Ex-England coach inspires quiet revolution at Ditchling

There is a quiet revolution going on at Ditchling RFC this season.
brian ashton gives a pre-season coaching session to ditchling rfcbrian ashton gives a pre-season coaching session to ditchling rfc
brian ashton gives a pre-season coaching session to ditchling rfc

Alex Battison, the Director of Learning and Innovation at Hurstpierpoint College, is head coach at the club and says: “We’re using a very different mind-set to challenge players in ways they have not been before.

“We all love the game, but I hope that encouraging a new way of thinking through the medium of rugby will create added benefits to the players in their lives away from the sport. We want our two teams of players to be different to any other rugby club in the way they play and the way they want to win.”

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Battison himself is mentored by ex England and Ireland coach Brian Ashton MBE and this shines through in the club’s philosophy.

“We believe that rugby union these days has become all about not losing instead of going out there to play and to win; about defence instead of attack; and exists in a culture where conservatism and an aversion to risk-taking reign supreme. Ditchling doesn’t believe in that. Our mind-set is that everything we do on the field is aimed at scoring tries.

“We won’t kick for territory, or just because we’re in our own 22m area; we won’t pick and go to deliberately run into contact and play this ‘collision game’ so frequently talked about by commentators (rugby is not a collision game, it is an attacking space game).

“We’ll never ask each other to ‘take it in’ or ‘create a target’: why would we want to do that when we have the option of scoring a try? “We will, however, kick to score tries (a grubber, cross field, chip) or ‘pick and go’ if there is space to attack (not a defender to run into).

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“The spirit of our game is to attack with and without the ball. We don’t defend, we attack without the ball until we get a turnover and then we attack with the ball.

In training and matches the players are given responsibility around a basic set of principles and a framework; the players lead things as much as possible. We never have a ‘game plan’: this sounds far too prescriptive to us.

“Players should be empowered and trusted to make decisions based on an understanding of the game and what they see in front of them. In turn a coach should be a consultant and a teacher, not a dictator. There is a no-fear environment and a climate where creativity is encouraged.

“At all times we want to win with a dream (our mind-set and values as to how rugby and life should be played); win with passion; win by pursuing failure; win with creativity; win on the edge; and win with responsibility, learning and joy.

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“We have also had to look at how we view mistakes. It is typical to have been always told never to make one and this aversion to failure in turn creates fear and limits players’ freedom of expression. At Ditchling, we expect mistakes. We try to execute our rugby as accurately as possible but if we didn’t make any mistakes it would be obvious we weren’t pushing boundaries, living on the edge or playing with enough flair.

“It is amazing how changing the language and culture of a group can in turn have such dramatic effects on behaviour and results. Apart from a large increase in numbers, as players arrive disillusioned from rugby elsewhere, Ditchling’s different mind-set has resulted in the creation and development of a 2nd XV, while the 1st XV have seen two promotions in four years and won the county plate competition last season.

“But for us these material victories count only for so much. It comes down to a belief and conviction about how life and rugby should be played.

“We’ll make mistakes (and lots of them), we’ll lose games, but we firmly believe we’ll have more wins playing with this attitude than if we didn’t.

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“Arguably, we only have one shot at this life and only part of that can be used up by a competitive rugby career. At Ditchling we want to have fun, shared experiences with friends and to win by being completely different. We wouldn’t want it any other way.”

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