Canuck Crowley's balancing act
Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:37
As Canada coach Kieran Crowley prepares for the fourth Test in as many weeks - against Scotland in Aberdeen on Saturday - he is balancing the physical needs of his players with trying to maintain their mental alertness.
Thus, making this possibly the most crucial period for a coach during a tour.
With a win against Portugal to start the tour on November 1, the series took a hard bump in the road at Thomond Park in Ireland - with a 55-0 loss. Against Wales last Friday - it was a much improved Canada on the pitch both mentally and physically - holding two leads before falling 13-34. Make no mistake. Crowley is extremely competitive - but he also knows to enjoy the little victories - even in a loss.
"There was a lot of pleasing aspects but we still didn't play a lot of rugby as far as creating a lot of opportunities," offered Crowley.
"We did create a couple to be fair. At that level you only get a couple and you have got to take those. So overall a lot of progress but still room for improvement.
"We've made some progress in areas I think. The Ireland game was a bit of a setback so we've made progress. This week will tend to show the exact outcomes of the tour I think, because the game now has gotten so physically draining, but also mentally. The guys put in a lot of work mentally. It'll be a big challenge for them to get up again this week, but that is our job as coaches to get them back up."
He says this final Test (against Scotland) will be the one to measure the mettle of this team and success of this tour.
"Come Saturday night when it is all over we can look and say, 'yes we have made big progress'."
Right now the most important part of the team might be the medical team - as they manage the myriad of bumps and bruises that accumulate with this much rugby and training over a four-week period.
"When you are playing at this level you get knocked around pretty badly so it's a case of managing [the players] this week," said Crowley.
"There is four or five of them that have had a big workload over the past few weeks.
"They are feeling a couple of knocks so it will be a case of managing them," he said, adding that keeping them mentally switched on is not a worry. "The interest factor is always there. It's a Test match and you are playing for Canada so it's not a problem on that front. "
With thanks to rugbycanada.ca
