This year’s Rugby Championship produced some remarkable tries, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he selects the top 10 five-pointers of the tournament.
The Springboks showed off lethal new strings to their bow en route to clinching their first Southern Hemisphere title since 2019, while the Pumas purred as they beat South Africa, New Zealand and Australia in a single campaign for the first time.
It was a campaign to forget for the All Blacks, who finished with a 50% winning record, and the Wallabies, who walked away with the wooden spoon after winning just one of their six matches.
The competition dished up quality entertainment and great tries, none more so than these terrific touchdowns:
Honourable Mention:
A Peach From Perenara
All Blacks veteran TJ Perenara showed his class when he sniped down the right and put Will Jordan in for a try against the Pumas with a spectacular offload at Eden Park.
History In The Making
The Pumas came from 10-0 down to score a famous 38-30 win over the All Blacks in the Kiwi capital in the opening round. Kicking off the upset win was this cracking try from turnover ball, with a beautiful pass to Santiago Chocobares seeing him link up with centre partner Luio Cinti for the five-pointer.
Sititi Shows Out
Wallace Sititi proved he’s more than a sledgehammer as he stepped his way through Australia’s defence and offloaded to Anton Lienert-Brown, who fired the scoring pass to Sevu Reece in Wellington.
10: The Pumas Pounce
Breaks by Tomas Albornoz and Santiago Chocobares opened the door for Mateo Carreras to score this try against the Boks, which helped snap South Africa’s unbeaten run in the campaign in Santiago del Estero.
9: Out Of The Boks
Rassie Erasmus is known for his out-of-the-box thinking and one of his trick plays worked like a charm when Malcolm Marx made way for Cheslin Kolbe to throw into the lineout, from where Siya Kolisi scored a few phases later to leave the All Blacks stunned.
8: Lethal Locksmiths
The All Blacks showed they can unlock the Wallabies’ defence in a multitude of ways with this disorientating dot down by Caleb Clarke after good work from Will Jordan, Sevu Reece and Anton Lienert-Brown.
7: Off To The Races
The Boks capped off their 33-7 opening-round rout of the Wallabies with a nugget dished up by Jesse Kriel, who zigzagged through the line and fired a bullet pass to put Kurt-Lee Arendse in for his second try of the afternoon.
6: Wet And Wild
The Boks turned defence into attack in a flash in the Perth rain, working the ball wide to Makazole Mapimpi, who executed a perfect left-footed grubber for a flying Aphelele Fassi to collect and score.
5: The Ultimate Hot Stepper
Manie Libbok’s delayed flat ball to Aphelele Fassi was a thing of beauty as was the Bok fullback’s long pass to Cheslin Kolbe, who melted Matias Moroni with his hot stepping and spun out of Tomas Albornoz’s attempted tackle to dot down in the title decider.
4: Special Delivery
Damian de Allende’s break created the opportunity but it’s Cheslin Kolbe’s unbelievable bit of skill and determination to put Aphelele Fassi in for his second try of the night that made this such a magical score in Nelspruit.
3: Smashing Effort
Will Jordan turned pain into gain when he offloaded after getting smashed by Wallabies captain Harry Wilson to start this brilliant counter-attacking try in Bledisloe I with Caleb Clarke breaking the line and offloading and Cortez Ratima sniping through a hole and feeding Rieko Ioane for his first try of the season.
2: Santa Fe Fiesta
In one of the craziest turnarounds you’ll ever see, Argentina came back from 17 points down to condemn the Wallabies to their worst-ever loss. The pick of the Pumas’ nine tries in the 67-27 thumping saw super slick handling and fancy footwork from Joaquin Oviedo to twist the knife further into the heart of Australian rugby.
1: Dream Score For Darry
Sam Darry had a dream dot down on debut for the All Blacks in Wellington, the rookie lock rewarded for his work rate as he chased down Beauden Barrett’s kick after Damian McKenzie had started the attack with a slick chip and re-gather.
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