The big matches - How to win them

With the 2011 Super Rugby play-offs upon us, rugby365.com columnist Tom Dawson-Squibb takes a look at where these big matches could be won… or lost…

Some massive play-off games are upon us now and I think few people will deny that the mental side of the game becomes crucial in such big games. How often do we hear, “He didn’t have the bottle”, or “they just didn’t want it enough”?

Well, having been involved in quite a few big games at a number of levels previously, I’ll offer my thoughts on what is important come big game time in the preparation and during the game.

Keep it simple and same

The tendency, often at amateur level, is to do a whole lot different before a big game – more talks, guest speakers, new game plans etc. My sense is that this can often create even more anxiety when in fact what you want to do is reinforce the things you already have in place and thus reduce anxiety and increase confidence. There may well be a need to make tactical and technical changes for a big game but you want to ensure that emphasis is put on the fact that these are well within the player’s grasp and that they are extremely easy to pick up. Sportsmen take comfort in familiarity and therefore as much familiarity needs to be facilitated in these largely uncomfortable situations.

Investigate the trust in the team

The trust that exists within a sports team is a vital ingredient to its success. It is also very tough to foster. Plans don’t get executed and systems don’t get followed if the players do not trust the plans and systems but even more importantly they don’t work if they don’t trust each other. In the cauldron of a big game, the need to trust your mates becomes massive. The pressure is intense and the stakes are high, players can take comfort in knowing that their teammates are as prepared, as motivated and as focused as they are. I would always try to do an exercise with a team before a big game that investigates that trust, emphasises the need for it and ideally enhances it. Trust doesn’t come in a few minutes, as we all know, and therefore this is something that must be built over time – but before a big one it becomes a huge factor.

Got to be motivated

“The team that wants it the most will win.” How often have we heard this being tossed around? I strongly doubt that sportsmen go onto any field in a big game and don’t want to win though. The question that needs to be asked is why do you want to win, and is that ‘why’ strong enough and powerful enough to enable players to commit fully to the task and with energy and effort that is at the absolute maximum level. This motivation will come from the team for some players and for others it will come from an internal motivation. The key is that coaches and leaders know how to get the best out of their players or to allow them to get the best out of themselves so that they are at their motivation peak. So to go back to the opening statement, there may well be some truth in it, in that different sides may have different methods or sources of motivation, some of which may be stronger than others.

Motivation is something that can be worked on and controlled and therefore sides must ensure that they are not less motivated than their opponents.

Deal with the realities

The pressure, the opponents’ strengths, the referee, the weather and the stakes of the game are all realities that may affect your team’s performance. Some people will tell you not to think about them, or to only focus on what you can control. This is true, well partially so. These things are real and may well affect performance. The team that accepts them, talks about them and reframes them is a team that can then focus on those things that are controllable and helpful to them winning the game. If you tell someone not to think about something they invariably do, so rather talk about it, think about it and deal with it before the game and then free players up to focus on the right stuff in the game.

Resilience

There is one certainty in a rugby match – mistakes will be made. Eradicating them should be a focus, but more than that, reacting positively after mistakes is even more important.

Truly tough sportsmen are able to come back from tough times, mistakes, criticism and losses. In big games players can react really badly to mistakes as they know that the stakes are so high. A crucial focus for any team has to be resilience as teams that spiral downwards after mistakes will never win. Resilience is enhanced by trust and engagement within the team and through having a coach and captain in place that instils confidence in their players.

I often say to players that 90% of their memories are made up of 10% of their lives, and these big games make up that 10% very often, so whatever you do make sure you try to enjoy it and do all that’s possible to prepare. I haven’t spoken about preparation here, but it’s almost a given that the better prepared side stands a far better chance of winning.

These are definitely not all the things a winning side needs to focus on, but they just give some pointers and thoughts on what’s important. I’d love to hear some thoughts!

Lastly, in the week that was, I’m going to be interested to see how the travel factor affects the Sharks. Much has been made of the necessity of the bye to win the competition as the players are tired, so will the Sharks be able to raise themselves again? They have essentially been playing finals for the past few weeks, so will they have the tenacity to keep up that intensity for another week after a long flight and against the ‘glamour’ side of the competition? They have said they can, but the proof will be in the pudding!

Cheers,
Tom

* Tom runs a company called Head Start Sport which focuses on the mental side of sport. He works currently with the Stormers, WP and UCT – as well as Rondebosch Boys’ High School and Paarl Boys’ High School.

Contact Tom at tom@headstartsport.co.za or www.headstartsport.co.za, or follow him on Twitter; @thesportingmind