Whakapapa

From Kevin Roberts. USA Rugby people got together just before the World Cup kick-off for a meeting of the new Congress and the new Board, of which I am Chair. The talk was around how we could all pull together to inspire Americans to fall in love with rugby. Core to this dream were a couple of beliefs.

The first is that rugby is a game that can be played and enjoyed by everyone, irrespective of body shape or size. Second, only rugby transcends the local to create a timeless global fraternity. I have also found that only rugby forges brotherhood through blood and respect, creating unbreakable bonds. As most of you know by now, the great passion of my life is centered on the New Zealand All Blacks. To me, they have always been the living embodiment of unbreakable bonds. They have now begun what will hopefully turn out to be a 7-week odyssey to win the Rugby World Cup for all of New Zealand.

I have written previously about the Maori concept of Whakapapa, which explains a person’s place in the world. It is genealogy merged with mythology, spirituality and sustainability - a simple, beautiful view of the world. New Zealand’s indigenous people, the Maori, see themselves as part of a flowing line of ancestors linked arm and arm, from the beginning of time through to the present, and into the future through yet to be born forebears. The sun moves slowly along this interlinking chain of people and it signifies each person’s life as it shines down upon each of them. And so during every life, the individual is seen as a representative of the people and the custodian of the people’s heritage and values. The chain is unbreakable and the line of people immortal.

These unbreakable bonds are at the core of my own personal value set. A few weekends ago I spent some time thinking about just that, as I traveled back in time with a bunch of mates. I last played rugby with them 40 years ago in Lancaster and we all came together to watch the USA Eagles kick off their World Cup challenge. 40 years on the bond that held us together was still vibrant and real. It also got me thinking about another concept I discovered through great Maori leaders in New Zealand; that of mana. Mana is a Maori word which we can define in English as respect and presence. You know when someone has mana. When they walk into a room, a bar, or any group situation, they are immediately granted respect from those around them. Sometimes no words are spoken. Their presence is enough. Mana is bestowed, not claimed. The character of someone with mana is summed up in a beautiful Maori saying talking about one of their food staples, “the kumara does not talk about its own sweetness”.

Mana comes from Whakapapa and its connections, through to descendants who have performed great deeds, the personal performance of great actions with humbleness, and being part of a group that has bestowed great charity on others.

All three create belonging and legacy. Sean Fitzpatrick exemplifies it. So does Tana Umaga. So did Buck Shelford. And so does Richie McCaw.

KR

Better people make better All Blacks

By Kevin Roberts. The countdown to the September Rugby World Cup is well underway. But still, there’s lots of issues out there in the world of rugby, and many commentators believe New Zealand has the best two teams in the competition - the All Blacks A side and their B team! The Northern Hemisphere are of course waiting for them to choke, as we have done four times before. This time I believe they will be disappointed.

While it is true South Africa, Australia and Ireland will become competitive and push the All Blacks to the max, I think this time the AB’s will be ready for them. And the reason they’ll be ready is Graham Henry, an All Blacks coach who has taken a different view on player development. Rugby has only been professional for a decade, and it was only three or four years ago that we saw players coming through the system who had done nothing except play rugby. And it was a pretty boring way to spend your life – gym in the morning, gym in the afternoon, naps all day and that’s pretty much it. The result was mental stimulation and personal growth at a minimum and underdeveloped personalities ill equipped to cope with public expectations and pressure. Men expected to become leaders because they wear the black jersey, but incapable of boiling an egg for themselves.

In August 2004, Graham began a process of change that has proved the most significant in the history of the All Blacks. Prior to becoming a professional coach in 1996, Graham was a very successful school teacher in New Zealand, and one of the most admired principals in the nation. He opened up his All Blacks campaign with a belief that “better people make better All Blacks". His focus was on good balanced lifestyles that included interests away from rugby and learning every day. Simultaneously, the management team made a concerted effort to stamp out the drinking culture that’s been endemic to the All Blacks for many years.

Empowerment is all the rage in my world, and is now all the rage with the All Blacks. The players have been set up into specific leadership groups that they run themselves. It is these groups that provide feedback to management. We lost the Rugby World Cup in the Semi-Final at Twickenham because a) France played sublimely, b) the ball bounced for them, and c) our leaders were the coaches on the benches, not the players on the field.

Now we have an eleven-man leadership group in the All Blacks with each player/leader taking responsibility for a bunch of six other All Blacks on and off the field. To do this job they are empowered to construct their own parameters, their own culture, their own ethics and their own punishment systems.

In my business we believe in unleashing and inspiring our people, not in command and control. Now the All Blacks are thriving under the same system. If there is an unsung hero of the squad, it is Gilbert Enoka. Gilbert is a sports psychologist who has helped identify with the players what it means today to be an All Black, with all the history and all that expectation. The new Haka was first performed twelve months into this program and reflected what this new team of All Blacks felt the Haka and the All Black jersey meant to them.

Graham and his management have maximized the potential of this All Blacks team on the rugby field and have given us our best chance of success. They also help make the NZRU job much easier because this new approach is obviously of much greater appeal to sponsors.

Gregor Paul, on the NZ Herald’s website, wrote a great summary of Graham’s initiatives, which I think are both groundbreakers for rugby, and offer a great stimulus for business everywhere.Empowering the players – what they do:

• Set the alcohol limit for any given night.


• Help determine protocols for dealing with media, sponsors, fans.


• Assess management’s performance and provide feedback about training sessions and game plans.


• Recommend punishments for those who break protocol.

Building better people:

• Richie McCaw has gained his pilot’s license.


• Anton Oliver is heading a lobby group opposing the construction of a wind farm in Central Otago.


• Nick Evans is a qualified physiotherapist.


• Conrad Smith has completed a law degree and worked for a legal firm last year while he recuperated from a broken leg.


• Dan Carter has opened fashion retail outlets.


• Byron Kelleher launched a plastic pallet business.

Sport learning from Business; Business learning from Sport. A virtuous circle.

Kevin Roberts is co-founder of nzedge.com. Photograph: Carisbrook (Sweeney)

We can repel the rugby raiders

Kevin Roberts' June column in NZ Rugby Monthly
The pillage of our rugby players by the northern hemisphere is the single biggest threat we have faced since the game went professional.Twelve years ago when rugby went pro, we had a decision to make. What was the critical competitive factor? The competitions? The brand? The stadia?

We took the view that it all started with talent and that the players were the only thing that would keep New Zealand prosperous in rugby. We would never have economic or commercial clout to compete with the likes of England but we would have superior results, performance and value through players.

The NZRU’s challenge now is to adjust to this new reality of French/English clubs throwing money and lifestyle promises at our players and to do this we'll need a combination of new revenue, new strategy, new ideas, and new initiatives. Here's my eight-point plan:

1. Build annual revenue. As Jerry Maguire said, "You've got to follow the money". The money is in the US. The NZRU need to develop a complete marketing plan for the US. The good news for them is that all of us at USA Rugby are of the same mind and are interested in co-ordinating a joint plan with [NZRU]. We'll be meeting in early June.

...For the remaining seven points (relating to new sponsors, new revenue models, new marketing and merchandising, new competitions, skills and expertise, squad development, and out-competing England and France), see KR Rugby Postcard on nzedge.com.

Saturday Sport: The Roar of World Championship

The Roar is a hard-hitting sports opinion website and e-newsletter which takes an informed look at some of the bigger issues and characters within Australian and New Zealand international competitions (including Union, League, Football, Cricket). The Roar is produced from Sydney by brothers Zac and Zolton Zavos, who produce the art, music, photography and fashion website, Lost At E Minor.

The Roar features some of Australia's best sports writers including (their father) Spiro Zavos, Wellington-born (Mount St) and recognised as one of the world’s most insightful rugby writers. A first-generation Greek New Zealander, Spiro saw his first rugby test in 1949 at Athletic Park when he was 12, and was struck with a lifelong passion for 'the perfect game'. His rugby column in The Sydney Morning Herald has run for 20+ years. Spiro has written on New Zealand politics, literature, sport and identity since the late 60s.

'Watching the Rugby World Cup' is Spiro's latest book, from Mary Varnham's invigorating Awa Press. "Over 44 drama-filled days, supporters will pour into rugby stadiums in France, Scotland and Wales to watch 47 matches leading up to the final on 20 October. An estimated 3.4 billion television viewers will take in the action...Zavos writes of the events that in 20 years have taken the Rugby World Cup from a pipedream to one of the world's top three sporting contests, equalled only by the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup." Spiro's pick for the most 'perfect game' ever played in the RWC is the 1987 France-Australia semi-final at Concord Oval, won by France after the lead changed five times. Of the 2007 All Blacks, he says the weight of expectation on any All Black team is their key challenge to manage. He cites the Roman saying "Go in Pope, come out Cardinal" as the monkey-on-the-back of previous AB semi-final crashes. Spiro has encouraged nzedge.com at key moments. Cheers mate.

My own sports commentary of the week: Being humble about the chance of being World Champions needs to be the All Blacks' zeitgeist. Underpromise and overdeliver, which is what Team New Zealand did at Valencia this week, where the best boats and best sailors in the world are competing for the America's Cup. I watched the races on TV1, and NZL 92's 94-second win over Oracle - strategically, tactically, emotionally and it seemed on sheer boat speed - was well executed. Still, as they will say, another day another yacht race; they are just one quarter of the way into their task. Team NZ have shown a low-scale emotional center of gravity eg no hype. Advertisers around the RWC should strive to similarly low-key the assumption that we're gonna win. Getting the nation into an emotional lather over a game that can only be won by our team on the field, puts us all on a hiding to nothing. Our emotional involvement in the All Blacks isn't going to help them play better, and let's not ascribe mystical powers of nationhood and manhood to a bunch of 15 ordinary guys with a job to do. Focusing on winning is fine, even assumed, but tasting it before the line invites hubris. Restraint, brand-builders. Restraint.

Challenges for New Zealand Rugby

When I was in Wellington a couple of weeks ago, I caught up with Steve Tew, the CEO designate of New Zealand Rugby Union. He’s an impressive guy, whose reputation continues to grow both in New Zealand and on the world scene. Steve will take over the reins after the World Cup when Chris Moller stands down. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jock Hobbs stand down too and focus on the 2011 World Cup - so there will be a complete change at the top of New Zealand Rugby.

To New Zealanders, this is arguably more important than a change in government. Over the past five years, the NZRU have led the world and developed the game while still keeping connected to the grass roots. Further, driven by strong leadership at the top and great performance on the field by the All Blacks and Crusaders in particular, the Union has thrived commercially and in its reputation.

Critical things that make NZ Rugby the force it is in the world today are:

• On field performance by the All Blacks.
• The legacy of the All Black reputation and character.
• Our progressive willingness to embrace change.
• Strong leadership on and off the field.
  

Rugby football has been professional for just over a decade and now we are facing a major cluster of change. Southern Hemisphere versus Northern Hemisphere; club versus country; player burnout; French/English clubs poaching New Zealand players, and spectator apathy toward existing competitions.

In 1948, Cliff Gladwin, a Derbyshire medium pace bowler, was playing cricket for England. England were (as usual) in dire circumstances. As he trekked to the wicket, Cliff said to the South Africans waiting on the field, “Cometh the hour, cometh the man”. England won.

Steve Tew. Over to you.