Gerard Siggins – författare

Five kids with one dream: to become the greatest sports stars in the world!Joe knows he has no chance of catching the mysterious scout’s eye – he loves football, but he’s by far the worst player in his club. Despite this, he’s whisked away to a remote island and teamed up with four other kids: Kim, Craig, Ajit and Jess.But there’s more to this island than meets the eye, as Joe learns it is home to the world’s greatest Sports Academy. With the help of eccentric, genius coaches, he and his new friends are gradually transformed into serious players in their own sports. But the Academy’s secrets are wanted by many others ...Is someone tracking them? Will Joe and Atlantis United escape the clutches of their mysterious pursuers? And can they possibly win their first big game deep in the jungles of Brazil?

Sports-mad Eoin Madden is home in Tipperary for the holidays. There’s no rugby over the summer, so he and his Castlerock boarding school friends, Dylan and Alan, head down to Ormondstown GAA club and get involved with the hurling and football teams.The summer is full of fun as the boys all get into playing GAA – well, apart from Alan, who’s more into studying the opposition, and checking out the GAA stats. Eoin and Dylan take part in a hurling and football blitz against other clubs in the county and find some of the skills they’ve developed in rugby translate well to their native sports.The lads also have a bit of fun setting up a gardening business with their new teammates Vladis and Isaac to make some money. Everything is going well, so Eoin isn’t sure why he bumps into his old ghostly friend, Brian Hanrahan – along with the ghost of Michael Hogan, who died in Croke Park on Bloody Sunday. Usually when ghosts appear to Eoin it is because there’s something brewing. Some mystery or danger!The only thing going wrong in Ormondstown seems to be a bit of trouble with a gang of bullies. But Eoin and Dylan have handled the bullies – or have they?The ghostly action really hots up when the friends go to Dublin for the All-Ireland Hurling final. Eoin gains a deeper understanding of the tragedy of Bloody Sunday 100 years ago. But will he be in time to stop a modern tragedy unfolding?Book 7 in the acclaimed Rugby Spirit series.

Book 8 in the acclaimed Rugby Spirit series.Eoin Madden and his friends are back at school and it looks like it will be a fun year with new subjects and activities to try. After all his years on the Junior Cup team, Eoin is looking forward to a break from rugby this year; when there’s a chance to play soccer instead, he jumps at it!But it’s hard to set up a football team at a rugby-mad school like Castlerock – can the boys do it? And who is the ghostly footballer with links to Dalymount Park that Eoin and his friends keep meeting? Eoin usually sees ghosts when trouble is brewing, so is something wrong at the football grounds?From the Busby Babes of the 1950s to the Castlerock Red Rockets, football links the generations.

Book 9 in the acclaimed Rugby Spirit series.Eoin’s back playing rugby, but this time he feels out of his depth. He’s been promoted early to the Senior Cup team – where he’s the youngest ever player – and he’s not sure if he’s ready for it. It’s hard finding his feet among the older boys.A discovery from the earliest days of Irish rugby brings more ghostly encounters for Eoin – and leads him and his friends to tackle a series of crimes at the national stadium.Robberies, rucks and Senior Cup rugby make it a term to remember!

From the bestselling author of the Rugby Spirit seriesWith rugby more popular in Ireland than ever before, sportswriter Gerard Siggins celebrates the sport as he charts its success across the country and beyond. From its origins and early history to club games and the international stage, this lavishly illustrated book includes everything you could possibly want to know about Irish rugby and more.Rules and history of the gameThe four provincesUnforgettable matches and tournamentsLegendary players

‘Rugby? Here in Ballyknockshinny? Sure no one would take us seriously,’ said Fiona.A rugby club is her friend Kevin’s idea to bring fun to their little town that summer. All the kids pitch in and it’s not long before the Bally K Foxes are up and running with everyone catching the rugby bug. But there’s a shadow looming over the town – from the abandoned factory.What happened there? And why won’t their parents talk about it?The more everyone warns them to stay away, the more the friends want to solve the mystery … even if it means risking the club they’ve worked so hard to set up.

‘Ok, lads, you have everything you need to win this game. So go out and do it ,' said the coach.Eoin's not sure if it will be so easy! He’s just started a new school … and a new sport. Everyone at school is mad about rugby, but Eoin hasn’t even held a rugby ball before!With new rules to learn, new friends to make and new teachers to get a handle on, he really doesn’t need to have Richie Duffy, the resident bully, picking him out as his latest target!And just who is this guy, Brian, who looks so out-of-date, but gives great rugby advice?

Eoin has been chosen for the Junior development squad so over the summer he gets to go to Dublin for a rugby summer school. Arising out of that, he and his new friends are taken on a trip to Twickenham, London, to play & watch rugby. While there, he meets a ghost: Prince Obolensky, a Russian who played rugby for England, scored a world famous try against New Zealand in Twickenham and later joined the RAF and died in WW2.The fourth book in the Rugby Spirit series.

Schools rugby star Eoin Madden has never been busier – he’s captain of the Junior Cup team, he’s training with Leinster and hoping to be chosen for the Ireland team for the first-ever Under 16 World Cup. But it’s not all fun and games, as Eoin also has to deal with grumpy friends, teachers piling on the homework – AND a ghost on a mission that goes back to the very origins of the game of rugby. But what does the restless spirit need, and can Eoin help him?Books, crooks and rucks - it’s all to play for this term!