Leadership skills are both natural and learned.
Not sure what the Wallabies currently do to develop and succession plan for leadership but the Kiwi's treat leadership development with the importance it deserves.
The NZRU consistently develops leadership candidates at the national and provincial level as an ongoing strategy. They look for diversity in age, ethnicity, background and styles as well as mixing them up together, and matching them up with mentors for further development.
Someone being a strong candidate for captaincy because of the great number of tests he's played carries very little weight for mine.
Most big on-field decisions in test rugby will be made while under physical fatigue, mental stress, time restraints and crowd/coach/peer pressure.
We need someone who can not only handle the blowtorch on the field, but also nail it off the field.
Many readers would be amazed at the lack of leadership behaviours evident in so many of our senior players after comprehensive testing.
Saw an interesting feature recently on NRL referees training. They simulate game time decision making to some degree by getting the referees physically exhausted on rowing machines and then show them a real game film clip, or yell a hypothetical game situation at them while in their face. The referee then has to calmly share the decision they'd make, including all considerations.
Yep, I know they still get some wrong, but they get a lot right without the benefit of slow mo replays and a resting heartbeat too. I admire the effort they go to.
Are current and prospective rugby captains subjected to any simulation of the broad range of on field/ off field scenarios they will face in their workplace today?
