It's been a massive year for rugby in Australia and around the world and RUGBY.com.au has covered things from every angle.
With only three days left in 2019, we're counting down the top stories on the site, as read by you, from this year.
Today, the top five stories from this year.
5. Cheika resigns, Rennie joins Wallabies
It was a tumultuous year for the Wallabies and as the side limped to a World Cup quarter-final, Michael Cheika's public declaration that he wouldn't seek re-appointment if they did not raise the Webb Ellis Cup became an inevitable decision. Cheika officially resigned as Wallabies coach the day after Australia's quarter-final loss to England. In the same 24-hour period, Rugby AU CEO Raelene Castle revealed the organisation already had a list of names that they had been speaking to about succeeding Cheika. Kiwi Dave Rennie's name was never far from speculation, even as early as November 2018, and last month Rennie's Wallabies appointment became official as he signed a three-and-a-half year deal to coach Australia through to the 2023 World Cup.
4. Australia's bid for the 2027 Rugby World Cup
Australia's move to put its hand up to bid for the 2017 Rugby World Cup created some waves in 2019. WIth Aussies the second-most represented fan group at this year's World Cup, behind England, the appetite for an international tournament was clear and after securing some federal funding, Rugby Australia opted to move ahead with its process. The formal bid process kicks off in 2020 and both the 2027 and 2031 Rugby World Cup hosts will be announced in November 2021. Australia's potential bid already has some high-profile supporters, including RFU CEO Bill Sweeney and current AOC chief executive Matt Carroll. Argentina, the USA and Russia shape as the biggest competition for the Aussies though the race will become clearer when bid intentions have to be made official.
3. Israel Folau saga
By the time Israel Folau and Rugby Australia and the Waratahs settled his case in December this year, the drama of his sacking had been going on for almost eight months. Folau, already handed a warning in 2018 for a controversial Instagram comment, courted controversy again in April when he posted a now infamous graphic ,warning that hell awaits "drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, fornicators, thieves, athiests and idolators". Folau's contract was terminated a day later and the fullback faced a code of conduct hearing over his breach. After losing that battle, Folau took the fight to the Fair Work Commission, where it ultimately ended in Federal Circuit Court. Finally in early December, Folau and his former employers settled the case ending the months-long saga and allowing both parties to finally move on.
2. Wallabies fire up at journalists in tense quarter-final week
Australia's World Cup campaign ended in disappointment but a quarter-final loss wasn't the only low point in the team's six weeks in Japan. There was plenty of tension between some sectors of the team and visiting journalists, no more acutely than in the first press conference of the Wallabies quarter-final week. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto turned a question back on a journalist when he was asked why he believed they could beat England. Hooker Latu also snapped back at an English journalist who asked about Michael Cheika's nature, describing one query as a "stupid question". It was a tense morning that reflected some of the distance created between Michael Cheika's Wallabies and the rest of the world over recent years.
1. Bush Beat - Ben McCalman
In a year that was at times dominated by negativity, Stu Walmsley's profile on retired Wallaby Ben McCalman was the most shared and read story on RUGBY.com.au/ Walmsley visited McCalman on his family farm, speaking to the no. 8, his friends and family and former teammate David Pocock. McCalman forged a career as a rugby hardman but ultimately, as the tale goes, he was always a farmer at heart. A shoulder injury all but ended his rugby career and he was almost immediately back on the family land, working with his brothers to keep the business going. Read the story here.
