Tadhg Beirne insists tiredness won't be an issue for Ireland in tomorrow's first Test against South Africa in Pretoria, despite the season now running into a 13th month.
Last year's World Cup has put real strain on the rugby calendar, and it's now more than a year since Andy Farrell's side met up to begin their preparations for the tournament.
During that time, no member of this Ireland squad has played more rugby than Beirne this season, with the 32-year-old set for his 30th game of the campaign, logging more than 2100 minutes for both province and country.
"I'm definitely feeling good," the Munster captain said.
And while Beirne (below) admits it's been a grueling season, he's primed and ready to have a go at the world champions.
"I think at moments during the season I definitely felt it, I've had a few weekends off after the semi-final. So, you come into a new environment and it freshens you up for sure.
"We're well looked after here whether it's food or we've masseuses, it's a bit easier to look after your body than when you're back with the club - not that you don't have those things as well, it's just it's right in front of your face here for sure.
"From the moment we came in, the focus was straight on to South Africa and tactics, that kind of stuff.
"We've gone back to getting into the flow of how we do things as well, coming from different provinces, that was huge to get that team bonding and everything back together."
While South Africa's team shows just four changes from the XV that Ireland would have faced nine months ago at the World Cup, there's an expectation that the Springboks could have a few curveballs to throw this weekend due to the coaching changes alongside Rassie Erasmus, with former Japan coach Tony Brown brought in on attach, and ex-Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery (below) now running the South African defence.
"It does seem like they're more expansive, I wouldn't think they'll change much defensively.
"Fla [Flannery] worked under Jacques [former South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber], so I think he's bringing in a very similar defence system that he saw him use for Munster and the Springboks.
"Definitely, attack wise you could see straight away against Wales that they were more expansive for sure.
"They're very good at knockout rugby and they've proven that in the last two World Cups and they've proven that by grinding out wins by one score. It's a credit to them, they stick to their plan really well and they're a well-drilled team in terms of what they're trying to get out of the game.
"We can expect something different of course, they've new coaches going in there and even just from the game against Wales you could see they are trying to be a bit more expansive.
"They're trying to play a bit more than they were a year ago for sure," he added.
Some aspects of the South African game might be changing, but Beirne expects other elements of their game to be as strong as ever.
"Like every Test game, every time we come up against South Africa it's incredibly physical and it's no different this time.
"We're focused on that physical battle, we're focused on how we can improve from the Six Nations and hopefully we'll be able to show that on Saturday."
The second row knows Ireland will also be given stern test at the lineout, after they struggled on their own throw when the sides met in 2023.
"I suppose we're probably coming up against the best defensive lineout in the world, they've shown that multiple times over the last couple of years.
"They have big men across their whole team, it's a big focus for us. I don't think any of the lineout callings during the World Cup were poor, it's just they defended well.
"Again, it's just another area we need to be completely dialled in on for Saturday," he added.
Ireland have only beaten the Springboks once away from home, in 2016, and have never won a series in South Africa.
"We've touched on that for sure, this Irish team has been part of a lot of history over the last few years and we have said that if we can come away from here with two wins we'd have made history by being the first team to come here and win a series.
"So, it's no different to the goal of any other team who have come here trying to win a series. But, it's definitely motivation for sure.
"You can't live in the past, each Test brings it's new challenges and you have to learn from the previous Test.
"Whether you've won or lost, there's always something to learn and teams are going to try out different things because of pictures they've seen in the previous games.
"Once that whistle goes, it's focusing on that one game."
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