in the Japanese Top League, again provoking
media ire for supposedly disrespecting
Australian rugby. Again he listened to the
criticism, weighed it up and held his line.
Easing back into the game via a less
punishing competition than Super Rugby
was the right thing to do, he says.
FIND YOUR PURPOSE
The Australia he returned to in the new year
had, in his absence, voted for a Pocock-
championed change to its character: the right
of same-sex couples to marry. In 2010 he and
Emma had a commitment ceremony rather
than a wedding. “For us it was just a small
gesture,” he explains. “We didn’t want to join a
club that excluded people we loved.”
Pocock and Emma haven’t rushed to the
altar since the law change, mainly because
he’s been content as they are. Then, out of the
blue a few months ago, Emma proposed. “I
thought she was joking but she did it four or
five times,” he says. “We’ve been looking at
the calendar trying to nail down a date.”
Accepted wisdom is that winners need to
have tunnel vision – that unless they’re
absorbed in their own needs they’re handing
an edge to adversaries who are. The case of
Pocock suggests otherwise: you can direct
your brainpower across multiple fields without
falling in a heap in your main game.
“On a personal level sport’s been a huge
part of my life,” he says. “I’ve benefited so
much from being able to chase a rugby ball
around a field for a living for 10 years.” When
he was new to Australia, proficiency in a
collision sport delivered him acceptance,
admiration and friends. “It also taught me thevalue of teamwork and to respect others.”
And winning? “You want to be the very best
player you can be,” Pocock says. “You want to
be part of the best team. And when you do
that, you win. But it surely can’t be that
winning is all there is.”
High on Pocock’s most-admired list is
Jungian analyst James Hollis, author of
Through The Dark Wood: Finding Meaning in
the Second Half of Life. Pocock can
simultaneously give the impression of being
in that dark wood already while exuding a
quiet certainty that he’ll find his way out.
Clearly, his life is a quest for meaning.
Rugby will sustain him for now and probably
until the World Cup wraps up in November
next year, but not beyond that, you sense. He
seems to have a retirement schedule in mind
but is keeping schtum.
Each of us has a mission in life, he thinks,
but before you can pursue it wholeheartedly
you fir s t need to nail dow n w hat i t is. “ I don’ t
have the answer just yet,” he says. “That was
part of having some time away. But I’m still
not sure. Maybe you never actually get
the answer and all you can do is live
the questions.”
H e k nows this much: as gr ateful as he is to
rugby, it is not his mission. How could it be?
“Because then life would be over in my
thirties.” He doubts his future lies in politics;
more likely it will unfold outdoors. “We have
such a connection to the earth, to nature,” he
says. “I certainly feel most alive when I’m out
there. I think deep down we all know what’s
right for us. And in many ways it’s listening to
that inner voice, that feeling we get when we
know something’s right.”
Pocock says he draws inspiration from
those who are passionate about what they do.
“There’s something infectious about
someone who knows what they love and has
found a way to do it in a way that allows them
to live. Does that make sense?”
Perfect sense. You might even say it’s
reassuring. If someone as accomplished as
Pocock is still trying to blaze a path to his best
life, then why beat yourself up if you are too?EVERYONE WANTS TO BE LIKED BUT YOU
HAVE TO BE PREPARED TO MAKE THOSE
DECISIONS AND WEAR THE CONSEQUENCES
Blinding insights
eluded Pocock in
Zimbabwe.The
search goes on.COVER GUY