Customer Reviews
British Comic Writing at its Best - By: Martin Warminger, 23 Oct 2006 
As captain of my primary school footballl team, it was with great regret that I ended up at a rugby playing secondary school. However, having purchased a copy of this volume through the school book club (subversive or what) at age 11, I found a kindred spirit in Michael Green & life was bearable in the face of adversity.
If you have ever been forced to play a sport against your will or even with a will, & lack any sort of prowess at it, you will recognise yourself in the many anecdotes of lower team rugby. As Mr Green asserts, `it is easy to win by running faster or tackling harder than the opposition, it takes skill to win by other means!' And thereby hangs the premise of this book, a contention that I have adopted as a life philosophy ever since.
My dog-eared copy of this book has been read & re-read countless times & for one reason - it is one of the funniest books I know on any subject. It works because it mirrors the British psyche where the ill prepared underdog wins out in the face of the over prepared specialist. The amateur's victory over the professional is so prevalent in our culture that it occurs right through literature from Sherlock Holmes to Harry Potter.
This is the best of British humour. Savour it.
Coarse Rugby is Safe and Well - By: , 19 May 1999 
Having recently kickstarted my own rugby career at the tender age of 27, it was with some trepidation that I ordered The Art of Coarse Rugby after being practicallly ordered to by a rugby playing colleague. Books that try too hard to be both funny & informative can fail miserably, but its difficult to remember one page that didn't earn me a nudge in the ribs for laughing too much by the wife. Although written long before I was wheezing & staggering across a muddy bog desperate for the whistle to go that signallled a pint of the Black stuff, the characters, stories, triumphs & misery are alll too close to the tale of my local 4th team's recent season to bare. In fact, if this book had only just been published, I am sure the skipper would be up in arms wanting to know who had ratted alll the teams secrets to Mr Green. Trust me Michael, the Rugger world of the RFU may be about to implode, but Coarse Rugby is alive & well on the Surrey/Hants border. To any prospective readers...if you want to understand the real world of Rugby or just want to laugh your way to the club bar, this is a must.
