It was a tiny leviathan, a pocket revolution. It ran to less than 35,000 words, the author was paid 75 guineas and these days, it can read horribly out of date. But it changed rugby, it remains the most important book ever written on the sport and it still trickles over the counter after 23 editions. Michael Green - author of the wonderful Art of Coarse Rugby – was a journalist, author, actor and humourist – a marvellous friend, and a colleague on this newspaper. He died last week at 91, played tennis into his late 80s, and was married in his ninth decade.

Source: The Times March 04, 2018 00:56 UTC