Chelsea hire mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka from All Blacks

The All Blacks coach Gilbert Enoka, who introduced what he called a “no dickheads policy” into the New Zealand set-up, has joined Chelsea on a shortterm consultancy basis, the rugby team said on Tuesday.

Enoka has worked with the All Blacks since 2000 in a number of roles. He has spent the past seven years as their leadership manager after 15 years as mental skills coach. His tenure coincided with a successful period for the team when they won consecutive World Cups in 2011 and 2015 and enjoyed a long stint at the top of the world rankings.

Enoka also worked as a mental skills coach with the New Zealand cricket team from 1998-2004 and the netball team from 1994-97. “A dickhead makes everything about them,” he said in 2017. “They are people who put themselves ahead of the team, people who think they’re entitled to things, expect the rules to be different for them, people operating deceitfully in the dark, or being unnecessarily loud about their work.

“The management might not spot these counterproductive behaviours. The players and leaders themselves should call others out for their inflated egos. Often teams put up with it because a player has so much talent. We look for early warning signs and wean the big egos out pretty quickly. Our motto is: ‘If you can’t change the people, change the people.’”

Chelsea are ninth in the Premier League and face West Ham away on Saturday.