Product Description
From the heights of the Grand Slams to a near six nations whitewash in 2000, one factor has remained constant in Scottish rugby - its huge resource of characters. Jeff Connor set out on a mission to track down some of Scotland's best-known players - the true giants of the game - and to discover whether there is life after international rugby. The result was 40 exclusive interviews featured in this book with legends such as Ken Scotland, Jim Telfer, Sandy Carmichael and Andy Irvine. There is the Hawick humour of Jim Renwick, the history of Finlay Calder's greatest wind-ups and the emotive story of Gordon Brown's battle with his most vicious opponent of all, cancer. Bruce Hay's confrontation with the Duke of Edinburgh, Iain Paxton's disgust at the attitude of some English players on a British Lions tour and David Leslie's fearsome pre-match preparations are all decribed, along with frankly expressed views from active modern-day players like Gregor Townsend. ... Read more

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For the amateur and professional alike, this joke book is for anyone who plays - or knows anyone who plays - rugby. From gentle gags and quips to irreverent thigh-pullers, turf-curdlingly wicked enough to scandalize a scrum, this book is a new addition to the "World's Best" series of joke books. ... Read more

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Relaunched in 2006 this edition includes: all the facts and figures from the major international competitions, such as the Six Nations, Tri Nations, World Sevens Series, Women's Rugby World Cup and Americas and Asian tournaments; a review of the season and feature articles on key issues in the game over the past year by the world's leading rugby writers; and a preview of the 2007 World Cup in France, as well as fixtures for the 2007 season. ... Read more

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Since it’s first publication, Rugby’s Great Split has established itself as a classic in the field of sport history. Drawing on an unprecedented range of sources, this deeply researched and highly readable book traces the social, cultural and economic divisions that led, in 1895, to schism in the game of rugby and the creation of rugby league, the sport of England’s northern working class.

Tony Collins’ analysis challenges many of the conventional assumptions about this key event in rugby history – about class conflict, amateurism in sport, the North-South divide, violence on the pitch, the development of mass spectator sport and the rise of football. This new edition is expanded to cover parallel events in Australia and New Zealand, and to address the key question of rugby league’s failure to establish itself in Wales.

Rugby’s Great Split is a benchmark text in the history of rugby, and an absorbing case study of wider issues – issues of class, gender, regional and national identity, and the impact of the commercialization and recent professionalization of rugby league. This insightful text is for anyone interested in Britain’s social history or in the emergence of modern sport, it is vital reading.

Customer Reviews (1)

Social changes give birth to new sport
In the same vain that Rugby League echoes the form and values of the society that created it, so does this book so eloquently capture the feeling.From students of social history and sporting significances, topure thoroughbred Rugby League fans, this book is a well documented must inbringing to life an era that mapped a sporting destiny.If you feel apassion for modern rugby, you must read this book as it sets out thepattern by which most working class British sports tred by. ... Read more

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Every collegiate female rugger should read this book - it will provide a blueprint for: learning the game, fitting rugby into busy schedules, club organization, avoiding injury, and developing a clear sense of personal benchmarks in each players' game.

Readers naïve to women’s rugby will discover the essence of the college game, new players (especially nervous rookies) may discover a blueprint for what to expect and how to succeed, experienced players may discover new clues to mastering this game, and older players who want to morph into coaching, may discover a manual for establishing a successful program. Finally, all readers will discover that in women’s collegiate rugby, teamwork matters more than size, mastering the fundamentals and executing simple, but flawless technique wins games, open communication between players and coaches breeds pride in a program, and attention to conditioning, flexibility, and the hazards of the game reduces the risk and occurrence of injury. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not advisable
This book was very, very, basic.Basically focused on conditioning as injury prevention, but with no real details, just the basic concept that fit players are better players....amazing breakthrough.As a women's coach, I found his reaction to his players injuries a bit sexist as well.

Too specific about what the author's limited experience during a short stint at a small school, where prolongs the short chapters with stories and names of his former players, and even has the audacity to quote himself multiple times, cleverly using his initials or quoting "stan" as opposed to "N. Stanley Nahman."

If you're entirely new to rugby and want some guidance?Google "rugby the rookie primer" byLisa Gartner, which Nahman recommends in the book.

If you're thinking of buying this book to help you as a coach, look elsewhere.There are plenty of great coaching manuals out there, ones that are advanced enough to do without a glossary for words such as "backs," "Line-out," and "Try."

Not enough Drills
Its a very basic book.Not so much focused on drills but more so on stretching and the difference between the guys game and the girls game. It was more of an autobiography of the author than a coaching tutorial.I would have liked something that had more drills and game tactics

A little gem.
What a little gem of a book! The writing is clear and clever, and a perfect synopsis of women's rugby. For anyone interested in women's sports or who is interested in coaching rugby, this is a must read. ... Read more

Product Description
Rugby League in Twentieth Century Britain is the follow-up volume to the award-winning Rugby's Great Split. Following on from that work, the book offers a social and cultural history of rugby league in the twentieth century, from World War One to the 'Super League' controversy of 1995.
Based on extensive archival research, it situates the sport in the changing culture of the north of England. It seeks to examine the cultural, social and economic basis of the sport amidst the changes to the industrial and social landscape of the north in the twentieth century. Central to this is the book's discussion of the nature of Northern English identity.In addition, it also looks at rugby league's relationship with the British empire (via its links with Australia and New Zealand), its war with rugby union (using the previously unopened archives of the Rugby Football Union) and the centrality of working-class masculinity to northern culture.
Like its predecessor, the book will appeal to sports historians and sociologists, historians interested in regional, cultural and gender history, graduate and undergraduate history, sociology and sports studies students, and followers of rugby league, and sport in general. ... Read more

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Know the Game Rugby League is the perfect introduction to the sport for all ages, whether you are a keen club player or beginner. It is packed with expert text, clear illustrations and photographs of the professionals in action.The book includes: Playing the game - the low down on the pitch, goals, kit, protective equipment and, of course, the ball. The rules - all the rules from scoring to tackling, foul play to offside. The skills - step-by-step guide to all the basic skills, including passing, tackling, running and kicking. Varations - full details on all the variations of the game, including Mini and Mod League.The Know the Game series is firmly established as the definitive introduction to a wide range of sports and games. Written by the experts, you can be sure that they contain everything you need to know to take part. ... Read more

Product Description

Since it’s first publication, Rugby’s Great Split has established itself as a classic in the field of sport history. Drawing on an unprecedented range of sources, this deeply researched and highly readable book traces the social, cultural and economic divisions that led, in 1895, to schism in the game of rugby and the creation of rugby league, the sport of England’s northern working class.

Tony Collins’ analysis challenges many of the conventional assumptions about this key event in rugby history – about class conflict, amateurism in sport, the North-South divide, violence on the pitch, the development of mass spectator sport and the rise of football. This new edition is expanded to cover parallel events in Australia and New Zealand, and to address the key question of rugby league’s failure to establish itself in Wales.

Rugby’s Great Split is a benchmark text in the history of rugby, and an absorbing case study of wider issues – issues of class, gender, regional and national identity, and the impact of the commercialization and recent professionalization of rugby league. This insightful text is for anyone interested in Britain’s social history or in the emergence of modern sport, it is vital reading.

Product Description

Product Description
In every Five Nations - and now Six Nations - season the real showdown is always that between England and Wales: Wales with its history of playing the finest rugby of all the home nations, England with its enviable strength in depth and forward muscle. Whether in the vast bowl of Twickenham or the cauldron of the Millennium Stadium every year is a sell-out long in advance. Over the years there have been innumerable epic encounters. In the seventies Wales dominated with Barry John, Gareth Edwards at scrum-half and JPR Williams at full back, but England had the blistering running of David Duckham with his blond hair flying. The eighties and nineties saw some incendiary encounters with Paul Ringer and Wade Dooley both involved in high-profile punch-ups, but also England re-establishing dominance and Bill Beaumont and then Will Carling. But the decade ended at Wembley with Scott Gibbs's dramatic last-minute swallow-dive to snatch victory for Wales. More recently Wales have come back with new stars like Gavin Henson and Shane Williams after years of powerhouse England forward play had held sway.Huw Richards has talked to many veterans of these matches, as well as to present players and administrators to tells the whole history of Wales v England at rugby: a contest that is a clash of cultures and histories as well as a titanic sporting occasion. Huw Richards is rugby correspondent of the Financial Times. ... Read more

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Since World War II, the sport of rugby union has burgeoned from a relaxed amateur game - played for fun and friendship - into a multi-million pound business and become one of the world's best followed sports. "Rucking & Rolling: 60 Years of Rugby Union" is the stunning illustrated history of this transformation, charting the rise of the game through its great games and legendary players. Covering all of the epic rugby contests and featuring all of the great teams from England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland as well as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and British Lions, this beautiful book offers fresh insight into this much loved sport. Presented decade-by-decade and packed with exclusive player interviews and 150 photographs, this stunning illustrated book captures the highs and lows of the rugby union through a stylishly written, anecdote-packed text by one of the sport's leading authorities. ... Read more

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From the myth of William Webb Ellis to the glory of the 2003 World Cup win, this book explores the social history of rugby union in England.

Ever since Tom Brown’s Schooldays the sport has seen itself as the guardian of traditional English middle-class values. In this fascinating new history, leading rugby historian Tony Collins demonstrates how these values have shaped the English game, from the public schools to mass spectator sport, from strict amateurism to global professionalism.

Based on unprecedented access to the official archives of the Rugby Football Union, and drawing on an impressive array of sources from club minutes to personal memoirs and contemporary literature, the book explores in vivid detail the key events, personalities and players that have made English rugby.

From an era of rapid growth at the end of the nineteenth century, through the terrible losses suffered during the First World War and the subsequent ‘rush to rugby’ in the public and grammar schools, and into the periods of disorientation and commercialisation in the 1960s through to the present day, the story of English rugby union is also the story of the making of modern England.

Like all the very best writers on sport, Tony Collins uses sport as a prism through which to better understand both culture and society. A ground-breaking work of both social history and sport history, A Social History of English Rugby Union tells a fascinating story of sporting endeavour, masculine identity, imperial ideology, social consciousness and the nature of Englishness.

Customer Reviews (1)

Informative but ultimately disappointing
There is something wrong with "A Social History of English Rugby Union". It is serious, well-researched, and fairly terse; it does present valuable information; just in virtue of its solid grounding in research, it does deserve three stars.

Yet I was struck reading this book by the lack of understanding (empathy might be too strong a word) Collins evinces of the players and executives whose actions he describes. To my mind, the mark of an excellent historian is the ability to inhabit, so to speak, the minds of those whose acts he depicts, and reveal the world as they experienced it. This is not to say that such historians need agree with their subjects; they may personally detest what they stood for. Yet if history is to be of value as a discipline, it must put understanding and revelation before score-settling, editorializing, or in extreme cases, demonization.

Oddly for a tenured historian of sport, Collins writes like a man who has no idea why any well-balanced human being would ever play, or even appreciate, rugby. The behaviour of rugby union players and administrators over the years (the embrace of violence in the sport, the linking of rugby to martial glory, the reluctance to introduce professionalization, the kinship felt by rugby players with white apartheid-era South Africans, the preoccupation with masculinity, the identification with political conservatism, etc.) seem to strike him as either unfathomable or worthy of disdain. The entire "social history of rugby", as presented here, might be summarized as a bunch of stupid, control-freak, misogynistic, racist, nostalgic toffs who somehow manage in spite of themselves to not destroy the sport they're supposed to be protecting. While there is no doubt some truth to this, as a storyline it just rings too superficial. It also doesn't make for a compelling read...

Collins mentions that the social side of rugby is nearly as important as the matches themselves. Given that this is supposed to be a social history, I would have loved to have read a deep, detailed exploration (not just a mention that rugby can be like freemasonry) of how that works for those involved. What does the sport really mean to those who play it? Why does it command life-time allegiance from those who played it as school boys? How do its cultic features function? Other than snobbery, what was really going through the heads of rugby administrators? What did they get right?

Rugby needs a historian who gets *inside* those who play and run the game, who understands how things are from their perspective. When that is the goal and starting point, criticism by the historian is even more devastating. But where a writer seems always on the outside looking in, observing with a disdainful eye without being able to summon any emotional resonance with his subjects, the picky criticism ends up just sounding like a constant stream of tacks hitting a tin roof. Unfortunately, despite all the good research he's done here, Collins in my opinion just never "breaks through". The result is an informative, but sometimes dry, and often snippy and critical, history, which could have, and should have, been better.

I hope this review helped someone.

Good luck,

Tal ... Read more