{"product_id":"crossing-the-line","title":"Crossing The Line","description":"Irish rugby has produced many charismatic figures over its history. None more\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e than Willie Anderson. Immortalised for his defiant stance in the face of the All\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Blacks' Haka, the Ulsterman is notorious also for his time spent locked up by the\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e military junta in Argentina for a prank gone wrong. But there is more to Willie\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Anderson than newspaper headlines. Crossing The Line is the story of a life\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e challenged by sectarianism, alcohol addiction, and personal tragedy. It is the\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e story of a triumph over adversity.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Anderson is unique in his range of experience across Irish rugby. During his three\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e months in custody in Buenos Aires, between remand and house arrest, he kept a\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e diary, including the love letters written to the woman he would marry, Heather\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Buckley. Almost a decade later he earned further notoriety when, as Ireland\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e captain, he marched into the middle of the All Blacks' Haka in Lansdowne Road,\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e prompting the International Rugby Board to put in place a protocol around that\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e piece of theatre.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Anderson describes how alcohol was a factor in his life from his teenage years,\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e taking control of him by the time his coaching career was in full flow. When\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e rugby went professional his coaching talents were sought by London Irish,\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e Leinster and Scotland - but the head coach role in Ulster, the job he wanted\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e most, never came his way.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e His lowest point came with the accidental death in a road accident of a\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e neighbour's child. Although exonerated of any blame in the tragedy it took\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e its toll on him and how he lived. Willie is the father of JW Anderson, a uniquely\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e successful figure in the fashion world. He still lives in Northern Ireland, still\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e coaches rugby, and is still married to the woman he credits with saving\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e his sanity.","brand":"Readers Paradise Book Shop Wexford","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42160265724075,"sku":"","price":5.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0538\/7105\/0923\/products\/1_ef440a22-11e0-4848-9a84-0c11b94aaa13.jpg?v=1663591469","url":"https:\/\/readersparadise.pro\/products\/crossing-the-line","provider":"ReadersParadise","version":"1.0","type":"link"}