The Barbarians, fondly known as the Baa Baas, are a rugby team with a difference. And it’s always a special occasion when the Boks go up against them, as they do this weekend. So what’s the connection between the Baa Baas and the big purple dinosaur, and what we can learn from them about change? Tank Lanning explains
This Saturday, the Boks take on the Barbarians at Wembley. It’s one of my favourite fixtures, primarily because of what the Baa Baas stand for – flair, courage, spirit and passion.
And also because they are a throwback to the amateur era, when rugby was as much about making friends and actually enjoying the game as it was about winning.
The Baa Baas are a glorious concept brought to life by the vision and enthusiasm of a fellow called William Percy Carpmael, whose dream was to spread good fellowship amongst all rugby players. A dream which became a reality on December 27th, 1890.
They are unique in that they have no ground, no clubhouse, no entry fee, and no subscription. The clubs they visit generally pay their expenses. The Baa Baas are in every respect a touring club, for there are no “home” matches. The jersey has always been black and white with a logo of sorts on the left breast, worn with dark shorts and the player’s club socks.
Bryan Habana once famously wore his KES school socks when representing the Baa Baas.
They are different in that they care less about winning and more about entertaining. Players and coaches I have spoken to who have had the pleasure of being part of the Baa Baa set up, especially Schalk Burger, really enthuse about it.
Sure, it is a bit of a holiday week for the players who get to operate in a less pressurised environment, and yes it’s struggling to find its feet in the professional era, but that is a discussion for another day.
In its current guise, the Baa Baa game offers the Boks a timely and valuable opportunity to experiment with the pressure cooker valve that comes with operating at the highest level. It’s an opportunity they should grab with both hands.
As a manager, I have always valued the opportunity to either instil or change the corporate culture, or work on a project that does not require client sign off. This because of how rarely they occur.
To my mind, they go hand in hand, and if not occurring naturally, then one has to force it a little bit. When heading up New Media’s digital agency, Dialogue, we introduced the “Barney project” which saw us working on something that we as a team had conceived, during work day hours dedicated to Barney, and sans the interference of a client chasing goals that we might not have agreed with.
The aim being to give ourselves a little freedom to experiment in a less pressurised environment and work together on a project we all believed in.
Corporate culture – so key to any successful business – is a really tough thing to instil and manage. Force it and it’s just a plastic management tool that gets giggled at. At best, though, it should not require management, instead grow naturally via belief in the business goals, and trust in the leaders and your colleagues. Be gone mere employees, arrive proud company ambassadors and evangelists.
As such, is the Baa Baa game not the ideal “Barney project” for coach Allister Coetzee and his entire Bok management team?
Clearly they need and want to tweak the team culture, hence the recent coaching indaba. Now they have an opportunity to operate in a semi client free environment given that there are no Test caps handed out for Baa Baa games, and no one ever remembers the score.
I say semi free because there are always us fans and the bosses at SARU to worry about. But positioned correctly, I think both parties would be happy to see this bright young squad given a little freedom to express themselves.
So it saddens me to hear Coetzee and backline coach Mzwandile Stick speaking about “Not playing Baa Baa rugby” and “Sticking to the plan”.
As in business, opportunities to do something a little differently in sport occur very infrequently. Will this perhaps be an opportunity missed?
Leave a Reply