Rugby Skills, Tactics and Rules

Book Synopsis: Review of the previous edition: “Make[s] lavish use of color photographs to illustrate the basic positions, general and specialized skills, tactics, and rules of the game. These photographs and the occasional diagrams greatly enhance the clearly written text.” -- Library Journal

The 2016 Rio Olympics will see rugby return as an official sport after a 92-year absence. The year will also see the United States and Canada -- specifically Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Vancouver, San Francisco, and San Jose -- hosting major championships, further adding to its popularity. Already, the hard-hitting game is the world’s third largest sporting event, behind only soccer and the Olympics, and in the U.S., where participation has grown by 350 percent since 2004, it is the largest club sport on college campuses.

Rugby Skills, Tactics and Rules is the go-to book for learning the game. It explains rugby’s rough-and-tumble power and finesse as played by the best -- the hard-hitting All Blacks of New Zealand, whose 80 percent winning average makes it the most successful team in any sport anywhere in the world.

The book is illustrated with 150 color photographs, 100 of them new images of rugby teams and players, men and women, from around the world. There are also photos of enthusiastic rugby fans, and the new jacket shows the instantly recognizable USA team in its sold-out match against the New Zealand All Blacks at Chicago’s Soldiers Field in 2014.

The features of this revised edition are:

• Written for beginners, experienced players and coaches
• 150 color photographs, including 100 new
• Progressive layout from basic skills to unit, team and tactics in play
• 200 variations of challenging drills shown in diagrams
• Specialized skills and set play: scrums, line outs, rucks and mauls, restarts and endings
• Coaching, including training, team patterns and motivation
• The laws of rugby
• The sport’s unique spirit, traditions and social aspects.

Rugby Skills, Tactics and Rules is the best guide to the sport for players, coaches, and fans.