Confidence represents a fuel source for the individual and the team, one that drives success in all its forms, whether it is accomplished performances or the ultimate collective goal, winning trophies.
Its absence can make the best players appear hesitant and unsure and great teams distinctly ordinary. Confidence can come from a single source, a player that becomes an inspiration to team-mates with his infectious positivity or the certainty he brings, someone who does a disproportionate amount of the heavy lifting.
I was lucky to play with several that could impact people, as well as the match. A couple of times in my own career, I felt in that zone where things flowed easily and produced a high-end output. It’s an alliance of rugby smarts to know what to do, when, and then possess the confidence to go and do it.
Transfer rumour mill runs hot as Irish provinces gear up for Europe
The confidence in one’s own ability tips the scales in your favour, and moments of individual creativity become the norm rather than the exception. Mistakes can happen but they tend not to because you have fully backed the original decision.
Felipe Contepomi would meander across a pitch only to release a deft pass that would leave the defence unmoored. Paul O’Connell and Leo Cullen were inspirational leaders. No one complained about the hard work.
Brian O’Driscoll was selfish for the same reason others are selfless. He demanded the ball, confident that he would make a difference in that moment, whether it was creating something for himself or a team-mate.
If we look at perhaps the two best teams in the Champions Cup, Bordeaux Bègles and Toulouse, and the top three teams in the URC, Glasgow, Stormers and Ulster, they are all playing a high-tempo, high-skill style of rugby that requires players to be on their game to maximise that advantage.
France would be a good example of getting that balance wrong. Their sheer confidence to play began to wane as the Six Nations went on, the dependency on Antoine Dupont becoming more pronounced. They were a kick away from losing a tournament that at one point was tucked in a back pocket.
Felipe Contepomi in action for Leinster in the 2006 Heineken Cup. Photograph: INPHO/Billy Stickland
Andy Farrell’s selection policy challenged players to step up or step aside and to challenge the pecking order. It was enough to get Ireland to secure a Triple Crown ahead of tougher assignments in the summer. He rewarded form. That’s what players crave.
Over the last two rounds of URC, it is easy to spot players who are hitting a bit of personal form and how it positively impacts the players around them. Jack Crowley rescued Munster, Jamie Osborne’s high-profile display for Leinster, Stu McCloskey and Werner Kok leading the way for Ulster, while Bundee Aki was a standout a fortnight ago.
[ Gordon D’Arcy: Schools should adopt attacking style seen in Six NationsOpens in new window ]
Connacht are zipping along with five wins on the bounce and their clash with Munster in early May already looks like a sliding doors moment. Ulster stuttered against Zebre. Richie Murphy is right to suggest there is more work to be done but it doesn’t camouflage the significant progress the province has made on his watch.
Execution can be improved. Bryn Ward, who has all the potential in the world, will be reminded that for all his power in contact, looking after the ball is as important as beating defenders. Munster and Leinster find themselves in similar territory, where players are individually playing well, and in some cases extremely well, but the final product or performance is still elusive.
Munster’s two points and gutsy display against the Bulls in Pretoria, has the potential to switch momentum. Tadhg Beirne will return after a much-needed rest, and Clayton McMillian will hope that a couple of new faces can change their outlook as they switch tournaments and head for the Challenge Cup and a clash with Exeter in Sandy Park. The Edogbo brothers, Seán and Edwin, and Ben O’Connor caught the eye in a positive way.
Leinster have retained the capacity to win ugly, but it is head-scratching as to why things are not clicking often enough. A good representation of this is how they have not managed to get the best out of Rieko Ioane, either on the wing or in his preferred outside centre position.
Ben O’Connor of Munster on the offensive and scores a try during the United Rugby Championship match against Vodacom Bulls in Pretoria, South Africa. Photograph: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images
The All Black is getting the poor ball often, shovelled on with little or no prospect of him being able to work the oracle. Ioane is not a facilitator in the way Jordie Barrett was, or perhaps Osborne is; he is a runner and a finisher, and if Leinster can get the best out of him, it might bring the best out of themselves as a team.
There is a predictability to Leinster’s attack. Defences have been setting up well against them, but there is room – much as there was for Ireland in the Six Nations – to play a little more with the ball.
The raw materials are there, powerful, mobile forwards like Dan Sheehan and Caelan Doris, genuine pace out wide in Tommy O’Brien and Joshua Kenny, and in Osborne, a second playmaker in the gestation stage at inside centre. The right pass at the right time can unlock so much.
The capacity for the unexpected is exactly what Leinster need more of. Osborne’s skill-set feels like a natural fit to provide it, evidenced in the soft hands that set up Kenny’s try and the timing and distribution behind O’Brien’s score in the right corner.
But more than the technical contribution, it is the confidence he carries on to the field, the infectious kind. The sort that, as I said at the outset, pulls others along with it. If Leinster can find a few more players operating in that space and give Ioane the ball at the right moment within it, the performance that we have been hoping for all season, might arrive with greater frequency: just when it matters most.