Scott Quinnell's book - The Hardest Test - is my favourite rugby book.
What I love about it is that it is a short, but jam-packed, story about a rugby player's career. From being a youth player to Welsh international and British Lion.
In clear, readable prose you find out what that felt like for Quinnell.
But there is another dimension to the story. The player's battle with dyslexia.
That is what I enjoyed most. Quinnellis very honest about how he struggled at school and what impact that had on his life and how he felt about himself.
I have read a lot of sport players' books and a lot of them are just a list of great games a player has played in and his opinions on people he had met in the sport. The Hardest Test is different because you find more out about the man. That's down to his honesty.
When I was writing one of my Football Academy books - Reading the Game - I found this book very useful. It helped me understand how a boy at school who was struggling with reading might feel. And how he might try to conceal his problems with other behaviour. I work in a lot of schools and I meet a lot of boys who struggle with reading in the same way. I always tell them about this book.
The Hardest Test by Scott Quinnell is £1.99 and published by Accent Press.
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