Axel: A Memoir, Anthony Foley, Hachette books, €19.99 Ronan O'Gara: My Autobiography, Transworld, €25.98 Tana Umaga: Up Close, Tana Umaga, Hachette Livre NZ, €26.40
BEST RUGBY book ever written? Probably The Unsmiling Giants - an excellent tour log of the 1968 All Blacks, written by the late Wallace Reyburn. Good luck finding a copy at this late stage, but for an alternative stocking filler this Christmas there are three high-profile rugby autobiographies on the shelves.
Hard as nails, Anthony Foley was rarely inclined to throw a dig on the rugby field. No, Foley learned his ways from another Shannon, Munster and Ireland number eight, his father Brendan Foley who coached him through secondary school at St Munchin's College. Before that he would guard his Dad's corner and peg in the Shannon dressingroom.
Until, he commandeered that area for himself. "He told me punching was an easy option and one that would more than likely result in a penalty to the opposing side," stated Foley in the entertaining, Axel, a memoir written with the Sunday Timesrugby correspondent Peter O'Reilly. "A punch doesn't really hurt anyway, not when the adrenaline is flowing." They certainly never hurt Axel Foley; a player who epitomised the X-factor associated with the Munster red jersey.
The last true link to a bygone era until his retirement last season, Foley always had the cut of an amateur player surviving in the professional ranks. And yet, he always seemed to carry ball over that invisible gain line.
Foley's book and Ronan O'Gara's My Autobiographycover many of the same topics as both men have been deeply involved in the wonderful, and sometimes painful, journey gifted to Irish sport by modern Munster and Irish rugby teams.
Peter 'The Claw' Clohessy and Mick 'Gallimh' Galway are recurring characters in both books too, portrayed much like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Both men remember when The Claw lost it with the Springboks for not vacating the Lansdowne Road back pitch at the required time, especially considering the Irish squad were waiting to begin their captain's run. The South Africans complied with his polite request.
The "subtle compromises" made by Declan Kidney on arrival as Munster coach to keep Claw and Gallimh are also noted by Foley.
"At a team meeting, he (Claw) could say, 'Not naming names, like, but Dominic Crotty, what the f*** were you doing back there?' and get away with it."
O'Gara's book, written by another fine Sunday Times scribe and fellow Corkman, Denis Walsh, deals with more recent issues like the 2007 World Cup meltdown when O'Gara was in the eye of the storm because of constant rumours about his personal life, exacerbated by subsequent poor performances.
"Ye're not the first Irish team to bring disgrace on the nation and ye won't be the last," was the welcome home text for O'Gara and company from old friend, Axel.
Both men also describe their relationships with the enigma that is Eddie O'Sullivan. O'Gara ended up praising the man but not before criticising the World Cup preparations.
Heading into the 2003 World Cup Foley had a relaxing day playing golf with O'Sullivan and Keith Wood so he spoke up whenever lads grumbled about his aloofness. On return to his hotel room, and Paul O'Connell, after been informed by O'Sullivan that he was dropped from the 22 to play France in the quarter-final, Foley was hardly singing the coach's praises. "Sure, play a few holes of golf with him. He's a grand fella," he (O'Connell) says, bursting out laughing. The pup. Is nothing sacred?"
In the behind-closed-doors world of a pro rugby team, clearly no. But that's what equally keeps them bonded together.
Foley's book is further enhanced by blow-by-blow accounts of the day he won his first cap (in direct opposition to Dean Richards) and the 2006 Heineken Cup final.
There are also a few tales charting the antics of the infamous 'Under-14s'.
The other rugby book hitting the Irish market is Tana Umaga, Up Close ghosted by New Zealand journalist Paul Thomas.
This grabbed a few headlines when first released in the Southern Hemisphere last year as Brian O'Driscoll and O'Connell both come in for criticism out of the 2005 Lions tour.
Beside that broken record, it is a riveting story about one of the game's greatest players and the first Polynesian to captain the All Blacks. Thomas enlivens matters with anecdotes from family, coaches and team-mates.
Finally, the year wouldn't be complete without a picture book charting Munster's return to the pinnacle of Europe.
It is published by Gill Macmillan.
