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Lessons Learned from Rugby Coaches: Letters from Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies 1950-2003
Pearls of coaching wisdom from the letters of some of rugby’s greatest international players are gathered together in this collection by Gordon Paterson.
Human movement derived from play as in Physical Education and Sport has been Gordon’s life-long passion. In leading research within the Faculty of Applied Technology that included the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science at Wintec in Hamilton, New Zealand, he provided the impetus for the investigation that led to this publication. Springboks, Wallabies and All Blacks who had played 10 test matches or more were asked to answer the “What is the most important lesson that you ever learned from a rugby coach?”
Permission was sought by Gordon and his co-researchers Brett Reid and Dr. Nicholas Gill, to present their findings to colleagues and interested parties, and additionally publish the letters received in their original form. The book comprises the brief profiles and letters from the 81 respondents including three wives and one daughter of deceased rugby players. In each case, the women were confident that they knew what their husband or father would say in response to the question. One or two of the players had played just less than 10 tests while others were still actively playing rugby. While the cut-off was tests completed by 1995, the end of the amateur era, a few players had continued through to 2003. Gordon presented the findings at a Conference on the Science and Practice of Rugby at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane during the 2003 Rugby World Cup held in Australia.
While broad brush-strokes of the findings are presented in the Prologue, Gordon does not want to detract from the richness embedded within individual letters. Having access to the original writing is invaluable. Readers can make up their own minds about response differences between nations or patterns within eras.
Human movement derived from play as in Physical Education and Sport has been Gordon’s life-long passion. In leading research within the Faculty of Applied Technology that included the Centre for Sport and Exercise Science at Wintec in Hamilton, New Zealand, he provided the impetus for the investigation that led to this publication. Springboks, Wallabies and All Blacks who had played 10 test matches or more were asked to answer the “What is the most important lesson that you ever learned from a rugby coach?”
Permission was sought by Gordon and his co-researchers Brett Reid and Dr. Nicholas Gill, to present their findings to colleagues and interested parties, and additionally publish the letters received in their original form. The book comprises the brief profiles and letters from the 81 respondents including three wives and one daughter of deceased rugby players. In each case, the women were confident that they knew what their husband or father would say in response to the question. One or two of the players had played just less than 10 tests while others were still actively playing rugby. While the cut-off was tests completed by 1995, the end of the amateur era, a few players had continued through to 2003. Gordon presented the findings at a Conference on the Science and Practice of Rugby at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane during the 2003 Rugby World Cup held in Australia.
While broad brush-strokes of the findings are presented in the Prologue, Gordon does not want to detract from the richness embedded within individual letters. Having access to the original writing is invaluable. Readers can make up their own minds about response differences between nations or patterns within eras.
212 pages, Paperback
Published June 26, 2023
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