BOOKS OF THE YEAR

The Flying Prince: Alexander Obolensky: The Rugby Hero Who Died Too Young by Hugh Godwin (Sportsbookofthemonth.com price £20)

Following a forthcoming rule change, the next Rugby World Cup could become even more competitive.

From next month, players who have not been selected to play international rugby for at least three years will be given the opportunity to transfer their allegiance to another country, provided they, a parent, or a grandparent, were born in that country.

Rugby officials believe the move will result in an exodus of Pacific Island players to represent the country of their birth, which should add some additional spice to the 2023 RWC.

Such rules were unheard of in the early twentieth century.

When a 19-year-old Russianborn Alexander Obolensky, lining up to make his debut for England against New Zealand, was asked by the Prince of Wales: “By what right do you play for England?”, the youngster replied: “I attend Oxford University, sir,” though he could have said his family fled revolutionary Russia in 1919 when he was two and he had grown up here.

Obolensky was an astonishingly fast winger (at 16, he ran the 100 yards in 10.2 seconds) who rose equally rapidly to fame following the contest against the All Blacks – previously unbeaten on English soil in 57 matches since 1905.

Author Hugh Godwin mixes journalistic narrative with contemporary newspaper reports to describe Obolensky’s debut tries.

The first came on 30 minutesk when Obolensky received the ball ten yards inside his own half and took off down the wing, weaving to evade tacklers before sprinting for the line.

The Daily Express called the noise made by spectators as “the most deafening roar ever raised at Twickenham.”

Obolensky added a second try five minutes later, another spectacular effort which had the crowd on their feet, prompting the Times correspondent to write that the try “brought him [Obolensky] an ovation that surely will live as long in his memory as it will in the minds of those who did the cheering.”

Sadly, the cheering would not last long in Obolensky’s memory.

As war broke out, he joined the RAF as a trainee pilot, admitting to a friend that he hadn’t got the hang of landing.

He was killed instantly when his plane overturned on ‘routine’ landing in Suffolk. He was 24.

Obolensky played for England because he felt English and wanted to rather than to take advantage of a rule change; the motive adds poignancy to this extremely readable biography.

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