The following article is the first of 4 by Bruce J Rankin which analyse the Art of Captaincy in rugby union.
Last month Roy Masters wrote an excellent snippet on captaincy as part of a larger article on the next Wallabies coach, which read:
Captaincy in the football codes is one of the most undervalued variables of success. South African coach Jake White acknowledged the role of his captain and senior players immediately after their tense win over Fiji. That victory was secured only in the last 20 minutes. “There’s no preparation for pressure, there’s no way you can practise that,” he said as he compared South Africa’s win with the losses of the Wallabies and All Blacks the previous evening. “The difference was the last 20 minutes and the role of the captain and senior players holding the side together”, he said.
It’s no coincidence that the six Rugby World Cup winning teams were led by outstanding captains: David Kirk, Nick Farr-Jones, Francois Pienaar, John Eales, Martin Johnson and John Smit.
Nick Ferris contributed a first class article to The Roar on whether there should be a new Australian captain, which was followed by a number of very good comments from The Crowd. His examples of the successful World Cup and international captains need no further embellishment.
Yet one thing I feel is missing from these contributions is “what are the attributes that make a successful captain”? If you’ll excuse the self indulgence, my father Jack Rankin (a 1936/37 All Black) was chief selector and coach of the Canterbury (NZ) province for 7 years (1948-54), which lifted the Ranfurly Shield twice and held it against 9 successive challenges in 1954. He was also South Island selector for 3 years (1955-57). He was passionate about rugby tactics and the crucial role of the captain and wrote the following article for the press at the start of the 1966 season – 41 years ago!
CHOOSING CAPTAINS – Rugby Season Begins
Now that a new Rugby football season has begun, considerable thought must be given to the selection of those who will captain the many teams, from the seniors down to the five-stone sides. Coaches should give the following points careful thought:
1. The person selected for this position need not be a brilliant or popular player, but, rather, one who can lead and give confidence and inspire his team mates.
2. He must be able during the course of a match to make decisions to change the type of play and to change tactics according to circumstances. [emphasis mine here and below]
3. He should be able to rally his team when the pressure is on and consolidate the position.
4. He must not allow his team to panic.
5. He should be able to sum up a position rapidly, being able in close play to open it up again, vary the attack, and reorganise cover defence.
6. Once a team goes on the field the captain is in complete control. A coach cannot go on the field during a game – neither can the captain hold up his hand and say, “Please, Sir, what do I do next?”
7. A coach can teach general tactics and advise on the policy of a side – but the captain has absolute control once a game begins. Everything is up to him. There is no remote control radio to direct him – nor should there be. [Comment later!]
8. It is just as much a coach’s responsibility to train players to think for themselves as it is for him to school a captain to assume his responsibilities and lead his side.
Thinking back to my coaching days I can recall only a few captains who measured up to the foregoing requirements. First R C Stuart who captained Canterbury and the 1953/54 New Zealand tour of England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France. He was an inspiration to any side – he led well, expected loyalty and a 100 per cent effort from all his team mates – and he got what he wanted. He changed tactics and play many times during a game without reference to the coach. Getting loyalty and co-operation from his side made him a “great captain”. Other outstanding captains were P B Vincent and R H Duff. Both, like Bob Stuart, led their sides with equal ability and success.
Remember, a captain has to steer a ship through both good and rough weather. Be sure, then, of selecting a man capable of steering your side as skilfully. – J G Rankin
At the end of the gruelling 1954 season when Canterbury had successfully repulsed all 9 provincial challenges (playing Saturdays and Wednesdays!) he had this to say in the Christchurch Press review of the season: “We have won every hard game, since 1950, with tactics based on blind side play. We have been lucky to have such capable men as Doug Herman, Bob Stuart and Pat Vincent to hold our side together during this period in Canterbury football. No coaching is of much use without a captain able to change tactics on the field. We have played to a set plan for each game, and that has been successful so far.”
Even though those views are now 41 and 53 years old, are they obsolete? Maybe they are obvious and common sense today. Perhaps the one missing ingredient today – rarely mentioned in my experience – is the critical ability of the captain “to change tactics and play many times during a game without reference to the coach.”
Today I would add the following criteria for successful captaincy:
9. The Captaincy is indeed a position in itself and the captain should be picked first when the team is selected. (Nick Ferris point). Why? Years ago I asked my father how he went about selecting a team. His answer was simple and instructive: “First you decide what type of rugby you want to play; second you pick as your captain the one who is best capable of executing the strategies and tactics for that type of play (and obviously agrees with the style of play!); third you pick the team members with the skills and experience suited to that type of play.” By default captain and coach work hand in glove together.
10. The captain must be an 80 minute player. (Nick Ferris again) The last 20 minutes of a game are when tight games are won or lost – when it is vital that the captain’s skills, experience and tactical nous are present to rally the side and to make tactical changes that will win the game. Jake White’s point above, examples from Nick Ferris and many other legendary examples of great captains leading their teams to come from behind and win in the last few minutes.
11. The playing position of the captain is indeed crucial and should be from 1 to 9. (KF point) In my view the ideal positions are half back, No 8 and side row forwards as they have the best perspective as play develops, compared to those in the tight five or engine room. They have more visibility from the side/back of the scrum and lineout, while the half back has most visibility of all. However there are many outstanding captains from the tight five: Eales, Fitzpatrick, Smit, Johnson. In contrast the fly half or first 5/8th is the chief play maker and, in my view, should not be appointed as captain. He has to read the play, initiate set moves (talking to the captain, halfback and inside centre etc), have the vision to make instantaneous decisions and is often the principal goal kicker. These are more than enough responsibilities to shoulder, without the added burden of captaincy and all the off-field roles of press conferences, interviews and various speeches etc. A classic – and unfortunate – example was the Welsh captain and British Lions captain to New Zealand in 1977 – the brilliant fly half Phil Bennett. He had all those responsibilities, it proved too heavy a burden and he had a miserable “winter of discontent” in losing the series to the All Blacks. Mark Ella and Michael Lynagh would not rank highly as captains for similar reasons, albeit both were great players and Ella an instinctive tactical genius. It is rare to find a successful captain from inside centre outwards – the only examples that come to mind are Andrew Slack and Tana Umaga. As KF says they are too far away from the seat of the action, thus limited in their ability to determine tactical changes and communicate decisions. Proximity to the referee is valuable but I feel a relatively minor consideration compared to the others.
12. “Shared leadership” is considered an important factor in corporate management today and I feel is equally applicable on the rugby field. It’s instructive that Jake White talks above, not only about the captain, but also the importance of the “senior players” and the role they play. It is a key role of senior players to keep exchanging vital information and suggestions with the captain, so that he may make the necessary changes to play and tactics.
13. Now that the use of remote control radio is a reality (see point 7 above!) its use by the coach via water carriers, doctor etc to control or make changes to on field play and tactics should be kept to an absolute minimum. Otherwise the captain’s control and on field leadership could be undermined and detrimental to his confidence. Unless they have been clearly discussed and agreed beforehand, the coach’s ability to make tactical substitutions during the game can also be unsettling to a captain – and the team.
Like management, successful captaincy is not an instantaneous thing. It takes time, inevitable losses, hard lessons, lots of tactical experiences, ongoing leadership skills development by the coach, not only in the captain, but also in the senior players in the team. A key responsibility is that the coach must train the captain and all players to think for themselves on the field. (Extension of point 8 above)
In the following articles we’ll look at examples of how Australian and New Zealand Super 14 and international captains have measured up to these attributes:
Part 2: Rugby Tactics – the ability of the captain “to change tactics and play many times during a game”
Part 3: Australian Captaincy – assessment and selection
Part 4: New Zealand Captaincy – assessment, selection and five failed World Cup campaigns
Gaijin Muzz
Guest
Great article. I found what I was looking for. Our club desperately needs to have more senior guys stand up (on the same page) to change tactics mid-way through matches. I believe the Captain needs to be the one who decides the direction but no man is an island as such - the other senior guys must step up as you say and communicate regularly. None of those "Greats" lacked for support of a good senior crew.
The Art of Captaincy - Part 4: New Zealand Captaincy » The Roar - Your Sports Opinion
Guest
[...] Part 1: The Attributes of Captaincy [...]
The Art of Captaincy - Part 3: Australian Captaincy » The Roar - Your Sports Opinion
Guest
[...] let’s look at applying the principles in Parts 1 and 2 in assessing and selecting Australian [...]
Bruce Rankin
Guest
Thanks very much for all your great comments and feedback.... think I may need to do a rewrite!! Jerry and Sam Taulelei - agree I may have been overgenerous to David Kirk's captaincy, as the 1987 side were indeed head and shoulders above the rest. Sometimes experienced sides have so many senior leaders and outstanding players they can be said to almost captain themselves. Sam - I agree that there were many poor Springbok performances over the last 4 years - lots of them originating offield. However I feel Smit in the end proved his mettle in the World Cup - when it counted most. Dublin Dave - many thanks for all those examples of captains - O'Driscoll and especially John Dawes who captained the 1971 Lions to NZ. I saw 2 of those tests and Lions v Canterbury - when 3 Lions "injured" that day had to leave the tour. That was a great side - especially the brilliant backs. However what was impressive is they won the series with only 40% possession in the forwards as I recall. Guess it's what the backs do with the ball they get! Nick - re the 'captaincy team' - I suspect you, Roy Masters with 'senior leaders' and me with 'shared leadership' may be saying the same thing albeit slightly differently. Typified by the Brumbies and possibly the Crusaders. Great analogies with the cricket captains and General Eisenhauer too.
Zac
Guest
Part 2 of The Art of Captaincy is now published: http://www.theroar.com.au/2007/11/27/the-art-of-captaincy-part-2-rugby-tactics/ And Bruce, you’ve won the first Roar t-shirt for most Cheers of your article during the week ending 23rd Nov. More info here: http://www.theroar.com.au/roar-and-win/
sheek
Guest
Did you know Sean Fitzpatrick & John Eales were accidental captains? But my oh my, how they turned out! When Laurie Mains became All Blacks coach in 1992, he wanted fellow south islander Mike Brewer as his captain. Brewer was actually an exceptional player & leader, but was injured early in the season. Fitzpatrick was chosen as a stand-in, but did such a good job, that Mains eventually retained him when Brewer was again available. Although Eales was chosen captain by Greg Smith, his successor Rod MacQueen was initially unimpressed with Eales in 1997. MacQueen told John O'Neill he wanted another captain. O'Neill asked Macqueen to wait until he had spoken with Eales. Eales re-invented himself into a great captain. Another example is Allan Border. He was a happy go lucky vice-captain until thrusted into the spotlight by Kim Hughes' sudden resignation in 1984. Until then, no-one had regarded Border as possessing great leadership skills. He took over the Australian cricket captaincy during some of our darkest days, & led Australia out of the wilderness into the light. He may not have been a natural, but you would go into the trenches with him any day.
sheek
Guest
I've often read that Eisenhauer wasn't the most brilliant general among the allies in WW2. No doubt Montgomery & Patton considered themselves the top honcho, among others. But Eisenhauer's gift was to make people feel inclusive, & to delegate duties to those appropriately qualified people to produce the best results. In this case, Eisenhauer lacked ego, believing the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. Eisenhauer is in many ways, the prototype of the ideal leader. Robin Hood is disputed as actually existing, or perhaps of being a composite of several people. But in the most reasonable legends of Robin Hood, despite his archery & swordplay skills, it seems there was always someone better than him in his band of merry men, at each particular skill. But Robin Hood's gift, while not necessarily being the best at each particular skill, was nevertheless being consistently highly ranked in each discipline, a sort of decathlon champion, if you like. But most importantly, he acted like the glue that held everyone together. To be honest, & at the risk of being parochial, I can't think of any sport from any country that matches the almost relentness march of great captains & leaders of men, like Australian cricket. Why is this? Australian cricket has always prided itself on picking the team, then the captain. This can be a simplistic mantra. The best player is not always chosen captain. Nevertheless, whoever is finally chosen captain, is usually always secure with his place in the team. Perhaps I will leave the last words to ex-Wallaby Max Howell, in his book on 'Wallaby Captains: Born To Lead' - "The main point that seems to come out of this exercise is that captaincy does not fit one particular category, nor does leadership."
onside
Guest
Swifty, One cant go down the Alan Border track without considering the demise of Dirk Wellham. Wellham was a gifted captain who skippered NSW to two consecutive Sheffield Sheild victories, 1983 and 1984..He was overlooked for test captaincy in 1985 ,selectors giving Alan Border the nod. Good call with the value of hindsight, but the decision then was pure politics. At the time Border was given the captaincy, Dirk Wellham was the only proven captain in Australia. But he didnt cut it in carpetland. So being an excellent proven captain is not neccessarily enough where politics come into play,and guess what, they always do. The number one rule in THE ART OF CAPTAINCY is ; stay onside with the board. Ignore rule rule number one, and there's no rule number two.
stillmissit
Guest
Jerry I am forced to agree with you. From North Sydney Boys High and NSW but as he played most of his cricket for QLD I agree the Gabba it is. As a general rule I agree that it's where a player plays, not where they come from, that counts in the long run. Still the State of Origin is the only league I watch.
Jerry
Guest
Stillmissit - The Gabba surely? Border may have originally been from NSW but played most of his career for Qld, after all.
stillmissit
Guest
Swifty - why didnt I think of Border! I am so rugby focused cant see the wicket for the posts. Border was without a doubt the most influencial captain and player I have seen in any sport. I believe he single handedly picked up the Australian cricket team and pushed, cajoled and led by extreme example, a team who tried desperately to fail but he wouldn't let them. I also believe that Australias current strength in cricket is due to the foundation stone that he put in place. This of course was built on by other great captains but the one who stood and refused to fail when failure was written all around him was Border. They should build a bronze statue to him at the SCG. Great captains are the heart of a great team.
onside
Guest
Swifty and OJ , It seems then that captains ,like players , evolve. Even though seasoned captains or sporting writers are able to articulate indespensable prerequisites , these attributes are as much work in progress , in the early years at least , as is the development and eventual fine tuning of any other sporting skill . Cometh the team cometh the captain , or cometh the captain cometh the team
Dublin Dave
Guest
A well known case of someone who was chosen for his captaincy abilities in favour of more accomplished players in his position was Jacques Fouroux, who led France to only their second Grand Slam in 1977. He was a tiny man with a real Napolen complex, ie he could boss about much bigger, uglier and downright dangerous men (typically those in his own pack) and they would actually listen to him! His Napoleon complex persisted when he moved into management and he was, by all accounts, a very divisive figure when he coached the French team. But as a captain, you couldn't argue with his achievements. He died a few years ago at no great age at all.
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Actually, onside, I think if you look at where Australia, NZ and England were when Farr-Jones, Fitzpatrick and Johnson took over the captaincy, you'll find that their captaincy was a big part in why those teams became great. Pienaar and Smit weren't as good players as the other three, but captaining South Africa is probably the toughest job in rugby (after coaching them, that is.)
swifty
Guest
Alan Border was a great captain with a dud team for the vast majority of his tenure. He dragged others up a notch with little more than his will and his moustache.
onside
Guest
Thanks Sam. Anybody that reads my posts is familiar with a paucity of facts.I shoot from the hip a bit. So here I go again, no facts, I have read so many times that good cricket captains mirror great bowling partnerships.. I also recall reading that Clive Lloyd was overrated as a captain doing little more than shuffle four ferocious fast bowlers.Yet in their day his team were the best in the world .. It must be so much more difficult being a better captain but in charge of the weaker team
Sam Taulelei
Guest
Only one I can think of is NZ cricketer Geoff Howarth in the 1980's who while not the most talented batsman in a team with players like Richard Hadlee, Glenn Turner and Martin Crowe certainly was a fine captain, particularly in one day cricket. That team had their moments, their crowning glory being the series victory against Australia in 1985 (I think) but they always gave their all. Incidentally Howarth wasn't the captain of that series win against Australia.
onside
Guest
Do Roar contributors have examples of really good captains that played for sides that were not so strong. It must be far more difficult being a captain of a side that despite giving everything, is not quite up to it.
Jerry
Guest
Nick - I won't argue that this year Smit's captaincy has been superb. However, he's been captain for four years and in that period (particularly in 2005 and 2006) his captaincy - as evidenced by the Boks failing to close out close games and playing like headless chickens on occassion - has often been found wanting. My point is I don't think one great year out of four makes a "great" captain, especially not when compared to the likes of Nick Farr-Jones, Francois Pienaar, John Eales and Martin Johnson.
Nick
Guest
Terrific article Mr Rankin, I'm glad this topic has got another airing, as I feel it is one area we are suffering in. As you say it's pretty much mainly common sense, but it seems to be wise words easily forgotten today, just as ball handling skills seem to be another obvious thing easily overlooked. Kurtly Beale said earlier this year that "Rugby is a simple game", and if you have a respected and talented captain in charge it can be. Successful too. One area not mentioned here is the more recent idea of a "captaincy team". A group of experience players nominated to take the leadership role between themselves. I think this is more about using the bench, as it's difficult to make one of your forwards a captain if you have plans to "interchange" him, and a way of making not making one player indispensable. Even possibly also making it hard for one player being able to overrule the coaches plans. As we have seen in coaches don't like independent thought, aside from their own, thus making robot like players incapable OF making their own decisions. We saw the results of this against England in the QF, a bunch of lost sheep not knowing where to turn, not knowing how to stop the wave of English forwards, and looking for leadership. Jerry, I think you are being a bit hard on John Smit. I think he has shown in this recent World Cup his leadership skills are one of the main ingredients that got them the cup. But just look back at the game Australia had in Sth Africa this year, I think I mentioned this before, John Smit was injured in that game and Australia got the upper hand and nearly won in Sth Africa but for a brilliant field goal from the sideline. Also the Super 14 table was won by John Smits Sharks, and narrowly lost the final in a game which you could say the Sharks were the better team, and a great game it was, a shame that this style of rugby wasn't played at the World Cup. The prop is a specialised position, as is the 5/8. We don't expect them to excel in other positions. We must realise that the Captain is also a specialist, and should be selected first, and the rest of the team around him.