Top 10 Tries of the 2024 Six Nations

There was an abundance of awesome tries in this year’s Six Nations, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he selects the 10 finest five-pointers of the Championship.

As highlighted by this past weekend’s phenomenal final round, this year’s Northern Hemisphere showcase produced some champagne rugby.

Ireland emerged as champions; however, all six sides played their part in thrilling fans with enterprising play. Teamwork made the dream work in most cases as flowing plays were the cream that rose to the top.

Without further ado, here are my top 10 tries of the Championship:

10: Winging It

Wingers Tommy Freeman and Elliot Daly combined to produce England’s first try of the tournament in Rome with the former feeding the latter after a good line break.

9: Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Ireland romped to a record 38-17 win in France in the blockbuster tournament opener. The pick of their five tries saw Robbie Henshaw use good footwork to go close and offload from the floor to Caelan Doris who drew the last man to play Calvin Nash in at the corner.

8: The Beginning Of The End

A scorching set-piece try from Scotland set the wheels in motion for a 30-21 win over England and a memorable hat trick for Duhan van der Merwe, who crashed over for his first try after a brilliant break and offload off the ground by Huw Jones.

7: Flyin’ Furbank

The try that got England back into the game in their thrilling triumph over Ireland at Twickenham was a doozy with deft touches by Sam Underhill and Maro Itoje unleashing George Furbank whose timing and speed saw him go over.

6: Final Flurry

Not satisfied with their utter dominance, Ireland showcased their ruthlessness and efficiency to add a sixth try to their tally – touched down by Calvin Nash after some silky-smooth handling – to whitewash Italy 36-0.

5: Swing Lowe

Fast hands, good decision-making and a fine finish saw Ireland wing James Lowe score the first of his two tries against England.

4: Azzurri Come Out Firing

Though they ended up on the losing side, Italy shot out of the blocks in their tournament opener against England, slick handling eventually seeing Tommaso Menoncello giving the scoring pass to Tommaso Allan.

3: Poetry In Motion

The handling and interplay from Scotland were exquisite as they drew first blood against France at Murrayfield through Ben White.

2: Hit And Run

Les Bleus cranked up the French flair after stealing an English lineout to score this long-range ripper in the instant classic Le Crunch in Lyon with Leo Barre blasting downfield and finding Nolann Le Garrec on his inside with the scrumhalf scoring.

1: Saving The Best For Last

Italy capped off their highly competitive campaign with the Try of the Tournament in their 24-21 win over Wales in Cardiff, excellently executing a lineout play with Lorenzo Pani providing the finishing touches in fine fashion.

Quintin van Jaarsveld

Quintin Van Jaarsveld is a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a former three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year. Formerly the sports editor and Outstanding Journalist of the Year award winner at The Fever Media Group, deputy editor at eHowzit, editor at SARugby.com and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, he boasts over 15 years’ experience and is currently a freelance sports writer.