Three words spring to mind: Desire, Determination, and Dedication.

The desire must come from within, not from a coach or a parent; either you ‘want it’ or you don’t there is no other choice. The desire must come to you long before you cross the white line on the rugby field, that’s why training is so important; it builds the desire long before the match starts.

It will always starts with a dream, then somehow you must be inspired each day to reach your goals or you will struggle to make it.
You must be hungry, very hungry, hungry for success, hungry for victory and hungry to be the best that you can be.

Once you have the desire, determination and dedication will help on your journey towards your dream and reach your goals. It’s very easy to get sidelined or distracted so it’s important to get your priorities in the order that you want.
The relentless quest, the thing that keeps you going day after day is your determination. Unfortunately there are no shortcuts in the world of sport (and life for that matter) just hard work; beating your opponent or competition or overcoming adversity along the way is not easy.

Setting your goals let you know where you’re going and allows you to determine how far you’ve already come. The difference between where you are now and where you goal/dream is, tells you how much further you have yet to go.
A lack of opportunity is often a lack of direction/planning or purpose. That’s why goal are so valuable.
If you don’t know where you are going, how are going to know when you get there?

Desire:

To win, you have to have the talent and desire- but desire first.
Sam Snead professional golfer

Determination:

To succeed in life one must have the determination and must be prepared to suffer during the process. If one isn’t prepared to suffer during adversities, I don’t see how he can be successful.
Gary Player professional golfer

Dedication:

It was tough. When people look at me today they say, ‘Hey, you are a millionaire now, you’ve got it made.’ They didn’t know me before I was a success and as a result they don’t realize everything that I got I worked for. I did my homework. I went home and practiced punches in the mirror hour after hour after hour….I dedicated myself to be the best.
Marvin Hagler professional boxer