England football manager Gareth Southgate has been working with an All Blacks coach to try and develop his side.

The England football team have been looking to the All Blacks for inspiration on developing their team culture and mental strength.

For most of this year, manager Gareth Southgate has been working with Owen Eastwood - who was an influential figure in driving the All Blacks' culture ahead of their 2014 end-of-season-tour, and is a current board member of the Warriors NRL club.

Eastwood, a lawyer by trade, who runs a company specialising in building high performance team cultures, has also advised the All Whites, as well as fellow football teams Chelsea and Manchester City, along with the South African cricket team, former England rugby coach Stuart Lancaster, and the military command group at Nato.

Along with working with the England women's team, Eastwood has been advising Southgate, who is an admirer of the All Blacks' setup and has spoken of the need for "self regulation" and for the squad to adopt a similar "no dickheads" policy which the rugby side had embraced to tackle inflated egos and ensure the team comes first.

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The All Blacks influence is behind England's team-bonding trip they took to the Royal Marines training centre in June and the cap ceremonies each new player gets when they join the squad now.

Southgate has also introduced rules for correct dress, positive behaviour and good time-keeping, with the players themselves taking the lead in policing these rules.

The England side have also been picking the brains of the German FA, as part of a two-year agreement struck in March to share ideas on coaching, youth development and administration.



Germany have been happy to share their blueprint for team bases for major tournaments and making players more available to the media. It is understood that Southgate, who was capped 57 times during his playing career, is keen to lift some of the tension that descends on England teams at European Championships and World Cups and believes better relations with the media - and a more relaxed approach in general - could be key.

Since replacing Sam Allardyce last September, at first on a caretaker basis, Southgate has presided over three wins, three draws and two defeats.



England lead their qualifying group after six matches and play qualifiers away to Malta on Saturday (NZ time) and at home to Slovakia on Tuesday (NZT).