At the end of a busy year, Planet Rugby has picked out the key moments from the last 12 months, from coaching changes to new records and more.
JANUARY
Jan 9th: Munster’s win at Racing 92 was a near-perfect tribute to their much-loved coach, Anthony Foley, who passed away a couple of months before. Ronan O’Gara, the Racing 92 coach and former Munster fly-half, wore a “Foley 8” shirt before the match in a particularly touching gesture; the win leaving the Irishmen top of Pool One.
Jan 20th: The Six Nations Council announce welcome new attempts to raise the profile of Women’s rugby ahead of the 2017 tournament, with the news that all matches will be aired live on television or streamed on the Six Nations YouTube channel.
Jan 27th: Bankrupt London Welsh leave first class rugby as RFU Chairman Andy Coslett said: “It is deeply regrettable that we should arrive at this point, but with London Welsh in liquidation and unable to satisfy conditions to compete in the Championship as a professional club, participation in the competition became untenable,”
Jan 29th: The Welsh Rugby Union board vote not to enforce the historical agreement with the Irish Rugby Football Union regarding the hosting of the 1999 Rugby World Cup.