It is probably true of every new year but with the facts and storm clouds assembled in their present alignment, the next 12 months promises to be a defining one in national and regional rugby.

New chief executive John Steele has presented his overview of the Rugby Football Union to the body’s management board and begun the process of feeding back the relevant decisions to staff and directors.

Rob Andrew, who has not been given sufficient credit for marking the start of his reign by brokering peace with the Premiership clubs nor adequate criticism for presiding over the national team’s woeful record, is the biggest loser and justifiably so.

It is probably time for a fresh perspective on how the senior England squad interfaces with the highly successful age group sides.

In most organisations and industries, manufacturing a product of inferior value to its constituent parts is a road to but one destination. Oblivion.

One rung down the ladder the next 12 months will define Martin Johnson’s tenure as Red Rose team manager. Whether he escapes with his reputation burnished or battered will depend on how far he takes his side in the Rugby World Cup.

More locally and more imminently Richard Hill will find out in the coming months if his Sixways revolution has been thorough enough to not only lead Warriors back to the Premiership but help them prosper there too.

Exeter have lit the way but they have also provided a stick with which to beat Hill if Sixways does not become equally as forbidding a venue as Sandy Park.

At the other end of the table the odds suggest either Bees or Moseley will follow Coventry out of the Championship. The relegation play-offs are a mysterious beast so it wouldn’t surprise me if neither went down but the possibility has to be considered.

And so do their respective contingency plans because it is difficult to see either make meaningful progress through the relative darkness of the community game.

Some at Billesley Common might claim they will be able to concentrate on building their new stand without having to plough half a million pounds a year into treading water. Others would view it as a catastrophe.

Meanwhile at Damson Park all their efforts will be focused on dodging relegation for the second time in consecutive seasons. I wish both clubs the best of luck with their respective enterprises.

Happy New Year!