Paul O'Connell admits he's feeling the failures even more as a Test coach.
O'Connell enjoyed massive highs and lows as a player for Munster and Ireland, and spent a year coaching at Stade Francais before taking up his current role with Ireland's forwards.
The Reds legend has already made a real difference in terms of Ireland's set-piece and breakdown but has revealed that defeats in his first games within the set-up, the Six Nations losses against Wales and France, were difficult to deal with.
“Look, the losses are probably even harder to take," O'Connell said, speaking ahead of Sunday's clash with Scotland in Murrayfield.
"All you can do is prepare the players as well as you can and then you have got to trust them to go and do the job.
"And then you've got to reflect on what you did, tweak it, and just go again. That’s all you can do.
“I might have gotten better at it towards the end of my playing days - and gotten used a little bit to it in Paris."
O'Connell is embracing the process he learning under Andy Farrell to get to know the players he didn't know before agreeing to come into the Ireland set-up.
"That’s something Andy is big into, getting to know players so that when you have to deliver a piece of information that might be sensitive or critical that they trust you and understand where it is coming from," he said.
"That’s how it works here from day to day. It's definitely very relaxed, and I have seen that in a lot of environments.
"The coach-player relationship is a lot more relaxed than it used to be. It’s a lot more about understanding one another.
"It’s a lot more about asking questions to figure out where they are and where their understanding is at.
"That is a bit of a challenge for me but it is something that I enjoy as well."
O'Connell is gushing in his praise of Tadhg Beirne, who has been one of Ireland's best players of this championship despite being used in the second and back rows.
And he is eager for skipper Johnny Sexton to continue for as long as possible after signing a new one-year deal.
"The hunger is massively there," O'Connell said of the 35-year-old.
"I enjoy talking to him about training and preparation and how he’s trying to figure way to look after his body. He’s incredibly diligent in that regard.
"He can be cranky at times but by and large he makes people feel good, the intensity that he brings to training, to meetings, to any conversation.
"It’s inspiring for players to see how much it still means to him. How much responsibility he’s willing to take.
"Guys like Johnny who probably touch the ball the second-most times after the nine, guys that are willing to take responsibility for the performance of the team are invaluable and it’s a big lesson for other players to watch him in action.
"That’s the biggest thing from my time playing with him and since I’ve been in here, is the amount of responsibility he’s willing to take.
"He does get cranky with them at times but he’s great value for any team and the longer he can stay playing, the better for the development of other out-halves and the better it is for Ireland and Leinster."
