WORLD’S TOP 5 TRIES
Record Sport pores over the classics after Twickenham
DUHAN van der Merwe’s first try against England was not only one of the best bagged by a Scotland player – it was one of the best of all time.
But what are the tries usually regarded as the greatest?
GARETH EDWARDS BARBARIANS V NEW ZEALAND 1973
In Britain at least, this score has been widely regarded as the greatest of all time for the past 50 years. A real team effort, it started off in the Barbarians’ 22 with Phil Bennett shimmying his way round four All Blacks then passing outside him. Just as the attack down the left was running out of steam, scrum-half Edwards, right, stepped up, took a pass and sprinted clear of the remaining defenders.
JEAN-LUC SADOURNY FRANCE V NEW ZEALAND 1994
Dubbed “the try from the end of the world”. Starting close to their own goalline, the French put together a brilliant passing move that stretched the All Blacks’ defence to breaking point then beyond. Sadourny, below, finished off the move but a lot of the credit has to go to Philippe Saint-Andre for having the guts to start an attack from so deep. Jonah Lomu
NEW ZEALAND V ENGLAND 1995
A winger’s job used to be to go around his man but that was before Lomu came along. Lomu was big and bulky enough to run straight over the top of anyone daft enough to attempt to stop him head-on. He did exactly that to England’s Mike Catt just minutes into this World Cup semi-final. That was just the first of four tries for Lomu, right, as they won 45-29.
KARNE HESKETH JAPAN v South Africa 2015
Three points down deep into stoppage time, Japan pulled off the biggest shock in World Cup history with this victory. After a scrum deep inside Springboks
territory, they kept driving forwards until a gap opened up and Hesketh, right, dived over in the left corner.
ERIC PETERS SCOTLAND V WALES 1995
Before Saturday, this was the try many Scotland fans would tell you was the best-ever scored by the national side. Gavin Hastings and Doddie Weir started a quick counter-attack from a Welsh kick, then Kenny Logan beat three defenders by racing down the wing and cutting infield. Logan offloaded to Peters, left, and the back-row forward sprinted in from the edge of the 22 for a stunning score.