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  • Fringes

  • Life on the Edge of Professional Rugby
  • By: Ben Mercer
  • Narrated by: Ben Mercer
  • Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (35 ratings)
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Fringes cover art

Fringes

By: Ben Mercer
Narrated by: Ben Mercer
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Summary

Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Prize 2020

Sports books tend to detail extraordinary achievements, triumphs against the odds, or commemorate World Cup winning captains. 

This book does not do that.     

For many, playing professional sport is the Dream Job. Few manage it, very few make it to the top and for the rest, life is very different. This is their story. In Fringes, Ben Mercer invites you to witness life at the outer edges of professional rugby.     

This is a first hand account of what life is like as a journeyman professional athlete. You play, but to the wider public you don't exist. You earn but you don't drive a flash car. You sometimes pack out a stadium but sometimes, you play in a deserted park. This is the story for the majority of sports professionals. Only the minority taste the top, only one person gets to lift the cup or win the medal, only 15 get to play for England at any one time. For the rest, that’s not the case.     

Ben Mercer is a former professional rugby player who, after becoming disillusioned and uninspired plying his trade in the English Second Division, accepted an offer out of the blue to go to France and do something different - help an amateur team turn professional. This is a first hand account of what life is like in the lower reaches of professional sport - where your employment status is as precarious as your health and barely anyone will know your name.     

It's about how it feels to live year to year, with teammates constantly on the move. It's about how professionalism irreversibly changes the French club Stade Rouennais as they move up the divisions, about the tension between progress and identity in a rugby team. It's also about how it feels to actually be out there on the field, how it feels to occasionally do something extraordinary and how it feels when this is no longer enough for you to make the sacrifices that you need to make to keep playing.     

There's no ghostwriting - it's an unmitigated meditation on how it feels and what it means to play rugby for a living, to dedicate yourself to an uncompromising but occasionally beautiful game. 

If you've wanted to know what life is really like as a professional athlete, on the Fringes, away from the glitz and glamour of the international game then look no further. 

©2019 Ben Mercer (P)2021 Ben Mercer

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great insight into the lesser seen lower leagues of sporting endeavour

Very interesting, often side splitting and sometimes terrifying insight into the trials,tribulations and fancy dresses of pro rugby , recommend for any sports fan

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

So close and yet so far

What could have been a very interesting read about life as professional rugby player at the lower levels was difficult to listen to. While it's narrated by the author, he still fumbles over the lines and his arragence in his own abilities on and off the field become quite grating.

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  • 31-07-23

Great companion during my long walks

Fringes is a part-biography, part-explanation of what rugby is and what it means to be a rugby player at that level. The author, Ben Mercer, talks about his own experiences as a rugby player, but he also explains the rules of the game and what it's like to be on a team.
The story focuses on the underdog, and is explained from the POV of a rugby player whom is freshly new in France and who’s just joined a team at a lower league. Which is very interesting.

As someone who is not familiar with rugby, I was able to visualize the games in my mind. I truly enjoyed listening to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author. He does a great job of explaining the details of the game in a clear and engaging way.

I like to listen to biography audiobooks when I'm on the go, and I found Ben Mercer's audiobook to be a great companion during my long walks.

It is very impressive that Ben Mercer self-published and narrated his first book. It's not an easy thing to do, and he has done a fantastic job. I'm excited to see what he does next.



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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Part travel book part A-Level project

Honestly wanted to love this, but it’s just forgettable. Disjointed and not helped by the performance. There are better travel books and better rugby tales outside the top flight on modern rugby (Martin Bayfield recent book springs to mind).

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    5 out of 5 stars
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A Great Listen

As someone who doesn’t keep up with rugby, this book was a really interesting insight which I really enjoyed and I especially loved the narration which was done by the own author.

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Really good listen.

Really quite enjoyed this trip through the lower divisions of French rugby over three seasons. Definitely worth a listen if your a rugby fan and like the fact it’s read by the author.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

not what I had hoped

was a bigged up book. honestly good if you have never worked or played in rugby

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Highly Recommended

This is a fantastic book which I really enjoyed. I have read/listened to many books from international players/coaches, all of which have been very good, but this offers something completely different. Raw & insightful, anyone who follows rugby will enjoy this book. I finished the book within a week and highly recommend it.

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A Rugby Pro

A great insight into professional rugby. Ben is insightful, charming and very knowledgeable. Definitely worth a listen! 5*

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