CONTENTS

List of Abbreviations

Introduction A Boy and an Oval Ball

Part I Kick-off

1 The Tradition

2 A School Called Rugby

3 What Tom Brown Did Next

4 Rugby’s Great Split

Part II Towards Five Nations

5 Scotland: ‘Rugby Football: The Real Game of the Two Countries’

6 Ireland: A National Identity

7 Wales: The Dragon’s Embrace

8 France: The Baron, The Red Virgin and Rugby’s Belle Époque

Part III Making a Rugby World

9 New Zealand: All Blacks in the Land of the Long White Cloud

10 South Africa: From Gog’s Game to Springboks

11 Australia: Wallaroos and Kangaroos

12 From Rugby to Gridiron: The United States and Canada

Part IV Golden Years Amidst the Gathering Storm

13 Harold Wagstaff and the Phantoms of Baskerville

14 British Rugby Before 1914: Stoop to Conquer

15 A Greater Game? Rugby and the First World War

Part V Challenge and Change in the Interwar Years

16 All Blacks versus Springboks: Battle for the World

17 Rugby de Muerte, à Treize and à la Vichy

18 Britain’s Rush to Rugby

19 Leagues Apart: 1919–39

20 Rugby in the Second World War

Part VI Rugby’s New Horizons

21 European Rugby and the Rise of Italy

22 Argentina and South America: Rugby on a Soccer Continent

23 Empire of the Scrum: Japan, Asia and Africa

24 Big Hits from the South Pacific: Fiji, Tonga and Samoa

25 The USA and Canada: Rugby’s North American Dream

26 Women Will Hold Up Half the Game

Part VII Tradition and Transformation

27 Springboks, All Blacks and the Politics of Rugby

28 Gentlemen and Players: Wales and England 1945–95

29 Bravehearts, Tigers and Lions: Scotland and Ireland in the Post-war Years

30 The France That Wins …

31 Rugby League: A People’s Game in a Television Age

32 Rugby’s Road to 1995

Part VIII Into the 21st Century

33 Shrinking World, Global Oval

Conclusion The Soul of the Game

Notes

Index

By the Same Author