More than winners: what sport teaches us about true resilience

In this post – part of a series from Databarracks’ business resilience consultants – Chris Butler shares lessons from the Women’s Rugby World Cup that apply directly to organisational resilience.

What an extraordinary year for women’s sport! The Lionesses have cemented their status as serial winners. Meanwhile, the Red Roses opened the Rugby World Cup on home soil with devastating authority – an 11–try masterclass against the USA in front of more than 40,000 fans.

As someone who spends their days helping businesses build resilience, I’m increasingly fascinated not just by the winners, but by what every team at this World Cup teaches us about turning up when the odds are stacked against you.

The courage to show up when you’re outgunned

Brazil competed on the biggest stage at the Women’s Rugby World Cup for the first time, losing 66-6 to South Africa, with two penalties accounting for all their points. It was a baptism of fire for As Yaras, making history as the first South American team ever to compete at a Women’s Rugby World Cup. 

The scoreline was brutal, but here’s the thing: they turned up. They’d beaten Colombia for the first time in seven attempts just to earn their place, travelled halfway around the world, and faced a Springbok side that was always going to be technically superior. Yet they kept playing, kept competing, kept believing they could make something happen. 

In business, we face these moments constantly – new market entrants against established giants, small teams pitching against multinational consultancies, start-ups competing with companies that have budgets larger than their entire annual turnover. 

Finding your moment of glory 

Scotland’s 38-8 victory over Wales wasn’t just about Francesca McGhie’s brilliant hat trick – this was about a team that’s spent years building towards a breakthrough. 

Scotland have been the definition of incremental improvement. Head coach Bryan Easson has built a team that “marries resilience with creativity” on their journey “from the amateur fringes to a professional environment”. They’re not favourites for the title, but they’ve created their own definition of success. 

That’s exactly what resilient businesses do. They don’t measure themselves solely against market leaders; they focus on being the best version of themselves. Scotland’s victory wasn’t just about beating Wales – it was about proving that sustained investment in people and processes eventually pays dividends, even if it takes years to materialise.

The away game challenge

Every team except England is essentially playing away from home in this tournament. All 16 teams attended welcome ceremonies across England, with players like New Zealand co-captain Kennedy Tukuafu noting: “What motivates us is everybody back home… it makes us just want to get out there, put out a performance that we’re really proud of”. 

The Lions’ tour of Australia perfectly illustrates this challenge – performing at your best when everything familiar has been stripped away. No home crowd, different time zones, unfamiliar facilities and opponents who know their own conditions intimately. Yet the best teams find ways to thrive in these circumstances. 

In business, we’re increasingly operating in “away game” conditions. Remote working, international partnerships, virtual client relationships, regulatory environments that shift faster than we can adapt to them. The organisations that succeed are those that plan for disruption and build adaptability into their DNA rather than relying on home advantage.

Never give up, even when the scorecard looks ugly

The opening weekend delivered some hefty defeats: Australia beat Samoa 73-0, Canada defeated Fiji 65-7. Those are sobering scorelines, but here’s what the statistics don’t capture: every single one of those teams earned their place through qualification tournaments. They’ve already achieved something remarkable just by being there. 

Fiji are “looking to build on their performance at RWC 2021 where they secured their first Women’s Rugby World Cup win against South Africa”. That single victory in their previous tournament represents years of development, investment and belief in their programme. 

This mirrors what we see in business all the time. Organisations that take on established market leaders rarely win immediately, but the act of competing at the highest level transforms them. They learn systems, processes and standards they never would have developed in isolation. The score might be ugly, but the experience is invaluable.  

Defeats and setbacks in sport, like disruptions in business, aren’t the end – they’re the moments to learn, improve and build resilience.

Building for the long game

What strikes me most about this tournament is how it showcases different definitions of success. The Red Roses are hunting for their first World Cup since 2014, and anything less than winning would be considered failure. Meanwhile, Samoa’s Manusina head into the tournament “with a renewed sense of purpose and pride” after their Oceania Championship victory in 2023 – already winners in their own context. 

Both approaches have merit. Elite businesses need the Red Roses’ mentality – the relentless pursuit of excellence, the refusal to accept anything less than the best. But they also need the smaller teams’ spirit – the ability to compete with heart even when resources are limited, to find pride in incremental progress and to keep showing up regardless of the odds.

The real victory

True resilience isn’t just about bouncing back from failure – it’s about having the courage to compete when you know you might fail spectacularly, in front of the world, on the biggest stage imaginable. It’s about Brazil’s two penalty kicks, Samoa’s determination despite the scoreline and Scotland’s decade-long journey to this moment of triumph. 

Every business faces moments when they’re David against Goliath. The lesson from this World Cup isn’t that you’ll always win – it’s that showing up with professionalism, pride and determination to compete at the highest level is a victory in itself.