Peter O'Mahony believes Ireland's current team is the best he has played in, ahead of the Six Nations showdown with England.
Andy Farrell’s side arrive at Twickenham as overwhelming favourites with a chance to retain the championship title with a round to spare.
O'Mahony has been part of four Six Nations winning campaigns - 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2023 - but thinks that 2024 edition could be the greatest Irish side of that period.
"Look, I’ve been lucky to play with lots of good players and teams," said the Munster flanker and Ireland captain, who will win his 104th cap in south-west London.
"If I had to nail the colours to the mast I’d have to say yes.
"It’s hard to compare because rugby has moved on and the game is different, but in a short answer, I think it is.
"I think the quality of player, it’s a really, really healthy, good, thought-provoking, enjoyable environment, but obviously the quality of performance and results speaks for itself.
"Hard to compare but yeah, it’s certainly up there anyway."
Ireland have triumphed in each of their past four meetings with England and would set a new championship record of 12 consecutive wins by extending that run on Saturday evening.
Doing so with a bonus-point would be sufficient to clinch the title, while the extra point would not be required if Scotland fail to beat Italy and score at least four tries earlier in the day.
World Cup semi-finalists England, who are considered big underdogs (4/1) by bookmakers, are still striving for consistency under head coach Steve Borthwick.
Yet O’Mahony warned Ireland’s pursuit of successive Grand Slams could easily be derailed as he dismissed the significance of the pre-match predictions.
"It’s not something that we really buy in to," the 34-year-old said of the favourites tag.
"I know you’re probably sick of hearing it from me, but it’s a Test match tomorrow, Ireland versus England. It’s about who plays better tomorrow. It’s not about anything else.
"It’s not about previous form or where you stand, it’s about who plays better tomorrow and that’s something that we’ve always been focused on, our performance.
"We know if we play well tomorrow we’ll be in with a shout. But if we don’t fire, this English team has incredible quality and can beat anyone on their day.
"It’s not long ago they were competing in the last two games of the World Cup. We know we’re in for a huge test tomorrow here at Twickenham as always."
Watch England v Ireland in the Guinness Six Nations on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
