Contrasting characters, colliding cultures, the same oval-shaped ball. A journey to find the game’s most remarkable people, teams and places, and unearth the true meaning of rugby greatness.

What makes rugby special? Which individuals and teams have defined the modern game? Ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, Around the World in 80 Minutes charts the ‘golden era’ of global rugby union between 1973 and 2023 and goes in search of the sport’s most influential trailblazers.

Robert Kitson, the Guardian’s long-time rugby union correspondent, assesses the game’s current health, tracks down the battered gladiators of yesteryear and asks some pertinent questions. Does rugby retain its old rugged charm? What does its future look like? And what, ultimately, constitutes rugby ‘greatness’?

Observant, amusing and thought-provoking, the journey takes in some of the game's more prominent names – including David Campese, Brian O’Driscoll, Maggie Alphonsi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Eddie Jones and Sir Clive Woodward – to reflect on rugby’s intangible shared joy.

Millions of fans continue to find rugby maddeningly irresistible and endlessly compelling. This book is for them, and for anyone else wondering where the appeal lies.