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The Best of Which You are Capable

At last month’s Rugby Players Ireland/IRFU Rookie Camp, Josh van der Flier sat down with our newest members to reflect on what he has learned since beginning his own professional career. From patience and setbacks to switching off and preparing for life beyond rugby, here, in his own words, are some of the lessons he wishes he had understood when he was starting out.

You’re there for a reason

I can still remember the first time I was called into a Leinster training session. I had just finished school and Brian O’Driscoll was still playing. I’d never met him before and he came over and introduced himself: “Hi, I’m Brian. Nice to meet you.”

As if I didn’t know who he was.

It can be nerve-racking when you first walk into an environment like that. I used to get nervous before every training session. I was afraid to make a mistake or stand out in any way.

To be honest, even though I’ve played in some massive games I still get nervous before training sometimes. I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad thing. In fact, I welcome the nerves because it means I care.

As the months pass by though you begin to realise that you’re there for a reason. Someone has seen something in you, and believes you have the potential to play at that level. You have to trust them.  

Of course, that doesn’t mean everything happens immediately. There were definitely periods early in my career when I wasn’t playing that much. I remember being on the bench for UCD 20s when some of the lads were getting starts for Leinster. When you’re young and you’ve been used to playing all the time, that can be difficult.

Looking back now, I think those periods are so important. If you’re not playing every week, use the time. Work on the parts of your game that need work. Learn from the people around you. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Even the most experienced players don’t have all the answers.

Sometimes I think there’s an advantage to coming through under the radar a little bit. I don’t think Ringer [Garry Ringrose] played a representative game for Leinster until he was out of school. Now he’s one of the best centres in the game and a lot of that is down to the time he had to develop and invest in becoming a better player.

Everyone’s pathway is different, so there’s no point looking at the guy beside you and worrying that he’s further ahead. Sometimes the time when nobody is really watching can be some of the most valuable time you have… and you have more of that than you think.

Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne

If I was to give one piece of advice to someone starting out in the game, it would be to focus on doing everything you can with the opportunities you have. Throughout my own career, I’ve kept coming back to a quote from John Wooden: “Success is peace of mind in knowing you did your best to be the best of which you are capable.”

I love that idea. I use it before and after games, and it applies just as much to the things I do away from rugby. For me, it’s about being able to look back at whatever you’ve taken on and know that you gave it everything you could.

What does doing my best look like? I recover properly. I fuel properly. I learn what I need to learn. I do everything that’s within my control. There is a freedom in knowing I have done all I can.

It doesn’t guarantee that everything will go exactly as you’d like. The loss to New Zealand over the summer was obviously disappointing, but it didn’t consume me because I knew I had done everything I could to give myself, and the team, the best possible chance. Sometimes you just have to accept it’s not your day.  

Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady

Prepare for the other side of rugby

I’m 33 now and while I’d like to think I have plenty more rugby in me, the move into life after rugby is looming a little larger.

Over the years I’ve always tried to do some study. I’ve a degree in Sports & Exercise Management from UCD, and more recently did a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Dublin Business School. I’ve done other mini-courses too and sought advice from people in different industries.

Just because I’ve put a lot into my studies and off-field career doesn’t mean rugby matters any less to me. Professional rugby is obviously demanding on the body but there are also plenty of days when you finish the day early. I decided to put that bit of time to use instead of letting it pass me by.

For me, it comes back to the same Wooden principle. Whenever my career ends, I want to be able to say that I did what I could to prepare for what comes afterwards too.

No matter what, I’ll still be nervous about retirement. I think anyone who says otherwise is lying. Going from professional rugby into something completely different is a huge change but there is something in knowing you’ve put some work in along the way, and there is plenty of support out there.

Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Learn how to switch off

I was always happy to work hard but switching off proved to be a bit of a challenge. 

When I was about eight, I was the fastest in my class. It was coming up to our sports day and I was worried that another boy might beat me. The night before the race I remember putting cones out in the garden and doing about 100 laps on my bicycle. It made absolutely no sense, but in my head I felt I was putting the work in. That was me.

Even now, if somebody told me that running every day for the next 100 days would get me picked for Ireland, I’d say, “No bother. I’ll do it.”

What I’ve had to learn is that working harder isn’t always the answer. Sometimes you need to know when to switch off.

In the early part of my career I lived with five other rugby players. Rugby was on the television. We talked about rugby. We trained together. Rugby was our work, our social life and our downtime. It was all consuming to the point that I was always thinking about what I could do better.

It was years before I realised that switching off wasn’t taking away from my rugby and that it was helping it. Looking back, my first form of escape was the library in UCD. Then I took up golf as I was making my way back from injury in 2019.

Meeting my now-wife Sophie helped too because she had no real interest in rugby. That was actually brilliant for me. I found that my rugby improved when I got better at switching off between sessions because I had something else to think about.

I still have to watch myself. During the off-season, I’d convince myself I was just keeping the body ticking over before realising I’d been for five runs that week. My wife would look at me and say: “What are you doing? You’re on holidays.”

She’s usually right.

I think it’s important that you find something that allows you to leave the game alone for a while. For me it’s golf but others read and some just like spending time with people who have nothing to do with the game.

Sometimes, though, you don’t get to decide when you step away. Some of the toughest periods of my career have been when that option has been taken out of my hands.

I did my ACL in 2018 and that season Ireland went on to win the Grand Slam and Leinster won the Champions Cup and the Pro14. The lads also won a Test series down in Australia for the first time.

It felt like the best six months Irish rugby had ever had… and I was watching it. That was very difficult.

When you’re in the middle of a setback, it can feel enormous. It takes time to get your head around it, but eventually you start looking at what you can do rather than what you can’t. In the early stages of my ACL recovery I used to sit on a swivel chair and work on my passing, for example. I came back from that injury feeling stronger and faster, and ended up playing some of the best rugby of my career.

So you get through the tough times. Usually another challenge will come along and that will change your perspective. That is something worth remembering when things aren’t going your way.

Given the setbacks I’d had, I was obviously very proud to be named World Rugby Player of the Year in 2022. However, it’s not something I hang my hat on. Rugby is a team sport and individual awards like that are only possible  when your team is playing well and putting you in a position to perform.

Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/World Rugby

This was always in the back of my mind when I engaged with the media around the time. A lot of good things were being said about me but I learned not to pay too much attention to it.

To this day, I generally avoid rugby coverage on social media. The way I see it, for every article saying you’re the best player in the world, there will be another saying the opposite. If you start relying on one, you leave yourself vulnerable to the other. I’d rather take confidence from knowing I’ve prepared well and performed than listening to someone else.

There are obviously more eyes on you as a professional player, and you have to accept that people will form opinions of you from the outside. As you get further into your career, you also realise that the basis of your reputation is built much closer to home.

You can have all the talent in the world, but how you contribute to the team environment matters. If you’re a liability or people don’t want you around the group, you won’t be there for very long.

In that sense, being someone your teammates and coaches can trust is very important. It seems clichéd but a lot of that is down to being a good person, and true to yourself. 

Be yourself

That’s one of the first things Andy Farrell said to us when he took over with Ireland. There was no expectation that you had to behave a certain way to fit in. Some people are naturally loud, others are quieter and prefer one-to-one conversations. Both have something to offer.

I think that’s particularly important when you’re starting out in the game because the temptation is to come into a professional environment and try to be whatever you think a professional rugby player is supposed to look like.

Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Ben Brady

You don’t need to apologise for being yourself. The differences between people are part of what makes a good environment. You’ll also play better if you’re comfortable being yourself. You’ll contribute more to the group. You’ll probably enjoy it more too.

Enjoyment matters because you never know what’s around the corner in this career. You’ll play games you never imagined playing and miss ones you desperately wanted to be involved in. There will be injuries, selection disappointments and plenty that sits outside your control.

All you can really do is make the most of the opportunities that come your way and give them everything you have. Then, whenever you do look back, you can ask yourself the question I keep coming back to: Did I make the effort to become the best of which I was capable?

If the answer is yes, then I don’t think you can ask much more of yourself.