Confidence has brought Paddy Jackson a long way

Whatever happens at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium today, Ireland fly-half Paddy Jackson should leave South Africa feeling he has finally laid the foundations for a long and fruitful Test career.

“Coming into the first game I was probably the most nervous I’ve been so we can all look at how well we played in that first game and the first half of the second game and we can take confidence from that and know that if we show up and do what we’ve been doing in training, play how we know we can play we can really put them to the sword.”

Confidence is clearly a significant element of Jackson’s progression through his early 20s and he needed every ounce of it to settle the nerves, step up to the plate in Johnny Sexton’s absence and guide his team around Newlands.