The All Blacks’ Secret Weapon: Gilbert Enoka on Mental Skills, Pressure & Winning Culture
Update: 2025-09-07
Description
Gilbert Enoka - the All Blacks’ long-time mental skills coach - shares the untold stories behind New Zealand rugby’s culture, resilience, and leadership.
Across 23 years and 304 tests and 2 World Cup victories, Gilbert worked with coaches and players like Sir Graham Henry, Sir Steve Hansen, Ian Foster, and legends including Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, and Tana Umaga.
In this episode, he opens up about:
- Building the All Blacks’ culture of standards
- The crisis of identity that nearly killed the haka
- Lessons from failure at the 2007 Rugby World Cup
- Why pressure is not the enemy, but a lifestyle
- “Gilbertisms” like Take the Sausage, Wishbone–Backbone–Funnybone, and Winge up, not down
- Working with Chelsea FC, England Cricket, and The NSW Blues
Whether you’re a rugby fan, coach, or leader, this conversation is packed with practical wisdom.
This episode is brought to you by the TAB. Got a hunch? Download the new app today and get your bet on.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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