Flicking the switch is never easy but Peter O'Mahony is relishing this season's end game for Munster.
It's been a hectic time for the Reds' talisman, who had a week off after winning his second Grand Slam with Ireland before the disappointment of that knock-out Champions Cup loss at the Sharks.
The sides will meet in Durban again on Saturday, exactly three weeks on from that encounter. But the tourists are buoyed by their victory at the Stormers last weekend - a must-win to ensure their place in the URC play-offs.
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Champions Cup qualification isn't quite nailed down but Munster will know before kick-off if they need one more point, maybe even two, in their final regular season URC game to guarantee it.
O'Mahony had a big game last week and the 33-year-old insists that the intensity of the last few months is not taking a toll.
"I'm loving rugby at the moment," he admitted. "It's hard not to, off the back of the last few weeks - the enjoyment of it all.
"The transition (from Ireland back to Munster) is sometimes difficult but that's the part that I make sure that I can get as right as possible.
"Certainly body wise I feel very good and mentally I'm in a good place, I'm enjoying my rugby and being at this end of the competition at this stage of the year, these are the games you want to be involved in and playing well in.
“It’s not about coming back to do anything other than what’s expected of you and what Munster expects of me.
“I’d like to think I don’t change the way I carry on just because I came back after winning a Grand Slam. It was about the process of getting myself back into the Munster lingo, just getting back to work.
"Every time I have been involved in the Six Nations, all things going well, you’re normally back into a very important couple of weeks. You have to flick the page, flick the switch. That’s just what has to be done.”
Prior to that Sharks defeat, the last time O'Mahony toured in South Africa was five years ago with Ireland.
But his short amount of experience there has taught him what to expect in terms of every opponent being difficult, every game being a physical confrontation.
And the Corkman adds that ultimately nothing that is added into the mix in terms of travel, heat, humidity and altitude can be used as an excuse.
"You can beat about the bush all you want but that's kind of rugby in a nutshell," said O'Mahony. "You have to get stuck in otherwise you get taught lessons, like Sharks did to us.
"The whole package is a bit different but these are things that we can't control. A few years ago you wouldn't be coming this far but it's been great for the game and the competition.
"For me, they're just factors there for both teams and you've got to get on with it. Certainly they're difficult but we're not going to use them as a crutch to say, 'we've lost a few points because it was hot'.
"You've got to be ready for it.
"I've been lucky enough to play a good few times against the South African national team and it's very similar, a lot of it. And we've been coming here since they've entered the competition so we've got lots of experience.
"I know for lots of guys it's their first time but you've got to have a quick learning curve.
"We certainly took a lot of lessons from the Sharks game, we processed them and made some improvements. But we still have a few steps to go before we get back down there on Saturday."
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