The Battle cover art

The Battle

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

The Battle

By: Paul O'Connell
Narrated by: John Cormack
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $26.99

Buy Now for $26.99

About this listen

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of The Battle by Paul O'Connell, read by John Cormack.

There has never been a rugby player quite like Paul O'Connell. His name is synonymous with passion, heart and determination. But he is also the thinking man's rugby player, a legendary student of the game.

As the heartbeat of Munster, British and Irish Lions captain in 2009, and captain of the first Ireland team to retain the Six Nations championship, O'Connell became the most beloved and respected of the golden generation of Irish rugby players - and was widely regarded as one of the very best players in the world. There was nothing inevitable - or even likely - about any of this, and in an autobiography as intense and thoughtful as its author, O'Connell explores the forces and struggles that turned him into the player and leader that he became. The Battle is a book for everyone who wants to understand the roots of achievement and the inner world of an elite sportsman. It will take its place alongside the very finest sports books of recent years.

 Rugby Sports Heartfelt

Critic Reviews

The years of O'Connell and O'Driscoll were as close to a golden age as ever Ireland will get and O'Connell's book tells you how it all happened ... It should be mandatory for every Irish squad member to read O'Connell's book to better understand what it takes to make a team (David Walsh)
The intense physicality of his rugby upbringing is an abiding theme ... along with humour, the craic and an extensive knowledge of how teams work (Paul Hayward)
I found The Battle entrancing (Stephen Jones)
Excellent ... [an] eye-opening account of the never-ending battles he fought
Fascinating ... the recollections of life with the British and Irish touring team leap out as highlights
A fascinating insight into what has driven him and how his approach to the game changed over time. The inner tensions of possibly the most intense competitor of his generation are laid bare in The Battle. (Shane Horgan)
Revelatory ... Unflinchingly charts his personal evolution ... He is not at all easy on himself (Keith Duggan)
It is pure O'Connell ... Players and coaches from all sports will have the pencil out, finding nuggets (Kieran Shannon)
Absorbing and compelling ... The O'Connell who dominates this book is the one who becomes fixated on the mentality of champions (Diarmaid Ferriter)
O'Connell has emptied the tank here. ... What has come out ... is a psychological profile that is almost shocking at times in what it reveals about the bloody single-mindedness of the competitive gene
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.