With three games this month, the Six Nations next spring and at least two World Cup warm-up matches confirmed, it leaves Andy Farrell with just 10 games - 11 if they arrange an extra warm-up - to work through until France 2023.
Appropriately it starts with the defending world champions South Africa, and a task which is nothing like Ireland have experienced in recent years.
Regardless of the result of Saturday evening, it will be fascinating to see how Ireland match up against the physicality and set-piece power that South Africa bring, or more specifically to see how they navigate their way around it.
As good as their series win in New Zealand was in the summer, it was a very different type of challenge, and what worked in Dunedin and Wellington may not work this weekend.
At the time, Farrell described the task they faced in New Zealand as "the ultimate test", and while he laid an identical tag to the challenge South Africa will bring this weekend, it begins what he believes is the "perfect" set of games to carry them to France next September.
"The 18 months from the tour to what we know is ahead, is perfect for us," he said.
"The [New Zealand] tour was special in its own right, just because of the experience. Even if we had lost 5-0 on that tour, it still would have been great for us because of the experience for that group and what they faced, different cultures, different styles of players.
"From my mind, looking forward, playing South Africa, who we’ve not played for five years, and Fiji, a completely different style of rugby, and Australia, who we’ve not played in such a long time, it actually couldn’t get any better as far as experiences are concerned for us. Because what we’re going to experience in a year’s time, that’s what we’re going to meet, different styles week-in, week-out.
"You’ve got to be able to adapt, adjust and understand it and be at your best on the back of it. That’s why this autumn is fantastic for us."
While any win, defeat or draw will be tempered by the fact that these two sides will also be meeting in a far more important pool game at the World Cup, the fact that it's been five years since the last meeting of Ireland and South Africa does give Saturday's contest an extra air of excitement.
"Honestly, it doesn't get any bigger. I have said this to the players. This is called living properly, there is no better time to be an Irish rugby player.
"It doesn’t really get any better. When the Springboks are in town, everyone gets super excited. And we know what is coming, everyone else knows what is coming which is why everyone else, like yourself, is super excited, you know."
However, with places in the squad at a premium, he says he expects that same excitement next week and the week after, when Fiji and Australia come to town.
"I suppose we will play this game and for whoever is picked the week after that will be the biggest game.
"I promise you, next week, for whoever takes the field that will be their biggest game as well. The week after that will be the biggest game again because they are under the spotlight the whole time they know they are going to be judged so therefore the feelings are pretty similar. But having said that there is no doubt there is going to be an extra edge on Saturday night," he added.
South Africa director of rugby Rassie Erasmus was full of praise for Ireland when he addressed the media earlier this week, saying Ireland have found an extra gear of physicality in the last couple of seasons.
The former Munster boss infamously referred to the Irish team as "softies" during the 'Chasing The Sun' documentary on their 2019 World Cup journey, and while his counterpart Farrell says he has no doubts over his own side's physicality, he believes there's more to the game than power.
"I think sometimes the whole beating of the chest has an adverse effect, certainly on how we want to play the game.
"As I have said before, you have to earn the right to be physical and how you play the game and if you are just straight up and down, the nature of the size of our side is just completely different to the South African one, so we have to adapt and play a different game in that regard.
"I think we are a physical side because we are adapting as far as our decision-making is concerned. And from my point of view if your decision-making is good then you have a chance to able to compete physically.
"It is something that we work hard on every week and hopefully we can make some good decisions and get some good outcomes on the back of that this weekend."
With the Springboks having their famed 'Bomb Squad' of forwards on the replacements bench, the Ireland coach wisely declined to give his own reserves a nickname when asked by the South African media yesterday.
And with the world champions coming in off the back of their recent Rugby Championship campaign, he expects them to be at the top of their game.
"It's a good team. It’s all-singing, all-dancing as far as they’re concerned.
"It’s the type of side they would have wanted to come to the Aviva to kick off their Autumn Series. These guys have been playing right through since we went to New Zealand and the cohesion they have is obviously going to be strong but that’s no excuse for us.
"We know the cards we’re dealt time and time again in the northern hemisphere and one of the things we try to pride ourselves on is getting up to speed as soon as we possibly can. Hopefully we can be at our best on Saturday because we know that they will be."
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