Ewan MacKenna: Without home comforts to rely on, Ireland have lost the Six Nations before they even kick off

We know. You're excited. There's the hope from the narrow New Zealand loss, the expectation because of the brilliant mind of Joe Schmidt, even just the fact that it's our opening game of the Six Nations.

Ireland celebrate Jamie Heaslip's try against France in Dublin last March, but their prospects of Six Nations glory this spring look slim already. Picture: Getty

We know. You're excited. There's the hope from the narrow New Zealand loss, the expectation because of the brilliant mind of Joe Schmidt, even just the fact that it's our opening game of the Six Nations. But there's also a caveat to consider today. It's statistically impossible for Ireland to win the Six Nations this time. And that's the problem with the tournament.

The fact that so much depends on what year it ...