Rugby: Evolution of a master coach

Joseph is surrounded by adoring fans after the Highlanders’ victory parade though Dunedin. Photos...
Joseph is surrounded by adoring fans after the Highlanders’ victory parade though Dunedin. Photos by Peter McIntosh.
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph makes a point during training at Logan Park before the match...
Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph makes a point during training at Logan Park before the match against the Chiefs in Hamilton.
Joseph keeps an eye on training.
Joseph keeps an eye on training.
Joseph smiles during a press conference earlier this year.
Joseph smiles during a press conference earlier this year.

One man has dominated rugby in the South over the past six years. But it is all coming to an end shortly for Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph. Rugby writer Steve Hepburn sat down with Joseph before he left for South Africa and looked both back and forward.

Professional sport is a tough business.

The whole week can depend on a 50-50 pass, a brain explosion by a player or a refereeing decision.

Often the line between winning and losing is razor thin.

Jamie Joseph has learnt over the years that winning is almost out of his control.

There are too many variables to take care of. Too many days when it just does not go right.

Joseph (46) has a job and a win is a by-product of doing that job well.

"This is what my job is. To make an environment where everyone can be at their absolute best. But, in saying that, still feel comfortable and still feel challenged, so they are continually learning and they have the desire to be better.

"I think the next part of my job is that everyone is aware of what we are doing and everyone inside the team can see what we are trying to do as a team and how we act as men.

"If we are doing things right, everyone will be happy about the type of rugby we are playing and guys are developing and we are approachable and humble. I think I have got better at achieving that.

"The one thing I did not say is that whether we are winning. The reason you do not say winning is not because you are afraid of it, but everyone is trying to win. So there are 18-odd teams and everyone is trying to win the game. But there can only be one champion.''

The former All Black loose forward said sometimes you just had to bow to the opposition.

"I think you have to be honest as a coach and when you are analysing and feeding back your findings to the team you have to be honest with your team-mates. You can't sugar coat anything, you can't be unfair.

"If the players are executing their roles as well as they can, the team executing the game plan as well as they can, the only thing which is letting you down is for chance how good the opposition are, the weather conditions, the referee conditions. That is how we really do it.''

Joseph said he has tweaked his coaching style since he first arrived in Dunedin to coach the side for the 2011 season.

The Highlanders were in a poor state when Joseph rode into town.

The financial situation was poor, as were results on the field and there were whispers the Highlanders were going to flee north.

But Joseph and his men won the first three games - including beating the defending champions Bulls at home - and all of a sudden interest spiked and the franchise became relevant again.

The challenge back then was big and Joseph admitted he probably over did his job.

"When I first started in those early days, it was my first big job - my biggest challenge. The team was last coming in and you just wanted to make sure the team was doing what you wanted it to do. In those early years I wanted to do everything to the point of doing too much.''

Joseph was one of three coaches when he first started - joined by Simon Culhane and Kieran Keane.

Now he has six and it is seen very much as a team.

But the season is long and it rolls on.

"Once you get going it is like a treadmill. You just keep on running. We started in November as a team and then next thing you know it is June. It just flies by.

"You are just always on the go. In my job, you've got the rugby side of things, contracting players, today you are in Dunedin, then you are in Sydney, the day after that you're in South Africa. So it is a real treadmill where you keep on running.

"The other part of my role is to be able to step outside the chaos and be able to make better decisions, see the bigger picture.

"Players get really internal about their own performance, coaches really internal about their own portfolio.

"You have to have someone to do that [see the bigger picture].

"I've made lots of mistakes over the years. But through experience you create a real clear role for everybody and then a plan on how to achieve that. Too often in the early days you measure it by whether you won or lost and whether you are feeling good or not.

"Quite often the signs are not necessarily the outcome. You can be playing really good footy and not winning, and you can be playing really poorly and still winning.''

The Highlanders of the past couple of years have won more than they have lost.

That comes down to good players and some clever thinking by the coaching staff.

The win earlier this year against the Chiefs in Hamilton came from the tactic of giving the opposition the ball and pinning it back in the defence.

A week later the side made the most of spotting some softness in the Crusaders midfield defence. Coaches work hard, as do the players.

"Lots of games you would have to say the coaches did not get the game plan right. But also you have to say sometimes, part of a game plan is trying to predict what the other side is doing. If you are predicting what they are going to do against you then you can stay a step ahead.

"I think we have been relatively good in that area in the past couple of years. We have surprised a few times. Some things we have done consistently but most things are the variation of the game plan. We are a hard team to analyse. It takes a lot of expertise.''

But a game plan comes down to having good players.

A coach also has to have the nous to see the potential in a player.

Joseph has unearthed some crackers - Aaron Smith, Lima Sopoaga, Malakai Fekitoa, Elliot Dixon - the list goes on.

Joseph said it was a whole mix of things which brings about a good player.

But most importantly it is performance on the park.

"They have to play good rugby, so they have to have skills to play the game. I'm looking for a work ethic that is instinctive, hard driving guys who make an effort. Their effort has to be natural and instinctive. Desire levels have to be high. If that ain't enough, then it is just a drag to coach them.

"For me they have to have a resilience and relentlessness. Sometimes it is hard to define what they are. And they have to be good guys. Guys who have to listen as well as voice an opinion. Have enough clues to be able to learn and be coached.''

Joseph will watch a new player - and that is really watch him - review tapes of the players from all angles, before he makes an approach.

"I'll send them an email and go meet the players. Then have a set of questions, a series of questions for a player, questions are different. They are not rugby questions. I'm trying to work our what he is going to do in these situations.''

Joseph admitted not everyone has been a success.

But most have.

Dixon is an example. In his first two years he had two games off the bench and to most appeared to be a waste of money.

Joseph though kept the faith.

"First of all, he was 19 when we picked him. When he first came down here we never had the athletes like Elliot. He's always been a big strong, powerful guy but he's never known that. He was not tough enough but not many 19-year-old blindside flankers are.

"When he gets to 20 he has done a year and he thinks he is a big strong guy but he is not. He has only done a year.

"He played two games in two years. He is only a kid. We are banking guys there. We had to win now to get some confidence for the team and for me and we had to also carry on and win for a long time. It is hard to do both but you've got to do it.''

He said at the same time as picking Dixon he selected centre Siale Piutau.

"He is a man, he's 29, got three kids, doesn't lack any confidence, not the greatest centre but he played good rugby for us.

"I look at the All Blacks and they've always picked their top team and not made any changes and it has been successful. So what that means is they are willing to gloss over poor performances at Super rugby . . . so there is a lot of other players playing well in Super rugby but they are never going to be selected, so they are the players we are looking for.''

Sopoaga was another one who struggled initially but grew and was now an All Black.

"You grow or you fall away in the end. He's class A now.''

All that hard work came to fruition last year when the side won the title.

What seemed an impossible dream became reality.

Joseph said a whole lot of factors came together to get the win.

"We put a lot of investment into the rugby side of things and also our team. You have to put a lot of investment into our team, unlike international teams, which assemble a week before the test, play three games and then disband.

"We are together for eight months. So if you don't like the guy either side of you then it is a tough year.

"It doesn't matter how much expertise and knowledge you have, how much experience you have, if you don't like each other it is going to be a tough slog. That is one of my own coaching philosophies - get the team right and players look after themselves.

"We did play good rugby, were tactically astute. In key positions we had really good players.

"You have just got to make sure your team is functioning well. Why did we win the competition last year? Look at James Lentjes as an example. So James played four games, three of them were the quarterfinal, semi and final. Poor bugger can't get a look in this year. That is the reason we won last year. Whoever came in to the team did the job.''

Not surprisingly, pride was the one emotion which came through for Joseph in Wellington last year when the side won the final.

"I tried here to make a difference and make people proud. What comes good from that night? A player like Nasi Manu who gave everything to the team. It was his last game and he gets a result like that.

"Then you get players exposed to the All Blacks and that is always nice. That is a big buzz to me. Guys achieving something they never thought they would achieve and that is probably the best feeling. I measured it by how everyone else felt.

"Just the Otago public, getting off the plane, people in Mosgiel, on the road coming back, the parade, the many cups of coffee I got.''

It was a long way from two years before in 2013 when Joseph assembled a star side only for it to fall over and win just three games.

"We had all these players and I, you, everyone, thought it was going to happen but it didn't happen. Lots of other things happened. Tamati Ellison got injured and Nasi Manu got injured - out for the season.

"Those guys glue the team together. The type of players that can bring the team in. There was a lot of expectation of the side that we would do well. The first three games we lost by one point and went right down to the wire.

"So then we got into a real spiral of loss of confidence and the players were afraid to do anything. I would take responsibility for that. When that starts happening you had to rectify that. I thought there was a number of things. I did not think our leadership was very good within the team. We had key experienced All Blacks who under pressure weren't great leaders.

"Then we had a young coaching team - first year for Scotty [Scott McLeod], first year for Jon Preston. First year for Doc, first year for physio so it was an experience. We had a very experienced player base with not the most experienced coaching and management team.''

Joseph said he just keep to what he believed in that year and knew it would turn. He continued to work hard and still does.

That comes at the cost of his family.

"I coach my son's team when I can. All my children play a lot of sport and I try to see as much as I can. We spend a lot of time in Dunedin but I'm away a fair bit.

"You make better use of the time when you're here. I think I'm a better father when I'm away a bit. You just see things a bit clearer.''

He accepts the travel is part of the competition and has always had an attitude of getting on with it.

"Being head coach you have to be able to deal with all sorts of things that can put your team under pressure. If it is putting me under pressure I'm not doing my job.''

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