Wales and England line up for the anthems last year(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Ltd)
BBC Wales’ pre-Six Nations advert this year is a familiar one.
A solitary Welsh fan starts the week believing there is no hope. By the time the match comes around, he has come to believe that maybe there’s a chance after all – trying his best to convince anyone who will listen.
It’s the hope that kills you, of course.
You’ll probably be hard-pushed to find someone who sells that feeling better than the actor involved. Few, if any, will get around to Saturday with much more than a feeling of dread.
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In all honesty, apathy is perhaps the overriding emotion.
Rarely, if ever, has an England v Wales week felt so sparse in hype and excitement.
The expectation that this will be a comfortable victory – maybe even a terribly one-sided one like last year – is a factor.
But it’s also a reflection of where Welsh rugby finds itself right now.
The Six Nations squad announcement the other week was a mere sideshow, overshadowed by the news that the Welsh Rugby Union had chosen Ospreys owners Y11 as their preferred bidder for Cardiff.
Dress it up how you like, the governing body and, above all, Y11 have facilitated the slow death of the Ospreys.
Unless an alternative is found – and it’s hard to see a genuine one – that’s the grim reality.
Right now, the start of the Six Nations isn’t the focus. And understandably so.
Welsh rugby is in a dire state. There are a myriad of problems, with the number of professional teams the tip of the iceberg.
But that is the obvious one – the one which will result in job losses and some fans walking away from the game.
If there is no appetite for the Six Nations amongst Welsh rugby fans, then that is the clear reason.
Ticket sales seem to reflect that for Wales’ home games. Of course, while some might see that as the governing body reaping what they sow, it only serves as another nail in Welsh rugby’s coffin.
In fairness to Wales players’ in camp, there’s little they can do about the situation.
Those close to the camp will tell you, when you’re in it, little else really matters on the outside.
For them, the focus will be on England and England alone.
Try telling Dewi Lake, for example, there’s less hype around this match as he’s readying himself to run through a brick wall for his nation once more.
But there are other factors of course in the lack of hype.
The result being, in the eyes of many, a foregone conclusion doesn’t help.
Sir Clive Woodward says he can’t see a way England lose. He’s not alone in that.
And, let’s be honest, Wales and England are not as ‘shouty’ as they might have been in the past.
In previous years, Eddie Jones and Warren Gatland would have traded barbs in the media, throwing verbal grenades in the days leading up to the match.
Steve Borthwick, despite the odd anecdote, isn’t as charismatic as his predecessor, while Steve Tandy is a more positive individual than the man he replaced.
Wales have little to shout about on the field, while England – bar the exception of Henry Pollock, who does the heavy-lifting all by himself as a ‘character’ to grow the game – are a team that care little for hyping themselves up.
Try as you might, there’s little appetite for England v Wales at this stage of the week.
For now, even the interest of the national media is on the off-field issues. That’ll make for a few spreads over the next few days.
Come February 8, attention will turn to whoever England face next. Wales’ problems won’t be as newsworthy.
