A week and one day out until the 2023 Rugby World Cup, and it feels like it is the most anticipated one we have had in a long time.... or do we say that every four years, and we are once again getting lost in the hype?
From an Irish perspective, the hype is understandable given that it is the strongest squad we have ever brought to the tournament.
However, we lie on the wrong end of the most one sided draw in the competition's history, with a handful of very strong sides vying for knockout rugby.
Once again, Stephen Ferris - who was part of two World Cup squads - has sat down with us - in association with Ladbrokes - and given his predictions.
I think Ireland are obviously ranked number one in the world and South Africa are now number two, and South Africa were number four a week ago.
And then they absolutely obliterated the All Blacks and they sent a message worldwide that hold on, nobody was sort of talking about us.
Now, all of a sudden everybody is talking about South Africa.
Ireland obviously have them in their group. But I think if things go the right way, the next time that we can meet them is in a final.
Stephen Ferris Back South Africa And Ireland To Go Far At World Cup
5 November 2022; Jasper Wiese of South Africa during the Bank of Ireland Nations Series match between Ireland and South Africa at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
READ HERE: Quiz: Name Ireland's Rugby World Cup Squads Of The Pro Era
"And I think I would love to see that, an Ireland versus South Africa final, two contrasting styles," added Ferris.
"Ireland love to play with the ball... South Africa love to kick the ball a lot and rely heavily on their set piece.
"They bring it crazy amount of line speed in defence, and it's almost like kamikaze stuff at times where they just come up and take anything in front of them.
"So I'm going to go for South Africa to be my, my number one team come the end of this tournament.
"I think also about South Africa is they're so durable. They can go 6, 7, 8, 9, they can go to 20 weeks in a row playing the top five teams in the world.
"I think South Africa for me are the favourites even though Ireland are number one. But if Ireland can find their groove and have a little bit of luck of the Irish and not have too many injuries, I think we can go a very long way in this tournament and cause a few upsets ourselves.
"So South Africa, Ireland and France. However, France have suffered a couple of injuries, to Cyril Ba, and now John Dante looks like he's going to miss maybe a game or two.
"So when these injuries rack up they can really be detrimental to the squad and to the level of performance.
"So for me those top three are going to be the teams to beat."
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