Young bucks may need an old school bollocking
Apparently the worst thing any New Zealand coach can be in professional rugby these days is “old school”.
It’s a near certain career killer for any coach who allows the perception to fester among their players that they may be antiquated; not down with it.
Generation Y players can be unforgiving, unaccepting and resistant to any methods they don’t like and they won’t take an “old school” coach seriously.
And to some extent, Gen Y players are holding the mostly Gen X coaching fraternity to ransom.
They are a generation which has come through a collaborative education system where it’s all positive feedback and feet forward. They have only ever known instant gratification in a digital age and the concept of an apprenticeship, of grafting in the background waiting for an opportunity, is alien. Most young players come into Super Rugby expecting they will play sooner rather than later and they won’t hang around for long if they don’t.
So the worrying thing for coaches is that it is not difficult to be branded old school because most of what they know — and are naturally inclined towards doing — would instantly be rejected by their players.
Things such as a good oldfashioned bollocking are off the menu. It’s not okay either for a coach to make public criticisms of the team after they play poorly.
And an emerging youngster can’t be told to be patient, to keep training the house down, and wait as long as needs be, for their chance to play because there are senior players ahead of them in the pecking order.
Given the results New Zealand’s teams have enjoyed in Super Rugby, there is plenty to be said for the modern culture.
But last weekend, there was a contrasting tale of two dressing rooms, where “old school” triumphed and showed that there is still a place for direct, unflattering tell-it-like-it-is honesty and to hell with anyone’s feelings.
This much became apparent when there was loud music booming out of the Jaguares dressing room after their historic victory against the Blues at Eden Park. There was plenty of singing and whooping, too, and the mood was quite obviously celebratory.
Their coach, Mario Ledesma, a rugged and tough hooker who played almost 20 years in the French top league and who is now in his mid-40s, made reference to his discomfort at what was going on in there.
It was okay tonight he said because they had won, but the fact the players were doing it all the time, regardless of outcome, was going to have to end he said.
Losers shouldn’t be singing and dancing was the message. He also talked about his concern that during the first half he felt his players were scared to win. That they lacked the belief they were good enough.
At what point in the game did that change he was asked. “When I abused them at halftime,” he replied.
There is much about the current way of doing things in New Zealand which is to be admired and celebrated and no one should be thinking that turning back the clock to introduce “old school” practices would be helpful.
But there should still be licence for coaches of an older generation to bring the odd bit of yesteryear into the dressing room. There should still be a time and a place for the stick to be used instead of the carrot.
That would at least open the door to some coaches feeling they could be a little more “old school” and inject greater honesty and
integrity.