The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby

Rugby has always been a sport with as much drama off the field as on it. For every thrilling last-minute Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal to win the World Cup or Jonah Lomu rampage down the touchline for a try there has been a split a feud or a controversy. The Oval World is the first full-length history of rugby on a world scale--from its origins in the village-based football games of medieval times up to the globalized sport of the twenty-first century now played in over 100 countries. It tells the story of how a game played in an obscure English public school became the winter sport of the British Empire spreading to France Argentina Japan and the rest of the world and commanding a global television audience of over four billion for the last World Cup final. It also explores how American football and other games such as Australian Canadian and Gaelic football--emerged from their English cousin. Featuring the great moments in the games history and its legendary names--David Duckham Serge Blanco Billy Boston and David Campese alongside Rupert Brooke King George V Boris Karloff Charles de Gaulle and Nelson Mandela--The Oval World investigates just what it is about rugby that enables it to thrive in countries with very different traditions and cultures. This is the definitive world history of a truly global sport.