Anticipation, continuity, momentum

The eve of the championship. Whichever sport is your passion, the coming of a new season is a heady mix of emotions.

The RBS 6 Nations is no exception, even in the wake of a World Cup and the slipstream of a particularly exhilarating Heineken Cup pool campaign, and with the renewal of near-ancient rivalries comes that marvellous sense of anticipation, the resurfacing of creeping doubts and that intangible optimism that only sports fans can muster, even in the darkest hour.

That hope can quickly disappear, of course. It may take merely the opening blast of the referee’s whistle and an easily avoidable knock-on for golden dreams to fade into dismal reality but come next Monday morning there will be at least three sets of supporters, players and coaches reassessing their team’s merits and realigning expectations.

That revenge is in the air in all three of the opening fixtures this weekend adds plenty of extra spice to the first weekend of the 2012 championship. France welcome Italy to Paris looking to make amends for their first Six Nations defeat to the Azzurri a year ago at the Stadio Flaminio, and while Scotland need no incentive to beat their Calcutta Cup rivals England at Murrayfield, they have been fuelled by the bitter memories of last autumn’s narrow World Cup-ending defeat in Auckland.

And then there is Ireland’s chance to bury the disappointment of a World Cup campaign that promised much following a historic first tournament win over Australia but petered out in lacklustre fashion at the hands of Warren Gatland’s exciting young Wales side.

The Welsh will pitch up at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday and despite the Irish camp downplaying talk of vengeance, they will face a Declan Kidney side determined to prove a point.

Wales have returned to the ice baths of Gdansk to reinvigorate their World Cup spirit but the Ireland players have long since shaken off the stink of that October defeat — and without the shock to the system brought by a dip into sub-zero temperatures.

Instead, the Irish head into this Six Nations as the toast of European rugby after sending Munster, defending champions Leinster and Ulster into the Heineken Cup quarter-finals a couple of weeks back on a weekend when Connacht also slayed English league leaders Harlequins for a first and thoroughly deserved win in their debut season.

If anything can compensate for the loss of talismanic captain Brian O’Driscoll, who will join the nation in watching the championship from his armchair following shoulder surgery, it is that feelgood factor currently coursing through Irish rugby veins.

“We’ve a lot of players winning big games, winning games away from home, winning pressure games and that’s important for us when you come into camp,” stand-in captain Paul O’Connell said. “It’s a good habit to have, winning, coming into this competition.”

If O’Connell’s Ireland can continue that winning habit through the weekend and into the Stade de France six days later then the meeting with World Cup finalists France could well prove to be the championship decider.

Winning in Paris is not a thing of regularity for Ireland and France, in spite of the mutiny against the enigmatic coaching of Marc Lievremont, came within a point of lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy last autumn. What’s more, this is the fixture that perfectly encapsulates an underlying theme of this year’s championship — continuity versus change.

France, Italy and defending champions England are all under new management and undergoing varying degrees of transition by the incoming coaches. The French reboot under Philippe Saint-Andre may not be as drastic as England’s under caretaker boss Stuart Lancaster, but it will be intriguing to see if he can harness the new-found spirit in the squad or whether the new broom will unsettle it all over again.

There is much to be said for the continuity in the Ireland, Scotland and Wales camps but Kidney’s Irish are the prime example of change at the top transforming players from nearly men to champions, and O’Connell can see both sides of the argument.

“When new staff come in it gives a team a lift and obviously we won a Grand Slam in Declan and the lads’ first year so it’s hard to say really. But for us we’re in a good position. We’ve a few injuries, certainly, but by and large a lot of the guys that have been playing well for their provinces are available and they’re going to be playing together in the next few weeks. You always have to evolve and make a few tweaks but there’s no doubt that settled atmosphere we have will be good for us.”

Momentum is another key word.

“A good start is huge because every match is like a cup final,” Kidney said. “It’s going to be very important to hit the ground running. Otherwise, it’s going to be a long seven weeks.”

The Six Nations is back, then. Let’s enjoy the anticipation just a little longer.