Product Description

A reissue designed to appeal to a new generation of Coarse Rugby players. It contains all the truly fine points of the game, from how best to take advantage of a blind, short-sighted or deaf referee to how to avoid paying for the beer after the match.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280783 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Review
"'Not many people have been funny about sport but Michael Green does it superbly.'-Sunday Times"

About the Author
Michael Green's books can be considered contemporary classics - his devastating advice on a wide range of activities from acting to Rugby Union has established The Art of Course as part of the language. The series has sold over a million copies around the world, been translated into several languages, and adapted for the stage and television. John Jenson was born in Australia, the son of an artist. He has been the regular political cartoonist for the Sunday Telegraph, and frequently contributed to Punch.

Customer Reviews

Coarse Rugby is Safe and Well
Having recently kickstarted my own rugby career at the tender age of 27, it was with some trepidation that I ordered The Art of Coarse Rugby after being practically ordered to by a rugby playing colleague. Books that try too hard to be both funny and informative can fail miserably, but its difficult to remember one page that didn't earn me a nudge in the ribs for laughing too much by the wife. Although written long before I was wheezing and staggering across a muddy bog desperate for the whistle to go that signalled a pint of the Black stuff, the characters, stories, triumphs and misery are all too close to the tale of my local 4th team's recent season to bare. In fact, if this book had only just been published, I am sure the skipper would be up in arms wanting to know who had ratted all the teams secrets to Mr Green. Trust me Michael, the Rugger world of the RFU may be about to implode, but Coarse Rugby is alive and well on the Surrey/Hants border. To any prospective readers...if you want to understand the real world of Rugby or just want to laugh your way to the club bar, this is a must.

British Comic Writing at its Best
As captain of my primary school football team, it was with great regret that I ended up at a rugby playing secondary school. However, having purchased a copy of this volume through the school book club (subversive or what) at age 11, I found a kindred spirit in Michael Green and life was bearable in the face of adversity.

If you have ever been forced to play a sport against your will or even with a will, and lack any sort of prowess at it, you will recognise yourself in the many anecdotes of lower team rugby. As Mr Green asserts, `it is easy to win by running faster or tackling harder than the opposition, it takes skill to win by other means!' And thereby hangs the premise of this book, a contention that I have adopted as a life philosophy ever since.

My dog-eared copy of this book has been read and re-read countless times and for one reason - it is one of the funniest books I know on any subject. It works because it mirrors the British psyche where the ill prepared underdog wins out in the face of the over prepared specialist. The amateur's victory over the professional is so prevalent in our culture that it occurs right through literature from Sherlock Holmes to Harry Potter.

This is the best of British humour. Savour it.