If all sports are really about war, then rugby is a heart-thumping epic of bayonet charges and hand-to-hand fighting.  Jay Atkinson has played in more than 475 matches, for which he’s suffered three broken ribs, a detached retina, a fractured cheekbone and orbital bone, four deadened teeth, and a dislocated ankle. What he’s learned, though, is what keeps him coming back: when sixteen men collide with the thump of bone on bone, ordinary concerns vanish in the midst of all that tumult. The joy crowds out the dread. Written in the style of Siegfried Sassoon's classic MEMOIRS OF A FOX-HUNTING MAN, Atkinson’s book explains why it was all worth it—the story of his violent adventures, and the valuable insight he has gained from them.