IN THE January 2013 issue of Rugby World we ran our annual Big Rugby Quiz of the Year to test your oval-ball knowledge and now we’re revealing all the answers. So if any questions have proved too much for your brain cells in recent weeks, here’s the answers you were looking for…

A. CLASS OF 2012

1. Who scored a hat-trick against Ireland on his Test debut in June? Julian Savea

2. Where in Australia did Scotland achieve their summer win over the Wallabies? Newcastle

3. Name England’s three starting full-backs against South Africa in June. Mike Brown, Ben Foden and Alex Goode

4. Who scored Argentina’s only Rugby Championship points in New Zealand? Rodrigo Roncero

5. Why did Berrick Barnes have a late dash to Australia’s game against Wales in Melbourne? His wife gave birth in Sydney the night before

6. Which Springbok was ruled out of their Ireland game after suffering heart palpitations? Tendai Mtawarira

7. How many Tests did Paul O’Connell play in 2012? Three

1. Never Baked = Derek Bevan

2. AA spend over = Dave Pearson

3. Cancel egg, Roy! = George Clancy

4. I saved Rod = David Rose

5. Noel sewing = Nigel Owens

C. HOUSE OF CLUBS

1. For how many seasons has Tim Visser been the top try-scorer in the Magners League/RaboDirect Pro12? Three

2. Leinster won a second straight Heineken Cup. What other club has one back-to-back European titles? Leicester

3. How many tries were scored in the Top 14 semi-finals and final? None

4. Who became the first player to score 2,000 English Premiership points? Charlie Hodgson

5. Who did London Welsh beat in the RFU Championship play-off final? Cornish Pirates

6. Name two of the Chiefs’ try-scorers in their Super Rugby final win over the Sharks. Any of Sonny Bill Williams, Lelia Masaga, Kane Thompson, Tim Nanai-Williams

7. Who was the Aviva Premiership’s Discovery of the Season in 2011-12? Owen Farrell

8. What clubs are the following now playing for: Luke Charteris, Guy Armitage and Sean Maitland? Perpignan, London Irish, Glasgow

D. SUPER SIX

1. Who scored two tries for Italy in the 2012 championship? Giovanbattista Venditti

2. Before France-Ireland this year, when was the last time a championship match was postponed because of the weather? 1987

3. Who did Stephen Ferris upend to give Wales a winning penalty shot in Dublin? Ian Evans

4. Stuart Hogg became the first teenager to start a Test for Scotland since who? Jim Renwick

5. Which three Wales players picked up a third Grand Slam winners’ medal? Adam Jones, Gethin Jenkins and Ryan Jones

6. Wesley Fofana scored in four successive Six Nations matches. Who last achieved that feat? Will Greenwood

E. GUESS WHO?

1. Girvan Dempsey 2. Heyneke Meyer 3. Jamie Roberts 4. Ma’a Nonu

F. HISTORY LESSON

1. How many IRB Sevens Series titles have New Zealand won? Ten

2. Who is the only women’s player to have won the Pat Marshall Award given out by the Rugby Union Writers’ Club? Maggie Alphonsi

3. The 1971 Lions lost one game outside the New Zealand Test series. Who beat them? Queensland

4. Ryan Jones broke whose record for the number of Tests as Wales captain in November? Ieuan Evans

5. How many clubs have played in England’s top flight since leagues began in 1987? 27

6. Who is the top try-scorer in Celtic League history? Tommy Bowe

7. How many Scots have captained a Lions tour? Seven

8. Which two players have played in more than 100 Heineken Cup games? Ronan O’Gara and John Hayes

9. Willie John McBride has played in the most Tests for the Lions – but who’s next on the list? Dicky Jeeps

G. YOUNG ONES

1. Sebastien Chabal

2. Byron Kelleher

3. Victor Matfield

4. Owen Farrell

5. Sonny Bill Williams

6. Peter Stringer

7. Tim Visser

8. Thomas Waldrom

H. WRITERS’ BLOCK

1. Refuse to be Denied = Sam Warburton

2. Rainbow Warrior = Francois Pienaar

3. The Outsider = Geordan Murphy

4. Finding my Feet = Jason Robinson

5. High Balls and Happy Hours = Gavin Hastings

I. TRUE OR FALSE

1. Liam Williams has a tattoo of Rhys Priestland’s mum’s name on his foot. False

2. Neil Back is the only forward to have dropped a goal for England. True

3. Brian O’Driscoll’s wife stars in the TV comedy Threesome. True

4. Berrick Barnes said he was looking forward to playing England’s “pretty wingers”. False

5. Dimitri Yachvili’s dad ran onto the pitch to defend his son during a Biarritz match. False

6. David Denton came under threat from elephants while on safari. False

7. Dan Norton broke Jonny Wilkinson’s long-standing record in an England fitness test. True

8. Kiwi Glen Jackson refereed his first Test on the same ground that he finished his competitive playing career. True