Eddie O'Sullivan: Never Die Wondering: The Autobiography
Eddie O'Sullivan
Arrow
Sales Rank: 400888
Eddie O'Sullivan
Arrow
Sales Rank: 400888
An excellent sports biography, 2009-09-13History will probably be a lot kinder to Eddie O'Sullivan as Ireland Coach than a lot of contempoary material ever will be. For those who remember the dire straits Irish rugby found itself in during the 90s, O'Sullivan's tenure as coach was a welcome relief with silverware and attractive rugby. This review isn't interested in the debate around Eddie and the extent to which his version of events is right or wrong, fundamentally circumstances were often racked by some degree of contraversy and a review on Amazon isn't the place to unpick that debate. Instead this review will seek to review the themes of the book and its standing amongst other sports biographies.
First of all the book offers a unique opportunity, much like with Ronan O'Gara's biography to get inside the mind of a private individual. A theme of the book is often Eddie's poor relationship with the media (a recurring theme in the book), which in turn kept him something of an enigma to fans. The opportunity to understand how he saw events is great. This is made even better by getting a chance to get the inside info on his relationship with Warren Gatland and Declan Kidney as well as Ireland's implosion at the 2007 World Cup. In fairness Eddie takes a lot of the blame on himself and it is a shame that his failure at the World Cup overshadowed his other acheivements as coach. I won't spoil the book by discussing these further, but it does make for some interesting reading!
The second opportunity the book offers, is the chance to really absorb the impact of professionalism in the game, O'Sullivan goes back to his youth days, through his club careers and representation of Munster right through to his first stint in America, his time with Connacht and his career with Ireland, and even the 2005 Lions Tour. In some respects the book does succeed in capturing the essence of the whole professionalism versus amateurism debate, and O'Sullivan's insights on how coaching developed through the period, a topic not really extensively discussed in current biographies, which have focused on player experiences.
I think the third opportunity the book offers is the chance for O'Sullivan to fight back against his critics - something he deserves the right to do, and which makes for interesting reading.
All in all a great read for either an Irish Rugby Fan or Sports Fans in general...
Reviewed By A3IAIRHY19XN5OFirst of all the book offers a unique opportunity, much like with Ronan O'Gara's biography to get inside the mind of a private individual. A theme of the book is often Eddie's poor relationship with the media (a recurring theme in the book), which in turn kept him something of an enigma to fans. The opportunity to understand how he saw events is great. This is made even better by getting a chance to get the inside info on his relationship with Warren Gatland and Declan Kidney as well as Ireland's implosion at the 2007 World Cup. In fairness Eddie takes a lot of the blame on himself and it is a shame that his failure at the World Cup overshadowed his other acheivements as coach. I won't spoil the book by discussing these further, but it does make for some interesting reading!
The second opportunity the book offers, is the chance to really absorb the impact of professionalism in the game, O'Sullivan goes back to his youth days, through his club careers and representation of Munster right through to his first stint in America, his time with Connacht and his career with Ireland, and even the 2005 Lions Tour. In some respects the book does succeed in capturing the essence of the whole professionalism versus amateurism debate, and O'Sullivan's insights on how coaching developed through the period, a topic not really extensively discussed in current biographies, which have focused on player experiences.
I think the third opportunity the book offers is the chance for O'Sullivan to fight back against his critics - something he deserves the right to do, and which makes for interesting reading.
All in all a great read for either an Irish Rugby Fan or Sports Fans in general...
This review was cited from Amazon.co.uk.
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