One of rugby's enduring strengths is that 15 megastars do not guarantee a successful team. There is no other ball-game which attempts to knit so many disparate body shapes and characters into a cohesive whole, which is why Wasps' Heineken Cup triumph last season was as much about the Will Greens, Paul Volleys and Richard Birketts as the Lawrence Dallaglios and Rob Howleys.
When people talk about unsung heroes, they tend to gravitate towards forwards who beaver away out of sight and mind. Everyone knows the backs are narcissistic fly-boys who get all the attention - or, in the case of poor old Clément Poitrenaud of Toulouse last May, all the blame. Rare indeed is the gifted three-quarter whom no one seems to notice.
But as Wasps prepare to launch their European defence against Biarritz in High Wycombe tomorrow, the moment has come to unmask the man poised, within 12 months, to become the most unlikely English international in history. Quite how the son of a Dutch chainsaw supplier who was born and raised in one of New Zealand's quieter cities qualifies to play rugby for England is a conundrum in itself, but if anyone can make that quantum leap seem easy it is Mark van Gisbergen.
If describing him as "the invisible van" is slightly overdoing it, the 27-year-old could scarcely be a more unobtrusive presence in the Wasps back three. Only when they replay last season's marvellous final does the realisation strike. Who scored the best try of the game? Who top-scored with 17 points? Who converted Howley's dramatic late try from the touchline? Even by Jonny Wilkinson's standards it was some contribution, yet few Frenchmen would pick him out from an identity parade with absolute confidence.
So who is this international man of mystery? To imply someone has risen without trace is normally an insult but in Van Gisbergen's case it is a compliment to Warren Gatland's nose for a good footballer. In the two years since arriving as a back-up fly-half to Alex King, armed with a Dutch passport, he has more than repaid his club's faith, his life having undergone mind-bending changes not normally experienced outside an Amsterdam coffee shop.
His coaches at Wasps, for whom he has played 49 Premiership matches and eight European games, would certainly not swap him, in contrast to New Zealand where he never even started an NPC game for his native Waikato. "He's the best full-back in the Premiership at the moment," shrugs Gatland when asked whether Van Gisbergen really is a Test player in waiting. "He's a top tackler, he kicks goals, he's brave and he's quick. He does everything well."
In short, Van Gisbergen, once a proficient saxophone player and now a keen surfer who has been chasing the waves in Cornwall, Jersey, Morocco and, appropriately, Biarritz, has no need to bleach his brown hair and grow it long à la Percy Montgomery to catch the eye of connoisseurs.
Whether it be a legacy of his early years as a soccer midfielder - he took up rugby only in his early teens - few possess his knack of being in the right place at the right time, a perfect foil for Wasps' blitz defence system. "Because of the high-risk style of defence we run, there's a lot of opportunity for teams to kick against us. Very often it's just me on my own so you need to read where the kick is going." As with the best surfies, his strength lies in making calm split-second decisions rarely evident from the shore.
Despite a tight back which has limited his goal-kicking lately, his reassuring presence also helps explain why Wasps have kept on winning this sea son in the absence of numerous key figures. Wasps' other two Twickenham try-scorers last May - Howley and Stuart Abbott - are missing, for instance, yet their replacements have all prospered around the cucumber-cool Van Gisbergen. Of their last 30 matches, Wasps have lost just five; as Biarritz may well discover, they lose very few big ones.
Only the nationality question causes the easy smile to tighten. When he speaks of home, he still means Hamilton where his father, demonstrating a versatility which runs in the family, has sold his chainsaw and mower business, donned a suit and become an estate agent. There is, he thinks, some Irish ancestry on his Kiwi mother's side but not a drop of English blood, his eligibility next September based purely on him completing three years' residency. He even put his natty red and black VW camper van up for sale last month, which suggests he really is serious about staying put.
As mercenaries go, though, Van Gisbergen is not the pushy sort. He looked mortified when asked to carry the Heineken Cup through Edinburgh Castle behind a lone piper this month and never contemplated playing for England when he came to London. "Being a rugby player you want to get to the highest level. I didn't have that focus when I first came over but it would be amazing to play in an international."
But what if New Zealand try and claim him back, as Gatland suspects they might? "It's hard because I'm not in that situation yet. Maybe it will feel different when, or if, that happens but I've made my name over here. Whatever opportunity comes up I'll take."
Cap or no cap, he is equally keen to hook up with his Dutch relatives. "Apparently there's a ruined castle near the Belgian border which is mentioned on our family tree. I wouldn't mind going to have a look, even if it is just a few stones lying in the grass."
If the castle is anything like the descendant, it will be deceptively valuable real estate.
TV: Sky Sports 2, 3pm tomorrow
