It has always occurred to me that one of the best attributes that can be had in management is the experience of dealing with issues under pressure. This is something that can seldom be achieved without living through these environments.

As a keen rugby follower, this issue really came home to me when looking back over the recent world cup, I was reviewing some statistics, and saw an interesting correlation. Look at the average caps in the top four teams, All Blacks 48, South Africa 42, Australia 41 and Argentina 39 compared to England with 25!

When you look closer at some of the detail, All Black experience allowed them to calmly get back on top when rattled by Argentina, and to re-establish dominance when Australia used their experience to get back in the game. Whereas England who had previously been able to perform well when an underdog, could clearly not deal with the pressures of expectation as the home team.

When faced with Australia and also Wales with an average 34 caps, it is was a sad but not so surprising ending. The lesson is something when considering age and experience against youth and vitality. If looking to fill a senior position be it finance or the wider executive world, maybe the number of business caps should be taken into account, and a few more Nick Easters be utilized.