That was the year, that was – from Dylan Hartley missing the successful Lions tour of Australia to Brian O'Driscoll's early Christmas card for Warren Gatland

Best games

1 Ireland 22 New Zealand 24 (Dublin)

2 South Africa 27 New Zealand 38 (Johannesburg)

3 Wales 26 Australia 30 (Cardiff)

Most memorable results

1 Toulouse 14 Connacht 16

2 Wales 30 England 3

3 Fiji Under-18 22 NZ Schools 20

Best players

1 Kieran Read (New Zealand)

2 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)

3 Israel Folau (Australia)

Most passionate audience

Wales v England – Millennium Stadium

Biggest letdowns

1 Racing Métro

2 Gloucester

3 France

Most impressive Test newcomers

1 Israel Folau (Australia wing/full-back)

2 Charles Piutau (New Zealand wing)

3 Pablo Matera (Argentina flanker)

Smartest coaches

1 Warren Gatland (Lions and Wales)

2 Steve Hansen (New Zealand)

3 Ewen McKenzie (Australia)

Guaranteed box-office draws

1 Quade Cooper (restored to the Australia No10 jersey)

2 New Zealand

3 Willie Le Roux (South Africa full-back)

Most atmospheric grounds visited in 2013

1 Stade Mayol, Toulon

2 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

3 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Classic anniversaries

1 1973: Barbarians v New Zealand

2 1963: England v Scotland – Richard Sharp's solo try

3 2003: Australia v England – World Cup final

Best referee

Nigel Owens (Wales)

Most impressively honest interviewees

1 Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys)

2 Luther Burrell (Northampton)

3 Tom Wood (Northampton)

A not-so-vintage year for …

1 Robbie Deans – summarily ousted in charge of Australia immediately after the dismal series defeat by the Lions

2 European Rugby Cup Ltd – with the future of the Heineken Cup in disarray

3 Philippe Saint-André – French coach presided over a Six Nations wooden spoon

Deserving of more credit

1 Aaron Cruden (New Zealand)

2 Gordon D'Arcy (Ireland)

3 Tom Johnson (Exeter Chiefs)

What if …

1 Dylan Hartley had not been sent off by Wayne Barnes in the Premiership final?

2 Brian O'Driscoll had started the final Lions Test?

3 Toulon's president Mourad Boudjellal had been born in Pontypridd?

They said it

"We are the most dominant team in the history of the world." Motivational slogan in All Blacks team room before the November Test against England

"To play the game you have to play on the edge, but unfortunately he's gone to the edge of the cliff and jumped off it." Warren Gatland on Hartley's red card which ruled him out of the Lions trip.

"I just went up to him and said: 'I know you've probably heard you're off my Christmas card list but I've had a rethink and you're back on it. Congratulations.' And then I just put it into his pocket." Brian O'Driscoll eases the post-Lions tour tension by giving Gatland an early Xmas card at a team reception in Downing Street.

"It really gets my back up when people start using business phrases – 'sustainability', 'the brand' etc – about rugby. There are real people on the pitch. We're not commodities. Rugby should take priority but it's becoming diluted by money and business." Alun Wyn Jones.

Best after-dinner speaker

The former England lock Martin Bayfield

Thank you and farewell

1 Nelson Mandela

2 Cliff Morgan

3 Peter O'Toole

Three suggestions to improve the game in 2014

1 Better concussion management

2 Stop the game-clock if a scrum collapses and do not restart it until that scrum is successfully completed

3 Standardise TMO protocols, particularly in the case of forward passes

Best rugby documentaries/reality shows

1 School of Hard Knocks (Sky Sports)

2 Trimsaran Boy – Jonathan Davies (BBC Wales)

3 Rugby World Cup final retrospective (ITV)

Overdue in 2014?

1 A swift resolution to the Heineken Cup saga

2 A Scotland grand slam

3 A settled England midfield

Rising profiles in the next 12 months

1 Benji Marshall (Auckland Blues)

2 Billy Vunipola (England)

3 Henry Slade/Jack Nowell (both Exeter Chiefs)

Total Respect XV

L Halfpenny (Wales); B Smith (New Zealand), J Davies (Wales), J de Villiers (South Africa), I Folau (Australia); Q Cooper (Australia), F du Preez (South Africa); A Corbisiero (England), B du Plessis (South Africa), A Jones (Wales), P O'Connell (Ireland), E Etzebeth (South Africa), J M Fernandez (Argentina), R McCaw (New Zealand, capt), K Read (New Zealand)

Teams to beat in 2014?

Premiership Saracens

Pro12 Leinster

Heineken Cup Clermont Auvergne

Top 14 Toulon

Thank you for all your contributions and messages during 2013 ... and a Happy Christmas to all!