2012 in Review: Top 10 Moments of 2012

With the end of the year approaching, it is finally time to look back at 2012 and talk about the top 10 moments in sport of the year.

These are the moments we will long remember even if the result for the team we follow wasn't quite the right one.

TENNIS - Andy Murray's rise

For so long, Scotsman Andy Murray had been the bridesmaid, the clear number 4 outside the big 3 of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, so close yet so far to glory. Well, 2012 was the year Andy Murray finally stepped up and became a winner in his own right. A heartbreaking loss to Roger Federer at Wimbledon in front of an expectant nation failed to deter the grumpy, moody Scotsman who bounced back a month later at the same venue to beat Federer for Olympic gold. That proved a catalyst for his biggest success yet - although Murray nearly threw it away (again) in the US Open Final against Djokovic. Britain's duck in world tennis is over and the monkey is off the back.

ATHLETICS - Usain Bolt's magnificent reign continues

Has there been any runner greater? The calibre of the field of fastest men in the world has never been better with Yohan Blake amongst others snapping at Bolt's heels, but the giant Bolt still managed to comfortably defend his 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m Olympics titles and continue to enhance his claims as possibly the greatest runner the world has ever seen. Let's just hope he's not doping.

RUGBY UNION - England beating the All Blacks

The World Champion All Blacks may have been utterly dominant for much of 2012 but perhaps the loss at the end of the season may be the one that we'll remember most from 2012 sadly. England on the back of home defeats to Australia and South Africa, stepped up big time to cause one of the greatest shocks of all time, thrashing the All Blacks 38-21, the biggest loss by the All Blacks to England in years, and perhaps lighting up belatedly a rather stale international season. On the bright side for All Blacks fans, it's still 3 years from RWC time.

ROWING - New Zealand's golden summer at Eton Dorney

New Zealand were always going to excel in the water at the Olympics with their backs to the wall - literally and figuratively they did just that in London, as they won the most medals they've ever won on the rowing lake - 5 medals - as well as cap off their most successful Olympics since 1988. Lisa Carrington won New Zealand's 100th overall Olympic medal with gold in the K1 200m canoe final. Behind a dominant Great Britain, that was not a bad effort at Eton Dorney. 

Most memorable was Nathan Cohen and Joe Sullivan's surge from 4th with 500m left to win their double sculls final at a canter.  It wasn't the perfect race like their compatriots, Hamish Bond and Eric Murray or Mahe Drysdale, but at least they got the perfect finish which was all that mattered. 

SWIMMING - Michael Phelps' last ever gold medal

It was always going to be tough to beat the efforts of Beijing 2008 when Phelps won a staggering 8 gold medals in the pool and the initial signs in London were not good for Phelps as he finished well behind teammate Ryan Lochte in the first event. Meanwhile, compatriot and Justin Bieber fan, Missy Franklin was taking all the plaudits for the golden start to her Olympic career - and perhaps she is going to be the Phelps of world swimming for the next 10 years. However, form is temporary and class is permanent as they say and Phelps bounced back to win his last ever gold medals and cap off the most illustrious career of any swimmer.

Oh did I forget to mention that monster putt in that golf tournament at the end of the year?

OLYMPICS - Britain's Golden Summer

What a time to be British. As eluded to in a previous post, 2012 was Great Britain's year and the main course of Britain's golden year was the Olympics. There were expectations that the Brits would perform well and win plenty of medals but not at the magnitude that eventually transpired - a 3rd place finish, effectively best of the rest behind established powerhouses, USA and China, and ahead of old foes like Germany, France, Argentina and of course, those Australians.

They blitz all asunder at the velodrome, in the rowing lake and even on the track. In the end, they finished with 65 medals, 29 of those being gold - 3 of those on one memorable night on the track thanks to Farah, Ennis and long jumper, Greg Rutherford. Established stars, Sir Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, Ben Ainslie, Mo Farah and Jessica Ennis all won in front of their home crowd, joined by new stars, Laura Trott, Jason Kenny, taekwando jin, Jade Jones, amongst others. It was inspirational at its best - and that is merely an understatement to a games that I think is the best edition yet in the modern era.

Wow.

FOOTBALL - Spain win EURO 2012

As Spain headed into Eastern Europe, there was enormous weight of expectation on the reigning world and European champions. Spain were still clearly the best team in the world and the clear favourites to win the final in Kiev but the likes of Germany and the Netherlands had apparently closed the gap and France and Italy were not far off too. In fact, Spain cruised their way through a fairly straightforward group even with Cesc Fabregas and David Silva forced to play as makeshift strikers. Yet they never looked anywhere near their best and signs were there as they just about held on to beat France in the quarterfinal and somehow stayed alive despite Portugal being the better side in the semifinal in Warsaw.

With Italy having surprised the Germans in the semifinal, the final in Kiev was a rematch of their first game in the round robin - that game ended in a fair 1-1 draw. The final was nowhere as close as Spain took the early lead and totally dominated with their tika takka pass the ball around football. Spain should have been 5-0 up at halftime with the number of chances they had. As it was, the game finished 4-0 at full time, with the Chelsea duo of Fernando Torres and Juan Mata finishing off the tiring Italians having come off the bench.

Kiev will undoubtedly remembered as Spain's finest performance out of the three finals they've played in the last 4 years - it could be up there with the 1970 World Cup Final when Brazil absolutely embarrassed the Italians 4-1 with their similarly dreamy football.

CYCLING - Bradley Wiggins wins Tour de France

For so long, Britain had trailed the rest of Europe - and the world, went it came to racing the Grand Tours, including the greatest of them all, the Tour de France. In 2012, a Briton was finally crowned winner on the Champs Elyssees for the first time - and how. Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky totally obliterated the opposition including 2011 winner, Cadel Evans' BMC team, and to be fair the 2012 edition of Le Tour was a bit of a dull one from the moment the track layout was released and Bradley Wiggins licked his lips at the number of time trials. Nevertheless, one of grand tour cycling's most consistent stars of the last few years still had to turn up, and Wiggins did in some style with some help from fellow Brit, Chris Froome.

It was the perfect appetizer to further glories on 2 wheels for anyone donning the Union Jack that summer.  

GOLF - Europe's Ryder Cup comeback win

"This one's for him," an emotional Europe captain, Juan Maria Olazabal dedicated Europe's dramatic Ryder Cup win at Medinah, Illinois to his friend, the late great Seve Ballesteros, and then broke into tears.

And it was dramatic. USA had look set to take back the Ryder Cup they lost to Europe in 2010, leading 10-6 going into the last day and only needing 4.5 points to win, while Europe needed 8 just to force a draw and retain the Ryder Cup. Cue the greatest performance by a Ryder Cup team in history on the final day. Some of the golf played was electric and the Americans just did not know what had hit them - an out-of-form, Martin Kaymer putting to seal a draw. Tiger Woods' subsequent collapse in the 18th ensured that Europe would actually win the 2012 Ryder Cup outright.

Golf is not usually a sport of dramatics but on this weekend in Illinois, it delivered enough drama to last most sports fans' lifetimes.

FOOTBALL - Manchester City win the Premier League title at the death

Undoubtedly, the sporting moment of 2012 - for drama, emotion and excitement, the last 5 minutes of the English Premier League season are unrivalled. The greatest 5 minutes of football you'll ever witness? You bet. Even fans who don't support either Manchester club would struggle to have kept the tears and emotion back - and most of them probably were going for the club in blue anyway.

We all know what happened. Man City looked set to take the title against relegation battling QPR, Man United held on to a 1-0 win to do their bit at Sunderland, QPR take shock lead against Man City despite having Joey Barton sent off deservedly only for Edin Dzeko to equalize in the last minute of normal time and then Aguero to score the goal that sent the blue half of Manchester into an ecstasy even sex couldn't provide.

It was the greatest finish to a football season ever - a season that had already been hailed as the greatest ever in Premier League history by many. It was certainly one we won't forget in a hurry and will always link 2012 with.

So here's to a magic 2012.. The year which we saw the greatest ever Olympics and Premier League season. 

Here's to 2013!

2012 in Review: Most Entertaining (And Disgraceful) Sports Related Videos

It's once again that time of the year to look back on the year of sport that has been.

In this issue, we look at the most entertaining sports related videos of 2012.

No words.. just sit back and watch...

2012 in Review : Great Britain

With only days to go to Christmas, it's once again that time of the year to look back on the year of sport that has been.

In this issue, we look at the year of sport in mother Blighty (Great Britain).

2012 was the year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - and her countrymen and women delivered in the best way possible on the sporting field - and it wasn't just at the Olympics in July/August.

Even those well-paid footballers and rugby players stood tall for their country with Wales winning the Grand Slam 5 months after crashing out of the Rugby World Cup semifinal in dramatic circumstances, and Manchester City and Chelsea bringing home the silverware.

The English footballers actually did better than I thought they would at EURO 2012 after all the calamity in the buildup, i.e. the hasty replacement of Fabio Capello with Roy Hodgson, Wayne Rooney's early suspension, John Terry's court case, etc. England won their own group of death ahead of France, the hosts, Ukraine and their eternal kryptonite, Sweden. They were stoic against a superior Italian side but once again, couldn't quite finish the job in the penalty shootout - both Ashleys (Young and Cole) joining Gareth Southgate, David Beckham, David Batty, Chris Waddle, Stuart Pearce, etc. in that illustrious list of decisive English penalty missers.

The English cricketers also solidified their placing as world cricket's number 2 team ahead of the decisive Ashes next season - they couldn't quite repeat their Twenty20 glory this year and it was quite obvious that the team was in transition with Alastair Cook assuming more of the captaincy responsibilities while new talent was being introduced.

The English rugby players may also have symbolically staked their claims as rugby's number 2 team after a stunning thrashing of the world champion All Blacks in the final test of 2012. While the ABs may have been tired after a long season, it was still a tremendous win for the English rose 3 years ahead of their Rugby World Cup.

But now to those who really brought home glory for Queen and country. And those who deserve the highest praise are the cyclists.

For so long, Great Britain was behind the rest of Europe when it came to the grand tours and the sport of cycling itself. Yes, Britain had the likes of Chris Hoy to fly the flag alone against the rest of the world, but Hoy along with the likes of David Millar were the sole stars of a "minority" sport.

How times have changed as record funding and a surge in interest has now seen Britain produce undoubtedly its finest generation of cyclists, on the track and on the road. The recent success of Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins and Dave Brailsford's Team Sky has inspired a new generation of cyclists - the Tour of Britain has never been popular in light of Wiggins' Tour de France and Olympic wins this year.

And it's not just the men who are strutting their stuff on the bike. The women are also getting in on the action - while Victoria Pendleton may have called it quits after the Olympics, Laura Trott looks set to follow in her footsteps. Elizabeth Armitstead also delivered a fine silver to world champion, Marianne Vos in the road race. If only the UCI would have a tour series for the women just as they do for the men.

Britain's dominance also continued in the rowing where they had their best ever Olympics. Both men and women reigned supreme at Eton Dorney and were always in the medals even if they didn't quite win gold.

And then there was the track and field. Usain Bolt's achievements were slightly overshadowed perhaps by the emotional scenes as Britain enjoyed its greatest night on the track when Mo Farrah, Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford all won gold. Jessica Ennis had been the cover girl of this Olympics and had dominated the heptathlon from start to finish and it was apt that she would win the final 800m and put the seal on a gold medal at home - her predecessor, Dame Kelly Holmes would have been very proud.

All this of course made London 2012 the most successful games in British history post World War II - they finished 3rd on the medal ladder only behind the USA and China - the expected powerhouses of world sport, and ahead of their bitter rivals, Germany and Australia. And away from the sport, London 2012 may very well be the best Olympics yet - a country mad about its sport gave it a damn good shot.

So to 2012, a year which Brits will never forget for more reasons than one.

Moment of the year - shan't bother. Too many of them.

2012 In Review : America

With only days to go to Christmas, it's once again that time of the year to look back on the year of sport that has been.

In this issue, we look at the year of sport in the big US of A.

2012 has been a big year in the world's largest sports market - we had the highs of the Olympics where the USA got their revenge on China for Beijing 2008 and reclaimed top spot on the medal ladder, and then we had the lows of the NHL lockout which looks like it has all but written off the entire 2012-13 NHL season, Bountygate scandal which resulted in Sean Payton being unable to coach the New Orleans Saints to a home Super Bowl and the deaths of NFL players, Jovan Belcher and Jerry Brown, Jr. during the 2012 season.

However, those lows were thankfully overshadowed by plenty of records being broken throughout the season as well as plenty of positive Cinderella/underdog stories that the media lapped up gleefully.

We started the year with the rise and rise of RG3 (Robert Griffin III) who snatched the Heismann Trophy from college and now-Indianapolis Colts star quarterback, Andrew Luck. RG3 got drafted the Washington Redskins and looks set to lead them into the playoffs in the new year. It has been a remarkable story for quite possibly the most gifted and capable quarterback we may have seen yet.

Missy Franklin's rise in the pool was just as remarkable as RG3's rise to NFL star. While swimming coaches and avid followers would have known about the 16-year-old Colorado native's rise through the national trials, Missy Franklin was still very much an unknown to the rest of the world going into the London Olympics. After winning 5 medals including 4 gold medals in her maiden Olympics, America may have found a new hero to dominate the pool with the great Michael Phelps calling time on his illustrious Olympic career at the same games. Like RG3, the Justin Bieber loving 6'1" Franklin is humble and down-to-earth, a personality now highly valued in America - she declined commercial commitments so she could swim for her college. I'm sure she will more than make up for it in the near future as she looks set to be the new force in the pool in the future.

Cinderella stories dominated the championship finals this year. The New York Giants once again staged a late comeback to usurp the much vaunted New England Patriots - again, sadly - in a repeat of the 2008 Super Bowl. The San Francisco namesake baseball team likewise staged comeback after comeback in their run to the World Series where they absolutely blanked the Detroit Tigers for their 2nd title in 3 years. But the story of the year has to be the Los Angeles Kings who came out of nowhere to shock the favourite, Vancouver Canucks and then win their first ever Stanley Cup - if there ever was an ugly duckling of a team, the Kings would be it and for now they look set to keep their title for a while yet given the current lockout.

And not forgetting the Miami Heat who finally won their title after spending heaps to get LeBron James and Dwight Howard to South Florida.

There were several other Cinderella stories this year - David Beckham winning the MLS Championship in his last ever game in the US and the return of Notre Dame to the big time, finishing no. 1 and earning the right to play to be crowned national champions next year against Nick Saban's Alabama Crimson Tide who will be looking for a 2nd consecutive title. Notre Dame fans would have been thrilled with a season that has come on the back of the Manti Teo'o story - and it is truly a story.

So what a great 2012. Superstorm Sandy and other tragedies didn't really dampen the year which saw 4 American women finally smash the long standing 4 x 100 m record set by the East Germans all those years ago at the track in London. America's economy might not quite be back but its athletes sure are.

Moment of the year - San Francisco Giants winning the World Series, New England Patriots in the Super Bowl are up there but I quite enjoyed Michael Phelps' race where he won his last ever gold medal and Missy Franklin's performance against the favourite Australian, Emily Seebohm at the Olympics.

Here's to 2013!

2012 In Review - Football

With only days to go to Christmas, it's once again that time of the year to look back on the year of sport that has been.

In this issue - football.

2012 was quite a big year in football - we had EURO 2012, the Africa Cup of Nations, Olympics and of course, the start of qualifiers for the World Cup in 2014 and of course, the usual club football competitions.

The most talked about football moment in 2012 was undoubtedly the last five minutes of the 2011/12 Premier League which saw Manchester United lose the title they thought they had won to their bitter crosstown rivals, Manchester City who had to battle back from 2-1 down against relegation battling QPR to snatch the win they needed to seal their first title since 1968.

Aguero's 93rd minute goal sent emotions worldwide flying whether they belonged to City fans or not. It was made of stuff Hollywood could only dream of. It might very well be the most significant and memorable goal in Premier League history - never has a goal been as important, and as dramatic in turning the destination of the title. It was also the finish that a terrific Premier League season deserved - one that ebbed and flowed from start to finish as the two Manchester clubs battled it out for the title. And judging from the current trend  of the 2012-13 season, it appears that the power in the Premier League rests firmly in the big city in the north.

While the Premier League title remained in Manchester, it wasn't all doom and gloom for the rest of England. In fact, Chelsea finally ended London's drought in Europe by winning the city's first ever Champions League title in an unbelievable upset against Bayern Munich on their home turf - it was also unbelievable given that Chelsea had sacked their manager, Andre Villas-Boas mid-season after results didn't quite go the way of their oligarch, Roman Abramovich. Ironically almost a year later, Roberto di Matteo would go in similar fashion - again illustrating that Roman probably has too much money to match his power.

However, it appears that all power in the north has been diverted to Manchester, as two of Lancashire's traditional big clubs got relegated - Blackburn after a year of total chaos which doesn't look like abating at this point and Bolton who have had a year they'd rather forget - a year which saw the near-death experience of Fabrice Muamba in an FA Cup tie against Tottenham, relegation from the Premier League and then the sacking of likeable manager, Owen Coyle - harsh but probably warranted given the results at the time.

Of course, football isn't just limited to England. There was plenty of big news elsewhere although none as dramatic and sad as the shock demise of Scottish giants, Rangers, who were forced into administration then liquidated and reformed into a new club now playing in the Scottish Third Division. It is likely to be 4 years before we will see an Old Firm derby in the top flight of Scottish football now but it will ultimately serve as a reminder to the football world to get their finances sorted especially during these times of economic austerity in Europe.

One club setting a good example for the rest of Europe is Borussia Dortmund - a club that have come very close to financial oblivion are now setting Germany and Europe alight with their energetic and exciting attacking football thanks to having to rely fully on their youth programme. The result of their recent revival is two Bundesliga titles and the departure of Shinji Kagawa to Manchester United. It is likely that a few more of their rising stars like Mario Goetze and Marco Reus may head to Spain or England - even their manager, Jurgen Klopp has been mentioned as a future manager in the Premier League, possibly with Chelsea if Guardiola doesn't go there.

Speaking of Guardiola, there was shock amongst some quarters of football fans when the successful Barca manager announced his resignation from the post following Barcelona's exit from the Champions League semifinal in the hands of eventual winners, Chelsea. Yet for me, it was probably less of a surprise - he had been very successful and taken the club as far as he could - which is a lot further than what most club managers and coaches would dream of. The transition to Tito has gone almost seamlessly, unnoticed really, with Barcelona unbeaten in La Liga this season at this point, and their only defeat in the season at the hands of Celtic in Glasgow. Barcelona appear to be back to their best just as champions Real Madrid appear to be floundering amidst reports of unrest and discontent amongst the Portuguese contingent at the Bernabeu.

In fact, it is Real's other maligned rivals across town, Atletico who have been chasing Barca for the 2012-13 La Liga title so far. Atletico's rise has been remarkable, fuelled by the goals of Colombian Radamel Falcao, undoubtedly the form striker in the world at the moment this side of Lionel Messi. Whether Atletico can convince Falcao to stay and help the club become a real title contender remains to be seen, but one thing's for certain is that Falcao will not go cheap and if he wanted to progress his career and appease the Atletico fans , he would be wise to go to England and Chelsea or Manchester City could be his next port of call given the likely high price of his transfer fee.

Away from the club scene, Zambia shocked perennial bridesmaids, Cote d'Ivoire in the African Cup of Nations to win their first title since the tragic plane crash which killed their entire national football team in 1993 - a result for the football romantics naturally.

Another result for the football romantics was Spain's successful defence of their European crown, courtesy of a marvellous 4-0 thumping of a very good Italy side. Del Bosque's Spain had been slightly underwhelming in the early part of EURO 2012, and should have been eliminated in the semifinals by their Iberian rivals, Portugal but for their brilliant, effervescent keeper, Iker Casillas. Injuries to Carles Puyol and David Villa had forced Del Bosque to shuffle his lineup, converting Sergio Ramos into a centre back - and a World XI one too - and recycling his massive arsenal of talented midfielders into strikers when Fernando Torres couldn't quite find his top form early on - the fact that Cesc Fabregas and David Silva were playing up front probably ignited Torres' campaign late on as he finished as the top scorer of the tournament.

Is this Spanish side the greatest international football team that we've ever seen? Perhaps - at least they're definitely worthy of being considered one of the greatest ever. If they did retain their title in Brazil in 2 year time, they would be the greatest team ever without dispute and Vincente del Bosque should be considered one of the greatest coaches of all time. What is certain is that the potential is there with the likes of David De Gea, Juan Mata and Isco still yet to really break into a Spanish side set to feature the likes of Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos for a while yet.

Anyway who makes my World XI for 2012?
Iker Casillas (GK), Spain
Marcelo, Brazil
Sergio Ramos, Spain
Pepe, Brazil
Phillipp Lahm, Germany
Xavi, Spain
Andres Iniesta, Spain
Mezut Ozil, Germany
Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal
Lionel Messi, Argentina
Radamel Falcao, Colombia

Game of the Year - Manchester City 3-2 QPR - undoubtedly the most memorable game of the year although there were plenty of thrashings to remember - like Manchester United's 8-2 mauling of Arsenal or Manchester City's 6-1 mauling of Man United at Old Trafford. For sheer drama and excitement, no other game has ever had so much of both and ever will.

Goal of the Year - Hatem ben Arfa v Blackburn Rovers - Messi, Neymar and Ronaldo are often mentioned as contenders for best player in the world, but Newcastle and France's ben Arfa is definitely one of the elite players in the world and this dribbling mazy run through the Blackburn defence to win this FA Cup tie should go down as one of the best ever goals seen in the FA Cup, and probably the goal of the season.

Player of the Year - Lionel Messi, Barcelona - To break Gerd Muller's record for goalscoring in one year is quite astonishing even if Messi only had the Copa del Rey in his hands this year.

Coach of the Year - Vincente del Bosque, Spain - Mastermind of Spain's Euro success. He played Fabregas, Iniesta and David Silva up front and they were still practically unstoppable. Real Madrid quietly regret letting him go all those years ago.

Surprise of the Year - Swansea's rise. It took many generations for the South Wales team to return to the first division of English football but it looks like they will stay there for a while yet as the team appears to go from strength to strength with their Barcelona like football. Michael Laudrup has slotted in perfectly courtesy of the likes of bargain of the season, Michu.

2012 in Review: Rugby

With only days to go to Christmas, it's once again that time of the year to look back on the year of sport that has been.

In this issue - rugby.

It was always going to be hard for 2012 to live up to the drama and euphoria of 2011 - the word hangover comes to mind in the year after every Rugby World Cup. And at certain points of the season, it did feel as though the New Zealand rugby public were still suffering from overload in the aftermath of that epic October night in Auckland.

Even the rugby on show seemed to suffer a bit - at least on the international stage. The Six Nations was thrilling as usual even if the rugby wasn't quite of the highest quality with Wales winning their 2nd Grand Slam in 4 years, beating losing RWC finalists, France in Cardiff in an epic final weekend decider. However, Les Bleus would have the last laugh later in the year with a terrific autumn campaign to solidify their position as one of the top seeds at the next RWC in England, while Wales would slump to a winless 7 game streak and end up in the pool of death.

The rugby played on the other side of the world wouldn't be much better. Yes, the All Blacks would win all their games but it had to be said they did it fairly comfortably without going into top gear until the away games in Buenos Aires and Johannesburg - the game in the grandiose La Plata Stadium was in my opinion, the best performance by the world champion All Blacks in 2012. The Wallabies were beset by injury, Springboks were in rebuild mode and Los Pumas were always going to be a bit raw going into their first Rugby Championship - nevertheless, the potential is there for the Rugby Championship to be very exciting in years to come now that Argentina have added their flair to the contest.

The All Blacks are in a good shape and continue to refresh their squad with young talent - Retallick, Romano, Savea, Smith, Coles were superb as they made their All Black debuts. However, the thrashing by England in that last game will leave a sour taste for the summer and a lot more thinking for the coaches to do in regards to keeping the ABs fresh and on top of the world of rugby. 2013 should be tougher with the Boks, Wallabies and Pumas likely to be much stronger than they were this year.























While the international game was a bit of a mixed bag this year, the domestic game was a different story, with the Super Rugby championship providing plenty of excitement in its new format. The international break failed to stop the Chiefs momentum as they deservedly won their maiden championship. It is a remarkable achievement for first-year coach, Dave Rennie, who has turned the Chiefs from perennial bridesmaids into probably New Zealand's Super rugby powerhouse. What is striking is that the Chiefs have plenty of young players who can only get better in years to come under the former New Zealand Under-20 coach. It is up to the Crusaders, Hurricanes, Blues and Highlanders to catch up to the men from the Mooloo now.

The NPC also provided plenty of excitement too with interest alive in the provinces. The format will be tweaked slightly again for 2013 with less of the unpopular midweek games as the rugby union continues to strive to make the NPC relevant in this age of professional rugby.

So, who makes my starting team of the year?
1.Cian Healy, Ireland
2.Bismarck du Plessis, South Africa
3.Dan Cole, England
4.Sam Whitelock, New Zealand
5.Richie Gray, Scotland
6.Stephen Ferris, Ireland
7.Richie McCaw, New Zealand
8.Kieran Read, New Zealand
9.Mike Phillips, Wales
10.Dan Carter, New Zealand
11.Bryan Habana, South Africa
12.Ma'a Nonu, New Zealand
13.Conrad Smith, New Zealand
14.Cory Jane, New Zealand
15.Israel Dagg, New Zealand

Game of the season - Highlanders 36-33 Cheetahs - one of the greatest comebacks ever in Super Rugby with the Highlanders seemingly out of the game at 30-9 in Bloemfontein but an injury to flyhalf, Johan Goosen and quick tries by the Highlanders saw the tide completely turn in this game and Chris Noakes sealed a remarkable comeback with a 79th minute penalty.

Try of the season - Bryan Habana v New Zealand - Habana at his best, and a great treat for the crowd at the first ever All Blacks game at the new stadium.