FEAR OR TRUST: WHEN THE PRESSURE IS ON, WHICH WILL TRIUMPH ?

In the 1990s Jonny Wilkinson was a budding young British rugby talent with both remarkable skill and an unquenchable passion for the game. In a new documentary about the rise of British rugby entitled “Building Jerusalem” Wilkinson recalled his readiness to do what it took to succeed:

“I don’t remember feeling I needed to escape the pain that came on the field. That came very naturally. What I struggled with was the pain of the mental anguish behind it – the pressure riding on the result … that lack of control in losing or not losing that brought with it a sense of doom.”

Called to the British national team at age 18, Wilkinson faced an early test of that mental anguish in his first major international tournament, against rugby powerhouses Australia, New Zea-land and South Africa, the so-called “Tour of Hell.”  When he was called upon for a penalty kick in one match, the TV commentator noted, “For a man of his talent it's a simple kick, but believe me, those goal posts are going to seem quite narrow at this moment.”

Indeed, at that moment, it was not only the pressure riding on the result, but the pressure as the youngest member of the squad to be seen by his older teammates as one who could be relied on when it mattered – as a player who deserved a spot on the national team.

That kind of pressure must have entered his thoughts.  His kick was just wide of the mark.

The TV analyst then commented, “I think it's important that the next kick go to Wilkinson as well … to help him re-establish his confidence.” And when that moment came, he noted, “This will be an important test for him after what was an easy miss.”

The player kicked the ball … and once again failed to score.

“After I missed the second kick I felt embarrassed. Later, in the dressing room, I didn't know where to look. I was always trying to avoid stains on my career path, and now I wasn't sure how I was going to wash that one off. I thought to myself, 'What's the point? I'm a waste of space. It's all a lie.’”

In a series of conversations with his father over a period of weeks, his dad finally said to him, “OK. Enough. What are you going to do about it?”

Wilkinson eventually came to see that one of the most important things he needed for success was learning how to think correctly under pressure.

After the stunning blow to Britain during that international tour, the head coach addressed not just Jonny but the entire team when he asked, “Can you commit to doing whatever it takes to succeed? Because the teams that do sacrifice the most often win.”

Wilkinson made that commitment. A teammate remembered, “You would be on the bus after a practice and Jonny would still be on the field kicking goals.”

But relentless hard work wasn't enough. Wilkinson came to understand what was needed mentally.

“Dealing with the pressure of a kick is really a matter of the process. You get away from the outcome and take it back to the understanding if I do this in the zone around the ball and focus on the parts that I can control … and if I do this and this and this, then I'll get there.”

As a result, it was a more seasoned and mentally tougher Wilkinson five years later on the England team in the 2003 World Cup, held in Australia. There he faced another critical test when England advanced to the final game against the host (and favored) team.

With England trailing in the first half, Wilkinson came up to kick to close the gap to one point, then made each of his next two kicks to help take England to a strong lead by the half.

However Australia came back strong in the 2^nd half to tie the score at 14-14. Wilkinson heeded the words his head coach had shared with the team before the match:

“Let's just do what we do. Don't look to do anything special. Don't force anything. Just stay focused and stay accurate and opportunities will come.”

Wilkinson hit his mark to put England up 17-14, but Australia came back to tie it up once again.

With the clock ticking down, England had the ball and it was passed to Wilkinson who made a quick kick on the run to secure the victory just seconds before the ref's final whistle. It was a classic example of the ultimate in sports execution – when an athlete executes the very thing he has trained his body to do over and over and over – without thinking.  It was “the only kick I can remember in my whole career where I didn't think about it,” Wilkinson recalled. Indeed the sheer joy of the moment was only diminished by the thought that when the ref blew that whistle the moment would be over.

Perhaps it was the fact that at that moment there was simply no time for fear, or that he had mastered the ability to free himself from the fear and replace it with trust in his ability to do under pressure what he had done thousands of times before in practice.  

Something he stated in the film harkened back to his above-mentioned comments about the mental anguish that accompanied his lack of control over winning or losing.

“My kicking sessions (during practice) were my way of regaining total control.”