"A thoroughly researched and comprehensive guide to the 2019 Rugby World Cup, to be held in Japan in September. The sporting highlight of the year, with teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland all competing for the coveted William Webb Ellis trophy. The book will provide the reader with all the information and insight needed to understand and enjoy the competition. All 20 national teams involved are analysed and assessed on their chances of success, the star players are featured and each coach's basic strategies outlined and explained. With this book, the reader will have a handy, competent source of information on hand both before the start and especially whilst the tournament proceeds to its thrilling conclusion." --

A stunning visual history of the Rugby World Cup, with stories from on and off the pitch.

As Britain’s Empire went to war in August 1914, rugby players were the first to volunteer. They led from the front and paid a disproportionate price. In 1919, a grateful Mother Country hosted a rugby tournament: sevens teams at eight venues, playing 17 matches to declare a first ‘world champion’. There had never been an international team tournament like it. For the first time teams from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Britain and France were assembled in one place. Rugby held the first ever ‘World Cup’. It was a moment of triumph, a celebration of military victory, of Commonwealth and Allied unity, and of rugby values, moral and physical. In 2015 the tournament returns to England as the world remembers the Centenary of the Great War. Values of teamwork, respect, discipline were forged and tested in war – and enjoyment of rugby helped men through it. With a foreword by Jason Leonard, this is the story of rugby’s journey through the First World War to its first World Cup, and how those values endure today. 'After The Final Whistle' is shortlisted for the 2016 Cross Sports Book of the Year award.

A visual history of rugby's greatest sporting event, this beautiful photographic book is a fascinating chronological exploration of the matches, teams, heroes and surrounding stories of the tournament. Each chapter covers a Rugby World Cup, starting with the inaugural competition in 1987 - in which New Zealand confirmed their status as the world's top rugby nation - to the historical 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa after the end of apartheid and the international sports boycott through England's fantastic win in 2003 breaking the southern hemisphere's dominance, up to the 2015 qualifiers. The book also looks ahead to Rugby World Cup 2019, with Japan as host city. Each photograph has been carefully selected to give a real glimpse into this great tournament. The ideal, collectable gift for any rugby fan, written by a rugby expert.

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.

The must-have companion to the greatest event in world rugby, the Rugby World Cup France 2023. Containing everything rugby fans will need to enjoy the World Cup, this official guide is packed with images, profiles, previews and charts, making it essential reading for any fan and the perfect companion to all of the tournament action. Contents include: • Team-by-team profiles • Star player profiles • A guide to every venue • Fill-in tournament progress chart • History of the Rugby World Cup • Rugby World Cup records • Qualification round-up And much, much more besides.

An anthology of the Telegraph's best articles written on the World Cup from some of the biggest names in rugby, this publication will coincide with the Rugby World Cup in Autumn 2015. The selection will include articles from Will Carling, Nick Farr Jones (NZ Captain 1991), John Eales (his successor), Will Greenwood, Matt Dawson, Austin Healey, Chris Robshaw, Lawrence Dallaglio, Martin Bayfield etc whose writings have never been collated in a book before. The book will be structured chronologically around the World Cups - 1987 (NZ winners), 1991 (Aus), 1995 (S Africa), 1999 (Aus), 2003 (England), 2007 (S Africa) and 2001 (NZ).