On the All Blacks’ youtube channel, they posted a video about the Hurricanes maintain their mental strength. This appears to be part of a push in recent years to take a proactive approach towards mental health in New Zealand, and it has my strong backing.

We never know what life will throw at us. Part of a well rounded education is knowing how to react when in strife, which can often be dealt with through simply talking. We need to do all that we can to take down the mental and physical barriers that stop people from talking in a healthy manner, and this is an extremely positive initiative from the Hurricanes, and NZ rugby in general.

This is the sort of thing that makes me proud to be a New Zealander, because I don’t see it happening anytime soon in Japan. There are still too many taboos that stop people from talking, and one of them I think is the masculinity culture.

It’s ok to be a man and to talk. It’s ok to be a man and to cry, and it’s ok to be a man and let your emotions out. That’s real courage. That’s real masculinity. Now I just need to let others know that it’s ok.