A continent expects, and all that. Not for the first time in recent years, the Heineken European Cup - admittedly the pool stages were slow burning - has raised the hype and the hopes for the RBS Six Nations. And the oul' tournament had better deliver.

To its credit, it did last year, if largely thanks to Wales. Ireland played their part too, if primarily in being hyped up as genuine title contenders and at least maintaining talk of a Grand Slam for three rounds. But lo and behold, along came Wales, 66 to 1 shots for the Grand Slam, to duly do so for the first time in 28 years.

Whither England and France? Remember the days, until only a couple of years ago, when we had to endure stories of an Anglo-French breakaway to link up with the Southern Hemisphere big three? Meantime, the BBC did its damndest to ensure the Anglo-French showdown was reserved until the final weekend, with the rest merely the support cast.

As events turned out last year, the big two played out arguably the dullest match of the tournament at Twickenham, when a French team devoid of ambition were kicked over the winning line by Dimitri Yachvilli as Charlie Hodgson and Olly Barkley missed a hat load of kicks, and their team-mates imploded.

Granted, France caught fire in losing against Wales (perhaps only they could do that) thanks to the enforced infusion of new blood. As Conor O'Shea succinctly put it, it was almost as if the teams had changed shirts at half-time in the way Wales turned the game on its head.

Dwayne Peel tapping and going, or sniping, Stephen Jones attacking the gainline and spreading the ball, backs and forwards linking seamlessly as they avoided contact or unnecessary rucks by passing before or out of the tackle, none more so than openside Martyn Williams, and Shane Williams dancing his jig out on the wing.

There can't have been a more daring comeback in the tournament for aeons, and there was almost an inevitability about their Grand Slam, all the more so given Ireland appeared to have hit a wall before arriving in Cardiff.

Come the final showdown, two Celts fighting it out for the Grand Slam/Triple Crown, you always sensed there'd be a 10- or 15-minute spell when the Welsh would get their high-tempo, ball-handling game going, and that Ireland - who hadn't dared to hit those same heights and were heavily reliant on Brian O'Driscoll for inspiration - wouldn't cope. And so it came to pass.

The best thing Wales can do is forget about it and move on, according to their captain Gareth Thomas. Yet they have no option but to stay true to their principles. "We will play sexy rugby again," vowed their skills' coach Scott Johnson during the week. "Our style suits us, just as Brazil will not change the way they play football. England approach the game in a different way. And rugby should be about a contrast in styles."

Their opener at Twickenham today is a classic case in point. No less than Ireland, Wales cannot outmuscle the heavyweights. "No, so it makes no sense to go back to that type of game," admits coach Mike Ruddock. "Also the modern laws, and the way rugby league defences dominate, if you're taking too much contact, inevitably you're putting two or three players in to clear out the ball, the other team might only have one player on the floor after the tackle, and one guy contesting."

"So you might have 11 against 13, and it's a numbers' game, and it's harder to get around them and behind them. So to me, avoiding those tackle situations is the way the modern game is. If we had a pack that could dominate everyone we might look at it differently but you've got to look at the game in the context of the laws and the way the game has evolved.

"We've tried to promote a pass before, or in, contact situations so we don't have to put loads of numbers in to that ruck to get the ball back and then the defence can outnumber us. It's a quite simple principle, really."

Aside from a rash of injuries, not to mention Gavin Henson's suspension and the retirement of Sonny Parker and others, Wales have lost their surprise factor, and Keith Wood is surely not alone in believing they'll struggle to win three matches. Furthermore, almost everybody else looks potentially stronger.

"I think Ireland will be incredibly strong, looking at the players available and the Heineken Cup," says Ruddock, "and I think with two new coaches in Italy and Scotland they'll be much more competitive and obviously England and France are going to be huge. So it's going to be a tough season for us."

"Ireland are rubbish," laughs Thomas, but in truth he rates them as the real dark horses for the title. "It's great to see Brian back and to see him play the way he played last week. I think it's brilliant for rugby he's back playing the way he is, and you gotta look out for Ireland. The Munster pack who played against Sale and the Leinster backs who played against Bath would make a hell of a team on its own. They're going to be a massive, massive threat as well."

Think back to the autumn, especially the last weekend of matches when a conservatively selected Irish team routinely beat Romania while Wales were back to their daring best in beating an Australian side buoyed by a relatively comfortable win over Ireland the week before, and it would have seemed inconceivable Ireland might be in better fettle come February. But that, unnervingly, is the way it looks.

It's not just that Munster and Leinster thrillingly completed a double whammy over Sale and Bath to reach the European Cup knock-out stages, but so many key men are back in form.

O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell most obviously, but Geordan Murphy has been cutting a swathe with Leicester. Ronan O'Gara has been rejuvenated by having an outside centre with pace, and whether it's Gordon D'Arcy or some bloke called Brian, he's not exactly short of targets to hit. David Wallace and Jerry Flannery have forced their way in on merit. Even John Hayes has looked a different force in his last two Munster outings.

There was always something a little uncomfortable about talk of Ireland winning the championship or the Grand Slam and the way it petered out anti-climactically was almost a defeatist, self-fulfilling prophecy. Ireland do better when expectations are lower. Think back to 1985 and Mick Doyle's newly-assembled team and their give-it-a-lash philosophy. Will Ireland carry on the good work of Munster and Leinster?

"A different bag of hammers than the European Cup," Eddie O'Sullivan recently asserted, which to many out there who are crying out for a more expansive, less cautious and structured approach, might sound a tad ominous.

"We'll play the game we want to play," added O'Sullivan. "We did work on transitioning our game in the autumn, but at the same time I think what you're trying to do here is get the balance right; give players their heads but at the same time play the game that we need to play to win the games in the Six Nations.

"The losing of the championship for us was based on injuries," added O'Sullivan. "We lost Brian for a game, Shane Horgan for two games and Gordon D'Arcy for the whole tournament." And he maintained: "If we get a clean bill of health we can give anybody a rattle."

Yet how realistic is a clean bill of health over the course of an intensive, five-game, seven-week tournament? Ultimately, Ireland were only obliged to start 18 players over the course of last season's tournament (and 25 figured in total), and while all three injuries affected the midfield area, it's still a relatively casualty-free run.

Wales suffered injuries to captain Gareth Thomas, Dafydd Jones, Hal Luscombe and Rhys Williams in addition to having to do without Parker and Colin Charvis. They used 20 players in their starting line-ups, and 25 in total. What odds any of the six competing nations using the same 15 players throughout the tournament?

Of course, France and England have the resources to take injury hits better than most. France also have the physical power to match England, and it seems, more flair and pace, as well as the itinerary that has won them their last three Grand Slams. Wales look down to the bare bones, but by comparison you look at those outside the Irish squad - Keith Gleeson, Denis Hickie, Girvan Dempsey, all those backrowers - and in certain positions at least, there is pretty useful back-up. So France the clear favourites, but three decent challengers, not just England, with Ireland the dark horses.

At least there's a heightened sense of anticipation across the six countries, even if some of that will prove misplaced. Ieuan Evans the former Welsh captain turned pundit, encapsulated it well when asked what he wanted from this season's tournament.

"More of the same from Wales. Because of the way they play. They were prepared to be different; they were happy to be different. And what they showed was there isn't one blueprint, if you play to your own strengths and your own abilities. And for Wales it was expansive, open rugby; a skill-orientated game.

"Rugby is simple, it's about winning the ball, and creating and exploiting space, that's what it's about. And I don't want modern rugby players to be agoraphobic. I want them to enjoy space. Go out there. That's what Wales did last year and New Zealand similarly. That's how rugby is meant to be played."

In other words, sexy rugby.