This Sporting Life

This Sporting Life is a 1960 novel by English author David Storey. It is Storey's best-known work and tells the story of a professional rugby player and his affair with his widowed landlady. The novel was adapted into a 1963 film of the same name, for which Storey also wrote the screenplay. The film, directed by Lindsay Anderson, is considered a classic of British social realist cinema and features Richard Harris in his first starring role as the protagonist, Frank Machin. The rugby scenes in the film are noted for their realism and brutality, reflecting the sport and Storey's own background as a former professional rugby player.12