A Book to Warm the Heart

Lawrence Dallaglio's Rugby Tales has hit the shelves in the run-up to Christmas, and it's the perfect stocking filler for a good cause, with a percentage of the proceeds going to the RPA Benevolent Fund

As many good ideas do, the idea for the book came up when Lawrence was sharing a bottle of red with our very own CEO, Damian Hopley. They worked together with David Trick to compile and write the collection, and by all accounts the book is a gem.

There's no self-effacing autobiographical boasting, no metaphorical shoulder pads removed to reveal lingering chips on shoulders, no startling revelations... well... that last bit is a moot point (did you know, for example, that a stripling Dallaglio was hung out of a fourth-floor hotel window by his ankles during his early days at Wasps?). But there's nothing controversial about it.

It's an ode to the real rugby culture, to the stories created by the millions of rugby players all over the world every week during the traditional post-match shenanigans. It reflects the memories of a player who rose to be a full professional, but who also played the amateur game at the highest level for a few years before money's pressure took a hold, and the memories of his amateur peers.

"I played rugby for 19 years," said Dallaglio.

"Six years as an amateur and thirteen years as a pro. I met a lot of characters.

"People look at careers and players these days, they look at stats and achievements, but the fun you get out of the game is harder to measure.

"Rugby players are all different. When I started, there were bankers, builders, butchers all in the mix. So when I thought about this book, I wrote to as many of them as possible and asked if they had some stories they'd like to share.

"The proceeds of the book go back to those players, by way of the Rugby Players' Association."

There'll be plenty of gems, not least from Dallaglio himself, who shares with you the time he was dangled out of a fourth-floor Italian hotel window by his ankles during his early Wasps days.

Then there's the time Sale prop Stuart Turner put Mark Cueto's Porsche up for sale, with one previous careful female owner, or the time Dallaglio and Jason Leonard went for a swift one in the evening before Dallaglio's first England team meeting. A swift one became a swift long evening and the team meeting the next day was a little short of personnel...

Damian Hopley recalls the inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament, where Hopley, Dallaglio and Co battled the effects of a weeks' preparational tour in Scotland to win the trophy for England.

There's also the time an overawed Dewi Morris met Nelson Mandela and asked... well, you'll have to read it to find out, but it's a unique thing to say to one of the world's greatest living icons.

"It's split between forwards and backs for obvious reasons," continued Dallaglio.

"The backs part of the book is the 'Secrets of the Hair Salon', where they brag about their ten minutes of training a week and spend the rest of the time standing and chatting while the forwards do all the work."

The book serves as a timely reminder of the joys of the game and its culture, created in the decades of the amateur era.

"Rugby changed forever in 1995," said Dallaglio.

"So this book is about a bygone era, an era where rugby fitted around your life and not the other way round as it is today. A tribute to all the people who still play purely for the sport."

Lawrence Dallaglio's book Rugby Tales published in hardback by Headline is priced at £18.99.

Win signed copies of Lawrence's book at www.greenekingipa.co.uk This story first appeared on www.planetrugby.co.uk