The intrigue of a Derby

This Saturday sees one of the most famed schoolboy derbies in the country take place in the country town of Paarl. Last year I made my first trip to the Faure Street stadium to take it all in and was absolutely blown away by the occasion. The match itself being the climax of an entire week’s worth of celebrations. Special assemblies, old boys’ gatherings and numerous other rituals add to a week of camaraderie, emotion and much more. For 30 boys however, there is a job to be done, and that is to take home the most prized spoils (for their school) of an Interschools win. Where the intrigue comes I believe, is in what does it really take to win these big games?

In a conversation with a respected rugby coach on Saturday, he claimed that the form side always wins these games, and perhaps statistically this is the case, but I’m not 100% convinced. The nature of the game is that it creates a lot of talk and hype, which in turn puts extra pressure on the players and coaches. One of the best ways to offset pressure is belief in your ability as a team, and therefore when a team is doing well, it is likely that their self-belief is high and thus best set to cope with the pressure of the big game, enabling more wins. What I’m saying then is that belief is perhaps more important than form. It really all depends which way you look at it. A team who may not be in top form, may still find ways still to have a high level of self belief and thus the form issue becomes less important.
Another generally accepted theory is that the team who wants it more will win. Now this may be the case in some ways, but I have yet to find many teams who cannot motivate themselves for the big game. I believe however, the team who has attached more meaning to the win, or to their season as a whole will be the team who may show the better mindset for the game. They will have discussed the importance of the game, what it means to them personally to win, and all members will have a similar idea of why they want to win and how they will do so. A purpose for a sports team, and attaching meaning to that purpose is one of the first things I would do with any team, as if this base is set clearly, motivation problems rarely exist.
So it will be interesting to see which team shows the greater belief and desire but also which team is able to play for the full game at their optimal levels. Will one of the team’s have tired themselves out in all the build-up, will they find the pressure a little too great to handle or will they put more focus onto the opponents and forget about their own game? We as spectators are just not sure in a big derby which team will be able to hit their straps the best, as the variables are always greater, as mentioned above, but that’s what makes these fixtures so intriguing.
Good luck to both sides, but I’ll be in Blue on Saturday.

The TEAMS won!

The World Cup really showed to be a great spectacle. Great fun, and superb to see some of the best athletes in the world in our back garden.

What fascinated me was to see that the teams who really did well, were the ones who truly were teams. The Uruguayans, for all their failings looked a spirited and united bunch. Both finalists showed throughout that they played together and for each other, having loads of fun whilst doing so. And then the Germans, who were so well-drilled, asked to play out of position sometimes, positive yet humble in the press, and exceptionally enthusiastic, showing us all that the German pragmatism does not interfere with entertainment.

The teams with the coach-blasters, France, Portugal and England all perished early, whilst others did not just have the will-power or skill to crack it at the top. All in all a great lesson was learnt in that the teams who over-achieved were those that were a team, whilst the under-achievers in relation to their talent, went home early to think about next time!

Backs to the Wall is Best?

An extremely disappointing Bok test match started my weekend off with a whimper and left me pondering just what went wrong? Fatigue, jet-lag, lack of preparation time etc all crossed through my mind. The very first thing most people point to when looking for reasons for defeat is lack of motivation or a poor coach. Now I do not subscribe to those as a first resort as I often think there are far more pertinent reasons for defeat in many cases. What interested me, however is that in at least 4 player interviews in the aftermath of the game, the players cited that they had not turned up mentally for the game. None more so than John Smit, who looked and sounded disgusted with Saturday’s loss. This led me to think, what could have been these mental issues on Saturday.

During the week I worked with a top local school’s rugby sides, in what I thought were some excellent sessions, in getting them to think a little about what they had to do in the weeks ahead to achieve their success, by thinking about what they had done in the past to find success. Something that sprung to me is that often when teams are the underdog, or feel they have a point to prove, they possess the greater motivation and perhaps give more. This underdog status is one that is sought by many teams as it takes pressure to perform off, as there is always an excuse that the better side won should they lose, and it creates a strong external motivator of “let’s show others how good we can be”. This is not a bad thing at all and coaches can use this as something to really fire up his troops. With the pressure off and the goal of showing people to be wrong, teams can develop a strong bond and will to succeed.

However, what happens when you are not the underdog, or have little to prove, but rather just the prize of remaining favourites and the ‘top’ side status to gain? Suddenly the pressure mounts as you are now EXPECTED to do well rather than have people hope that you do well. You have also proved all that you needed to prove, and now instead of having to prove to others (external motivation), you rely on proving to yourselves how good you are (an internal motivator) or chasing an even greater success as your primary motivation. This can sometimes be quite tough for teams, as the challenge is not as easily evident, and perhaps it doesn’t sit as easily with them due to their cultural upbringing. I believe if trained properly this can become an even stronger and deep-seated motivator. In the book, the Art of Possibilty, author Ben Zander believes very much in ‘giving people an A’ first and facilitating the path from good to even better, rather than creating undue pressure by working off a zero-base of achievement. Doing this for teams and players could be so valuable.

I believe the key here is to get teams and individuals to truly find out what motivates them, and to acknowledge that both internal and external motivation comes into play in different situations for different teams and individuals. People need to be aware of how they are motivated, as do teams. I would not want to make a definite statement as to why the Boks lost on Saturday, but I truly believe that we as a country sometimes get trapped into thriving on the underdog status, and will to retreat into our laager and “let’s ‘show them” mentality as a first port of call. This leaves the favourites and ‘little to prove’ perch as foreign, scary and not nearly as exciting. I’d be interested to hear any thoughts?

All the best to all schools and club coaches and players with the 2nd half of the season, long may the game where feigning injury and screaming at referees is frowned upon, continue!!

This clown is back!

I don't like to focus on sporting non-excellence. But the man who butchered our national anthem in France last year is back with his new reggae version of Nkosi Sikele. Please give this horror a listen for a laugh!

You Gotta put in the hours!!

I went to a press conference yesterday with the coach, captain and chairman of Ajax Cape Town football club. They were asked what it would take to get more local players into the big European leagues. Straight away they said that all of their players were keen to make the step up, but that this was going to require far more hard work to be put in to get up to the required level. They felt that perhaps the work ethic was not quite there to match their ‘desire’. This got me thinking about how often we hear people in sport, as well as in business talking about how hard work eventually pays off. Now don’t get me wrong, not everyone who works hard will be successful, but very few people who don’t work hard ARE successful. Interview after interview, and biography after biography talk about how hard people have worked for their success, yet it seems that not everyone takes that advice and does the same themselves.

Jonny and Becks


My view on hard work is that it gives you two vital attributes. Firstly, it gives you the increased skill, fitness, strength levels that are required in your specific field. Muscle memory improves and bodies become more susceptible to the demands of the game. Secondly, and I believe even more importantly, through increased practice, comes increased confidence. I have spoken before about how confidence stems from past positive results, as well as from preparation (which if perceived well results in feeling of readiness). There is the view that attitude determines how you prepare, and how you prepare then determines how confident you are, which then determines how well you play. Through this increased hard work that is put in, self-perception and inner dialogue becomes better and more positive. This internal dialogue reinforcing how much work you have put in and how much it will help you will begin to result in confidence. This dialogue will often only take place once you have put in those hard yards! I don’t even need to say how much confidence plays a role in performance, as everyone knows that feeling relaxed, free of fear and ready for the task at hand will improve performance.

I look at people like Morne Steyn and Jonny Wilkinson in rugby, they have been known to be the first at practice and the last to leave. Vijay Singh, a top golfer has still managed to stay at the top of his game for a long period of time due to his propensity for hours on the practice range. Tiger Woods too has been known to spend hours in the gym to get an extra edge. Even Ronaldo and Beckham, people whom you may perceive as being super-talented have been known to be some of the hardest workers on their games. They have honed their skills as best possible, but have also built up a resilience and confidence in their own games due to the knowledge that the hours put in will pay off for them when it counts. In rugby, I always say it is important to be the fittest side, but what is more important is that you know that you are the fittest side so when the game gets tight, you have a confidence in your fitness as a result of the hard work you have put in, which could result in the excellent results you desire.

Hard work therefore cannot be shirked as it is plain to see how important it is in both the skills and attributes gained physically, but also in its immense value mentally. The confidence from hard work will also only transpire if the individual is comfortable with the work they have put in and backs that up with positive dialogue. What must exist for this though- is self-motivation to put the work in. But that’s another story for another day!!

A tired lesson from the World Cup

An issue that I would like to talk about, is player’s mental fatigue. We, in rugby, often talk about player fatigue, and I personally subscribe to Tim Noakes’ views on resting top players. Now in soccer, these guys play even more games in a year. Let’s take your top premiership player at a club like Chelsea – 38 league games, 10 European games, 6 FA cup games, 5 league cup games, 10 internationals and a few pre-season friendlies, that is a huge amount of soccer played. Physically elite athletes are pushed to their limits and this is where most of the focus lies from the general public.

With conditioning being as good as it is, I believe these guys’ bodies can handle the strain for quite some time. However, where I think they can battle is with mental fatigue. Steven Pienaar was complaining about it and it showed in his performances. I believe there is no hard and fast rule as to when a player will tire mentally. This will have a lot to do with his physical fitness, his internal motivation, his team’s performances and many more factors. For this reason, each case needs to be taken individually. But what is true is that although these guys earn the top dollar they are very likely to experience mental fatigue at some stage. This World Cup has shown up some teams to be very fatigued, and the effects of this fatigue are more evident within the teams that perhaps are having other problems in team morale (France and England are great examples). What we see is the glamour and glory of sport, but often we do not see the endless monotony of hotel rooms, airports and training grounds that can all be very draining. Mental fatigue is an issue that needs to be addressed and not dismissed. To raise oneself for big game after big game is a major challenge, and I truly believe that mental fatigue is something that is not properly addressed at all levels of sport. A coach, captain and staff need to ensure that proper stimulation is kept up and the needs of the players seen to. Bafana Bafana even are beginning to show signs of disharmony and this may have just as much to do with fatigue as it does to the pressure they are under. Fatigue is not a bad thing or something unacceptable, but something that is real and will often be the greatest enemy of success.

In this World Cup we have seen upsets a plenty, as it appears that the big sides, all with players that have been pushed to the max throughout the season, are tiring not only in the legs but in the mind. The pressure that is created through sport can begin to drain a player and if proper management of a player’s psyche is not done, mental fatigue can set in. Players also need to be schooled in being able to manage their thought processes so that they can switch on and off at the appropriate times and allow themselves ‘rest’ time. I think we are going to see more and more reference to tiredness in the World Cup, but we will also hear all sorts of other excuses thrown around about reasons for losses in the coming weeks. We will hear lots of people bemoan the fact that these players are citing fatigue and see it at as ridiculous, but the truth is, fatigue is out and open and plain for all to see.

Soccer Passion

For starters, I would like to say that I am just loving this atmosphere. It has become fashionable to be patriotic, and although as a country we still perhaps (and sometimes rightly so) belittle our national football side these past two weeks have shown patriotism at its best. I watched the Bafana game on Wednesday in the company of 2000 people, probably 90% of them white, and witnessed scenes that are rarely seen in this country, with respect to the rugby fraternity. Huge amounts of patriotism, a sea of yellow, face paint, vuvuzelas, flags and anything else people could manufacture in our rainbow flag colours. Then on Friday, a sea of white and red as the passionate English descended onto the fair Cape, with gusto. Soccer has many failings, I know of a few schools in England that don’t allow soccer because their boys begin to act differently when they play it and their values go out the window so to speak, but what it really does do, is bring out huge passion and support. So all in all, how great it has been to have the World in South Africa. Let’s hope this tournament acts as a catalyst for soccer excellence in South Africa.