Sean O'Brien is not interesting in gaining revenge on Wales when the two sides meet in the RBS Six Nations on Sunday week.
Wales brought Ireland's World Cup hopes to a crushing end in Wellington last October when they comprehensively outplayed the boys in green to book their place in the last four of the competition.
Fittingly, Ireland's first game of the Six Nations sees them host Wales at the Aviva Stadium but revenge is not on O'Brien's mind because he believes Wales deserved their World Cup victory.
"I suppose it’s good that we have them first up," he said. "They’re probably one of the form sides, through the World Cup and now coming into this competition, so it will be nice to have them at home and nice to have them to start off the competition.
"In the World Cup, we had a couple of opportunities and didn’t take them. We made a couple of mistakes and they punished us. They’re that type of team that they can do that to you. We have to be on the ball, but this is a good game to start because we can see where we really are after that."
Given the World Cup result it is unsurprising that the Six Nations match is being billed as Ireland's opportunity to get their own back on Wales. O'Brien, however, does not see it like that, believing the past should be left in the past and the team should only focus on the Six Nations.
"Look, it doesn’t go away, it is something in the back of every individual’s mind and obviously there was a lot of hurt after that game, but it is a different competition, a different year, so we have to regroup, refocus and not let that match get the better of us, rather stick to what we’re wanting to do this time around," he added.
There has been very little down time for the players over the last year but O'Brien is not worried about the squad suffering from fatigue, insisting confidence is high within the camp.
"The excitement is building and I don’t think there is any fatigue, as such. We’re well managed within our provinces and stuff, so we know when we need a break and they’ve managed that pretty well. Everyone is in great form at the minute," he told the Irish Examiner.