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NZ Rugby World column, May 2003
I'm writing this column from Buenos Aires, Argentina. It's been a great week. Under the creative direction of Pablo del Campo, Saatchi & Saatchi just won the Agency of the Year at the Latin FIAP Awards. I watched a game of soccer here as Racing - the third Buenos Aires team - humbled Nacional from Uruguay in the Toyota Copa de Libertadores 4-1, a fantastic game of polo at the Buenos Aires Jockey Club, and talked rugby non-stop. It seems we have recruited all our people on the ground on the basis of advertising skills, good looks, charm and successful rugby careers! Probably pretty good selection criteria for most businesses. Whilst I was in Argentina it struck me that we truly live in the age of Paradox. Watching the US move from warmongering to peacekeeping overnight is a classic case of paradox in action. Argentina demonstrates the point every day. It's a basketcase economy with no political leadership yet the quality of life and passion for life exhibited by the population is enormous. Unlocking the power of paradox will be the secret of All Blacks success in 2003. England have backed off paradox and chosen rigour, power, process and
Jonny Wilkinson's left boot. They will be formidable. We do, however, have
an extraordinary advantage versus England. And that's John Mitchell. |
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He knows their patterns, their psyche, their routines, their game plans, their strengths and their weaknesses. He played a major role in making them what they are today. What he has created he can destroy. Robin Brooke got it right in a recent article. He said: "England are sound, seasoned, programmed and methodical. There does not seem to be a great deal of instinct about their play." I watched most of the Six Nations games this year sitting next to John Kirwan as he unleashed Italy to play with passion and brio. They beat Wales; they should have beaten Scotland and I believe they will qualify for the quarters in the World Cup, giving Canada, Wales and Tonga a hurry-up. John really unleashed the paradox of strength and skill this season. He invested in front-row strength coupled with back-row and three-quarter pace. He made no compromises and accepted no trade-offs. He demanded the best of both from the entire team and got it. Paradox is about working with two contradictory ideas, embracing them and building them together to the highest possible level of performance. This is the Japanese dynamic of Kaizen. Working with two opposing concepts in all their complexity with equal passion. No tradeoffs, no balance, no compromise. If John Mitchell can unlock this in the All Blacks then we will be unstoppable. England are one-paced. We are multi-paced. Can we (1) Innovate but avoid mistakes? (2) Encourage creative freedom but with a strict framework? (3) Plan for the World Cup but win every test until then? (4) Dominate set piece play but run freely? The essence of unleashing paradox is to refuse to make a choice. Every time you choose, you lose. Demand the best of both and make zero compromises on either. The Northern Hemisphere are terrified of paradox. They are locked in the old paradigm of either/or. We, on the other hand, have the richness of resource to confront and embrace paradox. Can we generate traditional All Blacks forward rumble and power and simultaneously unleash the most pacy, potent set of three-quarters in the world? Can we select the optimum squad for every conceivable opponent and pick the best XV for each individual game? Last month I argued that individual captaincy was not as important as
inspirational leadership in every position. The power of paradox is about
picking the best captain but surrounding him with inspirational leaders
who are together more potent. |
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The game plans and patterns from the Northern Hemisphere are predictable. I believe the same goes for Australia. South Africa is a wild card but probably lacks enough in-depth experience and inspiration to make a difference. Plus they come up against England game one and then probably the All Blacks in the quarters. The All Blacks' challenge will be how to marry strength and possession with pace and freedom. I'd love to see Carlos Spencer in the side alongside Andrew Mehrtens. I'd also love to see us try a go-forward backrow of Marty Holah, Richard McCaw and Taine Randell. Having three players who have all worn the No 7 would disrupt England, who are aging and are much more comfortable with a tightly focused narrow game. Holah and McCaw together would blow apart the bigger, more cumbersome English pack and would also help to stifle Wilkinson. If you stop Wilkinson, England can't play. Two years ago the French backrow did exactly that to him in Paris. I believe we would harass them so much that England would not have time then to focus on Mehrtens and Spencer. A true paradox is what I am describing. Speed and strength with no compromise. It would mean Taine Randell playing the game of his life. I think he is ready to do just that. And if you need further convincing that we do indeed live in the Age of Paradox, then consider this. The best rapper in the world is white, the best golfer in the world is black, the French think America is arrogant, the Germans don't want to go to war and Switzerland holds the America's Cup! |
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