Wow, what a weekend of rugby that was! Sports fans who had been experiencing the annual January malaise have been well and truly woken from their sporting stupor, and we are suddenly faced with one of the most exciting Six Nations championships since the tournament's revision in 2000. It was a weekend that saw the return of a superstar, the birth of a new household name, and the emergence of a rugby nation no longer content with being the 'also-rans'.
The much-anticipated curtain-raiser was staged at the Millennium Stadium, where Grand Slam holders Wales were desperate to end a seven-game losing streak against an Ireland side looking to exorcise the demons of their agonising defeat in the reverse fixture last season.
As always, the atmosphere inside the Cardiff stadium was electric, but the majority of the 74,000 attendance were quickly silenced after a breathless start from the Irish. Declan Kidney's men had already threatened the Welsh tryline by the time that Brian O'Driscoll, sans captain's duties, showed a burst of pace which belied his 34 years before delivering a glorious pass to send Simon Zebo over for a try on his international debut on 10 minutes.
The Irish juggernaut was in full-flow by this point, and after Dan Biggar's clearance kick was charged down by Rory Best, the hooker's break eventually resulted in prop Cian Healy bursting over from 5 metres. For anyone who missed it, Zebo's magical footwork to keep the move alive is not to be missed!
A try for O'Driscoll immediately after half-time seemed to have dashed any hopes of a dramatic Wales comeback, but Rob Howley's men seemed rejuvenated by the 30-3 deficit, a quick-fire response from Alex Cuthbert breathing life into the revival as he ghosted through a hole in the Irish defence to kick-start a possible riposte. Leigh Halfpenny, one of few Welsh players to provide a good account of himself in the match, ended several phases of pressure by dotting down in the corner despite pressure from two Irish tacklers shortly afterwards, and Wales sniffed a shock at 30-15 with 20 minutes to go.
Alas, the comeback was not realised, and despite a late score by replacement prop Craig Mitchell, Ireland held on to a famous 30-22 victory and the perfect start to their Six Nations campaign. Wales, inversely, were left to nurse their eighth successive loss, and bid farewell to their Grand Slam aspirations before they'd even truly begun.
And so the anticipation moved across the border to Twickenham, where the oldest rugby rivalry was to be renewed amidst starkly contrasting situations. Stuart Lancaster's England were entering the fray as Six Nations favourites, whilst new Scotland coach Scott Johnston was aiming to revive a side whose last outing had resulted in a home defeat to Tonga.
Early on in the match, Scottish hopes were justifiably high. After riding out early English pressure, an aimless clearance kick from Mike Brown allowed full-back Stuart Hogg to race through a broken defensive line, his electric break eventually resulting in a debut try for Sean Maitland, who barrelled past Geoff Parling to score in the corner.
England regained their confidence as the half went along through the boot of Owen Farrell, who had an imperious day from the kicking-tee, before Chris Ashton drove over the line from short range to give his side some breathing space at the break, 19-11 the eventual half-time scoreline.
Lancaster's talk during the interval seemed to have worked wonders for England, as debutant Billy Twelvetrees crashed over the line courtesy of a bullet-pass from Ben Youngs within three minutes of the restart. Twelvetrees' try was a deserved prize in a debut performance which fully displayed his attacking prowess and defensive solidity, and the man they call '36 ² has given himself a great chance of partnering either Brad Barritt or the returning Manu Tuilagi in the upcoming fixtures.
The breathing space garnered by Twelvetrees' try seemed to invigorate the English backs, and a characteristic break by Youngs ended in the try of the match, finished by Parling after a stunning miss-pass from Farrell, who deservedly won Man of the Match.
A break-away score from Hogg, the best of the Scottish players, was cancelled out by Danny Care's late try, as England ran out 38-18 victors and retained the Calcutta Cup in a performance that supported the excitement that has surrounded HQ since the defeat of New Zealand in December.
The final chapter in a thrilling opening instalment of Six Nations action came from the Stadio Olympico in Rome, where Italy were looking to repeat their historic victory over France from 2011. For the French, a strong performance in the Autumn Internationals allowed them to feel confident of completing the Italian job. As it was, we were in for another memorable match from the continent
A darting break from Luciano Orquera allowed Sergio Parisse to run in from 22 metres and give the Italians an early lead, but an explosive hand-0ff on Parisse allowed Louis Picamoles to power over and bring the French back into contention.
Picamoles try was shortly followed by a second French score, Benjamin Fall rounding off a lovely handling move by Les Bleus to race through and help his side to an 18-13 lead after 50 minutes.
Surely the sight of the match came in the 58th minute, when everyone's favourite caveman Martin Castrogiovanni crashed over the French try-line after brilliant handling by man of the match Orquera to level the scores, before the fly-half's conversion put Italy back in front with 20 minutes remaining.
A breathless conclusion to the match saw France put-in to a scrum in the Italian 22, but breathless defence from the Azzurri eventually saw them home, and Nigel Owens' whistle sparked delirious celebrations in the famous stadium, as the 23-18 scoreline secured arguably Italy's greatest ever international win, and provided the perfect finale to a memorable opening weekend.
Now we've had time to get our breath back, we can look ahead to next weekend with a justifiable sense of glee: if the standard of rugby and levels of excitement can stay as high as they did last time out, we are in for a great Six Nations. Ireland and England are the only remaining teams who can realistically claim the Grand Slam, so the game in Dublin on Sunday promises to be an epic. However, write Italy off at your peril, and they'll be desperate to add to their famous scalp when they travel to Murrayfield to face the Scots, whilst France and Wales will be fighting hammer-and-tong to get a win on the board come Saturday evening.
This week can't go quick enough!
