SportsJOE spent a fruitful couple of hours trawling through its World Cup archives to pick out its selection of the ten greatest tries in the history of the tournament…
10. Kosuke Endo, Japan vs Wales, 2007
The Japanese gave Wales an early shock to take a first-half lead in their pool match in Cardiff. John Kirwan’s side showed superb hands in going the length of the field, with flying wing Endo delivering the finish in the corner.
9. Yannick Jauzion, France vs New Zealand, 2007
Talk about instant impact. Mercurial French out-half Freddie Michalak’s first touch after entering the quarter-final match against New Zealand saw him create the scintillating game-winning try for Jauzion.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTF3Zv5cASk
8. Serge Blanco, France vs Australia, 1987
One of the greatest games in the tournament’s history was capped by a simply manic, thrilling score from full-back Serge Blanco to put Les Bleus into the final.
7. Federico Aramburu, Argentina vs France, 2007
The Pumas were one of the stories of the 2007 World Cup, and Aramburu put the gloss on a sweeping counter-attacking move that sealed victory in the third-place play-off.
6. Christophe Lamaison, France vs New Zealand, 1999
France and New Zealand have provided some of the defining matches in the 28-year history of the World Cup, and perhaps the greatest of all was the 1999 semi-final in Twickenham. Christophe Domenici tore the All Blacks apart and it was the little winger’s brilliant, weaving break which laid the platform for Lamaison to score the game’s first try under the posts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S67WIsap5c
5. Vilimoni Delasau, Fiji vs Wales, 2007
The flying Fijians thrilled everyone except the Welsh, whom they knocked out on their run to the quarter-finals, and their speed of hand and foot deserved the slightly fortunate bounce that allowed Delasau to touch down between a pair of defenders.
4. Stephen Jones, Wales vs England, 2003
A much better memory for the Welsh here as they launched one of their trademark counters one the English defence. Shane Williams, Gareth Thomas and company scythed their way through would-be tacklers to allow Jones to score.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgulsZuWSfQ
3. Takudzwa Ngwenya, USA vs South Africa, 2007
A clip that must haunt Bryan Habana to this day. The flying Springbok winger was rarely, if ever, beaten for pace, but the rugby world’s collective jaw dropped as Ngwenya did just that, leaving his rival for dead to finish off a brilliant American move.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7j8I7DB8RE
2. John Kirwan, New Zealand vs Italy, 1987
The first try in World Cup history set an almost impossible standard. Kirwan began a rout of the Azzurri by taking the ball ten metres from his own posts and sprinting through and away from the entire Italian side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pKK67-leAY
1. Jonah Lomu, New Zealand vs England, 1995
Poor Mike Catt. His sterling service to England yielded a World Cup winners’ medal and four Five/Six Nations championships, yet for many the abiding memory of his international career is the hit-and-run incident after just two minutes of the semi-final that confirmed Lomu as the biggest star of the newly professional game.
