The 2024 Six Nations is rapidly approaching with just a few weeks until the tournament gets underway at the beginning of February.
Before the famous competition begins, Planet Rugby takes a closer look at which players have led the try-scoring charts over the last five years.
It may come as little surprise to see the Frenchman atop the try-scoring list last season given his outrageous form. The wing has the most amazing ability to make crossing the whitewash incredibly easy and silky smooth.
scored five tries in last year’s championship with arguably the pick of the lot coming against Ireland where he sparked a counter-attack deep in his half before being played in later in the same movement.
He is danger personified and defensive lines tremble at the sight of him with ball in hand.
Runners-up: Scotland duo Huw Jones and Blair Kinghorn finished behind Penaud with four tries each in the 2023 tournament.
It was a relatively low-scoring season with the trio of top scorers only bagging three tries apiece in an edition tightly-contested between Ireland and France, with Les Bleus running away with a Grand Slam in the end.
2022 was a great season for Lowe who really began underlining his worth in Ireland green with a total of five try involvements, including three tries and two assists.
The wing was also valuable around the park with his vision and cannon of a left boot very useful for the Irish cause.
But again it was Penaud involved at the top of the try-scoring charts but this time he was joined by his compatriot Villiere, who has an impressive ability to bust open defences all on his own as he did in his hat-trick against Italy. The distribution of tries between both wings showcases just how lethal Les Bleus were during the Grand Slam success.
Runners-up: A whopping 13 players finished one try behind the leaders with the likes of Antoine Dupont, Marcus Smith, Josh Adams and Ange Capuozzo in the mix.
This was the season where the gargantuan wing really came into his own in the colours of Scotland. His play was characterised by powerful running at an extreme pace as he quickly threw his name among the best wings in the game.
His tries came in several different forms from runaways to pick and goes near the line. He beat 31 defenders in that campaign and scored an important brace of tries as Scotland beat France with the clock in red.
Runners-up: Two players managed to get within one try of the Scot in the form of Wales star Louis Rees-Zammit and England’s Anthony Watson.
The first and only player on the list who is not a wing. It is no surprise it is Ollivon who boasts one of the best strike rates for a forward. The flank, who led France at the time, was in brilliant form as he scored four tries in 2020.
Ollivon’s understanding and ability to read the game is very impressive and it is those attributes that often put him in the right positions to get on the scoresheet. His try-scoring exploits have not slowed down since.
Runners-up: A trio of players followed the flank with Wales pair Justin Tipuric and Adams joined by Frenchman Romain Ntamack on three tries that year.
It was a particularly good for the Englishman who finished the tournament on six tries – two more than anyone else that season.
May was on fire in broken play and always had the presence of mind to chase hard and was rewarded for that. His championship hit its heights against France where the Red Rose wing bagged a hat-trick on the day.
Runners up: One player stood on his own in second place with four tries in the form of French star Yoann Huget.
