Rugby World Cup 2015 finally gets under way this weekend, and not a moment too soon, as it feels like it has been a very long build-up.
The fact that the tournament takes place across the Irish sea in England and Wales means there is plenty of hype about.
Ireland’s form has also played a role in building that anticipation. Joe Schmidt’s men are double 6 Nations champions and up until three weeks ago we were ranked second in the IRB world rankings.
The build-up performances dampened some of that down.
The view in some places is that the two defeats against Wales and England are a sign that we have peaked at the wrong time and that our form is on the slide, but I don’t think that is the case at all.
"I think this group are the best prepared side Ireland has ever sent to a Rugby World Cup"
The pre-tournament matches are about giving players game time, trying out combinations and finalising the squad.
Players are under pressure at a personal level as coaches are watching to see who is performing under the microscope of trying to make the squad.
But it is all soon forgotten and the squad will ultimately be judged on what they achieve at the Rugby World Cup.
We also have to factor in what Ireland will do when the phoney war ends.
Schmidt did not show his hand at all in terms of revealing a new ‘shape’ or style of play in those warm-up games.
Things like that can be fine-tuned on the training ground and introduced in the group stages and hopefully refined further in the knockout phase.
Ireland were beaten by England and Wales but Ireland’s players are physically and mentally at completely different stages compared to those teams.
England and Wales are grouped with Australia and Fiji and all four of those teams need to be fully tuned up straight away.
For me, those are all signs that the Irish management has decided to take advantage of the fact that we don’t need to be at our peak until we take on Italy in our third match and given how they are looking right now, Ireland can probably aim to hit top speed in their fourth group match against the French.
Still room for improvement
The big weakness for me in the last three games was Ireland's work in the collision area on both sides of the ball. Our defence was not as accurate or aggressive as it has been, while the ball carry into contact was not explosive and efficient.
Our discipline, which has always been world-class under Joe Schmidt, also dropped.
However, those extra couple of weeks Ireland have to play with means they can prioritise strength, speed, power and aerobic work for longer before building up contact fitness and collision conditioning.
That is what we lacked in the build-up. The resultant contact fatigue almost certainly played a role in some of the poor discipline that crept in.
Despite Ireland not having a good record in World Cups (something my French colleagues take great pleasure in reminding me off regularly) I don’t buy into the theory that this will have any bearing on their performance at RWC 2015.
Look at our record. We had never before gone into a tournament having won back to back Six Nations Championships. This team has shown both the ability to close out tight games and perform week in week out in tournaments.
Before, we were capable of the odd outlier in terms of a big scalp but struggled to deal with pressure and delivery.
Even after the Grand Slam win in 2009, which backboned our World Cup team in 2011, we struggled to perform consistently.
I think this group are the best prepared side we have ever sent to a Rugby World Cup. To be genuine contenders you need a great coach, a great captain and a world-class half-back pair and we tick all those boxes with Schmidt, O'Connell, Murray and Sexton.
We also have better strength in depth than ever before, and much more competition for places.
The only slight fear I have in the back of my mind is whether we have as much margin for improvement as some of the other countries.
Take France, who have been a chaotic set-up for the last few seasons. Even then, we struggled to beat them.
They go into this tournament confident with a long training period behind them. That is something they don’t get for 6 Nations because of the TOP 14 schedule, but it's a worry for this tournament.
Canada gives us a chance to try things
Ireland have Canada first up and it is a chance to try things out.
A strong side has been picked with second-row the most obvious talking point. I don’t know whether Ian Henderson has jumped ahead of Devin Toner but Toner will certainly be on his toes. I could see Henderson getting an opportunity to start at blindside flanker against Romania next week also.
His power and flexibility makes him and a very interesting asset for any coach.
In the backs, I think Keith Earls is the man to watch. Before the warm-ups, his last match for Ireland was in 2013. Keith has struggled with injuries, self confidence and his own versatility but he is one of the most gifted backs that Ireland has ever produced. Wing was an incredibly competitive position to secure in the Irish squad.
His performance away in Wales laid down a marker and, given an injury free run, he could be one of the stars of the tournament. Trust me, he is that good.
It is also brilliant to see Cian Healy on the bench. He has had a worrying time recovering from neck surgery. The Irish medical staff and conditioning staff have done a brilliant job, being patient and allowing his body the time to come right.
It is obviously not ideal to go into a Rugby World Cup like this without a few matches but Cian is one of those rare athletes for whom the normal rules don’t apply.
With Healy out, Jack McGrath has taken his opportunity to develop into an excellent international and with only two looseheads in the squad they both will be kept busy.
It will be fascinating to see how Ireland go but we are a few weeks away yet from the real tests.
Who are the contenders?
In terms of eventual winners, if it is not to be Ireland then I would love to see New Zealand win their first ‘away’ World Cup.
I really admire their consistency, the player-led culture of behaviour and performance and their ability to be the innovators that the rest of us follow.
Australia are my dark horse as Michael Cheika has really changed the culture there. He also managed the politics, getting the ARU to allow him pick the likes Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell. It has given them more depth and experience - key assets in any world cup squad.
But the biggest thing that I would like to see this tournament is the Pacific Island teams getting some scalps.
Their players are scattered all over the world on pro contracts, meaning we only get to see them at their best once every four years.
They are frighteningly talented and so exciting to watch when they get a level playing field playing in their national colours.
Just one of the things that makes this tournament so special.
