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  • Published: 1 July 2010
  • ISBN: 9781409089377
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 288
Categories:

The Grudge

Scotland vs. England, 1990




The highly acclaimed, gripping inside story of the 1990 Calcutta Cup - when an England-Scotland rugby match became more than a game. Shortlisted for the 2022 SBA Best Sports Book of the 21st Century prize.

Shortlised for the 2022 SBA Best Sports Book of the 21st Century prize

The gripping inside story of when an England-Scotland rugby match become more than a game

Murrayfield, the Calcutta Cup, March 1990. England vs. Scotland - winner-takes-all for the Five Nations Grand Slam, the biggest prize in northern hemisphere rugby.

Will Carling's England are the very embodiment of Margaret Thatcher's Britain - snarling, brutish and all-conquering. Scotland are the underdogs - second-class citizens from a land that's become the testing ground for the most unpopular tax in living memory: Thatcher's Poll Tax. In Edinburgh, nationalism is rising high - what happens in the stadium will resound far beyond the pitch.

Told with unprecedented access to key players, coaches and supporters on both sides (Will Carling, Ian McGeechan, Brian Moore and the rest), Tom English has produced a gripping account of a titanic struggle that thrusts the reader right into the heart of the action. Game on.

'A priceless read' Guardian
'Absolutely outstanding' The Times
'An epic tale' Daily Telegraph
'Gripping' Scottish Review of Books

  • Published: 1 July 2010
  • ISBN: 9781409089377
  • Imprint: Vintage Digital
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 288
Categories:

About the author

Tom English

Tom English was born in Limerick in 1969. He began his career at the Sunday Times and is now chief sports writer for Scotland on Sunday. In 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 he was named Scottish Sports Feature Writer of the Year. He lives in Stirlingshire with his wife and two children.

Praise for The Grudge

5 stars. An epic tale of clashing personalities. The Grudge puts you right on the touchline as the English and Scottish teams go to war.

Simon Briggs, Daily Telegraph

A potentially award-winning book. It's a terrific bit of work, as engaging as the day itself was.

Mick Cleary, Daily Telegraph

A priceless read ... quite outstanding

Robert Kitson, The Guardian

A remarkable and compulsive re-enactment over 235 pages of the day Scotland confounded all expectation to win

Paul Ackford

English has written a marvellous book, in its way as gripping as that season and the match itself

Scottish Review of Books

Gripping ... Tom English has interviewed all the main protagonists to produce a richly textured picture of the build-up, the day itself and the aftermath

Independent

I enjoyed this book enormously. The match is one of my enduring rugby memories, and reading The Grudge it all came flooding back

John Inverdale

If you haven't bought Tom English's book about the 1990 match - The Grudge - then do yourself a favour and get it now. It's terrific

Alex Massie, Spectator

Shudderingly good ... English has a rare talent for getting to the core of a person

Rugby World

Superb ... a fantastic drama. The Grand Slam match was part of a political world ... This is what gave the occasion its power, its glory and its ultimate significance

The Herald

Thatcherite politics and rugby come crashing into contact in this rich and textured account

i

The finest book written on the tournament ... English has produced an absolutely outstanding work, weaving in the strands of history, politics, sociology, dislike and tactical nous, which makes the game probably the most remarkable ever played in the grand old tournament. The insights provided into the minds and roles of Jim Telfer and Brian Moore are worth the price alone

Stephen Jones, The Times

Tom English's excellent book, The Grudge, revisits an occasion when sport and politics and ancient rivalry came together

Chris Foy, Daily Mail

True tales: great stuff

Frank Keating, The Guardian