Reloaded ? the Good, the Bad & the Rugby

THE HIGHS. THE HEARTBREAKS. THE HANGOVERS.

THE PERSONAL. THE VULNERABLE. THE DOWNRIGHT ABSURD.

IT'S TIME TO RELOAD.

The rugby boys are back – and this time, it’s personal. Alex, Mike, and Hask return with their second book, ready to tackle everything from rugby highs and lows, to the absurdities of everyday life.

As was widely predicted, our first book, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby – Unleashed, did not win a Pulitzer Prize. It did, however, scoop Sports Entertainment Book of the Year at the 2025 Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards (and sold quite a lot of copies), so here we are again, back for a sequel.

What more have we to say? It’s a fair question. Hask can mine more new material from a trip to the supermarket than most people can from an entire lifetime – and you won’t be surprised to learn that he hasn’t just been hanging around Asda since our last book came out. He recently turned 40, he’s been through much personal turmoil, he’s done an awful lot of DJing – and he’s had a lot of arguments. Expect much of that, and even some thoughts on rugby, in the following pages.

As for Tins, you’ll find out about his early days in rugby, how he had to fight to make it, what he thinks of the state of the game, and his plans to get it back on track. Meanwhile, Alex will tell you all about his career in broadcasting, from making (‘disgusting’) tea and coffee, and presenting some of the greatest rugby matches in history, to getting binned by Sky.

We should end by begging you to pardon our previous flippancy. It was, of course, lovely to win that award, as well as very surprising. In fact, The Good, The Bad & The Rugby will never stop surprising us, and its continuing success is largely down to you – our wonderful listeners, viewers and now readers. We do hope you enjoy what follows and that you keep coming back for more.

Winners of the Charles Tyrwhitt Sports Book Awards 2025 Sports Entertainment Book of the Year, for their previous book The Good, The Bad and The Rugby – Unleashed.

Reloaded – The Good, The Bad & The Rugby is the highly anticipated second book from noted broadcaster Alex Payne (the good) and England legends James Haskell (the bad) and Mike Tindall (the rugby).

Alex Payne is an experienced rugby broadcaster and a live-event host. He began his television career as a presenter on the Rugby Club. He then travelled to New Zealand as the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour reporter.

James Haskell, author of bestselling books What a Flanker and Ruck Me, is one of the UK’s most well-known rugby players. Having progressed through all levels of rugby, Haskell retired in 2019 with 77 England caps.

Mike Tindall began playing rugby at a young age. Today he is widely considered to be one of the finest players to ever put on an England shirt. Now an MBE, he has won almost every trophy the game has to offer.

Together they host the weekly podcast The Good, The Bad & The Rugby.