The
Sports Psychology Blog
This Sports Psychology blog comes after the rugby World Cup Final.
Rugby: England - The Small Details
Coming into the World Cup final, England had started to get the scent again. The scent of being World Champions. In 2003, it took four years of planning, organising, orchestrating. Small detail upon small detail. Everything that could impact upon performance was analysed and refined by Sir Clive Woodward. Both on and off the field.
In 2007, the England team came together in two significant matches. The Australia and France games reconnected the team to their core values. In the end though, it simply wasn't enough. English valour, courage, will and desire was undermined in three key moments.
Firstly a moment of indecision, when, early on, Matthew Tait changed his mind in front of his posts and conceded a penalty. Then when Lewis Moody tripped Butch James in a moment of indiscipline. Thirdly, after Matthew Tait sliced open the South African defence, only for England to lack the ruthlessness to make good the opening. Indecision. Indiscipline. Lack of ruthlessness. The thin margin between success and failure.
If England had been better prepared in their planning for the World Cup, then there is every chance these negative influences would not have impacted on performance. Negative influences that can grow through habits and patterns built off the pitch as much as on it. Indecision; indiscipline; lack of ruthlessness. All traits that could be found in the trace in England's 2003 -7 World Cup journey.
The World Cup final is a mirror that reflects the true state of a team. A place where you cannot hide. Everything you have built in the domain of the team is played out. Both positive and negative influences. The art is to ensure the negative influences don't hurt you. For England, despite giving absolutely everything, they couldn't mask the ultimate truth about their World Cup journey. They were trying to play catch up. Four years work condensed into three games. They nearly did it. But in the end the truth could not be hidden.
