The All Blacks have finally won the Web Ellis Cup and it took all of their fitness and depth to do so!
France Hit their Straps
Previous World Cups have shown France to be a bit of a 'One Hit Wonder', managing to pull off one fantastic performance when it counted against a higher ranked opposition but playing below their potential for most other matches.
Just when it seemed like they were about to buck the trend they pulled out a rippa performance, to give the All Blacks (and most of New Zealand) a massive scare.
New Zealand Convert their Potential
The All Blacks bucked the even less favourable trend of playing untouchable rugby before being bundled out of contention in an act commonly referred to as 'Choking" (no longer a swear word). Learning from previous Cups the All Blacks managed to get ahead on the scoreboard, leaving France to chase them instead of being the team having to push the play.
They defended well and made the most of the fact that few referees will award a match winning penalty for a minor infringement, especially in such an important fixture. As a result France were the ones to cough up possession with 5minutes left in the game and the All Blacks held on to win.
Piri to the Rescue
The All Blacks showed fantastic fitness in the tournament but there was one player not exactly known for his fitness who was pushed to his limits. Piri Weepu came into the cup expecting and prepared to play a rotating role at halfback: 50mins one game, 30 the next.
Instead he found himself playing brilliant, but intensive 80minute games, kicking goals and being publicly branded as the 'go-to-man' with Dan Carter out injured. Fatigue, public pressure, along with the added stress of losing a family member would no doubt have further lowered Piri's immune system and eventually resulted in him catching a bug before the Semi Final.
Other over-strained symptoms were the niggle he picked up in warm up and relatively poor performance in the Grand Final. Both absolutely understandable based on what he had to go through.
Piri Weepu was my Player of the Tournament.
More Injuries and More Depth
Thankfully the All Blacks had fantastic depth and a setup which lead to fringe players being ready to be come into camp, prepared to play the role of whomever needed to forfeit their position. The most obvious example of this was at first five where three replacements all managed to play the required role.
What does interest me is why three first fives managed to fall to injury. Most would call it bad luck but those responsible for each of the players' fitness would know of weaknesses predisposing each player to their particular injury. There's no doubt these players were match fit but I hope we're not about to see a continuing trend of first five injuries at Rugby World Cups.
The Effects of Fitness on this World Cup
From the start of the Rugby World Cup I've discussed the effects fitness was having on the performances and results. In the pool matches I pointed to the ability of the minnows to get up for their first match due to the state of freshness and need to prove their place.
Those performances steadily declined as teams were forced to back up 4-5 days later and lost players who did not have suitable back-up. Things got progressively worse for the underdogs but whenever the odds were even you could usually count on the team who had the lightest lead in to come out on top.
The Quarter Finals went freakishly according to who was in the best physical state, following their final pool match. The Semis were both won by the team who started the strongest and held on for dear life as did the Final. They say World Cups are won with defense and defense requires fitness.
How this all Relates to Our Own Sporting Success
Every team sport has had rule changes which make the game faster and as a result more entertaining for the public to watch. The hard thing about this is that the rule changes are also applied right down to club level, meaning less rests and more running.
If the fittest international teams are winning then the same is also happening at club and provincial level. This leaves massive potential for those teams prepared to dedicate more to their fitness. Professional sports people generally have an inactive Off-Season of 2-3 weeks, before getting back to building a base and preparing for the next campaign.
Amateur endurance athletes and individual fitness based athletes such as swimmers, runners and rowers train all year round, similar to how Winter Team Sports people play relaxed versions of their sport in Summer. The difference is that these fitness based athletes have always known their sport is about fitness, whereas many winter sports have only become fitness oriented in the last few years due to the rule changes.
Whether you play Rugby, League, Football, Netball, Hockey, Touch or Ultimate Frisbee, you are playing a Fitness based sport. Learn to make fitness part of your year round activity and you'll incur less injuries, become faster, perform better and get more game time.
Go on, Start Now before your competition get's ahead!
France Hit their Straps
Previous World Cups have shown France to be a bit of a 'One Hit Wonder', managing to pull off one fantastic performance when it counted against a higher ranked opposition but playing below their potential for most other matches.
Just when it seemed like they were about to buck the trend they pulled out a rippa performance, to give the All Blacks (and most of New Zealand) a massive scare.
New Zealand Convert their Potential
The All Blacks bucked the even less favourable trend of playing untouchable rugby before being bundled out of contention in an act commonly referred to as 'Choking" (no longer a swear word). Learning from previous Cups the All Blacks managed to get ahead on the scoreboard, leaving France to chase them instead of being the team having to push the play.
They defended well and made the most of the fact that few referees will award a match winning penalty for a minor infringement, especially in such an important fixture. As a result France were the ones to cough up possession with 5minutes left in the game and the All Blacks held on to win.
Piri to the Rescue
The All Blacks showed fantastic fitness in the tournament but there was one player not exactly known for his fitness who was pushed to his limits. Piri Weepu came into the cup expecting and prepared to play a rotating role at halfback: 50mins one game, 30 the next.
Instead he found himself playing brilliant, but intensive 80minute games, kicking goals and being publicly branded as the 'go-to-man' with Dan Carter out injured. Fatigue, public pressure, along with the added stress of losing a family member would no doubt have further lowered Piri's immune system and eventually resulted in him catching a bug before the Semi Final.
Other over-strained symptoms were the niggle he picked up in warm up and relatively poor performance in the Grand Final. Both absolutely understandable based on what he had to go through.
Piri Weepu was my Player of the Tournament.
More Injuries and More Depth
Thankfully the All Blacks had fantastic depth and a setup which lead to fringe players being ready to be come into camp, prepared to play the role of whomever needed to forfeit their position. The most obvious example of this was at first five where three replacements all managed to play the required role.
What does interest me is why three first fives managed to fall to injury. Most would call it bad luck but those responsible for each of the players' fitness would know of weaknesses predisposing each player to their particular injury. There's no doubt these players were match fit but I hope we're not about to see a continuing trend of first five injuries at Rugby World Cups.
The Effects of Fitness on this World Cup
From the start of the Rugby World Cup I've discussed the effects fitness was having on the performances and results. In the pool matches I pointed to the ability of the minnows to get up for their first match due to the state of freshness and need to prove their place.
Those performances steadily declined as teams were forced to back up 4-5 days later and lost players who did not have suitable back-up. Things got progressively worse for the underdogs but whenever the odds were even you could usually count on the team who had the lightest lead in to come out on top.
The Quarter Finals went freakishly according to who was in the best physical state, following their final pool match. The Semis were both won by the team who started the strongest and held on for dear life as did the Final. They say World Cups are won with defense and defense requires fitness.
How this all Relates to Our Own Sporting Success
Every team sport has had rule changes which make the game faster and as a result more entertaining for the public to watch. The hard thing about this is that the rule changes are also applied right down to club level, meaning less rests and more running.
If the fittest international teams are winning then the same is also happening at club and provincial level. This leaves massive potential for those teams prepared to dedicate more to their fitness. Professional sports people generally have an inactive Off-Season of 2-3 weeks, before getting back to building a base and preparing for the next campaign.
Amateur endurance athletes and individual fitness based athletes such as swimmers, runners and rowers train all year round, similar to how Winter Team Sports people play relaxed versions of their sport in Summer. The difference is that these fitness based athletes have always known their sport is about fitness, whereas many winter sports have only become fitness oriented in the last few years due to the rule changes.
Whether you play Rugby, League, Football, Netball, Hockey, Touch or Ultimate Frisbee, you are playing a Fitness based sport. Learn to make fitness part of your year round activity and you'll incur less injuries, become faster, perform better and get more game time.
Go on, Start Now before your competition get's ahead!
