Taufete’e ties Keith Wood’s try record

Records are made to be broken and today a long-standing one equalized. Since long before retiring, following RWC 2003, Ireland’s Keith Wood has held the World Record for the most test tries scored by a hooker or a prop.

In October 2001 Wood scored his 12th test try to match that of New Zealand’s Sean Fitzpatrick. Both players were test captains at RWCs and are regarded as being among the greatest hookers of all-time.

Fitzpatrick retired in 1997 with 12 test tries from 92 caps. His final cap was earlier that year against Argentina in Hamilton. His mark of 12 tries was notably above that of other hookers both before and during his playing days.

The mark would be matched by Wood in 2001 and then beaten in 2002. Wood’s 13th test try came against France in the 2002 Six Nations. He would add two more, against Russia and Romania, to retire with 15 tries from 60 caps.

Wood’s World Record has survived a very long time. It has remained the benchmark for all front-rowers from 2002-2019. The player to have equalized him is Eagle Joe Taufete’e who scored his 15th test try today playing for the USA against Chile.

The 15 tries came in very quick time. They included two in 2016, four in 2017, five in 2018 and one today. Of his tries all but one came with him playing hooker. The exception was his one test start at prop which saw him scoring against Tonga in 2016. His career tries at international level are documented in the table below.