Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching | Tags: Martin Johnson, RFU, All Blacks, England, Mike Corn, Secrets of the Front Row, Coaching Rugby DVD, How to Win the Lineout, Doug McClymont
In a remarkable piece of good luck (and you can decide for yourself who was the lucky one) I bumped into Phil Vickery and Steve Borthwick yesterday.
I was on my way back from a meeting in Bramley with the Rugby Coach publishers and an old friend of mine asked me to meet up with him. He is a football fan (well he supports Chelsea anyway) and he said he would see me at Pennyhill Park Hotel.
On my way I remembered that the England rugby team were staying there but thought little more of it.
I arrived, walked into the hotel bar, and passed a serious looking Martin Johnson and his coaching team of Graham Rowntree and John Wells. Now in my bag I had my new DVD, “Everything You Need to Know For Coaching Rugby“. I decided this was not the moment to hand a free copy over to Johnson.
I caught up with my mate and we laughed at the coincidence. Then in walks Phil Vickery. Phil has just endorsed our Secrets of the Front Row report, plus given us some signed shirts from his Raging Bull business. I went over to him to say thank you. And also to give our new How to Win the Lineout book which I had as a spare copy in my bag. And in walks Steve Borthwick. Both are charming men and Borthwick jokes about the need for the lineout book, though it is safe to say that it is one area England can feel quite pleased with.
So after a brief light-hearted exchange, I return to my friend, leaving the book with the England forwards. So I expect the England lineout to be in good hands tomorrow!
The coincidences didn’t stop there, because when I arrived home, I had an email from Doug McClymont, who worked with Mike Cron, the All Blacks scrum guru. He has just sent me the methods that make the New Zealand scrum one of, if not the best set piece in the world. More on that in the next Rugby Coach Newsletter…
Filed under: Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team Management, Rugby Training, Uncategorized | Tags: Rugby Coaching, Martin Johnson, South Africa, Tri-Nations, Wallabies, Wales, Warren Gatland, Declan Kidney, Graham Henry, Springboks, All Blacks, Crusaders, international rugby, Robbie Deans, Peter De Villiers
Here is a fantastic article published this weekend in the South African Independent on Saturday by Peter Bills.
It shows us that the world’s best coaches give the players a lot more freedom to express themselves than previous eras of coaches.
De Villiers, Deans can change rugby
June 07 2008
By Peter Bills
The stagnation of world rugby, a reality confirmed by the recent World Cup and the Six Nations tournaments in the northern hemisphere, could be resolved in 2008’s Tri-Nations Championship.
The arrival of Robbie Deans as the new coach of Australia this week and Peter de Villiers’s innovative hand on the controls in South African rugby, offers the game the opportunity to make overdue progress.
Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby News, Rugby Skills, Rugby Team Management, Rugby Training | Tags: Better Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team, Rugby Team Management, England Rugby Team, Brian Ashton, Martin Johnson, Six Nations, England World Cup
Few will disagree that it is sad that Brian Ashton is leaving the England rugby coaching set up. Given a pretty
tough situation to start with, he is still able to show us two runner’s up medals: one from the World Cup and the other from this year’s Six Nations.
But change was always been coming and though the manner of the change has been ham-fisted, the transformation is important. Not just for England, but also for you as a coach.
Martin Johnson, the former England World Cup winning rugby captain, arrives with no formal rugby coaching qualifications or the experience of managing a team.
What he does bring it something you can use yourself to move your coaching output ahead.
Before I tell what it is, I want you remember the man in question.
He is big. He towers over most people and many players.
He never took a step backwards on the pitch and rarely off the pitch. This meant his word was the final word, to a team mate, opposition player or even the referee.
He led from the front and took on all comers, sometimes over aggressively. He would front the charge from the kick off, often beating the winger to the catcher.
So what can we all learn from “Johnno” ? It is that unswerving belief in yourself and your goals can carry you over many rough paths. It creates momentum, it pulls others with you and it doesn’t care about the setbacks.
I have just completed part II of a series on what we can learn from one of the world’s most success sports coaches, John Wooden, for the next Rugby Coach Newsletter. He would see Johnson as one of the main building blocks in his Pyramid of Success, based on his intention.
Do you have that personal belief? Can you reaffirm your goals with greater rigour? Then you might just find you have energised yourself and, as a happy consequence, your team.
I believe Johnson’s belief will do the same for the England rugby team.
