The Mud the Beer and the Rugby is an amusing chronicle of a fictional but true to life junior rugby club back in the day. Undeterred by floods or the failure to raise a full team, players from "The Vale" enjoy "the less serious but equally important side of amateur rugby". This is the piano playing generation, happy on a bog of a playing surface or around the bar sharing a pint or two. Never mind that the Corporation pitch still has lion dung on it from a visiting summer circus and ignore the rain hammering down "like long silver nails". This book paints a great picture of the traditional rugby family, looking out for each other and enjoying the game. It’s good to know that this spirit continues through the work of the RFU Injured Players Foundation; a charity that supports any player catastrophically injured playing rugby in England; and also works to prevent such injuries happening at all. It’s a great cause, and I’m proud that this book is supporting it.