"The Crusaders' success is down to a sustained high performance culture. And ritual animal sacrifice."

Sport Review #3

Kia ora - I’m Barnaby Triathlon. High Performance Culture Lead at the Crusaders, the most winning Super Rugby franchise ever.

If you were to ask me what the secret was, I’d say you don’t win successive 32 home playoff games by luck. It’s down to embedding and growing a culture of performance and accountability.

And ceremonially sacrificing a goat in a midnight ritual at our St Alban’s training every year.

As I told the Koru Lounge boys the other week, when everyone from the CEO to the kit man understands their role and buys-in to the vision, you can *feel* the potential being unlocked.

You can also feel the electricity in the air when Crusaders greats of the past ‘blood’ the new caps, using the goat. We’ve found that primal dancing and four hours of chanting can really bring a playing group together.

You see, we have a tall poppy culture in this country. It’s not the kiwi way to celebrate success and performance. If a team like the Crusaders fully commits to their processes, you can see the results that are possible.

People don’t see the whiteboard sessions and hard work that goes in behind closed doors. They also don’t see the confrontational and traumatic hazing sessions or hear the low pitched mewling. Whatever it takes.

Join my LinkedIn professional network for more performance culture insights like this.

Thanks for reading - Richard

This week's best NZ sport content

Congrats to the BYC podcast for bringing up 20 years, this a great little celebration with lots of memories and (unfortunately) songs included. Stick around for Tony Blain’s report from an NZA tour, it’s absolute gold [BYC Pod]

Jamie Wall rightly points out it’s no co-incidence that the upturn in Super Rugby interest has aligned with the upturn in niggle. It’s great, let’s have more next year [RNZ]

How Elyse Fraser went from an elite cyclist to a rare women coach in the New Zealand track cycling set up [Locker Room]

In a time when the actual genocidal violence of Israel, challenged by South Africa in the International Court of Justice, grows ever more brazen, and now threatens to widen into world-shaking war, the ghost of ‘95 reminds that sport has a power to unite, even if momentarily. It happened 30 years ago, while also giving us a sporting spectacle for the ages – what wouldn’t we give for another such miracle now?

James Borrowdale on the devastating 1995 Rugby World Cup final 30 years on [Spinoff]

Auckland FC get The Athletic long read treatment [New York Times]

Video nasty

3 pro mountainbikers v 100 amateurs.

Long read

A world class Cross Fit athlete drowns while competing in Texas, which seems very unusual [Rolling Stone]

Recommendation 

I had missed it, but A Real Pain is a lovely travel / family / friendship story set on a Polish holocaust tour. It’s more uplifting than it sounds, and is on Disney.