Saturday sees the start of the highly anticipated 2016 Six Nations with three intriguing matchups.
Following a Rugby World Cup dominated by the Southern Hemisphere nations, there is pressure on the six premier European teams to reach another level to catch up with the New Zealand's of this world.
There has been a vast amount of change since that World Cup for many of the Six Nations teams. England have a new coaching staff led by Eddie Jones, who has inserted the controversial Dylan Hartley as his new captain.
France also have a new coach-captain combination in Guy Noves and Guilhem Guirardo, whilst Frenchman Jacques Brunel heads into his final Six Nations campaign as the head coach of Italy.
Ireland have replaced legendary lock forward Paul O'Connell as captain, with Joe Schmidt electing Ulster's skipper Rory Best to make it a trio of hooking captains in the Six Nations following the appointments of Guirado and Hartley.
Scotland will look to continue the promising performances they showed during the World Cup under Vern Cotter, whilst Wales are the most settled side, with Warren Gatland and Sam Warburton heading their challenge once again.
France - Italy
The opening match of the 2016 Six Nations sees a new-look France take on the Italians at the Stade de France.
Four Frenchmen will make their debuts, including rugby sevens star Virimi Vakatawa who starts on the left wing. The other new faces are Toulouse scrum-half Sebastian Bezy, Clermont lock Paul Jedrasiak and Stade Francais' inside-centre Jonathan Danty who has been tearing up the competition in the French Top 14 league.
The remainder of the French side is largely unrecognisable from the shambolic performance against New Zealand at the World Cup. Hugo Boneval and Jules Plisson are included in the backline, whilst Wenceslas Lauret has finally been given the start he deserves in the six jersey. 20-year-old hooker Camille Chat is included amongst the replacements, and looks to be a star of the future.
For Italy, Sergio Parisse captains the team once more in a strong looking backrow alongside Alessandro Zanni and Francesco Minto.
There are also four debutants in the Italian lineup in the form of full-back David Odiete, winger Mattia Bellini and front-rowers Ornel Gega and Andrea Lovotti.
Scotland - England
In the cauldron of Murrayfield, Eddie Jones gets his tenure as England coach underway in the battle for the Calcutta Cup. The Scots will be confident of getting their first victory over the English since 2008 following a much superior World Cup to their visitors.
Vern Cotter continues to build a side who look to play an expansive game, which sees the return of openside flanker John Barclay who has not played for his nation for two years.
Barring the inclusion of Barclay there are no surprises at all in the Scottish lineup, with centre Mark Bennett selected after overcoming a shoulder injury.
For England, there hasn't been the huge turnaround which some envisioned, with Jones selecting a large percentage of the side who fell short in the World Cup.
George Ford starts at ten, with Owen Farrell at inside centre, whilst Chris Robshaw starts at six despite losing the captaincy to Hartley. Anthony Watson and Jack Nowell form an exciting wing partnership, with Danny Care has been given the nod ahead of Ben Youngs at scrum-half.
There are three potential debutants who could enter the fray from the bench in the form of prop Paul Hill, flanker Jack Clifford and centre Ollie Devoto.
Ireland - Wales
On Sunday, the Welsh travel to Dublin in a matchup between the two tournament favourites.
Ireland will hand a debut to back-row forward CJ Stander, who has been a standout performer in a disappointing Munster side this season. Rob Kearney and Sean O'Brien miss out through injury, with Simon Zebo and Tommy O'Donnell taking their spots in the starting lineup.
Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne start in the centres, with Keith Earls and Andrew Trimble on the wings. Jonny Sexton has overcome a recent head injury to start at fly-half, where he will be partnered in the half-backs by Conor Murray.
For Wales, winger Tom James returns from the international wilderness to make his first international start in five years in place of Alex Cuthbert who drops to the bench.
Rob Evans is given a surprise start at prop ahead of substitute Gethin Jenkins, whilst Justin Tipuric will partner Warburton and Toby Faletau in the back-row, with Dan Lydiate not selected to start.