The visionary who helped win the World Cup

The unseen influence

Now you see her, now you don't. Which sort of fits in with the way Sherylle Calder moved around behind the scenes in the build-up to England's World Cup. Spotted by the ever-alert Clive Woodward in his relentless attention to detail, the South African sports scientist played an under-valued part in the rugby triumph.

Mission accomplished, she silently slipped out of the country and returned to South Africa, England's success another plus on her lengthening CV, which also shows involvement with the victorious Australian 2003 World Cup cricketers, the New Zealand All Blacks and Prada's America's Cup sailing team.

Officially employed by England as visual-awareness coach, it is best left to Calder to explain her duties. Particularly as old-timers are fond of the opinion that a sportsman's vision can't be taught. The 42-year-old former South African hockey international readily disagrees.

"I work to improve visual motor performance," she says. "The eyes can be trained like any part of the body. There are six muscles in each eye, and speed and movement can be improved. The brain is also able to be speeded up, which in turn improves hand-eye co-ordination." It all sounds rather technical, but the results can be seen with the naked eye, so to speak.

One of those who benefited from Calder's involvement was Phil Vickery. When she first started working with the Gloucester prop she would stand some distance behind him and tell him to pass a ball to her without looking. At first it was to prove frustrating as Vickery's radar went on the blink. By the time the World Cup came round he was finding Calder with eight balls out of every 10.

Most players, she believes, benefited from feeling where their team-mates were, and Calder would have approved of the pinpoint pass from Matt Dawson to Jonny Wilkinson which was to land the Webb Ellis Cup. By "knowing" where his fly-half was, the scrum-half was given that vital extra time to ensure the perfect ending. And at the highest level those milliseconds are the difference between winners and losers.

Calder conducts her exercises both on and off the field, a laptop computer her constant companion, while she monitors the movements of players. "Some of the England squad said to me they couldn't believe the difference the sessions made," she says. "They started catching the ball better [though Ben Kay's alarming lapse in the World Cup final was not the best example], seeing it better and timing it better. But if the top structure doesn't take it on board you can't expect the players to. Clive Woodward constantly strives for improvement, even if it's by an indescribably small margin. Without him I couldn't have produced results. I've worked with a lot of innovative coaches and he is a true visionary."

Another is John Buchanan, the Australian cricket coach. He approached Calder to speak to his team. "After the first time that I explained what I wanted to achieve with them, Shane Warne came and said, 'This is really going to help my bowling'. He was sent home shortly thereafter so I didn't get to work with him, but the collective attitude was, 'We want to get better'."

It is ironic that South Africa's rugby and cricket sides haven't made good use of their compatriot's skills, especially when she can point to working with two 2003 World Cup-winning squads. "I am a professional, and while I remain fiercely loyal to my country, I will work with whoever employs me," she explains.

A fine example Down Under of a player being "taught" to use the eye muscles came when the All Black fly-half Carlos Spencer looked straight at a Springbok defender and threw out a try-scoring pass, confident in his ability to know where his team-mate was. To the inexperienced eye it smacked of arrogance, luck, or a talented player simply throwing instinctively. Now we know differently. Just as hindsight is an exact science, it can be said that once Calder opened the eyes of the England players they were able to see a whole new World Cup.