The Six Nations is over for Wales and attention is already turning to rugby's next chapter of the World Cup with various predictions of how we, and the other teams, are going to fare out in France this autumn.
Warren Gatland's side, of course, have just returned from Paris. Their defeat has been well and truly dissected, there is little more to say, although as a member of the grizzled old front row union I did note with interest Louis Rees-Zammit's attempt to stop French prop Uini Atonio from bulldozing his way over for a try.
Rees-Zammit shouldn't despair. I don't think even JPR Williams in his pomp would have been able to halt Atonio from that distance!
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The significant thing for me was the fast start Wales made, one they were unable to maintain as France stormed their way back into the contest. The reason I say this is because in the coming months, before the team head out to France, Gatland will make fitness first second, third and fourth on his priority list.
He doesn't appear to think the players are fit enough for international rugby after they have been with their regions and ahead of the three previous World Cups Gatland placed huge emphasis on getting his team up to the required levels he demands.
This is significant because to succeed against the world's finest this autumn, Wales will need to make the kind of fast start we saw in Paris at the weekend, and in Italy the Saturday before, but also have the fitness levels to sustain it as the minutes tick by and the opposition put you under pressure.
That will be the key for me and it will also be fascinating how that is mirrored with Gatland's squad selection. Having given the younger players an opportunity, he reverted to type with the old guard versus France.
You always need a balance of the two, I feel, but I also wonder how the older players will cope with the physical demands Gatland will be making in gruelling training camps and also whether they have the appetite to train at that level at this stage of their careers.
We know from past experience how tough these World Cup camps can be under Gatland, but I doubt he'll be holding back this time because he will want Wales to be the fittest side at the tournament when the action commences in September.
So how do I see it playing out? What do we draw from the Six Nations?
The first thing to say is that World Rugby made a huge mistake by doing the draw too early, back in 2020 when the rankings were significantly different to how they stand today.
As it is, the top five teams - Ireland, France, New Zealand, South Africa and Scotland - are in the same half of the draw. Consequently three of them cannot get beyond the quarter-finals.
Put into stark perspective, two of the current top four superpowers are unable to reach the semi-finals, let alone beyond, simply because of the way this was worked out three years ago.
World number ranked side Ireland, hosts and favourites France, traditional powerhouses New Zealand or holders South Africa, who are a cut above the other teams in the tournament.
Two of them will go through, the next best two sides will go out while lesser teams reach the semi-finals.
By contrast Wales, a lowly ninth in the rankings, are very much in the easier half of the draw with England, Australia and Argentina around them.
We have the Wallabies, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal in our group. It's entirely winnable, but if results go as most expect, it would probably mean Wales as runners-up meeting England in the last eight.
Yes England won recently at the Principality Stadium, but in a one-off World Cup quarter-final showdown anything really can happen. The path to the semi-final is very much open for Gatland and his team. Only then would they have to meet one of the current big guns.
This is not an opportunity to be missed.
The fans' Wales Six Nations verdict: Have your say
At this stage, some way out, I envisage a quarter-final line-up as follows, with group winners the first side named each time:
France versus Ireland, South Africa v New Zealand, Australia v Argentina and England locking horns with Wales.
Ireland may be sweeping everything before them at the moment, but I forecast they'll go out to the French. The reasoning is twofold. One is that history tells us Ireland simply do not win knockout matches at the World Cup and I don't see that changing this time.
Why? Because they will come up against a host nation who will simply prove too much of an irresistible force in their own backyard, particularly at that stage of the tournament. France are too good to be stopped on home soil.
The Springboks will fancy their chances of winning back-to-back World Cups, but I can't see them progressing further than the quarters. Why? Because while New Zealand have problems on and off the field at present, based on the nature of the beast I suspect they will have sorted everything out by the time it really matters this autumn.
I suspect Wales will finish second in our group to Australia. The Wallabies are 100 per cent are beatable, they've had a troubled last eight months, but the appointment of Eddie Jones will work for them. He has a habit of coming good when taking over a new team and I suspect Wales will fall victims to that.
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If so, it would probably mean the old enemy England in the quarter-finals. With fitness levels more closely aligned with what Gatland will have demanded by then, Wales can win that one. But whoever comes through will likely lose to the French in the semis, while I expect New Zealand to prevail in the other last-four tie, probably against the Wallabies.
Which would mean France and New Zealand, who kick off the tournament in Paris on September 8, finishing it as well in the final at the same venue fully seven weeks on.
I'm not a betting man, but I notice Paddy Power have those two as joint favourites. If it's good enough for them... just don't expect me to pick the actual winners.
Albeit I probably just edge towards France, seeing as you did ask.
