Badger's Rugby Compendium: A Humorous A to Z Glossary of Rugby Terms, Jargon and Slang: 4 (Badger Sport Humour) - Softcover

Edworthy, Niall

Softcover

ISBN 10: 106858548X ISBN 13: 9781068585487

Publisher: Badger Books, 2025

Synopsis

The essential handbook for all rugby fans that leaves nothing on the paddock!

Badger’s Rugby Compendium is a humorous glossary of over 500 terms, slang and jargon, all the lingo jackaled and cleaned out from the inner world of rugby and delivered on a plate with razor-sharp, amusing definitions and illustrations to entertain the dedicated fan and enlighten the rugby-curious.

If you had never seen a rugby match, say you were born and bred on Pluto, but you were fluent in English, on tuning into a game, you might ask yourself three questions: i) Why are all these people rolling around in the mud? ii) Why are they so cross with each other? iii) Why is the commentator talking in Klingon?

Many people let rugby pass them by, as they do cricket and other sports built upon a complex set of rules. To understand the rules, to take some pleasure from a sport, as with anything else in life, you must understand the language by which it is described. To go one level deeper and take joy from the sport and immerse yourself in its culture, traditions and nuances, you must have a working knowledge of its jargon and slang. What do they say? The limit of my world is the limit of my words.

‘He’s hoisted a bomb there, buried him with a snotter, gone in for the jackal, hands all over the egg, given him a facial, and kicked off the handbags. He’s getting pinged here, and he’s got himself ten minutes riding the pine or I’m Bill Beaumont.’

There’s only one reaction a rugby stranger might have to that: ‘You what?’ I mean, no wonder the rugby-curious viewer keeps flicking the remote.

This packed little glossary puts you ‘in the pocket’ to understand and enjoy all the slang and vernacular, fun for the devoted fan, and enlightenment for the uninitiated and baffled.

If you are Pluto-born and bred, I hope you find this book a helpful introduction to the ancient game loved by millions around our funny little planet and who knows? You might even be eligible to play for Scotland.

About this title

About the Author

Niall Edworthy is one of the UK's most prolific authors and successful ghostwriters. A former reporter for broadsheet newspapers and the international wire agencies AFP and Reuters, he has covered many major sporting events including two Rugby World Cups. 

Niall began writing books in 1997. He is the author or ghost of almost 50 titles, most for the big publishing houses, many of them for well-known names (actors, soldiers, musicians, sportsmen & television personalities), others for ‘ordinary’ people with extraordinary stories. 

He has written in a wide range of genres, mainly Biography, History and Sport but also Humour, Natural History and recently, in Fiction. His first novel, Otto Eckhart’s Ordeal, was shortlisted for the Wilbur Smith Best Published Novel Award 2021.

Edition details

• Publisher: Badger Books
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 106858548X
• ISBN 13: 9781068585487
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Bexley Mudd
• Number of pages: 126