Somewhere in the very early years of the new millennium, when England were putting behind them the habit of losing grand-slam showdowns in the Six Nations and were instead marching ahead to the World Cup of 2003, it was suggested that they were outgrowing the European parish. France, on their side of the Channel, and England, on ours, were simply too big for the rest.
It has been painful over the past three years to watch those England players who did not retire after 2003 struggle on. Josh Lewsey and Ben Cohen are shadows of their former selves. Steve Thompson and Ben Kay have lost even their shadows. Lawrence Dallaglio and Richard Hill have lost their legs, Jonny Wilkinson an entire body, bit by bit.
And just as England have come down, so the Celts have risen up. It is an annoying historical habit of theirs, but on the modern rugby field they have embraced the notion, developed at record speed post 2003, that size can actually count against you.
Sure, Paul O'Connell and Ryan Jones and the injured Jason White are hardly elfin, but their advance with Ireland and Wales and Scotland is as much to do with what they offer by way of contrast to muscularity as with them bridging, by their very bulk, the gap between England and the Celts. Given a choice between a gifted but lightweight player and a wooden brute, it is easier to bulk up the undersized than teach the giant skills.
Wales appear to have reached the point of being able to look forward to a good old afternoon of rock and roll with the All Blacks on Saturday, rather than fear, six days out, the absolute worst. I say 'appear' because you never quite know what bubbles beneath the surface in Wales.
It is all part of the special brew that makes Martyn Williams such a very special link in the back row. And Shane Williams the winger who can electrify a stadium like no other since Jason Robinson first captivated Twickenham (By the way, Robinson - there's another whose light went out.)
Williams, against Canada on Friday night (when Wales won 61-26 at Cardiff), worked the ball out of the contact area and into space with a dexterity that is simply not in evidence in the England game. Williams darted in and out of the heavy traffic like a courier on a delivery bonus. What ever happened to the Cohen of Melbourne 2003?
Ireland would appear to have followed a smoother path than Wales to this point of being at ease with themselves. But just because Wales and Mike Ruddock parted company with a breathless nation looking on does not mean that Eddie O'Sullivan has not been as ruthless in Ireland.
The dream-ticket coaching team of O'Sullivan and Declan Kidney did not last long. Kidney soon withdrew, back to Munster, with the briefest of stops along the way at Newport Gwent Dragons. It could have been very messy, but somehow the Irish, if not the Dragons, came through with charm. Kidney's Munster went on to do grand things their way, and O'Sullivan's Ireland have made smooth progress of their own.
The national cause has benefited obviously from the Munster effect, particularly up front and at half-back. Denis Leamy has emerged as a combination hybrid of Welsh invention and English power at No 8. Peter Stringer and Ronan O'Gara only improve with age. In the late summer of their sporting lives the scrum-half and outside-half are performing with craft and authority.
Leinster will always be able to supply a three-quarter line. Brian O'Driscoll shows no signs of getting any worse. If he simply stays where he is he will remain at the top of the world game. Gordon D'Arcy, prone to dramatic loss of form, is currently on a rising curve of confidence.
Shane Horgan is yet again outstanding and deserves more credit for what he offers. Just because he looks like an England forward does not mean he plays anything like one. And Girvan Dempsey, dependency itself at full-back, without earning any more poetic label, has suddenly blossomed into a free-thinking attacking force.
But what makes Ireland more alluring than ever is the contribution of Ulster. No sooner did outside-half David Humphreys announce his retirement from international rugby - thereby underlining a certain lack of cover in the Irish squad, and in his position in particular - than a whole new batch of Ulster players announced themselves.
O'Sullivan has scrum-half cover for Stringer in Isaac Boss. The Bests - Neil, Rory and Simon - and now Bryan Young offer reassurance to the front and back rows. Andrew Trimble, should he shake off a persistent hamstring problem, will brighten up any back line.
Mark McCall, coach of Ulster, must be given a lot of credit. To see his team demolish Toulouse in the Heineken Cup was to witness a new - or revitalised - force in the game. Here is a coach, fresh of approach, clear of vision, sound in selection, driving his side full steam ahead. The risk, in the European parish, of having teams out in front of the rest, is still there.
