The lights at the Stade de France may have only just gone out and the poles taken down following the conclusion of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but it’s not too early for Ireland to begin addressing the problems that stopped them from lifting the Webb Ellis Cup. While the sense of disappointment will still be raw, there is no time like the present to begin looking ahead to the 2027 tournament.
To successfully do this, Ireland will need to focus on the psychological aspect of the game.
What does it take to win at the highest level of professional sport?
No matter the sport, there is one attribute that the world’s most successful teams and athletes all share: an elite temperament. Take Novak Djokovic for instance, the Serb became the most successful men’s tennis player in history not only on account of his generational talent but crucially, also how much faith he has in his own ability when his back is against the wall.
This is one of the reasons why Djokovic is priced in the latest Betfair tennis odds as the favourite to win the 2024 Australian Open despite being one of the oldest players set to take part in the event. Indeed, at 11/10 to go all the way in Melbourne, Djokovic is still considered the man to beat while most players his age would be comfortably retired; you can put the Serb’s unprecedented longevity down to the champion mindset he has.
Another example of unwavering self-belief during the intense heat of sporting battle can be found in the Australian ODI cricket team, who have lifted the World Cup on five occasions – the most of any nation. When faced with extraordinary pressure, the Australians are able to rally together and come out on the victorious side, as was proved after another semi-final win against old foes South Africa in 2023.
It’s worth considering that before this aforementioned semi-final in Kolkata, South Africa had won 16 of the past 22 meetings with Australia since 2016. Yet come crunch time when all the marbles were on the line, the Proteas wilted – this trend might sound uncomfortably familiar if you’re an Irish rugby fan.
Indeed, if you go back to Ireland’s Rugby World Cup exit at the hands of New Zealand in the quarter-final, you’ll find that Ireland lost a game they should have won. On the night, the inescapable reality is that Andy Farrell’s men went into their shells rather than take the game by the scruff of the neck. Even Bundee Aki – the best player ever seen in Galway and the most electric at the World Cup until that stage, seemed to mentally withdraw from the contest when the All Blacks took the lead.
It was as if the Irish players felt defeat was inevitable when the truth was that they had beaten eventual World Cup winners South Africa only a few weeks before during a Pool B game. Essentially, this was the time to dig deep and not lay down when the script wasn’t going to plan.
However, when a defeatist attitude sinks in, costly mistakes normally follow which is what happened when Johnny Sexton missed a routine penalty in the second half. The writing was on the wall thereafter.
In the end, the margin of defeat was only four points but it may as well have been 100 as the players had seemingly come to terms with losing long before the final whistle was blown.
This unexpected defeat in Paris means that Ireland have played in eight Rugby World Cup quarter-finals since the tournament’s inception in 1987 and lost all eight. Something has to change but tackling the demons of the past doesn’t have to be viewed as a negative.
The journey to better starts now
On the contrary, the fact that Farrell’s team didn’t win the World Cup despite arguably being the best team at the tournament doesn’t have to be seen as a missed chance but rather an opportunity to prepare for a more prosperous tomorrow. In other words, there is no shortage of talent but rather a chronic lack of belief for which there any many proven solutions.
By tapping into the mindset of the world’s most accomplished athletes and teams, Ireland can cultivate a winner’s mentality that will help them win the 2027 World Cup.
