It Was Never My Ambition To Become A Hooker - Tapa blanda

Eyebrows were raised when we realised that Neil Clark, a solid denizen of the Premiership but by no means a leading light, was publishing a book. But he has plenty to say, his 'affinity for violence and hitting people' stemming in part from his parents' broken marriage and his own role in causing the split. The first half of the book, charting his shocking behaviour and rehabilitation through rugby, will have you hooked... It's a book to make you laugh - at one point he is 'taken down' by bouncers while on crutches! - and gives insights into the wily old dog that is Rob Baxter, who fired up the Chiefs for a play-off by telling them about the crates of champagne he'd seen being carted into Bristol's changing room before the match. The fib worked a treat! --Rugby World

Too many sports biographies are nothing more than a list of the subject's clubs with a dash of celebrity gossip (the more salacious the better) and an account of their wealth/fast cars or Lear Jets. Well I am delighted to report that Neil's book is none of those things. Rather it is both a revealing tale of life as a professional rugby player and of the life of Neil Clark, the boy and man. It is also a rattling good read and a real page-turner! --Exeter Chiefs Supporters Club

In a refreshingly honest and sometimes brutal account of his life, Neil Clark reveals his personal turmoil and tough journey to the top flight of English rugby. Neil Clark might not be a household name, but he is one of the under-rated rugby players who took Exeter Chiefs to the heights of the English Premiership and the Heineken Cup. Overcoming a difficult childhood, serious injury and being released by a club that no longer wanted him, Clark was a rugby journeyman in the south-west, playing for Bristol, Bath and Cornish All Blacks before finding a home at Exeter Chiefs. There he helped the club gain promotion and began to keep a diary of his time in rugby's top division. This is the inspiring story of how a troubled youngster became a Premiership rugby player - with real blood, gallons of sweat and plenty of tears.