Last year, Wynne Gray interviewed Gilbert Enoka who is the mental skills coach for the All Blacks.
The All Blacks have gone from first-class chokers to world domination. And their "brain biologists" can take a lot of the credit.
If the All Blacks have indeed become the most dominant side in history in the past decade, their journey there has been greatly aided by their zealous devotion to improving their mental skills.
Renowned in the wake of multiple World Cup failures as the game's greatest chokers, the All Blacks in the last 10 years have gone to stunning lengths to fix the major psychological fault-line running through their core.
Pressure was once something that would crush the All Blacks. It was the one part of test football they couldn't handle. Not when it mattered. Not when the nation was obviously hyped, expectant of victory to the point of demanding it.
A decade ago the All Blacks had everything they needed to rule the rugby world except the mental resolve to hold it all together and deliver.
They were physical heavyweights but mental welterweights, burdened perhaps by sitting at the apex of a macho world where men were expected to be able to either ignore or simply not have feelings of apprehension, anxiety and stress in relation to what they were being asked to do.
Hours would be spent practising the technical, tactical and physical part of the game, but mentally, even well into the professional age, the prevailing attitude was that players would simply get their heads right on their own: that they would "switch on" come game day.
When Graham Henry was installed as coach in 2004 he was quick to determine that mental skills were a general weakness within the All Blacks and set about trying to improve them. However, the scale of the fix-it job was painfully exposed in the All Blacks' infamous 2007 World Cup exit.
All Black coach Graham Henry and a dejected All Blacks captain Richie McCaw attends the post match press conference after losing the 2007 World Cup quarter final to France. Photo / Photosport
There was no hiding from the fact in the aftermath of that loss to France, that the All Blacks continued to be plagued by mental frailty in big games. And if they were serious about fixing it, they were going to have to make their commitment to doing so, total.
Against the odds, Henry and his wider coaching team of Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen were reappointed in the wake of the 2007 World Cup failure.
Their new, unofficial mandate, was to prove they could learn from their mistakes and that meant all parts of their operation were put under review. It was the mental skills side, though, where their attention was focused.
It was the beginning of a radical shift within the All Blacks - akin to the moment an alcoholic first admits to having a problem.
Mental skills were no longer viewed as an isolated or less important part of test match preparation. The role of Gilbert Enoka, the mental skills who had been with the team since 2004, became more significant.
He was empowered by the coaching team to delve as deeply as he could into the science of the brain and how it responds when put under pressure.
This was the question to which the All Blacks needed answers. Could they find ways to train themselves to make better decisions under pressure? Could they stop the obvious dissent into chaos in the biggest games?
"We got to 2007 and again on the biggest stage at the biggest game, for want of a better word, we choked," says Enoka.
"We didn't get the job done and we came back and had to have a particular look at me and my area. I asked why [we had failed] and went and had a look at other people doing other things that weren't in the conventional area.
Gilbert Enoka during a training session. Photo / Photosport
"That's when I looked at hooking up with Renzi Hanham who is a karate artist. Ceri Evans who is a forensic psychiatrist. And we had this wee consultancy group where we would toss ideas around and talk about the mental game."
Neuroscientist Kerry Spackman was also used by the All Blacks ahead of the 2011 World Cup and from being perhaps a little dismissive of the value of psychology, they were suddenly scouring the world for ideas and influences.
Effectively Enoka and his consultancy team had become brain biologists, and hit on one simple concept that wasn't necessarily original but an amalgamation of existing theories and ideas.
"We needed to understand that there was something controlling behaviour at a neurological level that I didn't have the skill set to fix," says Enoka.
The search for answers effectively saw the All Blacks adopt a psychological ethos which is built on this idea that during a game the players can have either red heads or blue heads.
It is believed that Israel's secret service, Mossad, uses a similar concept when training its agents.
The former is characterised by feelings of anxiety and stress, where focus is not on task but outcome and as a result players become inhibited and less able to perform physically.
Blue heads are calm, clear and task focused - locked into the process. The All Blacks see blue heads as living in the moment.
It is a simplification of Enoka's role but he essentially gives the players the skills and knowledge they need to stay blue heads throughout each test.
Some guys get a bit too hyped up and their thinking is a bit foggy. We learn techniques and they teach you how to learn both sides.
To make good decisions, each individual has to be calm, clear, concise and focused on nothing but process. Not always easy when a huge part of the game is about physical confrontation.
"You have to be aggressive and yet clear thinking and aware of what is happening next," says All Blacks flanker Jerome Kaino. "It can be hard to master. Some guys get a bit too hyped up and their thinking is a bit foggy. We learn techniques and they teach you how to learn both sides.
"I take a deep breath if I feel I am slipping into being a red head. Usually my hands are on my hips when I am a bit tired, or things are going a bit too quickly so I clap my hands and that takes me away from that posture. There are so many times that we have spoken within the All Blacks that red head is bad blue head is good, but you need to be able to bounce between both."
Just as important in removing the All Blacks' mental fragility has been the obvious change in attitudes driven by the senior players.
Failing on the biggest stage had hurt and in the post World Cup review, Richie McCaw's captaincy and the wider leadership group's performance were all deemed to have fallen short.
They could have rejected the findings and mocked the idea they needed to open themselves to the alternative thinking of the likes of Evans and Hanham, but they knew that they had panicked and made poor decisions and that the cycle had to be broken.
"Once guys got a grasp of the importance of pressure and how it can affect the winning or the losing of a game, then they bought into it and took it seriously," says Kaino.
Jerome Kaino of the All Blacks. Photo / Phil Walter/Pool
"Sometimes you come out of a game and nothing has gone your way and you haven't won and you are just like ... 'what happened'.
"You have tried as hard as you can and the only thing you can think of is that it must be mental skills. There was a time when guys said they didn't need it but then I think it was a quick transition."
In the 10 years since that World Cup disaster the All Blacks have been transformed mentally. Victory in 2011 gave them assurance they were on the right path and since 2012, and the arrival of Hansen as head coach, their devotion to mental skills has only increased.
Enoka's role has been redefined. His job title is manager - leadership. He is a central and massively influential figure in the everyday life of the team.
He's not behind a door with a couch, waiting for players to turn up for a scheduled session where they break down about not having been breastfed. Mental skills are not an isolated part of the routine for the players - it's not a box they tick after they have nailed their tactical, technical and physical preparation.
Enoka is on the training ground with the players. He's a coach, much like any other, with constant input. Every player in the All Blacks these days will have spent time with Enoka developing a 'toolbox' of skills to help them cope with various situations.
"I guess from when you first started to now, you spend a lot of time with Gilbert just setting up structures on how to prepare well before a game," says All Blacks prop Charlie Faumuina.
"I probably don't see him too much now because I have the tools that I need to perform well.
"You have things you want to focus on when you are playing but it is not something that burdens you. It could be just one thing you focus on - you might say to yourself there is just one thing you want to take into the scrum and it could be getting a strong bind, or getting your feet back fast."
All Blacks have taken to techniques from such sources as the US Marines to find the winning formula. Photo / AP
Much of what Enoka does is informal, a quick chat in the corridor, or a debrief over coffee, but those who feel the need for something specific and deeper can find it.
What has transformed the All Blacks from a good side in 2007 to a great side in 2017 is the realisation that mental skills are prevalent in all actions. The players can all pass and catch but in test football, the real question is whether they can still do it under pressure.
Since 2007 and particularly since 2010, the All Blacks have rarely lost a big game. They have typically been clinical and ruthless in all aspects of their work when it has mattered. They haven't cracked under pressure the way they used to and last week at Eden Park, in their biggest test since the World Cup, they delivered everything they needed to when it counted.
They won the big moments and while the test was portrayed as a clash of styles, what it came down to in the end was that the All Blacks were better able to stay task focused to execute the key plays.
They have come to understand themselves and pressure in detail none of their opponents can match. They have continued to scour for external sources of inspiration, with Enoka and Hansen visiting the US Marines ahead of the series with the Lions.
For most of the professional age, the All Blacks have had the skills, the speed and the strategy to succeed. What they have developed in the past 10 years is the mental awareness and strengths to ensure they can make best use of their physical advantages.
"Vulnerability is the base quality that allows us to grow," says Enoka. "It is not structured. It is not a menu-driven approach. We have a process and structure that works.
