Jack Conan was always an early riser but since becoming a father over the summer, the Leinster forward has had to readjust his body clock.
The 32-year-old Ireland number 8 opted out of the July tour to South Africa as he and wife Ali awaited their new arrival.
Daughter Remi was born two days before Ireland faced the Springboks in the first Test in July and since then he's had to deal with new dawns.
"I’m trying to find the balance of it all," Conan tells RTÉ Sport. "My one big thing at the moment is I love being really early to things.
"I love being here [at Leinster] at seven o’clock in the morning and sitting around, having coffee, doing my rehab.
"So I’m still trying to find my feet with the morning schedule of having a baby and helping out my wife before I get going.
"Some days I can be a little bit on edge first thing in the morning trying to get in here nice and early. I’m still learning."
It’s a huge adjustment for any new parent but professional sportspeople are conditioned to reach peak performance via regimented training schedules and the all-important down-time.
"It’s great when you go home, you can kind of park rugby a bit more and not worry about training as much and reviewing things," adds the Lions back row.
"I try to pick that up on the day off than doing it on the evening time, which I previously would have done.
"It makes you realise what’s important in life, you go home and make sure you are present and conscious of how you are around family.
"It’s been great, I’m loving it, my wife’s been fantastic, she’s been calm and patient and that’s helped me to be calm and patient with it all.
"We are learning together, and we are slowly getting there. We feel like we are doing an all right job. Definitely life is very different this pre-season."
Conan has played 46 times for Ireland and three times for the Lions.
A rare summer away from the rigours and intensity of international rugby has, despite an injury, allowed him to prepare for Friday’s night’s opening BKT URC clash away to Edinburgh "feeling fresh".
"Look, we had the baby two days before the first Test so it wasn’t an option," said the Wicklow native, who is likely to captain Leinster in Scotland as he plays his first season opener since 2016.
"I wasn’t in a position where I could have gone. Some things are more important than rugby so I had to make that call early enough to say I was taking my hat out of the ring.
"I feel fresh. I picked up a small calf injury at the start of pre-season and then I had four-six weeks of rehabbing and running and getting that right.
"That has actually been the best thing for me.
"I had a bit of a hangover from the World Cup last year of that foot injury I picked up in the Italy game and I had a few calf tears throughout the year, which would be very unlike me.
"That was lingering throughout the season. Even though I got injured and hurt it again I was able to give it the proper time to rectify it and get back to the strength and performance that I needed.
"I think it was the best thing for me and I feel great.
"Because of that I feel fresh, being given the time to get my body 100% right and now I can use that as a springboard into the season."
With the Ireland internationals still reintegrating back into camp, new captain Caelan Doris, and last year's co-captains Garry Ringrose and James Ryan not available, assistant coach Robin McBryde (above) indicated that Conan would skipper the visitors at the weekend.
"Leo would be the one to talk about that as regards coming to a final decision [on Doris] but we had a healthy debate and there’s a number of candidates," he said.
"The squad is maturing well. A number of players since I’ve been here, they’ve got married, they’ve had children and with that maturity there becomes a more sort of grounded view of life.
"Looking at the pre-season when the international boys were away, we felt that Jack definitely led well, in the game against Northampton, in particular.
"Fatherhood is bringing out the best side of him and he’s found his voice and enjoying the way he’s leading the boys."
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