YouTube Reveals the Best Rugby Tries of All Time

While football dominates Britain’s sporting landscape, it comes as no surprise that LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk believe more love is deserved for the underrated sport of rugby. The mix of impressive athleticism, teamwork and pure skill is worth the time, not to mention the best rugby tries can definitely turn a few heads.

So which are the best rugby tries of all time?

Ask anyone and their top 20 best rugby tries will be different, so we thought adding some raw statistics could help to quantify a list. Turning to YouTube, the number of views per video* have been collected, to reveal our top 20 great rugby tries.

Not only that, we’ve estimated how much the footage of each famous try could earn** using Influencer Marketing Hub’s YouTube Money Calculator.

The 20 best rugby tries: Results

Player	Match (year)	Views*	Potential earnings** (£)
Gareth Edwards	British Barbarians vs. New Zealand All Blacks (1973)	4,416,313	6,218.60
Jean-Luc Sadourny	France vs. New Zealand (1994)	1,430,060	2,014
Jonah Lomu	New Zealand vs. England (1995)	909,325	1,280.25
Kevin Maggs	Ireland vs. New Zealand (2001)	427,812	602.07
Christian Cullen	New Zealand vs. Australia (1999)	298,921	420.92
Christophe Lamaison	France vs. New Zealand (1999)	267,620	376.77
Brian O’Driscoll	British and Irish Lions vs. Australia (2001)	253,867	357.74
Jonah Lomu	New Zealand vs. France (1999)	197,384	277.82
Christian Cullen	New Zealand vs. Australia (1997)	187,526	264.12
Yannick Jauzion	France vs. New Zealand (2007)	148,804	209.32
Stephen Jones	Wales vs. England (2003)	139,237	196.38
Serge Blanco	Australia vs. France (1987)	131,292	184.96
Joe Rokococo	New Zealand vs. South Africa (2003)	126,495	178.11
Bryan Habana	South Africa vs. New Zealand (2012)	99,347	140.05
Raideke Samo	Australia vs. New Zealand (2011)	84,097	118.74
Takudzwa Ngwenya	USA vs. South Africa (2007)	77,383	108.84
Beauden Barrett	New Zealand vs. Australia (2015)	68,640	96.67
Kosuke Endo	Japan vs. Wales (2007)	47,112	66.22
Rupeni Caucaunibuca	Fiji vs. France (2003)	43,641	61.65
Richard Bands	South Africa vs. New Zealand (2003)	35,148	49.47

Taking first place for the best rugby try of all time is former Welsh rugby player, Gareth Edwards. The famous 1973 match between the Barbarians and All Blacks showcased some impressive plays, with the scrum-half’s specific try earning a whopping 4,416,313 views on YouTube – a staggering 2,986,253 more than the second best rugby try.

It seems the classics receive the most love, with this masterpiece having the potential to earn the uploader as much as £6,218.60 – once again, £4,204.60 more than the second spot!

The impressive upset by Jean-Luc Sadourny in France’s battle against New Zealand (1994), claims second place. The showcase has been viewed an impressive 1,430,060 times, with a potential intake of £2,014 for the uploader.

All Blacks superstar Jonah Lomu features twice in our top 20. Initially in third place, his try against England in 1995 has earned just short of 1 million views (909,325) on YouTube, which rakes in a potential £1,280.25. He also places in eighth against France in 1999, with his rugby try being seen by 197,384 people across YouTube – Rugby World Cup memories to hold close.

In fourth, fifth and sixth place are as follows:

• Kevin Maggs (Ireland vs. New Zealand 2001) – 427,812 views
• Christian Cullen (New Zealand vs. Australia 1999) – 298,921 views
• Christophe Lamaison (France vs. New Zealand 1999) – 267,620 views

Taking a look at the bottom of the top table, 20th place is taken by Richard Bands. Whilst last in our collection of the best rugby tries, the South Africa hooker/prop still earned an impressive 35,148 views from his try attempt. The video is also valued at £49.47.

This is followed by Rupeni Caucaunibuca’s Fijian try in 2003 (43,641 views), Kosuke Endo of Japan in 2007 (47,112 views), and New Zealand’s Beauden Barrett in 2015 (68,640), to name a few. Take a look at the table above for other entries!
(Copyright Roger Sedres/Shutterstock.com)

Other notable stats:

• Not always on the scoring side, the New Zealand All Blacks feature in the top 6 most watched videos.
• New Zealand is the only country to have the same player featured more than once – Christian Cullen and Jonah Lomu both appear twice.
• The two best tries earn more than the remaining 18 combined (£8,232.60 vs. £4,990.10).

If this celebration of rugby greatness has inspired you to learn more, visit our rugby news page! If you want to experience some of the best rugby tries LIVE, you can check out our upcoming rugby fixtures.

*Video views taken from YouTube represent live data and are therefore subject to change. Data was extracted on 09/03/20.
**Data was obtained on 09/03/20 and correct as of this date. Influencer Marketing Hub calculates potential earnings in four ways: CPM vs. CPC; estimated gross earnings per 1,000 views; estimated earnings per subscriber; and estimated variance based on video engagement.