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Following last autumn's rugby World Cup many of the British 'Home Nations' had something to prove ... and this included England despite reaching the final.
With Coach Brian Ashton now permanently in the role there have been some underlying frustrations in some quarters with his ability to take England where they need to go as despite doing well against all predictions in France they played poorly and very conservatively.
Meanwhile, last year's hosts France had to get over the disappointment of losing to England in the tournament and start rebuilding a squad that could take them through the next four years as serious challengers again.
The weekend started off though with Ireland, the biggest disappointment of the World Cup against Italy, a fast improving nation who had their best Six Nations last year winning two games. Croke Park is a fantastic venue to play rugby but the game itself offered nothing to match these surroundings and Ireland laboured to a 16-11 victory, thanks mainly to the boot of reliable Ronan O'Gara.
It did not start out that way when a Gordon D'Arcy try set them on their way to a 10-0 lead inside 20 minutes. But, from then on, a solid Italian defence and a lacklustre second half Irish performance allowed the game to stay reasonably tight to the final whistle.
The same players have been give a chance to redeem themselves from that terrible World Cup so this week's trip to Paris will be more crucial than might have first been thought.
Next up was England against Wales who had not won at Twickenham for over 20 years and the way this game started this poor run looked likely to continue. With the home team controlling the game and scoring early, the only surprise was that the lead was only 10 points at half-time.
The second half even started off in the same vein with a 19-9 lead looking more than enough for England to see the game out. But from a position of control England somehow managed to go to a side chucking the ball around as if it was a sevens tournament - and they looked absolutely dreadful for it.
Wales, through Lee Byrne and Mike Phillips went over the try line twice and the cool James Hook slotted over the conversions and suddenly it was a different game. Not only were England unable to get out of their own half, their composure had vanished as well. This will be the main worry for Ashton when he views the aftermath of this match.
For all the achievements last year he is now on the back foot and it might be a hard and long Six Nations for him and his team with trips to France and Scotland still to come. This weekend's game in Italy should still be within their capabilities but after that last quarter horror show anything could happen.
Meanwhile, Wales have gone some way to banishing the defeat to Fiji in to the past and dreams of another Grand Slam will be sweeping the valleys and whilst this is a little optimistic it is difficult to deny them this moment after such a promising start.
On Sunday, France travelled to Murryfield with a new look side and coach Marc Lievremont promising a return to French expansive running rather than the structured tactics of his predecessor Laporte.
As it turned out he was true to his word and the 27-6 scoreline did not flatter the visitors at all. Two tries from Clerc and one from Malzieu were more than sufficient to secure victory and the result was in little doubt from very early on in this match.
It is difficult to make a case against France winning the Six Nations and only the fixture in Cardiff on the last weekend looks like being a major stumbling block.
One of the most important features of a successful campaign is a good start as momentum often plays a key part whilst the others play catch up and if it does come down to the last game it will be a game to look forward to given the two most inspirational and unpredictable teams will be playing.
World rugby though has at last managed to achieve something that all sports require and that is the unpredictable nature of results. For too long it had been possible to predict outcomes but as the last World Cup proved this is no longer the case and rugby is a far better spectacle for it.
