This book reminded me of the Rothmans annuals that used be published every year and were the reference bibles for rugby union.

The format is different from Rothmans, which covered all levels of the game, as the focus is solely on the international game. The book provides records of every international match played by each international team and is very thorough.

The book is something of a throwback as the internet is built to house this sort of information and is constantly updated. I found the best bits to be the trivia section, particularly the reference to the IRB and how it was set up. The celtic unions couldn’t come to agreement with the RFU about the laws of the game so set up the IRFB. The English came on board four years later (1890) and got six of the twelve seats with the others getting two each. The Yorkshire clubs split from the RFU in 1895 as the precursor to rugby league in a busy decade for the RFU.

England’s representation was watered down by southern hemisphere admissions after WW2 and France were allocated seats in 1978!

With the BT sport/ERCC/club vs country farrago relatively fresh in the memory, little has changed. Everyone argues with the RFU and the English relationship with France is up and down.

A thorough reference book for rugby boffins.