If all sports are really about war, then rugby is a heart-thumping epic of bayonet charges and hand-to-hand fighting.  In Memoirs of a Rugby-Playing Man, bestselling author Jay Atkinson describes his thirty-five year odyssey in the sport-from his rough and rowdy days at the University of Florida, through the intrigue of various foreign tours, club championships, and all star selections, up to his current stint with the freewheeling Vandals Rugby Club out of Los Angeles. Jay has played in more than 500 matches, for which he's suffered three broken ribs, a detached retina, a fractured cheekbone and orbital bone, four deadened teeth, and a dislocated ankle. Written in the style of Siegried Sassoon's Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, Atkinson's book explains why it was all worth it--the sum total of his violent adventures, and the valuable insights he has gained from them.

Beginning in a jail cell and ending in a rugby tournament—the true story of how the most inspiring charm offensive in history brought South Africa together. After being released from prison and winning South Africa’s first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by fifty years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: use the national rugby team, the Springboks—long an embodiment of white-supremacist rule—to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup. The string of wins that followed not only defied the odds, but capped Mandela’s miraculous effort to bring South Africans together again in a hard-won, enduring bond. Watch a Video

The official guide to rugby in North America, revised and updatedRugby For Dummies is the guide to rugby in North America, endorsed by USA Rugby and Rugby Canada, the official regulating bodies for the sport. It gives you a look at how rugby is played, offers strategies for winning, and covers every level of the sport, from high school to college (including women's rugby) to the international leagues. Plus, this new edition addresses changes to the rules of rugby, includes new rugby player bios, and looks at rugby's upcoming return to the Olympic games. Inside you'll find easy-to-understand explanations of rugby rules and positions, plus in-depth lessons on skills, fitness training, and winning techniques. Add in entertaining stories from rugby in North America and around the world, and you've got the definitive book on rugby!Covers every level of the sportIncludes the latest rules and information on rugbyDiscusses rugby's return to the Olympic gamesWhether you're new to rugby or a scrum veteran, this friendly guide is for you.

Rugby union has undergone immense change in the past two decades—introducing a World Cup, accepting professionalism, and creating a global market in players. This book brings the game's colorful story entirely up to date. It covers all of the great games, teams, and players, but also explores the social, political, and economic changes which have affected the course of rugby's development. It is an international history, covering not only Britain and France but also the great rugby powers of the southern hemisphere and other successful rugby nations, including Argentina, Fiji, and Japan. There is also a wealth of anecdotes, including allegations of devil-worship at a Welsh rugby club and an account of the game's contribution to the Cuban Revolution.

In 1985, Nelson Mandela, then in prison for twenty-three years, set about winning over the fiercest proponents of apartheid, from his jailers to the head of South Africa’s military. First he earned his freedom and then he won the presidency in the nation’s first free election in 1994. But he knew that South Africa was still dangerously divided by almost fifty years of apartheid. If he couldn’t unite his country in a visceral, emotional way—and fast—it would collapse into chaos. He would need all the charisma and strategic acumen he had honed during half a century of activism, and he’d need a cause all South Africans could share. Mandela picked one of the more farfetched causes imaginable—the national rugby team, the Springboks, who would host the sport’s World Cup in 1995. Against the giants of the sport, the Springboks’ chances of victory were remote. But their chances of capturing the hearts of most South Africans seemed remoter still, as they had long been the embodiment of white supremacist rule. During apartheid, the all-white Springboks and their fans had belted out racist fight songs, and blacks would come to Springbok matches to cheer for whatever team was playing against them. Yet Mandela believed that the Springboks could embody—and engage—the new South Africa. And the Springboks themselves embraced the scheme. Soon South African TV would carry images of the team singing “Nkosi Sikelele Afrika,” the longtime anthem of black resistance to apartheid. As their surprising string of victories lengthened, their home-field advantage grew exponentially. South Africans of every color and political stripe found themselves falling for the team. When the Springboks took to the field for the championship match against New Zealand’s heavily favored squad, Mandela sat in his presidential box wearing a Springbok jersey while sixty-two-thousand fans, mostly white, chanted “Nelson! Nelson!” Millions more gathered around their TV sets, whether in dusty black townships or leafy white suburbs, to urge their team toward victory. The Springboks won a nail-biter that day, defying the oddsmakers and capping Mandela’s miraculous ten-year-long effort to bring forty-three million South Africans together in an enduring bond. John Carlin, a former South Africa bureau chief for the London Independent, offers a singular portrait of the greatest statesman of our time in action, blending the volatile cocktail of race, sport, and politics to intoxicating effect. He draws on extensive interviews with Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and dozens of other South Africans caught up in Mandela’s momentous campaign, and the Springboks’ unlikely triumph. As he makes stirringly clear, their championship transcended the mere thrill of victory to erase ancient hatreds and make a nation whole.

The shocking, controversial, and moving story of Matt Hampson, the rugby player who dislocated his neck and was paralyzed in an England training session  "Engage!" was the last word Matt Hampson heard before dislocating his neck while in rugby training with other young England hopefuls. On a cold, gray day in 2005, the cream of the young English rugby crop gathered at a Northampton training ground. Matt Hampson, "Hambo" to his mates, was one of them. His skill, conviction, and dedication had brought him to the cusp of realizing his dream of playing professionally, in an England U21 team that included Olly Morgan, Toby Flood, Ben Foden, and James Haskell. But as the two sets of forwards engaged for a scrum on the training field, the scrum collapsed and Matt, who played tight-head prop, took the full force of two opposing sides. In that moment his life changed forever. Paul Kimmage went to visit Matt as he recuperated, and wrote an award-winning piece on him for the Sunday Times. They struck up a friendship which led to this spectacular book—where Paul tells Matt's whole story, in all its intimate detail. From the build-up to the dreadful day, to Matt's recuperation, to his struggle to adjust back to normal life, this is a story of terrible sadness yet unadorned triumph and joy, of anger yet of reconciliation and peace—and of a boy who became a man.

Improve technique, game sense and fitness levels with the aid of Rugby Games&Drills. Developed by one of the game’s top coaches and endorsed by the Rugby Football Union, Rugby Games&Drills contains over 115 games and drills \qq: Perhaps we want to say “activities”? Also, total may change. –Laura Xqq\ designed to bring out the very best in players, regardless of age or ability or rugby code. This book is packed with the most effective games and drills for improving core skills such as handling, kicking and decision making while providing tough physical challenges. In addition, the detailed descriptions with accompanying illustrations will help you make the most of training sessions and ensure you are ready for game day. Rugby Games&Drills is the ideal companion for coaches and players of both rugby league and rugby union looking to maximize talent and harness their potential.

The Ultimate Guide to Weight Training for Rugby is the most comprehensive and up-to-date rugby-specific training guide in the world today. It contains descriptions and photographs of over 80 of the most effective weight training, flexibility, and abdominal exercises used by athletes worldwide. This book features year-round rugby-specific weight-training programs guaranteed to improve your performance and get you results.No other rugby book to date has been so well designed, so easy to use, and so committed to weight training. This book will increase the players power and quickness resulting in more effectiveness in rucks and mauls. By using this program, you will make considerable gains in your strength, agility, and stamina which will result in more success in scrums and have you competing strong until the final whistle.Both beginners and advanced athletes and weight trainers can follow this book and utilize its programs. From recreational to professional, thousands of athletes all over the world are already benefiting from this book and its techniques, and now you can too!As an added bonus, this book also contains links to free record keeping charts which normally sell separately for $20.

Master the skills, master the game. Rugby: Steps to Success covers all of the skills, tactics and strategies you need to improve your play and dominate the pitch. With 13 progressive instructional steps, you'll learn all aspects of the game. Detailed descriptions, illustrations and photo sequences demonstrate the essential skills, including footwork, ball handing, tackling and kicking. Then practice and improve with 90 drills, each featuring a personal scoring system to gauge and accelerate your progress.After mastering the individual skills, you'll learn to apply them in match play. From retaining possession to attacking the opposition's weaknesses, you'll learn the strategies to dominate the pitch. Become a complete player and lead your team to victory. As part of the popular Steps to Success Sports Series—with more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide—Rugby: Steps to Success will elevate your performance to new heights in all facets of the game.

Today’s rugby players are bigger, faster and stronger than ever before. A focused conditioning programme has become essential to on-field success. Complete Conditioning for Rugby features a comprehensive training approach that builds players’ physical abilities as well as the rugby-specific skills their positions require. Renowned conditioning coach and former professional player Paul Pook provides exercises, drills and programmes designed to improve the essential elements of the sport—strength, power, quickness and agility. His programmes will help you with these skills: • Increase strength and power to win those all-important collisions. • Improve your quickness and agility to be as elusive as the world’s best. • Develop your core stability and mobility in order to remain injury free. • Customise your workouts to meet the demands of the position you play. In addition, the approximately 50-minute DVD takes you into the gym to demonstrate the same exercises and drills used by the game’s best. With physical assessments, nutrition advice and seasonal workouts, Complete Conditioning for Rugby will take your game to the next level.