For all great sport teams, success stems from transforming your home stadium into a fortress. Rugby is no different. In 2014 Clermont ‘s run of 77 unbeaten games came to an end at the hands of Castres, leaving the Marcel Michelin stunned into rare silence. Similarly, on an international level New Zealand have not lost at Eden Park since 1994. Thus, the question is – how do you develop a fortress?
Fans
The passion of the 16th man is foundational when attempting to build invincibility at home. Building a hostile unwelcoming environment will put a team off their stride. Whether that be the deafening noise for 80 minutes at the Marcel Michelin, or the relentless chorus of “sweet chariot” by 80,000 fans at Twickenham; it galvanises the home side.
Familiarity
Yes, every game of rugby is played on a pitch with two posts the same distance apart, for the same length of time, and with the same number of players. However, 50% of games are played in your stadium. This builds a level of comfort and familiarity. Everything from touch finding kicks, to positioning and goal kicking, they will slightly alter depending on where you play. Jonny Wilkinson for game preparation paid close attention to the tiny details, emphasising the role they play in success.
Psychological side
The great Muhammand Ali once said “Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.” Success will breed success. Therefore, having the belief you will never lose at home translates confidence onto the pitch. The psychological factor from rarely losing at home is necessary to continue the superiority. On the flip side an away side will lack the confidence necessary to win in a cauldron that not many have done so before.
The Future
The COVID-19 pandemic has spun the whole world upside down and made the norms in life very much unnormal. This is also true for the sporting world with many fortresses having crashed and burned as the supporting foundations have been stripped away. The most obvious is no fans. Munster in December won in Europe at the Marcel Michelin which is completely unheard of! But Clermont without fans are not truly Clermont. The same phenomenon occurred at Twickenham when Scotland beat England for the first time in 38 years. Would they have done so with 80,000 passionate fans? Overall, the removal of fans from our beloved sporting homes has had a domino effect. Travelling teams are given a psychological boost, as they are more confident when history is taken out of the fixture due to an empty stadium. Furthermore, no fans mean a lack of familiarity for the home sides. There is a reason why New Zealand didn’t play a fixture in Eden Park with no fans!
My question is now centred on when fans return. As many sporting fortresses have come crashing down in the past year, what will happen when fans return? When fans and familiarity do return, will these stadiums still hold the same prestige? Only a time traveller answers that one!
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