As we edge close and closer to kick off in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, the optimism that Irish rugby fans carried into last year's successful campaign is nowhere to be found this time out.
The poor performances of Leinster and Munster in the European Champions Cup, coupled with that devastating Rugby World Cup quarter-final loss to Argentina appear to have left many fans feeling flat as Joe Schmidt's men prepare to take on Wales in the opening game on Sunday, February 6th, and it makes sense, as the Welsh along with England under new coach Eddie Jones appear to be in better shape heading in to the competition.
Joe Schmidt has even said that a top half finish would be a good end result, and in his column for The Independent, Tony Ward has echoed that sentiment, provided we see a change in playing style.
Not that it was needed, but if the World Cup showed us one thing and nothing else, it is that you can still win rugby matches on earth. If there is a will to play it through the hands then there is a way.
Of course there is still a place for kicking sensibly into the stratosphere but as the sole means to winning rugby there has to be another way.
Please may we be spared Conor Murray box-kicking from every scrum or ruck in every conceivable position left or right. To borrow from my old college mate from way back when, Pat Spillane, it is rugby's version of "puke football" and while we may not have invented it nobody but nobody does it 'better' or more slavishly.
So if we are to finish in the top half, and I buy that, at least let us see a semblance of ambition beyond kick and chase.
He has a point. If we are not expecting to win this championship, then what is there to lose from playing a more attractive game?
We all accepted the repetitive kicking game when it yielded results, but if it has indeed been found out since the Rugby World Cup then surely it's time for something different.
Ward also stated that he feels Ulster's Stuart McCloskey is more than ready to start at centre, and his knack for offloading in the tackle would provide a spark in the Irish midfield if paired with Robbie Henshaw.
It remains to be seen if the 24 year old will get the nod, but that will no doubt be where most Irish fans look first when Schmidt reveals his starting XV later this week.
