From moth to butterfly
The British and Irish Lions tour just keeps on giving. So many interesting topics that keep popping up to chat about and the latest is around putting a team together quickly. Gelling. Is it really that difficult? For me, the…
People don’t take trips, trips take people
You don’t send him a Christmas card but ‘jet lag’ has become a close colleague of mine and International Sevens over the years. Its power is in its constellation of symptoms. You can’t take one tablet (not yet anyway) to…
Singalongs, angry mums, and zero banter: the fascinating secrets to Fiji’s 7s success
The game-changing methods he used to build a world-beating team. To discipline a 16 stone rugby player, have a word with their mum When I arrived in Fiji (in 2013) after coaching the England sevens team, I spent the first…
The lamp post and the bus
This time last year I was bringing a couple more players in to the squad in consideration for the Olympics. I’d been having conversations for a while, in some cases for almost two years, so that I could get them…
Contrasts and equilibrium
I was in Istanbul this week. The Bosporous dividing the city but also the continents of Asia and Europe. Old with new and beautiful contrast everywhere you go. The legendary Runner Herb Elliott had a coach called Percy Cerutty that…
Promoting 7s with HSBC in Hong Kong
Memories from an awesome week with HSBC promoting and playing the game of rugby 7s in Hong Kong.
Don’t choke on your ego
Why do so many coaches and ex-players, and even ones on the injured list, sometimes wish the team they coached or played for doesn’t do as well now as when they were involved? Worried that the team gets better once…
Let it flow
Ivory towers and well hidden silos punctuate the professional sporting landscape far too much. It’s a life that gets played out publicly. Winning and losing are what you get judged on and it’s very easy to lose sight of learning…
Redemption through chaos
This blog was an easy one to think of as a good discussion point. This weekend’s RBS 6 Nations had a tonne of talking points with one major one that leads us on to creativity and innovation in coaching. The…