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Rugby union<br />

<strong>The</strong> Breakdown<br />

<strong>The</strong> Breakdown’s best of <strong>2016</strong> in rugby union<br />

Who takes the awards in a year when Eddie Jones revived England, Ireland beat the All Blacks and<br />

Beauden Barrett filled New Zealand’s Dan Carter void?<br />

England celebrate in the dressing room at Twickenham after beating Australia – a team Eddie Jones’s<br />

side defeated four times in <strong>2016</strong>. Photograph: David Rogers/<strong>The</strong> RFU Collection via Getty Ima<br />

Paul Rees<br />

Thursday 22 December <strong>2016</strong> 11.26 GMT Last modified on Thursday 22 December <strong>2016</strong> 11.54 GMT<br />

That was the year that was<br />

And so <strong>2016</strong> nears its end, the year of England’s revival, Ireland’s victory over the All Blacks,<br />

Saracens’ domination of Europe and Cinderella Connacht, who had a ball in the Pro<strong>12</strong>. It was also<br />

the year when the authorities tried to find space on the pitch by telling referees to flourish yellow and<br />

red cards like an overzealous traffic warden slapping tickets on parked cars.

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