CHRIS FOY’S REVIEW OF THE YEAR: French domination, coach drama and financial ruin

What a year of oval ball it has been, with epic feats on the field and several alarming and seismic developments that have highlighted the precarious and volatile nature of the game.

Rugby has swung wildly between extremes over the past 12 months; with controversy and chaos, exciting games and great occasions.

Here Sportsmail looks back at some of the key events along the way…

January: Farrell’s grief and bathroom embarrassment

Premiership Rugby have agreed a deal for matches to be shown on terrestrial television, including the final, as new chief executive Simon Massie-Taylor recognizes the need for visibility.

Owen Farrell suffered another ankle setback which ruled him out of the Six Nations. England were left with a new captaincy dilemma and a 10-12 master plan on hold again.

Bath’s humiliations continued when they lost 64-7 at home to Leinster, a week after the Irish province crushed weak and half-hearted Montpellier 89-7 in Dublin.

In a parallel universe, Montpellier would win the Top title 14 months later.

February: Murrayfield Madness

England were cruising at Murrayfield until they collapsed in the fourth quarter against Scotland. Eddie Jones was criticized for replacing boy wonder, Marcus Smith.

France held off Ireland in a Parisian classic thanks to Antoine Dupont’s early try, Melvyn Jaminet’s boot and Shaun Edwards’ defense.

A new sensation began when Henry Arundell went on a rampage for the England Under 20s.

Mark McCall returned to work after having to take a month off for medical reasons, and Saracens marked their return by beating Premiership leaders Leicester as they held on to their play-off position.

March: Blues sail and Capuozzo breaks Italy’s losing streak

France won a Grand Slam by beating England 25-13 and celebrated with a dazzling light show.

Ange Capuozzo’s impressive late run propelled Italy to an emotional win over Wales in Cardiff, ending their 36-match losing streak in the Six Nations.

England finished third and the RFU were mocked for claiming “solid progress” after another three-loss campaign.

Ealing and Doncaster were denied the chance of promotion for failing to pass the Minimum Standards Criteria. In true rugby style, the goal posts were later changed again.

April: Red Roses show men how it’s done

While the men fought, the women of England marched; winning a Grand Slam and a fourth straight Six Nations title, with a 24-12 win over France in Bayonne their only hurdle, in truth. It was the 23rd consecutive victory for Simon Middleton’s team as they advanced to the World Cup.

Ealing dropped his promotion appeal.

Spain was expelled from the men’s World Cup for fielding an ineligible player in the qualifiers, another embarrassing episode for the sport.

In better news, Chris Ashton scored a hat-trick against Bristol at Welford Road to become the Premiership’s all-time leading try scorer and further justify Leicester’s shock decision to bring him out of near-retirement.

May: Arundell stunner breaks the internet

Arundell scored a try from the length of the field for the London Irish in Toulon that broke the internet. The hype roared uncontrollably.

Irish fought back to draw 42-42 against Wasps in Brentford, eliminating the visitors from the play-off hunt.

Quarter-final defeats to Tigers and Sale end England’s Champions League hopes.

June: Rog reigns in Europe as Tigers roar to Prem title

French clubs won both European titles in Marseille. Ronan O’Gara predicted a ‘carnage’ in La Rochelle after his small-town team clinched the continent’s biggest prize. He was correct.

Freddie Burns scored a late drop goal to win the Premiership final for Leicester and went on a delirious run into the car park.

Leinster’s league dominance ended when the Stormers won a South African URC final and the Crusaders finished top of the Super Rugby heap, as usual.

The death of Welsh legend Phil Bennett prompted endless clips of his famous dodging exploits.

England were thrashed 52-21 by the Barbarians, with George Kruis’s backheel conversion twisting the knife.

July: Ireland’s story as all blacks grovel

Burns had nearly finished his title-winning run when England lost their first Test in Australia, but Eddie Jones’s side rallied to win the series 2–1. Arundell scored a try with his first touch in Test rugby.

Ireland claimed a series win in New Zealand, a historic achievement for Andy Farrell that earned him a new contract and left Ian Foster clinging to his job in charge of the tottering All Blacks.

Wales won a Test in South Africa but lost the series.

Chile entered the World Cup with a dramatic global victory over the United States.

August: Foster endures by the skin of his teeth

Argentina defeated the All Blacks in Christchurch. New Zealand had already lost heavily in South Africa and it was now the open season for Foster, amid strong calls for Scott Robertson to replace him. Regime change was only narrowly averted, but the All Blacks turned things around with a half-century win over the Pumas the following week and stumbled into a back-line formula with the Barrett brothers at 12 and 15.

Stories began to surface that Worcester was in serious financial trouble.

September: Warriors lose the fight to survive

It was all about Worcester’s battle for survival as the Premiership season started under a cloud. Steve Diamond rallied the players, staff and fans for him, but to no avail.

The Wallabies lost to New Zealand when referee Mathieu Raynal penalized Bernard Foley for wasting time, which led to a backlash from the Australians. The All Blacks won the Rugby Championship, which had gone back to being completely predictable.

Exeter revealed that Sam Simmonds would travel to Montpellier next summer to spark an exodus across the Channel.

Zach Mercer was named Top 14 player of the year.

The rugby community mourned the untimely death of Eddie Butler, a voice for rugby and all of the sport.

October: Wasp problem causes crisis in England

English rugby union was thrown into turmoil as Wasps followed Worcester into administration, leading to mass unemployment and anxiety over the dire state of the sport. Talk of central contracts turned out to be a failure. Reducing the Premiership to 10 clubs was raised as a possible solution.

The England women survived a scare in the World Cup group stage against France.

Steve Thompson’s television documentary highlighted rugby’s dementia crisis to a wider audience.

Christian Wade made his Racing 92 debut after returning from the NFL.

Finn Russell was left out of the Scotland team, but not for long…

November: Riled Rassie up to her old tricks

Argentina stunned England at Twickenham despite their manager Michael Cheika splitting his time between the Pumas and the Lebanon rugby league team.

Georgia beat Wales to push Wayne Pivac to the limit.

Rassie Erasmus got into trouble again, after criticism of Wayne Barnes led to the English civil servant receiving death threats.

Portugal reached the World Cup with a last-shot qualifying victory over the United States.

A panel criticized the English rugby authorities for their handling of the sport.

It was agony for the England women when their long winning streak ended at the hands of New Zealand in the World Cup final in Auckland.

December: Coaches carousel as Jones and Pivac receive the hatchet

Post-autumn turmoil engulfed England and Wales as Jones and Pivac were sent off.

The WRU announced their coup by re-signing Warren Gatland, while the RFU signed Steve Borthwick, assisted by Kevin Sinfield.

Leicester reacted by installing Richard Wigglesworth as caretaker head coach. Australia vowed to lure back and weaponize Jones.

Bath recruited Russell, a statement signing for the club and the league.

In another blow to the image of rugby governance, Bernard Laporte has received a suspended prison sentence in France for corruption.