2023 rugby review: Jones, Sexton, England, London Irish and Hunter
It’s been quite the 2023 in rugby. This year South Africa won the Rugby World Cup, La Rochelle lifted the Champions Cup after Leinster No10 Johnny Sexton abused the referee, the women’s game has grown further and Australia had 12 months of Eddie Jones. Well, almost. It has had it all.
English rugby lost two clubs in London Irish and Jersey Reds, and we saw the first matches for two new England head coaches: Steve Borthwick, in the men’s game, and John Mitchell, in the women’s. So let’s get stuck in.
Building England’s Jerusalem
It was a monumental year for rugby in England. For the first time in 20 years Sale Sharks made the final of the Premiership. Sure, they lost to eventual champions Saracens but it was an ode to northern rugby, and a reminder of why an even spread of talent across the country can be beneficial to the game overall.
Elsewhere Gloucester-Hartpury became the first side from outside of the M25 to win the women’s domestic league, with more than 12,000 supporting them in their all-West Country final against Exeter.
Rugby has been facing a series of difficult predicaments of late, and seeing maverick sides making progress is only good for the game in England.
That said, there were some things I didn’t like seeing during the last 12 months.
Bad eggs of rugby
The way Johnny Sexton treated referee Jaco Peyper at the Champions Cup final, when he verbally abused the South African, was disgraceful – as was the way Eddie Jones treated rugby in general this year.
He was sacked from the England gig at the end of 2022 before taking up the Australian head coach role. But after a disastrous campaign with the Wallabies at the World Cup in the autumn he left the team, despite pleading his dedication to the job, and is now back in charge of Japan.
For me Jones has had a humongous fall from grace and pedigree in the last couple of months. He is a coach who was respected to the highest degree but he’s lost that sheen because of his petulance and discussions about other roles when already in a job.
His class has taken a dive over the last couple of months and that is a huge shame for the sport, because his personality is exactly what the game needs.
Spread the rugby love
This year was the year of excitement. Despite the hype surrounding the northern hemisphere sides at the World Cup it was South Africa who claimed the title – their fourth in total. They totally deserved it and were exceptional across the tournament, and it is a win that probably means more for the state of South Africa than it does for rugby.
La Rochelle defying the odds and beating Leinster for back-to-back Champions Cups was equally exceptional and Munster toppling the Stormers to return to the peak of the United Rugby Championship instilled a sense of nostalgia.
Down and out
But we cannot be complacent in rugby with 2023 seeing the folding of both Premiership club London Irish and reigning Championship winners Jersey Reds.
Rugby remains in a financial predicament and will continue to do so until the stability seen in other sports is replicated across ours.
That may come with a successful Red Roses team, who were unbeaten across this year despite switching coaches from Simon Middledon to John Mitchell, or it may come through an English club doing well in Europe.
But 2023 was a year of mixed emotions for me. We saw some of the very best of our game and some of the stark realities of where the sport is and what it is facing.
But I am an optimist and I am determined to make sure that 2024 is bigger and better than 2023, and that 2025 is even better and so on. Rugby remains core to what I love and we need to do our bit to make sure it thrives.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips recently swam the English Channel to raise money for Head for Change, a charity aspiring to achieve positive change for brain health in sport. Follow Ollie on Twitter to donate.