The last amateurs

'If we win today, for the rest of our lives we'll be blood brothers. Nobody can do it for us. We are the twenty-two players who can go out there and create history.'  Stuart Duncan In 1999, Ulster - whose squad included builders, students and lorry drivers, as well as professional players - overcame the odds to become the first Irish champions of Europe.  The Last Amateurs tells the story of how the team went, in just fourteen months, to a record-breaking 56-3 defeat to Wasps, to victories over French giants Toulouse and Stade Français to secure their place in Irish history. Based on interviews with all the key members of the squad - including David Humphreys, Mark McCall, Simon Mason and Andy Ward - the book tells for the first time the remarkable story of the players and the team, and of the turbulent campaign that led to them being crowned kings of Europe.