South Africa is a land of contrasts, as the tourist brochures promise, and this is true for the game of rugby.

From the Pretoria heartland to the aspirant Eastern Cape, from the hardscrabble Cape Flats to the islands of privilege at Bishops and Grey College, no other rugby-playing nation has to grapple with so much diversity. Different languages, classes, races and cultures - each bearing the wounds of the country's fractured past - have to be melded into winning teams.

Liz McGregor has spent the past three years shadowing Currie Cup, Super 14 and Springbok teams across the country, and has come to the conclusion that it is this very diversity, combined with the pain of the past and the dreams of a great united future, that provide the elusive alchemy that separates a good team from a great one.

Touch, Pause, Engage! is more than a book about rugby. It is an intimate look at how South Africa's erstwhile elite is adapting to its new circumstances. Team South Africa has been through many a maul and bruising scrum, but is inching closer and closer to the tryline.

Front Up, Rise Up is the story of Connacht's remarkable journey to becoming the 2016 Pro12 champions. The story goes inside the dressing-room, takes in their unscheduled, week-long, bonding trek to Siberia and back for a European Challenge Cup game, and all the key twists and turns along the way. It brings us the characters in this Band of Brothers, from the locals such as captain John Muldoon from Portumna to their iconic fans' favourite Bundee Aki - who like their talismanic coach Pat Lam is a Kiwi from Auckland of Samoan descent - and their Nigerian-born and Dublin-raised match-winner Niyi Adeolokun. The story takes in the province's troubled professional history, which had them on the brink of extinction as a professional entity in 2003 and led to Connacht and their supporters marching to the IRFU offices in a successful bid to keep them afloat. It covers their dethroning of the champions Glasgow in the Sportsground in Galway and their stunning performance in the final against Leinster in Edinburgh. In more than two decades of professional rugby, there has been no story quite like it.

The Rugby World Cup has only been in existence since 1987, yet already it is established as the sport's premier competition - six weeks of frenzied action which entrances all the rugby-playing nations. The tournament has thrown up countless memorable matches, introduced us to amazing players and witnessed some incredible scores - from Michael Jones scoring the first World Cup try to the legendary All Blacks regaining the trophy in a titanic struggle with France 24 years later. In between we have witnessed two triumphs each for Australia and South Africa, and of course England's sole victory for a Northern Hemisphere side. To date. Relive France's spectacular wins over Australia and New Zealand; Argentina's repeated upsetting of the world order; last-minute drop goals by Joel Stransky and Jonny Wilkinson, and the sheer exuberance of the Pacific Islanders - in a Rugby World Cup history which will appeal to fans of every nation.

SHORTLISTED FOR RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 'When I came into the Ulster team,' Stephen Ferris says with typical candour, 'we were crap'. It was, however, preferable to his day job of paving driveways, and that day in 2005 saw the start of an incredible journey for Ferris, Ulster and Ireland rugby. A Celtic League title in his very first senior season with Ulster. A Grand Slam in 2009, followed by a sensational Lions breakthrough. A starring role in Ireland's greatest World Cup win, over Australia in 2011, when Ferris famously picked up Will Genia and carried him ten yards. And leading Ulster from nowhere to the Heineken Cup final. Stephen Ferris had an incredible rugby career, tragically ended by ankle injuries so severe they will never properly heal. He is an inspiration to the population of Ulster, an emblem of the sport that serves as such a positive expression of its culture and identity, and earned the respect and admiration of fans across Ireland for his strength, pace, skill and courage. Fearless, funny and full of an incredible array of stories from behind the scenes of Ulster, Ireland and the Lions, this is the must-have rugby book of the year.

The story of the Springboks 2019 Rugby World Cup victory is one of the most inspiring in South African sporting history.

It is about how two men – coach Rassie Erasmus and captain Siya Kolisi – led a team of warriors into battle and conquered the world when inequality and division are still undeniable realities in South African society. When the Boks won the 2007 World Cup final, they did so with 20 white players in their match-day squad of 22.

In 2019, there were five black Africans in their starting line-up for the Yokohama final and the images of Kolisi lifting the Webb Ellis Cup will be replayed forever.

None of this seemed possible just two years ago when the Boks had reached an all-time low. They had slipped to No 7 in the world and had lost the faith of the rugby-loving public. Erasmus came in with just 18 months to prepare for the competition.

Sports writer Lloyd Burnard takes the reader on a thrilling journey from the time when no-one gave the Boks a chance of winning, to the delirious victory tour. He covers the key roles played by Erasmus and Kolisi, and their special relationship. There are ups and downs en route to victory: the first signs of self-belief when they beat the All Blacks in Wellington, Kolisi’s injury, the fall of Aphiwe Dyantyi when he was caught with banned substances in his system, and the Langebaan incident involving Eben Etzebeth that threatened to derail the team.