Culture specialist on board

The All Whites’ quest to qualify for the 2018 World Cup is receiving support from a heavyweight in high performance team culture.

Owen Eastwood may not be a name instantly recognisable to many of his fellow Kiwis. But one glance at the Southland-raised former lawyer’s CV and there can be no doubting where he stands in his field.

Eastwood, who helped engineer the All Blacks’ win over England at Twickenham on the 2014 end of year tour, has been called upon by some of the biggest and most notable sports teams and organisations on the planet.

Not only have New Zealand Rugby, the English football team, English Premier League giants Chelsea and Manchester City and the South African cricket side enlisted his help, he has also worked with the military command group at Nato.

‘‘Owen will be more and more involved,’’ Anthony Hudson said. ‘‘He’s all about team culture, helping teams really understand who they are and why they play.’’

The specialty of Eastwood, who also became a director on the board of rugby league club the New Zealand Warriors in early 2016, team culture is regularly linked to belief by successful sporting organisations.

And he is not the only person Hudson has sought advice from.

All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith and former All Blacks wing and Blues coach Sir John Kirwan both came in and spoke on team culture during an All Whites camp last year.

Hudson’s involvement in a coach accelerator programme has also allowed him to rub shoulders with Crusaders head coach and former All Black loose forward Scott Robertson, among others.

‘‘Every time we get together on the [coaching] course I get a better understanding of how the All Blacks see themselves, which is not the underdog mentality by the way,’’ Hudson said. ‘‘When I talked to people on the course it just didn’t sit right talking about us as underdogs, we are more than that.’’