The Bluffer's Guide to Rugby
By Alexander C. Rae
 
Extracts from the book

 
Crazy logic
With that indefinable sense of logic that pervades all the laws of rugby, the only direction that you are allowed to pass the ball is the opposite direction from the way you actually want to go.
 
Hazard to your health
Never run with the ball. If, by accident, you get the ball, pass it as quickly as possible. Running with the ball is very tiring and can be hazardous to your health. It is far better to let someone else take the blame for losing it to the opposition.
 
Fitness levels
Despite the lawmakers' attempt to make rugby faster and more exciting, it is still the only contact sport where you can get away with the same fitness levels as the average professional darts player.
 
Forward or back
The first thing to get right is whether you are a 'forward' or a 'back'. In soccer the forwards are the fast, skillful ones who score the points and the backs are the big, vicious ones who try to injure forwards. In rugby, just to confuse, the situation is completely reversed. That is, except for New Zealand, where everyone is fast, skillful, big and vicious.
 
Reviews

 
Fed up with the winning-my-first-cap-was-great school of biography? Then try The Bluffer's Guide to Rugby by Alexander Rae, a former player for Kintyre, in Scotland. His tome is dedicated to those who play on life's back pitches and has useful definitions such as covering the blind-side - "The art of being on the side of the pitch where nothing is happening".
The Sunday Times
 
Ideal reading if you want to spout off without actually knowing about the game.
Oldham Evening Chronicle
 
Table of Contents
 

The Basics
History
The Myths
The Realities

The Positions
The Pick a Position Method

The Forwards or The Pack
 - Props
 - Hooker
 - Second Row
 - Number Eight
 - Flankers

The Backs
 - Half Backs
 - Scrum-half
 - Stand-off
 - Three-Quarters
 - Centres
 - Wingers
 - Full-back

The Others
Referees
Touch Judge
Selection Committee
Spongeman/Team manager
Captain
Pack leader

The Key Elements
The Warm-up
The Kick-off
The 22 Metre Drop-out
Open Play
The Lineout
The Scrum
Three-Quarter Moves
Tactical Kicking
Type of Kick
The Point of the Game

The Laws
Lineout Interpretations
Scrum Interpretations
Open Play Interpretations
Penalties and Free-kicks
Archaic Laws and How to Use Them

Injuries and How to Acquire Them

International Rugby
England
Scotland
Wales
Ireland
France
Italy
New Zealand
Australia
South Africa
Fiji/Samoa/Tonga
Romania/Argentina
Canada/America
Japan
The British Lions

Glossary

 
Author: Alexander C. Rae
Format: 64 pages, pb
Published: 01/03/2004
NEW EDITION
Price: £4.99
ISBN-10 & ISBN-13:
1-906042-03-9
978-1-906042-03-5
  
About the author
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Table of contents
  
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