Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Outstanding James Simpson-Daniel try vs the Barbarians in 2002
Simpson-Daniel, only 19 at the time, contributed to England's highly impressive 53-29 victory over a Barbarians team that included the likes of Christian Cullen, Thomas Castaignede, and the legendary Jonah Lomu.
The superbly inventive solo try scored in the 35th minute by Simpson-Daniel had the world's most famous rugby player looking somewhat stunned after a man half his size and with no international experience had the audacity to take him on on the outside.
Percy Montgomery too was totally bemused with a delightful and deliberate juggle of the ball by Simpson-Daniel, before watching him step and skin Lomu down the wing and squeeze over in the corner, despite Cullen's covering challenge.
The Twickenham crowd, Clive Woodward, and every neutral rugby fan around the world stood as one to applaud a fantastic moment from a young man who showed so much promise at such a tender age.
This is an excellent 40-metre solo try that needed to be added to our archives, and one that will always be remembered for that cheeky dummy and the electric out-sprinting of Lomu.
Posted at 2:12 pm | 45 comments
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Viewing 45 comments
Darragh May 13, 2008 2:54 pm
Absolutely top quality, loved the pass to himself, pure class!
Anonymous May 13, 2008 4:38 pm
anyone who takes on Lomu and Cullen and comes of best is far from average...
Luke May 13, 2008 4:46 pm
wow. That is...wow. Good ol' anonymous up there thinks he's all high and mighty. "average at best" my ass.
sage onion May 13, 2008 5:07 pm
Haha Lomu got shown up twice in that game, the rapid number 7 who had a very short international career dummied and burnt him off too.
Brett May 13, 2008 5:16 pm
consider the magnitude of the situation: 19 yr old beating percy, jonah, and cullen. it's tough to say any try in that situation is average at best, particularly when he dummies percy out of his shorts (audacious), burns by jonah (gas), and even thinks to challenge cullen to a race to the corner (straight ballsy).
Anonymous May 13, 2008 5:30 pm
Can someone get the clip when Simpson Daniel tries to tackle Lomu in 2003 and Lomu's fend off is so powerful it knocks simpson daniel back into another England player and knocks him over. Does anyone remember this? REQUEST
elrolo May 13, 2008 6:21 pm
quality try, i think hes got a shot at getting into england atm. ^^ post it in the request section.
Anonymous May 13, 2008 7:26 pm
something tells me when people are talking in 20 years about the greatest wingers to play the game, the name Jonah Lomu is likely to come up a bit more than James Simpson Daniel. still let him have his moment in the sun, it is a very good try.
goodNumber10 May 13, 2008 8:21 pm
absoloutely brilliant solo try.such a shame he's been hit with so much bad luck, he should be int eh england side, he's like austin healy can play everywhere and create try's out of nothing.
goodNumer10 May 13, 2008 8:25 pm
"something tells me when people are talking in 20 years about the greatest wingers to play the game, the name Jonah Lomu is likely to come up a bit more than James Simpson Daniel. still let him have his moment in the sun, it is a very good try."yes, but mainly because his international career has been blighted by misfortune.According to you, Lomu was a great, so why demean the try.Either he is, in which case great try. Or he isn't, in which case it's just a good try, you can't really have it both ways.:)
TotalRugby May 13, 2008 8:31 pm
good to see phil christophers in an england jersey. he is one of the stand out players in the french league and definitely deserves a comeback in the english side...great try by sinbad btw...
Third Centre May 13, 2008 9:05 pm
Jesus why are people taking away from a class try and JSD ? Brilliant dummy pass ! did Spencer do something similar when in the GP ?
fess May 13, 2008 9:21 pm
Pure class!It's sad how bitter some people are. Can't you just enjoy it for what it is regardless of what nation that player plays for?
ciano May 13, 2008 10:03 pm
Next time they played, Jonah's in an All Black jersey and hands him off big time....pay back!!
Anonymous May 13, 2008 11:27 pm
Lomu was only good because he was big on the wing. Is being big a skill? No, but Simpson-Daniel has mad skillz.
martin May 13, 2008 11:34 pm
"Haha Lomu got shown up twice in that game, the rapid number 7 who had a very short international career dummied and burnt him off too."that was james forrester and he was playing 8 at the time. his career has been blighted by injury to. also why are their so many comments saying that he was flatenned next week? England won a great game
martin May 13, 2008 11:36 pm
"Haha Lomu got shown up twice in that game, the rapid number 7 who had a very short international career dummied and burnt him off too."that was james forrester and he was playing 8 at the time. his career has been blighted by injury to. also why are their so many comments saying that he was flatened next year? England won a great gamewrote it wrong
Anonymous May 14, 2008 12:17 am
Lomu was only good because he was big on the wing. Is being big a skill? No, but Simpson-Daniel has mad skillz.I think you'll find Lomu had some pretty intense skills.....
Don May 14, 2008 4:47 am
rd should please deal with these anonymous postingsbut anyway, that was a great try
Sharky May 14, 2008 8:09 am
Love that dummy. Saw Justin Marshall do it for the Crusaders once too, except he was running more laterally. Works like a charm if you pull it off properly. Lomu was big, unfit then apparently, and sluggish on defense, but f*&k me this is a good try for the dummy, the speed, and step, and most importantly, for having the confidence to go for it! Then again, if I saw Lomu up in front of me, I'd also do my best to run around him. I think we all know how that would end though :P
Eric May 14, 2008 1:02 pm
Is that guy still around? That was a great try!! BTW Lomu did look abit slow there.. but maybe is because of simpson-daniel's speed...
AbbyNo7 May 14, 2008 1:07 pm
Great try. Spencer did something very similar for the Baa Baas against England a few years ago. In that match the Barbarians won by a fair margin. Shame JSD isn't in England squad as he needs an operation. Would love to have seen him playing in New Zealand.
thedannyclayton May 14, 2008 1:25 pm
Stupid commentators!I hate Barnes and the other guy on one of the great tries of individual brilliance:"there could be something special here.......there is (dulcet tones as usual)"An annoying. Ruined a lot of the world cup for me.Great try by JSD. Shame Lomu played for so many years unfit. He could have doubled his scores for NZ.JSD's day will come...I think...
Anonymous May 14, 2008 3:14 pm
Typical England, you have to go back to 2002 to see a try that is seen every week in club, NPC and Super 4 every week. Any back with any sort of skill does this sort of move week in week out, jeez I do it every week at Touch Rugby and still guys fall for it. Spencer invented the pass to yourself, and to be fair he did go round Lomu, s did a few in his time, but there would be few that would have any one with a hyphened name in there side in front of Jonah. Did he go to a private school by any chance!!
Anonymous May 14, 2008 4:45 pm
^^^ Typical casual fan from the Southern hemisphere.Unaware of the rugby brilliance that is JSD.
Sharky May 14, 2008 5:45 pm
I couldn't agree more with thedannyclayton! That try should have had hooting and hollering by the commentators, instead it was the same reactions we heard in the WC over and over again, on some of the best pieces of rugby. Highly frustrating as a fan. Get excited commentators you twits!
Anonymous May 14, 2008 7:31 pm
while i may not agree with him all the time i'd rather hear Barnes commentating than some halfwit like murray mexted. he actually knows something about the game. the bloke from Northern Ireland who does the commentary on setanta and sky is the best commentator ever. not to take away from this very fine try but Simpson-Daniel is by no means brilliant.
Sharky May 14, 2008 7:49 pm
Yawn... Anonymous comments just stand no ground with me personally. And how could you call an ex All Black number eight a halfwit who doesn't know anything about the game?
Anonymous May 14, 2008 10:19 pm
I think you'll find Lomu had some pretty intense skills.....couldn't pass, couldn't kick, poor positioning a lot of the time.he was good because he was big, put another big guy on the wing and Lomu goes nowhere
Anonymous May 15, 2008 2:29 am
The dummy pass was as impressive as O'Driscolls from a couple years ago, except the stage was greater and it amounted to a try being scored.
swingin' mickey May 15, 2008 10:16 am
defending murray mexted? hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.have you listened to the man? people who agree with anything that man has to say's opinion holds no ground with me. not only is he a joke as a commentator (see his wikipedia page) but he is worse than the most myopic of All Black supporters. the most patronising, uninformed man currently commentating on rugby in the world today
Sharky May 15, 2008 1:07 pm
Sounds like he said something about your team and you haven't quite got over it yet hey...And well done for finally using a name, swingin' mickey. :)
steppin6 May 16, 2008 1:02 pm
agree with swingin' Mickey here..Mexted is a boderline simpleton, he is the reason that all Kiwi's (unfairly) get tarred with the 'one eyed' brush....just watch the dvd of the 02 England win in NZ for proof-so bias it defies belief, you can hear the sound of his teeth grinding together every time JW adds 3pts despite the gale force wind!!!
Anonymous May 17, 2008 9:47 pm
People that think thats class clearly dont watch enough rugby outside the england premiership stuff, which is made up of ex southern hemisphere lads cashing up mainly. One bit of skill and everyone rates him, still has a double barreled name, and still wouldnt make a NZ E side!
Anonymous September 21, 2008 10:23 am
"the rapid number 7 who had a very short international career dummied and burnt him off too."the open side flanker is James Forrester. He also plays for Gloucester , although he's been injured for about a year and a half.
Anonymous October 03, 2008 1:34 pm
how can so many people be knocking that try? 'one bit of skill and everyones rating him' - its not one bit of skill. people don;'t think he's class because they don't see enough rugby outside the english premiership, they think he's class cus they see the premiership and him week in week out (when he's not injured) showing that he is class! saying he isn't class is more about your ignorance of him than our ignorance of world rugby! jsd along with most other premiership players would stand up in any league in the world! the fact that not many play abroad is more to do with the appeal of the premiership rather than their lack of ability, as highlighted by the masses of southern hemisphere players having a go. stop being so biased and accept its a good bit of skill by a class player!
Dan October 22, 2008 8:48 pm
The openside that was mentioned was James Forrester, he usually played number 8, and was consistently one of the best in the GP for many seasons. Unfortunately just before the World Cup, where he was widely considered to be selected, he suffered a horrible knee injury which ruled him out for 18 months, and unfortunately turned out to be career ending after his knee didnt hold up during his comeback, and England and Gloucester lost a tremendous talent.
emilioz October 31, 2008 11:35 pm
if lomu had been in the same line as percy and the other centre he would have tackled him.anyway superb try
coxy November 13, 2008 9:12 pm
he did that again against NZ didnt he...and then england scored off the next phase...trademark?coxy
AJ Jenkins May 08, 2012 8:12 pm
JSD is an absolutely CLASS player, if he hadn't been plagued with injury when at his peak he could have been one of the top England wingers of his time, this try is just a small amount of what he can do
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