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France’s dreams of winning the Six Nations this year, was made a little easier, after they watched England fail to beat Scotland at Murrayfield. In a tense game, which lacked any attacking quality, England stumbled again, failing to bounce back fully from the defeat that was handed to them by Ireland at Twickenham in the previous match. England were hopeful of going to the final day of the Six Nations with a chance of taking the title, but the draw has left them needing a miracle from Italy. A win for the French over Italy, which is more than probable, means that even if they fail to beat England in Paris next week, the French can still take the title. The only team that can catch them now mathematically will be Ireland, who demolished Wales 27-12 on the weekend. However the Irish don’t have such a good points difference, which means that Les Blues should pick up the title, but they will want the Grand Slam.

Italy are actually fourth in the league, having beaten the Scots, and find themselves ahead of Wales on points difference, and should avoid the wooden spoon. The upset of them beating the powerful French is not very likely at all, and it should be an easy afternoon for the French, in taking a major step towards securing the title. French coach Marc Lievremont will likely see his nation extend their unblemished record against Italy in the six nations, and having won all their games this season, they have looked head and shoulder above the quality of everyone else. They will be deserving of picking up the Grand Slam if it happens, and there will, no doubt, be one eye on next weekend’s big Paris clash with England. Even if some of the meaning has gone, with regards to a Six Nations title showdown, they will still want the Grand Slam. Defeating England will always be an enjoyable moment for the French too. France beat Italy 50-8 during last year’s Six Nations campaign, and they are a much stronger side this year.

France to win: 1/41 at Coral
Draw: 66/1 at Ladbrokes
Italy: 33/1 at SportingBet

Here are some important RBS Six Nations Betting Stats, which can help when planning your betting strategies. This is a big weekend in the Six Nations, with three matches which are hard to call. This has the potential of being one of the most explosive weekends of the tournament so far.

2010 Results to date:
Ireland 29, Italy 11
England 30, Wales 17
Scotland 9, France 18
Wales 31, Scotland 24
France 33, Ireland 10
Italy 12, England 17

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England v Ireland Betting Stats

England to win:

Draw: 20/1 at 888Sport
Ireland to win: 20/1 at Blue Square

England have won 70 matches
Ireland have won 44 matches
There have been 8 drawn matches

Largest winning margin England: 6-46
Largest winning margin Ireland: 43-14

England average points v Ireland: 11.80
Ireland average points v England: 7.95

2009 Result: Ireland 14, England 13

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Wales v France Betting Stats

Wales to win: 9/4 at William Hill
Draw: 22/1 at Bet365
France to win: 4/9 at SportingBet

Wales have won 43 matches
France have won 40 matches

Largest winning margin Wales: 49-14
Largest winning margin France: 51-0

Wales average points v France: 14.74
France average points v Wales: 14.43

2009 Result: France 21, Wales 16

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Italy v Scotland Betting Stats

Italy to win: 15/8 at Paddy Power
Draw: 22/1 at Bwin
Scotland to win: 4/7 at Totesport

Scotland have won 10 matches
Italy have won 5 matches

Largest winning margin Italy: 17-37
Largest winning margin Scotland: 15-45
Italy average points v Scotland: 19.07
Scotland average points v Italy: 23.87

2009 Result: Scotland 26, Italy 6

It has been billed as the Six Nations decider, even though it is only the second round of the tournament. Six nations champions Ireland travel to Paris to take on the 2010 tournament favourites France. Although France still have that air of unpredictability about them, they still look to be the sharpest team in the tournament this year. That will go against the flow of many, who still see Ireland as the team to beat in 2010. The Irish won the grand slam last year, and critics looking for fallible areas in their game, are pointing towards them being a “Dad’s Army” and casting a very critical eye over their scrum. In their opening fixture, the Irish ran out to a strong lead against Italy in under 20 minutes, but then fell in a disrupted game, looking a long way from their best.

While they were never in danger of losing the match, the Italians showed that the Irish can easily be gotten at, and dragged down. It was the second half performance by Ireland, which really let the home fans down. There was, quite simply, no purpose or direction to the Irish game, and that was made worse against an Italian side who lacked any impetus going forward whatsoever. Perhaps it is possible to put it down to finding their rhythm, and granted, playing against other Six Nations teams is a lot different to playing a southern hemisphere nations. The whole dynamics of the game is different, but another question about the Irish, who did well in the Autumn series of matches, is how well they will cope with keeping their feet on the ground. Was last weekend’s second half performance all down to complacency? Ireland to get a dynamic boost with the return to fitness of flanker Stephen Ferris.

It has been over a decade since the Irish won in France, and judging by the performance of their opening day fortunes, there is little to suggest that the rot will end. The French pack look very strong, and they tore the Scots to shreds in their opening fixture. The French look big, strong and pacy, and will be more than a match for even the big English pack. While they will always have elements of creativity in their three quarters, it could, somewhat uncharacteristically, be the pack which leads them to the top of the table on Saturday. The key will be in the defence, something which the French are extremely good at, being more aggressive than most in the defensive tactics. The French have the strongest defence in the tournament, and should they beat Ireland, it will be their Six Nations to lose.

France do have a fantastic record against the Irish in Paris, having only lost three times in around 50 years. They have had to make two changes to their line-up which played so well against Scotland, and that was without some of their first choice key players. On their home turf, they look a formidable proposition. This will be the first of two crunch games for the French at home in this season’s tournament, as they take on England at the Stade de France on the last weekend on the 2010 RBS Six Nations.

France v Ireland Stats

Matches
France: W51
Ireland: W29
Drawn: 5

Biggest winning margin
France: 44-5
Ireland: 24-0

Average points per match
France: 15.81
Ireland: 11.15

Match Odds
France to win: 1/2 at Totesport
Ireland to win: 2/1 at Bwin
Draw: 22/1 at Boylesports

Latest Six Nations news update:

Injuries are grabbing the latest headlines ahead of the weekend’s matches. That and the pretty awesome Morgan Freeman “Invictus” promo video for the tournament, which has him reading William Henley’s famous poem (it’s the poem which Nelson Mandela had with him during his imprisonment). Ahead of the England v Wales game, Wales were dealt a massive blow when world class flanker Gethin Jenkins has picked up a calf injury which means that he won’t be able to take the field at Twickenham on Saturday. Jenkins is one of the world’s star players in his role, and his presence will be a major loss as the Welsh try to take England on up front. But England were similarly struck with the injury bug, as last seasons top try scorer Riki Flutey has withdrawn through injury. His presence will also be missed as England look to take a more creative, attacking approach to the game. Leicester’s Toby Flood will take over the number 12 shirt on Saturday.

Saturday’s other game sees Ireland take on Italy, with the Irish having to play up their confidence in their scrum, and is the one area where Italy could cause them problems. With the Irish expected to take on the defence of their Six Nations crown with some aplomb, the other nations will naturally be looking to find some kind of weakness there. Hooker Jerry Flannery has admitted that they need to improve their scrummaging from what was on display during the autumn. Italy will be without pivotal figure of Sergio Parisse for the entire 2010 RBS Six Nations Tournament.

Latest Match Prices
England to win: 8/13 at Totesport
Draw: 22/1 at Bwin
Wales to win: 6/4 at Bet365

Scotland to win: 5/2 at SportingBet
Draw: 25/1 at Paddy Power
France: 2/5 at Totesport

Team: Scotland

Scotland vs. France Stats (All time)
France: W45, D3, L34
Biggest Winning Margin: 51-9
Biggest Losing Margin: 31-3
2009 Six Nations Result: France 22, Scotland 13

Chances: Favourites with the majority of bookies, and that is on the strength of their flair and the fact that they beat New Zealand and South Africa last year. However, the French have a reputation for being inconsistent, and that problem has not been addressed by head coach Marc Lievremeont. Yes, they still look dynamic when on top of their game, but they are equally as self destructive when things go wrong. Not scared of changing personnel and trying new things, the French could be their own worst enemies instead of building on pieces of success. Anyone who takes down New Zealand in their own back yard is doing something really, very right with their game. The one which got destroyed by England in last year’s Six Nations, 34-10, are not. The signs are more promising than the last tournament, where they also lost to Ireland.

The one weapon which the French do have, is their pack. While the Welsh may have the best front three in the tournament, the French pack, overall, is regarded as being the best. It is powerful and looks to have the power to go toe-to-toe with the likes of England’s power. The difference is that France already have the running game in their arsenal, and the ball handling skills, which the English often look like they are trying to hard to achieve. It will be in the forwards where France will be able to storm right through the Scottish, but at the same time be wary of the success the Scots had over the Australians in the Autumn. The fixture list could favour the French heavily this year, as they play the other two main contenders, the Irish and the English at home. They do have the ability to win the Six Nations, that is not in question. Their temperament and consistency, is. They do have issues with injuries, but if they bring their A game every week, they will take the crown.

Key Man: Nicolas Mas in the scrum has the experience needed to cause the Scottish front row serious headaches and is a contender, but Imanol Harinordoquy has the complete forward game. An absolute power house both in offence and defence, possibly one of the best in the world at his job. The control he will bring should help the French overcome any inconsistency problems.

Outright Six Nations Odds
6/4 at Blue Square

Scotland v France Match Odds
France to win: 2/5 at Totesport
Draw: 25/1 at Bwin
Scotland to win: 5/2 at SportingBet

Team: Scotland

Number of Six Nations Titles: 0

Finishing Position in 2009 Six Nations: 5th

Scotland vs. France Stats (All time)
Scotland: W34, D3, L45
Biggest Winning Margin: 31-3
Biggest Losing Margin: 51-9
2009 Six Nations Result: France 22, Scotland 13

Chances: Yes, they really did beat Australia in the Autumn Internationals. However, they will probably still find life tough in the Six Nations. They will be as resilient as they possibly could be, but turning that into points against the likes of France and Ireland, will be tough. They have two fascinating home matches, their opener against the French, and other against England. All three of their other games will be played on the road, so it is not going to be an easy 2010 Six Nations for the Scots. They are capable of an upset on their day, but having the level of quality and consistency needed to reproduce that week after week, simply is not there.

They have Andy Robinson at the helm, he who couldn’t do much with England. Still, he has clearly instilled some belief in the Scots after what can be deemed a good autumn, even though they lost their last match to Argentina. It could all be about momentum for the Scots. If they beat the French, then they go to Wales in the second round of fixtures, brimming with confidence, and believing that that should be a game which they should win, as opposed to could win. It will be a lot different going there and having to look for a first win. It would be easy to say that it will all depend on which French side turn up on Sunday. They are still inconsistent, but still a major threat which can tear teams apart. Scotland need to work hard in the pack and quieten the French, making them doubt themselves. Robinson has called Chris Paterson back into the fold as first choice full back Rory Lamont is out through injury.

Key Man: Tough call. They are missing Jason White and Mike Blair, and even though he has just gotten back to the side, the boot of Chris Paterson could play a major role. He can be relied upon time and time again to slot over the kicks which can eat away at leads, or build them. His experience will also be vital alongside Chris Cusiter. The two will need to dictate the flow of the game, and under the right kicking conditions, and on top of his game, the more the Scots can keep the French pushed and turned back with a good kicking game, the more chance they will have.

Outright Six Nations Odds
22/1 at Bwin

Scotland v France Match Odds
France to win: 2/5 at Totesport
Draw: 25/1 at Bwin
Scotland to win: 5/2 at SportingBet

Not too long now until the 2010 Six Nations Rugby Tournament starts, with the first matches being played on February 6th. England start their campaign against Wales, and after a dismal Autumn series, Johnson is confident that he has the squad to challenge for the Six Nations title. Steve Borthwick has been named as Captain again, and that in itself has courted some criticism. There have been questioned raised over whether or not Borthwick has the right leadership qualities needed to captain the national side. Not showing a great deal of confidence in his own decision, Johnson has hinted that the position of captain could even change throughout the course of the tournament.

Johnson has drafted into some youngsters, to hopefully provide a more inventive spark than what was shown during the Autumn. The match at Twickenham on the 6th will be an interesting test of not only the quality of England’s current crop of players, but a test of Johnson’s management skill, and also will continue to fuel arguments the Guinness Premiership, England’s top flight rugby station, is not as good as it has been in the past. With a core of experienced players such as Jonny Wilkison, Johnson is looking for that perfect balance.

But, there is the right to be full of optimism ahead of a new tournament, as anything can happen. England have been boosted by the return of key players like James Haskell, Toby Flood and Riki Flutey. Injuries to what would be considered to be starting players, did hurt England’s team selection a lot during the year, but an excuses of that being whey the produced so poorly, should be brushed aside because of the way that played. England looked completely flat and without any  kind of penetration towards the opponents try line.

As for the tournament itself, the suspected path things will take, is for the title to come down between Ireland and France. Even on paper, and looking at the way things went in the autumn, it’s hard to disagree with that. Defending Champions Ireland look an extremely solid side, but France showed glimpses of greatness in beating South Africa. They did crash heavily against New Zealand though. Ireland had a very successful Autumn series, as they beat South Africa, destroyed Fiji and tied with Australia. All the bookies, ahead of the tournament are leaning towards the Six Nations only really being contested between those two.

Six Nations Outright Winner
France to win: 13/8 at Stan James
Ireland to win: 5/2 at Stan James
Wales to win: 9/2 at Bwin
England to win: 5/1 at Totesport
Scotland to win: 22/1 at Bwin
Italy to win: 250/1 Ladbrokes

Opening Weekend Fixtures:
Ireland to win: 1/33 at Bet365
Draw: 50/1 at Bet365
Italy to win: 12/1 at Bet365

England to win: 8/13 at 888sport
Draw: 18/1 at Bet365
Wales to win: 11/8 at Victor Chandler

France to win: 4/11 at Bet365
Draw: 22/1 at Bet365
Scotland to win: 9/4 at Ladbrokes

Last Friday, 32 nations discovered their fate as the draw for next summer’s World Cup took place in Cape Town. Never before has the draw received so much attention, with the media keen to identify ‘Groups of Death’, despite the fact that every team playing in the competition are there on merit (with the exception of South Africa).

A couple of bookmakers have already decided to offer a generous cashback special on the World Cup, with Sky Bet offering to refund all losing outright bets if England are triumphant. This is possibly an attempt to encourage less English people to back their own country, with many UK bookmakers likely to run up liabilities on Fabio Capello’s team ahead of the tournament starting.

Similarly, Boylesports are offering to refund all losing outright bets if France repeat their 1998 victory and win the World Cup for the second time. This is a reaction to the controversial way in which Ireland were eliminated from the play-offs by Les Bleus, although this is not a vintage French team, with Blue Square offering 16/1 that Raymond Domenech steers them to glory.

The bookmakers have already gone into overdrive with a wide range of markets on the 2010 World Cup, with every group match already priced up by the likes of Paddy Power and Sky Bet. In addition, betfair have set up the matches on their website, although it might be some time before there is reasonable liquidity. Paddy Power have also priced up correct score, double chance and HT / FT opportunities for each game, with each of these related to the match betting.

Coral, Sky Bet, Paddy Power and bet365 have also priced up a ‘Stage of Elimination’ market for 14 of the 32 teams, with England available at 9/2 (Coral) to go out of the competition at the semi-final stage. For those that think that Brazil might suffer in the ‘Group of Death’, Paddy offer 5/1 that the five-time winners go out at the group stage, although Portugal might be a more sensible bet with the Irish firm at 6/4.

Totesport have priced up a ‘Top African Team’ market and it’s no surprise to see Ivory Coast available at even money, although a tough group could see Ghana (9/2) or Cameroon (11/2) go further than their continental cousins. Totesport also offer ‘Top European Team’ which is naturally a competitive market, but will anyone get further than Euro 200 winners Spain (11/5)? It’s no surprise to see Europe a best price 4/9 (bet365) to be the winning continent, with South America next at 9/4 (Blue Square).

Finally, Blue Square have opened a market on which England players will make the 23-man squad that jets out to South Africa in the summer. Shaun Wright-Phillips is clearly a borderline decision at 10/11, with Gabby Agbonlahor an interesting price at 9/4. His Villa team-mate James Milner looks more likely to take a place on the plane, with his odds at 4/11 right now.

The Autumn international Rugby matches come to a conclusion on Saturday, with Ireland, Scotland and Wales all in action. The most exciting game will be happening in France though, as the New Zealanders see what they can do against the French, who pulled out a big win over Tri-Nations winners South Africa a couple of weeks ago. After beating Samoa in the interim, one of the favourites for next year’s Six Nations, France will want to test themselves again against the unbeaten tourists. The All Blacks have beaten England, Italy and Wales on their tour this year, and will look to head back down under with a four game victory by beating the French. This should be a well contested match-up, with the French looking very good at the moment. France of course, have a reputation of being hit and miss, but if they can add the consistency to their game, they will be a dominant force alongside Ireland in the forthcoming Six Nations.

Ireland are the next team to take on South Africa, and the Irish will be looking to build upon the last gasp draw they managed against Australia at Croke Park. The Irish and the French are the best of the Six Nations teams at the moment, and some of the familiar names were rested for last weekend’s 41-6 rout against Fiji, Ireland should be somewhere near full strength to take on the Springboks. This should be one almighty clash of two good teams, and France have already shown that the South Africans are vulnerable. The one surprising factor in the South African game is how easily their scrum has been destroyed by France and then Italy. It is one area of their game that needs work, while the Irish are very strong up front.

Meanwhile, brave Scotland, who pulled off a famous win over the Australians last weekend, will look to build some momentum themselves, by beating Argentina. After giving England a good game, the Pumas didn’t play very well in their defeat against Wales at all. The Scot’s 9-8 win over Australia was a backs-to-the-wall rear guard action for sustained period, and they actually made a lot of errors which would have made their life a little easier had they been more composed. The result, surprising probably to even the Scots, was hard fought for, and only a failed late kick at goal from Australia’s Matt Giteau secured the win for the Scottish. Their forward pack will be tested again this weekend by Argentina, who are a rough, raw power house up front. They simply never turned up for some mysterious reason against Wales though, losing 33-16.

Wales, after losing to New Zealand and beating Samoa, go in search of their third win, and a chance to get some more practice in the scrum. That is Wales’ weak area at the moment, but they have enough in the backs with their running game to gloss over the cracks a lot of the times. They could get dominated by the Aussies in the pack, and one thing is for sure, is that the defeat against the Scots will have hurt the Wallabies. They came on tour looking for a Grand Slam against the four home nations, and that loss rained on that parade for them, along with the draw against Ireland. Wounded Wallabies are not to be taken lightly, and while they have been looking ok, they definitely have looked the weakest of the Tri-Nations teams. If Wales manage to beat them, then it will only serve to leave England with further egg on their faces, being the only team that Australia managed to beat on their Autumn tour, and that would leave Martin Johnson’s England reeling even further behind the progress of the other home nations.

France to win: 5/4 at SkyBet
Draw: 20/1 at Paddy Power
New Zealand to win: 4/5 at Stan James

Ireland to win: 6/5 at Stan James
Draw: 20/1 at Paddy Power
South Africa to win: 10/11 at SportingBet

Scotland to win: 4/7 at Boylesports
Draw: 20/1 at Bet365
Argentina to win: 15/8 at Totesport

Wales to win: 11/10 at ExtraBet
Draw: 20/1 at Paddy Power
Australia to win: 10/11 at SkyBet

There will be plenty of nerves on display in Lisbon, Athens, Dublin and Moscow this coming Saturday, with eight teams battling it out for four World Cup places. These matches are sure to be popular as far as pre-match and In-Play betting is concerned, so we’ve taken a look at our favourite bookmakers to find some top promotions.

Over at bet365, they are running their usual Bore Draw Money Back offer, where correct score, HT / FT and Scorecast bets are refunded if a match finishes 0-0. We would say that these type of matches have a much stronger chance of finishing goalless, especially as the first leg games are bound to be tight and cagey. Teams will be afraid of conceding and you can bet that the likes of Bosnia and Slovenia will be setting up defensively against Portugal and Russia respectively.

Meanwhile, Paddy Power have come up with a typically crazy promotion for the Ireland v France match, which ties in with the X Factor! John and Edward are one of the favourites to be eliminated and, if they are evicted on Sunday, then your losing First Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast bets will be refunded. The pair were close to being axed last week so this could be a popular promotion.

Meanwhile, although Ladbrokes don’t have any set promotions for the four matches, they are providing a unique type of bet. The Quatro enables to you to select a combination of the winning team and the amount of goals scored. For example, they offer odds of 2.50 that Ukraine win or draw in Greece PLUS there are two goals or less in the match. Similarly, Ladbrokes offer Goal Time Quatro, so for example you can back Republic of Ireland to score first PLUS the first goal being scored after the 27th minute. At odds of 4.00, it’s not a bad shout.

My personal hunch is that the matches are likely to be low-scoring. If you look at the previous first leg scores in the play-offs, there are often few goals involved and it could therefore be worth looking at the Under 2.5 Goals prices. Stan James are offering some great odds on this market, going best price for the Greece v Ukraine and the Ireland v France matches. Doing four lines of trebles on the quartet of games would return a profit if three involve two goals or less and the Bosnia manager has already stated his intention to pack out the midfield in Portugal.

Over at Unibet, they have priced up some goalscorer match bets, with Kevin Doyle being paired with Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane going head-to-head with Nicolas Anelka. Meanwhile, Canbet customers should be aware that you get a 10% bonus on any winnings from a multiple bet. Providing you include at least three selections and that your accumulator amounts to odds of at least 6.00, you can get 10% added to the pay-out.

Of course, all of the bookmakers we mention will be offering In-Play betting on the four World Cup qualifying matches, while bet365 will be streaming the games from Moscow, Lisbon and Athens so that you can watch and bet on the action!