The Goode, the Bad & the Ugly of 2017 - Andy Goode

The dawn of a new year might be a time for resolutions and self-improvement but it’s also the perfect moment to reflect on the standout teams, players, tries and moments from the past year.

What a year 2017 has been for rugby. There are a host of contenders for the Goode, the Bad and the Ugly awards for the last 12 months as a whole in the sport but there are two worthy winners of the Goode gong that stand out above all others.

The British and Irish Lions might not have beaten the All Blacks in the three-match series but they came so, so close, despite being written off by many. It was the highlight of the rugby year and they would be my international team of the year.

Warren Gatland took a lot of criticism, some of it deserved, but it was a hell of an effort from all concerned to go over to the number one team in the world and draw the series when everyone expected it to end in a 3-0 defeat.

The general consensus was that the Lions had to win the first Test to have any chance at all and that ended in a comprehensive defeat, so to come back from that has to rank as one of the achievements of the past few years, not just 2017.

Ultimately, there was a bit of a bitter taste in the mouth at the end because you want to see a winner at the end of a series. That’s what fans want to see and it’s definitely something for the powers that be to look at moving forwards.

However, it was definitely a better draw for the Lions after nobody really gave them a chance and they’d won just one of their last 12 Tests on New Zealand soil going into the series. The fight they showed was fantastic and it has surely put an end to all the question marks over the relevance of the Lions in the modern era.

GOODE

If the Lions had a great year, though, the Chiefs had an outstanding one.

The story of Exeter’s rise from playing the likes of Havant and Aspatria in Courage League Division 4 as recently as 20 years ago to winning promotion from the Championship seven years ago to competing at the very top level is a remarkable one and, although even greater heights may yet be reached, the story got its fairytale ending at Twickenham.

Rob Baxter’s men lifted the Premiership title in May and they have gone from strength to strength since then as well. The Chiefs lost just two of 24 Premiership games in 2017, an extraordinary level of consistency in the best domestic league in the world, and have ended the year 10 points clear at the top of the table.

Baxter has now been there for a quarter of a century as a player and coach and the way they have evolved as a club, a culture and a team on the pitch is an example for every other club in the world to follow.

They’ve built in the right way and he has done an incredible job. There are no rock stars at Sandy Park but any player on the outside would love to be a part of that culture. They are the team of 2017 without a doubt.

And their achievements are even more impressive when you consider that the Premiership is more competitive than ever and look at the fortunes of a couple of their rivals in recent seasons.

BAD

It has been quite a fall from grace for both of the East Midlands giants towards the end of the calendar year with Leicester and Northampton ending it in ninth and tenth positions in the league, which is unheard of. Fans of those two clubs will definitely have been thinking that the only way is up in 2018 while supping their champagne on New Year’s Eve!

Alan Gaffney has his work cut out for him at Saints. You’d say there’s no chance of them going down and they need to start rebuilding for next season but everybody said they were too good to be relegated back in 2007 and they still went down.

They’re 13 points ahead of London Irish and it’s almost impossible to see them being overtaken by them but the cultural issues at the club look similar to the ones we saw just over a decade ago and Gaffney needs to get to work quickly rebuilding the foundations behind the scenes.

Northampton share the Bad for 2017 with Ospreys, who won five of their first six PRO14 games of the year and were looking good but have lost 14 of the next 18 since then and will be desperate to put the year behind them.

And, whilst the Premiership is thriving, Super Rugby has endured a bad year with another restructure and two South African and one Australian side being cut from the competition.

UGLY

There have been a few ugly incidents in the past 12 months but one wider issue seems to have blighted the sport and needs resolving sooner rather than later. Too many games are being played, leading to a ridiculously long injury list at times. A player strike is a real possibility if those at the top of the game don’t act soon.

The overall quality of the rugby on show in 2017 has been higher than ever, though, and it’s been the most competitive year I can remember for quite some time with almost everyone capable of beating everyone else in the Premiership in particular now and the gap between the northern and southern hemispheres closed significantly.

A lot can change in a couple of years and we’ve gone from an all-southern hemisphere semi-final line-up at the 2015 World Cup to Argentina having an awful year, Australia and South Africa going backwards and Scotland coming within a whisker of beating the All Blacks.

The southern hemisphere sides will bounce back in time to be competitive for the next World Cup but the north has definitely had a better 2017 and the gap between the two hemispheres has been well and truly bridged.

OTHER AWARDS

Player of the Year – Owen Farrell

Beauden Barrett may have won the World Rugby Player of the Year award for a second straight year in 2017 but that didn’t sit well with me. Israel Folau scored 12 tries in 10 Tests before sitting out the autumn internationals and has such a big impact on the Wallabies but there has only been one player of 2017 for me.

Saracens won the Champions Cup, England won the Six Nations and the Lions were successful in New Zealand and Farrell was one of the most instrumental players in all three of those teams, so he has to be the standout player of the calendar year.

Breakthrough Player of the Year – Rieko Ioane

Ioane burst onto the scene in 2017 and scored 11 tries in 11 Test starts in the calendar year, starting with a couple in his first start in an All Black jersey against the Lions in June. He’s an absolute freak of nature with the perfect combination of size, strength, power and finishing ability.

He could be a 100-cap All Black and break the national try-scoring record held by Doug Howlett if he continues in this vein. To show such ability before the age of 21 is frightening for opposition wingers across the globe.

He would’ve run Farrell close for me in terms of the player of the year award but was undoubtedly the breakthrough player of the year and I’d be shocked if he wasn’t named the world’s best player in one of the next few seasons.

Try of the Year – Sean O’Brien

Jordan Larmour threw his hat into the ring with a late contender for Leinster against Munster on Boxing Day and there have been a few other worthy efforts in 2017 but there was one try that took the breath away more than any other last year.

O’Brien’s score for the Lions in the first Test against the All Blacks was one of the best we’ve seen in recent years. Liam Williams’ break from inside his own 22 was bold and brilliant, Jonathan Davies’ support play was outstanding and O’Brien followed the play to dive over.