Fri 10 Feb 2012 | 06:02
John Leslie scores the fastest ever international try in 1999

11
Comments

ORIGINAL - https://www.rugbydump.com/news/john-leslie-scores-the-fastest-ever-international-try-in-1999/

 

Wales face Scotland on Sunday so today we look back on a previous meeting between the two, going all the way back to 1999 and the last ever Five Nations tournament. On that day Scotland got off to a start that they could only have dreamed of.

Scotland's Kiwi player John Leslie scored within 10 seconds of kick-off at Murrayfield, the fastest ever try scored from kickoff. Leslie and his brother Martin both qualified to play for them thanks to a Scottish grandfather, and made their debuts just a year before he scored this historic try.

"You can't get a better start than that," said Jim Telfer, head coach at the time.

"It's so important in international rugby, especially if things haven't been going so well, to get ahead of the game. Wales were dangerous early on but very predictable towards the end," he added, after Scotland won the game 33-20 following a resilient comeback from the Welsh.

Leslie gave them the ideal start as he competed well for the ball from the kickoff and actually ended up snatching it right from the grasp of another New Zealander, Shane Howarth.

"It was just one of those things where the ball fell into my lap," Leslie said.

Scotland won the Championship that year, thanks in part to a memorable late try against England, scored by now legendary Wales and British & Irish Lions center, Scott Gibbs.

According to some, Leslie's feat is matched only by England's Bart Price, who scored against Wales in 1923. It's difficult to know how accurate the timing was back then, so it's safe to say that Leslie's record is safe, and most likely won't be beaten anytime soon.

 

11 Comments

  • nhunter
    12:52 PM 14/02/2012

    I requested this on behalf of the independent Scottish supporters organisation - FOSRS.org.uk, as there were previous video's talking about the quickest try ever from a kick off. From memory, they were about 9 seconds. I requested this video as I remember watching the match, and have it on video, and it was just 7 seconds on the clock. It was confirmed later as 7 seconds in the match.

    So as far as I'm aware, this is the quickest try ever in a match.

    This was, of course, the year when Scotland became 5Nations champions for ever, after the final game in Paris, where there were 4 tries scored in 20 mins, so we'll ignore the following 12 years. :)

  • pretzel
    12:27 AM 14/02/2012

    But he looks like Bieber, so we'll forgive you if you ignore that one!

  • rugbydump
    6:19 PM 13/02/2012

    This is the fastest try from kick-off, not from a restart. There's been a few quick ones from restart, with JOC's possibly one of the quickest

  • jimi_moody
    10:51 AM 13/02/2012

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0_qKE5a6HY

    9 minutes in.

  • pretzel
    7:16 PM 12/02/2012

    Travesty today with the disallowed try... Do referees get reprimanded for mistakes like that?

  • jumping04
    10:59 PM 11/02/2012

    James O'Connor scored right from a restart in 2010 when Bryan Habana failed to catch the ball. However that wasn't the opening kick off, it was a restart from a previous score. Yes it was probably quicker from the time the ball was kicked to being touched down, however it was mid match; hence not being the fastest try of all time.

  • pretzel
    12:58 PM 11/02/2012

    "And of course, any video with Bill McLaren is Rugbydump worthy. I could listen to him read his grocery list or the Edinburgh phone book."

    LOL, BRILLIANT COMMENT!

  • cheyanqui
    1:52 AM 11/02/2012

    Interesting to see the kickoff to start a half come from the ground (vs a drop kick). If I recall, the law was changed o/a 2002?

    And of course, any video with Bill McLaren is Rugbydump worthy. I could listen to him read his grocery list or the Edinburgh phone book.

  • pretzel
    12:11 AM 11/02/2012

    Care to throw in a link to confirm your claim perhaps? I can't find a video...

  • pretzel
    12:07 AM 11/02/2012

    Agree with Stroudos (as usual 90% of the time) on this one.

    Wonderful to hear Bill McLaren, I chuckled at the "barely a minute gone" :/ well if its from kick off it would be barely 10-15 seconds I'd have thought...

  • stroudos
    9:12 PM 10/02/2012

    Ahh, the dulcet tone of the late great Bill McLaren. May he rest in peace.

    Do you know what stands out? "He's a big fellow at six feet two"! Hard to believe this is not much over ten years ago, isn't it, when wings and scrum-halves are now very often that size...