The man behind the All Blacks’ mindset on legacy, leadership and belonging
Friday, 8 May 2026
Described by Steve Hansen as “the secret ingredient” and Wayne Smith as “my secret weapon”, Gilbert Enoka made his 300th outing as the All Blacks’ Leadership and Mental Performance Coach at France’s 2023 Rugby World Cup. Enoka has come a long way from the lonely boy raised in a Marton orphanage — with a Dad absent in the Cook Islands — hungry for connection and belonging.
Enoka’s book Become Unstoppable tracks his inspirational journey, which intertwined with the All Blacks from 2000. With the All Blacks’ aura waning over the last two years, it’s heartening to hear Enoka is back in his stalwart role (after a two-season absence). He has been working with new head coach Dave Rennie since March.
Johannesburg, August 2004. After the Springboks thrashed the All Blacks 40-26, senior players staged a court session featuring wild spirits consumption. All Blacks strewn around the team hotel had to be rolled into the recovery position — by their opponents. A member of the management team was bullied and coerced into drinking so much that he feared he was going to die.
Wayne Smith came very close to quitting, Enoka recalls solemnly, over the phone from his Christchurch home. “We had, as you know, that toxic culture we had to confront,” Enoka intones with characteristic passion, “Boy, did we have a crisis of identity.”
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The coaches dedicated themselves to revolutionising the team culture, under the mantra better people make better All Blacks. Experts - from Brisbane Broncos league coach Wayne Bennett to kapa haka composer Derek Lardelli, a University of Canterbury friend and teammate of Enoka’s - advised.
Reconnecting with Māori culture was vital to the team’s success, as exemplified by Lardelli’s rousing new haka, Kapa o Pango. On a freezing Dunedin night (the coldest I’ve experienced as an adult), the haka was magnificently unveiled - led by skipper Tana Umaga - before a win over the Springboks, with the All Blacks defending like their lives depended on it.
A year on from the Johannesburg embarrassments, the Kiwis were back. It was the beginnings of an extraordinary dynasty— Cardiff 2007 excepted— that endured until 2023. Umaga is also part of Rennie’s new team, in charge of defence.
Enoka, an advocate for a bicultural nation and a multicultural society, speaks beautifully on Lardelli. “I believe the black jersey has mystical powers that can be awakened by certain people. Links to the legacy, links to the whakapapa, links to the whenua. Your wairua gets ignited when it gets connected by people who understand and embrace. He’s one of those men. He does work that uplifts the human spirit. He lights the fire inside that jersey.
“All our great successes we’ve had during my two decades with the team, particularly the latter half, he’s been right inside working his magic. Derek gets in front of that group and you can feel the air is just different. He’s just got a wonderful power. I love it as a Kiwi in Aotearoa having that connection to someone like him, who connects us to the bigger picture of who we are, where we’re from, and what we represent as we create new horizons moving forward.”
In Britain covering the eerily quiet captain’s run before the 2015 World Cup quarter-final triumph — a repeat of the 2007 Cardiff catastrophe against France — I was struck by the All Blacks’ pure concentration. “It was the coming together of a lot of will …There was almost a whispering of the haka at captain’s run; it was exhilaration that the time had come,” Wayne Smith tells me.
“What a beautiful quote from The Professor,” Enoka chimes in. “Not a lot was said in the lead-up to that game, but everything was understood.” Enoka emphasises it is one of his favourite All Blacks performances, and centurion lock Brodie Retallick’s favourite. “What a game. Putting 62 points on a French team of that calibre.”
NZRU Chairman David Kirk proclaimed that the 2024 and 2025 trajectory wasn’t good. What went wrong with the All Blacks under Razor [Scott Robertson]? Enoka is diplomatic. “Really Alex, I wasn’t inside it. Anything I say would be just hearsay. I care deeply for the jersey and for the legacy. There were some things that weren’t happening, that we felt we needed to see and feel.”
Enoka is relishing getting to know Rennie, as they build leadership processes and structures for the new era. “Renns is authentic. What you see is what you get. He’s not putting on a facade. I know he cares a lot, because I can feel that, and I see that in the conversations that we’ve had. He’s deliberate. He knows what he wants. He gives himself time to reflect, and he doesn’t move at a pace that makes some of the decisions hasty. He’s thorough. He spent time gathering a team around him that complements his strengths. I know that he will give autonomy in areas that you have responsibility to, but at the same time be the commander.”
Enoka adds Rennie is evoking the 2004-2005 period, asking his team whether areas of what the All Blacks have been doing need evolution or revolution?
Following upcoming home tests against France and Ireland, the duo is excited about Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, games between the All Blacks and South Africa’s four franchise rugby teams, and three tests between the Springboks and the All Blacks on South African lands. “He’s absolutely pumped for it. If we were scripting what we would need to prepare us for what’s required to win at Rugby World Cup 2027, you’d want a tough year, you’d be playing the best in the world. Can’t wait. Wonderful opportunity.”
Enoka reels off some psychologist animal metaphors he’s used with his players: further to the Springboks being elephants (“hot-headed”), Australians are hyenas (“scavenging”), Argentinians are chihuahuas (“very annoying”) and the All Blacks themselves are black panthers (“lethal instinct”).
“I’ve always loved how sport can unify people in a way that politics and politicians can’t”, Enoka — albeit a Nelson Mandela admirer — writes in his memoir. In conversation, he is more trenchant. “I’ve gone and done some sessions with politicians, with the councils, and I hated it. Because people could not form an independent opinion, because they had to take the party line. Sport makes us one. In 2011, when we were in the final, New Zealand didn’t feel divided.”
All these years and tests and accolades in, Enoka maintains his edge. “I encourage people to have a mentor: Someone who can deliberately provoke and question you in areas that you might avoid. Where you’re at is not enough, keep ongoing to the next level. It’s the old thing, comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable.
“So that we can get really, really good at making sure we’re not just following, we’re leading. New Zealanders have always loved being pioneers. We’ve loved firsts, doing things that other people think can’t be done. We need to get back to that ethos.”
Gilbert Enoka speaks at the Featherston Booktown Festival on Saturday and the Auckland Writers Festival next week. Become Unstoppable $40, Penguin. Feedback: Alexander.bisley@gmail.com