Rugby's Strangest Matches

by John Griffiths

A curious collection of true stories from the stranger side of rugby, featuring the the Irish international who arranged his marriage so he could play against England, the team of football players who beat their rugby counterparts at their own game, and the day the entire Wales team was sent off. Rugby fans will delight in this astonishing collection of outlandish stories from the past 150 years of the game. Here you’ll find, among many other curious events, the Irish international who arranged his marriage in order to play against England, the team of top soccer players who beat their rugby counterparts at their own game, the day the entire Wales team was sent off, and when in an astonishing turn of events underdog Japan trimphed and beat South Africa (and who doesn't love an underdog). The tales in this book are bizarre, fascinating, and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for 2016, this book makes the perfect gift for the rugby obsessive in your life. Word 45,000

Genres: Nonfiction, Sports, History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just 250 pages of shitting on the Welsh and the French.

I love that.

[Gareth Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining chronological collection of the weird and wonderful events that have graced rugby pitches across the world since the inception of the game to the start of this millennium. Some I knew, many I did not - all are recounted with a humorous and compelling style.
A fine book for a rugby union fan.

[Colin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Poor imitation of Cricket's Strangest Matches and Football's Strangest Matches: Extraordinary but True Stories from Over a Century of Football. Almost all stories come from northern hemisphere international matches and they're not very 'extraordinary.'

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A chronological collection of Union highlights, lowlights, highly memorable, instantly forgettable events in the games history from 1871 to 2010. A similar compendium to Iain Spragg's 'The Reduced History of Rugby' but I think John Griffiths' collection just shades it, with its seventy six interesting anecdotes.

[Tonarius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny stories about rugby and actually true (it says, I wasn't there to check). It's well written with short chapters per 'strange item' and it's in chronical order.

[Rob Gardner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing stories from the early history of rugby to modern professionalism. A decent read you can pick up and down at will. Put it on the toilet bookshelf.