SPORTS TEAM OF THE YEAR: Winner: Springboks; Runner-up: Italy national football team

A casual glance at the Springboks’ record in 2021 might lead to some debate as to why they have been named our team of the year. They played 13 Test matches and lost five. In other words, they only won 63% of the time.

The Covid-19 pandemic scuppered the Springboks’ entire 2020 season, which meant losing 12 Tests-worth of player and team development. No one would have guessed in the afterglow of winning RWC 2019 that, barring one Test against Georgia, the Lions would be their next opponents.Never before, and hopefully never again, will a squad of players and coaches have to endure what the Boks of 2021 suffered while still performing at an exceptional level.

Following that game, Bok coach Jacques Nienaber, captain Siya Kolisi and 11 other players either contracted Covid-19 or were in isolation. It disrupted preparations significantly and, by the time of the crucial first Test at an empty Cape Town Stadium, the Boks were underdone. They lost 22-17 in a game marred by several bizarre decisions by Australian referee Nic Berry, which would become the subject of a now infamous Rassie Erasmus dissection.

Although the series was a tight arm-wrestle, with plenty of sniping off the field, winning it was the Boks’ major priority. The remainder of the year was used to build depth and experience, establish combinations, and grow the attacking game plan. The veteran Juventus centre-back duo of Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci formed the foundation on which the Italian success was built.

Italy had seven different scorers. Ciro Immobile, Matteo Pessina, Manuel Locatelli, Federico Chiesa and Lorenzo Insigne each scored two goals. Many objected to us only focusing on singers for our Artist of the Year and objected to the predominance of foreign singers in the category. Quite a few readers were critical of us leaving out African women and female contenders in general.

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