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Ireland, France and England are all in contention to lift the 2007 RBS 6 Nations title after the latter's impressive victory over France at Twickenham on Sunday.
I always predicted that England would turn France over, I was the only one on the panel who thought the English could do it.
I always had a gut feeling that through injuries and the disappointing performance against Ireland that Brian Ashton stumbled upon a better team than he originally had.
It was certainly a better looking team on paper than the one he brought to Croke Park.
Julian White's move to the front row was a good one, while I think Phil Vickery getting injured helped in the scrum, and pushing Martin Corry into the centre was an astute move because he is a workhorse type of player rather than dynamic.
His switch gave them a more athletic and fluid second row because both second rows are effectively loose forwards.
I thought Tom Rees at openside has been outstanding in the Guinness Premiership and I couldn't see why he wasn't given a start before now. He had a great game.
I know Mike Tindall came to the fore in the second half but I still think if you're looking at the future of English rugby it is certainly with likes of Geraghty, Flood, Tait and Strettle.
It was the older guard, the Lewseys, the Tindalls and the Catts, that were really letting the side down for long periods, not the young ones. But it was a fantastic win and I thought the English forwards were immense.
People always give me a bit of a hard time about it, but I have always maintained that French teams don't travel well. At provincial or international level, they have never travelled particularly well.
They may win matches but they never travel well and that's why I always thought that England had the ability to win this one and throw the Championship wide open.
Ireland will be optimistic about their chances of adding the Six Nations title to the Triple Crown they retained after their narrow win over Scotland on Saturday.
They deserved the win as they created more opportunities than their hosts. I think it was one of those cases where Ireland were afforded so much space that they didn't quite know how to handle it. I've never seen a game where so much space was available to the Irish backline.
The Scottish backline seemed in awe of O'Driscoll and D'Arcy and for the first 15 minutes I thought the game was going to open up into a 30-pointer. But the longer the game went on and the Irish went without scoring the more the Scots gained in confidence.
It was a bit like the French game on Sunday, in the sense that the French looked like they were heading for an easy enough win but got to the break only three points ahead.
Ireland actually came down to Scotland's level. They were by far the better side, it stuck out a mile, but they didn't take their early opportunities when they could have put the game away and nearly paid the price.
The game will long be remembered for the Ronan O'Gara incident. I think it's a tough one to call. I think Eddie O'Sullivan is right in saying that obviously something happened, but what has happened?, is the OJ Simpson question.
There were a couple of Scottish bodies there, there was a pile-up and a ruck situation and when everybody left O'Gara was lying there. There was nothing done at the time that was a bit unusual for me, and there was no reaction by any of the players or O'Gara himself.
I would be led to believe that if somebody was choking you and you knew who it was you would be pretty incensed afterwards, or if you weren't, at least somebody around you would be.
Something happened and Eddie O'Sullivan is not the type of guy to throw these things out without substance, but then he didn't see it and he is only taking the players' word for it. But I think nothing will ever come of it as it will be impossible to prove conclusively what exactly took place.
Paul O'Connell's enforced absence for the Italian match through injury will be a huge blow to Irish hopes of overturning the hosts, who have built up considerable momentum with wins over Scotland and Wales.
Italy are strong in the second row and on the balance of this tournament have probably consistently produced the best tight-five performances of all the matches, given that their backs don't have much scoring power.
Their tight-five is very strong, they have a good scrum that can be practically replaced en masse from the bench, there are a couple of good second rows and their number 8 Parisse has, at this stage, been the outstanding player of the tournament, full stop!
I think Bergamasco will be cited so he shouldn't be available and I really think Ireland have a better chance of scoring points against Italy because their backs are pretty porous.
As long as Ireland get off to a good start they could win the game comfortably, but I'd still expect to hear the traditional media spin that 'Italy will be tough.'
I know John Kirwan well and he has said that Italian rugby has achieved more than they could have ever dreamed this season, but I think Ireland's lot will be too strong for them.
Ireland will have to say 'Let's win first', because they'd kick themselves if Scotland turned France over and we failed to beat Italy.
Ireland must begin this game at break-neck speed and if they can get ten points up and in the first 20 minutes they should have enough class and experience to secure a comfortable win.
If they get the points, then France have to ensure they win by more, but if Ireland only manage a narrow win then France will have comfort in the fact that they only have to beat Scotland to retain their crown.
It's a difficult one to call. Scotland will be no pushovers after pushing Ireland so close and I'd expect France to start with their strongest XV, with Heymans almost certain to return.
Given that Ireland have to travel to Rome, I believe France start as slight favourites to retain the title, but it's an intriguing climax to an absorbing season and it's set up perfectly for Irish eyes to be smiling this St Patrick's Day.
Brent Pope was in conversation with Shane Murray.
