It will be strange for Ireland over the first couple of weeks of the Rugby World Cup, because although they will be involved, the focus to some extent will be off them, with massive games happening in the other pools.
Friday's opening game between England and Fiji will hog the back pages, and indeed the front pages, of most newspapers in England.
Ireland v Canada is not a game that will capture the imagination of the media outside of Ireland, but make no mistake, what happens in Ireland's opening couple of games of this competition will shape what we are about.
As has been said a million times at this stage, the draw we got will have dictated the phasing of Ireland's training, so the Ireland we saw in the warm-up games wouldn't unduly worry me.
What we will want to see in the opening two fixtures against Canada and Romania is sharpness; this fixture list has been planned for, and the players will be working towards their peak in match three onwards.
Joe Schmidt will look at the fixtures and look for basics well executed, work rate and physicality, but delivered with that explosiveness that makes a difference.
The performances are everything here, because the results are a foregone conclusion. If we lose our shape late on when the game is won, as long as we have seen a ruthless and efficient team getting the job done initially, then that to me will mean we are in a good place.
People will say we need an 80 minute performance, and they are right, but we need it when it counts and that will be from Italy onwards.
Return of key players
The other area of huge significance in these opening games will be the return of key players: the biggest one of all being Cian Healy.
If everyone stays fit for us through this tournament that will help, but Cian returning to full fitness gives us the second world-class ball carrier that this team needs to unleash Sean O'Brien effectively.
I have always thought, other than Johnny Sexton pulling the strings, the two most important players for Schmidt have been Healy and O'Brien in tandem. If he gets those two players back, then we can really look forward to the remainder of the tournament with anticipation.
We should really be looking forward to the upcoming event and the truth is it's wide open.
If you were a betting man you can't look past the All Blacks, but in the Rugby Championship Australia showed - and God knows France have always shown - that on any given day anything can happen against the Kiwis.
What Ireland have to do is ensure that come the medal matches we are still in with a shout, if we are then why not?
Sadly, we have been here before with massive expectation, and when the team don’t deliver, the let down and hence the fallout is even greater. But looking at where we are and looking at the draw you wouldn't be surprised to see Ireland v England in a semi-final with the winner facing the All Blacks.
The one thing you can rest assured of is that the Olympic spirit of 2012 that swept Team GB to unparalleled success at the London Olympics, and the atmosphere it created, will be the same at Twickenham for England; they will be incredibly hard to beat.
The 1995 World Cup was won by South Africa, who were united as one nation behind their team, it's a powerful cocktail and one that will make England very difficult to overcome.
Much as I want to see Ireland go the whole way, I think we will reach our first ever RWC semi-final, but fall short and watch England take on the All Blacks in the decider.
Sport being sport, I could be ripping that prediction up after the first weekend, and I hope I am.
