Andy Farrell insists Ireland are heading to South Africa targeting a series win this summer.
The men in green have never before won a Test match on Springbok soil but will have three chances to break that duck in the June series.
South Africa are currently ranked third in the world and made the semi-finals of the World Cup last year before being edged out by champions New Zealand.
Joe Schmidt announced a 32-man squad last week – with Matt Healy expected to replace the injured Luke Fitzgerald following the Guinness PRO12 final on Sunday.
After seven defeats in South Africa and a comparatively disappointing RBS 6 Nations for Schmidt’s side, the challenge of winning a Test is big for the men in green.
But Farrell – the former England and Lions defence coach – is adamant his side have loftier goals than that.
“We want to win all games, we just don’t want to rest on our laurels,” he said. “We don’t want to down go down and win one game, we want to go for the series, to win every game.
“We are after touring after a difficult season, we have 10 days to plan, the same as the South Africans will do so it is all evens as it stands.
“Home advantage will probably swing it a little bit their way. It is an exciting ten days coming ahead because it is time to get going.”
Ireland last toured South Africa in 2004 and while the Boks have a new head coach in Allister Coetzee, Farrell knows the size of the challenge that awaits them.
“We have a fantastic coaching team here that looks at the whole bigger picture, but my department is defence and it’s going to be tested in South Africa, so I’ve got my hands full,” he added.
“But the challenge is one that really excites me because I feel that defence is about attitude, and we want to create history so we have to show some real proper attitude.
“We’ve got a couple of days in camp to get our systems sorted out, and then we’ll talk about the mentality to go into the cauldron like Joe said and win a game in South Africa. That’s my role and it’s up to me to put a stamp on that.
“I’m very fortunate to be in a position where Les Kiss has been around for nine years, so it’s not as if I’m coming in at an average base.
“It’s a base that’s very high. Les has done a fantastic job. But I need to change a few things, not much, a few things and put my own stamp on how I’d like the defence to be for Ireland. I’ll keep that to myself for this moment in time and let the players know first and see if we can bring that onto the arena in South Africa.”
