{"product_id":"the-oval-world-a-global-history-of-rugby","title":"Tony Collins: The Oval World [2015] hardback","description":"Rugby has always been a sport with as much drama off the field as on it. For every thrilling last-minute Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal to win the World Cup or Jonah Lomu rampage down the touchline for a try there has been a split, a feud, or a controversy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Oval World is the first full-length history of rugby on a world scale-from its origins in the village-based football games of medieval times to the globalized sport of the twenty-first century, now played over a hundred countries. It tells the story of how a game played in an obscure English public school became the winter sport of the British Empire, spreading to France, Argentina, Japan, and the rest of the world, and commanding a global television audience of over four billion for the last World Cup final. It also explores how American football-and other games, such as Australian, Canadian, and Gaelic football-emerged from their English cousin.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFeaturing the great moments in the game's history and its legendary names-David Duckham, Serge Blanco, Billy Boston, and David Campese, alongside Rupert Brooke, King George V, Boris Karloff, Charles de Gaulle, and Nelson Mandela-The Oval World investigates just what it is about rugby that enables it to thrive in countries with very different traditions and cultures. This is the definitive world history of a truly global rugby.","brand":"Collins, Tony","offers":[{"title":"New","offer_id":44456390492450,"sku":"9781408843703","price":9.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0616\/4001\/6057\/files\/collins-tony-tony-collins-the-oval-world-2015-hardback-9781408843703-60084293599571.jpg?v=1731826572","url":"https:\/\/keatsandchapman.info\/products\/the-oval-world-a-global-history-of-rugby","provider":"Chapters Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}