By KEVIN NORQUAY
LONDON - The magnificent try which Barbarians halfback Gareth Edwards scored against the 1973 All Blacks has been rated sport's third most-memorable moment by Britons.
"It was the greatest try of all time scored against the most ruthless tacklers in the game," the Observer newspaper said, outlining the top 100 moments selected by its readers.
The end-to-end try even topped Geoff Hurst's third goal for England in the 1966 World Cup soccer final against Germany, which placed fourth.
Cricketer Ian Botham topped the list with his 1981 Headingley heroics - a spectacular unbeaten 149 that turned a lost-cause test against Australia into an unlikely triumph.
Manchester United's 1999 European Cup soccer win, in which they scored twice in injury time against Bayern Munich, came in at No 2.
The list revealed that All Black rugby wing Jonah Lomu continued to feature in English nightmares.
Lomu's four tries in the 1995 World Cup semifinal ranked 40th.
Recalling his try at Cardiff Arms Park, Edwards said he had been relieved when Baa-Baas' first five-eighths Phil Bennett got the ball after a period of frenetic play.
"I was thinking, 'Phil will put it into touch, we'll stop and we'll take it from there."' Instead, Bennett dodged the tackle of charging All Black loose forward Alistair Scown to set history in motion.
Edwards found the energy to put himself at the end of a string of passes, dashing for the line with fullback Joe Karam in hot pursuit.
- NZPA
THE TOP 15
1. Botham heroics defeat Australia, 1981 (cricket).
2. Manchester United seal the treble with European Cup victory, 1999 (soccer).
3. Barbarians score against the All Blacks, 1973 (rugby).
4. Geoff Hurst scores his third goal in World Cup final, 1966 (soccer).
5. Muhammad Ali beats George Foreman in 1974 (boxing).
6. England footballer Paul Gascoigne weeps after yellow card rules him out of possible World Cup final, 1990 (soccer).
7. British oarsman Steve Redgrave wins fifth Olympic gold medal at Sydney (rowing).
8. Brazil score fourth goal in World Cup final, 1970 (soccer).
9. Dennis Taylor sinks Steve Davis to win world title, 1985 (snooker).
10. Roger Bannister runs sub-four-minute mile, 1954 (athletics).
11. Late goal by Michael Thomas wins the league title for Arsenal, 1989 (soccer).
12. Olga Korbut enchants the world, 1972 (gymnastics).
13. Skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean win Olympic gold with Bolero, 1984 (skating).
14. England striker Michael Owen scores against Argentina in World Cup, 1998 (soccer).
15. Canadian sprinter-drug cheat Ben Johnson "wins" the Olympic 100m, 1988 (athletics).
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