Inside French Rugby by John Daniell

Inside French Rugby (First Edition Rugby Memoir in Illustrated Wrappers)

A Kiwi Lock's Candid Account of a Decade in the Brutal World of Professional French Club Rugby

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Inside French Rugby: Confessions of a Kiwi Mercenary
• Author: John Daniell
• Publisher: Awa Press, Wellington, New Zealand
• Publication Date: 2007
• ISBN-13: 9780958275019
• Edition Details: First Edition, 2007.
• Binding: Publisher's illustrated paperback (perfect bound), with a colour photographic front cover and a blue back cover.
• Physical Format: Large softcover (trade paperback) format. Chapter openers carry small black-and-white photographs.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Wraps: The illustrated wrappers show light shelf wear. The white spine has a small yellowish stain or mark near the top by the word 'Inside', slight creasing, and a small mark near the publisher's logo at the foot. Spine edges and corners are slightly rubbed. The back cover is clean. The text block edges are creamy and toned.
• Interior: The text pages are clean, with no markings. The pages are slightly toned. The binding is tight. No foxing is visible.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)

Synopsis & Historical Value

Inside French Rugby: Confessions of a Kiwi Mercenary, published by Awa Press in Wellington in 2007, is a first-hand memoir of professional rugby in France. It is written by a New Zealand lock who crossed to the French club game after rugby turned professional in 1996.

John Daniell describes a decade in the French game: the brutality of the matches, the pressures exerted by coaches, owners and agents, and a season spent trying to save his Montpellier side from relegation. The book is a candid critique of rugby's professional era, seen from the inside.

The book was first published in France under the title Top 14, and the New Zealand edition followed from Awa Press. The author later expanded it as Confessions of a Rugby Mercenary (2009), making this 2007 first edition the original form of the work. It will appeal to collectors of rugby literature and sporting memoir.

Author Profile: John Daniell

John Daniell, born in 1972, is an English-New Zealand rugby player and journalist. Educated at Oxford, he played as a lock for New Zealand Colts and Wellington before turning professional in 1996. From 1997 to 2006 he played for the French clubs Racing, Perpignan and Montpellier.

His other works include Confessions of a Rugby Mercenary (2009), an expanded version of this book, which won the British Sports Book Awards prize for best rugby book, and the novel The Fixer (2015).

Inside French Rugby John Daniell · rugby memoir first edition · Confessions of a Kiwi Mercenary · New Zealand rugby player in France · professional rugby memoir · Awa Press rugby book · Montpellier rugby memoir