Autumn Nations Series | “One of the best individual tries” – Reaction to Jonny May’s magical try

by Andy Baber

Jonny May entered an exclusive club at Twickenham on Saturday.

The electrifying winger scored his 30th and 31st tries for England as the hosts delivered an emphatic performance to defeat Ireland 18-7 in the Autumn Nations Cup.

In doing so, May joined Ben Cohen and Will Greenwood as his country’s second-most prolific try-scorers, with only Rory Underwood ahead of him in the men’s game.

But as impressive as the 30-year-old’s stats are for the Red Rose, it was his second try against Ireland which stole the headlines as he earned plaudits from fans and players alike.

𝗝𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗬-𝗛𝗘𝗠

Two tries in as many minutes for the @EnglandRugby flyer…#ENGvIRE is LIVE on #PrimeVideo now!#AmazonDeliversTheRugby pic.twitter.com/R1Wui7f6pd

— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) November 21, 2020

The move started with a loose lineout throw from the visitors, which Maro Itoje pounced on before Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade linked up to find May deep in his own 22.

From there, magic ensued. May raced forward and stepped outside the onrushing Chris Farrell before turning the afterburners on and darting through a gaping hole in the Irish defence.

He stretched away from the chasing Bundee Aki, who lunged unsuccessfully at his heels, and chipped the ball forward deep into Ireland’s half before outpacing Jamison Gibson-Park.

May reached the ball and nudged it forward once more before gathering and dotting down, leaving a trail of green shirts in his wake for one of the best scores England HQ has ever seen.

And following England’s second win of the Autumn Nations Cup, one that puts them top of Group A, there was no shortage of effusive praise for May’s stunning solo effort.

“It’s a shame that 82,000 people missed it live, because the roof would have come off the place!”@matt9dawson describes witnessing THAT Jonny May try live.

🤔 One of the best in Twickenham history?

Listen on @BBCSounds 👇
📻: https://t.co/5Du5Yilmm1 pic.twitter.com/KtGApLOOGa

— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) November 21, 2020

Matt Dawson told BBC 5 Live: “It’s a shame that 82,000 people missed it live because the roof would have come off the place. It was a magical moment in the first half.”

Jonny May really doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.

He was ‘World XV’ level yesterday.

— Paul Williams (@thepaulwilliams) November 22, 2020

May’s teammate Ben Youngs echoed Dawson’s sentiments, saying: “What a shame Twickenham wasn’t full to see one of the best individual tries scored by Jonny May.

“Incredible speed and control, the place would have been rocking.”

What a shame Twickenham wasn’t full to see one of the best individual try’s scored by @J0nnyMay yesterday. Incredible speed and control the place would have been rocking. 🌹

— Ben Youngs (@benyoungs09) November 22, 2020

England legend Jason Robinson also took to Twitter to praise the winger’s exploits, along with ex-Ireland international Brian O’Driscoll and Red Rose scrum-half Danny Care.

Outstanding from Jonny May!!!!👏🏽👏🏽 @EnglandRugby 🌹@autumnnations

— Jason Robinson OBE (@Jason15Robinson) November 21, 2020

England’s physicality on a different level today. Ireland simply outmuscled and left it too late to throw the ball about. @maroitoje @joe_launch unbelievable in the engine room. That pack has some serious fire power! Jonny May on 🔥 🔥 Congrats @EnglandRugby 🌹

— Danny Care (@dannycare) November 21, 2020

The in-out from Jonny May there to sit down Farrell on that second try was a thing of beauty!

— Brian O’Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) November 21, 2020

Eddie Jones was also delighted with the performance of May and warned England’s rivals that there is “no limit” to where he can go following his latest sensational brace.

“The great thing is he is 30 and still improving, there is no limit to where he can go,” Jones said.

“I don’t think I have ever seen a player who is more professional in his preparation than Jonny. He is fast and elusive, at one stage it looked like he had spiders all over him.”

And the man himself was typically modest about his remarkable length of the field try.

“Opportunities like that these days are less and less, because defences are better and better, and breakdowns are tougher and tougher,” May said.

“The only real chance to get ball in a bit of space is at a turnover. We have a flip-the-switch drill in training that has prepared me to take an opportunity like that.

“It just bounced up for me nicely, but that’s rugby. My game within a game is focusing on my speed. That’s my role, so I spend hours priming myself for moments like that.”