Stephen Ferris reckons Ireland's World Cup schedule has "panned out really well", as they take a well-earned break from action this weekend.
Andy Farrell’s team are in the middle of a two-week break following last Saturday’s Pool B win over South Africa.
It was their third game in three weeks, having seen off the challenges of Romania and Tonga in the opening rounds.
Scotland, who play Romania tomorrow night, are Ireland’s next opponents and the window between Ireland’s last two games, as well as allowing recovering players to get back to full fitness, also permits plenty of time to get their emotions in check after a pulsating, nerve-racking victory over the world champions.
Former Ireland back row Ferris, speaking on RTÉ’s coverage of Japan's win over Samoa, said: "The way the format has been staggered for Ireland... I think it’s sort of panned out really well for us.
"In terms of the group games, the week off after the big, massive high of beating South Africa, then you are building into the Scotland week, which is a must-win game.
"The boys have been in Disneyland Paris with their families for a couple of days, the other guys have been out and about seeing parts of the country.
"[The Springboks match] almost felt like a World Cup final, the crowds that were there cheering us on, 30-40,000 Irish fans there, the amount of people watching on television, it was just extraordinary.
"If we had to play New Zealand in a World Cup quarter-final this weekend, after coming off such a big high, I would be a little more cautious going into a game if we were playing a quarter-final this week – but we’re not, and that’s the beauty of this competition so far for us."
Scotland take on the Oaks in Lille, while World Cup holders South Africa take on Tonga in Marseille on Sunday.
Former Ireland out-half Hannah Tyrrell agreed that the rest week comes at a perfect time.
"We had a nice couple of games to build into things and get our flow and momentum," she said.
"We hit a little bit of a peak beating South Africa, we didn’t play the perfect game but we did well enough to get over the line.
"It’s good that we have some tweaks in order to improve for an upcoming quarter-final so they can just take it down a notch.
"It’s still must-win against Scotland but they are not the same as coming up against a South Africa team."
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WATCH: Stephen Ferris and Hannah Tyrrell discuss Ireland's down week.
Watch live coverage of Argentina v Chile and Fiji v Georgia (30 September) and South Africa v Tonga (1 October) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
