Analysis by the ex-Wallaby’s company shows the benefits of long-term team stability and could transform our view of sportIn the leadup to the Premiership final on Saturday, here is an intriguing theory for you. A champion team is not, apparently, defined by brilliant coaching, charismatic leadership, massive biceps or even individual talent. In fact it is primarily dependant on none of those things. Success, instead, hinges on something very different: the level of familiarity between the players and how long all the various ingredients have been collectively simmering. Related: Exeter desperate to add Premiership title to Champions Cup success It’s not that Exeter necessarily make better players: they take players and get the most out of them Related: Wallabies must...
Racing 92 and Wasps know the double-seeking Chiefs will be relentless and intense but thwarting them is another matterBefore England played New Zealand in the 1995 World Cup semi-final in Cape Town, they did not pay too much attention to Jonah Lomu, the 19-year-old wing who was to reduce their defensive wall to rubble and reconstruct a game that was in the death throes of amateurism. “Nobody really knew much about him or his capabilities,” recalled the England No 8 that afternoon, Dean Richards, last year. “I do not think we did our due diligence on Lomu: we may have discussed him, but that was probably as much as we did do.”England preferred to focus on themselves, although in the...
A double-decker bus as a clubhouse and four shipping containers as changing rooms prove no barrier as the club attracts converts from all cultures and religionsIn these dark times there is a ray of light to be found in the heart of England. Just up the road from Spaghetti Junction to the north-east of Birmingham’s city centre sits the suburb of Erdington, officially rated the fifth-most deprived area in the UK. Less than three miles distant is Hodgehill, which sits at No 3. Rugby is not normally high on many local agendas.Which makes it all the more remarkable that Erdington RFC has just leapfrogged the rest of the nation to be crowned club of the year by Gallagher, sponsor of...
Unshakeable belief their time is now and collective trust are the bedrock of both teams’ storming runs to the Premiership finalExeter are supposedly all about their no-nonsense forwards while Wasps are a free-wheeling bunch of adventurous buccaneers. The truth is considerably more layered: this year’s two Premiership finalists, above all, are prime examples of the crucial power of the mind, as much as body, in successful professional sport.Of course Exeter were punishingly physical against Bath while Wasps eventually ran Bristol ragged in the first of two one-sided semi-finals but at the heart of both results was something even more significant: a mindset, a belief and a collective trust that said far more about the victors than the big numbers on...
Billy Vunipola needs Farrell’s ruthless focus, Cipriani’s patience boosts Gloucester and Saints reaping rewards of faith in youthOne topic did rather dominate the conversation at Ashton Gate. And the booing. This looks as if it will be a new reality for Billy Vunipola, which may or may not come to affect his game over the coming weeks. He has always come across as something of a happy-go-lucky guy but the No 8 will need the ruthless focus of his England teammate Owen Farrell if recent events and any future repercussions are not to distract him from his day job. One other point did muscle its way into the talking – and that was the kicking. As if chastened by their...