Every sport has a defining text. For soccer it has to be Gavin Newsham’s Once in a Lifetime or David Goldbatt’s The Ball is Round. Now rugby has one of its own, a new offering from Bloomsbury and Tony Collins called The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby. Collins is absolutely brilliant in his recalling of rugby’s history. It is a comprehensive timeline of the sport, chronicling the ups and downs of rugby in every corner of the world. Readers are