Firsts, Lasts & Onlys: A Truly Wonderful Collection of Rugby Trivia

Firsts, Lasts & Onlys is a rugby fan’s delight, chock-full of astonishing events, time-honoured anecdotes and distinctly unlikely facts. Beginning in 1823 with an event that probably didn’t happen, the book charts the history of the sport to the present day. Did you know that Wasps were not included at the formation of the Rugby Football Union because their representative went to the wrong venue and got drunk? Or that the first international was won by Scotland because the umpire, a Dr Almond, adjudged: ‘When an umpire is in doubt, I think he is justified in deciding against the side which makes the most noise. They are probably in the wrong’? Do you know which was the first novel to mention rugby? When the last 20-a-side rugby match was played? Or why a fan cut off his testicles to celebrate a win? All this, and so much more.