Wednesday 31 December 2014 15:10, UK
We look back on an exciting year of rugby with a World Cup win, a European double and the retirement of two icons of the game.
1. England win Women’s World Cup
England topped the table in Pool A of the 2014 World Cup after a 10-try win over Samoa and a 45-5 victory over Spain, before they drew with Canada in the final fixture of the pool. Thanks to a superior points difference they topped the pool and faced a semi-final against Ireland.
A dominant 40-7 win earned them a showdown with Canada in the final of the competition, which they won 21-9 thanks to tries from Danielle Waterman and Emily Scarratt, giving England their first ever World Cup win.
2. Ireland's year
Ireland suffered just one loss in their successful 2014 Six Nations campaign – a defeat to England at Twickenham - and went unbeaten in their June International fixtures abroad in Kiwi Joe Schmidt’s second year in charge.
In the November Internationals they welcomed South Africa, Georgie and Australia and went unbeaten, impressively disposing of the Springboks and Wallabies to cap one of their most successful year’s in the professional era. The Irishmen went a long way to showing that there is plenty of life left in Irish rugby after O'Driscoll's retirement.
3. Farewell to two legends
Jonny Wilkinson's most famous moment on the rugby field was in the final of the 2003 Rugby World Cup held in Australia, where his extra-time drop goal handed England victory over their hosts and their maiden World Cup trophy.
Wilkinson won two Heineken Cups and a Top 14 title with Toulon, where he ended a career during which he was selected for two British and Irish Lions tours and in 2003 was named the IRB Player of the Year.
Brian O’Driscoll was nominated for the IRB Player of the Year award in 2001, 2002 and 2009 and won Six Nations player of the tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2009. He won the Heineken Cup with Leinster in 2009 and again in 2011.
O’Driscoll was selected for four British and Irish Lions tours and helped Ireland to two Six Nations titles during a career in which he became the most capped rugby player in history as well as Ireland's most capped captain.
4. Toulon's European double
Toulon won the Heineken Cup final in May thanks to tries from Juan Smith and Matt Giteau as well as yet another perfect kicking display from Johnny Wilkinson. The Englishman successfully converted all four shots at goal and added a drop goal to take his tally to 13 points as he guided his team to victory in the last Heineken Cup.
Wilkinson's team arrived at the Stade de France the following week to face Castres for the domestic title. The former Newcastle pivot unsurprisingly offered a blemish-free kicking display in his last ever game of rugby as his side took the title with a 18-10 win over their opponents, giving Toulon an impressive European double in 2014.
5. Tackle of the year and try of the year
Our tackle of the year come from the HSBC 7s. In the Gold Coast edition of the tournament, Fiji broke early in their pool match against Scotland, With Semi Kunatani taking his time to celebrate before dotting down. He was tackeld in the in-goal area by Lee Jones which forced a knock-on. Fiji went on to win the game 40-7 but Kunatani will always remember the game for the invaluable lesson he received from Jones.
New Zealand managed to navigate through 2013 unbeaten and were on track for a similar run in 2014 before they met the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg in early October, a game that featured our try of the year. The Boks won the match in the final moments thanks to a 55m penalty from replacement fly-half Pat Lambie, but it was Francois Hougaard who opened the scoring for the South Africans in the 11th minute.
