Welcome back to the Nations Championship -- four rounds of cross-hemisphere clashes culminating in three back-to-back days of Test rugby on a flattened Twickenham pitch.
But where are we? Well this is a continuation of the tournament which started in July when the north largely travelled south -- or if you're England, you went from South Africa to Liverpool to Argentina and clocked up 25,000 miles in the process. But the headlines from that flurry of matches is that from a southern hemisphere perspective, New Zealand and South Africa remain unbeaten -- three from three, the pace setters. Over in the north, it's set nicely with France, Scotland, England and Ireland all returning two wins from three.
Over the next three weekends, starting in Dublin on Friday, we'll see the south look to continue their supremacy over the north. Already the sport has one eye on the Rugby World Cup next year -- this tournament gives you a neat (and final) acid test of where all of the protagonists are, effectively starting the countdown to the quadrennial global jamboree which kicks off on Oct. 1, 2027.
The last weekend of this month promises to be manic: after the league tables are set we'll see six matches across three days -- as each team in the north plays their corresponding team in the south based on their place in their respective hemisphere's table. The smart money is on France facing South Africa or New Zealand in the final.
With so many unknowns inherit in an inaugural tournament, trying to predict how things will play out from here isn't straightforward. But as we look forward to four breathtaking, eventful and likely controversial and polarising weekends of Test rugby, here's what we think we know ahead of part two of the Nations Championship.
Even with their injuries, France will be in the final
France could field an outstanding team from the list of injured players heading into the forthcoming championship.
Ahead of the squad announcement, Fabien Galthie knew he was going to have to manage without Matthieu Jalibert, Thomas Ramos, Julien Marchand, Emmanuel Meafou, Thibaud Flament, Demba Bamba and Lenni Nouchi. And then La Rochelle duo Karl Sorin and Antoine Hastoy, Bordeaux-Bègles back-rower Marko Gazzotti and Pau centre Fabien Brau-Boirie all withdrew.
But such is their embarrassment of riches, he had Pau prop Thomas Laclayat, Bordeaux centre Nicolas Depoortère, Toulouse back-rower Anthony Jelonch and Castres fly-half Louis Le Brun all ready to fill their shoes. And then on Monday came two further changes: Jelonch and Joshua Brennan were gone, Charles Kante Samba and Antoine Deliance were in.
On the plus side -- at least Galthie will have a good handle on where each player is as he finetunes his World Cup plans with a 42-player squad.
France-South Africa in round two looks to be the best match out of any on the upcoming three weekends of the tournament and could end up being replayed in the final, too.
France will be led by Antoine Dupont and he'll have on his shoulder players like Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Romain Ntamack and Damian Penaud as well as the returning Grègory Alldritt.
Over the summer they hammered Japan, beat the Wallabies in Brisbane, and then narrowly lost to the All Blacks in Christchurch. Their club sides are flying in Europe, they're a step ahead of everyone else in the northern hemisphere and France will still be top of the tree as the finals weekend schedule shakes down.
South Africa and New Zealand are streets ahead
Over four glorious weekends in August, we marvelled at South Africa and New Zealand knocking seven bells out of each other. The "Greatest Rivalry" quadruplet of matches didn't disappoint. There was needle, controversy and Rassie Erasmus going through his whole box of tricks to keep Dave Rennie's All Blacks at bay. But those four matches saw the water mark rise for both sides: they brought out the best in one another. And that should be ominous for the rest of the world.
The Boks have world-class quartet Cheslin Kolbe, Eben Etzebeth, Handre Pollard and André Esterhuizen all missing but their strength in depth is just ridiculous with Erasmus' 37-man squad packed with World Cup-winners and also includes six uncapped players. They had that bizarre match with Australia back at the end of September where they lost despite the Wallabies clinging on with 11 men at the end, but there are few signs of weaknesses in the Boks.
The same goes for the All Blacks who have made great strides ever since Rennie took charge in March. They're looking back to their formidable, intimidating best as Australia found out to their cost when the All Blacks obliterated the Wallabies 36-7 in the first half of their Test match in Sydney on Oct. 17.
It was breathtaking, and all that with Jordie Barrett withdrawing late. Damian McKenzie has the No. 10 shirt heading into the autumn and they'll look to the world-class Will Jordan and Ardie Savea for inspiration, and don't for one minute discount the achievement of that win in Sydney: the Wallabies have also taken leaps forward under Les Kiss.
So things are purring nicely for the southern hemisphere big three and they'll look to hammer home that point on their trip north.
England remain a work in progress and need 3 from 4
Discipline, discipline, discipline. Of the several aspects of England's game that Steve Borthwick needs to tweak, his team's indiscipline is arguably the main one. It's been a tough year for the red rose, and it started so well with that 48-7 win over Wales.
But from there, their Six Nations unravelled as they lost their next four -- including a first ever defeat to Italy -- and they were then handed a brutal reality check by the Springboks in the first match of their Nations Championship. They have showed signs of life since then -- swiping aside a dismal Fiji 73-8, and then beating Argentina 31-24 as England held off a late fightback from the Pumas. A trio of matches complete with that odyssey of a journey required to get across all three.
What we need to see from England over the next month is progress. Progress in discipline: so far they've had 14 yellow cards and one red this year. Alex Mitchell's hamstring injury hasn't helped things, but we need to see a spine of the team forming complete with two clear first-choice centres (and they'll hope to have Fin Smith back who is nursing a calf injury and Mitchell's Saints scrum-half Archie McParland available).
We'll hopefully see the best of the incredible Manny Feyi-Waboso, but also an England team playing on the front foot, confident in their skin and finding a way to get set piece superiority against Australia, Japan and the All Blacks.
Two from three there is progress, and then on the final weekend, you expect they'd face either the Wallabies or Argentina.
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Scotland or Ireland will finish second in the north
This is increasingly looking like the Nations Championship of the last men standing, after Scotland were hit on the eve of the tournament by Jamie Ritchie picking up a serious knee injury. But it's settled: just one uncapped player in Gregor Townsend's 37-player squad, while Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe were also passed fit.
Over in Ireland, Andy Farrell has several key players sidelined with Garry Ringrose, Caelan Doris, Jack Conan and Jack Crowley all injured, but the good news is Sam Prendergast should be fit and Mack Hansen is back.
You feel both are just a step ahead of England at the moment and the final standings could come down to points difference. Scotland have New Zealand, Australia and Japan, while Ireland host Argentina (without Thomas Gallo and Santi Carreras), Fiji (under Jake White) and South Africa. They badly need a win over the Boks to signal their progress, given they have lost their last six meetings with the All Blacks, France and South Africa.
Ireland have prioritised their conditioning ahead of November while Scotland will be looking for a statement victory.
Elsewhere, Italy and Wales will also fancy their chances of making a splash. Wales need to nail down some consistency in selection and show further improvement, while Italy will have to contend without the electric Tommaso Menoncello.
The final three days will be chaos
Pity the Twickenham grounds staff. And the bus drivers. And the various folk behind the logistics. And the supporters who'll scramble for tickets in the handful of days between matches. Because that final weekend of the Nations Championship will be nuts, as will the lead up to the three days of chaos.
The final matches of round three kick off at 8.10 p.m. GMT on Saturday Nov. 21. The first match of the final weekend starts at 4.40 p.m. on Nov. 27. It's a World Cup-type scramble for tickets between knockout matches, but with so many unknowns, you hope the organisers have stable ticketing infrastructure.
It should be fascinating, and you hope momentum and interest builds. On Friday, we'll see the two sixth-placed sides face one another, and then the third-placed teams. Saturday it'll be five vs. five and two taking on two. Sunday will be the two sides who've finished fourth and then the final.
It's going to be great fun, but also a logistical challenge for those involved. But it's ambitious and it's going to be enthralling. I think it'll end up being a France-South Africa final, but here's hoping I'm wrong, with plenty of curveballs, tries, moments of edge-of-your-seat madness and the odd bit of controversy thrown in.