- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Willow; illustrated edition edition (9 Feb 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007165668
- ISBN-13: 978-0007165667
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.8 x 4.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 546,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
‘An inspiration for club and country’ Daily Telegraph
Product Description
The honest and hard-hitting memoirs of the most capped England rugby scrum-half of all time, a captain of his country, a two-times British Lions tourist and now a Rugby World Cup winner. Matt Dawson’s career story is a colourful tale spiced with controversy, from club rugby at Northampton to England winning the Rugby World Cup in Australia.
Matt Dawson narrates his twelve-year journey in a sport transformed beyond recognition.
The boy from Birkenhead learnt the game the hard way, working as a security guard and an advertising salesman in his formative years, in the days when rugby players found relief in an active and alcoholic social life. (Dawson: ‘The drinking started on Saturday night, continued all Sunday and most nights until Thursday.’)
Despite the frequent visits to the operating theatre and the physio’s table, hard graft for his club Northampton eventually heralded international recognition. Dawson talks about the influential, and occasional obstructive figures in his blossoming career: the likes of John Olver, Will Carling, Ian McGeechan and, more recently, Wayne Shelford and Clive Woodward.
The advent of professionalism in 1995 changed for good the game at all levels, and Dawson is in the position of having straddled the transformation, when cash became more important than conscience.
In typically opinionated mode, he also reflects on the successes and failures of the England team and, famously, the Lions in Australia in 2001. After speaking out against punishing schedules, disenchanted players and lack of management support in a tour diary article, Dawson was almost sent home in disgrace. He revisits that bitterly disappointing period in his life and is still not afraid to point out where everything went wrong.
Following England’s Rugby World Cup 2003 success, Dawson provides a first-hand account of all the dressing room drama – including a troubled Jonny Wilkinson – and the memorable final itself, followed by the stunning reaction to this historic win back home.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Does exactly what it says on the packet. No-nonsense, enlightening stuff. Nothing truly amazing to learn, but great snippets of rugby insight, on and off the pitch. No holds barred on disagreements with officials and management.
Also, a must-have for all Celts who perpetually assume every single English rugby player or fan to be, in their own tedious words, “arrogant”. To the people of Scotland, Wales and Ireland: read and listen! You’re not the only rugby players on earth who have the capability of playing with passion. Incidentally, playing with passion means nothing if you’re on the end losing a match. Playing with passion AND skill means much, much more.
A good book. Better than Martin Johnson’s (although praise that man!) autobiography. More probing, direct and revealing. Well done Daws. And well done for setting up the World Cup victory in Australia 2003. He’s the man!
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
So here is the premise: Matt Dawson, you've just won the world cup, Journalists makes an approach. Want to earn a couple of quid? no problem. Talk to this tape recorder and me for about 60 hours, tell me about your life, your career etc and I'll chop it all together, we'll throw in some photos and we'll split the cash. And that folks, is what you'll read in this book. Written by some sports writer for a daily newspaper. Nothing dissimilar to Austin Healeys book or any of these world cup spin offs. All the major events that happened in Rugby over the last 10 years, all the key England games. Nothing interesting, no real author to reader writing, pretty soulless, no humour. Writing that he cried once or twice while playing rugby doesn't count, we all get hit in the face by the ball sometimes.
Not as good as Martin Johnson's book. Quite odd really when you would think that it would be Martin Johnson who would need help with his writing was actually the bloke who wrote his own book. I'm sure Matt Dawson has the ability but just wanted some easy cash. Good for insomniacs.
Not as good as Martin Johnson's book. Quite odd really when you would think that it would be Martin Johnson who would need help with his writing was actually the bloke who wrote his own book. I'm sure Matt Dawson has the ability but just wanted some easy cash. Good for insomniacs.
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