Top 10 SA Tries Of The 2024-25 EPCR Challenge Cup

The Lions and Cheetahs started the South African challenge before the men from Bloemfontein bowed out at the conclusion of the pool phase.

The defending champion Sharks and Bulls joined the Lions in the Round of 16 by virtue of finishing fifth in their pools in the Investec Champions Cup. The last 16 marked the end of the road for the Durbanites and men from Johannesburg, leaving the Bulls as Mzanzi’s last hope.

However, the Herd succumbed 34-28 to Edinburgh in their quarter-final clash in the Scottish capital at the weekend. Despite this, the four teams combined to leave a South African stamp on the tournament by running in some memorable tries.

Here, then, are my picks for the top 10 South African touchdowns of the tournament.

Honourable Mentions

Fine Line

Replacement Daniel Maartens came in on a sharp angle and ran onto a pass from Ethan Wentzel to slice clean through Perpignan’s defence to score the pick of the Cheetahs’ three tries in their tournament opener.

Just Reward

Fighting a losing battle, the Lions were rewarded for their never-give-up attitude as a long ball by Nico Steyn and fast hands by Marius Louw resulted in a try for Erich Cronje.

10: Cohen Clinches It

With the clock in the red, the Cheetahs stayed composed and put the ball through the hands for Cohen Jasper to dive over for the match-winning try against Zebre.

9: Sweet Redemption

After costing the Cheetahs an intercept try earlier in the game, flyhalf Ethan Wentzel redeemed himself in style by re-gathering his chip over Zebre’s defensive line and sending Jeandre Rudolph over.

8: Full Flow

The Lions were at their free-flowing finest in this attacking sequence from a lineout against Pau. The handling was top-tier and Juan Schoeman’s determination and leg drive deserving of five points.

7: Dragon Slayers

The Lions lashed the Dragons 60-10 to qualify for the playoffs. One of the nine tries the hosts ran in was started by Morne van den Berg, who broke away and offloaded to halfback partner Sam Francis. Quick recycled ball then saw Rynhardt Jonker ship an unorthodox pass wide to Tapiwa Mafura to score.

6: Fantastic Finish

Edwill van der Merwe proved too hot to handle for Pau as the Lions winger ran in this remarkable try to help the Pride pick up their first win of the competition.

5: One-Man Wrecking Crew

Returning from injury with a vengeance, Ruan Venter stampeded his way through the helpless Dragons to score this magnificent 40-metre individual try.

4: A Cracker In Cardiff

The Cheetahs threw the ball around like a hot potato to score this cracker of a try against Cardiff. Munier Hartzenberg’s final offload was fantastic with Ruben de Haas on hand to dot down.

3: Classic Counterpunch

Micheal Annies used a chaotic sequence of play from a restart as a breakout moment as he pounced on a loose ball, spun out of a tackle, grubbered and re-gathered to score a screamer of a try against Zebre.

2: Switching Up

The Bulls scored this beauty against Bayonne in the Round of 16, with Devon Williams running a great line at pace and finding Sergeal Petersen on the switch.

It's impossible to defend against this 🤩🔀

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— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 5, 2025

1: Fresh Wave Washes Over Lyon

The new wave of Sharks players combined to produce this cracker in their last 16 clash against Lyon, Jurenzo Julius with the audacious offload, Ethan Bester with the break and Corne Rahl with the dot down.

Jurenzo Julius, the creator 😮‍💨🏉

That pass from the Boogieman is too clean 💯

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— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) April 6, 2025