The Irish Times praised it, saying "This is sharp satire that manages the difficult trick of creating characters we care about. It is a very funny book, often hilarious, providing storylines that mostly keep the page-turning going. Yet it has a genuine heart of darkness hidden beneath the layers of craic, great gags, great storytelling and human warmth. In this way, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly is Ireland."[6]
Anne Gildea, also in The Irish Times, wrote that "I’m in love with the latest Ross O’Carroll-Kelly – Game of Throw-ins. The passage where Ross is confused, mid-match, about the line-out codes the captain has assigned is one of the funniest things I’ve come across in print."[7]
The Irish Independent's Tanya Sweeney wrote that "the entertaining fun of this SoCoDu satire has clearly yet to wane."
Trinity College Dublin's tn2 Magazine awarded it 3/5, saying that it was "not the best title in the series, but it’s a solid entry nonetheless. The overarching themes of time, change and broken families are balanced perfectly against the hilarious antics of Ross and his lunatic family."[8]
Game of Throw-ins was nominated for Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the 2016 Irish Book Awards.[9][10][11]
It was the third-bestselling book at WH Smith in Ireland for 2016.[12][13] It sold 23,997 copies in 2016 overall.[14]
