It's not about playing poorly - that merely adds to the questionability of his actions, steaming from him.
It's about him not being a leader, and not doing anything to prove he is, in fact, a leader, and still spitting the dummy.
I do agree with the idea that it's up to the individual players as to how they react to it.
However, I've been on the receiving end of this - played prop when I played, and always made 20+ tackles a game, and 15+ runs per game, because I wanted to give my team the best chance to succeed.
Our petulant, little halfback would give us a spray if we missed a tackle, or dropped one of the hospital passes he threw.
Meanwhile, the forward pack were thinking, "What are YOU doing to get us the win? We're working out arses off to give you time, and space, and you haven't laid on a single point - but you'll have a go at us if we make an error?"
So maybe I take it personally.