'Rugby is a game for almost everyone. Large and small, fit and less so, sporting and borderline functional.' Steven Gauge's response to an impending mid-life crisis didn't involve piercings, tattoos or leather trousers instead, he decided to take up rugby. At Warlingham Rugby Club, he made a number of important discoveries. First, that this ultimate contact sport enabled him to meet people from all walks of life, class divisions melting away in the presence of the sport's own eternal divide: the Forwards and the Backs. Secondly, though biting is generally frowned upon, it does occasionally take place and can be discouraged by applying Deep Heat to the ears. And finally, turning up on time with your kit is far more important than knowing what to do with the ball if it ever reaches you. By the end of the first season, Steven had cracked his nose and various other parts of his anatomy but he had cracked the game, too, and found a place in the club as Captain of the Warlingham Fourth XV. AUTHOR: Steven Gauge was introduced to rugby at school, where the coaching staff quickly recognised his ability and relegated him to the squad known as 'Extra Quam'. Apart from one brief run-out at university, he didn't play again seriously until he joined a local club in Warlingham, Surrey, at the age of 35. In a varied career Steven has edited documentaries, worked as a spin doctor and been Chief Executive of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. He is the author of You Know You're a Rugby Fanatic When and still plays for the Warlingham Fourth XV. SELLING POINTS: A devastatingly funny and honest account of life in an amateur rugby club. Not exactly Stand Up and Fight: more like Fever Pitch meets The Art of Coarse Rugby! ILLUSTRATIONS: b/w
Author Biography
Steven Gauge was introduced to rugby at school, but failed to break out of the 4th XV. He returned to the game aged 35, writing about the experience in My Life as a Hooker, which was shortlisted for the British Sports Book Awards. He still plays occasionally for Warlingham Rugby Club, in Surrey, when they are short of a front row.
