Ireland players feel fresh and ready - O'Connell

Paul O'Connell has been Ireland forwards coach under head coach Andy Farrell since January 2021

Ireland forwards coach Paul O'Connell says the squad are not feeling the effects of a long season but are "fresh and ready" to face World Cup winners South Africa in their two-match Test series.

Andy Farrell's Six Nations champions play the Springboks in Pretoria on Saturday, with the second encounter between the sides taking place in Durban seven days later.

The games come 11 months since Ireland played their first warm-up match for the 2023 World Cup and just a matter of weeks since the conclusion of the European and United Rugby Championship club campaigns.

"We're lucky in how we manage the players. It's probably been a long year but the players have gotten plenty of time off during the year, weeks when you're not training, you’re not playing, you don’t have the mental pressure that comes with a game," said O'Connell.

"Then players tend to be on different journeys. Some players were out of things a little bit earlier and have had a little bit of time and have had that mental break, that physical break. Some players picked up an injury during the year and they got their break there.

"Whenever we've come on tour in the last few years and we have come together after a particularly heavy period with the provinces, there's never been a feeling that we have to manage them or manage their load. We haven’t felt that over here."

'Doing our stuff better across the board'

O'Connell explains that Ireland's preparations for the meetings with the Boks have been much as they would be for series of matches at other times of the year.

"We've just being a little bit careful with the travel. We arrived in two groups and at different times and we were careful in that first session, but we haven't changed how we've trained a whole lot if this was a November international or it was a Six Nations.

"The players feel good and they feel fresh and they feel ready.

"There won't be an asterisk after the match saying who was fresher and who was less fresh, so it is what it is."

The former Ireland second row knows the tourists face a formidable challenge against a South African side led by former Munster coach Rassie Erasmus.

Ireland have won the past three games between the teams but only one of 10 matches the sides have played in South Africa.

"They are world champions. They have good continuity in their playing group. They know what they stand for and I reckon there is a lot of confidence in their group at the moment so it’s a massive challenge for us to be away from home, but our boys are looking forward to it," added O'Connell.

"They're an excellent set piece side, an excellent lineout side, always have been.

"We’ve been a little specific about them but it’s been mainly about us doing our stuff better across the board and boys enjoy doing that. We enjoy focusing on ourselves.

"You have to focus on the opposition and what they are going to do but by and large we concentrate on ourselves a little bit more than we did in my playing days."