The penultimate round of Six Nations takes place on Friday and Saturday and we take a look at the 3 games from a betting angle.
France have shortened to 3/10 favourites to win the Six Nations after their dominant win over Scotland last time out. Ireland are 9/2 with England 13/2 and you can get 150/1 Wales and 200/1 Scotland.
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FRIDAY
WALES v FRANCE
Wales came back from 17-0 down to lose by just 4 points to England at Twickenham in the last round. They have only won 1 of their 3 matches though, but that did come at home 20-17 against Scotland.
France have won all 3 of their opening games, last time out hammering Scotland by 19 points away from home, they also beat Ireland by 6 at home and Italy by 27 points at home in their opening game.
Last time these sides met in Paris, France won 32-30 and they also won the last time they played in Cardiff 27-23 back in 2020.
BETTING – click here to bet
Wales 33/10
Draw 25/1
France 2/7
Handicap: Wales (+8.5)
Suggested Bet: Winning Margin, France under 12.5 points at 15/10
This should be a tight game, but I can’t see the French slipping up against the Welsh side that will play its heart out, but just doesn’t look at the same level. The last 7 meetings between these sides have had a winning margin of under 12 points.
SATURDAY
ITALY v SCOTLAND
Italy have lost all 3 of their games going down 57-6 to Ireland last time out although a red card followed by a technicality had them down to 13 men for most of the match. Their only home game this season was a 33-0 loss to England in round 2.
Scotland beat England at home in their opening game, but things haven't gone as well since with a 3 point loss away at Wales and a 36-17 loss to France at Murrayfield.
The last three times these sides have met in Rome Scotland have won by 17, 2 and 16 points respectively.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Italy 11/1
Draw 50/1
Scotland 1/16
Handicap: Italy (+19.5)
Suggested Bet: Handicap, Italy (+19.5) at 10/11
Italy tend to lift themselves against the Scots and I have a feeling that, that loss to France would have taken the wind out of the Scottish sails.
ENGLAND v IRELAND
Both of these sides need to win to stay in Six Nations contention.
England’s only home match came last time out when they squandered a big lead to eventually hold on and beat Wales 23-19. They had previously hammered Italy on the road by 33 points and lost to Scotland by 3 points in Edinburgh.
Ireland were very impressive up front beating Wales 29-7 at home before going down by 6 points to France in Paris. They then hammered Italy by 51 points in Dublin in what was a farcical game due to the early Italy red card.
Ireland beat England 32-18 in Dublin last year and the last time these two sides met in Twickenham it was the home team that came out on top 24-12.
BETTING – Click here to bet
England 12/10
Draw 20/1
Ireland 5/6
Handicap: England (+1.5)
Suggested Bet: Winning Margin, Ireland by under 12.5 points at 29/20
I can’t see this being anything but a tight game and I am backing the Irish to get a rare win at Twickenham.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
