For the first time in 16 years, all three away teams were victorious in Round 4 of the Guinness Six Nations on a weekend packed with excitement and fantastic tries.
France got the ball rolling on Friday night, moving one step closer to the Grand Slam with a 13-9 win in Cardiff before Scotland downed Italy 33-22 in Rome in Saturday’s early game.
And then at Twickenham, 14-man England battled hard but eventually Ireland took control of the game to earn a bonus-point 32-15 success.
Now it is time to make a decision on the best try of the weekend, with four to pick from on our shortlist.
Anthony Jelonch – Wales v FRANCE
In the end it was the only try in Cardiff, but Anthony Jelonch’s score after eight minutes was a beauty. It all came from a brilliant break and offload by Melvyn Jaminet when returning a high kick, putting Gabin Villière into space. Wales got back well but after a few more phases, France were able to open up space out wide, Yoram Moefana, Gaël Fickou and Jaminet all drawing their men perfectly to put Jelonch over in the corner for a brilliantly-worked score.
Sam Johnson – Italy v SCOTLAND
Scotland ran in five tries in total in Rome with the pick of the bunch their first of the afternoon. Stuart Hogg spotted space after a long kick from the 22 and raced up towards halfway before feeding Darcy Graham with a wide pass. He put George Turner away, with the hooker showing a fine turn of pace before finding Ali Price. The scrum-half got into the 22 before he was brought down, with Graham then feeding Finn Russell, whose wide pass put Sam Johnson over in the corner.
Callum Braley – ITALY v Scotland
Italy threatened several times in the first half at the Stadio Olimpico, and were rewarded with one brilliant try on the half-hour from Callum Braley. Off the back of a scrum, a clever loop move created an overlap to put Pierre Bruno away down the right. The winger then showed brilliant footwork to ride Hogg’s tackle, stay in the field of play and offload to Braley inside him for the simple finish.
Jack Conan – England v IRELAND
Ireland kept the pressure on France with a bonus-point success at Twickenham but they were made to sweat by the 14-man hosts. Leading 18-15 with eight minutes to go, it was Jack Conan’s try that finally killed off the home challenge. Andrew Conway was put into space on the right and raced up to five metres out before being brought down. The ball was then recycled quickly for Conan to charge over from close range.
