Showing results by publisher "-30- Press LLC" in Rugby

In Ruck Me!, James sets out on a voyage of self-discovery speaking to ex-colleagues, friends and family, reflecting on his career and diving into some of his most memorable personal anecdotes to date. But what started out as a search for understanding and meaning soon turns into a - let’s face it, sometimes warranted - chastisement opportunity with James directly in the firing line. Turns out he has a lot of work to do....

Forthright and frank, Read's well-respected views on the game and its future are a must-listen for rugby fans, and his take on the myriad personalities and the peccadilloes of his teammates, coaches and opponents will be sure to surprise and delight. From the playing fields of Papakura to the summit of the sport, Read has faced every challenge head on. His life story is no exception.

Before 9/11, the rugby team at West Point learned to bond on a sports field. This is what happened when those fifteen young men became leaders in war. Filled with drama, tragedy, and personal transformations, this is the story of a unique brotherhood. It is a story of American rugby and a story of the U.S. Army created through intimate portraits of men shaped by West Point's motto: "Duty, Honor, Country."

Rassie Erasmus has been called a genius. He’s been called reckless. All his life, he’s done things differently. Now, with his trademark candour, Rassie talks openly about his adventures and misadventures. Listeners will enjoy the behind-the-scenes information about interactions and controversies and previously untold stories from a truly maverick life.

Rassie Erasmus has been called a genius. He’s been called reckless. All his life, he’s done things differently. Now, with his trademark candour, Rassie talks openly about his adventures and misadventures at the pinnacle of world rugby, both as player and coach. From his role in Nick Mallett's record-breaking Springbok team of the late 1990s, to the devastating injuries that cut short his playing career, to his revolutionary coaching career, Rassie is an essential window into one of the most successful figures of modern rugby.

There have been many comments made and books written about Siya Kolisi, captain of the Springboks, and the first Black man to lead his country in more than 128 years of South African rugby. But now, for the very first time, Siya Kolisi shares his story in an extraordinarily intimate memoir, charting his journey from being born into the impoverished Zwide township, to leading his proud nation to an astonishing victory at the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

Sonny Bill Williams (SBW) is a once-in-a-hundred-year athlete with immense sporting talent in rugby league, rugby union and boxing. Sonny Bill has built an incredible career and sporting reputation across the globe. His athleticism has taken him from inner-city Auckland, where he grew up, to the highest sporting moments in Twickenham, Eden Park and Sydney's Olympic Stadium. But there is so much more to Sonny Bill Williams' life and journey than his on-field and in-the-ring triumphs.

After being released from prison and winning South Africa’s first free election, Nelson Mandela presided over a country still deeply divided by 50 years of apartheid. His plan was ambitious if not far-fetched: use the national rugby team, the Springboks—long an embodiment of white-supremacist rule—to embody and engage a new South Africa as they prepared to host the 1995 World Cup.

Nate Ebner and his father were inseparable. From an early age, they worked side-by-side in the family junkyard. Even though Nate was a great peewee football player in football-mad Ohio, he followed his father's passion for rugby and started playing for the same club as his father when he was only 13 years old. But Nate had to face the fact that there was no way to make a living as a professional rugby player in this country. So Nate gave his dad the news that he planned to quit rugby and go out for the football team at Ohio State University, with an eye toward making the NFL.

Rugby league legend Rob Burrow’s memoir will be one of the most inspirational books you’ll ever listen to. It will move you to tears and make you laugh. It will make you angry at the unfairness and cruelty of life. It will make you marvel at the fortitude and limits of the human spirit. And, like all the best books, perhaps it will make you reassess your own approach to living.

This book is not just about how I got back on my horse and went clippity-clop all the way to the World Cup final in Japan. It's the story of how a fat kid who had to live up to the nickname Psycho grew up to play (and party) for over a decade with rugby's greatest pros. From just about surviving the equivalent of 30 car crashes a game and crooning Adele for team spirit, to extensive field notes on the smell of the Scrum and the fine art of on-pitch relief. Then there's rugby's secret naked wrestling scene and how it was exposed. In my world, you never know how the ball will bounce.

Daniel William Carter is acknowledged as the greatest fly-half to have played international rugby. A veteran of more than 100 Test matches, he is the world record holder for most Test points, has twice been named the IRB's Player of the Year and twice named New Zealand Player of the Year. Legendary unbeaten All Blacks coach Sir Fred Allen, who followed international rugby from the 1920s until after the 2011 Rugby World Cup, had no hesitation in naming Carter as the greatest fly-half he ever saw.

Wayne Bennett is the greatest rugby league coach Australia has ever had. He has won seven premierships and is the greatest man manager the game has known. He is also a living contradiction: Other coaches decry his tactics then attempt to imitate them. Players are desperate to work with him but are left feeling deceived when he cuts them loose. The media disparages him then lavishes him with praise. So who is the real Wayne Bennett? So who is the real Wayne Bennett? Celebrated sports journalist Andrew Webster has been on a mission to find out.

Rugby megastars James Haskell, Mike Tindall and Alex Payne get together to discuss the highs and lows of their podcast, friendship and rugby. In one, no-holds-barred book, they will go behind the scenes of the hugely successful podcast The Good, The Bad and The Rugby to pull back the curtain on some of their most outrageous antics on tour – the ups, the downs and the sideways – and leave no story untold. All will be unleashed.

It is late summer 2013. Ben Ryan, a red-haired, 40-something, spectacle-wearing Englishman, is given 20 minutes to decide whether he wants to coach Fiji's rugby sevens team, with the aim of taking them to the nation's first-ever Olympic medal. He has never been to Fiji. There has been no discussion of contracts or salary. But he knows that no one plays rugby like the men from these isolated Pacific islands, just as no one plays football like the kids from the Brazilian favelas, or no one runs as fast as the boys and girls from Jamaica's boondocks.

In My Life and Rugby he tells his story for the first time, including the full inside story of England’s 2019 World Cup campaign. Since taking over as head coach of England in 2015, Eddie Jones has orchestrated a complete revival of the national team. He has won the Six Nations Championship back-to-back, including England’s first Grand Slam in a generation and their first-ever whitewash of Australia in their own backyard, as well as taking them on their longest-ever winning streak, matching the world record held by the All Blacks.

Against All Odds traces Siya’s journey from a dusty township to the great arenas of international rugby. It is a remarkable story of grit and determination. From SA Schools matches to success with the Stormers and Western Province to the devastating lows brought on by injury, Siya just keeps on going. As Springbok captain, he carries the hopes of a rugby-mad nation. Hear about the journey, against all odds, of a great South African.

You might think success at the highest level insulates you from pressure and doubt. But nothing could be further from the truth. In this book, I take you inside a journey that has forced me to look inwardly in a way I've never had to before. It's been challenging, frustrating, rewarding and left me full of gratitude. Whether you're a business looking to work on your culture, a leader on a learning curve, a person navigating change in their life or just someone of any age trying to get better every day, I hope that my experience can spur you on to greater heights, and master the art of winning.

No Irish rugby player has ever achieved more, or been a source of more inspiration to teammates and fans alike, than Johnny Sexton. All of this would have seemed highly unlikely as late as May 2009, when – aged 24 – he was nowhere near first choice at Leinster, and still uncapped by Ireland. In his hotly anticipated autobiography, Johnny will tell the story of his life, and explore the sources of his unmatched will to win.

Danny Cipriani has always been searching for something. On the pitch, it was a line-break or space. A chink of light to dart through. An angle that no one else could see. Off the pitch, it was seeking a path through the pressure, fame and chaos that came with being anointed the ‘Saviour of English Rugby’. Who Am I? is the raw and powerful memoir of a man of mercurial talent who, with the world at his feet, made his England rugby debut aged 20.