It's fair to say that 2008 will not go down in history as a great year for rugby.

Given its position in the cycle, immediately following a World Cup and immediately preceding that Lions tour, it was never likely to be.

And, to be honest, although there were some memorable moments on the field, developments off it too often left a nasty taste in the mouth.

In the spring, the RFU sacked coach Brian Ashton even though he had guided England to the World Cup final and second place in the Six Nations.

In the summer, England players were caught up in lurid allegations of sexual misbehaviour in an Auckland hotel. In the autumn, the northern hemisphere was forced to accept experimental law variations that it had not asked for and did not want.

As distance lends detachment, and as memory fades, it would be easy to dismiss these controversies as three different storms in three different teacups. It would also be foolish.

For, although Martin Johnson – always a popular choice following his exploits as England's World Cup winning captain – has taken charge of the national setup with authority if not results, and although England's errant players were exonerated after an internal review, and although some of the worst fears about the new laws have not been realised, all three have long-term repercussions for rugby.

In sacking Brian Ashton, the RFU behaved as badly as the man himself behaved decently. In the process, they highlighted the deficiencies of a system of governance which has failed to keep pace with the game it administers.

For, while the professional – and accountable – officers of the union concluded an exhaustive review of England's performances with a vote of confidence for Ashton, the democratically elected, and essentially part-time, members of the RFU's decision-making body were putting far greater store in sensationalised serialisations of ghostwritten autobiographies by some of Ashton's senior players.

The fact that England under Johnson are still making the same sort of mistakes that they were criticised for making under Ashton, the fact that new attack coach Brian Smith is committed, like Ashton, to getting the players to think for themselves, and the fact that, for all the fanfares of a new dawn for English rugby, the national team are still losing, will not have been lost on anyone.

There's no such thing as a quick fix. If Johnson is given the time and the patience and the understanding that was denied to Ashton, a painful lesson will have been learned.

By the same token, the trial by tabloid of England's players in Auckland will have reminded them that whether they like it or not, they live in a spotlight whose glare is unremitting.

Whatever illusions they had that what they do in their spare time is their own business have been shattered. Whether they think it's fair or not is irrelevant.

Like the tabloids, the experimental law variations will not go away. True, the northern hemisphere has so far held off from introducing the most radical of them, and true, the clubs have adapted reasonably quickly to those they have been forced to adopt, but no one, surely can say that we have seen better rugby as a result.

So what was happening on the field in 2008? New Zealand – who, lest we forget, won five test matches in consecutive weeks to round off an already overlong season – were undoubtedly the international team of the year, although Grand Slam Wales with that extraordinary comeback to beat England at Twickenham, were honourable runners-up.

Bath – who, both before and after the ELVs, played exhilarating attacking and never say die rugby were my club team of the year, while Harlequins, for their extraordinary back-to-back victories over Stade Francais, deserve an honourable mention.

I'm not sure that Quins have either the experience or the strength in depth to dominate 2009 and but I do expect Bath – top of the Premiership going into the New Year – to reach one of the two major finals.

Gloucester will once again push them close, although the loss of Greg Somerville is a big blow, while Bristol will somehow or other do just enough to stay in the Premiership – I hope.