: Alan English
: Stand Up and Fight When Munster Beat the All Blacks
: Polaris
: 9781915359292
: 4
: CHF 9.70
:
: Sport
: English
: 368
: Wasserzeichen
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB
'A modern classic . . . Absolutely riveting and frequently moving' - The Telegraph'Among the best books ever written on Irish sport' - Sunday Tribune'Brilliant . . . Stand Up and Fight is the definitive account. It captures the essence of what makes Munster rugby and its provincial team so unique' - Tony Ward, Irish Independent'A terrific combination of intelligent reportage and open-eyed mythmaking' - Sunday Times'A seminal account' - New Zealand Herald'Irresistible&apos - Guardian 31/10/1978, Thomond Park. On one of the greatest days in rugby history, Munster beat the All Blacks. More than 100,000 people claimed to have watched the game, even though the ground could only hold 12,000. Now, fully updated for the 45th anniversary of the match, Alan English tells the true story.

Alan English was born in Limerick in 1965, two years after the All Blacks made their first appearance at Thomond Park. He began his career at the Limerick Leader before becoming the deputy sports editor for The Sunday Times. He is now the editor of The Sunday Independent. His other books include the bestselling Sunday Times Sporting Century and Munster: Our Road To Glory and he ghosted the best-selling, award-winning autobiographies of Brian O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell. He lives in Limerick with his wife and three children.

Sits comfortably among the best books ever written on Irish sport. Not unlike the classic Seabiscuit in style, it takes the countless threads from the day Munster beat the All Blacks and weaves them together word perfectly.

MALACHY CLERKIN,SUNDAY TRIBUNE

This book allowed me to live the match as it happened. There is all the vulnerability, the doubts, the drive that made that day epic. These feelings still resonate in the Munster of today.

KEITH WOOD

The most engaging book on rugby that I’ve read in many a year – well-researched, splendidly put together with a deft control of narrative. The craft of the novelist with the graft of the hack – it’s a winning formula.

MICK CLEARY,DAILY TELEGRAPH

A modern classic . . . The momentum of the book never slackens. I’m not Irish and I don’t know a great deal about rugby, but I found this book absolutely riveting and frequently moving. 12,000 people attended the match; 100,000 claimed to have been there. Readers of this book will feel that they were . . . The kind of read that you devour in socking great chunks.

ANDREW BAKER,DAILY TELEGRAPH

New Zealand came, saw and were conquered. English’s approach has depth, strength, pace, power and end product.

IRISH INDEPENDENT 50 BEST SPORTS BOOKS

Alan English has assembled his material in such a way as to make the build-up read more like a thriller than history. Expertly marshalling his witnesses – players, officials, supporters – he also manages to convey Munster’s unique, bred-in-the-bone working-class passion for rugby at a time when it was said you had to be a doctor, Protestant or Dubliner to stand much chance of playing for Ireland. Perhaps English’s finest hour, or 80 minutes, is his account of the match itself. The tale of that day and its heroes has often been told, even dramatised, but nobody has told it better, and probably never will.

SIMON REDFERN,INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY

We were there too: Thomond, Halloween 1978, Munster and the All Blacks. Or at least it feels that way after reading Alan English magnificently convey the lead-up, atmosphere and drama of that game so many wish and claim they were at. But as much as that win was something of a one-off, there was nothing overnight about it.

English brings us through the genesis of a Munster rivalry and fascination with the All Blacks, how rugby captured the heart and imagination of the city and people of Limerick, and the education of a coach in Tom Kiernan, all which culminate in a day of days. Thankfully it is now suitably chronicled in the rugby book of rugby books.

KIERAN SHANNON,IRISH EXAMINER IRELAND’S 40 GREATEST SPORTS BOOKS

The dedication of the amateur players of the time is wonderfully captured in Alan English’s exceptional book.

MATT COOPER,IRISH EXAMINER

A compelling dissection of Munster’s celebrated 1978 win over the All Blacks.

OBSERVER BOOKS OF THE YEAR

For those o