Coaching the coach

If you hear an Irish rugby player in the coming year using the term ’Always Compete’ or ’Fail Fast’ or admitting to spelling words backwards when they’ve felt over-anxious, you can probably put it down to a recent conversation between Joe Schmidt and a psychologist Dr Michael Gervais.

After all such strategies have worked for the skydiver Felix Baumgartner and the multiple Superbowl and Olympic champions Gervais has coached.

In Anthony Daly’s terrific new book Dalo, he reveals and recounts a meeting he had with Joe Schmidt last season. For Dublin to get better he knew he had to get better so he went to one of the best to review and improve his performance.