Ireland and Ulster hooker Rob Herring has put concerns of burnout on the back burner as rugby prepares to return with a bang at The Aviva this weekend.
Herring, who started all three Six Nations games at the start of the year, is staring at a potential logjam with club and country between now and December.
Ulster return to Pro14 action against Connacht in Dublin this Sunday and Leinster on August 29, followed by a likely semi-final and potential final between now and September 12.
A Champions Cup quarter-final with Toulouse also looms large on September 20.
Add in the conclusion of the Six Nations in late-October and a new eight nation tournament in November and Herring will be in high demand.
The Ulster forward accepts resources will be stretched, but insists his primary focus is on getting back on the pitch for the first time since February.
“It’s a big test, but it’s a good challenge as well," he said. “At the moment, all I can think about is getting back to rugby.
"It’s almost six months since we played, so I’m buzzing to get back out there.
“It’s all probably mental at the end of the day. Physically we’ll be in a good place and it’ll be a good test for us to see where we are.
“If we want to be challenging for big championships, these are the things we’ve just got to get on with.”
Herring believes one of the strengths of Irish rugby is how international and provincial players are managed in the midst of a hectic schedule.
“I guess the one thing playing for one of the Irish provinces, we know we’re looked after really well and we’re in good hands,” he said.
“It’ll be a long season and I’m sure guys are going to be managed at times and that’s one of the positives of playing here, you know that’s going to be looked after properly.
“We know we’ll get managed individually and as a team over that period.”
Ulster, whose last competitive outing was 179 days ago, know a win over Connacht this weekend would seal a semi-final berth at the start of next month.
And Herring accepts McFarland’s men, who lie second in Conference A, will have to hit the ground running in the absence of a ‘pre-season’ schedule.
“We can’t work our way into it,” he said. “We know if we win this game we’re into a semi-final, so there’s obviously a massive importance on that.
“It’s going to be slightly different (behind closed doors), but in terms of our team mentality, we’ve always put an emphasis on creating our own atmosphere on the pitch.
“We’re not training to ease our way into a season, we’re training to start with a bang.”
