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Jason Leonard. Jason Leonard: The Autobiography
JASON LEONARD. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Dedication
Contents
INTRODUCTION What a Year!
CHAPTER ONE Barking Beckons
CHAPTER TWO A Step Up
CHAPTER THREE Brothels, Bath Taps and Bottles
CHAPTER FOUR Moving West and Meeting Best
CHAPTER FIVE All Aboard the Fun Bus
CHAPTER SIX The Greatest Year
CHAPTER SEVEN The Immoveable Game Plan
CHAPTER EIGHT A Pain in the Neck
CHAPTER NINE The End of a Golden Era
CHAPTER TEN A Pride of Lions
CHAPTER ELEVEN Hello, Mr Lomu
CHAPTER TWELVE Professionalism? It’ll Never Last
CHAPTER THIRTEEN Captain Leonard
CHAPTER FOURTEEN Lions Roar
CHAPTER FIFTEEN England Move Forward
CHAPTER SIXTEEN Gifts from God
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Lions in Australia
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN The Triple Grand Slam … Not!
CHAPTER NINETEEN Jason Leonard MBE (More Beer ‘Ere)
CHAPTER TWENTY The World Cup
Career Statistics
Index
Acknowledgements
Copyright
About the Publisher
Отрывок из книги
With Alison Kervin
Title Page
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The England Colts experience taught me discipline, but I relied on the Barking first team for my lessons in ‘street rugby’ and how to stay strong. After finishing my year in the Colts, I slipped back into the first team at Barking and immediately took up my position in the front row. Along with playing in the first team came various rituals, including the tradition of throwing new boys out of the bus on the way back when they made their first away trip – you then had to walk back to the clubhouse naked. I was thrown off the bus with this other guy who was also making his debut. We were a mile from the clubhouse, completely naked and in about four inches of snow. The two of us tumbled out of the bus and ran to hide behind a tree. I shouted to the guys on the bus to at least let me have my shoes – I wasn’t bothered about the fact that I was stark naked, but was just worried about having to run through the snow barefoot. Our teammates on the bus were naturally having none of it and they turned and drove off, waving to us as we cowered behind the tree, covering ourselves with our hands.
I asked the guy who was with me what he was going to do. He said that he only lived a mile to the south of the point where we’d been dropped off, so he would run back home, get changed and meet me at the club. I lived miles away and decided I’d better head for the clubhouse which was about a mile to the north of us, so off we both went in opposite directions. I was running between parked cars, hiding behind them until it was clear, then running to the next car, hoping that no one would see me. I thought I was doing quite well until a police car pulled up alongside me, an officer got out, covered me with his jacket and told me to get into the back of the car. Once I was inside, he told me that a little old lady had rung 999 when she saw a naked man running past her window. The copper then radioed back to the station and told them that I’d been picked up, whereupon he looked at me and said, ‘You’re fit, aren’t you?’
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