Top 10 best Rugby World Cup tries ever

Check out some of the most outrageous tries ever scored in rugby union with this list of the Top 10 best Rugby World Cup tries ever.

10) Canada vs Italy 2015, DTH Van Der Merwe

Straight from the kick-off, DTH Van Der Merwe received the ball from his teammate and looked to run down the left-wing, once he shrugged off the first challenge, he found himself in acres of space.

Taking the ball to the halfway line he passed the ball back inside to centre, Ciaran Hearn. Hearn powered through the middle, before popping the ball back to Van Der Merwe to finish off the superb try he had just started.

9) Fiji vs Wales, 2007 – Vilimoni Delasau

One of the greatest ever upsets had one of the greatest ever tries. From a scrum in their own half, the Flying Fijians came up with a real bit of magic in their own special style.

Fiji flung the ball wide to create space, followed by a cheeky behind-the-back pass, caused chaos in the Welsh defence. Vilimoni Delasau took advantage of this and raced down the right-hand side, before a kick and chase routine bounced beautifully for the Fijian wing.

8) England v Wales, 2003 – Will Greenwood

Jason Robinson was unstoppable this tournament, so when he received the ball in bucket loads of space in his own half, it could only scream trouble for the Welsh.

Taking on at least 5 players, Billy Whizz as he was affectionately known, was able to squeeze through the broken defence before making a sublime pass to his right to put Will Greenwood over in the corner.

7) New Zealand vs Italy, 1987 – John Kirwan

One of the most amazing individual tries the world has ever seen, John Kirwan stepped past half of the Italian squad to touch down 60 odd metres ahead of where he collected the ball.

The All Blacks had received the ball from the kickoff, and with a couple of passes to the oncoming Kirwan, there was no stopping the man. He weaved in and out with incredible poise, balance, and speed to score a try that has stood the test of time.

6) New Zealand vs England, 1995 – Jonah Lomu

In 1995 Jonah Lomu was at the very height of his powers, and poor Mike Catt did not stand a chance.

Lomu received the bouncing ball roughly 30 metres out from the England try line. From there he went on to beat 2 of England’s finest before bulldozing over the top of Catt, in one of the most famous tries of all time.

5) Japan vs Wales, 2007 – Kosuke Endo

Despite being on the wrong end of a thrashing, the Japanese fans did have something to cheer about.

Taking advantage of the ball coming out of the Welsh ruck on their own 5m line, Japan stole the ball and started a rapid breakaway.

The Japanese evaded every single opposition player with only 4 passes, to touch down just 16 seconds later at the other end of the field.

4) Wales vs England, 2003 – Stephen Jones

Shane Williams was just coming into his own in this world cup, having been in exile from the Welsh squad for years prior. After a barnstorming performance against the All Blacks previously in the tournament, the stadium noise ramped up when the Welsh wing received the ball deep in his own half, with space to play with.

After skinning the first England player he popped a tidy pass to Gareth Cooper. The nippy scrum-half stormed through the middle of the English defence, spotting Gareth Thomas on his left with a beautifully timed pass.

The flying full-back then evaded Jonny Wilkinson’s tap tackle with a lovely falling offload back to Shane Williams. With a quick juggle of the ball, Williams was able to send it back inside for Stephen Jones to finish off a wonderful team try.

3) New Zealand vs France, 2015 – Julian Savea

Julian Savea was known as ‘The Bus’ to many fans. In his prime, he had the pure power to take on any defensive tackler in the world and steam role right through them.

This try was about more than just The Bus himself, however. Dan Carter put up a typically controlled up-and-under for full-back Ben Smith to challenge. Once wonderfully taken, Aaron Smith picked the ball up quickly from the base of the ruck and started to run at the back-peddling French defence.

He flew the ball out wide to the left. One pass later and the big man Savea had his hands on it. 3 huge thumps from the All Blacks wing and he was over the line, with the French defence seeing stars.

2) USA vs South Africa, 2007 – Takudzwa Ngwenya

An interception on their own 5m line saw the USA Eagles dodge player after player as they made their way up to halfway.

It was at that point that speed merchant Takudzwa Ngwenya collected the ball on the far right side to make history by gassing Bryan Habana on the outside, thus finishing an unbelievable try completely against the run of play.

1) New Zealand vs Namibia, 2019 – TJ Perenara

One of the greatest team tries of all time, voted as the International Rugby Players Try of the Year for 2019. The All Blacks‘ TJ Perenara started the break from his own half, before stepping another player and throwing a wonderful falling pass onto his wing George Bridge.

Rieko Ioane picked the ball off the base of the next ruck, quickly then offloading to Brad Weber who was confident enough to flick an outrageous behind-the-back pass to Perenara. Finally, it was up to the talented scrum-half to speed down the touchline, beat 2 players, and dive over in the corner.