sport news All Blacks' mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka 'hired by Chelsea on a ... trends now

Chelsea have reportedly hired former All Blacks mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka on a short-term consultancy basis. 

Enoka, who described himself as the 'custodian of culture' for the All Blacks, has spent over 20 years with the New Zealand national side in a number of roles, including as the team's mental skills coach, assistant manager and more recently the side's leadership manager. 

His time with one of the most feted sports teams on the planet coincided with them claiming two World Cups back-to-back in 2011 and 2015 and shaking off the feeling that they often failed to get it done in the key moments. 

According to The Telegraph, Chelsea have sought to gain some of his wisdom and have hired the former New Zealand international volleyball player on a temporary basis. 

The report states that he is due to start what has been described as a short-term consultancy role, with Chelsea - under the owners Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital - keen to instil a fresh winning culture within the club following an astonishing financial outlay in the last eight months. 

He will be tasked with ensuring a team culture is found under Graham Potter, with Chelsea having reportedly acknowledged that work needs to be done to ensure the club's new arrivals do not fail under the weight of expectation.  

While New Zealand have long been regarded as Test rugby union's greatest side, for a long time they were accused of failing to live up to expectation. 

Famous defeats include World Cup losses to South Africa in 1995 and France in 2007, fixtures it was expected that they should have got over the line in.