Mud, Sweat and Beers

Forget everything you think you know about rugby and join us on the touchline of Warlingham Rugby Club as Steven Gauge leads out the 4th XV. Welcome to the world of mud, sweat and beers…

Far away from the bright lights of international rugby, there is another version of the game played by ordinary blokes of all shapes, sizes and degrees of physical ability. Steven Gauge was the last person anyone would expect to find on a rugby field, being somewhat shorter than average, bespectacled and decidedly “unsporty”. But as a gentleman of a certain age when strange life choices are sometimes made, Steven chose to pick up a rugby ball and run with it. He discovered a hidden and hilarious world of convoluted nicknames, creative interpretations of the laws of the game and the inevitable, beer-related, post-match mayhem. But he also found a heartfelt sense of belonging and camaraderie of the kind that only a good, honest team sport can provide.

“funny yet so true” - RUGBY WORLD

“a ruck-load of laughs… one of those rarities in sports publishing: a humorous book which is genuinely funny… [Gauge] is able to recount in full, life in the casual nether reaches of British sport… made me laugh out loud.' - SPORTS JOURNALISTS' ASSOCIATION