Jared Proffit’s first Super Rugby try was certainly a bizarre one
Sunday’s Super Rugby clash between the Chiefs and Fijian Drua produced ‘the wildest try of 2026’ as former All Black scrum-half Justin Marshall admitted he had just witnessed something he’d never seen before in rugby.
The Chiefs moved top of Super Rugby, after capping off the Super Round in Christchurch with a 42-22 win over the Drua. However, the match will likely be remembered for loosehead prop Jared Proffit’s first Super Rugby try, which came about in bizarre circumstances.
With the Chiefs on the attack late in the first-half, Drua full-back Ilaisa Droasese fielded a kick behind in his own in-goal area.
Rather than dot the ball down for a goalline dropout, Droasese – perhaps believing there was a knock-on advantage after Chiefs wing Daniel Sinkinson didn’t gather the ball – opted to put a grubber kick ahead of himself to chase.
However, the kick didn’t even leave the in-goal area, with prop Proffit in the right place to fall upon the loose ball to score.
As the unusual scene unfolded, commentator Sean Maloney cried out: “What’s happening here?!”
After a TMO check confirmed that Proffit had grounded the ball cleanly, with the try being awarded, Maloney added: “It’s the most unlikely try we’ve seen all weekend long.
“It’s the craziest try of the weekend no doubt and it might just be the wildest try of 2026.
“What has happened here?”
On co-comms, former Ospreys scrum-half Marshall couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.
“It’s just hard to describe what Ilaisa Droasese was thinking,” said Marshall. “There’s no problem just to ground the ball and go to a dropout under the posts.
“And there’s nowhere for him to kick it.
“I have never seen anything like that before in my life in the game.”
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