SO RUGBY, WHAT'S THAT?
A GRAND TALE OF ALL THINGS RUGBY
Rugby is a game of contradictions. Run forward, pass backwards, tackle someone but sometimes don't, kick the ball away so you can win it back.
“Offside” can mean six different things, depending on the situation. The game preaches respect and discipline, yet the only place you’d see more minor assaults neatly stitched together is a police report.
It’s a game of linear progress until it isn’t, a sport where randomness is as baked in as the straight lines that mark the pitch.
Not even the ball makes sense.
In this first book of its kind, Squidge Rugby’s Robbie Owen takes you on a deep dive through the ins and outs of the sport. From its dawn to the modern day, discover key players, moments and stories that helped shape the game into the one we know and love today.
From breaking down the breakdown to untangling the scrum, no stone is left unturned in this epic journey which combines trademark Squidge writing and Ferry Gouw’s slick drawings.
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Text : Robbie Owen
Illustrations : Ferry Gouw
Chapters : 12
Pages : 132
Size : 190mm x 260mm
Weight : 850 grams
THE AUTHORS
Robbie Owen
Robbie Owen is a writer, filmmaker and mammal best known for Squidge Rugby.
Raised Welsh in Nottingham, he began posting writing and short films online at the deeply specific age of seven and a half. After launching the channel in 2018, he has somehow gathered over 50 million viewers, despite everything.
Beyond YouTube, Robbie has collaborated with the BBC and ITV.
He’s also had work featured in The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times.
Ferry Gouw
Ferry is an illustrator, art director and filmmaker based in London.
Known worldwide for his work in the music industry, he has collaborated with artists like Paul McCartney and Sean Paul.
Ferry is also the art director and illustrator behind Major Lazer’s albums, having created every visual aspect of the group’s universe.
His collaboration with vroom marks his first experience in the world of sport.
SQUIDGE RUGBY
In 2017, Robbie quit his desk job and created Squidge Rugby, a YouTube channel where he could finally devote himself to his love of rugby… this time from HIS desk.
Armed with mediocre equipment and the recording setup of a minor hostage situation, he began writing and editing videos— unique takes on a sport that had never really seen this kind of coverage. The rugby community connected with it instantly.
Blending deep tactical analysis with chaotic storytelling, the channel attracted both newcomers and die-hard fans, quickly becoming one of the most distinctive voices in the digital rugby realm.
As the fanbase grew, Robbie’s brother Will joined the adventure, turning the operation into a two-man ship.
Today, Robbie and Brother Will (not a Mrs Browns’ Boys character) host a channel with more than 250k subscribers, posting weekly videos watched by rugby fans around the world.
Their mission is simple: take the messy, beautiful nonsense of rugby—the pod shapes, the decoy lines, the backfield chaos—and turn it into stories filled with theories, data, historical trivia nobody requested, and tactical analysis people probably did.
Because to them, every grubber, every scrum collapse, every wildly unnecessary offload deserves a permanent place in rugby’s collective lore.
THE PUBLISHER
Since 2015, vroom has been telling the biggest stories in sport to millions of viewers.
Our heroes? The NBA player who takes off for a dunk like Superman. The boxer built like the Hulk, fighting until there’s nothing left in the tank. The rugby forwards binding together in the scrum, just like the Avengers gearing up to save the world.
We capture those moments and turn them into pop culture milestones.
Stories told by fans, imagined for fans.
