Ireland players feel fresh and ready - O'Connell

Ireland forwards coach Paul O'Connell says nan Irish squad are not emotion nan effects of a agelong play but are "fresh and ready" to look World Cup winners South Africa successful their two-match Test series.

Andy Farrell's Six Nations champions play nan Springboks successful Pretoria connected Saturday, pinch nan 2nd brushwood betwixt nan sides taking spot successful Durban 7 days later.

The games travel 11 months since Ireland played their first warm-up lucifer for nan 2023 World Cup and conscionable a matter of weeks since nan conclusion of nan European and United Rugby Championship nine campaigns.

“We’re fortunate successful really we negociate nan players. It’s astir apt been a agelong twelvemonth but nan players person gotten plentifulness of clip disconnected during nan year, weeks erstwhile you’re not training, you’re not playing, you don’t person nan intelligence unit that comes pinch a game," said O'Connell.

“Then players thin to beryllium connected different journeys. Some players were retired of things a small spot earlier and person had a small spot of clip and person had that intelligence break, that beingness break. Some players picked up an wounded during nan twelvemonth and they sewage their break there.

“Whenever we’ve travel connected circuit successful nan past fewer years and we person travel together aft a peculiarly dense play pinch nan provinces, there’s ne'er been a emotion that we person to negociate them aliases negociate their load. We haven’t felt that complete here."

O'Connell explains that Ireland's preparations for nan meetings pinch nan Boks person been overmuch arsenic they would beryllium for bid of matches astatine different times of nan year.

“We’ve conscionable being a small spot observant pinch nan travel. We arrived successful 2 groups and astatine different times and we were observant successful that first session, but we haven’t changed really we’ve trained a full batch if this was a November world aliases it was a Six Nations.

“The players consciousness bully and they consciousness caller and they consciousness ready.

“There won’t beryllium an asterisk aft nan lucifer saying who was fresher and who was little fresh, truthful it is what it is.”

The erstwhile Ireland 2nd statement knows nan visitors look a formidable situation against a South African broadside coached by erstwhile Munster coach Rassie Erasmus.

Ireland person won nan past 3 games betwixt nan teams but only 1 of 10 matches nan sides person played successful South Africa.

“They are world champions. They person bully continuity successful their playing group. They cognize what they guidelines for and I reckon location is simply a batch of assurance successful their group astatine nan infinitesimal truthful it’s a monolithic situation for america to beryllium distant from home, but our boys are looking guardant to it," added O'Connell.

“They’re an fantabulous group portion side, an fantabulous lineout side, ever person been.

“We’ve been a small circumstantial astir them but it’s been chiefly astir america doing our worldly amended crossed nan committee and boys bask doing that. We bask focusing connected ourselves.

“You person to attraction connected nan guidance and what they are going to do but by and ample we ore connected ourselves a small spot much than we did successful my playing days.”