Ollie Phillips: Johnny Sexton’s outstanding Ireland and dominant Saracens lead my 2018 roll of honour
There is only one place to start a look back at rugby in 2018 and that’s with its best side.
Ireland have been the undoubted stars of the last 12 months. They may not have overtaken New Zealand as No1 in the world rankings, but their first ever home win over the All Blacks last month capped a near-perfect year.
It started with a sliding doors moment as Johnny Sexton’s last-gasp drop goal secured a 15-13 win over France in their opening Six Nations game. Who knows what would have happened had the fly-half missed, but Ireland gathered momentum from there, completed a grand slam and never looked back.
An amazing away series win in Australia followed before the autumn internationals confirmed their status as red-hot World Cup favourites, alongside the All Blacks.
The fact Ireland, Sexton and head coach Joe Schmidt claimed a clean sweep at November’s World Rugby awards told you all you needed to know about their best-ever year.
Stand-out Sarries
Leinster’s Champions Cup win came in the midst of Irish dominance, but from an English perspective it’s Saracens who lead the pack.
Their relentless consistency, remarkable squad depth and winning mentality makes them one of the best club sides in the world and head coach Mark McCall deserves all the plaudits that come his way.
Owen Farrell has been a shining beacon of success, but the team is littered with internationals and the fact Saracens can extend their unbeaten run to 23 games tomorrow underlines their stature.
England’s new names
It’s been a largely disappointing year for England, who are a completely different side to a year ago.
However, after a terrible Six Nations and poor tour of South Africa the autumn internationals showed they have fighting spirit and plenty of talent.
Sam Underhill and Tom Curry are flourishing, Jonny May has come of age as a player and Joe Cokanasiga has accepted every challenge that has come his way. New players are beginning to be blooded, so there is hope for the future under Eddie Jones.
Under-the-radar growth
Wales have come on leaps and bounds this year under Warren Gatland, yet have seemingly gone under the radar.
The world’s No3 side have tightened their defence, are playing better rugby with every game and appear to be peaking at the right time.
Wales shook off their Australia hoodoo and with options in every position are shaping up for a cracking 2019.
Premiership shake-up
Finally, it seems fitting to end on the big news concerning the future of domestic rugby in this country.
It was confirmed on Wednesday that CVC Capital Partners have bought 27 per cent of Premiership Rugby for around £230m.
It’s a statement of intent, born from the positivity displayed in the points above, and I think it will shake up the division massively.
CVC are a private equity firm, so they will look to strip costs, streamline, restructure and commercialise the Premiership in order to make a return. Exeter were the only club to make a profit in the 2016-17 accounts, with the majority shedding cash. They will have a long-term vision to change that.
The times of old are gone and the Premiership will now be marketed more as a product. It should be viewed as an opportunity, but it remains to be seen whether it works out for better or worse.
Ollie Phillips is a former England Sevens captain and now a director within the real estate and construction team at PwC. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn