A Very Tall Story

Martin Bayfield

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9781398514263
• Print ISBN:
  9781398514256

A hilarious and, at times, moving and soul-searching account of rugby union’s rollercoaster days in the 1990s, told through the eyes of a player who saw it all as the sport lurched shambolically from the crazy final days of amateurism into the professional era.

Martin Bayfield has a story to tell. Indeed, some might describe it as a very tall story. Standing at 6ft 10ins, the former England and British and Irish Lions second row remains one of the tallest players ever to have played international rugby, and his immense physical stature made him one of the most destructive forwards in the world game. He played for England during one of the most successful eras in English rugby, winning two Grand Slams alongside legendary players such as Will Carling, Jeremy Guscott, Brian Moore and Rory Underwood. 

His international heyday came at a seminal moment for rugby union when, almost overnight, it was transformed from a noble minority sport to a celebrity event, with stories appearing on the front pages of the British tabloids. Now Bayfield is ready to reveal the inside story of that rip-roaring decade that changed forever the face of English rugby. The book provides an emotional link between the generations, so that today’s fans can reconnect with rugby's soul. Renowned as one of rugby's best and most entertaining storytellers, the former policeman and Hagrid's body double has written a brilliant and very funny love letter to a sport that continues to inspire and entertain millions.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Prologue
• Chapter 1: ‘You’re with the Big Boys Now’
• Chapter 2: Growing Pains
• Chapter 3: The Longest Arm of the Law
• Chapter 4: Face Down on the Beach
• Chapter 5: Two Bits of Cotton Hanging Out of Your Shorts
• Chapter 6: The History Boys
• Chapter 7: ‘Are You Here for the Rugby?’
• Chapter 8: The Joy of Ceefax
• Chapter 9: ‘If You Don’t Make It, Bayfs, Can I Have Your Sony Walkman?’
• Chapter 10: Revolting for Wade
• Chapter 11: It’s Raining Beer (Cans)
• Chapter 12: Head on a Chopping Block
• Chapter 13: Deep Heat, Old Farts and Tackling Jonah
• Chapter 14: A Change of Perspective
• Chapter 15: Take That, Bayfs
• Chapter 16: Falling Down
• Chapter 17: Broon Frae Troon
• Chapter 18: A Pain in Robbie Coltrane’s Arse
• Chapter 19: A Wheezing Darth Vader
• Chapter 20: Poacher Turned Broadcaster
• Chapter 21: The Ostrich, the Goat and the Golf Club
• Chapter 22: To Rugby, with Love
• Acknowledgements
• About the Authors
• Index
• Copyright