The year undoubtedly belonged to the All Blacks, who ran away with the Rugby Championship and threatened to finish the year unbeaten, before stumbling in their last match against England at Twickenham. © Gallo Images

France had a mediocre Six Nations, losing to England and Wales and drawing with Ireland. By the time the end-of-year Internationals came around they were back to being the Northern Hemisphere's most threatening outfit, comfortably beating Australia and Argentina. © Gallo Images

Wales started the year in the best possible fashion with their third Six Nations Grand Slam in eight years. It was downhill from there, though, and losses to Argentina and Samoa and a hammering at the hands of the All Blacks took all the shine off 2012. © Gallo Images

Samoa caused one of the biggest upsets of the year when they beat Six-Nations champions Wales 26-19 in Cardiff. You have to wonder what this team will be capable of if they got more top-level exposure. © Gallo Images

England made up for a sub-par International season when they ran a shell-shocked All Black outfit off their feet at Twickenham to record a famous 38-21 victory. © Gallo Images

The year's first cross-hemisphere International was also an upset. With rain pelting down on an icy Newcastle night, Scotland held on for a 9-6 win over an under-prepared Australia. © Gallo Images

New Zealand also dominated the sevens circuit, winning the IRB crown for the 10th time. They ended the year doing their victory haka after a 4th consecutive win in the South African leg of the series. © Gallo Images

2012 was a disappointing year for Paul Treu's Blitzbokke, who went the entire calender year without a single series victory. It didn't help that key playmaker Cecil Afrika spent the bulk of the season on the sidelines. © Gallo Images

It was much better news for South Africa at junior levels. The Baby Boks won the Junior World Championships in June after beating New Zealand 22-16 in a tense final. © Gallo Images