In the thick of the scrum: lessons in teamship from the Rugby World Cup

Tue 27 Sep, 2011 5:40

Will Brown Sales Director at ansarada

This month, the seventh Rugby World Cup beamed around the globe from the tournament's inaugural host country, New Zealand. The opening game marks the start of six weeks, on-field battle between 20 nations, all competing for the prized William Webb Ellis Cup.

As a proud Englishman and ardent rugby fan I have, rather optimistically, taken the liberty of penciling 'England v's TBC' in my diary for the final match on 23rd October; a classic case of heart ruling head.

Being English, I also have a tea cup emblazoned "I'd rather be watching England". It should say, as any objective rugby fan will agree, "I'd rather be watching France", who have the ability to navigate an international test match with a beguiling combination of éclat, indifference and brute force. In avoidance of becoming a pragmatist though, I plan on continuing to cling firmly to my delusional roots.

Sadly, my boyhood dream of dominating the rugby field, kicking the winning drop-goal in a World Cup Final and perhaps even taking down a certain Mr. Jonah Lomu, all of course with effortless aplomb, were swiftly squashed when, at the age of 14, it occurred to me one cold, wet Saturday afternoon that I preferred sitting in the stands to having a lesson from the bigger boys in how to inflict pain.

Aside from the physical attributes that the gentleman's game so readily demands, I have always been fascinated by the discipline, teamwork and mutual respect each player has for another; both on and off the field.

During Sir Clive Woodward's tenure as the World Cup winning Coach of England, he introduced a code of behavior called the "teamship rules" which embodied these qualities perfectly. It included, for example, a pledge that everyone should arrive for every meeting 10 minutes early, out of respect for one another.

Martin Johnson, former England Captain and now Coach, noted "I was in the England team 6-7 years and that's a heck of a lot of meetings". "In all those years, over hundreds or maybe thousands of meetings, I can only remember three of four occasions when someone was late." Woodward turned the idea of "teamship" into an honor system. Ultimately, Johnson said, "we weren't doing it because it was in the rule book.... It was us saying to the rest of the team: 'You can rely on me'".

Woodward reinforced the point at the beginning of the 2003 World Cup campaign by producing a leather-bound copy of the teamship rules for each player, with their name embossed on the front cover. Johnson added "when you get to a big tournament you can't fake it. You can't walk into a room with 14 guys and tell them to believe in themselves... they're either living it every day or they're not, they either believe in themselves or they don't"."Trust is the most important factor in the success of any team. Every member has to be able to trust every other member, or peak performance will not be realised. And if, as a captain, you can feel confident in the leadership skills of your senior players then all the better".

In the World Cup Final, when Australia leveled the scores with 90 seconds to go, Johnson said he and his men didn't panic or lose heart, but simply focused on "controlling the controllables". "When I got back to the huddle, I looked around the core of our team and I knew we were going to win," he said. "There was no big talk; I just looked at their body language: there were no chins on chests... It was the simplest two minutes of my rugby life. I didn't have to think about whether guys were doubting themselves or doubting the team. We all trusted each other."

The same philosophy can also of course be applied to any team, whether on the rugby field or in an office. Live your objectives every day, trust your team and believe in yourself. Control the controllables and dig deep collectively when the unexpected happens.

As in business, the rugby world cup will be won by a squad of wholly inter-dependent players, supported by a host of professionals. It won't be one player, not even the captain. It won't be the coach, and it won't be the fitness advisor. It will be the best team. A team of generalists and specialists; a team that recognise that every member is, at any given time, the leader. A team that comes in all shapes and sizes and one that most importantly, respect and complement each other's skills.

Not everyone, of course, agrees. And so the final word must surely go to the New Zealand schoolgirl who, in 1995 wrote to the All Blacks and said "I want each of you to remember that rugby is a team game. And that means all 14 of you passing the ball to Jonah Lomu".