Badger's Rugby Compendium

The essential handbook for all rugby fans that leaves nothing on the paddock!

Badger’s Rugby Compendium is a humorous glossary of over 500 terms, slang and jargon, all the lingo jackaled and cleaned out from the inner world of rugby and delivered on a plate with razor-sharp, amusing definitions and illustrations to entertain the dedicated fan and enlighten the rugby-curious.

If you had never seen a rugby match, say you were born and bred on Pluto, but you were fluent in English, on tuning into a game, you might ask yourself three questions: i) Why are all these people rolling around in the mud? ii) Why are they so cross with each other? iii) Why is the commentator talking in Klingon?

Many people let rugby pass them by, as they do cricket and other sports built upon a complex set of rules. To understand the rules, to take some pleasure from a sport, as with anything else in life, you must understand the language by which it is described. To go one level deeper and take joy from the sport and immerse yourself in its culture, traditions and nuances, you must have a working knowledge of its jargon and slang. What do they say? The limit of my world is the limit of my words.

‘He’s hoisted a bomb there, buried him with a snotter, gone in for the jackal, hands all over the egg, given him a facial, and kicked off the handbags. He’s getting pinged here, and he’s got himself ten minutes riding the pine or I’m Bill Beaumont.’

There’s only one reaction a rugby stranger might have to that: ‘You what?’ I mean, no wonder the rugby-curious viewer keeps flicking the remote.

This packed little glossary puts you ‘in the pocket’ to understand and enjoy all the slang and vernacular, fun for the devoted fan, and enlightenment for the uninitiated and baffled.

If you are Pluto-born and bred, I hope you find this book a helpful introduction to the ancient game loved by millions around our funny little planet and who knows? You might even be eligible to play for Scotland.