Sharks trying to stay calm under pressure
I’M WRITING this week’s column the morning after watching Cristiano Ronaldo score an incredible late equaliser for my team, Manchester United, in the Champions League.
As a professional sportsperson it’s amazing to see someone like him perform at such a high level well into his 30s.
The other thing that inspires me is his ability to execute his skills under the highest pressure when it really matters. That’s something we’ve been really trying to work on at Sale Sharks and a lot of our mental preparation is about performing and staying calm under pressure – taking the emotion out of the game as much as possible. Cristiano seems like he has mastered that.
That work on the mental side has been really important this week as we prepare for the visit of Northampton Saints to the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday evening. The season hasn’t started the way that we hoped and last weekend’s defeat at Worcester was really disappointing both from a team perspective but also in terms of my personal performance.
Whether we win or lose, our training week is mapped out the same because we trust in our processes and we all believe in what we’re doing. But having said that, Monday was a tough day. We had a really open and honest meeting where we all had our chance to say our piece.
I think that’s really important in a team sport because we needed to put what happened to bed and move on. In a team it can be easy to hide behind other players mistakes, but I can promise you that there’s been none of that.
There were things to learn but we know that performance wasn’t us. The performance wasn’t up to our usual standards and this week has all been about making sure we’re better this weekend.
To be very honest, it probably took me two or three days to get over it but that’s exactly what you have to do. And then we have to use that feeling as motivation to improve, to be disciplined in the way we train and prepare for the Northampton game and beyond.
Being able to park what happened, learn from it and move on is part of the journey that we’re on as a team. There are going to be setbacks along the way and it’s up to us as a group of players and coaches to respond in the right way.
That’s what we’re planning on doing against Northampton. I missed the Harlequins game a couple of weeks ago but the lads were buzzing about the atmosphere in the stadium. There’s something special about Friday night games and that’s all down to the Sharks fans. Hopefully we’ll have more of the same on Saturday because I promise you, it lifts the players.
Personally, the last couple of months have been challenging. I had to miss several games after failing a head injury assessment and it was amazing to get back on the field when we played Leicester.
Now my focus is all on staying fit, performing to the very best of my ability week in, week out for Sale Sharks, and trusting the process.
We know it’s a tight league so it’s really important not to overreact, but I can promise you that everyone at the club is working really hard to put things right. And that starts on Saturday.