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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Ball games > Rugby football
A history of Swansea Rugby Football Club 1873-1945
A history of Glamorgan County Cricket Club
Go behind the scenes with the world's most successful sports team.
This is a complete history of rugby's most famous yet enigmatic
team, the New Zealand All Blacks, told by the men who have had the
honour of wearing the iconic black jersey. From the legendary 1905
'Originals' all the way through to Richie McCaw's record-breaking
back-to-back World Cup champions of 2015, this is a history of the
All Blacks like you have never experienced it before. Thanks to
exhaustive archival research and exclusive new material garnered
from a vast array of interviews with players and coachesfrom across
the decades, Behind the All Blacks unveils the compelling truth of
what it means to play for the team that has dominated Test match
rugby for over a century - all the trials and tribulations behind
the scenes, the glory, the drama and the honour on the field, and
the passionate friendships and bonds of a brotherhood off it.
Absorbing and illuminating, this is the ultimate history of New
Zealand rugby - told, definitively, by the men who have been there
and done it.
In rugby, there are the Flash Harrys and the Glory Boys: the
fly-halves who run, kick and dazzle; the scrum-halves who nip and
dart; the wingers who step and glide. These are the players who get
the crowd on their feet, who set stadiums abuzz. But they only get
to do these things because other, less glorified figures do all of
the donkey work. Adam Jones is one such figure. And for a decade he
was one of the world's best. On many occasions when George North or
Shane Williams were careering under the posts to score a try, and
the crowd was engulfed in rapturous joy, Adam Jones would be
hauling himself up from the turf, spitting blood and mud, and
massaging his aching neck. He hadn't scored the try; but more often
than not it was his graft and strength which had made it. This is
the story of 'Bomb': the self-effacing manual labourer from the
Swansea Valley who traded laying paving slabs for running out in
some of the world's most imposing sporting citadels. He rose to the
pinnacle of his sport, winning virtually everything there was to be
won: Grand Slams, Six Nations Championships, Lions tours, Pro12
titles. In a nation of rugby heroes, Adam Jones has become a
legend. Only six Welshmen can say they've won three Grand Slams. He
is one of them: not just as a bit-part player, but as the beating
heart of the most successful squad in Welsh rugby history. His was
one of the first names on the team sheet. He was - literally and
metaphorically - the cornerstone of this Welsh side. In his
autobiography, Jones reveals exactly what goes on in the murky
depths of the front row: the tricks, the techniques, the physical
and psychological warfare; and the mental fortitude it takes to
endure in one of the hardest positions, in one of the world's
toughest contact sports.
We all like choosing the best-ever Welsh rugby team, but here is a
XV with a difference. Here they are not players but writers. The
exploits of the people's heroes from Gould to Gareth Edwards are
vividly recaptured in some classic prose. So too are the
expectations and emotions of the most passionate followers in the
world. They deserve the best team we can put out. Here it is, a
selection of world beating writing on Welsh rugby: The First XV.
With an introduction by Gerald Davies, the featured authors include
Richard Burton, Gwyn Thomas, Frank Keating, Alun Richards and many
more.
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