The England Women’s Rugby Team is the number one ranked squad in the world with two World Cup wins under their belts and runners up badges in every other World Cup bar one third place win. In the recent Women’s Six Nations, they won every match they played.
There’s no denying that they’re champions and their scorecard is not down to luck. And it’s not just down to talent either. Under a series of coaches who have created a legendary benchmark for women’s rugby, the Red Roses have been allowed to thrive with a competitive edge that often sees them coming out on top.
So, it’s no surprise that a lot of their winning strategy is transferable to business. Here’s what brands can learn from this formidable international side.
Data drives performance
As with most companies in the world today, the better understanding you have of your data, the more able you are to make decisions in the direction that your customers and prospects are travelling. This is no exception within sport.
Using data replays of their games, the Red Roses’ coaching team are able to pinpoint strengths within their games as well as weaknesses. Not only does this allow them to course correct for a stronger game but it also means that coaches have a better understanding of how the Red Roses play as a whole as well as on an individual level. It’s a time-saver and also helps the team to recognise patterns that they may not have been aware of before.
Translated into business terms, spending time with your data is crucial. Whether it’s pattern spotting, segmentation or simply cleaning up years of backlog.
Remember: it’s not just about having data, it’s about knowing what to do with it.
A person-centred approach
Under the leadership of John Mitchell, who joined as the Red Roses’ Head Coach in 2023, England’s Women’s team has been driven by a person-centred approach. Mitchell is known for his coaching style in this way and hones in on understanding the individual nuances of his team’s skills.
With this knowledge, the team can combine daring combinations by working together while also championing individual stars too.
Do you know who your stars are? Do you know how your team knits together and what skillsets may be missing? Both of these questions, and others like them, will help you to build a strong team who’s game-ready every day.
An unpredictable side
Using their patterns and tapping into individual styles of play, the Red Roses continue to baffle their opposition with their unpredictability on the pitch. The side knits creativity into their strategy to come out with a winning formula.
Speaking to The Ruck during the Women’s Six Nations, the Attack Coach for the Red Roses Lou Meadows said:
“Ultimately defensive teams, and the defensive coaches of those teams don’t know how to stop us. They’re literally sat there going, ‘I do not know what’s coming’. That’s what would make us the best team in the world and should win a World Cup final.”
And being unpredictable requires you to also be highly adaptable, which is something that Meadows has trained the team for. She continued:
“You can go into these games with a lot of game plans and plan A, plan B, plan C but ultimately if that changes in front of you and you can’t adapt you’ll never get over that try line.”
In business terms, it’s about preparedness. Prepare for the unpredictable and train your teams to adapt to challenging situations and quick thinking.
Preparing for the worst
Emotion is a big factor of any sport and keeping your head together in a competitive environment can be the difference between a win or a loss. For this reason, the Red Roses are prepped for emotionally-charged situations, such as unfavourable choices from referees. The result is that, when it really matters, those situations are more manageable.
For businesses, resilience training is becoming a more-widely recognised skill for teams to develop. Having a resilient team requires everyone playing their part in helping bounce back from setbacks and reframing situations in a positive way. And there are lots of ways to do it to suit the dynamic of your team.
We’re looking forward to kicking off the Women’s Rugby World Cup from 22ng August and have everything crossed for a home victory on 27th September in the final at the Twickenham Stadium.
In the meantime, if you’re ready to start thinking about how else your brand can score a big win within your industry, the astraia digital team is here to help.
