If 2020 was the year we’d all rather forget - both in terms of rugby and the wider world - then 2021 was the year of the false dawn.
Just when it felt like we’d escaped the clutches of 2020, here we are again.
Covid restrictions have just got tougher, while Wales' 2021 Six Nations title win seems a long time ago.
But who were the big winners and losers in Welsh rugby this year? We take a look:
Winners
Jasmine Joyce
Barely a week went by where a highlight of Joyce doing something remarkable wasn’t being circulated around social media.
There probably wasn’t an easier choice for a winner in 2021, such was the amount of hype and praise Joyce generated.
Another Olympic Games under her belt, she was a force of nature with her pace in whatever jersey she was wearing - be it Bristol, Wales or Great Britain.
Being named in World Rugby’s women's 15s dream team capped a remarkable 12 months for 26-year-old from St Davids.
Her decision to go public about facing the prospect of finding a full-time job at the end of the year was a powerful summary of what her international team-mates give to represent Wales, and was another major turning point before historic contracts were announced for Wales Women at the turn of November.
Ryan Elias
Being the Sheriff’s deputy isn’t always an easy job - even if it means avoiding being shot by Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Awful Christmas cracker jokes aside, it’s not been the easiest of rides for Ryan Elias who has had to, on occasions, fill the boots of Ken Owens.
It’s no secret how important Owens is to Wales’ lineout, with his Scarlets team-mate being an easy target for abuse when things go wrong in his absence.
At times, that noise has become a little overbearing, so it’s to Elias’ credit that he responded in perfect fashion in the autumn.
Persevering beyond any initial lineout flaws to impress at the set-piece and around the park, he went some way to proving himself an able deputy.
Ellis Jenkins and Gareth Anscombe
Before this year, it had been far too long since either Jenkins or Anscombe had been seen on a rugby pitch, having both suffered serious injuries that had created serious doubts about whether they’d ever return.
There would have been many a difficult day in their recoveries, but it is credit to both that they were finally back in the red jersey of Wales again this year.
Having returned earlier in the year, Jenkins managed to get a bit of a run-up to his Welsh return - not that it made his herculean effort in a first Test in nearly three years any less remarkable.
As for Anscombe, his return came later in the year and was, in all honestly, a tad rushed.
Regardless, they’re both back and ready to kick on in 2022.
Adam Beard
What a year it has been for the Ospreys second-row.
The end of 2020 saw him dropped from the Wales squad, sent away to work on his game.
Often, that party line is just a polite nod by a coach, because you can’t exactly say in a press conference that you don’t think the player you overlooked is not good enough.
But that wasn’t the case with Beard, as proven by his reaction this year.
Back in the Wales squad for the Six Nations, he established himself in the starting XV with his lineout work and ball-handling skills proving a vital asset in Pivac’s title-winning side.
A late Lions call-up was the pinnacle for Beard, with his performances in South Africa catching the eye.
Losers
The Welsh Rugby Union
Perhaps it’s easy to take shots at the Welsh Rugby Union this year, but a couple of things do stand out from the last 12 months.
The loss of Amanda Blanc is the first.
Are the governing body in such a position that they can afford to lose a figure who Forbes listed as more influential than Jacinda Ardern, the Queen and Beyonce at any point - let alone now?
The answer is a resounding no. Worse still, there’s no clarity on why Blanc left her role as chair of the Professional Rugby Board.
The other negative which looms over Welsh rugby is the £20m loan handed to the four regions in 2020. Taken out by the WRU to meet their own obligations in paying for player services after those usual provisions were unavailable due to the initial financial impact of the pandemic.
However, the catch was that the repayment of the loan fell to the regions, rather than the WRU. As such, it’s hung around their necks like an albatross ever since it came into effect.
It was early this year that WRU CEO Steve Phillips first mooted the idea of refinancing the loan amid criticism of its dynamic. As things stand, he’s hopeful of that being done in the new year.
Hardly ideal for the four Welsh sides in the meantime.
Then there's the delayed commitment for the WRU to put their money where their mouth is and actually throw significant financial support behind Wales Women. A standalone Women's Six Nations in 2021 magnified the stark difference in progress between the likes of England (fully professional), France (semi-pro) and the remaining amateur sides in the competition.
Despite former WRU chief executive Martyn Phillips publicly saying he was eager to introduce contracts back in July 2020, it took until November 2021 for such an announcement to come. It just took a winless Six Nations where Wales' players tried to compete while holding down full-time work/education (as they always have done), piles of pressure from the public, 123 former Wales players demanding better in an open letter and an independent review into the women's performance strategy (which is not to be released publicly despite its 30-plus recommendations). Better late than never.
Ten professional deals and 15 semi-pro contracts are on offer for Wales players - which will see them paid for the first time - with the process ongoing to put pen to paper ahead of the World Cup next year. Nigel Walker deserves credit for hitting the ground running in his role of performance director to get the above over the line.
Read more: How much Wales Women's best rugby players will now be paid
Read more: 'It's a disaster!' Peter Thomas calls on WRU to publicly reveal why Amanda Blanc resigned
The rising number of apathetic supporters
A worrying trend that has only grown in the last year.
The number of regional supporters who are growing tired of the rigmarole of following their beloved sides through the numerous obstacles they face, many of which stem from the previous entry.
Welsh rugby is something of an anomaly in many ways. Far more people are interested in the national side than the week-to-week stuff, which isn't a crime in itself.
All too often, there's sneering on social media about 'event-goers' - a strange take given everyone is entitled to like rugby for what they see in it.
However, it’s no understatement to say that Welsh rugby simply cannot afford to lose some of its most loyal supporters.
Quite how to get them enamoured again in 2022, particularly when they won’t even be welcome at grounds to kick off the new year, is anyone’s guess.
The ‘rugby is boring’ brigade
Every now and then, the knives come out claiming that Test rugby isn’t quite what it used to be.
It happened last year with the soulless, fanless Autumn Nations Cup.
This year, the Lions tour was the perfect opportunity.
Played in two empty stadiums in a curfew-hit South Africa, a Lions tour never felt less like a Lions tour before.
And when the rugby between a Warren Gatland side and a Springbok outfit who have made an art out of winning through ‘ugly’ things like kick pressure and mauling didn’t turn out to be a Barbarians-style running rugby-a-thon (who would have seen that coming?) the time was right for some to decry the quality and excitement value of international rugby, regardless of the overwhelming context at play.
Some claimed to have switched off for the final 10 minutes of the decisive third Test as it bored them, even if those last moments were gripping for the sheer drama, rather than the actual style of rugby played.
Thankfully, the recent autumn series - with fans back in stadiums - proved that rugby with a live audience is still capable of providing its fair share of exciting, scintillating moments.
The knives will still be out. Just last week, one headline in a paper read as "10 reasons old-style rugby was better".
But the autumn proved that, ultimately, things are far better than some rose-spectacle wearers would let on.
Logistical planners
With a new glitzy cross-hemisphere competition unveiled this year, right in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, perhaps it was always asking too much of things to run smoothly.
The same goes for European competitions and a Lions tour.
In this current age, it’s a thankless task.
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