Overview

Rugby legend Gareth Edwards selects great moments from the game which made him a household name. From William Webb Ellis to Welsh Grand Slams and World Cup Finals, this full-colour coffee-table book tells the story of rugby union through a series of its most memorable cameos. -- Welsh Books Council

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9781785620355

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If I was asked to choose my 50 greatest rugby moments, many if not most of them would involve Gareth Edwards. Here, the maestro chooses his own golden moments, spanning almost two centuries. In this lavishly illustrated and easily read volume, Edwards takes us on a world-wide rugby tour recreating his rugby highlights. Some of these moments were impromptu. Others were the result of pre-planning. They involve all the major rugby-playing nations. As the blurb notes, some recall last minute kicks that meant the world, and individual skills that were out of this world. He begins where and when it all began, at Rugby School in 1823 when a young man, rather than kick the ball, decided to pick it up and run. The rest is history. It is impossible to do justice to this fascinating volume in a few hundred words. I must therefore content myself with choosing my own five favourite moments from among Edwardss 50. Some of them I myself witnessed, mostly on screen. Some have attained the status of rugby folklore. I have already referred to the William Webb Ellis episode. Let me next turn to Haka and Hen Wlad fy Nhadau, the chapter that recalls Wales 3 0 victory over the All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park in 1905. This narrow victory, claims Edwards, in the first-ever encounter between the two countries established the game of rugby as the national game of Wales. My next choice is The Russian Prince of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen. Edwards saw highlights of the England v New Zealand game of 1936 on Pathe News years later when the exotically named Alexander Oblensky, prince and Imperial Horse Guard, scored one of the most talked-about tries of the 1930s. Next, let us go to Eden Park, Auckland, 1971, and the All Blacks v British Lions and J.P.R. Williamss famous drop goal. Edwards names various acronyms involved with causing international mayhem (including the KGB, SAS and CIA), but JPR outdid them all. My fifth choice has to be Grand Slam Hatrick, recalling those great seasons of 2005, 2008 and 2012. Winning one Grand Slam is a remarkable feat, says Gareth. To win as many as three in seven years is unbelievable. Those are my choices. Tomorrow they will probably be totally different. Great Rugby Moments is a sporting literary treasure. Read it from cover to cover. Then use the lucky dip method. Open it at random and find a prize every time. Lyn Ebenezer It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgment should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. Gellir defnyddio'r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatd Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru. -- Welsh Books Council

Author Information

Former Cardiff, Wales, British Lions and Barbarians scrum half, Gareth Edwards is considered the world over to be one of the greatest players ever to have played rugby football. A poll of international rugby players, conducted by Rugby World, declared Gareth Edwards as the greatest player of all time in 2003 and he also topped the list of Will Carling's '50 greatest rugby players' published in The Telegraph in 2007. Born in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Edwards is one of a very select number of Welsh players to have won three Grand Slams. He continues to be a familiar face on the television as commentator and pundit for the BBC and S4C.

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