It's that time of the year again.
The pulse quickens and the heart starts to pound, in the Middle of Winter, the finest competition outside the Rugby World Cup gets under way.
The Six Nations Tournament
Brilliant, or it would be if I weren't stuck in dismal Auckland, New Zealand.
I can't believe that I cannot see any of the games, or at least I haven't yet found a pub that carries the Rugby Channel.
All the six nations are being shown on the Rugby channel here, but most people don't bother with it because the Super 12 and Tri-nation competitions are shown on terrestrial TV or Sky Sports.
Now there's a lot of unease down here in New Zealand when it comes to rugby.
Wales gave them a huge fright in the World Cup, and I think that both England and France would have beaten them.
There's a feeling that the centre of power is slowly marching northward.
Henry, the all blacks coach seems to agree.
He's touring the regions and telling them the sort of rugby he wants to see in the upcoming Super 12 competition.
He feels that the Kiwis are not contesting for the ball enough at the set pieces, and that when it comes to internationals they are being murdered up front.
Woodward has described the Super 12 competition as a game of basketball, with each side taking it in turns to run at the other, without really competing to win the ball.
There is a further feeling that the Super 12 is in it's last days.
There is as yet no plan from the television corporations to televise the Super 12 because people are saying that the format has been degraded as a competition. The South Africans have become the whipping boys, and the Tri-Nations has in reality become a competition just between Australia and New Zealand.
South African rugby is in a parlous state, with a reversion away from regional teams back to local teams, the reverse of what has been happening elsewhere.
There has been interesting speculation down here that next summer a new team will be fielded, a team made up of the best from Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.
They will be called the Islanders, and the idea is that they will play in the flagging Tri-Nations to give it a boost, being allowed to call on their players playing abroad just as for a full international.
They may also be invited to form an islander 'region' along the same lines to compete in a revamped super 12 competition.
Whatever the outcome, there is a keen sense here that something needs to be done, and England marching off with the world cup was a body blow that was felt more keenly than I thought down under.
Henry acknowledges that the Heineken cup is a far superior competion now, and this is borne out by some really tough matches this season, and although only one Welsh club reached the last eight, there were a few near misses and some strong finishes that made the overall Welsh effort the best since the competition was launched.
If the results are close at club level, then this should lead to a more competitive Six Nations, which would benefit from a new winner other than France or England.
Henry, with the Lions tour coming up in 2005, realises that the structures to ensure an All Black victory are crumbling at the foundations.
He understands that he has to get New Zealand to compete more up front, if Englands current world dominance is fed into the Lions helped by a fiercely competitive Heineken Cup and Six Nations championship, then the All Blacks could well lose next years Tests.
Footnote: Wales appeared to get off to a flying start this weekend, with Italy giving England a few headaches that was not reflected in the final score. Ireland fought bravely against France but ultimately yielded.
Perhaps this year we will see a closer competition, I don't think there will be any grand slams or runaway victors, and this can only be a good thing for Northern Hemisphere rugby.
yechydda,