Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles My background was quite challenging. I grew up on a council estate, single parent family. I was born with a physical disability. Regardless of your background, if you really want to achieve something, you can. So my first tip would be... So the challenge that I would have when I was playing, was that I'd make a mistake quite early on and then I'd spend effectively 60 minutes worrying about what I'd done in the first 10 or 20 minutes of the game. I would dwell quite a lot, and it would affect me to the point where at half time I'd get subbed off. And that's the worst thing. But when you make a mistake, just think forward, look forward, think about what you're going to do next and that will take you away from the previous error. So my next tip would be... When I was born I was born with a physical disability called clubfoot so it's basically where one or both your feet are completely turned all the way in. So it got corrected but my foot still has a sort of slight angle in when I run. Over my career I think I've had many times when I've had a bit of... I guess, self-doubt, very negative thoughts, I really needed to work really hard on that mental side. So I came up with my mantra - I'm fit, I'm fast, I'm athletically strong - so it was all about me being confident in my body. Before I played in a big game I would say to myself that mantra - right that's me, I'm going to do it, I'm going to show people how good I am. So my next tip would be to... By that, I mean it's important that people set goals and when you write it down it really does focus your mind and focuses your behaviour. And I think what's good about having a structured diary is that it allows you to be organised, it allows you to feel good about yourself when you've done it, monitoring your progress allows you to improve. So my final tip would be... I think it's important to recognise, prior to a game, or prior to any big event, that you're going to deliver, giving yourself time to think about what you're about to do. Early in my career, I wouldn't give myself that time and space and I'd just go into a game almost like a headless chicken because I'd be so excited, and then as a result of that in the first 10 minutes I'd give away a penalty. So I'd always say to people, where possible, switch off. Prior to a big game I like to take my dogs for a walk, I've got two dogs, and that allows me to feel quite comfortable and confident, so when I have to perform, I'm ready to go and I'm not anxious. It was incredibly special to actually achieve and win that World Cup. Felt happy, felt ecstatic, felt all of those great emotions, but actually the biggest emotion that came through was relief. Because we spent 12 years building up to that point, We'd lost two World Cup finals prior to that. If I'd won the World Cup straight away with my team it wouldn't have been that special. It wouldn't have meant anything if we haven't had that journey.
A2 world cup prior big game mantra disability cup How to be a champion (in rugby and in life) | BBC Ideas 33 0 Summer posted on 2021/08/19 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary