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Top 15 Tries Of The 2024 Autumn Nations Series

Twenty-one Tests made up this year’s Autumn Nations Series, which once again pitted Southern Hemisphere sides against their Northern Hemisphere hosts and provided top-quality entertainment.

The end-of-year Tests served up some tremendous tries, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he selects the top 15 five-pointers of the Autumn Nations Series.

The 2024 Test season came to a head at the weekend with Ireland scoring a 22-19 win over the Wallabies in Dublin.  

Twenty-one Tests made up this year’s Autumn Nations Series, which once again pitted Southern Hemisphere sides against their Northern Hemisphere hosts and provided top-quality entertainment.

These are my picks for the 15 best dot downs in the year-end internationals:

15: The Will To Win

With the game on the line, Mark Tele’a refused to be denied as he willed his way over in the corner, with Damian McKenzie slotting the conversion to snatch victory for the All Blacks at Twickenham.

14: Turnover is Fair Play

A charge-down from Charles Ollivon led to a turnover from where France worked the ball wide to Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who put it on the toe and accelerated to collect his own grubber to score against Argentina.

13: Backdoor Blinder

You’ll be hard-pressed to find a better backdoor delivery than the one Adam Hastings served up in Scotland’s record thrashing of Fiji, the flyhalf finding Huw Jones, who sent South African-born Duhan van der Merwe over for the try.

12: Beautiful Architecture

“The Assist King” Willie le Roux lived up to his nickname when he architected this try for Makazole Mapimpi at Murrayfield, displaying great vision and precision to chip the ball for his winger to run onto.

11: Cruz Control

Just when it seemed like Ireland would run away with things, Juan Cruz Mallia’s try brought Argentina right back into the game as he beat four defenders on his way to the try line.

10: Flying Fijian

This stunning solo try by Caleb Muntz helped Fiji fight back to claim their first-ever win over Wales in Cardiff.

9: Power And Pace

The balance in the Bok team was on display in this try against England as Damian de Allende powered through and flung the ball to Man of the Match Cheslin Kolbe, who stepped Ollie Sleightholme and sped in for his second score of the game.

8: Dream Crushers

Scotland ended the Wallabies’ Grand Slam dream at Murrayfield, where the pick of their four tries saw Duane van der Merwe break the line with the ball being kept alive for Finn Russell to finish off.

7: Poetry In Motion

Les Bleus didn’t skip a beat in this team try against Japan with good hands by Peato Mauvaka, a crosskick by Thomas Ramos that bounced perfectly for Louis Bielle-Biarrey and a good inside ball to Yoram Morgana, who linked up back with his winger to seal the deal.

6: Captain Fantastic

Japan had a torrid Autumn Nations Series but the Brave Blossoms did produce this terrific team try against France, which was finished off by captain Harumichi Tatekawa.

5: Seventh Heaven

Bautista Delguy’s delectable dot down, Argentina’s seventh against Italy, summed up Los Pumas’ predatory performance as they slipped tackles and strung together offloads before the winger cut inside to put the final nail in the coffin.

4: Gorgeous Georgia

Georgia threw down the gauntlet against Italy when they worked the ball beautifully to score the opening try of the match through Akaki Tabutsadze.

3: White Hot

England got off to the perfect start against Australia courtesy of a clever grubber by Marcus Smith and snappy interplay between forwards and backs, which led to Chandler Cunningham-South scoring his first Test try.

2: Late Stunner

The Wallabies snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in stunning style at Twickenham, taking the ball through the hands beautifully with Len Ikitau having the conviction to pop a chicken wing offload to Max Jorgensen, who bolted in to break English hearts.

1: Lekker Lakai

The All Blacks put it all together like only they can to draw first blood against France, with flair, fancy footwork and power leading to rookie Peter Lakai scoring his maiden Test try.

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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.

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