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Top 15 tries of the 2025 Nations Series

From golden Northern nuggets to spicy Southern delights, the end-of-year Tests dished up delectable dot downs, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld as he selects the top 15 tries of the Nations Series.

The 2025 Test season culminated last Saturday in Cardiff, where the Springboks condemned Wales to a record 73-0 defeat.

Twenty-one Tests made up this year’s Nations Series, which once again saw Southern Hemisphere sides head north to take on the Six Nations teams on their home turf, with only two teams, South Africa and England, finishing the series unbeaten.

Without further ado, these are my picks for the 15 best tries of the November internationals:

15: Pure Power And Passion

Ollie Lawrence sparked England’s epic 33-19 comeback win over the All Blacks with this barnstorming solo score.

14: Trojan Horse

Australian-born Louis Lynagh refused to be denied and scored a crucial try to help the Azzurri stun the Wallabies in Udine.

13: A Prop Bell-ter

There’s something special about a prop scoring a try, and the Wallabies’ Angus Bell produced a stunner against France, beating two defenders and running home from 30 metres out.

12: Canan’s Clutch Goose Step

Considering his father, Michael, played with fellow Wallabies legend David Campese, Louis Lynagh should’ve known better than being bamboozled by a goose-stepping Canan Moodie, who went on to beat four defenders with a brilliant pass to put Grant Williams in for the try that sealed victory for the 14-man Boks in Turin.

11: Mad Max: Fury Road

Josh Nasser ripped an excellent turnover and fed Max Jorgensen, who raced down the left touchline, grubbered and dove onto the ball to score a stunner in Paris.

10: Off To The Races

England ensured the opening try of the Nations Series was a memorable one as Tom Roebuck soared to pluck Alex Mitchell’s box kick out of the sky and Sam Underhill served as the middle man as he unleashed a rampant Ben Earl.

9: Stolen Goods

Damien Penaud turned defence into attack when he intercepted and sparked a counter, which included perfectly timed passes by Romain Ntamack and Louis Bielle-Biarrey and saw Charles Ollivon finish off.

8: American Dream

Jamie Dobie lived the American dream as he completed his hat-trick and capped his Man of the Match performance in style as Scotland annihilated the Eagles 85-0.

7: Ricky 2.0

Shades of Ricky Januarie and his iconic match-winning try against the All Blacks in 2008, Cobus Reinach sniped through from a ruck, chipped over Damien Penaud, and dotted down to spark the Boks’ comeback win in Paris.

6: ‘Bottle That, Tom!’

A charge down by Dafydd Jenkins, a brilliant cut-out pass by Joe Hawkins and an assist by Max Llewellyn saw Tom Rogers beat Damian McKenzie and complete a hat-trick against the All Blacks.

5: The Dragons Lift Their Game

Wales predictably went down to New Zealand but gave their fans a few things to celebrate, starting with this team effort, touched down by Tom Rogers.

4: Matera Magic

Pablo Matera showed what a freakishly good player he is when he carved clean through from a restart and punted the ball off his left foot for Mateo Carreras, who coolly scooped it up, evaded Dan Edwards and scored as the Pumas romped to a record 52-28 win over Wales.

3: Fijian Flair

It was vintage stuff from Fiji as a long ball, two offloads and a chip in the nick of time by Simione Kuruvoli saw his halfback partner Caleb Muntz collect and slide over against England.

2: White Knight

Fighting back from 17-0 down at halftime to tying things up at 17-all, Scotland threatened to secure their first-ever win over the All Blacks. Super-sub Damian McKenzie, however, came to the Kiwis’ rescue with a magical finish and a follow-up penalty goal as the visitors escaped with a 25-17 victory.

1: Red Alert

Louis Bielle-Biarrey, in his red scrum cap, showed why he was among the four nominees for the World Player of the Year award with this worldie of a try against the Wallabies.

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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