Rugby, like all sports, can teach anyone how to succeed and how not to succeed! It’s full of key success lessons for game lovers and those who don’t. France showed the rugby world how not to achieve competitive success in the opening game of the world cup against Argentina. They made mistakes early on, giving their opponents the confidence they needed to win.
Successful competitors can gain strength, confidence, and knowledge from other people’s mistakes! They also learn to limit and correct their own mistakes so as not to encourage the opposition.
The French team has been massacred in its roles since its defeat. Eight percent of the French nation watched the game and the ceiling fell in when they lost. Even his sports psychologist had to go to therapy! The president of the French Rugby Union said the team had betrayed the nation by losing to Argentina! Thomas Castaignede, the French member of ITV’s English-language commentary team, said:
“Let’s forget what has happened and play with enthusiasm and passion”.
Anyone who can act with enthusiasm and passion after a big failure is a success, whether they get good results or not. Enthusiasm and passion may not mean you win, but it does help!
Against Namibia, the French team straightened things out. Twelve players had been replaced and Michalak, a star player, was back. Thomas commented:
“He has ‘je ne sais quoi’. Something always happens with him”
Successful people make things happen. They don’t wait for someone else to get things started. Only one talented person with a desire for magic or ‘je ne sais quoi’ can make a big difference in the success or failure of any group.
Something good finally happened in France’s second match. They joined their own world cup party and played with style and swagger.
They still made some of the mistakes that had given Argentina the belief of winning last week. However, now they began to play the creative and fluid rugby for which the French are famous.
Thirteen tries were scored and France dominated the game. The French superhero, Chabal, also known as the Caveman or Rasputin, began to show the power of him.
A Namibian was sent off after twenty minutes for a high tackle on Chabal when the score was 12-3. France scored shortly after. 19-3 to France.
Play was flat for around 25 minutes and then France scored after a cheeky forward pass that went unnoticed by the referee. Some parts of life are unfair. The successful get over it and move on! So did Namibia.
Then France scored again. The French player showed his passion on his face after scoring. They had given him the opportunity to play and he had scored. Successful people take advantage of his opportunities to shine.
At one point, Chabal the caveman appeared in the midst of the herd of Namibians with hair everywhere. Subsequently, Francois Pienaar, the South African legend, commented:
“He has the speed, power and hair I always wanted!”
The score was 38-3 at halftime with little help from the referee. The French received a standing ovation as they came on with six tries to their credit.
The second half started with France trying more of the same. The Namibians with only fourteen men made some desperate tackles. Poitrenau took two side steps to the left and then one to the right with his left foot as if to say, “I can do it with my left foot too!”
Successful people try to keep improving if only to make the left side of their body as strong and agile as the right or vice versa if they are left handed. It is even more important to develop both sides of the brain. A success skill like mind mapping is worth learning. Develop your right brain and multiply your brain power by a factor of five.
French forwards and full-backs were contributing. France celebrated an easy try. 47-3.
There was a brilliant pass and a cross shot to the ‘caveman’ who scored. 52-3. The Namibians were probably thinking: “How far to go?”
Defense wins games, but no one could stop Chabal as he ran for fifty yards through one tackler after another until he scored on the right wing. Will Greenwood said, “You’ve got to admire power and brute force. The ladies look up to Michalak and Wilkinson, but there’s got to be something they can look up to.”
Thomas Castaignede said: “Chabal is a hero in France. Maybe he’s vice-president now!”
The French coach, Bernard Laporte, sitting in the stands with his laptop and chewing gum, looked like little Asterix controlling the huge Gauls. Asterix took Chabal out at this point before he could score his third down. Vincent Clerc scored for him. 75-3.
The nervous crowd that arrived at the Stade Municipal felt more in harmony with life according to one of the commentators. A Mexican wave went around the stadium. Vincent Clerc scored a hat trick in his hometown.
Eventually, France crossed the line for their 13th try when Ibáñez scored. 87-3. The French were shouting and singing the Marseillaise. An interception gave Namibia a chance and the French sporting crowd rose to support them. The conversion brought Namibia into double digits. 87 -10
Greenwood commented: “The French team ran amok and entertained and have a bit of confidence. You have to believe you can win the cup.”
The teams that say and believe that they cannot win the cup will prove that they are right. Dr. Robert Anthony has summed up the power of believing in one’s own limitations: “Speak your limitations vigorously enough and they are yours.”
For Namibia there was pride; for France points and poise and a record world cup score. Ibanez, the French hooker and captain, commented: “We improved a lot. We had a big disappointment last Friday. We had to be up front all week and we worked hard.”
Successful people face their weaknesses and work hard to overcome them. They don’t hide and they don’t do anything to improve. England also had to cope and work very hard after their humiliation by South Africa. They did just that against Samoa in Nantes. The defeat in Nantes could mark the end for either team.
Martin Johnson said: “We have to have more energy and more enthusiasm than those guys today.”
England now came alive against Samoa and won quite easily thanks to kicks from the legendary Jonny Wilkinson. Paul Sackey did well on the wing for England. The final score was 44-22
England played rugby against Samoa. Now they face Tonga who had beaten Samoa. Was the England World Cup finally underway? Will Greenwood, who was being interviewed in a town square, thought the reason for England’s recent success was:
“Small steps, small and often. To keep improving at the rate we’re doing, so we have an idea. We have an idea of facing Australia in Marseille. After last week, that’s all we could hope for.”
“And we did it without getting run over!” said the interviewer as a great manager loomed dangerously close like a huge Tongan striker
New Zealand played Scotland on Sunday 24th September 2007. The All Blacks can only play one way: win and win big. His best team comes to every game.
Scotland accepted the likely defeat and rested some of their best players to be ready to face the team that would play them after the All Blacks. The game began with an unusual haka executed with great intensity. It ended 40-0 with Scotland struggling defensively until the bitter end.
On Tuesday, September 25, Japan and Canada tied 12-12 in a nail-biter. The Japanese scored 7 points in overtime because they never gave up.
The same day Portugal played Romania. The oldest Portuguese player at 34 years old scored the first try which he converted 7-0. Age should not be an automatic barrier to achievement.
The side without the force was on top at the beginning. Ultimately though, the power of a heavyweight Romanian team showed and Romania won the match 14 to Portugal’s 10.
On Wednesday, September 26, Georgia defeated Namibia 30-0. This was Georgia’s first victory in a rugby world cup. Georgia was physically and mentally strong and serious.
A tough tackle led to one of his tries. The Namibian ball carrier was hit so hard by the Georgian that the ball went airborne and was picked up by another Georgian who ran in to score a try.
Success often involves doing one thing so well that the next success comes quite naturally as a result of taking the first step effectively.
Another game on Wednesday was between Samoa and the United States. The Samoans easily won at half time. However, the Americans were not content to absorb the punishment and turned the attack on the Samoans. They slowly caught up and almost won the match, but their time ran out.
The Samoans won 25-21.
What success lessons can we learn from previous matches?
Successful competitors often gain strength, confidence, and knowledge from their opponent’s mistakes! They learn to limit and correct their own mistakes so that they do not trust the other side.
Anyone who can act with enthusiasm and passion after a big failure is a success, whether they get good results or not. Enthusiasm and passion may not mean they win your future contests, but it can only help!
Successful people make things happen. Only one talented person with a desire for magic or ‘je ne sais quoi’ can make a big difference in the success or failure of any group.
Some parts of life are unfair. The successful get over it and move on!
Successful people try to keep improving if only to make the left side of their body as strong and agile as the right or vice versa if they are left handed. It is even more important to develop both sides of the brain, for example by learning to mind map.
Successful people face their weaknesses and work hard to overcome them. They don’t hide and they don’t do anything to improve. They also realize that they must have more energy and enthusiasm than their competitors.
Successful people often improve by taking one small step at a time.
Success often involves doing one thing so well that the next success easily follows as a result of taking the first step seriously. Create a great product and it will be easy to sell.
The main success lesson of this article could be summed up in the words of Winston Churchill:
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another without losing enthusiasm.”
