Jamie Heaslip up for another tour of duty

Jamie Heaslip has dismissed fears that Joe Schmidt’s squad will be fatigued and flat after a mammoth season stretching over 12 months when they hit South Africa in June in the quest for an historic first ever win in Springbok territory.

Schmidt assembled a large training squad in early July of last year in preparation for a World Cup campaign that delivered less than it promised thanks to a quarter-final exit at the hands of Argentina, and club and country duties have piled up ever since.

This is Ireland’s first three-Test summer tour since 2012, when the tourists vacillated between coming close to a first ever defeat of the All Blacks and a 60-0 drubbing.