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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Ball games > Rugby football
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.
SHORTLISTED FOR RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE 2020 TELEGRAPH SPORTS
BOOK AWARDS. 'excellent' Donald McRae, The Guardian 'Gatland is the
master' Sir Ian McGeechan 'Gatland is a coaching star' Sir Clive
Woodward 'Gats is one of the all-time great coaches' Sam Warburton
Warren Gatland is one of the world's most renowned and intriguing
rugby coaches of the modern era, leading Wales to four Six Nations
titles, three Grand Slams and two World Cup semi-finals and
masterminding two history-making tours as Head Coach of the British
and Irish Lions. As he leaves his post as Head Coach of Wales at
the end of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, Gatland's definitive
autobiography provides a colourful and vivid chronicle of an
extraordinary three decades at rugby's dynamic coal-face. The
personal journey has been rewarding and challenging in equal
measure, spanning many of the sport's most passionate heartlands
such as New Zealand, Ireland, England and, of course, Wales.
Gatland reflects in characteristically forthright and intelligent
fashion on a lifetime spent playing and coaching the sport which
has been his passion since as a young boy he first picked up an
oval ball on New Zealand's North Island, dreaming of joining the
ranks of the mighty All Blacks. Along the way we encounter the
greatest matches, players and rivalries the sport has to offer, get
introduced to a stunning cast of unforgettable characters who grace
the story with their humour and humanity, and emerge with a
striking appreciation of what makes this outstanding rugby man
tick.
Johnny Sexton - the man who pulled the strings for the Lions -
gives an intimate insight into the rugby life in Becoming a Lion.
With three Heineken Cups and one British and Irish Lions tour
victory under his belt, Johnny Sexton is by some distance the
leading fly-half in the northern hemisphere. Over the course of the
Lions' first victorious Test series in sixteen years, Sexton was
the man pulling the strings. His try in the third test was the
decisive blow, and his joyous celebrations after scoring were
echoed in homes across Britain and Ireland. Becoming a Lion is an
intimate portrait of life at the highest levels of the professional
game - at Leinster, with Ireland, and on tour with the Lions.
'Bracing and fascinating in equal measure' Malachy Clerkin, Irish
Times 'Riveting ... Opens a remarkable window into the stresses,
hurts and insecurities of a professional life in rugby' Vincent
Hogan, Irish Independent 'Captures all the jagged edges that make
Sexton one of Irish sport's most compelling characters' Sunday
Times 'Sets a great benchmark for sports autobiographies, given
that it is so honest' Matt Cooper, Today FM 'Engrossing' Rugby
World Ireland 'If you crave an insight into the life of a
professional rugby player ... Becoming a Lion is a must' Donal
Lenihan, Irish Examiner 'Intensely revealing' Irish Daily Mail
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