Dorking winger Toby McRae proudly ended 2023 as the top try scorer in the sport. The 25-year-old scored an incredible 42 tries in 26 games for Dorking in National Two East, finishing 11 tries clear of second-placed England women and Bristol Bears hooker Lark Atkin-Davies.
It was brought to McRae’s attention in a Dorking group chat and the potent flyer is proud of his landmark 2023, especially with his side launching a promotion push after winning 11 of their opening 14 games in the first half of the season.
McRae told The Rugby Paper: “I was quite surprised when I found out. One of the lads posted it when it came out on New Year’s Eve, so was cool to see.
“It was a great finish to the back end of last year and Dorking have done well to carry it on at the start of this season.
“It’s great that I have been rewarded for all my hard work that I’ve put in. It’s great for me personally and for everyone at the club as it means we get our name out there. I made my debut for Dorking when I was nine, so it’s been a long time and playing here means so much.”
Runner-up Atkin-Davies scored four tries at the tail end of 2023 for Bristol Bears this season after scoring a mammoth 20 in the first half of the year as she helped guide her side to the Women’s Premiership semi-final.
Atkin-Davies also scored a try at Twickenham in England‘s Six Nations Grand Slam victory over France and went on to score three tries in the inaugural WXV1 title winning campaign in New Zealand.
Camborne’s hooker Ben Priddey finished just two tries shy of the Red Roses front row after making a blistering start to his first season in National Two West by scoring 15 tries, after touching down for 14 in the second half of the club’s promotion winning season from the South West Premier.
It was a two-person tie for fourth place as France and Bordeaux winger Damian Penaud scored 27 tries for club and country, including six at the World Cup. He was level with Cambridge hooker Ben Brownlie, who took advantage of the newly promoted Championship side’s devastating maul, with 24 tries scored in the second half of last season’s National One title win and three in the club’s first season in the second tier.
Rounding off the top six is Luctonians hooker Ben Link who scored 24 tries for the National Two West team as they sit top of the table midway through the season. Link has scored 16 times this season after powering over for eight touchdowns at the end of the last campaign.
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