Andy Farrell believes there is more to come from his side, after they completed a dominant Six Nations Grand Slam title on Saturday.
Ireland lived up to their world number one ranking by claiming just their fourth Grand Slam, in which they they trailed for just 54 minutes over the course of five games.
It's a first trophy for the side since Farrell took charge in 2020, and ensures they will be among the favourites for the World Cup in September, a tournament in which they've never got beyond the quarter-final.
Farrell hasn't shied away from the fact that Ireland will have a target on their backs in France later this year, and while he says they will celebrate their special Six Nations success, he expects his side to get even better when they get back into camp this summer.
"Obviously this stands on its own right, as does the New Zealand tour, but it's part of the journey of us as a group going forward into a World Cup," Farrell said after the 29-16 win against England.
"Like I said, we'll get two or three months pre-season training for the first time together and I expect ourselves to be better obviously because of that."
Saturday's win made it 10 victories in a row for Ireland, defeating each of their Six Nations rivals, as well as the southern hemisphere big three along the way.
Farrell insists they are continuing to build their way towards their ultimate goal.
"I said to you in New Zealand 'now this was the start of our World Cup year', and it was, and I suppose the most pleasing thing is that we've continued to be successful, you know, to find a way [to win].
"Everyone was was nervous about that except us. So you know this is part of the journey, isn't it?"
His hooker, Rob Herring, didn't hold back when asked what's next on the agenda for this side.
"Go and win a World Cup hopefully," Herring said.
"We're the number one team in the world, why wouldn't we dare to dream? We've put ourselves in this position and the belief in the squad is there. That's our next goal."
The final win of the Grand Slam title was the toughest of the lot, with Ireland struggling to piece together their attack, which was undermined by a staggering 18 handling errors.
But in recent months Ireland have shown that they don't need to be at their very best to win, and the head coach said their mental resolve was the most pleasing aspect of Saturday's triumph.
"We tried to throw everything into the mix that we've learned over the last three years and it all comes out in days like that, when things aren’t going too well for you," Farrell said.
"I always keep on saying that the opposition is always going to have a say, and they were there to spoil the party 100% and they did really well as far as that’s concerned.
"I thought we started off pretty nervy, which obviously wasn’t part of the plan but we kept calm and we kept on finding a way and that just sums up where the team’s at to get there in the end with a bonus-point win.
"We don't panic and do you know what, it really doesn’t matter. It could come down to the last two minutes of a game ad we could still be behind, you know, we expect ourselves to be level headed and be able to play what’s in front of us for that last two minutes. I think we’re not far off that."
