Belief.

Jacob Stockdale’s rise to the summit of international rugby has been nothing short of incredible. The Ulster winger made it 12 tries in 14 Tests last night, having only made his debut this time last year.

Since last year’s November series Stockdale has been breaking records left, right and centre – scoring tries for fun, and a lot of that comes from his incredible confidence in his ability.

The youngster is never afraid to try something and will have a go at defenders at almost every opportunity. And more importantly – if it doesn’t work out, he dusts himself down and goes again. And we saw proof of that last night against the All Blacks. Jacob Stockdale will back himself every time.

Stockdale did incredibly well to control a New Zealand kick by trapping the ball with his foot and flicking it up, before deciding to have a go inside his own half. But it didn’t work out and he very nearly cost Ireland a try, only for an uncharacteristic fumble from All Blacks captain Kieran Read.

Did he let that discourage him from trying it again? Not on your life. Just four minutes later Stockdale found himself in space once again and put in a near identical chip. This time he gathered. This time he scored a try. This time he made history. The scored proved to be the difference between Ireland and the world champions.

That’s the difference between Jacob Stockdale and just about everyone else. Incredible.