England's Jonny Wilkinson prepares to take a penalty against Australia during their international rugby union match at Twickenham Stadium in London. Steve Black has won deserved plaudits for his work as a conditioning and performance mentor with the Wales rugby side and Newcastle United, Sunderland and Fulham soccer clubs. More notably Black, variously described as a coach, counsellor, strategist, facilitator and friend, was the inspiration behind Jonny Wilkinson, the man who drop-kicked England to the rugby World Cup in 2003.
Photograph by: RUSSELL CHEYNE
Credit: REUTERS

More notably Black, variously described as a coach, counsellor, strategist, facilitator and friend, was the inspiration behind Jonny Wilkinson, the man who drop-kicked England to the rugby World Cup in 2003.

Wilkinson, 30, who returned to international rugby last month after a horrendous succession of injuries, has paid many tributes to Black’s role in helping to train his body and mind.

Although the England flyhalf’s performances were subdued during the November international season, Black believes the best is still to come.

“If he can control his injuries, he’s brand new. He can get better and better because of his experience and his understanding,” Black said in a telephone interview.

“There’s every reason that at 33, 34, 35 we will be fortunate enough to have his services.”

Black, who estimates he has 15000 books in his home, has drawn on a multitude of influences, experiences and sources to form his beliefs which stretch well beyond the confines of a playing pitch or gymnasium.

Currently working for League One (third division) soccer club Huddersfield Town, the Englishman is acutely conscious of the thin line between success and failure and the need to concentrate on performance rather than results.

“I’m 53 and I’ve been thinking this way for 30 years, 35 years. It’s something that’s evolved — dressing rooms, board rooms, in gyms, in restaurants, in cafes, working with people in life,” he said.

“The margin of error is very, very small, the ball bounces one way in rugby for example because it’s a strange-shaped ball.

“Never try to be better than anybody else. Just keep working towards your potential, never stop trying to be as good as you can be.

“Some of the greatest stories you could ever write would be about the people who qualified for the Olympics, although ending up fourth, fifth in three Olympics running, who had to overcome so much adversity just to be able to compete.”

“All you can control is what you do. What we can control is the way we train, the relationships between coaching staff and trainers, the relationship between the players which is another big one.

“So you have to balance the relationships between you and the players; if you do all that stuff, i.e. you live your life right, you train properly, you’ve got a greater chance of playing well and if you play well you’ve got a greater chance of winning.”

Black resists categorisation.

“Wherever I work I don’t really have titles. If I have a title I suppose it’s performance-director-coach. I’ve never been big on public titles and things. I personally think I’m a philosopher,” he said.

“God gave us a clue with evolution; you adapt and you change.

“Even in the business world if you think about it everybody’s changing. If you’re not changing you’re going out of business.

“You’ve got to change and adapt. Being a salesman, being an analyst, all manner of things.

“You change the emphasis from ‘I want to be perfect’. If you want to be perfect you’re constantly going to be a little bit down. If you want to improve and get better, that’s different.”