Ireland get their Six Nations campaign underway this Saturday with a tricky trip to Rome against the Italians.
But how strong are our rivals for a coveted Grand Slam or championship?
Oisin Langan was joined by The42.ie's rugby correspondent Murray Kinsella on this week's Rewind podcast and he looked at a difficult opening fixture for England against Wales in Cardiff on Friday.
"It's a really interesting season for Wales. They come in with a bit of confidence from their November. Maybe we're looking at a bit of a development of style for them. Gatland has become synonymous with this rush defence and playing around the corner from touchline to touchline. It's quite a readable style of play and Joe Schmidt did that to Wales last year," he said.
England are struggling with injuries and Murray highlighted the fact that those problems have struck key players ahead of this tournament.
"They're really damaging injuries for them," he said, adding that they are a still a strong side given that they notched four wins in the 2014 Six Nations.
"They are competing against the best in the world so there is depth in that squad that other countries would be envious of."
Murray also charted Scotland's development under Vern Cotter and France's issues under Philippe Saint-Andre, although they have bright spots by finding a new fly-half and greater consistency of selection and structure.
He also spoke about the impact a World Cup that cannot be ignored will have on this Six Nations.
Listen to the full interview via the podcast player (55 minutes in):
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
