Leaders to counter-balance Carter loss

The loss of Dan Carter is one of massive proportions for the All Blacks side at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Tom Dawson-Squibb, rugby365.com’s mental coach, thinks New Zealand can bounce back from his loss, however.

All NZ’s planning, strategising and thinking would have been done with Dan Carter in mind.

In fact, I would have paid to have been a fly on the wall at the meeting between the medical staff and Graham Henry to see his reaction after being told of Carter’s plight.

Did he react badly? Would he have begun to have had negative and despondent thoughts, or would he have acted bravely and defiantly and moved on to the next topic?

Through all the talk of “Dan is a big loss, but we back Colin”, there will be some interesting conversations taking place in that All Black camp right now, and there will without doubt be some trepidation and fear around whether their dream is likely to implode yet again.

What, however, can be, and should be done right now?

I have no doubt that the side is weakened by Carter’s loss and I think everyone would agree with this – including his own teammates. What can happen in such situations though, is downward spiral thinking and conversations. By this I mean the situation can be played out in people’s minds worse than it actually is, negativity can set in and doubt can begin to increase. These are all examples of downward spiral thinking. This is already happening on public forums and in bars around the world, where people are writing off the All Blacks and all the talk of their regular choking, etc.

So what is important? Leadership! The true test of Richie McCaw, Graham Henry and the other senior players will come now, where they will have to play a calming role both on and off the field.

They will need to compensate for the loss of Carter by making up for the direction that he gives them and by creating enough positivity and confidence in the side despite the loss of their star talisman.

Another important point, and one thing that I think the All Blacks will do, is embrace the reality of the situation and not try to gloss over it. If a side is under a lot of pressure, there is no use lying to themselves and telling themselves that pressure doesn’t exist – because it damn well does! Likewise, if the star player were to get injured before a big game, it would be just as important to discuss it, accept it and plan around it.

I know that the All Blacks have been working with a mental coaching program recently that has been taking them through a variety of scenarios and getting them as prepared as possible, mentally, to deal with them. It works on the premise that the more aware they are of the situation and their chosen reaction to it, the more they will be able to react well in the heat of the moment. This will be crucial for the All Blacks if they are to overcome the loss of Carter. They will need to accept the reality and then strategise around it proactively and positively. The leadership will then need to ensure that the new plan (and player) is backed by the whole team 100%. As I said, a real test!

I believe that the All Blacks will be able to cope with this.

As Michael Jordan said: “I have failed over and over and over again, and that’s why I succeed.” In loss, comes learning as well as desperation to succeed, and the All Blacks seem to have that. (I’m not sure either SA, Australia or the northern pretenders to the crown are capable of beating them, but that is up for debate.)

There is no doubt that the loss of Carter weakens the All Blacks, technically and mentally, but I believe that the leadership that exists in the set-up should they show strength, will be able to offset this loss.

In my opinion, great leadership wins World Cups (Martin Johnson, John Eales, John Smit, etc) – from the coach, to the captain, right through to the senior players – because it can create calm, can inspire and can keep a team focused – if McCaw, Henry and his seniors can make up for the loss of Carter with their strong leadership, they’ll be alright.

However, if they panic, doubt themselves or try to change too much, then we’ll see a winner come October 23, that is not wearing black. Unless England play ‘away’ that is…

Cheers,
Tom DS

* Tom Dawson-Squibb and Rowan Belchers run a company called Head Start Sport which focuses on the mental side of sport. They have worked with the Stormers, WP and UCT – as well as Rondebosch Boys’ High School and Paarl Boys’ High School.

Visit www.headstartsport.co.za to find out more, or follow them on Twitter; @thesportingmind