Engage: The Fall And Rise Of Matt Hampson

Product Description

Engage!' was the last word Matt Hampson heard before dislocating his neck while in rugby training with other young England hopefuls. On a cold, grey, overcast day in 2005, the cream of young English rugby gathered at a Northampton training ground. Matt Hampson, ' Hambo' to his mates, was one of them. He had dreamt of playing rugby for England ever since he had picked up a rugby ball at school. His skill, conviction & dedication had brought him to the cusp of realising that dream, in an England U21 team that included Olly Morgan, Toby Flood, Ben Foden & James Haskell. But as the two sets of forwards engaged for a scrum on the training field, the scrum collapsed & Matt, who played tight-head prop, took the full force of two opposing sides. In that moment his life changed forever. Paul Kimmage went to visit Matt as he recuperated, & wrote a piece for the Sunday Times which won him his third successive SJA sports interviewer of the year award. They struck up a friendship & here, Paul tells Matt's whole story, in all its intimate detail. From the build-up to the dreadful day, to Matt's recuperation, to his struggle to adjust to normal life again, to his family & friends, to other tragic incidents on the rugby field, to the response of the RFU, this is a story of terrible sadness yet unadorned triumph & joy, of anger yet of reconciliation & peace.. .of a boy who became a man.