Rugby Union Betting – Irish Set For Six Nations Encore

France are 13-8 favourites with Blue Square, Stan James and 888sport to win rugby union’s Six Nations, which gets under way at the weekend, and as short as 11-8 in places. Are they having a laugh? Seriously, how could anyone put money on Les Bleus while the enigmatic Marc Lievremont remains in charge? Prone to unfathomable errors of judgement where team matters are concerned and liable to change a winning formula on a whim, half the time not even the French themselves seem to know what to expect from their team and that would be amajor worry for anyone thinking of following the market. Despite their clubs dominating in the Heineken Cup this season, they are just too unpredictable to back in my eyes and it’s no coincidence that they haven’t won the Six Nations title for six years. So with Italy (250-1 with most bookmakers) again set for their annual role as whipping boys – who are we putting up? Well, in all honesty, there can only be one answer. Ireland, I believe, are a class apart from the other northern hemisphere countries at the moment, a fact reflected in the autumn internationals against the big teams from south of the equator. A victory over South Africa and a pulsating draw against the Wallabies was followed up by a demolition job on Fiji, results which put the efforts of their Six Nations rivals in the shade. Brian O’Driscoll is still the best in his position in the world, and Rob Kearney can also rightly call himself world-class nowadays as well. Add to that, a powerful pack and the experience of last year’s Grand Slam and you should have a winning formula. I wouldn’t have marked up the Irish anywhere near the widely avaiable 5-2 and, though they have to go to Paris and Twickenham this season, another Irish Grand Slam (generally 6-1) is by no means out of the question. Extrabet have also priced up straight forecast odds this year and I might be interested in the Ireland-Scotland combo at 40-1. The Scots are a bit like the French in that you never know what you are going to get but they may have made a shrewd move in appointing Andy Robinson as coach and won’t be easy to beat if the autumn internationals are a good guide. A remarkable victory over Australia showed what the Scots can do when they stick to their game plan and they are more than capable of springing a couple of surprises this term. England‘s dismal showing in last year’s champiosnhip and an injury-hit autumn doesn’t inspire confidence that they’ll be in the shake-up so extrabet and totesport‘s 5-1 looks short but what of Wales? Winners of the Grand Slam in 2008 but disappointing in the main last season, they looked a dispirited bunch on their last outing at the Millenium Stadium and would probably have to win at Twickenham on the opening day if they are to get themselves back on track. I think that’s unlikely and I’m not remotely interested in Paddy Power and Ladbrokes‘ quote of 5-1 against the Welsh winning the Six Nations – that’s reserved for the men in green!