Unholy Union: When Rugby Collided with the Modern World
£9.60£10.40 (-8%)
What is the state of rugby?
Is the game on the brink of expansion?
Or is it on the brink of implosion?
No game has undergone so traumatic a transformation since the turn of the century. The last of the major sports to embrace professionalism, rugby was propelled on a trajectory that has twisted its cumbersome frame to the limit in a drama compelling and appalling to behold. After a hundred years defying the future, rugby now shudders with the turmoil of its sudden leap into the modern world, attaining heights hitherto undreamed of, even as the strains – financial, political, social and medical – threaten to tear it apart.
With a global focus (and a particular lens on Australasian and South African rugby), Unholy Union is a fascinating and in-depth analysis of the sport, examining the journey so far and speculating on where it will go next. It is irreverent and provocative, asking uncomfortable questions of rugby, but imbued throughout with affection for a game that integrates all human life, as beautiful as it is ugly, as in love with itself as it is terrified.
Sports enter periods that make or break them.
Rugby is in one now . . .
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Additional information
| Publisher | Constable, Reprint edition (19 Nov. 2020) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 352 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1472130707 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1472130709 |
| Dimensions | 12.62 x 2.29 x 19.69 cm |
by Amazon Customer
Fascinating information about professionalism in rugby and the inequities of the system. Rugby Union – its only a game? I don’t think so.
by markb
I was attracted to Aylwin’s book as I spent my teenage school years regularly getting squashed on the rugby pitch by lumbering hulks in the first XV. In later life exposure to rugby played in the French and Celtic leagues won me back to the game.
Aylwin deals with the challenges the sport has faced since rapidly going professional in the mid-1990s. He convincingly describes how since then the top echelons of rugby have been driven by raw commercial considerations. Professionalism is all about money. The commercial imperatives of the professional era to maximise revenues at the elite level sit uneasily with the importance of developing the game at the grassroots in the community. The need to expand revenues through a merry-go-round of club and international games also raises player welfare issues. These are significant because rugby is a collision sport, with a constant risk of injury and concussion. Given the recent relegation of Saracens for serious breaches of the salary cap some of the author’s speculations seem prophetic.
I feel the writing might have flowed better if it had included some personal stories to illustrate Aylwin’s powerful arguments. Nevertheless, this is a detailed informative book, raising an array of questions for all rugby lovers.
by Thomas
Don’t even want to waste time with this – DO NOT BUY.
A most depressing read of rugby, putting forward a viewpoint which is often based on opinion and not fact and is woeful.
by Lotta Continua
Detailed analysis of the saga of professional rugby union highlighting the loss of soul and unsustainable economics of a complex and much loved sport. Intriguing argument about the vices of professionalism without strong commitment to growth to find it.
by wicko1
A bit mixed. Certainly informative and I learnt a fair amount. However, the overly verbose style of the author, the vague chapter headings and the lack of any illustrations or photos meant it was a harder read than perhaps it should have been.
by Edith Pender-Hiom
Bought as a present