This article describes my experiences of working within professional rugby union in South Wales, United Kingdom. Initially, I locate the context of professional rugby union in the country alongside how my various subcultural understandings of the sport were obtained. After outlining my consulting philosophy developed for working in a professional rugby union context, subsequent cultural challenges for practitioners working in the sport are then explored, together with example strategies used to account for such cultural considerations. I conclude by reflecting upon the importance of practitioners possessing and developing contextual intelligence and cultural competency to work effectively in high-performance environments
Mellalieu, S.D. (2017) 'Sport psychology consulting in professional rugby union in the United Kingdom', Journal of Sport Psychology in Action, 8 (2), pp. 109-120
Print ISSN
2152-0704
Electronic ISSN
2152-0712
Cardiff Met Affiliation
Cardiff School of Sport and Health Sciences
Cardiff Met Authors
Stephen Mellalieu
Cardiff Met Research Centre/Group
Mental Health and Wellbeing in Demanding Environments