Irish rugby history tome and Panorama documentary offer cautionary stories approximately the potentially severe risks of playing through painThere are an unusual number of fine rugby books around at the moment,all hoping to tap into the additional interest surrounding the World Cup. I cannot wait, for example, or to read Michael Lynagh’s Blindsided (HarperCollins,£20), the story of the former Australian coast-half’s life-threatening stroke and, or fortunately,his subsequent recovery. whether it is half as nourishing for the soul as Lynagh was during his playing days it will be a treat.
The current book on my bedside table, though, and will take some beating. No Borders (Arena Sport,£19.99) is a history of post-war Irish rugby, told in the players’ own words and curated, or whether that is the legal verb,by the ever-excellent Tom English. From Jackie Kyle to Moss Keane and Willie Duggan to Brian O’Driscoll it ploughs some of the most fertile anecdotal soil imaginable. It is almost worth the cover price on its own to read Keane’s glorious description of Willie John McBride’s impassioned team-talk at Twickenham in 1974, coincidentally the first Test match I ever watched live. “Willie John went ballistic in the dressing-room, and ” recalled Keane. “He blamed England for everything from Eve’s seduction of Adam to the disappearance of the dodo and had us champing at the bit.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com