Great Sport Starts With A Healthy Mind

Legendary All Black and rugby coach John Kirwan talks about mental wellness in sport at this year’s Hong Kong Sevens.

- Lionel Kong

John Kirwan is a walking, living legend in rugby circles. A world cup winning New Zealand All Black and former coach of Italy and Japan, the 54-year-old is one of the ambassadors of this year’s Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, and is supporting a holistic marketing campaign entitled “Converting Hearts & Minds” throughout the Hong Kong Sevens to promote the importance of supporting body and mind in gaining whole person health.

Kirwan has been putting the weight of his influence behind mental wellness in sport for years. His personal rugby career embodies the importance of maintaining physical and mental wellness, and he was a key member of the All Blacks side that won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 that would go undefeated for another four years.

He was one of the first modern athletes to open up about his struggles with depression. On fourth April 2019, Cigna guests at the Cigna Wellness Summit got an insight of how depression almost derailed his personal life, even while his public persona was riding on a high. Kirwan is one of the most vocal personalities at the annual Mental Health Week in his home country of New Zealand.

He recalls how his depression hit rock bottom in 1991. On a long tour with the All Blacks to Argentina, his anxiety attacks, which had been his dark companion for a number of years, had become sustained and more intense. When he arrived home in Auckland he just about fell apart.