The Game of My Life by John Robbie

The Game of My Life (Rugby Autobiography in Pictorial Dust Jacket)

The Irish-Born Springbok-Era Broadcaster and Former Lions Scrum-Half Tells the Story of His Life in Rugby

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: The Game of My Life
• Author: John Robbie
• Publisher: Pelham Books
• Publication Date: 1989
• ISBN-13: 9780720719369
• ISBN-10: 0720719364
• Edition Details: First published 1989.
• Binding: Black cloth hardcover boards with a pictorial dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Medium-sized hardback, approximately 200 pages. Illustrated with black and white photographic plates.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
• Exterior / Boards: The black cloth boards are clean, with only light specks. The spine edges are straight and tight. The pictorial dust jacket is fitted over the boards.
• Interior: The text pages are clean and cream toned, with no marks seen. The binding is tight, and the section of photographic plates is free of flaws.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The pictorial jacket shows a few light scuffs to the back panel and no tears. It is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

The Game of My Life is the autobiography of John Robbie, the Irish-born rugby player turned broadcaster. Published in 1989, it follows him from his childhood through his school and university rugby in Dublin and on into his playing career.

The book also touches on his international career and the controversies surrounding the game of rugby in its day. Robbie's decision to tour apartheid South Africa with Ireland proved controversial, and he later made his home in South Africa. That gives this player's memoir a place in the wider story of rugby and South Africa in the apartheid era.

A collectible used copy for rugby enthusiasts and for collectors of sporting autobiography and South African sporting history.

Author Profile: John Robbie

John Cameron Robbie was born in Dublin on 17 November 1955 and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and Christ's College, Cambridge. He won his first cap for Ireland against Australia at Lansdowne Road on 17 January 1976, went on to win nine caps for Ireland, and toured with the 1980 Lions.

His decision to tour apartheid South Africa with Ireland was controversial. He later lived in South Africa for nearly 40 years and built a talk-radio career spanning some 30 years, before announcing his retirement from radio.

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