Ireland will be cast in the familiar role of underdogs when they launch their European Championship campaign against France in Dublin on Saturday afternoon, but this time they are not without hope.
The Wolfhounds found themselves up against big guns Australia, England and Fiji in the 2013 World Cup and, not surprisingly, lost all three group matches.
"We learned a lot from that," Ireland coach Mark Aston said.
"When you play against Australia and England there is always that little bit of doubt about whether we'd be able to compete.
"But we will go into every game this year thinking we can win and that's important."
The matches against the French, Scotland and Wales should provide a more level playing field and, with a place in the 2016 Four Nations Series as well as automatic qualification for the 2017 World Cup at stake, there is no shortage of incentive.
The Irish secured home advantage for two of their matches from the open draw and Scotland will be the visitors to Dublin's Tallaght Stadium next Saturday before Aston's men bring down the curtain on the tournament against the Welsh in Wrexham on Sunday, 2 November.
Without most of the big games from the World Cup, including skipper Liam Finn who has joined the backroom staff after succumbing to injury, Aston has been forced to bolster his squad with players from Ireland's fledgling domestic league, a strictly amateur competition.
"It's tough because the funding's been taken away from Ireland and Scotland so there's no full-time staff," Aston said.
"We will go into every game this year thinking we can win and that's important"
"Following on from the World Cup, it is probably a slight disappointment that the teams aren't going to be as strong as the ones which took the field last year," French coach Richard Agar said.
"You lose that continuity and momentum that you build up but, at the same time, I think it gives the new breed of players an opportunity, certainly in France's case.
"We are losing some experienced players who have been representing France for six, seven and, in some cases, 10 years.
"They're not going to be back so one of the themes that our guys have picked up and run with is the fact that this is a new generation of players.
"The prize at the end of the day for those guys is to cement their place within the international set-up with the prospect of playing in a Four Nations at the end of it as well."
Fifteen of Agar's 18-man squad are past or present Catalan players, with Toulouse gaining belated recognition through the late call-up of veteran forward Aaron Wood and young winger Tony Maurel.
Ireland (from): M Hadden (Antrim), C Dunne (Athboy), Mikey Russell (Barnhall), S Hesketh (Batley), W Kelly (Belfast Met Scholars), H Peacock (Carcassonne), J Murphy (Dewsbury), L Ambler, C Casey, B Johnston (all Halifax), E Cosgrove (Keighley), R Mulhern (Leeds), B Beswick (capt), M Platt (both Leigh), J Toole (North Sydney), C Mulkeen (Oxford), S McDonnell (St Helens), G O'Keeffe (Treaty City), W Hope (unattached), B Hargreaves (Wigan St Patricks).
France (from): J Baitieri (capt), J Bousquet, D Cardace, B Garcia, A Maria, E Pelissier (all Catalan Dragons), K Larroyer (Hull KR), J Fakir (Lezignan), R Marginet, F Vaccari (Palau), T Fages (Salford), J-P Baile, W Barthau, T Margalet, M Pala, M Simon (St Esteve), T Maurel, A Wood (Toulouse).
