’s play-making abilities and finishing skills were vital on some heady days for James Topping’s side as they claimed their first ever World Series wins over Fiji, on their Singapore debut, and South Africa and France, both in Toulouse.
He earned HSBC Dream Team Selection in both Toulouse, where Ireland broke new ground with their maiden Cup final appearance, and London, raising his average tries-per-tournament to 5.5 in the end.
Notably, the quicksilver Dubliner, who has made 92 appearances on the circuit, is now level on 74 World Series career tries with Jordan Conroy (81 appearances), his long-time team-mate and Ireland’s record try scorer since they became a core team.
As the focus quickly turns to the Rugby World Cup Sevens, Kennedy will take plenty of momentum to Cape Town having repeated Conroy’s feat from the Covid-19-impacted 2020 season when he was the top try scorer (30 tries).
Dubai I – 10 tries: 1 v Great Britain, 3 v Japan, 2 v Argentina, 1 v Australia, 3 v Kenya
Dubai II – 6 tries: 1 v South Africa, 2 v Japan, 1 v Australia, 1 v Great Britain, 1 v USA
Malaga – 5 tries: 2 v Japan, 1 v Germany, 2 v France
Seville – 3 tries: 2 v Jamaica, 1 v Argentina
Singapore – 3 tries: 1 v Fiji, 1 v Japan, 1 v New Zealand
Vancouver – 5 tries: 1 v Scotland, 1 v France, 1 v Argentina, 2 v Wales
Toulouse – 7 tries: 2 v South Africa, 1 v Spain, 1 v Argentina, 2 v France, 1 v Fiji
London – 8 tries: 1 v Kenya, 1 v South Africa, 3 v Argentina, 1 v New Zealand, 2 v England
Los Angeles – 3 tries: 1 v France, 1 v Wales, 1 v New Zealand
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