Ban on messages hurting integrity

Mental performance coach claims policy harms ‘sense of identity’

Leading sports mental performance coach David Niethe says World Rugby’s ban on wrist tape messages would take away the integrity of the sport.

The new policy, which banned sevens players from writing personal messages on their wrist tape, has drawn the ire of players.

Niethe, who was golfer Lydia Ko’s mental strength coach in her amateur days, backs the athletes’ right to write the messages.

“We all have certain things that motivate us to commit to performing at our best,” Niethe told the “This [decision] takes away from your personal sense of identity.”

Niethe explained how something as small as a message or symbol drawn on wrist tape can be a major influence for performance.

“They use it as something that we call an anchor, just something to give them a visual cue as a reminder of their purpose or their mission . . . It’s a subconscious suggestion that helps elicit the intention of a state,” he said.

“Whether it’s a word, or a symbol or an image . . . It stimulates you to get into a state that changes your psychology.”

The policy, now confirmed by World Rugby, emerged on Tuesday via social media from Black Ferns player Niall Williams, sister of All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams.

Williams, who wears her daughters’ initials on her wrists for every game, said it meant a lot to her and the children.

Niethe said players deserved the right to to wear those messages considering the hard work they had put in as athletes and to remind them of their commitment.

“We’re talking about something so insignificant to concern World Rugby. It’s an image of a cross because you have strong Christian values or it’s the initials of your children which is the visual cue for you.

“With certain respect to the uniform, we’re talking about the individual’s ability to personalise something

Whether it’s a word, or a symbol or an image . . . It stimulates you to get into a state that changes your psychology. Performance coach David Niethe

for them that helps them get into a state to help them perform at their best,” he said.

World Rugby yesterday defended the rule, which takes effect from the first round of the Sevens World Series this week in Dubai. WR said it needed to make sevens compliant with International Olympic Committee regulations which ban athletes from wearing any unauthorised slogans, logos, messages or symbols. Sevens became an Olympic sport for the first time at last year’s Rio de Janiero Games.

Breaking the new rule could bring a monetary penalty.

“There has been a significant increase in strapping art or messages in the series in recent seasons which is impossible to police for inappropriate or political statements by the match officials in the short period of time before entering the field in a sevens environment across multiple matches and in multiple languages,” World Rugby said in a statement.

“While World Rugby recognises that the overwhelming majority of the messages are appropriate and that is something that the players enjoy doing, there have been a small number of occasions where messages have gone unchecked and caused offence to teams, nations, commercial partners etc.

“This is a commonsense approach that has been accepted by all participating teams.”

The New Zealand Rugby Players’ Association said the rule was “buried” in a participation agreement signed by teams ahead of the seasonopening tournament in Dubai and had not previously been announced to players or national rugby unions.

NZRPA chief executive Rob Nichol said the the ban was “poorly implemented” and he would work to have it repealed.

Nichol said he did not believe the writing of messages on strapping tape was a major problem as most messages were of a personal, not a political nature. “I’d say 99.9 percent of athletes that do it, there is nothing wrong with what they write.”

All Blacks prop Kane Hames was censured last year for writing “Standing Rock” on his wrist tape — in support of Native Americans protesting against an oil pipeline through tribal lands — when playing for the Maori All Blacks against the US.