David King. It’s a name not many will know, but he’s who’s helping the Wallaroos on their quest for Rugby World Cup glory.
King is the mental skills coach for Australia and the New South Wales Waratahs in Super W, teaching the players about mindfulness.
In the pressure cooker environment of the Rugby World Cup, having the mental fortitude to survive the hype is crucial to success.
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For Piper Duck, the addition of King to the Australian camp is a valuable one.
“You’re so concerned about how you’re physically performing, and how you’re physically preparing, but you forget about the mental side of it,” she explained.
“Especially in an environment like this, there’s a lot of emotions going about. I think that has been really beneficial for us having him on camp and strengthening our mental skills.
“He really just challenges us to think about things we probably won’t necessarily think of ourselves. It’s about mental preparation.”
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Duck said King has been reminding the Wallaroos of where they’ve come from and the journey to reaching the pinnacle of women’s rugby union.
“Basically this week the focus has been about connection and why you started in the first place,” said Duck.
“When you come to a place like a World Cup where it is the world stage and it is the pinnacle of our game, you can kind of get lost in the noise and excitement of it all, so it was about grounding us, connecting us as a group, and remembering why we started out on this journey with our sisters.”
After going up 17-nil in the opening stanza of their first pool match against the Black Ferns at Eden Park, the Wallaroos let that lead slip and conceded 41 unanswered points.
Sera Naiqama said building their mental capacity should translate into a sustained strong performance.
“Half-time for us is something that has been a work on for us in terms of how do we match that same energy that we brought in the first half and how do we replicate it in the second half,” said Naiqama.
“As a group, we’re trying to figure that out. We have some tools in the toolbox with working with a guy like David King who is a mental fitness coach. He’s been around our camp for a little while now.
“We’re just utilising that and trying to connect a little bit better off the field to make sure that when those periods get a little bit harder or when we’re in the lead how can we keep our foot on the throat.”
As for what that translates into, Duck explained, “From the simplest things like how to get your nerves down, but to how to even prepare and understand each other.
“That’s probably the biggest thing. You can understand yourself – sometimes I don’t even understand myself – but we need to understand each other.
“We need to realise everyone has their own way they look at things, see things, and if we can understand that and help support each other in that way through our mental skills we have been learning, it’s just going to benefit us all at the end of the day.”
Australia and Scotland will go head-to-head at 1pm (AEDT) on Saturday with live coverage ad-free and exclusively on Stan Sport.
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