Ranking 6 Best Tries in the Autumn Internationals

We were not starved of entertainment this autumn.

A year out from the Rugby World Cup, teams were looking for the right combinations and winning formulas to take them into the global showpiece.

And far from a fear of failure, we saw sides ready to take gambles to score tries, often with spectacular results.

From rehearsed ploys to exploit weaknesses identified in the video room to sheer instinct and skill, the autumn's five-pointers came in a variety of shapes and sizes.

The following six have been picked for various reasons, some on the merits of the individual skill involved, others because of the collective team work required to score them, while some were because they were the product of a rehearsed routine that came off to the letter.

Here are our top six.

6. Tommy Bowe vs. South Africa

Ireland began their autumn with a rousing win over South Africa, which was lit up by a wonderfully-taken try by Tommy Bowe.

The Ulsterman raced on to a perfect kick into the space behind the South African defence from Conor Murray and enjoyed a good bounce to collect it and score a try borne of training ground practice and analysis of where the Boks would leave a hole.

The move was well executed with a step and go by Jonny Sexton to get the Springboks committed, and the measured skill from Murray to execute that kick under pressure.

5. Teddy Thomas vs. Australia

Teddy Thomas followed up his debut hat-trick with a brilliant solo effort against Australia.

The wing looked well covered as the ball was worked out wide to him, but he stepped inside and jinked through a crowd of bodies to burst clear and beat Adam Ashley-Cooper for pace to score a memorable virtuoso try.

4. Teddy Thomas vs. Fiji

Racing Metro wing Teddy Thomas announced himself on the Test scene with a hat-trick against Fiji.

His first was the pick of the bunch as he leaped like a wide receiver in the NFL to claim a steepling cross-field kick.

Watching the video you can see the 21-year-old never takes his eyes off the ball as it sails toward him, and the height he gets on his jump is impressive.

There were a few tries scored from cross-field kicks this autumn: Simon Zebo against Australia, Beauden Barrett and Jerome Kaino against Wales—both from deft tap backs via colleagues—but Thomas’ effort was under the most pressure, and his concentration and technique are a study in how it should be done.

3. Timoci Nagusa vs. France

Fiji were battered by France in their autumn Test but came away with a typically Fijian consolation from  under their own posts.

A textbook steal at a ruck won the Fijians possession and, with the game all but up, they had no option but to give it a go.

The ball was worked wide with slick hands to wing Timoci Nagusa who still had 100 metres to go and two Frenchmen in his way.

He stepped through the first tackle and burned off the next chaser to score a quality five-pointer.

2. Jonny May vs. New Zealand

We knew Jonny May had gas, but he had not had the chance in an England shirt to really turn on the afterburners.

So we were not expecting him to do so with three All Blacks in front of him.

But he accepted their invitation to have a go down the outside and duly scorched past the lot of them to get Twickenham rocking.

Not a bad way to score your first international try.

1. Nick Phipps vs. Ireland

Aussie scrum-half Nick Phipps began this move after collecting a Jonny Sexton bomb that had bounced around in front of the Wallaby 22-metre line.

He span the ball out to Adam Ashley-Cooper who recycled it before Matt Toomua got his hands on it.

Deciding against clearing his lines, Toomua invited his fellow backs to have a go.

Henry Speight took the responsibility and got down the wing with a dash of pace and power before a cheeky flip round his back kept the move alive.

Phipps got involved again with a short pop back to Speight from the next ruck and was then bright enough to follow his next pass as Toomua once again opened the defence up with a reverse pass to Bernard Foley.

Foley found the tracking run of Phipps to his right and fed the No. 9 for a fantastic team score.

Try of the autumn.