Ordinary Joe by Joe Schmidt

Ordinary Joe by Joe Schmidt

Author:Joe Schmidt
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781844884100
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2019-11-27T16:00:00+00:00


Translated, it reads: ‘Gaul united, forming a single nation, animated by a common spirit, can challenge the Universe.’ VC urged the diverse group of players to unite, with a common spirit and a shared purpose. It helped sustain their commitment to working hard for themselves and for others in the team in the quest to be crowned French champions and to claim the Bouclier de Brennus.

Arriving at Leinster, I felt that there was already a strong sense of identity. They had conquered Europe and, internally, there was a strong core of players who knew what they wanted to achieve.

Many strong friendships ensured that there were solid connections between players, although the really strong connections tended to be in pockets or smaller groups. I was told that some of these cliques had been detrimental to the group in the past, but by the time that I arrived, through the efforts of Michael Cheika and some positive player leadership, they were much less visible.

A shared identity doesn’t mean that you have to share the same interests or undertake the same activities. The players were from different generations and were at different stages of their careers, but I think that the shared purpose was embedded more deeply due to the collective awareness of who they were as a group and what it meant to them to represent their team and their province.

The authenticity of purpose that exists in Leinster is one of the key factors in their sustained success. They have been European Champions four times over the past eleven seasons. And yet, after the hostile takeover and revamp of the European Rugby Cup (ERC) by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), there were a number of doomsday articles written, one of which claimed that ‘it is nearly impossible to get out of your group now.’ A lack of top-class foreign talent was regularly cited as the key reason why Irish provincial teams were no longer going to be competitive. There was little discussion of the need to grow local talent to make sure that the provinces stayed competitive.

Despite these exaggerated fears, the following season Munster and Leinster topped their pools and Connacht finished equal with French powerhouse Toulouse on 18 points, missing qualification narrowly on points differential. Leinster and Munster were toppled by two very good teams in Saracens and Clermont respectively. Even better, Leinster went on to win the title the following year. All four Irish provinces got out of their groups in 2019, with two making it to the Champions Cup semi-finals and Leinster being beaten in the final. Leinster had two foreign players in their match-day squad for each of the last two European finals. Both players were very good contributors, but that means that the other twenty-one players in the match-day squads were more locally sourced.

In an interview prior to the Rugby World Cup in 2015, England head coach Stuart Lancaster said that ‘To create a team identity, you’ve got to understand it first of all. The history of it, the motivators, the drivers, the key anchors and that will drive your behaviour.



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