Rugby Spirit

Eoin Madden #1

by Gerard Siggins

Eoin's has just started a new school ... and a new sport. Everyone at school is mad about rugby, but Eoin hasn't even held a rugby ball before! And why does everybody seem to know more about his own grandad than he does?

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Gerard Siggins was born in Dublin in 1962. Initially a sports journalist, he worked for many years in the Sunday Tribune, where he became assistant editor. He has written several books about cricket, as well as being co-author of Lansdowne Road: The Stadium; The Matches; The Greatest Days.

Reviews

[Julia Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprise. Loved this book and immediately picked up the sequel to read. I've now ordered the rest of the series for our school library and am anticipating it will be really popular.
A quick, easy read for junior high school students set in an Irish rugby-mad boarding school.

[Tylerclem · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reason why I picked up this book from the library is that I kinda start liking rugby. Last year, Rugby World Cup held in Japan and I really enjoyed watching games. Until that, I didn't know what exactly rugby is. This book is about this boy in a new school and a new sport. The main character is just starting rugby and I've never played rugby so I kinda felt the same while reading this book. I think this book is really easy to read. I recommend everyone who likes rugby or interested in rugby.

[Austin Sheehan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rugby Spirit is the story about a 12-13 year-old Irish boy who is sent to a boarding school where they are mad for Rugby and (despite his grandfather being a Rugby hero for this school) he has never played the game in his life, opting for Gaelic football instead.

When he does try out for the team, what do you know, he has a truckload of natural talent.  Surprise.  Not all the other kids are fond of him, and he has to put up with bullies at school and on his team, as well as ghosts!

Did you say g-g-g-ghosts???  *shiver*
Yes.  But nothing like that.  I don't even know why the ghost was included.  Did not really add much.

Mostly the book was about the kid and hus grandfather getting closer through a shared love of Rugby.  It would have been a more enjoyable and rewarding book if the kid wasn't already so gifted with rugby skills and if it wasn't  all so easy for him..  If he really had to knuckle down and practice for hours daily and really develop his skills I probably would have enjoyed it more. All in all this book is completely and utterly missable.

[Nonno Kato · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I may not have the right to say this, RUGBY means a lot to me.

Last year (2019), the Rugby World Cup was thankfully held in Japan where only several games were held in my prefecture as I was able to cheer for the game against TONGA VS ENGLAND. After watching most of the games on television and finally being able to watch at a real stadium in my hometown, my excitement was at a whole new level.

Anyways, since Japan did an amazing performance in the World Cup, raising its audiences worldwide, we now call it the "Niwaka Fan" in which I fit in, which means being a huge Japanese fan after watching the game.

Now onto this book I recommend, this is about a boy who has never played Rugby before as he has never ever held rugby before!!

This may seem very relatable for some of us, and it is a great book to know what will happen to the boy Eoin with his Rugby career!!

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was exactly as the star rating says, okay. It had a pleasant story and some conflict between the main protagonist and the bully to help it along with some family troubles and school adventures. It was quick and easy to read and lots of younger boys who like sports stories will enjoy it. It wasn't my type of book but I can see the positives in it and how it would appeal to other readers.

[Gemma Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keen to find new sporting genre books, this was a good option. While not of great interest to me, it is a story with a quality storyline based around a school kid playing rugby. The boy is challenged as to why his famous rugby playing grandfather stopped playing suddenly. He takes up the game and is a natural, which makes him explore his past.

Story line is good and even if readers don't like rugby, it can still interest them.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is about a legacy named Eoin madden the grandson of dixie he has been enrolled in a rugby school were he finds out how amazing his grandfather really was. as rugby is new to Eoin and has only ever played gaelic soccer he is given a hard time by all the students there.

[Timothy Farring · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this book was fantastic, it really goes into the community and the world of rugby
If I were to put this into a lesson plan it would probably be about sports around the world and how different people play different but very similar sports

[Wendy Bamber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorry, not the target market again but reading on behalf of and think anyone interested in rugby or sport or boarding school will love this. Lots of learning about the game, plus some friendship, family, power struggle, jealousy issues and some weird ghost shit thrown in for good measure. Perfect.

[Duncan McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eoin Madden is selected to play for Leinster rather than Munster. Tournament in London. Russian ghost searching for faberge egg.

[Jack Mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was great I rated it four stars because it was so good however I would have preferred if Brian wasn’t in it I felt like it was a unnecessary twist

[Just_me · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with my 11 year old son.

This is a great little book, my boy is a huge rugby fan and was in the same situation as the protagonist Eoin, both started a new school and found rugby. This story covers the basics (which helped me) as well as describing matches in a fabulous way. Great story, brill portagonist and excellent twist.

[Senan]

This book was alright, it is about a boy named Eoin who moved to a new school where the sport of choice is rugby, he soon gets into it and gets good, but he has to overcome a lot of conflicts with his dad firstI recommend this book to any sports lovers.