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The greatest try ever scored

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The greatest try ever scored

"The greatest try ever scored" - sometimes called "That try" - was a try that was scored by the Barbarians in a match against the New Zealand All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park in January 1973. Unlike in other sports where there is usually great debate over the greatest plays of all time, in rugby union there is general consensus that this is the best of all time within the sport.

The move started with a deep kick from the New Zealand winger. The ball dropped towards Phil Bennett near to his goal line. Bennett sidestepped and evaded three tackles, in turn passing the ball to JPR Williams. It next passed through four pairs of hands (Pullin, Dawes, David and Quinnell) before Edwards, slipping between two teammates and seemingly intercepting the last pass, finished with a diving try in the left-hand corner.

The commentary itself is sometimes described as the greatest ever, although it very nearly didn't happen because until just 2 hours before the match Bill McLaren was due to commentate; but he was recovering from 'flu so Cliff Morgan was called in at the last minute. Morgan commentated the try as follows:

A moment later, at the restart, he added,

The Barbarians won the game 23-11.

In a UK poll conducted by Channel 4 in 2002, British rugby supporters voted Edwards's historic try for the Barbarians #20 in the list of the 100 Greatest Sporting Moments. The 40th anniversary of the try sparked renewed interest.

References

The greatest try ever scored Wikipedia


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