For years, generations of baleful, be-blazered rugby officials warned us that the sport's world would end if it ever allowed its players to be paid. So, when the game went pro in 1995, rugby-lovers were on the edge of their seats. Was any or all of rugby's goodness really dependent on amateurism? The doom-mongers were right about one thing: chaos. The game has endured six years of bickering and backbiting as it wrestles to come to terms with its new self.
So can rugby really emerge as a happy, profitable and global pastime? Stephen Jones gathers the evidence with his characteristic passion, shrewdness and humour, and delivers the verdict on this New Rugby. The result is essential reading for anyone who cares about the issues facing the game today.
