South Africa executed their game plan to perfection at the Rugby World Cup on Sunday, delivering a resounding victory against underdogs Romania, who had previously suffered an 8-82 defeat at the hands of Ireland last week. Some mental toughness should come into play ahead of their next game against Scotland, another of their pool B opponents next week.

Mental Toughness definition:

Mental toughness, the ability to manage your mind, so that you give your best performance consistently despite what is happening inside your head or around you.

If your team were to examine their options of giving their best performance consistently. They could analyse (as a team) all seven components of mental toughness. My opinion is:

1 . Concentration:

Passion. I don’t doubt you have the passion to give a good performance – but consistently?
Planning. You need to go back to the drawing board to have another look at strengths and weaknesses relative to immediate opposition and plan according.
Preparation. The game plan you prepare for will emerge from point b.

2. Controlled aggression:

Make the first move. – Set the tone. Your planning and preparation needs to include introducing a shock tactic to put doubt in the opposition’s minds.
Magnify differentiators. What are you good at? Like the Springboks are good at abrasive play. You must feed off your differentiator.
Stay in the game – No yellow cards. Balance aggression with control. Don’t give away stupid penalties.

3. Composure:

Stay in the zone and concentrate on process.
Thinking too fast. Don’t get psychologically high-jacked into thinking too fast- you panic and make more mistakes.
Thinking too slow: Don’t get psychologically high-jacked into thinking too slow. you – you overthink and lose opportunities.

4. Confidence:

Identify small wins that will boost your confidence – and get them – even during practice.
Become a servant leader, not a hero. You are playing for your country, not your own heroics.
Scaffold towards a high-performance culture. Ending with collaboration, where as a team you identify opportunities for new vale that were not obvious before.

5. Calculated risks:

Reach beyond your grasp. Identify new differentiators. You will regret far more the things you did not do that the things you did do..
Innovate and improvise. You and the opposition are playing the same game to the same rules, Buit they don’t know what you may do to innovate and improvise.
Be willing to make mistakes, but fail fast, adapt and turn it into competence.

6. Competence:

Learn. The learners will inherit the earth, the learned will find they are equipped for a world that no longer exists. Out learn the opposition.
Unlearn. Stop doing things that are trapping you in the past .
Relearn. Realise that you may be wrong and see the game through new eyes.

7. Commitment:

Don’t participate in a blame game. No excuses – There is an expiry date to blaming and its now.
Accept responsibility and accountability. If you are a lock – win your ball. If you re a ….
Don’t only think grit or quit, think reinvent as well. Reinvent personal differentiators. As Seth Golden wrote. Don’t just be a cow become a purple cow. Then you will be noticed.

View some of the news on Reuters and the Official Rugby World Cup 2023 website here.