Handling Stress

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When a rugby club gets relegated you need to go and find new employment and most likely it is a massive upheaval for the entire family.

There is nothing worse than being in a team and you can't get a win no matter what you try. The rugby club I was involved with did very well over many years and when the professional era kicked in things changed.

Team mates that you had been playing with for years moved to neighboring clubs because of a cash bonus or an offer of employment somewhere. We had 7 or 8 provincial players who played for the Sharks and 4 of those were Springboks as well.

When the professional period happened it depleted our clubs resources as the schools that used to feed into our junior teams were raided by other clubs. Not just clubs from around our league, but from other parts of the country. I had joined my club for a few reasons and it hadn't been for financial ones at the time. We received drinking money and I used it mainly for entertainment. I still mull it over whether I should have gone against the families wishes and gone with some of my team mates from the Army who had gone across the road. I am not saying I would have made the level required to make Provincial but I would have had a better chance. My partner in crime who I locked with for many seasons went on to play over 120 games for the Sharks and loads for the Springboks.

The club I was in suddenly found the stocks fairly bare and we started to struggle in the league. Going from a top 3 team each year we were suffering now. There is virtually nothing you can do to get out of it no matter how much you train or how hard you play. Games that you would normally win you were now losing by someones mistake. Those mistakes were never an issue before as long as we won.They started to split the team as the forwards were blaming the backs and the backs were blaming the forwards and it was stressful.

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The French Rugby coach was sacked and received an 850 000 Pound settlement. He is old anyway and different to someone younger who possibly has a family to look after.

The last season I played with them was probably the hardest season I have ever played. We trained every day of the week except for match days and I was literally burnt out. If I felt like that then the entire team did as well. No one complained as it was what it was,

Looking back now from a wiser more knowledgeable head this was not the way to go about getting a winning mindset. Instead of having 30 guys running around 7 days a week they should have split the groups. It would have been more beneficial to have one session for the back line and one for the forwards on alternate days coming together on match days which were Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons.

This would have given the players a break and much needed rest. Most of us were carrying minor injuries at the time and I know I was as I had a grass burn or "roasty" on my hip that was fairly big and hadn't healed for about 6 weeks. The wound kept on opening up and needless to say it was a painful season. I poured 100 percent proof alcohol on it daily to dry it out, but it didn't really help much.

The coach we had was old school and had been there for years and had no experience with how to handle what we were facing. This was new to all of us and losing was just not an option we had ever contemplated. Week in and week out we were getting no better and eventually had to merge with another club who were in the same position in a lower league. They weren't bad players as certain ones were cherry picked to add to our depleted numbers and we staved of relegation that season.

You learn a lot about yourself when you are fighting for something you believe in and you will do a lot more than you would ever imagine. Luckily it wasn't my main income and I worked a "normal" job which had loads of leniency for training. I can imagine how stressful it is if that was your career as a professional sportsmen. Players can move around if you are good enough, but managers will be blamed first for poor performances and be sacked with no warning.

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Just joined Cardiff 5 years ago as his first managerial post. Five years on and he has aged a good 15 years since then. If Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lasts and sees this one through what will he look like in a few years time? Stress is a killer.

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A manager who is under pressure ages very quickly as the stress levels are literally off the scale. Just look at the English Premiership managers and just by looking at them you can see who has had the cushier time and have aged less.