England Scotland Calcutta Cup

CHILL-OUT SUNDAY THE ELLIS RUGBY ‘THE GRUDGE’ – THE STORY OF ENGLAND v SCOTLAND MATCHES RUGBY BOOK PREVIEW

Shortlisted for the 2022 SBA Best Sports Book of the 21st Century prize. The gripping inside story of when an England-Scotland rugby match becomes more than a game.

Murrayfield 1990 England Scotland Calcutta Cup

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.

Five Nations Calcutta Cup

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.

Exclusive access to England Scotland Rugby Players

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.

Tom English, the Author of ‘The Grudge’. Details England Scotland Calcutta Cup

Tom English is an award-winning BBC Sport writer and broadcaster. A former Irish rugby correspondent with the Sunday Times and chief sports writer with Scotland on Sunday, he was voted Scottish Sports Feature Writer of the Year six times. He won Rugby Book of the Year at the 2011 British Sports Book Awards for The Grudge, before claiming the prize again in 2016 for No Borders: Playing Rugby for Ireland. He is a co-author of the best-selling Behind The Lions: Playing Rugby for the British & Irish Lions and When Lions Roared: The Lions, the All Blacks, and the Epic Tour of 1971.

What the Press said about ‘The Grudge’ Book

Firstly, The Guardian  – ‘A priceless read’. Secondly, The Times – ‘Absolutely outstanding’. Thirdly, the Daily Telegraph –  ‘An epic tale’ Finally, the Scottish Review of Books –  ‘Gripping’.

Where to buy?

This excellent book is available from Amazon HERE. We also offer two similar retro rugby shirts to the ones featured on the book cover. These include the England Rugby 1991 Shirt 1992 Grand Slam. Also, the Scotland Rugby Shirt 1990 Grand Slam. In addition, the rare away shirt – Scotland Rugby Shirt 1984 Grand Slam