Fifteen years on since it was first published, Old Heroes is regarded by many as a classic in the annals of New Zealand sports publishing. Some critics, in fact, regard the book as the finest sports book ever published in New Zealand.2006 marks 50 years, since the mighty Springboks suffered their first series defeat at the hands of the All Blacks. In Old Heroes (first published in 1991) Warwick Roger sets out to discover what it was that made 1956 so special, for himself, and for the country. Through his own recollections of '56 - his eleventh year - and those of his contemporaries, older fans sports commentators and the 'old heroes' - the players on both sides - he compiles a vivid profile of a unique time in New Zealand's social history. Above all, it was a time when sport - particularly rugby - was the chief diversion and New Zealand displayed its national cohesion nowhere more clearly than in its determination to beat the Springboks. The sporting heroes - Jones, van Vollenhoven, Clarke, Viviers, Jarden, Rosenberg, Hemi.. From a rich kaleidoscope of impressions Old Heroes distils a powerful and haunting spirit that brings a country's identity, then and now, into sharp focus.