Over the past decade there have been some breathtaking tries scored in international rugby.
Ahead of a special virtual edition of the World Rugby Awards, which will be aired on Monday, 7 December, fans can now cast their vote on six awards, including which of the 10 shortlisted men’s tries and five nominated women’s scores was the best.
IRP Men’s 15s Try of the Decade
There are 10 stunning scores up for International Rugby Players (IRP) Men’s 15s Try of the Decade, starting with Chris Ashton’s length-of-the-field effort against Australia that was named IRPA Try of the Year 2010. England were defending on their line at Twickenham in November 2010 when Ben Youngs and Courtney Lawes shuffled the ball to Ashton. The winger sprinted from one end of the pitch to the other, beating the covering Drew Mitchell on his way to the line.
Next up is Radike Samo’s powerful effort, named IRPA Try of the Year in 2011. Having picked the ball up 10 metres inside his own half, Samo handed off All Blacks flanker Adam Thomson on halfway before sprinting towards the line to score under pressure from Cory Jane and Mils Muliaina.
Another score against New Zealand was Bryan Habana’s IRPA Try of the Year 2012. After receiving the ball off the back of a lineout, Habana accelerated into space before chipping over the defence and gathering the ball to slide into the right corner.
The All Blacks completed a clean sweep at the World Rugby Awards 2013, where Beauden Barrett’s effort against France was named IRPA Try of the Year 2013. The replacement finished off a flowing move as Aaron Cruden latched onto a Conrad Smith kick-through and produced a deft scoring pass to Barrett on his outside.
South Africa scrum-half, Francois Hougaard was awarded IRPA Try of the Year 2014 for a wonderful effort against the All Blacks. The Springbok injected pace into a slick team move, taking a pass from Jan Serfontein to leave the New Zealand defence flat-footed and help secure a famous win.
All Blacks winger Julian Savea was nominated twice for IRPA Try of the Year 2015, both scores coming during the Rugby World Cup 2015 quarter-final against France. For his second score, Savea had a lot to do when he received the ball on the left wing. He proceeded to brush off the attentions of three French defenders to dot down emphatically.
The second northern hemisphere nominee on this list is Ireland number eight Jamie Heaslip, who claimed the IRPA Try of the Year 2016 accolade. Heaslip put the finishing touches on a scintillating team move against Italy. Simon Zebo, Jared Payne, Johnny Sexton and Andrew Trimble were all involved before Fergus McFadden gave the scoring pass to Heaslip.
The IRPA Try of the Year 2017 award went to Argentina full-back Joaquín Tuculet, for his stunning effort against England. Having received George Ford’s kick-off, the Pumas immediately set off on attack. Matias Orlando then injected some pace into the move before finding Emiliano Boffelli on the left wing, who sucked in the defence and found Tuculet on his left shoulder. The full-back then sprinted in at the left corner.
Brodie Retallick was awarded IRP Try of the Year 2018, having provided a wonderful piece of skill to finish a brilliant team move against Australia. Following a Beauden Barrett break, Jack Goodhue and Ben Smith took New Zealand deep into Wallabies territory. The ball was then spread to the left wing, where second-row Retallick produced a deft dummy to outfox Bernard Foley and open up a path to the try line.
The final IRP Men’s 15s Try of the Decade nominee is TJ Perenara, the IRP Try of the Year 2019 recipient for his outrageous effort against Namibia at Rugby World Cup 2019. Having taken the All Blacks into Namibian territory, he produced a stunning pass to George Bridge on the left wing while falling to the ground. After the ball was recycled, Rieko Ioane and Brad Weber combined to release Perenara, the latter throwing a behind-the-back pass to do so. The replacement scrum-half then somehow dotted down just before he was tackled into touch.
IRP Women’s 15s Try of the Decade
Meanwhile, five players have been nominated for the IRP Women’s 15s Try of the Decade by International Rugby Players. Magali Harvey was nominated for IRPA Try of the Year 2014 for her score against France in the Rugby World Cup 2014 semi-finals. Receiving the ball inside her own 22, Harvey clicked through the gears to beat three French defenders as she ran almost the length of the pitch to dot down in the right corner.
Alison Miller has been shortlisted alongside Harvey for another try scored at RWC 2014, during Ireland’s historic win over New Zealand. Following a brilliant break from Niamh Briggs, Miller received the ball on the left wing and showed her pace to beat Black Fern scrum-half, Emma Jensen and the covering Kelly Brazier to score in the left corner.
Wales prop Megan York showed the pace of a winger to score the third try on the shortlist. Playing France in Neath during the Women’s Six Nations 2016, a Bethan Dainton break took Wales into opposition territory. As the ball was spread to the left wing, Elen Evans took contact before popping the ball back inside to York. The loose-head prop brushed off one tackle and then sprinted over the line to score what proved to be the match-winning try.
Danielle Waterman is the fourth nominee, for a stunning individual effort against Canada at Twickenham in November 2016. Not a great deal looked on when Emily Scarratt passed to Waterman inside the England half. However, less than 20 seconds later, the full-back had beaten five Canadian defenders and set a course for the try-line.
The final nominee is Portia Woodman’s effort against the USA in the semi-finals of RWC 2017. Coming off her wing into midfield, Woodman took the ball at first-receiver from Kendra Cocksedge following a scrum on the USA 10-metre-line. By the time the Black Ferns star caught the ball she was running at such speed that the USA defence had little time to react, and she breezed past four tacklers to score. Woodman’s effort was nominated for IRPA Try of the Year 2017.
Fans can vote for both the men’s and women’s awards here, with voting remaining open until 17:00 GMT on Sunday, 25 October.
