with just two 2017 rbs six nations round of fixtures left to play, the race to claim the championship title is starting to heat up. eddie jones’ england sit top of the pile, winning all three of their tournament matches so far.
ireland are second on 10 points, whilst scotland, who have had a memorable six nations campaign so far, lie a point behind on nine. in contrast, wales and france, who both have had a tournament to forget, are locked level on five points.
this weekend, wales host ireland at the principality stadium on friday night, before italy welcome france, and england and scotland square off at twickenham on saturday.
with our live odds comparison, best odds, predictions, analysis and more, we’ll be doing our best to win you some money with our previews on all three rbs six nations matches.
we begin with friday night’s mouth-watering clash at the principality stadium, as joe schmidt’s ireland will be looking to put pressure on leaders england with a win over the welsh in cardiff. after losing to scotland last time out, rob howley will be looking for a response from his players in this one.
having kicked their campaign off with a comfortable 33-7 win in rome, wales’ tournament has tailed off drastically. after falling to a narrow defeat to england, the dragons were second best in their humiliating 29-13 loss in edinburgh. the odds comparison is showing that, despite being at home, wales are the underdogs on friday, with coral offering 11/8 for a welsh win.
ireland, meanwhile, who have beaten italy 63-10 and france 19-9, are available at just 4/6 with betvictor. betfred are offering 25/1 for this one to end in an unlikely draw.
the irish have gone from strength to strength as the tournament has progressed, and we’re predicting them to leave cardiff with a comfortable victory. william hill’s decent price of 10/11 for schmidt’s boys to win -3.5 on friday is a standout bet.
italy v france: les bleus to win well in rome
on saturday, guy noves’ france travel to the stadio olimpico in rome to face conor o’shea’s italy. the italians prop up the table on zero points, with france a place and five points ahead in fifth. after falling to three big losses, italy once again head into a game as the huge underdogs.
france have not set the tournament alight with their displays either, winning one and losing two so far. after opening up with a defeat at twickenham, les bleus then secured a narrow 22-16 win over scotland in paris. however, they were brought back down to earth with a 19-9 defeat at the aviva stadium last time out. nevertheless, they head to rome as the 1/12 favourites with sporting bet.
as for the italians, despite putting on a brave showing in london (not without controversy), they have fallen to three heavy defeats, just as expected. however, last time out they stifled the english for large parts of the game, even scoring a good try through giovanbattista vendetti. looking at our live odds comparison, o’shea’s troops are available at 9/1 with betfair to cause an upset on their own patch.
to be honest, despite france not being at their best, we can’t see them slipping up in this clash. we’re predicting the french to win well in rome, and we like the look of betvictor’s 4/11 for the away team to win -10.
the standout fixture of the round comes from twickenham, as england and scotland lock horns in london on saturday afternoon. both sides have had strong six nations tournaments so far, with scotland improving match after match. meanwhile, the english are still unbeaten under jones.
england top the pile after three hard-fought victories. however, with games coming up against scotland and ireland, these are arguably their two toughest tests yet. the english were made to work hard for their 36-15 win over the italians, but thoroughly deserved their sizable victory in the end.
vern cotter’s scotland have been the surprise package of the tournament, beating ireland and wales in style. they won’t want their six nations title ambitions coming to an end on saturday, and will back themselves to seal a memorable win in the english capital.
the best odds you can get on a home triumph are just 2/9 with sky bet, with the draw coming in at 33/1 (bet365). for those of you who fancy backing a surprise scottish win, betvictor are offering the tempting price of 9/2.
nevertheless, although we believe the scots will put on another brave showing, we believe england will come through unscathed in the end. with that said, we feel there’s good value in betvictor’s 4/7 for the home side to win -8.