'That definitely helped me flick that switch' - The mindset switch that changed Josh van der Flier's career

In 2021, Josh van der Flier had his 'Eureka!' moment.

The Leinster flanker was a regular Ireland international at that stage, albeit not a guaranteed starter as he is today.

Pre-match anxiety was a big thing for the Wicklow native, but it wasn’t actually a natural feeling.

"My preparation for games now looks completely different," he says, as he gets ready for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations opener against England.

"I still tried my hardest back then to prepare well, but you learn what works for you and what doesn’t, and how you can get yourself to the best place for performing at the weekend.

"Back then [before 2021], I felt if I wasn’t really nervous I wouldn’t play well.

"I would have hated being anxious, but felt that I needed to be anxious. It was one of them funny ones so definitely that changed a lot."

The moment he realised it didn't have to be like that came one evening when he was a traveling reserve on game day.

Not expecting to be involved, Van der Flier went through the motions of the pre-game warm-up without the pumped up anxiety he’d previously forced upon himself, only to be called in to play at the last minute.

"I’d obviously learned the plays and stuff, but I’m not playing and then someone gets injured in the warm-up and you have to play. You’re completely relaxed and then you have to turn it on and play and it goes real well and you’re thinking ‘maybe I don’t need to be so wound up about the game’.

It’s hard to believe now, but Van der Flier’s (above) career was at a crossroads back in early 2021. For a time, it looked like the back row was falling behind Will Connors in the eyes of Andy Farrell, only for a Connors injury to open the door for his return later in that Six Nations.

Having realised he didn't have to