I had a discussion earlier regarding my, somewhat controversial, opinion that the Gareth Edwards try for the Barbarians in 1973 against the All Blacks was in fact, not the greatest try ever scored.

It’s a very good try, yes. In fact it’s an amazing try, but for someone such as myself that’s at an age where I’ve only really watched professional era rugby, in recent years there have been far better tries scored that are now overlooked as ‘the norm’ rather than anything special.

So is it the hype surrounding that try that keeps it as the zenith of all scores to most rugby fans, or is it the list of Union legends involved in the move that makes it memorable, because let’s face it, it’s a mishmash of horrible defensive mismatches, arguably forward passes and plenty of missed tackles.

If that try was scored nowadays, we’d have either had play called back for a high tackle in the defensive 22 or we’d have the TMO in to look at some of the, ahem, flatter passes that were thrown.

The modern era showcases dozens of amazing tries every week. Look at the draw between Harlequins and Gloucester in Big Game 8. Quins Chisholm and Gloucester’s Cook both scored exceptional tries, Cook running 60 meters through the Harlequins team with barely a fingertip laid on him, yes it was selected for the Try of the Week, but no media hyperbole was thrown at it. I’m not suggesting that this was a better try than Edwards, but just an example of the superb skills we see in nearly every game.

Comparing a modern day sport, with all its high tech equipment, players that aren’t just trained to a professional standard, but micro managed through all facets of their life, pitches that are in peak condition 90% of the time, or even artificial/hybrids that never lose their lustre, match balls that have scientific grips to aid handling, even super lightweight shirts that are designed not just for comfort, but to make tackling more difficult and even aid ball control through special grips to 70’s rugby with part time players, heavy leather balls, loose cotton jerseys and let’s face it, a culture of heavy drinking amongst players is nigh on impossible, can you compare Pele to Messi? Fangio to Senna to Schumacher? Rod Laver to Roger Federer? No, you can’t. Not on an even playing field anyway.

Mavericks in the modern game can conjure something from nothing. The unfortunate thing nowadays is that people are afraid to try things due to the backlash they’ll get from fans and the media if they get it wrong. There are still magicians like Danny Cipriani, who has seemingly no fear in trying something new to unlock a defence, yet is consistently overlooked in favour of ‘steady’ players in the international set up. We need to embrace these types of high risk players to keep rugby growing.

So instead of living in the past and running along with misplaced popular opinion, celebrate the array of talent we have in the modern game, the skills we have displayed to us on a weekly basis, stop sharing videos of a 33 year old moment of magic on your social media and instead highlight our modern heroes. Make the new crop of professional era players with skill set’s that are beyond belief the names that will be shared by the next generation. Don’t get on their backs when they get it wrong. Shout it from the rooftops when they get it right.