"whether they take it on because it's a new group is immaterial"

Why Do the Best Teams Rest Their Best People?

Sir Graham Henry, Episode 1, The Shaun O'Neill Podcast

I asked Graham Henry about Rassie Erasmus.

Whatever you think of South Africa, the man has a case for being one of the best to ever coach the game, so I wanted to know what makes him so good.

The answer went somewhere I did not see coming.

Because within about ten seconds, he had stopped talking about Erasmus and started talking about himself.

The thing Henry rates most is rotation. Erasmus does not play his best side every week. He carries a squad deep enough that dozens of his players are at international standard, he rests people constantly, and Henry sees that as one of the main reasons they keep winning. It is also the exact thing Henry was hammered for when he tried it here.

He got it in the neck for this-

He did not name himself. He did not have to.

"There was an old All Black coach who had the rotation policy and got very got criticized by the media, the public."

Anyone who followed New Zealand rugby through those years knows exactly who he means, and knows how loud it got.

He was accused of tinkering. Of not picking his best team. Of overthinking a simple game.

Now the side that has been world champions for the last two World Cups does the same thing, and nobody says a word about it. He mentioned it without a trace of bitterness, which I thought said a fair bit about him.

The reason is not tactical, it is physical

This is the part people miss. Rotation is not a clever selection trick. It is arithmetic.

"you can't expect to play 23 guys for four tests. That's not going to work. You know, you're just going to run out of petrol."

Four tests. Twenty three players. He is saying the maths simply does not work, and that if you try it anyway the bill arrives whether you planned for it or not.

The modern game is brutally physical and it takes a toll on the body every single week. So the choice is not between a rested squad and a fresh one. It is between resting people deliberately, or having the last few weeks fall apart on you and calling it bad luck.

The bit that actually makes it work

Here is what I think most people would get wrong if they copied this.

"They understand that's that's the policy. So they they don't expect to play every week"

They understand it is the policy.

That is the whole thing. Nobody in that squad is sitting there wondering if being rested means they have fallen out of favour. It has been said out loud, everyone knows the rules, and so a week off reads as planning rather than punishment.

Do the same thing without saying it out loud and you get the opposite result. People assume they are being dropped, they start competing to look busy, and the very thing meant to protect them starts eating them instead.

What I take out of that

Most businesses I deal with run their best people the way a panicking coach picks a team.

Same handful of names on everything. Every big pitch, every difficult client, every fire. Because they are good, and because it is easier.

Then that person burns out in month nine and everyone calls it a surprise.

There are two lessons sitting in Henry's answer and you need both. Build a bench deep enough that resting someone does not cost you the week. And say out loud that resting people is the policy, so nobody has to guess what it means when their turn comes.

He was right about this before the rest of the world got there. That is worth listening to.

Book Sir Graham Henry

Sir Graham Henry speaks at corporate events, conferences and leadership days through Essential Talent.

He is a strong choice for any audience wrestling with workload, burnout, bench strength or succession, and for leaders who need to hold their nerve on an unpopular call. He has done both under more scrutiny than most people will ever face.