Four Lessons on Game-Changing From The Scottish Rugby Team



There I was, watching the last of the Six Nations rugby matches on Saturday. As a Scot, the highlight of the afternoon was Ireland vs Scotland in Dublin. History was already present for many reasons. Not only was it going to be Ireland’s last match at Croke Park, a venue steeped with traditions that had had to be overcome to allow the team to play there at all; but also, Ireland, having had a joined-up performance all season, were still in with a chance certainly of lifting the Triple Crown, and possibly winning the tournament.

Stack against this the Scot’s thorny relationship with success. Whilst many talented Scottish individuals down the years have done well, it’s not really in the country’s psyche to win. The unspoken cultural motto is “Try Hard (But never succeed)”. Bannockburn left a deep scar that the Scots cling to as part of its needed woundology. In rugby, and indeed in many other team sports, they constantly field teams of talented players and put on heroic performances, but there’s always something that prevents them from mobilising enough collective belief to be outright winners.

So, it was safe to say that on Saturday the odds were stacked against them. But they pulled off a blinder of a result. Here are four things that I believe contributed. Interestingly, these are things that could just as easily translate to those of you trying to change your own life-game.

Fitness

Frank Hadden, the previous team coach, was much slated. But one way he’d served the team well was to build on the work of Matt Williams, who had criticised the team’s fitness levels. Like Williams, Hadden saw that, if Scotland was to stand a chance of winning against world class sides like New Zealand and South Africa, they’d need to work at having the strength and resistance to endure eighty minutes of hard battle. Thanks to both Williams and Hadden, current coach Andy Robinson inherited a team that, before you consider any other aspect of play, was simply able to go onto the field and compete.

So, questions to ask yourself if you’re trying to fundamentally change something in your own life, are: In what ways do you need to be “fit”? How can you build your own physical or psychological strength and endurance?

Experiencing failure

The first match of this year’s Six Nations saw the Scots leading against the Welsh 18-9 at half time. But two things happened. First, two key Scottish players were seriously injured: Glasgow Warriors’ Thom Evans, who subsequently had to have spinal surgery; and Chris Paterson, who’d just won his 100th cap, who injured his kidney. Second, unaccustomed to such an outstanding lead, they began committing stupid errors and handed the game to their opponents, who won the match 31-24.

And I wonder, in what ways you feel uncomfortable going out on a limb sometimes? What makes you wobble? How do you give your game over to your opponents, even if only your internal ones?

Risk-taking

After the Cardiff match, the squad had a choice to play out its role as underdogs or learn from experience. It chose the latter. Robinson began to experiment with the players, bringing on Dan Parks on as Fly Half, and Johnnie Beattie on as a Forward. Whilst, the former is a figure of real controversy as a player and as an individual in Scotland, the latter has been criticised for being too much in the shadow of his renowned Scottish rugby playing father. They both had things to prove for themselves and for Scotland.

In addition to experimental player choice, you could see the team trying things out on the pitch, being faster off the mark and making smarter tackles. These things together began to bring a different feel to the Scottish team and although this didn’t initially translate into wins, the possibility started to become more evident.

Thinking about yourself, what risks do you need to take to challenge your own mould? What results will you begin to see that will let you know you’re being successful?

Breaking the mould

What Scot would have stood in Dan Parks boots one minute from the end of the match as he prepared to take a penalty kick that would clinch certain victory? It had been another of his magical kicks, landing the ball deep into the Irish half, that had set things up in the first place. Still, he had no map of recent Scottish success to model the possibility of a victory.

But Parks’ positive deviance defied the picture. He knew as soon as he’d kicked that the ball would go over. Andy Robinson, the team, and a few million Scots were rightfully jubilant.

What pictures and mental models do we hold that need to be smashed? What one thing do we need to do to breakthrough them?

Who knows what the Scots will do with this platform they have now built for themselves. My hope is that they’ll go on to show the world how awesome they are. I wish them courage and determination to do so.

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