Brian O'Driscoll is in confident mood as the 25 year-old Irish rugby captain prepares to go in search of a Triple Crown while winning his 50th cap this weekend.
Back to full fitness following a hamstring injury, O'Driscoll is scoring tries and - barring a major upset against Scotland at Lansdowne Road on Saturday - is about to lead Ireland to their first Triple Crown in 19 years.
"Fifty test appearances for your country is a big honour," O'Driscoll told a news conference ahead of Ireland's final match of the Six Nations championship. "It's huge in anyone's career."
"We're all playing a huge amount more these days than players were in the past," he added. "I feel I've played a full career already."
O'Driscoll made his international debut less than five years ago but is already widely regarded as the most talented Irish player of his generation.
He took over the captaincy from Keith Wood following the World Cup and, as Wood himself predicted, has risen to the challenge of leading Eddie O'Sullivan's side.
"It's taken me a while to adjust to the captaincy but I'm enjoying it," the skipper said. "It's hard not to when you're in a winning side, and it would be fantastic to be captain of a side which achieves something."
Ireland's only defeat in this year's championship was against France in their opener last month - the only match in which O'Driscoll did not play. Since then a convincing win over a somewhat rejuvenated Welsh side, a heroic win over world champions England in Twickenham and a hard fought win in horrendous conditions against Italy have left O'Driscoll and company within 80 minutes of a Triple Crown.
Asked to name his best performance in a green shirt, O'Driscoll recalled his hat-trick of tries in Ireland's epic 27-25 defeat of France in Paris four years ago.
"I watched it again on TV the other day and it was probably the best game I've ever had," O'Driscoll said.
"My general game was pretty good, I didn't miss too many tackles and my handling was pretty good. It's been all downhill after that," he joked.
While saying he is happy playing club rugby for Dublin's Blackrock College and provincial rugby for Leinster, O'Driscoll hinted he might be tempted to move away from his native Dublin in the future.
"Sometimes you need a change of scene to be revitalised. You grow as a person as well as a player and there might be a need outside rugby to go elsewhere.
"But I don't know if I've reached that point yet."