Getting right down the business end of the RWC 2019, the semi finalists have been set and I believe some real trends are appearing with both on-field and off-field. I see a real two-sides of the coin; England and New Zealand showing real zest in attack, capitalising on any opportunities and showing variety in attack, using kicks to add pressure as opposed to solely reliving pressure as an example. Wales and South Africa offer a different side; extremely well settled sides, high self-expectations and skill levels around very structured styles, playing towards their strengths. It should make very interesting games next weekend….

Japan was another excellent and welcomed surprise for this RWC; high commitment and passion from extremely fit and well organised group, showing great variability in their attacking ideas throwing out the very structured and rigid expectations of some other Tier 1 nations, my beloved Ireland included. Ireland showed some promise, especially in their first game, yet felt like they had planned thoroughly and executed efficiently vs a known foe in Scotland yet hadn’t set up environments for their players to grow throughout the tournament, seemingly pressure building around their structure of play and attacking ideas as opposed to embracing the challenge of RWC, including the variability of playing styles and differing ethos’ of all playing unions. Looking at this made me ask and consider, how have or how do the leading nations create an environment where they embrace challenge and have desire to continue to grow, learn and apply at the biggest stage of their sport?

Looking again at Japan, the strength of their identity seemingly galvanised their playing ethos, trusting innovative ideas in attack created by coaches Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown, and their playing capabilities to allow varying styles of attack, bucking the common trends of world rugby sides of very structured and constrained ideas, playing to strengths as opposed to attacking and adapting structures based on opportunities offered and ideas or concepts developed throughout the games or tournament. How did Joseph and his coaching staff create this sense of harmony, trust and ultimately fun amongst his playing group? Ideas such as his variation of rock-paper-scissors of which a video has been displayed via social media. After qualifying for their first quarter final, the video from within the Japan camp shows Jamie Joseph and hooker Shota Horie competing in the modified game which involves belting your opponent on the bonce with a plastic hammer while he frantically scrambles to don a helmet as a shield .The most interesting aspect was when the team room erupted when Horie was too slow to plant the helmet on his head and took a mallet to the head from his coach. Bringing this sort of laughter and competition to the environment is vital and they have expertly combined restricted playing time for members of the side, playing mostly in Sunwolves B side all year with culture and identity development for the gruelling home tournament.

Looking at England next, Jones’ has commented after the Australia quarter final:

“We just want to keep challenging ourselves; We haven’t played our best yet and the challenge for us is how do we get better next week, how do we get better individually as a player, how do we get better as a team, and at these World Cups that’s what it’s all about.”

This echos and supports Owen Farrell’s address to the player straight after the game, encouraging them by stating he believed it was a great performance yet encouraging them to grow into the challenge of next week:

“Don’t let it take anything out of you because it was a brilliant performance and it’s coming again next week. It’s coming again and it’s going to be even better. There’s still loads for us to learn from that game but we’re going one up next week.”

Always a personal fan of Eddie Jones’ continual adaption and development as a coach (https://www.coachingthecoaches.net/blog/2017/08/02/eddie-jones-awesome-hotdog-salesman), post their quarter final match versus Australia, he offered a brilliantly candid but poignant message in regards to selections and identification to squad’s roles when asking around dropping of George Ford for the Wallabies clash (https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/video/518092):

“I didn’t drop him...I changed his role.
He was brilliant and am very happy he played his role well.
Start reporting differently and understand rugby’s a 23 man game....come join us!!”

This quote reminds me discussing player engagement in Ireland with GAA coach Brian McIver, current Derry director of football and former Championship winning coach. As opposed to team selections, he discussed how he was challenged by player’s parents to go back to more linear, drill based approaches as “that’s how it’s always been done”. He questioned one of the parents…”what do you do for a living?”…”I install kitchens”…”Do you think you could sell the same style kitchens now as in the 70’s or 80’s or do you have to change to meet your customer’s demands and expectations”…….the point was made and heard.

I have previously talked about how Steve Hansen regularly used constraint-led practices, offering scenarios and game like situations during training for the players to act and react to before handing over the reigns to the playing group towards the end of the week as they come close to match day. Language, actions and expectations all acting as tools to empower the players and continually challenging whilst encouraging them as players to continue to grow, learn and apply at the biggest stage of their sport.

While there is the high expectations and pressure to perform, developing a fun, inclusive but challenging environment bring the best out of players of all capabilities and levels. Ultimately, a coach’s ability to acknowledge and develop positive interpersonal connections, driven by interpersonal skills and united sense of purpose and achievement, can offer solid base for positive relationships and performance atmospheres. However, I wanted to consider more into how have or how do the leading nations create fun, progressive, inclusive environments where they embrace challenge and have desire to continue to grow, learn and apply skills and aptitudes at the biggest stage of their sport?

Reading into the ideas of developing an athlete centred approach within sports environments, I have previously looked into findings from Amanda Visek’s (PhD) work, investigating “fun” as the primary reason for participation in organised sport and its absence as the number one reason for youth sport attrition. She questioned male and female soccer players and investigations found the top four dimensions of fun were Being a Good Sport, Trying Hard, and Positive Coaching and Learning and Improving. The categorised statements were grouped into dimensions as listed and included the following:

Being a good sport: Playing well together as a team, Supporting and being supported by my teammates and Getting help from teammates.
Trying hard: Setting and achieving goals, Being strong and confident, Competing
Positive Coaching: When a coach encourages or treats players with respect, Getting clear, consistent communication from coaches or coach who listens to players and takes their opinions into consideration
Learning and improving: Being challenged to improve and get better at your sport, Learning from mistakes and/or new skills

While this was investigated for an age grade application, I believe all of the leading nations coaches such as Hansen of NZ and Jones of England would offer ideas listed above as common practice yet how does all this tie into practice or learning design and increasing player participation and engagement throughout critical stages such as RWC 2019? For high performance programs, developing expert status requires player’s openness to experience alongside interest and motivation within sport to increase along with proficiency of skills. If coaches within these top nations focus on player involvement as outlined, the development and growth of compassionate and democratic environments through autonomy supportive behaviours, athlete centred practices and more organic view towards development and methods of skill acquisition shall allow athletes to maintain engagement and collectively develop diverse talents, even when experiencing high pressure such as RWC 2019.

Personally, I believe these styles of player-centred and autonomy supportive approaches shall develop greater levels of participation, performance and personal development at elite levels; previous research suggests that both “learning occurs in social groups through ongoing interactions between people” (Vygotsky, 1978) while Getzels and Csikszentmihalyi’s research addressed “creative people are driven by discovery and creation of problems as opposed to superior skills or ability”. All squads have attempted to offer this through Jones’ late arrival for warm-up games to prepare for Japanese storms or traffic issues to Wales’ high temperature and humidity training for physical preparation. Therefore, ideas of coaching practice development, creating a fun, challenging atmosphere where players drive the structure and decisions shall allow coaches such as Gatland or Erasmus to better identify and connect to players, offering guidance and encouragement while assisting players to identify problems as opposed to solving them, offering ideas and assistance for how to think and act as a collaborative group or team opposed to offering solutions, helping them build greater persistence, improved performance and enhanced well-being in a high pressure physical setting such as the Rugby World Cup.

Coming back to Eddie Jones’ comment regarding Ford’s selection, coaches need to acknowledge and recognise the effects of positive, interdependent relationships, which are dynamic and interlinked with cognitions, feelings and behaviours to achieve common recognised goals (Jowett, 2007). Jowett’s research recognises the importance of 3+1 C’s (closeness, commitment, complementary and coordination) (Jowett, 2007) being critical for successful coach-athlete relationships. Jones’ language supported by Farrell’s body language suggests their was a high degree of honesty and reasoning when explaining his perspective for this dynamic and interactive coaching scenario of selection for a critical World Cup game which shall strengthen the squad’s unity and understanding furthermore.

So, how do coaches in high performance atmospheres such as Jones, Hansen, Gatland or Erasmus keep their team players motivated to perform and improve throughout this long tournament? Remembering previous studies showed athletes who perceive coaches to be supportive of decisions, provided with clear feedback concerning goal pursuits and engage with them in genuine and empathetic manner report greater need fulfilment, more self-determined motives and more perceived effort in their sport. Therefore, a collaborative exploration into all sides of rugby shall offer the support required for elite players in testing periods of sporting career whilst allowing coaches to unobtrusively redesign coaching environments based on player’s learning styles, acknowledging various philosophies, outlooks and player identities. This method may impact team cultures and social dynamics less as the approach is physically and emotionally safe for involved athletes whom have clarity and control over their investigative and learning methods with all tasks being meaningful and understood during build up to high pressure scenarios such as RWC semi finals.

This World Cup has highlighted greater than ever the importance of dynamic, collaborative thinking as opposed to top-down, directive measures. As suggested, this focus on empathy and close, meaningful relationships between coaches and players offers meaningful impact and actions by the players. Players drive their own intensity and focus while reflecting on personal and collective performance to allow the coach to offer closeness, support and desired commitment to their relationships through autonomy supportive practices….even if taking a plastic mallet to the head!!

Coaches Blog

Rock, paper, scissors, mallet and helmet: Creating supportive environments throughout the pressure of RWC2019