By Thomas Rooney | It could be said that 2011 was something of a disappointment for South African Rugby. Not only did they finish last in the Tri-Nations standings, but they also relinquished their World Cup title to New Zealand.
Those facts become all the more stark amongst pundits when looking back at some of the country’s other sports stars. South African golf, for example, may just have hit new heights. The cricket team continued to dominate, and now find themselves second only to England in the world rankings.
But it is not all doom and gloom for South African Rugby. The sevens team enjoyed a year of great success, which included no fewer than three tournament wins. First there was the win in Las Vegas before back-to-back wins in London and Edinburgh meant there was much to celebrate.
Overall, they finished second to New Zealand in the rankings, which will no doubt have been a disappointment, but they will certainly have taken heart from the fact that, aside from the Kiwis, they were the only side to win more than one tournament in the year.
Cecil Afrika was named the sevens player of the year, and deservedly so. He has since gone on to be named captain of the side.
There were other bright notes in 2011 for South African Rugby. In November Schalk Burger was named the Springboks player of the year for the second time, with the Golden Lions picking up the gong for Team of the Year. Bismarck du Plessis was presented with the Players’ Player of the Year.
It might even be worth pointing out that the World Cup was not a complete damp squib either. Despite crashing out at just the quarter-final stage, fans will be able to look back at that game with Australia as one the Springboks utterly dominated.
In the end, the only statistic that Australia came out on top in was the final score. Sometimes you just have to accept hard luck.
The wise thing to do is probably ignore what happened in the Tri Nations. However, the Currie Cup will have left many great memories. Despite playing for much of the season without their international stars, all the teams involved put on an entertaining spectacle.
In the end it was the Team of the Year, the Golden Lions, who despite starting the final with the odds stacked heavily against them went on to defeat their star-studded opponents, the Sharks.
Now the only questions that remain surround what 2012 holds for rugby in South Africa.
There will be all to play for. The Tri Nations has now been replaced with a new competition called the Rugby Championship. It now sees four teams competing – the former Tri Nations trio of South Africa, Australia and New Zealand will be joined by Argentina.
Bring on the New Year!