Will Greenwood Woodward taught us all to buy into hard graft with the ‘Church of Pain’
Hin second of my columns on rugby’s lessons for life, I explore the importance of control – and how to seize it
Don’t believe in ‘luck’
“Remove luck” was written large on laminated A2-size paper in our team meeting room with Sir Clive Woodward’s England.
In every walk of life, there are dynamics and external factors that you do not get to choose – things that are not your fault, but are your problem.
It is just wasted energy to try to control them. You cannot. But you can prepare for them.
Rugby has three big ones: the weather, the referee, and injuries. We wanted to acknowledge that these factors existed, and work at our own “in-game protocols” so that we were prepared for any type of eventuality, thereby removing luck.
On World Cup final night in 2003, two of these factors came into play: the weather was shocking, and the referee took a dislike to our dominant scrum. Through working on our game, trusting proven systems and protocols, we found a way to be ahead when it mattered.
The lesson seems to be: take a moment to think through the things that you can control, and put your effort and resources there. Control your controllables, because everything else is just “stuff ”.
Freedom in a framework
Independent learning is very much the vogue at the moment. Teachers and coaches try to create a framework and then let the students explore and play. I worked with some amazing coaches in my career, and I always responded best to the ones who left the space and room for us players to really express ourselves.
A coach who prescribes in too detailed a manner what he or she wants from their players will be limiting their performance potential. Richie Mo’unga tells a great story about his first few Tests for New Zealand at fly-half. He was so scared of failing that he was doing a thing he had never done before in his life – he was playing by numbers, almost robotically. He was completely neglecting his superstrength – the ability to play what is in front of him.
The good coach sets goals, establishes the key principles and standards, then lets the players complete the circle.
Go to some dark places
If you can get comfortable feeling uncomfortable then you will be ready for anything. Way before Eddie Jones and this England team had the six-star gym at Pennyhill Park, Woodward’s team had The Church of Pain, a marquee on the side of the pitch with instruments of torture in it. We had weights and various aerobic machines, including the Concept 2 Rower.
The memory I have is of teams of three, doing 40 minutes on a rolling clock on the rower. Only one can row at a time, he blasts out, jumps off and rests, the next chap jumps on and has his straps tightened by the third and you rotate in order.
I was teamed up with Lawrence Dallaglio and Dorian West. Up and down the line three more England squad members were all taking themselves to a very dark place.
Did our exact rowing times matter? No. Did our collective work ethic matter? Absolutely. We were “all in”. If you all know you have done the work, then you all know that the clock can go to extra, extra time and you will still all have enough to get the job done.
Build your basics and embrace the chaos
This is the bit that my 11-year-old struggles with. Lots of people have the will to win, but do they have the will to prepare to win? Can
they commit the time and energy to their own basic skills? When you are confident that your basic skills will hold up under the most extreme pressure, you are much more likely to give something a go.
Without the graft, the flair can rarely show its head. It was in 2017 when I watched England train at Brighton College that I was struck by how Jones kept changing the context for his players. He would change the dimensions of the pitch, the number of players in attack, in defence, the time allowed to score, the phases.
Jones knew that if he could create chaos for his players in training, they would be much more able to cope on game day.
The power of positive thinking
Charlie Mackesy has been a huge lockdown sensation and I often refer to his book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. One of my favourite parts is this: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” asks the mole. “Kind,” said the boy. We all have the power to make people feel bigger or smaller. It is a choice. Positive energy is the oxygen of a high-performing team – it is the petrol you put in the tank.
There is a limit, of course. We can sometimes stretch positivity to spin, and that will get called out. The night before a famous Test match with New Zealand, Woodward put both teams up on a flip chart and said with fire in his eyes: “There’s not one of that lot I’d rather have in our team.”
To break the tension, one of the boys piped up: “If we were honest Clive, we wouldn’t mind swapping Jonah Lomu for Austin Healey!”