Landing on My Feet: A deeply personal memoir

by Mike Catt (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $3.25

  On 20 October 2007, Mike Catt MBE made history by becoming the oldest player to appear in a World Cup Final. It was also to be his last game for England in an international career stretching back 14 years in which he was awarded 75 caps. The occasion, England against South Africa completed an extraordinary renaissance for the then 36-year-old whose international career had appeared to be over after he helped England win the 2003 World Cup in Australia. Earlier in 2007 he was not only recalled but appointed captain by head coach Brian Ashton. For a player famously run over by Jonah Lomu in the 1995 World Cup, it was a remarkable comeback. In LANDING ON MY FEET Catt gives unprecedented access to his personal highs and lows and takes a look at the glorious highlights and the difficult setbacks of his professional career. LANDING ON MY FEET is a refreshingly honest and personal story of fourteen years at the top of international and club rugby, from one of the most distinguished and respected players in the game.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2007

  $3.25

  Having earned his first cap in 1994, Mike Catt is one of England's longest serving rugby internationals. His longevity is due largely to his being one of the best thinkers in the game, a quality which has earned him universal respect from colleagues and critics alike. Although one of his earliest experiences with England was as part of the team mown down by Jonah Lomu, Catt born and bred in South Africa but the son of an English mother is most famous for kicking the ball into touch to signal the end of that unforgettable World Cup final win over Australia in 2003. His appearance as a half-time substitute in the quarter-final against Wales kept England in the tournament. He has been dropped and re-selected by England more times than he can remember during the course of a 67-cap career which he is determined to add to. He has been in an England side booed by fans at Twickenham but more memorably he has received their eternal thanks for coming to their side's rescue, that unforgettable night in Brisbane. From Lomu to World Cup glory, it has been quite a journey, and its far from over yet. Mike Catt's story is unusually revealing and thought-provoking, allowing a fascinating insight into the legendary era of Will Carling's captaincy, and on a more personal note he talks about growing up in apartheid South Africa, about meeting his wife, and, despite a traumatic birth and first few months, the joy of having his daughter Evie.