ENGLAND begin their Six Nations campaign in Cardiff tonight eager to shed their "nearly men" tag in advance of a World Cup on home soil later this year.
Stuart Lancaster's men have finished runners-up in the Six Nations for the last two years - and, in fact, have lost both on points difference only.
Last season, even a convincing win over eventual champions Ireland was not enough after a last-minute opening day defeat to France in Paris.
Meanwhile, back in 2013, Lancaster's side led the championship from the start until a bruising and humiliating 30-3 defeat in Cardiff gave the title to the Welsh on the final weekend.
Interestingly, tonight's match will be England's first visit back to the Millennium Stadium since that torrid 80 minutes - and preparation work has even included training sessions in front of loudspeakers in a move designed to replicate the raucous atmosphere.
However, the build-up to the opener has also been dominated by news of an England injury crisis.
In all, there are six changes from the side that beat Australia in November - and the absences of Brad Barritt and Kyle Eastmond at centre have particularly weakened the English line-up.
Not that Wales head coach Warren Gatland has much sympathy. "You always need some luck in the Six Nations," said the Kiwi at the tournament launch.
"Last year England made four changes during the whole tournament. We made 18, mostly due to injuries.
"So I don’t feel sorry for [Lancaster]. England are going through a period that will probably benefit them in the long-term. A lot has been made about their injuries but they have real strength in depth."
That last sentence may have been courteous enough - but Gatland was also still bullish enough about his team's chances to make the unusual move of naming his starting XV fully two days early.
In terms of the overall tournament, though, it is difficult to look past reigning champions Ireland retaining their crown.
Now at world number three after thrilling wins over South Africa and Australia in the autumn, the Irish are eased into this year's action with a match in Rome against Italy.
The Italians continue to shoulder the burden of a simply awful Six Nations record, having won only 11 of their 75 previous matches since their accession in 2000.
Indeed, after losing all five games last year, the Azzurri have collected the wooden spoon on 10 out of the last 15 editions.
And yet, despite the easy starter and the nominal advantage of then hosting France and England in consecutive weeks in Dublin, Ireland coach Joe Schmidt remains uneasy with being considered tournament favourites.
“Favouritism is a superficial thing,” Schmidt said. “There’s nothing tangible. You can’t reach out and say: ‘Well, we can take that favouritism and do something useful with it’. It’s not something that is mentioned in camp.”
Rarely considered favourites in recent years, Scotland nevertheless made steady progress before Christmas under new coach Vern Cotter with a couple of try-laden wins over Argentina and Tonga.
Incidentally, Cotter's appointment means that, alongside his compatriots Gatland and Schmidt, three of the four Home Unions are now led by New Zealanders.
But, having spend the last eight years coaching at Clermont Auvergne, it is Cotter's vast knowledge of French rugby which will be of most assistance to the Scots in their opener in Paris.
Ah, the French. Now, this is the point in most previews where Les Bleus are typically cast as an unpredictable yet talented side forever searching for consistency.
Of course, Philippe Saint-Andre's men hardly help this reputation with results like they had in the autumn when they beat Fiji and Australia before then losing to Argentina.
Nevertheless, it would be difficult to make much of a case for France over the next six weeks.
After all, their three most recent Six Nations campaigns have seen them finish fourth, sixth and fourth - and, this season, they have to make visits to both Ireland and England.
Even the middle away trip to Rome will carry with it some jitters considering Italy have won their home fixture against the French on the last two occasions.
As such, the supposedly unpredictable French could well finish predictably in the bottom three for the fourth year in a row.
In terms of my other predictions: Ireland's confidence and fixtures suggest they will be champions again while it would be no surprise to see England recover and just miss out again after an opening day defeat to Wales.
The Welsh will therefore finish third - with improving Scotland down in fifth but winning more than one game and Italy once again bringing up the rear by losing all of theirs.
So that is Ireland, England, Wales, France, Scotland, and Italy all finishing in the same order as they did last year - which means there is bound to be at least one error somewhere.
Of course, all will be revealed over the next six weeks in what continues to be a thrilling winter-warmer in the sporting calendar. Listed below are the vital dates for the diary.
RBS 6 NATIONS FIXTURES 2015
All matches live on the BBC. All kick-off times GMT.
| 6 Feb 20:05 | WALES v ENGLAND | Millennium Stadium | |
| 7 Feb 14:30 | ITALY v IRELAND | Stadio Olimpico | |
| 7 Feb 17:00 | FRANCE v SCOTLAND | Stade de France | |
| 14 Feb 14:30 | ENGLAND v ITALY | Twickenham | |
| 14 Feb 17:00 | IRELAND v FRANCE | Aviva Stadium | |
| 15 Feb 15:00 | SCOTLAND v WALES | Murrayfield | |
| 28 Feb 14:30 | SCOTLAND v ITALY | Murrayfield | |
| 28 Feb 17:00 | FRANCE v WALES | Stade de France | |
| 1 Mar 15:00 | IRELAND v ENGLAND | Aviva Stadium | |
| 14 Mar 14:30 | WALES v IRELAND | Millennium Stadium | |
| 14 Mar 17:00 | ENGLAND v SCOTLAND | Twickenham | |
| 15 Mar 15:00 | ITALY v FRANCE | Stadio Olimpico | |
| 21 Mar 12:30 | ITALY v WALES | Stadio Olimpico | |
| 21 Mar 14:30 | SCOTLAND v IRELAND | Murrayfield | |
| 21 Mar 17:00 | ENGLAND v FRANCE | Twickenham |
TEAM-BY-TEAM GUIDE Odds from Ladbrokes
| ENGLAND Odds 5/2 | Coach Stuart Lancaster Captain Chris Robshaw |
| Twickenham | Fixtures Wales (A), Italy (H), Ireland (A), Scotland (H), France (H) |
| IRB Rank: 4 (-) | Six Nations titles 4 (2000, 2001, 2003, 2011) |
| FRANCE Odds 6/1 | Coach Philippe Saint-Andre Captain Thierry Dusautoir |
| Stade de France | Fixtures Scotland (H), Ireland (A), Wales (H), Italy (A), England (A) |
| IRB Rank: 7 (-2) | Six Nations titles 5 (2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010) |
| IRELAND Odds 2/1 fav | Coach Joe Schmidt Captain Paul O'Connell |
| Aviva Stadium | Fixtures Italy (A), France (H), England (H), Wales (A), Scotland (A) |
| IRB Rank: 3 (+4) | Six Nations titles 2 (2009, 2014) |
| ITALY Odds 500/1 | Coach Jacques Brunel Captain Sergio Parisse |
| Stadio Olimpico | Fixtures Ireland (H), England (A), Scotland (A), France (H), Wales (H) |
| IRB Rank: 14 (-1) | Six Nations titles None |
| SCOTLAND Odds 33/1 | Coach Vern Cotter Captain Greig Laidlaw |
| Murrayfield | Fixtures France (A), Wales (H), Italy (H), England (A), Ireland (H) |
| IRB Rank: 8 (+1) | Six Nations titles None |
| WALES Odds 3/1 | Coach Warren Gatland Captain Sam Warburton |
| Millennium Stadium | Fixtures England (H), Scotland (A), France (A), Ireland (H), Italy (A) |
| IRB Rank: 6 (-) | Six Nations titles 4 (2005, 2008, 2012, 2013) |
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