Cheswill Jooste, Handré Pollard, Wandisile Simelane and Nico Steyn are among the 10 nominees for the United Rugby Championship Try of the Season award.
Fans can vote for Try of the Season on the URC’s website here, with the winner to be announced between 2 and 5 June.
As it stands on Tuesday morning, Jooste is second in the voting with 16.8% behind leader Kyle Rowe (20.1%). Simelane is third with 13.8%. Pollard has 8.5% and Nico Steyn has 7.4%.
Stormers flanker Deon Fourie won the award last year.
Try of the Season
Cheswill Jooste (Bulls v Munster): The Junior Springbok wing changed direction to slip through a gap from inside his own half, weaving through defenders to score untouched. It was a crucial score in a game that went to the wire. The Bulls edged Munster 34-31 after the Irish side fought back three times after the Bulls went two scores ahead. Of all the nominated tries, Jooste made this look the easiest.
Nico Steyn (Lions v Bulls): Steyn’s score was the culmination of a great team movement after receiving a kick-off. It included some good footwork and a back-of-the-hand offload by Gianni Lombard, and a couple of slipped tackles by Renzo du Plessis and Kelly Mpeku, who created the gap for Steyn to run through. It helped the Lions win 43-33 – their first victory against the Bulls since March 2023, two and a half years earlier.
Wandisile Simelane (Stormers v Ospreys): Another great team move after receiving a kick-off. The Stormers secured the ball and sent it wide for wing Seabelo Senatla to break, he popped a ball inside to captain Ruhan Nel, who smartly grubbered ahead instead of trying to catch it, picked up the ball and offloaded to fullback Wandisile Simelane to go over.
Handré Pollard (Bulls v Scarlets): The Bulls recovered a chip over their lines, David Kriel and Harold Vorster both breaking tackles before Embrose Papier made a great run. A couple of passes later and Pollard finished the team score.
The Stormers will host Cardiff, the Bulls will host Munster and the Lions will travel to Leinster for the quarter-finals on 30 May.
