No team will ever be as good as they are in the few days before a season kicks off.
The ground is firm and the weather is still fair and the possibilities for the next nine months are endless.
A few days out from his competitive debut with Munster, Billy Burns is a picture of optimism.
Twelve months ago, the prospect of starting this season in a Munster shirt would have seemed a bizarre move, but rugby has a habit of throwing up curveballs.
Back in April when Munster confirmed the Ireland international out-half would be joining their squad this season, Graham Rowntree admitted he was surprised a player of Burns experience was being let go by Ulster, who were looking to balance their books in a challenging financial period.
Ulster's loss was Munster’s gain. Jack Crowley’s ascent to Ireland’s first choice ten, and Joey Carbery’s decision to move to Bordeaux-Begles in France, left the province looking for an experienced option who could run the show week-on-week, and help bring on younger prospects like Tony Butler and Dylan Hicks.
While Crowley currently owns the 10 shirt at Munster, Burns has no intention of coming to the province simply to keep it warm for him on the days he’s unavailable.
A seven-cap Ireland international, Burns played more than 110 games across six seasons for Ulster where he was largely first choice, and believes he still has a lot more to give having just turned 30 this summer.
"I was at Ulster for such a long period of time and I loved my time there, I've nothing but good things to say about the place, but sometimes a change in environment, in ideas, maybe a way of seeing the game has really given me a new lease of life I think," he said, ahead of what is expected to be a competitive debut in Munster’s BKT United Championship opener against Connacht on Saturday.
"I hope that all the experiences that I've had along the way will help me become that player because I don't know what perception there is out there of me, but I've never for one minute thought that I'm the finished product.
"I'm always hungry to learn, hungry to get better and I know I need to get better because I want to play out-half for Munster this year, and if I want to do that then I need to be outperforming the number one fly-half in Ireland at the moment.
"I need to be improving and every single training session, walkthrough, whatever it may be - any little place I get those one percents will help.
"I now know more through experience the things that I need to do, the things that I can maybe put on the back-burner a little bit.
"Things around how I look after my body. Maybe in the past I've gone too hard around certain areas, I've ended up breaking down and not being able to be consistent.
"Ultimately, if I'm out on the pitch most weeks that's where you get consistent, comfortable and play your best rugby."
The out-half admits to feeling a bruised ego around his Ulster departure last season, even if he landed on his feet within a few days of finding out his time in Belfast was done.
"It was tough, it definitely was. I probably expected it a little bit the way things played out, when you get to my age you can kind of see the way that things are tracking.
"So, yeah, it was tough. It's never nice to leave a place not necessarily on your own terms.
"But, within a week I got the call from Graham and straight away it's such an exciting prospect. What a great club to come to, the way that the guys here have been playing over the last couple of years.
"So far I'm loving it," he added.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday at Thomond Park, Rowntree was quick to stress how impressed he’s been with how quickly Burns has built up a rapport with their younger out-halves, 22-year-old Butler, and 19-year-old Hicks.
And Burns credits his own upbringing in the Gloucester system, where he was able to learn from his older brother, England international out-half Freddie (below).
"It is a conscious thing, because at one time I was one of those young lads and I was very fortunate initially at Gloucester, it was my brother who was ahead of me.
"It was different because he was my brother, he looked after me, but James Hook came in and spent a lot of time with me, really helped me and I knew how - especially for the lads who have maybe not played a lot of games - that made me feel part of the team and how it made me feel that I could be a bit more vulnerable, ask questions and stuff.
"I want to be that guy.
"I'm not too proud to say I want to learn off these young lads as well, there's plenty of things in all their games that, if I can take just little bits, then I can improve.
"I just want to be as good a teammate as I can be, if there's any way I can help. I also just love the game of rugby, I love talking rugby and bouncing ideas off people.
"The first few weeks it was just myself, Tony [Butler] and Dylan [Hicks] as well. It was great getting to know those two young lads who have a huge amount of potential and talent.
"Jack [Crowley] has come back the last few weeks and I've been a huge fan of Jack ever since he started.
"It's a sign of how close we are that he dropped me a message on Sunday and we met for a coffee this morning, to go through things ahead of the game this weekend."
Having qualified for Ireland through his paternal grandfather, Burns made his Irish debut in the 2020 Autumn Nations Series against Wales, winning seven caps, the last of which came against Japan in July 2021.
And as he reflects honestly on how his year in the Irish squad started and ended, he hasn’t closed the door on a return.
"It was a really strange time, that period, because it was during Covid and I went in and through nobody else's fault but my own I probably wasn't quite myself.
"I went in there and felt that I had to change the player that I was because I was in that environment, but what I'd been picked for was what I'd been doing at club level.
"I definitely have regrets in certain things that I'd maybe do differently. And listen, I might have done them differently and still it might not have been the perfect outcome.
"But, yeah, I definitely do look back...I don't know if regret is the right word, I don't really know the right word, but those experiences now have put me in a better place. In terms of handling pressure and stuff, I feel like I'm in a better position.
"I don't regret it, but I'd love to have another crack at it at some point."
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