Lessons learnt from the Investec International Academy: How to sell Mental Toughness  – Tim Goodenough
27 May 2009

It was a great pleasure to work with and learn from Murray Mexted, who has been running IRANZ, the New Zealand International rugby academy for 8 years. Murray has developed a module on mental toughness through collaborating with some of the top Sports Psychs in New Zealand, and referencing their theory against his practical experiences of playing at the top level of sport for so long.

One of the challenges I have always had was to sell the concept of mental toughness to an (entire) audience, what is it, and why is it important?  Murray’s module, first and foremost sets out to define what mental toughness is, and why you would want it.  He says before you can create some self-awareness for the boys and introduce them to some practical tools they have to be sold!  He said to me that initially this used to take him a couple of days, and now he does it in just one session.

The session is something special to see. He asks the boys to name who they think the mentally toughest players in rugby are.  Once everyone has someone there is a discussion till just one player’s name remains on the board; the player the room thinks is mentally the toughest.  He then asks the boys to define mental toughness in around 10 words, and there is some debate over what is the difference between talent and mental toughness.  Eventually he reveals what the Academy believes mental toughness to be. “The ability to play at your maximum, every time!”

Whilst the players were considering this idea, he plays them a movie that has the likes of John Eales, Nick Farr-Jones, Grant Fox, Nick Mallet, Richard Loe, Sean Fitzpatrick, Jeff Wilson and Christian Cullen, all talking about how mental toughness for them was what separated the good from the great.  To add to the mix Dick interviewed a few South African’s and hearing Bryan Habana, Dick Muir and Johan Ackermann say the same thing really creating a compelling message.  The boys were sold.

The Practical awareness that Murray focused on with the boys were things like, understanding their arousal level.  Do they need to get fired up or calm down before a game, and do they know how to do that?  Are they intrinsically or extrinsically motivated, and how do you use this to your advantage.

The exercises and concepts were kept simple, with the boys providing a lot of the content. Murray had a host of stories from playing for the All Blacks and around the world that illustrated his points, so that they boys could learn the practical skills, whilst also understanding the background of the mental skills.  This enabled them to quickly grasp the ideas and apply the learning to their own preparation.  I believe the learnt an incredible amount in just 3 weeks, and a lot of that was due to the way it was introduced and sold to them. Nicely done Murray!