- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Willow; New edition edition (1 Mar 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007162553
- ISBN-13: 978-0007162550
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 2.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 493,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
'An interesting read' (five stars) – Rugby World
‘Unmissable for those who care for the soul of the world game’ – Independent
Product Description
The former Wales and Lions rugby captain has travelled the world watching rugby and talking about the game since his retirement in 1978. There is no more authoritative voice in rugby union today and Bennett’s book tackles a host of issues dominating the sport in the modern era.
Such is the esteem in which the ex-Wales and Lions captain is held, it's no wonder his frank opinions and hard-hitting appraisal of the sport he lives and breathes continue to have as much impact now as they did when he was the world's premier fly-half in his seventies heyday.
On a global level he has strong views on professional rugby and the rise of the Heineken Cup and the positive affect it has had on the European game. In his book Bennett is scathing of the Welsh rugby administrators, poor standards of coaching and the failure to embrace new ideas.
This makes a fascinating contrast with Bennett's career as a player in the seventies – the ‘golden era’ of Welsh rugby – when the likes of Gareth Edwards, Gerald Davies and JPR Williams would dazzle the public with their breathtaking skills and scintillating tries. Bennett recalls how opportunism on the field was matched by bonhomie and revelry off it in the amateur days when pints took preference over practice.
As well as chapters that highlight Bennett’s favourite fifteen players of all time and his legends of the game, the paperback brings us up to date with his view of Wales’ performances in the 2003 Six Nations Championship and the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is labelled as an autobiograpy and about one third of the book is just that. However the bulk of the book is actually looking at rugby with the inevitable emphasis on Welsh rugby and all that has gone wrong with it since the great days of the
seventies.
seventies.
Bennett's life story is an interesting one, but by the standards of some rugby characters he wasn't one of the game's great hellraisers. The two most interesting parts for me were his telling of how he refused the payments on offer from the rugby league teams (it was a true patriot who could turn down what was very good money for the day, especially given the penny pinching ways of the WRU) and his brush with death in a car crash, which I hadn't been aware of. The rest of the autobiographical stuff is pretty much par for the course in a sports book.
But where Bennett is most interesting is in his views of the game today with the move to professionalism and more especially his tales of the ways of the Welsh Rugby Union. As a Welshman who is embarrassed by the decline of the Welsh national team I found these parts especially enlightening and somewhat depressing. It made for scary reading as he told of the arrogance, incompetence, pettiness and Them and Us attitude the WRU had towards their most precious resource- the players. Bennett tells how they how they incompetently threw away the possible coaching talents that that Golden Generation could have passed on thanks to their stick-to-the-letter-of-the-law attitude to amateurism and their penny pinching ways, which makes any rugby player's decision to turn down the offers of Rugby League even more laudable.
He reflects on how that attitude and how even today the petty rivalries and jealousies within Welsh rugby is still working to the detriment of the mational team and indeed the game as a whole in the Principality.
This is a very good read, though to a Welshman it will be a rather depressing read. The style is entertaining and as Bennett doesn't pull his punches it can be quite a sparky read at times. As I said at the start it's more a reflection on rugby than a full out autobigraphy, but I think it's a far better book because of that. I rather feel a plain and simple telling of Bennett's life story alone wouldn't really have gripped all that much.
Well worth a read - but if you're a Welsh rugby fan don't read it late at night. It'll give you nightmares!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
Best rugby read
7 Aug 2003
Format:Hardcover
If you're looking for a great book about rugby, by one of the greatest players of all time, this is it. He's had a sparkling career, and in this book he points out whats gone wrong with Welsh rugby since he stopped playing - Hopefully Steve Hansen will have his copy under his pillow. Good stuff, and well written, I thought.
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