The ten most prolific players in English rugby history.
Christian Wade made a great start Gallagher PREM season, he scored five tries in Newcastle Red Bulls’ first three games. The prolific winger is now one step away from becoming the top try-scorer in the competition’s history, and could equal (or even surpass) the record if he takes on Sale Sharks this weekend.
Below we list the top ten try scorers in PREM rugby history, see what Wade still needs to do to top the list, and which current players could be next to join the all-time greats.
Top 10 PREM try scorers: In brief
- Chris Ashton (101)
- Christian Wade* (100)
- Tom Varndell (92)
- Mark Cueto (90)
- Danny Care (85)
- Jonny May (78)
- Steve Hanley (75)
- Mike Brown (72)
- Matt Banahan (71)
- Paul Sackey (69)
*He currently plays in PREM.
Top 10 try scorers in PREM Rugby history
1. Chris Ashton
(Dave Wainwright for Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 101
- clubs: Northampton Saints, Saracens, Sale Sharks, Harlequins, Worcester Warriors, Leicester Tigers
The first player to break the 100-try mark remains the most prolific player in PREM rugby history – for now. Either side of a year at Toulon, Chris Ashton has scored for all six of his Premiership employers, even netting in one of his four games for Worcester Warriors.
2. Christian Wade*
(Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 100
- clubs: Wasps, Gloucester, Newcastle Red Bulls
The second man to score a century of PREM tries has Ashton in his sights. A comprehensive start to the 2026-27 season saw Christian Wade score five points in just three matches, despite playing for Newcastle Red Bulls a team still looking for its first win of the season. Just imagine how much he would have accomplished if he hadn’t spent all those years in France and the NFL…
3. Tom Varndell
(David Rogers/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 92
- clubs: Leicester Tigers, Wasps, Bristol Bears
Prolific for LeicesterWasps and BristolTom Varndell held the all-time record for five years until Ashton passed him with a hat-trick for Leicester in 2022. In 2005, Varndell became the first player to be featured in both the England XV and Sevens in the same week.
4. Mark Cueto
(David Rogers/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 90
- clubs: Sale Sharks
No player has scored more tries for one club than Marco Kuet, with whom he has spent his entire career Sale Sharks. His record on the wing earned him 55 caps for England and the start of the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, and he was the overall PREM record holder until Tom Varndell won it in 2017.
5. Danny Care
(David Rogers/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 85
- clubs: Leeds Tykes, Harlequins
The only player in this top 10 not to ply his trade in the third bench, scrum-half Danny Care has recorded his 85 tries (a club record) over almost two decades behind the Harlequins scrum – he is also second on the all-time list for Premiership appearances. Care’s best tally was 12 (second highest in the PREM that year) during Quins’ 2020-21 title-winning season.
6. Jonny May
(Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 78
- clubs: Gloucester Rugby, Leicester Tigers
The sight of Jonny May rushing towards the try line was a nightmare for opposing defenders, and he would certainly be higher on this list if he hadn’t spent the last two years of his career in France. May’s 36 tries for England put him second on the all-time list – only Rory Underwood scored more for his country.
7. Steve Hanley
(John Gichigi/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 75
- clubs: Sale Sharks
It’s definitely a question of what could have been for Steve Hanley (who, like Cueto, spent his entire career at Sale) after a back injury ended his career at 29. His strikeout rate of 75 in 135 games (that’s an attempt every 1.8 games) comfortably tops this list.
8. Mike Brown
(Steve Bardens/Getty Images for Harlequins)
- Number of PREM attempts: 72
- clubs: Harlequins, Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers
Only three players have made more PREM appearances than Mike Brown, and the long-serving England full-back finished his career with an impressive record of a try every four games. He left Harlequins second on the club’s all-time goalscoring list (behind team-mate Care), and went on to come through the ranks for Newcastle and Leicester.
9. Matt Banana
(Bob Bradford – CameraSport via Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 71
- clubs: Bath Rugby, Gloucester Rugby
The only Jersey-born player on the list has spent his entire PREM career in the West Country, a strong presence on the wing and in the centers for Bath and Gloucester. History could have been very different, however – the 6’7” (2.01m) Banahan started out as a back-row forward and even dropped out at block before moving to Bath.
10. Paul Sackey
(Matthew Lewis/Getty Images)
- Number of PREM attempts: 69
- clubs: Bedford Blues, London Irish, Wasps, Harlequins
Another player whose PREM exploits were curtailed by a trip abroad, Sackey spent three seasons in France with Toulon and Stade Français. However, he tended to score wherever he played, netting 11 times in 22 appearances for England.
Top 10 PREM try scorers: the facts
- Wade needs one more shot to tie Ashton’s record, and two or more to win the record. It seems only a matter of time before he is crowned as PREM’s deadliest marksman of all time.
- Every player on the PREM top 10 scorers list has played for England. Danny Care had the most caps (101), while Christian Wade and Steve Hanley won one cap each for their country.
- The following active players who are likely to break into the top 10 PREM scorers list are Ollie Hassell-Collins (63 tries, London Irish/Leicester Tigers), Tommy Freeman (60 tries, Northampton Saints) i Adán Murley (56 tries, Harlequins).
- Sam Simmonds holds the record for most tries scored in a regular season, scoring 20 times for Exeter Chiefs in the 2020–21 season. The following are the best Noah Calories (Saracens) and Freeman, who each scored 18 in 2025-26.
