The 2023 Guinness Six Nations has provided thrills and spills aplenty through two rounds with some spectacular finishes and brilliant team tries.
Ireland and Scotland lead the way at the top of the table with two wins apiece, and eight and nine tries respectively.
England, under Steve Borthwick, have matched Ireland’s try count, with the six teams combining for 36 tries so far.
But which have been the pick of the bunch so far?
Duhan van der Merwe vs England
When Duhan van der Merwe received the ball from Kyle Steyn 55 metres from the England line, few could have predicted what would happen next. Even for a man of his power and pace, the idea that he would skip past five England defenders and score one of the great Twickenham tries seemed preposterous. And yet that is exactly what he did. His initial burst of pace propelled him past Joe Marchant before he evaded the challenge of Ollie Chessum. He then threw a side-step to dart past the chop tackle attempt of Freddie Steward, another to see off Jack van Poortvliet before a clever switch of the ball from one hand to the other to hand off Alex Dombrandt’s desperate challenge before diving to score one of the great Six Nations tries.
Garry Ringrose vs France
This was the try that sealed Ireland’s victory over France in the game of the tournament so far. In a game that was still in the balance, Ireland showed remarkable patience to go through the phases before Ringrose collected Caelan Doris’ miss pass and drove to the line. He handed off Matthieu Jalibert and shrugged off the diving attempts of France’s Gaël Fickou and Sipili Falatea and secured the crucial win and the bonus point.
Damian Penaud vs Ireland
Damian Penaud started and finished this brilliant move in Dublin. He collected Thomas Ramos’ flick-on in his own 22, before stepping inside to take three Ireland defenders out of the game. After passing to Anthony Jelonch, he raced up in support and when the flanker returned the favour Penaud, had two men to beat to get to free grass. He was able to evade the double tackle attempt from Mack Hansen and Conor Murray with his pace and dot down for a magnificent try.
Kyle Steyn vs Wales
Great work from the inspirational Finn Russell presented the opportunity – the number 10’s jinking half-break after returning left following a few charges by Scotland’s forwards. It looked as though Russell would be able to get over himself, but instead, he produced a sublime offload out of the back of the hand to Kyle Steyn to dot down the first of two tries against Wales in Edinburgh.
Hugo Keenan vs France
Ireland showed they meant business early on against France, digging deep into the Joe Schmidt playbook for their first try. From a dropout from the France line, Doris carried into the heart of the French defence. Then, as the majority of Ireland backs arced around to the left, prop Finlay Bealham fooled everyone with the reverse pass inside to Hugo Keenan, who sprinted clean through a huge gap and then used the options to each side to make the final defenders hesitate and race over for the first try.
Max Malins vs Scotland
Max Malins scored two wonderful tries on his return to the England side against Scotland. While the second was more intricate, including some brilliant quick ball and hands to put the winger over in the corner. The first however, was more spectacular. After England’s forwards had punched some initial holes, Kyle Sinckler delivered the ball out the back to Marcus Smith, who put boot to ball with a perfect cross-kick. Malins got to it and dotted down brilliantly for his first try in England colours.
Blair Kinghorn vs Wales
Scotland have made a habit of scoring stunning tries, and Blair Kinghorn’s effort against Wales in Edinburgh might just be the slickest of the lot. The Scotland forwards had got them up to the 22 and when Ben White spread the ball wide, the backs struck. Sione Tuipulotu’s deft offload gave Finn Russell some space. He then kicked out wide to Duhan van der Merwe, who skipped past one challenge then offloaded inside for Kinghorn to race in to bring up the bonus point.
Ange Capuozzo vs France
Proof that big is not always beautiful, Ange Capuozzo reminded us that quick feet can be just as effective as raw power against France. Off the back of a rolling maul, he spotted that Antoine Dupont had switched from the blindside to the openside, leaving an opportunity if he chose to go left. The full-back darted back, received the ball and stood up Grégory Alldritt before going over in the corner.
Duhan van der Merwe vs England
No, it is not a typo, Duhan van der Merwe has two tries on this list from the very first game. If his first try was a great solo effort, this one might be the best team try of the Championship so far. Scotland recovered the ball in their own 22 before shifting the ball wide where Sione Tuipulotu made an initial burst. Van der Merwe then did well to avoid being pushed into touch before Scotland came back to the right. There, Finn Russell put Kyle Steyn away, and when the ball was recycled, Scotland were suddenly within striking distance. Brilliant passing from front-five forwards Fraser Brown and Richie Gray got the ball out wide to Van der Merwe, who brushed off three tackles to go over for the match-winning score.
