Image source, @EnglandRugby

In a modern sporting world dominated by made-up trophies, big cash prizes and dreams of multi-million pound endorsement deals, today's match is all about fraternal enmity and bragging rights for the next 12 months.

Awaiting the winners is one of the most romantic trophies in world sport, the Calcutta Cup, pictured above by @EnglandRugby. , externalDonated by the disbanding Calcutta Football Club, it is made of melted Indian rupees and was first played for in 1879. The handles are three cobras, an elephant bestrides the lid and it is cloaked in well over a century of muddy glory.

It's value? Immeasurable. JS

After the battle of the Celtic cousins comes Scotland against the Auld Enemy in the oldest international fixture in the sport, writes James Standley.

When England and Scotland first met Queen Victoria had another 30 years to reign, the first motorcar was still 15 years away and Sir Bruce Forsyth was but a lad in short trousers.

That first encounter in 1871 went the way of Scotland but overall England lead by 71 wins to 42 and the Scots will go into the game at Murrayfield having won only three out of the last 25 Calcutta Cup matches.

Jeremy Guscott
Former England centre

"I am sure Gatland will get the odd boo and the Irish players will be trying just as hard as ever, but with the additional incentive of wanting to prove a point, especially those who were eclipsed by Welshmen for a place in that final Test victory over Australia.

"Even if Ireland win it doesn't prove anything really, because that Lions tour has been and gone. But it certainly adds some more spice to what is already going to be a fiercely physical confrontation."

Image source, Getty Images

Back to today and, with a little over 50 minutes to kick off, all eyes are on the Aviva Stadium where around 50,000 Irish fans are set to 'welcome' Warren Gatland, the Wales coach. Gatland's decision to drop Ireland hero Brian O'Driscoll for the final British and Irish Lions Test in the summer caused the kind of furore that rarely unfolds in rugby. When asked to reflect last September, O'Driscoll admitted: "Yes, there's resentment, of course."

Yet the depth of O'Driscoll and Gatland's involvement in this game's narrative runs much deeper. For O'Driscoll, fresh from becoming his nation's record appearance holder against Scotland last weekend, this clash is his penultimate Ireland appearance on home soil. For Gatland, it is a trip back to the start of his rugby coaching roots - he was in charge of Ireland between 1998 and 2001.

Jeers, pantomime villain, a howling wind, slate-like Dublin skies. Perfect ingredients for a ferocious Six Nations battle.

This is called the Six Nations for a reason. So what of France and Italy? The final match of the weekend will take place in Paris on Sunday where the hosts look to make it two wins out of two as they seek to go from the Wooden Spoon to Championship winners in the space of 12 months. They go against Italy at 15:00 GMT and there will be live coverage of that on the BBC too.

But that's tomorrow's story.

Image source, Other

Hello! Welcome to the second chapter in the unfolding 2014 Six Nations drama. Can Wales take another giant step in their quest to win an historic third successive title by ruining Paul O'Connell's Ireland return? Can England put their last-gasp agony in France behind them by condemning Scotland to another defeat and retain the Calcutta Cup, external?

We're over in Dublin first for an intriguing showdown (14:30 GMT) between two heavyweights at the Aviva Stadium. Once that is done and dusted we will glide across the Irish Sea to a fever-pitch Murrayfield to see how the Scots cope under Greig Laidlaw's captaincy.

The piercing sound of bagpipes can already be heard along Edinburgh's Princes Street. Will England be dancing to Scotland's tune? Kick off is at 17:00 GMT.

Image source, Getty Images

Heroes were born. Excellence was achieved. Comebacks staged and, in England's case, defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Paris roared as teenage replacement Gael Fickou earned France a last-gasp victory after Yoann Huget (pictured) had scored two tries. And Ireland showed, without hitting top gear, that they are serious about ending their five-year wait for the championship.

Some captains thrived in the pressure cooker atmosphere that is the Six Nations. One found himself replaced. Oh, what a curtain-raiser that was. But how can an incident-packed opening weekend be bettered? Dublin and Edinburgh. It's over to you.