Brian O'Driscoll believes that narrowly missing out on an impressive Grand Slam this year could prove to be a blessing in disguise for Ireland heading into the World Cup.
Josef Schmidt's men retained their Six Nations crown in memorable fashion on the final day of the championship last month, although a 23-16 defeat at Wales in their penultimate game spelled the end of a perfect five wins from five.
Despite this, O'Driscoll, who retired from the sport last year, remains confident that his country can taste success on the grandest stage of them all at this autumn's World Cup.
"Winning the Six Nations was important - but because we didn't win the Grand Slam, there means there will be a little less pressure from home," he told talkSPORT. "The country would have gone into meltdown if we had won the Grand Slam in the year running up to a World Cup."
Asked how he feels Ireland will fare later this year, the 36-year-old added: "I'm cautiously confident. We're in good shape. If we can be lucky and avoid injuries to key personnel it's probably our best opportunity of getting into a World Cup semi-final."
Ireland will take on France, Italy, Canada and Romania at the pool stage of the competition, which gets underway in August.
