Book description
'The Bounce of the Century' they called it. A ball kicked across
Cardiff Arms Park in the dying minutes of a match between two of
international rugby's fiercest rivals. The world's two greatest
wingers waited as it bounced towards them, knowing that whoever caught
the ball would score and win the match for his country.
Dragons and All Blacks tells what happened when Wales played
New Zealand in 1953. The story is written from contemporary accounts
and the memories of the men who played that day, including Bob Stuart
and Bleddyn Williams, for many of whom the match was the highlight of
a career.
The book retells the stories of the two teams and the men who played
for them, and charts the events of their lives: how they got to that
meeting point in Cardiff in December 1953 and what has happened to
them in the half-century since.
Dragons and All Blacks examines the remarkable relationship
between two countries on opposite sides of the world, brought together
by a mutual passion for rugby with few parallels elsewhere. It shows
how their rivalry has developed over a century - from perhaps the
greatest of all rugby matches in 1905 to the single-point thriller of
2004 - and looks to its future in the aftermath of the 2005 Welsh
Grand Slam and Lions tour of New Zealand.
Huw Richards is the rugby correspondent of the
Financial Times
and has reported on over 200 internationals, including all five World
Cups.
