{"id":9125,"date":"2021-09-13T17:55:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T17:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=report&p=9125"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:14:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:14:23","slug":"a-snapshot-of-performance-values-at-new-zealand-rugby","status":"publish","type":"report","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/a-snapshot-of-performance-values-at-new-zealand-rugby\/","title":{"rendered":"A Snapshot of Performance Values at New Zealand Rugby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 13 Sep 2021 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Reports<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

A Snapshot of Performance Values at New Zealand Rugby<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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As Mike Anthony, the Head of High Performance at New Zealand Rugby explains, one of his organisation\u2019s major challenges is to combine efficiency and effectiveness.<\/h4>\n
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By John Portch<\/span><\/h4>\n

A prime example is the role of players in both theirs and the team\u2019s development. In New Zealand, the tradition is for players to take an active role.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need to own and drive the culture, the standards and the programme,\u201d Anthony tells an audience at June\u2019s Virtual Leaders Meet: Evolution of Leadership<\/a>. \u201cEveryone talks about how we\u2019ve got a great culture, where it\u2019s tied to \u2018brotherhood\u2019 or \u2018sisterhood\u2019, but a true performance culture is where they can hold each other to account; and I think if you can empower your athletes, and you\u2019re just having to sit back and lead and manage rather than always coming in on some of that stuff, then that\u2019s a true performance culture.\u201d<\/p>\n

The players have an element of psychological safety, where they feel able to take interpersonal risks in pursuit of their self-development without fear of any negative consequences. In that vein, Anthony describes player performance reviews at the end of a week, which strike a balance between challenge and support. \u201cThe expectation is that the player will come in prepared for the review of their performance and they will lead the conversation,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity then for the coach to see their level of self-awareness around their game and where they\u2019re at relative to their views.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are occasions, however, when it still falls on the coach or the practitioner. \u201cSometimes you\u2019ve got to deliver a message,\u201d adds Anthony. \u201cI think it depends on the structure of your week; if we\u2019re going week to week and want to move on from a performance and get some things in place, you\u2019ve got to find a time to do that. You want to get your athletes up to speed. If they are getting up and presenting in front of their peers, it is time consuming \u2013 a hell of a lot more time consuming than if you just do it as a coach or whatever your role is \u2013 but I think the long-term benefits are massive. It\u2019s how you bring them with you and, with time, it\u2019s pretty organic in terms of the conversations that happen in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandemic and its impact on the nation, which has adopted some of the world\u2019s most stringent measures in the fight against Covid-19, is another challenge from which New Zealand Rugby continues to emerge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the big rocks haven\u2019t changed from a strategy perspective, regardless of team and programme,\u201d says Anthony. \u201cWe\u2019ve still got to focus around recruiting, developing and retaining the right players and coaches. I think that\u2019s the critical piece and it\u2019s got more challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n

He cites the pull of other sports. \u201cRugby is seen as sort of the national sport but the opportunities across other sports I think are great. We\u2019re certainly not an early specialisation sport, and we encourage our kids to play multiple sports and develop skills in social settings that are wide and varied, but that piece [retention] is critical.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rugby union is the most popular sport in New Zealand but the nation\u2019s success across a range of sports, including 32 medals at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, increasingly compete for young people\u2019s attention. In rugby terms, there is also the potential pull of more lucrative overseas markets. Yet, for all that, the nation\u2019s best players tend to spend their prime years pulling on the jersey of the All Blacks and the Black Ferns. \u201cI think our contracts team here do a great job and we\u2019re quite innovative around retaining our best players.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also that question of development \u2013 \u201cholistic development,\u201d as Anthony calls it. \u201cWe have six pillars of development and it\u2019s as much about developing a person as it\u2019s about technical and tactical competencies. We\u2019ve learnt that it\u2019s not a linear pathway; there\u2019s multiple entry points along the way and we have to be open to those. The \u2018norm\u2019 might flow through a more linear path but we get some gold nuggets that drop in along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another pillar involves surrounding players with the best practitioners. \u201cWe talk about building a single rugby team. So how do we, across New Zealand Rugby, have a single rugby team who\u2019s focused on getting the best out of the players in their competition and [helping them to] ultimately be a Black Fern or an All Black or sevens player then going and playing in pinnacle events?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last [pillar] is leading the way the game is played for us on and off the field. Environments are critical. People have got to enjoy the game, whether that\u2019s six or 26, we want them to have a love of the game because that\u2019s going to help with retention.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we build competition structures that allow our players and other people involved in our sport to thrive? The innovation piece around the way the game\u2019s played; having a really positive approach to change. We have got some people who are traditionalists. How do we open minds in order to say we want to retain certain parts of the game but we also have to be adaptable to some change along the way?\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, Anthony addresses the fact that New Zealand Rugby\u2019s finances have taken a hit during the pandemic, with staffing numbers reduced by a quarter. However, the plan is not to \u201chammer\u201d, as he puts it, the organisation\u2019s prize assets, the All Blacks and Black Ferns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do we provide competitions and generate revenue and feed it back into the grassroots of the game and continue to thrive and being athletes through to the pro game?\u201d<\/p>\n

A difficult question but one New Zealand Rugby will strive to answer while adhering to its high performance values.<\/p>\n

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Download Performance 23<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mike Anthony also features in our latest Performance journal. The cover star for this edition is Gareth Southgate, the Head Coach of the England men’s football team<\/strong>, who leads the way with his reflections on defining and developing resilience. Elsewhere we spoke to the Arizona Diamondbacks<\/strong> of Major League Baseball, as well as British Wheelchair Basketball<\/strong>, who run some of the finest programmes in the sport. Edd Vahid of Premier League club Southampton FC<\/strong> also penned a column focusing on talent pathways.<\/em><\/p>\n