The First XV A Selection of the Best Rugby Writing

We all like choosing the best-ever Welsh rugby team, but here is a XV with a difference. Here they are not players but writers. The exploits of the people’s heroes from Gould to Gareth Edwards are vividly recaptured in some classic prose. So too are the expectations and emotions of the most passionate followers in the world. They deserve the best team we can put out. Here it is, a selection of world-beating writing on Welsh rugby: The First XV. A collection of biographical, anecdotal, and literary essays on Britain's consuming passion for rugby.

Gerald Davies CBE is one of the acknowledged greats of Welsh rugby, playing for the side between 1966 and 1978. After retiring as a player, Davies became a journalist, writing on rugby matters for The Times. Gareth Williams has written and broadcast extensively on the sporting and musical history of South Wales.