Blood & Mud at TAC by Richard Pinkerton

Tucker Pyles' part-time job at the Barbwyn Rest Home is hanging by a thread. His latest money-making scheme, smuggling contraband to residents, spirals out of control when one of them dies as a result.

There's a high school rugby tournament happening in Auckland, New Zealand with Rex Cassidy and his buddies in the boys' 1st XV. However, there are forces in place to ensure Rex and his teammates fail.

Vaughan Hearne, stuck on the reserves bench, is fighting a different battle. His past involvement with gambling resurfaces when two figures from those days reappear, demanding repayment of an old debt. With pressure closing in from all sides, Vaughan must decide how far he is willing to go to make the problem disappear.