t is every little bear's dream to play for Wales but Alun is so excited at seeing Wales play that he runs on the pitch and accidentally scores for the other side. He is very sad but when a player is injured the Wales team turn to Alun to rescue the game and achieve that vital Grand Slam win.

Sam Warbuton has had an incredible year. In the summer of 2011, at the age of only 22, he was asked to captain his country, leading Wales into the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The team's scintillating progression through the tournament reached a nail-biting height as Wales met France in the semi-final. With a nation's hopes resting on his shoulders, Warbuton made 'that' tackle on Vincent Clerc and was shown the red card. Outcry ensued, and the Wales captain experienced great lows despite being named Player of the Tournament by many commentators. Picking himself up from the suffocating media attention, Warbuton was determined to rectify Welsh fortunes and strode into the 6 Nations. Battling injuries he led Wales to a magnificent Six Nations. This is his moment. This is his Grand Slam year.

In every Five Nations D and now Six Nations Ð season the real showdown is always that between England and Wales: Wales with its history of playing the finest rugby of all the home nations, England with its enviable strength in depth and forward muscle. Whether in the vast bowl of Twickenham or the cauldron of the Millennium Stadium every year is a sell-out long in advance. Over the years there have been innumerable epic encounters. In the seventies Wales dominated with Barry John, Gareth Edwards at scrum-half and JPR Williams at full back, but England had the blistering running of David Duckham with his blond hair flying. The eighties and nineties saw some incendiary encounters with Paul Ringer and Wade Dooley both involved in high-profile punch-ups, but also England re-establishing dominance and Bill Beaumont and then Will Carling. But the decade ended at Wembley with Scott GibbsÕs dramatic last-minute swallow-dive to snatch victory for Wales. More recently Wales have come back with new stars like Gavin Henson and Shane Williams after years of powerhouse England forward play had held sway. Huw Richards has talked to many veterans of these matches, as well as to present players and administrators to tells the whole history of Wales v England at rugby: a contest that is a clash of cultures and histories as well as a titanic sporting occasion. Huw Richards is rugby correspondent of the Financial Times.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE TELEGRAPH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2020 - RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR This is a complete history of the Welsh rugby union team – told by the players themselves. Based on a combination of painstaking research into the early years of the Wales team to interviews with a vast array of Test match players and coaches from the Second World War to the present day, Ross Harries delves to the very heart of what it means to play for Wales, painting a unique and utterly compelling picture of the game in the only words that can truly do so: the players' own. Behind the Dragon lifts the lid on what it is to pull on the famous red shirt – the trials and tribulations behind the scenes, the glory, the drama and the honour on the field, and the heart-warming tales of friendship and humour off it. Absorbing and illuminating, this is the ultimate history of Welsh rugby – told, definitively, by the men who have been there and done it.

Alun Carter experienced the highs and lows of the Wales national rugby squad throughout his 12 years working for the WRU. During this time, he saw a number of high-profile coaches come and go, and in Seeing Red he delivers a brutally honest account of what it was like to work with each of them. From the inspirational successes of the Graham Henry and Mike Ruddock eras to the disappointments and failures of the Steve Hansen and Gareth Jenkins regimes, the reader is given an insider's version of what really went on. Carter does not shy away from controversy, and he pulls no punches in his assessment of the rift between Graham Henry and Sir Clive Woodward, the personal and political situation that led to Mike Ruddock losing his job, and the difficulty of handling the group dynamics within the national squad. The former analyst also provides an informed appraisal of the remarkable 2005 and 2008 Grand Slam victories. Winner of best rugby book at the 2009 British Sports Book Awards, Seeing Red provides a warts-and-all account of more than a decade of Welsh rugby and is packed with revelations, exclusive contributions and untold stories that will intrigue and delight all fans of the sport.