Andy Gomarsall's Rugby World Cup Blog - 19th September
September 19th 2011
Rugby World Cups have this uncanny nature of never disappointing, & the old adage, "Expect the unexpected", rings true. I am still nursing a hangover from Saturday night's Ireland win over Australia. Many players talk of tactics & systems, but there are a select few that know that special wins come from one attribute, & one thing only - Passion. Ireland out muscled their opponents through an unbelievable desire, against all form, they turned it on for their biggest pool match, not a knockout fixture, but one which would make an easier pathway to the semi-finals. But there are no easy games anymore, the minnows I will come onto.
So where did this performance come from? And what do we take from it? Poor in the warm up games, defeat to England in the send off game at the Aviva stadium. Where did they find it?
It came from a player, Jerry Flannery, Ireland's experienced hooker. He has been cruelly injured & therefore is no longer playing a part, his flight booked after the game, both Brian O'Driscoll & Paul O'Connell felt he should hand out the shirts at the Captains last meeting, 24 hours before Kick-Off. He is a man that shows his emotion in his eyes. In tears, he presented all the players with their jerseys. As I write this I can feel the emotional energy that injected the players. I have many times witnessed & felt exactly this feeling. You go to bed with many thoughts. How lucky you are. How much this means to people around you, & not around you. The personal doubts you have, that are immediately flushed away, because you’re team & the collective spirit within it is far greater than any one man's. If there is a shared mental mindset, you will succeed as team.
Jerry Flannery very simply gave them that. He can fly home, with a wry smile & be very proud of his contribution, one of the great World Cup matches, I personally felt very humbled to say, "I was there!”
"I was there!" Ireland beat Australia.
But can Ireland reproduce this? With Jerry gone, who will inspire this team? We have all been guilty of it. That dangerous word, “Complacency.” Ireland would have beaten anyone on this night, but as Brian O'Driscoll mentioned in his press conference, "I am not sitting here with the little Gold trophy by me". So how can they replicate it?
Aristotle once wrote, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit". Many teams here find this hard to replicate. One team that stands out is the hosts New Zealand. Both South Africa & England, winners from the 2 previous tournaments have not been able to achieve such dominance in consistency. But it's New Zealand that haven't nailed it when it has mattered. The word Pressure is now added. Who can deal with it, & be inspired by it, & who cannot? The first piece of advice I was ever given from a coach, was to think & stick to process. Ok. What happen when that isn't working? Enter England. You can do all the preparation in the world, but if you do not have 15 guys on the pitch singing from the same hymn sheet, you are in big trouble. This is where your experience comes in. Experience in sport takes many forms. The minutes on the field to the time spent dealing with relationships of players, coaches & staff. The Politics! It is for everyone in this instance to lead. Lead yourself to be better, a better person, & achieve the best result for the TEAM. Ireland have two incredible leaders - Paul O'Connell & Brian O'Driscoll. It helps that they aren't bad at their trade, but they are very modest individuals, absolutely no Ego's. I tell you, you will run through brick walls for these people. It also helps where they are on the field, one back, one forward. I noticed they stood side by side at the anthem, I would never stand by somebody so tall at this time, but viewing this, I immediately thought, Leadership, there it is. When I go through the other nations, it is difficult to see any team that can top this. Or actually get anywhere near it, New Zealand look shaky without McCaw & Carter for this reason. They are the first on the team sheet. Some Coaches are still not sure of their best combinations yet, & this affects the leadership.
And Finally to the so-called Minnows. The IRB certainly have to look at how fair it is to say, give Samoa a 4 day rest in between games, they unfortunately ran out of steam versus Wales, what would have a fresh team achieved? They are still a dark horse for me, but they admirably do not use this as an excuse. Russia's first ever World Cup, they are certain to become a force, Georgia lost to England in 2003 84-6, conceding 12 tries. In 2011, with only a 4-day turnaround, they had 50-50 possession & played out of their skins, & with a kicker it would have been closer, only conceding this time, 6 tries. Massive improvement. Romania have scared Scotland, Japan, the same versus France. No upsets yet, but still time. The highlight has to be Ireland, my ITV colleague & legend Munster man, Alan Quinlan & I made sure there was no Guinness left in the Auckland Inns.
Keep enjoying the tournament,
Gomars.
Andy Gomarsall MBE
Andy is Co-Commentator with ITV for RWC 2011 & Director Network 2 Supplies Ltd.
Andy with Commentator Martin Gillingham.
21 September 2011 Andy Gomarsall
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