Pressure is something we all deal
with on a daily basis. Meeting that deadline at
work, organizing a present for your wife’s birthday
(which turns out to have been yesterday – who knew?)
or a phone call from the principal of the school
about why your child’s teacher needs six weeks
stress leave.
It is a part of all our lives.
But today I’m going to get specific and ask – 'why
is there so much more pressure when you play at home
and does this provide an answer as to why the home
team invariably wins?'
We lost our first game at home
this season on the weekend. People had
been talking about ‘Fortress Hameau’ and how teams
feared coming here. Perhaps this had an element of
truth and helped us in close games, but this doesn’t
explain how we can win 12 games in a row at home and
only win two games away.
Imagine, for example, a customer
you are trying to convince asks you to give a
presentation at his office –would you tell your boss
that you don’t really have a chance of winning the
contract unless you can give the presentation in
your office? Or telling that pretty little thing
that you met at the bar (obviously before you were
married) that you had to go back to your place
because you wouldn’t be able to (ahem) perform at
her place?
Crazy isn’t it. But that is the
mentality of most rugby teams.
At the start of the season we set
the goal to win our home games and get bonus points
away – anything on top of that is a bonus. Even our
fans tell us that coming home with a bonus point is
a good result - lose at home though and the world
comes to an end.
We were looking for our 13th
win in a row at home (I know, don’t get me started
on that number –
see my article on
superstitions from a couple of weeks ago)
and couldn’t quite manage it. We were whistled and
booed off the field. Admittedly, we didn’t perform
particularly well and certainly weren’t beaten by a
superior side – but booed from the field?
I think expectations provide an
answer to why teams perform better at home. Home
fans expect a victory otherwise they would stop
coming. Who wants to go to the rugby every weekend
and watch your team lose? Maybe this pressure adds
to a player’s intensity – but I certainly don’t feel
any less intense when I run on for an away game.
I really don’t know what the
answer is. Can the crowd influence the ref when he
makes a 50/50 call? Is it travel fatigue? Is there a
subconscious relaxing?
Pressure (from performing in
front of family and friends) certainly does play its
part – I have noticed that some of our local players
are demons when we play at home and phantoms when we
play away. A friend of mine playing at Aurillac has
said that they have a specific policy of playing the
local players when they play at home and the
foreigners when they play away.
Whatever the answer is, there is no reasonable
excuse for a poorer performance away than at home
and whoever finds the answer will make a million.
Maybe performance anxiety is a topic I should raise
with my current and previous coaches… and
girlfriends.
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