Wales against England tops the bill when the most open Six Nations championship for years kicks off today.
The action begins when holders France face Scotland in Paris while Ireland, many experts' tip to take the honours for the first time in 20 years, open their campaign in Italy tomorrow.
The game at the Millennium Stadium encapsulates all that is great about the Six Nations and could set the tone for the next seven weeks.
England have been incredibly dominant against the Welsh in recent years, having won 15 of their 17 meetings since 1990 but Wales still go into the match with real belief.
Although they have continued to lose regularly to the game's big guns, Wales have undoubtedly closed the gap over the last two years.
The Welsh rugby public appreciate the progress made but now want a scalp - and none is more prized than England's.
Coach Mike Ruddock, taking charge of a Six Nations game for the first time, is trying to keep a lid on the expectation and says that despite their long injury list, the world champions remain a huge threat.
"They are a very powerful team with a lot of very good combinations and a lot of good balance about them," he said.
England are certainly in transition but coach Andy Robinson has been true to his word by selecting a team full of attacking promise.
The inclusion of explosive uncapped 18-year-old centre Matthew Tait is a real statement of intent for a game where both back lines are full of spark.
England, however, also have plenty of heavyweight experience and will try to douse what should be a tremendous atmosphere by controlling the game from the front.
Champions France should have little problem getting back to winning ways against Scotland but that will not be enough to heal the wounds inflicted by Argentina and New Zealand.
Those November losses on home soil forced coach Bernard Laporte to look again at some of his personnel and the most immediate result is yet another new half-back partnership.
Scrumhalf Pierre Mignoni and flyhalf Yann Delaigue have both been restored after long absences to form the 23rd pairing in Laporte's 60 games in charge since he took over in 1999.
Scotland, who lost every game in last year's championship, look woefully ill-equipped to challenge the French.
Coach Matt Williams has made widespread changes from the team thumped by the Springboks in November but just does not have the pool of talent necessary to mount a threat.
Italy have caught Scotland and Wales cold in previous tournament openers at Rome's Stadio Flaminio but Ireland are a class above.
Last year's player of the tournament Gordon D'Arcy has returned from injury to join captain Brian O'Driscoll in a formidable centre partnership.