9 months after the Chiefs and Crusaders played off in Christchurch, the long 2014 New Zealand rugby season is over with the All Blacks capping off another successful season with a hard-fought win over Wales in Cardiff.
It was always going to be hard to repeat the achievements of the perfect season of 2013 but 2014 should still be regarded as a highly successful season - the All Blacks retained the Bledisloe Cup, Rugby Championship and beat England in a 3-test series and were unbeaten on their end of year Northern Hemisphere tour.
Moreover, the All Blacks continued to show that a year out from the Rugby World Cup in England, they remain the team to beat even if they aren't quite at the top of their game - their mental strength and endurance are the envy of world rugby with only South Africa (rather fortuitously) overcoming that All Blacks steel in the last 20 minutes to beat them this season.
There will be some criticism about the closeness of the games which the ABs probably would have dominated a couple of years ago, i.e. Scotland and Wales, but that is really to disrespect and discredit the progress the opposition have made under their Kiwi coaches in the last couple of seasons.
The fact that the ABs finished strongly in those games thanks to their depth on the bench should give fans plenty to look forward to in a big year for rugby next year.
Hooker and halfback remain weak points even though Dane Coles, Keven Mealamu and Aaron Smith continue to play starring roles. It's a pity that Nathan Harris got injured early on in the tour as he definitely needed some experience in black, although James Parsons did alright against Scotland. TJ Perenara continues to improve but is nowhere the finished product that Smith is currently - calls for Andy Ellis to make a shock return to black next year are growing ever stronger.
Brodie Retallick, deservedly won IRB Player of the Year - he was definitely an ever-present and consistently the best performing All Black. His absence due to injury was very evident.
Along with Read, McCaw and Aaron Smith, Brodie must surely be one of the ABs' most indispensible players - a credit to his talent given lock is a position with plenty of depth.
So Rugby World Cup year beckons. For once, All Blacks fans can look forward to a more relaxed buildup as champions rather than having the burden of a 20-plus year drought although expectations should remain as high as ever.
However, given the battles that Steve Hansen's men have had to face in the last few years, there is a feeling that 2015 will just be another season for the men in black.
Provincial Rugby
2014 was a memorable year for provincial rugby.
New Zealand had a fine Super Rugby season getting 3 sides into the playoffs, i.e. the Crusaders, Chiefs and Highlanders who ended their 12 year playoff drought on the back of the fine form of Ben Smith and new All Black, Malakai Fekitoa.
The Chiefs and Highlanders unsurprisingly succumbed to the Brumbies and Sharks away from home leaving the Crusaders to fly the flag for New Zealand against the Waratahs in Sydney in the best Super Rugby Final for a long while.
The game was exactly what Australian rugby needed although one might argue that the result probably should have been to the Crusaders who must wait for their 9th Super Rugby title.
The hangover from that final seemed to affect the Canterbury players late on in the ITM Cup. After a flying start which seemed to signal a 7th consecutive title for the red and blacks, a shock defeat to struggling North Harbour marked a downturn of form which saw Canterbury's long reign of the title come to an end - to the joy of many fans who were getting bored by the red and black's dominance of New Zealand provincial rugby.
Taranaki and Tasman benefited from Canterbury's sudden loss of form with Taranaki winning their first national championship ever in front of a sold-out Yarrow Stadium over a determined Tasman side who many did not expect to make it this far in their first ever season in the Premiership.
In fact, it was the Final that rugby romantics in this country have long dreamt about - the season's surprise packages from the newest and smallest rugby base in New Zealand rugby took on a province that has recently more than matched the traditional powerhouses from the cities for the Final.
To cap it off, Hawkes Bay finally kept the Ranfurly Shield for more than a week and the log of wood will spend a hot, hot summer in Napier. At one stage, Southland nearly scuppered that dream but the Bay got the draw that they needed to keep the shield - a shame they couldn't quite beat their neighbours, Manawatu for a place in the top flight.
After years of being so close yet being so far, the provinces finally could claim to be the pride of New Zealand rugby.
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