The conditions were so atrociousit was a minor miracle that he managed to stay on his feet, let alone run 75 metres for a mazy, crazy try that’s just been officially acclaimed as the finest in international rugby this year.
Take a bow Rodrigo Fernandez, Chile’s fly-half.
The 26-year-old’s eye-popping score for his country in a World Cup qualifier in the rain against the USA in July was picked out as International Rugby Players Men’s Try of the Year at the World Rugby awards ceremony on Sunday evening.
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It was a touchdown that inspired awe, with Fernandez collecting the ball not far from his own 22 before instantly considering his options. Stretching out in front of him was not so much a green carpet of grass as a morass that might have tested the go-forward of a 4x4.
But perhaps he fancied a challenge.
Off he went — first, sidestepping to his right to leave one would-be defender hurtling past him. Then, the Super Liga Americana player sliced through a corridor in which lurked two more opponents. One more US player vainly tried to ankle tap him as he swept past halfway.
Veering right, he suddenly switched left, leaving another American sliding past him in a heap.
At this point, it almost seemed as if Fernandez might be able to open an umbrella above his head and still make progress upfield.
He duly applied the finishing touches, stepping past the openside flanker and evading him again as he held off a final, last-ditch challenge to score.
A comic-book score, then, one that left onlookers at once astonished and grateful that they had bothered leaving their homes on an inhospitable Santiago night to pop along to the rugby.
Unsurprisingly, the touchdown was quickly feted as one of the greatest solo tries of all time.
This time, it wasn't a case of exaggeration.
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Louis Rees-Zammit was among the other nominees for the award with his effort for Wales in the opening Test against South Africa in the summer. Also in the running was Edoardo Padovani’s try for Italy against Wales in the Six Nations, set up in a puff of magic by Ange Capuozzo.
But the gong deservedly went to Fernandez, a player who showed it’s possible to dazzle even when the elements are at their most dismal.
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