Psychology plays a key part in rugby’s evolution
As the end of the season nears, it’s usually a time for fans and players to be filled with feelings of anxiety and hope of winning vital games, that either hail success or stave off relegation. But this season is different.
After what has been a difficult time for everyone financially, a strange uncompetitive league, plus too many high scoring games reveals the lack of true competition. Whether that was because of the lack of spectators, a consequence of the eventual ring fence or the fear that the lower wage cap might take players jobs, we will never know.
However, here we are at the end of a season that truthfully, I can’t wait to see the back of, yet with hope that the game can move on and re-start once again.
The RPA young player award winner Freddie Steward this week indirectly shed a little bit of light on the differences in how players are prepared for the game in these professional days in comparison to the past. It seems that now it’s common practise for players to undertake lessons with psychologists to learn how to deal with the pressure that comes with playing in front of a large crowd.
Although I sympathise, I must admit that I never really gave the crowd a thought while out on the pitch because it would have been a distraction. Admittedly, I was a prop at the front of the physical confrontation between the forwards and not a full-back waiting to be brought into the game, so the mental challenges are probably different.
To a certain extent, Steward’s comments have perhaps made me realise the extra mental pressures that all the backs face while waiting for the ball to be delivered by the forwards. Standing while waiting in a stadium full of people focused on you and hoping for that little bit of magic, or even just catching the ball is not the same as the almost instant confrontation that forwards face straight from kick off.
As a forward you don’t really get time to take in the crowd, as immediately the whistle signals kick off you are in competition for the ball, either protecting it, or trying to take it from the opposition.
Once a phase is over you’re running to the next breakdown or preparing for a set-piece scrum or lineout, where you have to then focus on a different set of skills. Backs and particularly the full-back have time to take in the crowd and perhaps be intimidated by the environment of a stadium, which could explain why some players found it hard to produce their club form on the international stage.
Young players like Steward, below, can sometimes be seduced by their selection as an international but it’s good to see that he has taken on board the advice of the RPA to ensure he completes his education for life after rugby.
Unfortunately, even if you are able to avoid injury, one day your rugby career will end and creating a life outside the game, particularly if you have played international rugby, can be very difficult.
In the amateur days, the day when you were dropped and had to return to work was like the end of the world, with the changes to your situation so dramatic that it’s almost impossible to describe. From a time when the phone never stopped ringing and everybody wanting your opinion and inviting you to their functions, to virtually nothing overnight. For many players back then, returning to their job was not an option they favoured.
Having been shown a different lifestyle, many still sought for the recognition they had whilst playing. Of the team I played in only about four players returned to the previous life they had before playing international rugby, with many of the others finding new careers within the media or in the game itself.
At least today’s players even at club level when they are no longer retained, will walk away with a tidy sum if they were able to stay injury free, and can restart a new job with comparative ease. Although they, like us, will find it very difficult when they are first dropped.
Talking of being dropped, Eddie Jones last week named his new squad, bringing back some of the names he had dropped before, such as Mako Vunipola, which for them is a slightly bitter pill to swallow. Eddie says he always has a reason to drop players but sometimes it’s hard to see why, even more so when he suddenly goes back to those he dropped. I wonder whether it is because of the poor showing over the last two Six Nations that has forced him to have a re-think, or it may just be that those players he prefers are just not available for Australia.
Speaking of Eddie, last week’s front page story that Steve Borthwick is in pole position to take over when Jones leaves after the World Cup does seem a bit of a surprise considering the RFU already have a quality coach with a proven record on their books in Simon Middleton.
Middleton has coached the England women’s team since 2015 leading them to four Grand Slams, and a World Cup final. His credentials are amongst the best of any international coaches and he has coached in the Premiership with Leeds and so has an understanding of the club /country environment and may just be the answer to the RFU’s prayers.
“From a time when the phone never stopped ringing to nothing overnight”