Jack Conan says this Ireland team is not afraid to embrace its standing as the world's best.
Conan was there in 2019 when Joe Schmidt's squad, then also ranked number one, capitulated in the Six Nations, the World Cup warm-up games and in the tournament itself.
The early indications are that 2023 - another World Cup year - could be different, after opening championship triumphs over Wales and France.
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"I think Irish teams in the past have probably shirked it a little bit," said the Leinster back row.
"And maybe it's Irish people by their nature, but we could have been, 'oh no, don't say that' but look, we've worked unbelievably hard to get into this position.
"It's not something that's spoken about, we're constantly trying to progress and get better and whether we were 10th in the world or first in the world, that would be the case.
"So we're just continually looking to get better."
Conan, 30, admitted he wasn't bothered about the Netflix 'Six Nations' documentary crew following the squad around in camp and on matchday.
“They’re just in the background," he said, adding with a smile: "I haven't had much 1-1 dealings with them, it's grand. It’s not something we’re letting distract us.
"Most of us they’ve seen so far is just having craic and playing games before training sessions, so I don’t know if it’s going to be the most riveting TV people have watched when it finally comes out."
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