Selection for the summer international touring teams causes plenty of debate on who deserves to go. It’s not necessarily based on their current form, but also their potential. Though the coaches want to win the games in front of them, there’s more than a whiff of development.
So, while we can argue to the relative merits of one player over another, it’s interesting to focus on what we mean by the term “deserves”. This is because it’s something we consider ourselves as we pick our own teams. Do we select based on form or effort?
If you’ve got to win a cup final, then form would trump effort. They are not mutually exclusive, but there are players who can be achieving enough on the pitch without seemingly putting in the hard graft of others.
Perhaps it’s the prop who wins their scrum ball and pops up for the occasional crash. They don’t make many tackles and are rarely winning a ruck. Or it’s the fly-half who flips and kicks the ball with ease, yet won’t be leading up the defence, or covering back from an opposition kick.
Sometimes, we don’t have the choice and that player can comfortably exist in the team without pressure. That certainly doesn’t happen at the top level, but for most of us, it poses a tough dilemma.
What’s your approach? You don’t have the luxury of dropping them. In which case, you need to create the sort of environment where they feel they need to put in more effort.
That should come from within the team more than from you. Essentially, the leadership group set the tone for effort. It becomes a problem when the “lazy” player rejects their peers as being too keen. They might state that it’s too serious and not enjoyable.
This player starts to become a little “too cool for school” and this can be very draining for the team as a whole. It undermines the good intentions of everyone.
This is also a problem if the player has their own regime to train. They know they have the talent and the team is a vehicle for them to showcase what they do well, rather than be part of an integrated unit.
Thinking back to the touring team selection, you need as much unity as you can muster from a bunch of rugby players. If one or two players feel they are above that, the cracks will appear. The same can happen for a team over a whole season.
In my experience, you have two approaches. The first is not select the player at all, and let he or she leave the group. The other is the manage the expectations of everyone involved. Agree on what you want to achieve as a group, and then let the group manage the others in the group.
Dan is a practising RFU Level 3 coach and coach educator. He coaches with the Bristol Bears DPP programme, is the assistant coach with University of Bristol Women's team and is a coach mentor for Broad Plain RFC mini and juniors section.
He was Head Coach of Swansea Schools U15 and has previously held coaching roles with the Young Ospreys Academy and as Assistant Coach with the Wales Women's Team for the 2010 World Cup. He was director of rugby for Cranleigh School, Surrey. P...
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From our Rugby Coach Weekly archive of Touchline Tales, commenting on a game in an U15 Cup tournament. Last weekend we lost 20-22 in a cup ...
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