Dating back to the early nineteenth century, Rugby Union is the third most popular team sport in the world, played in over one hundred countries, including England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, South Africa, Italy, Tonga, Fiji and Samoa. It attracts a worldwide TV audience of millions, and seven-a-side rugby will be included in the 2016 Olympics. The 2015 Rugby World Cup will take place in the United Kingdom. Rugby Union has produced outstanding, charismatic athletes such as Willie-John McBride, Colin Meads, J. P. R. Williams, Brian Moore, Gavin Hastings, Brian O'Driscoll, Chris Laidlaw, Wavell Wakefield, Graham Mourie, Phil Vickery, George Nepia and Jeff Probyn, to name just a few stars of the game, while its global prestige is perhaps best captured by the photograph of Nelson Mandela in a Springbok jersey presenting the 1995 World Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar. Brian Levison has drawn on the work of 60 contributors - including writers of the calibre of P.

G. Wodehouse, Peter Bills, Frank Keating, J. B. G. Thomas, Colonel Philip Trevor and Roger McGough - to compile a selection of the very best writing on legendary players, great characters, world-famous clubs and infamous incidents, but this is not a solemn collection: there is much writing that is entertaining and interesting in its own right, including humorous recollections and some poetry (though no fiction). He explores the origins of the game, both truthful and fanciful, institutions such as the haka and some of the game's hard men like coach Jean "Le Sultan" Sebedio, who used to conduct training sessions wearing a sombrero and wielding a long whip, and "Red" Conway who had his finger amputated rather than miss a game for South Africa. There is a fascinating description of the BBC's first broadcast of a rugby game, in 1927, an account of a player who could only get time off to play for Ireland if he got married, and the tale of the efforts of four Tibetan boys sent by the Dalai Lama to Rugby school to learn the game. Some incidents are viewed from both sides, such as the legendary punch-up between Willie-John McBride and Colin Meads.

One section looks at post-match high-jinks, such as the Calcutta Cup being drop-kicked around Edinburgh, by a Scottish and English player, following a narrow England win.