For France head coach Bernard Laporte, the 2007 RBS 6 Nations Championship represents an interesting appetiser for both him and his team ahead of the main course later this year.
Laporte has entered the final stretch of an often turbulent eight-year reign as coach of Les Bleus, and his legacy will be determined by the side's fortunes at this year's World Cup.
He has dedicated the last three years to getting it right at the 2007 showpiece, which is being played on home soil in front of an expectant French public.
And he views the forthcoming Six Nations as a last real opportunity to test his methods and gauge the strength of his squad before the big event in the autumn.
Laporte has already made it abundantly clear what happens over the next two months will have a direct effect on his thinking ahead of the World Cup.
And he will be looking closely at performances during the Six Nations as he seeks to get a better idea of his best starting XV.
On January 4, he named a 40-man squad for the competition and each player selected in the party will feature in at least one Six Nations game.
Laporte certainly has one eye on the World Cup, but defending the Six Nations title one final time is still very high up in his list of priorities.
``We must win the tournament,'' he said.
``We will not debase it, but instead we want to use this big gathering to have a look at all the players in action.''
He added: ``Physical freshness, enthusiasm and competition for places will be of prime importance.''
Laporte only has to look back to 2003 to see the galvanising effect winning the last Six Nations before a World Cup finals has on a team.
That year, England won all five of their matches to complete a superb grand slam.
The confidence spread through their team and after further victories in the southern hemisphere in the summer, they went on to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy in Australia.
Laporte has already said he has pencilled in 20 names for his 30-man squad for the World Cup.
Ten places are therefore up for grabs, and that should ensure effort will not be lacking during the Six Nations from those on the fringes of the team.
``The door is not closed to anybody,'' he said. ``But with the 20 players who are certainties - save for unexpected hiccups - to figure on the list of 30 (for the World Cup), there aren't many opportunities left.
``The squad is always evolving, it can alter as a result of injuries or changes in form.
``The true squad of 40 will be the one we communicate on June 14, at the end of the (Top 14) championship.
``But in revealing these 40 names (for the Six Nations), it signifies that we are in the home straight.''
He is willing to give every player a chance to impress him on the international stage.
``All (40 players) will play at least one match in the tournament, but no-one will play all five matches,'' he said last month.
Laporte should therefore have plenty of fired-up players at his disposal for his last year in charge.
Whether he has always got the best out of a seemingly endless conveyor belt of French talent over the years is open to debate.
He took over after the 1999 World Cup, a tournament which saw France finish third, and has won three Six Nations titles since, in 2002, 2004 and 2006. They were punctuated by a fourth-placed finish at the 2003 World Cup.
But under Laporte, Les Bleus have not lost the `mercurial' tag that has been synonymous with France teams through the decades.
Even in last year's Six Nations, France had to lose to Scotland before really getting going.
And even though they ended up winning the tournament, they were still nowhere near their best, especially in the second half against Ireland and the first half against Italy.
Laporte's conundrum is whether to let loose his hordes of free-flowing backs, or turn to his forwards and adopt a less aesthetically pleasing outlook.
What is not in doubt is the talent at his fingertips, and it is up to Laporte to mould them into a team that can first retain their Six Nations title and then go on to win their first World Cup.