Book description
Rugby has held a central role in Welsh life over the past century. In
the words of historian Gareth Williams, the game has been 'a pre-eminent
expressionof Welsh consciousness, a signifier of Welsh nationhood'. Less
than 25 years ago touring teams from the southern hemisphere knew that
their hardest games would be in Wales; the Welsh national team was
consistently the strongest in Britain. Thats all changed. Wales is now
one of the game's also-rans. With only one Home Championship in the past
20 years and little success in the World Cup, Welsh rugby - despite some
consolidation under Graham Henry - is badly in need of fresh thinking
and ideas. Who better to provide them than the man who was widely
regarded as one of the best scrum halves of his era, yet whose playing
career coincided with that period of Welsh decline? In this
thought-provoking and frequently controversial book, Welsh rugby icon
Robert Jones provides a sharply realistic assassment of the Welsh game
from the roots to the national stadium, drawing heavily on lessons
learned and observations made during his own illustrious career. Raising
the Dragon is a persona manifesto for change from a player whose
commitment to Wales never wavered.
Robert Jones is one of the major figures of modern international
rugby and is recognised as one of the great scrum-halves of his era.
All but one of his 54 caps for Wales came in that influential position
- a national record he shares with the legendary Gareth Edwards. Jones
is now BBC Radio 5 Live's Welsh rugby correspondent and he also
contributes regular columns to the Sun.
Huw Richards, who assisted Robert Jones in the writing of this book,
is the rugby correspondent of the Financial Times and has
co-edited Heart and Soul and More Heart and Soul, two
critically acclaimed collections of essays on Welsh rugby heroes.
