This is the 3rd episode of a 9-part series on the 1924 New Zealand ‘All Blacks’ rugby team forever known as “The Invincibles”.

This series is both the telling of an epic story and an extraction of timeless lessons around shared identity, team culture and leadership. It is about storytelling and learnings – not scrums and lineouts.

In each episode I am joined by a guest who helps navigate the events that unfold & and shed light on insights that have a contemporary significance.

In this 3rd episode I’m joined by my friend – Wayne Smith.  Smithy is a former All Black who earned 17 caps in the 1980s before transitioning into one of rugby’s most successful and respected coaches. He played a pivotal role as assistant coach in guiding the All Blacks to Rugby World Cup triumphs in 2011 and 2015, and later guided the NZ women’s rugby team – the Black Ferns - to their 2022 World Cup victory. .

This episode is called “The Voyage” and traces the 'forming' stage of this team during their 39 day boat voyage from Wellington, New Zealand to Plymouth, England.

This episode includes the story of:

•  a new captain ... without a plan
• creation of a Player Leadership Group
• developing an innovative daily ritual
• a deep story of the team value of "caring"
• sacrifice in action by the new captain

In this episode Wayne and I traverse these events and explore in conversation:

• the power of team Identity
• the importance of connecting talent to the shirt they wear
• the power of tracking team values back in time
• player empowerment as a coaching philosophy
• the power of rituals
• the benefits of big picture framing in high performance pursuits

The visual version of this episode, including images of players and events mentioned, is available on YouTube here: XXX

Click here to purchase a copy of Owen's book, Belonging.