ACCOUNTABILITY

Everyone is accountable for performance. There’s no escaping that in the All Blacks. There’s no hiding or glossing over mistakes.

Everything is reviewed and analysed because the prevailing ethos is that everything could be done better. The person who made a mistake has to understand why it happened and make a plan to fix it the next time. And it doesn’t matter who made the mistake – no one is immune from having their faults pointed out. It is not a critical, shameful process – it is about the continual search for improvement

After he retired, Daniel Carter revealed that: “The coaches normally pinpoint the captain. They will make examples of missed tackles or mistakes from the leaders of the team and that sets an amazing example.

“They don’t pick on the young guys and that helps them feel like they’re equal. It’s a great trait. They don’t go after guys who are always making mistakes either. They might pull them aside privately, but the team culture is to use examples of the best players making mistakes.”