Ireland v Wales RBS Six Nations Betting

Ireland v Wales. Irish stalwart Brian O’Driscoll will step out to earn the 100th cap for his country on Saturday, as Ireland v Wales takes place at Croke Park. This is a crucial game for Ireland if they still have dreams of retaining their Six Nations title, which they won for the first time last year. After losing so heavily in Paris to France, the rails looked to have come off the Irish challenge for this year, but, despite being under the cosh for long period of the game against England at Twickenham, Ireland grabbed a dramatic win, thanks to two tries from Tommy Bowe, to keep them in the hunt. France top the group at the moment with three wins from three, with England and Ireland behind them on two wins each. Now Ireland need to win their last two games well, and hope that England do them a favour by beating France in the last round of fixtures.

Ireland dramatically won the Grand Slam last season at the Millennium Stadium, in a thrilling match, helped by Stephen Jones missing a last minute penalty for Wales. The Irish were pushed all of the way and could well have lost, and memories of that will be ringing around the Irish dressing room on Saturday. Ireland should remain unchanged from the starting fifteen which took on England so well at Twickenham. The Irish showed a lot of determination and resilience, despite not having much of the ball at all, but they possessed one thing that the English did not have. Clinical finishing. Ireland won the game 20-16, after being on the back foot for most of the game. Following a dour win against Italy in their opener, and then the crushing defeat to France, there were doubts over whether Ireland could replicate what they did last season. As good as team as they, they rode their luck then, but with the French side so powerful this season, any frailties exposed will be the thin line between them retaining the title and not. Two years ago the Welsh beat the Irish in Dublin.

For Wales, this season has been all about thrilling entertainment, which, unfortunately for them, has resulted in just one win from their opening three matches. In all of their matches so far, Wales have found themselves behind in the early stages of the game, having to always play catch up. Against England, Scotland and France, they staged some thrilling second half comebacks, taking risks in running and throwing the ball around. In other words, doing what Wales do best. However, the Welsh defence has not been good at all, and their best defensive displays have come when they are attacking and recycling the ball at pace. The comeback strategy worked against Scotland, but failed against England and France.

There has been little continuity by Wales, which is what you would naturally associate them with. Their scrum has not looked as steady either, and they have their fair share of problems with injury in that area, losing the majority of their front line. Mr Consistency himself Martyn William will become Wales most capped forward when he leads his nation out on Saturday, just five short of the magical 100 mark. Wales haven’t managed to put a whole game plan together for 80 minutes yet, and that’s probably what they will need to do against Ireland, if they want to repeat their success of two year ago at Croke Park. It is hard to delineate whether Wales are as bad as their results have suggested. There have been passages of play which they look anything but a cohesive team. Other passages have shown how dangerous they can be when they put things together.

Wales try to employ the same blitz defence which the French do so well. This kind of living-on-the-edge defence can look frail when it doesn’t work, and there is not a great margin of error for it. The Irish should have the edge in the pack, although their scrimmaging has come under some scrutiny. Another area in which Ireland should be able to attack is in the line out. Pound for pound, Ireland should be the better team in all areas, especially in defence, as shown against England. They probably haven’t got the overall speed and fluidity of the Welsh backs, but they have power and players who can turn the game with a flash of ingenuity.

Ireland v Wales Betting Stats

Ireland: W46, D6, L62
Wales: W62, D6, L46

Ireland biggest winning margin: 54-10
Wales biggest winning margin: 29-0

Ireland average points v Wales: 10.43
Wales average points v Ireland: 11.55

Match Prices
Ireland to win: 3/10 at Stan James
Draw: 25/1 at Totesport
Wales to win: 7/2 at SportingBet