The 24th edition of the Wooden Spoon Rugby World Yearbook 2020 tells the story of the tournament from Japan’s opening match against Russia to South Africa’s dominant performance against England in the final. The highlights are remembered in the words of some of the leading rugby journalists with pictures from the sport’s top photographers – Uruguay beating Fiji, Wales’s win over Australia, Japan delighting the home fans with wins over Ireland and Scotland and of course, England’s sensational semi-final win against the All Blacks. South Africa’s success, the performance of their team and the leadership of their captain Siya Kolisi are now written into the history books but RWC 2019 will also be remembered for the way in which the Japanese nation took rugby to its heart and gave both players and supporters the time of their life during six fantastic weeks of competition. Wooden Spoon Rugby World Yearbook 2020 is a colourful record of a memorable year of rugby that has been enjoyed by fans not only in Japan but in clubs, bars and sitting rooms around the world.
The new edition of England Players’ Records1872-2020 reference book looks like being up to date for a long time yet as football goes into shutdown to combat the corona virus. The contents includes international statistics for all the players who took part in England’s recent successful qualification for the European Championships which are now due to be held in June and July 2021. Archivist Graham Betts has compiled statistics on 1246 players including recent debutants Abraham, Mings, Mount and Tomori while saying goodbye to the likes of World Cup winner Martin Peters who died in December 2019. The £20 paperback is also available as an ebook and as a limited edition slipcased version, signed by George Cohen MBE with only 66 copies available at £66 each.
Three new official Liverpool FC products – a quiz book, colouring book and trivia cards – are all exclusively released this month by G2 Entertainment as the Reds march relentlessly towards the Premier League title having beaten their arch rivals Manchester City 3-1 at Anfield last weekend.
The History of the Rugby World Cup tells the complete story of the greatest rugby show on earth.
The tournament was first held in 1987 when the co-hosts, the All Blacks beat France in the final. Four countries have since won the trophy: New Zealand three times, Australia and South Africa twice each; and England once.
Sixteen teams were invited to participate in the inaugural tournament while since 1999 twenty teams have taken part including in the latest contest which is held in Japan for the first time.
Peter Murray and Lorri Lynn’s fully-illustrated chronicle also includes profiles of the star performers over the years including Jonah Lomu, David Campese, Michael Lynagh, Thierry Lacroix, Gavin Hastings, Bryan Habana and Jonny Wilkinson, who holds the record for the most number of points in the competition.
The book concludes with a selection of the most memorable moments such as Western Samoa’s shock victory over Wales in 1991; Nelson Mandela’s handing over of the trophy to Springboks’ captain Francois Pienaar in 1995; and Jonny Wilkinson’s last minute winning drop goal in the 2003 final.
Priced at £19.95, the coffee-table book is released next month in time for the start of the tournament on September 20. G2 is also distributing The Rugby Paper’s Essential World Cup Guide 2019, RRP £4.95, which is available now.
England’s dramatic last ball victory over New Zealand in the final of this year’s tournament this month and given a massive boost to our History of the Cricket World Cup book. Written by Indian-born Peter Murray the full-colour illustrated coffee-table book gives a complete history of the tournament since 1975 and is now to be updated for the Autumn to include England’s first win. Exclusively discounted copies can be pre-ordered via the www.cricshop.com web-site.