Crossing The Line

Irish rugby has produced many charismatic figures over its history.

None morethan Willie Anderson. Immortalised for his defiant stance in the face of the AllBlacks’ Haka, the Ulsterman is notorious also for his time spent locked up by themilitary junta in Argentina for a prank gone wrong.

But there is more to WillieAnderson than newspaper headlines.

Crossing The Line is the story of a lifechallenged by sectarianism, alcohol addiction, and personal tragedy.

It is thestory of a triumph over adversity. Anderson is unique in his range of experience across Irish rugby.

During his threemonths in custody in Buenos Aires, between remand and house arrest, he kept adiary, including the love letters written to the woman he would marry, HeatherBuckley.

Almost a decade later he earned further notoriety when, as Irelandcaptain, he marched into the middle of the All Blacks’ Haka in Lansdowne Road,prompting the International Rugby Board to put in place a protocol around thatpiece of theatre. Anderson describes how alcohol was a factor in his life from his teenage years,taking control of him by the time his coaching career was in full flow.

Whenrugby went professional his coaching talents were sought by London Irish,Leinster and Scotland – but the head coach role in Ulster, the job he wantedmost, never came his way. His lowest point came with the accidental death in a road accident of aneighbour’s child.

Although exonerated of any blame in the tragedy it tookits toll on him and how he lived.

Willie is the father of JW Anderson, a uniquelysuccessful figure in the fashion world.

He still lives in Northern Ireland, stillcoaches rugby, and is still married to the woman he credits with savinghis sanity.