"The France v Argentina game was closely fought, with momentum swinging from one side to the other. Argentina dramatically missed a penalty late in the game and the match finished 23-21 to France. But my favourite shot from the day wasn't taken in the latter stages; it was from the beginning, when France's first try was scored [top].
"Virimi Vakatawa of France was on the burst when his team spread the ball wide through the back line. He passed to Gaël Fickou, who scored a try right in front of me. It was taken with my EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens at an aperture of f/3.2, to separate the action from the background with a shallow depth of field. I used a shutter speed of 1/1600 sec to freeze the action.
"The shot was a mixture of judgement and some luck. It helps that I know rugby well – I have 25 years of knowing the sport, including nine years as a player. Watching certain teams and players, you learn to predict what will happen next, anticipating the play so you are one step ahead of the action and ready to capture the next big moment in the game.
"I chose this image because capturing sport is about documenting defining moments. In rugby, it's all about scoring tries, and they make great images, especially when players are flying through the air diving for the tryline. Defining moments usually come down to big tackles, breaking the defensive lines, scoring and then the celebration when scoring a try."