IS this the way to Slamarillo? Tony Christie never put the question in exactly those terms, but in 2008 Welsh supporters did and the song became their Six Nations battle tune.

What's it to be this time? Slamma Mia, perhaps. Or perhaps we are getting ahead of ourselves, with just one round of matches completed in this year's championship.

But 200 years to the day of Charles Dickens's birth, great expectations are now inevitable in this corner of the rugby empire.

Of course, Warren Gatland and his players will do all they can not to feed any talk of a clean sweep. They will probably ban the S-word and repeat the mantra about taking each game as it comes until it appears the record has stuck.

The trouble is, Welsh fans know an opportunity when one comes along and they will believe that the coming four games offer the potential for another European conquest.

Scotland home, England away, Italy and France in Cardiff. You can see a route to glory, with the obstacles all looking surmountable with a measure of skill and caution.

Gatland deserves immense credit for the win in Dublin.

He was working with players whose teams have mostly been performing patchily this season. The Blues may be in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals but how they got there may be a question asked on Mastermind in years to come.

Their rugby has been ordinary yet this term they are Wales's flag-bearers in Europe, which says a lot.

But Gatland evidently looks to draw a line under what has gone on prior to players arriving in the national camp, believing in his own ability, and the ability of his fellow coaches, to transform them.

The effect can be eye-opening. Players who have struggled since the World Cup, perhaps heavy-legged because of the gruelling demands at the top of the modern game, suddenly become reinvigorated when pulling on the red of Wales. Clark Kent and all that. Go in one door and come out of another as someone completely different.

What Wales now have behind the scrum is a set of players who are physically equipped to stand up to any back line in the world.

You sense they have been building towards this for a number of seasons, with Gatland and Sean Edwards understanding how persuasive the cudgel can be in modern rugby.

Take a sample of a newspaper column Edwards wrote in 2007, even before he started with Wales. "It does not matter how skilful and talented you are, muscle matters," he stated.

"Skill still matters and always will, but without strength in an impact sport you will come second. Always."

Shane Williams was untouchable in Gatland's side because of his inimitable quality. Genius doesn't conform to the rules that apply to everyone else. It demands selection of the few who are blessed with it.

But, generally, bulk counts at Test level. Ask Fergus McFadden, who was propelled backwards by George North at the Aviva Stadium.

North is still a work in progress in some respects. His defence can occasionally look less than watertight and his awareness and reading of play will improve.

But his potential is frightening.

What marks him down as an exceptional talent in the making is that he is multi-dimensional. He has that strength to impose himself but also the refinements to unlock defence as an alternative, say, to simply blowing them to bits.

His back-of-the-hand pass to Jon Davies for the centre's second try, after North had bounced McFadden into concussion territory a split-second earlier, was remarkable.

Rare that you find a player with such raw power. Rarer still that you find that same individual blessed with the hands of a concert pianist.

On Twitter, Will Greenwood called him "George 'fast-moving elephant with clever hands' North".

Davies, too, confirmed his growing stature at Test level. He may not be the greatest passer but there are few centres playing today who are harder to stop than the Scarlet. With Jamie Roberts alongside him, opposition midfields must find the physical challenge unrelenting.

It isn't all sweetness and light. There is a potential problem at lock after Bradley Davies's tip tackle on Donnacha Ryan. Lose Davies to suspension at a time when Luke Charteris and Alun Wyn Jones are out and Welsh lock resources could be uncomfortably stretched.

Goal-kicking is another question. Should front-line duties be handed to Leigh Halfpenny, with Rhys Priestland as back up? Probably. Halfpenny seems to relish the pressure the job brings, Priestland seems to endure it. There is a difference.

Sam Warburton? Again, Wales would prefer to have their inspirational captain playing. But so impressive was Justin Tipuric in Dublin that Gatland probably wouldn't lose sleep if he had to play the young Osprey against Scotland this weekend.

While the New Zealander's star is on the rise again, Declan Kidney's is very much falling in the Irish sky. On Saturday, there was talk in Dublin of how opinion was always black or white in Wales, the national team were either world beaters or no-hopers, according to their latest result. The Irish, by implication, were more consistent, not given to such extremes of emotion.

Those who believe that would have hidden their eyes from Irish newspapers yesterday. Journalists spoke of the team continuing their "lemming-like drift towards the abyss", how "individual excellence had been fatally undermined by a collective failure" and of Ireland being "on the dark side of the moon".

Yet Munster, Leinster and Ulster are all in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals. This season, Kidney stands accused of having the Midas touch in reverse.

The truth is Heineken Cup form isn't a great pointer to how national sides perform. Success in Europe may give players self-belief, but confidence is a frail bubble. All it takes to puncture it is one rampaging run from a George North.

It wasn't Aviva fever for Ireland. Indeed, the muted reaction from the home crowd was deafening for large parts of the game.

By contrast, Welsh fans were buoyant.

Momentum is everything and a Wales win this weekend will see them heading to Twickenham searching for a Triple Crown.

Injuries and Bradley Davies's possible disciplinary issue are potential clouds on the horizon. But generally the outlook is bright for Gatland's team. They have given themselves a big opportunity this season. It is up to them to take it.