The lives of every rugby union player who died in the First World War will be honoured in a book to be published next year on the 100th anniversary of the conflict.

The book is the brainchild of Silent Witness screenwriter Nigel McCrery, who spent two years researching the stories of the 140 players from nine different teams who lost their lives.

Many of the 1914 England team, who went two years unbeaten before the onset of the war, are featured in the book, while there are also players from Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, USA, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand honoured.

McCrery went through the archives identifying each player from every country that fought in the war before going on to research which battles they were involved in and what fate befell them.

In addition to those who died in WW1, he found players who survived and went on to fight again in the Second World War, as well as some who succumbed to disease or committed suicide due to the traumas of war.

The tributes will be made in 'Into Touch: Rugby Internationals Killed in the Great War', which is due to be released in early 2014.