Ireland

We keep waiting for Ireland to wake up and play like we know they can. They were made to look very laborious in their opening match against the USA, in which the Americans played with a tremendous amount of spirit, even though they never threatened that often themselves. The USA were more than happy to take on the Irish up front though, and if lesser teams are willing to do that, targeting weakness in the Irish game, then Ireland could be a lot of trouble. It is no secret that they are not in the greatest form of their lives, but they are still expected to follow Australia through from their pool. So this is being billed as the big clash, with first place at stake from this one. Ireland’s 22-10 win over the United States should have been more convincing from the Europeans, but they still look a long way short on confidence and a cohesive game plan. Still, coach Declan Kidney will  no doubt be happy to have at least gotten that first match win under his belt, so that he can move ahead. Ireland are still in with a more than reasonable chance to move ahead to the quarter finals, but their big match will come against Italy. As for Australia, well, our tip for the RWC title got off to a convincing enough start, thumping Italy 32-6 and picking up a bonus point in the process. Really Australia should not lose this group, as the Tri Nations team have been growing in stature all year. They are such an exciting young side, with great individual talent, superb running lines and with the ability to attack from deep. You would still want to see a world class goal kicker in their side to make them even better, but that shouldn’t effect them too much until later in the tournament when games get harder. Australia are firm favourites to take victory against the Irish here, the Wallabies will be more suited to the conditions and in much more of a confident mood than the Irish. You can see that in their body language and team spirit. The Wallabies have the strength to bully Ireland up front and smash through any cracks, but it is in the open where they will really be able to punish the Europeans.

Australia v Ireland Rugby World Cup betting odds
Australia to win: 1/5 at SkyBet
Draw: 28/1 at Bet365
Ireland to win: 11/2 at SportingBet

The two nations have come together 29 times before in internationals, with Australia winning 20 and Ireland winning just 8, with one draw. Their last meeting was a 22-15 win for the Wallabies back in June of 2010, and the match before that was a tense 20-20 draw. The last Irish success was back in 2006 when they won 21-6 at home, but we are not seeing the Ireland we are accustomed to at the moment. There have been some good tussles between these two, but Australia definitely have the edge, averaging 6.86 points more per game when the two sides meet.

There are some big Euro 2012 qualification matches coming up for the home nations over the next few days, and online bookmaker Paddy Power are leading off with a great football betting promotion. Paddy Power are offering a Euro 2012 Qualifiers money back special on the forthcoming matches for England and Ireland. England are out in Bulgaria on Friday evening, looking for a big win which would help keep Montenegro off their backs. England are level with Montenegro at the top of the group, and cannot afford any more slip ups, but have been dealt a blow with news that striker Darren Bent may not be able to take part because of injury. There is a big three points on the line in Sofia. On Friday night, Ireland have some home comforts as they take on Slovakia. Ireland too have everything to play for, as they top their group on goal difference, but are level on points with Russia and Slovakia. A win here for Ireland would keep their noses in front and really hinder Slovakia, and it would also serve as a massive confidence booster ahead of a long trip to Russia on Tuesday. As things are set up, the Russia v Ireland match on Tuesday could well be a group decider, and Ireland need one of their biggest four days in international football if they want to guarantee their place at next Summer’s Euro 2012 Championships. On Tuesday there is also a British derby taking place at Wembley Stadium, which should be a raucous affair. England v Wales will help determine whether England are going to book top spot in their group, but after having beaten Wales away, they know that the Welsh will be keen to turn up and spoil their party in London. So these are big matches ahead for Ireland and England, and doing your Euro 2012 betting at Paddy Power will offer some insurance. If Ireland or England lead at half time in either of their next two matches, but fail to go on and win their match, then Paddy Power will offer refunds on all losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast singles which have been placed on the match. This applies to the Bulgaria v England and Ireland v Slovakia matches on Friday, and the Russia v Ireland and England v Wales matches on Tuesday. This Euro 2012 Qualifiers money back special from Paddy Power allows you to dip into the aforementioned markets and take some coverage. Both England and Ireland really need to step on the gas in qualification, so get your betting coverage at Paddy Power. The highly rated online bookmaker Paddy Power offer a £50 free matched bet when opening a new account. New customers can register and when they place a first stake of up to £50, Paddy Power will match the value of this stake up to that maximum.

Scotland v Ireland rugby betting is a great international warm up ahead of the World Cup later in the year. The 2011 World Cup in New Zealand is at the front of everybody’s mind at the moment, and Scotland, who are in England’s group, will be looking to build some confidence. There was a lot of hype around Scotland in the Six Nations, after they gave France a really good test in their opening 2011 Six Nations match in Paris. Scotland battled so well up front and surprisingly ran in three tries against the French. For a nation which has really struggled to post tries in the Six Nations, that was a great introduction. Yes, they did come as the result of French mistakes largely, Scotland still fought their way to line to pick up points. However, things did not go quite to plan in terms of picking up points for Andy Robinson’s men in the rest of the tournament. Scotland secured just one win, picking up that solitary victory against Italy at Murrayfield. They did also give Ireland a good run for their money losing by just three points at home. Scotland battled with everything against England at Twickenham and did keep the score respectable when many expected England to run riot. So there were signs of optimism that Scotland are still heading in the right direction. Scoring will still be a problem for them against the top sides in the world, but with Georgia and Romania in their group, there is a good chance of progression for Scotland at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Scotland will be tough and will naturally try to crap it out as much as possible up front.

Scotland v Ireland rugby betting will favour the Irish. They are the fourth ranked team in the world, but it hasn’t been a great year or so for them. They are putting their players through the mill ahead of the World Cup, by setting up four international matches as a warm up, including two matches against France and one in Dublin against England. They are going full tilt at this in order to wake themselves up a bit. Their triumph over England in Dublin in the final match of the 2011 RBS Six Nations was their best performance. They struggled against Italy, struggled against Wales and Scotland as well, but showed that old magic when completely out smarting England when it mattered most. Ireland did still manage to squeeze out three wins, suffering defeat against France and Wales. There is undoubted talent in the side and they should be far more explosive than Saturday’s opponents Scotland. The problem for Ireland has been cohesion and not being able to string consistent patches of play together. When they do get it all together with a strong plan, as a unit, then they are a big threat. They are definitely not the force they were, with their golden age of rugby fading, so they are a side in transition. Still, this is a repeat of the match back in February at Murrayfield, where Ireland just about hung on for a win. They should be more relaxed here and willing to try things without too much consequence, and therefore would back the Irish in Scotland v Ireland rugby betting.

Scotland v Ireland Rugby Betting
Scotland to win: 6/5 at Stan James
Draw: 20/1 at SkyBet
Ireland to win: 10/11 at Paddy Power

Scotland v Ireland have come together 125 times in rugby history. Scotland are actually the ones with the overall upper hand in the head to head stats. Ireland have won 56, while Scotland have won 64 matches, with five being draw. There really is nothing to split the two nations when it comes to average points per game. Ireland have scored an average of 10.42 points per game against Scotland, while the Scots average 10.94 points against Ireland. The last time they met was earlier in the year, when Ireland hung on for a 21-18 victory at Murrayfield.
 

The Summer League sides are getting ready for conflict.
I find that as they run alongside the winter leagues it gives them time to settle down and gives the punter a chance to evaluate form without losing any cash.

BRAZIL.
Biggest of the summer competition, at least by repute, must be BRAZILIERO.
Competition here must be a little intense. Especially at the lower end of the table were FOUR teams are relegated to the Paulista.
A noticeable occurrence over the past 6 seasons has been the rise in drawn games. 2005 saw just over one in five ending all square.(102). 
It has progressed from there to last seasons 31.1%.(118). Formerly the home stats were over the 50% mark but last season it dropped down to 47.1%.
Perhaps the level of ability is beginning to level out somewhat. Nevertheless, it’s something to keep in mind.
Goals whilst showing an average of 2.6 per game teams do seem to find it hard to score with any regularity. Best team total is 68 by Gremio Porto Alegre only 1.78 goals per game. Gremio P A and Corinthians managed only 41 goals each at home (1.07) and they were the best in the league.
Away team goals eke out at 1.0 per game. Individual team performance being best from Fluminense and Santos with 31 goals each.(0.81 per game).
Best HOME defensive side was 12th placed Ceara giving away just 12 goals in 19 games. They did rather spoil things by shipping 32 goals in away games.
Palmeiras 10th in the table were best AWAY defensive team giving away just 20 goals. Just to mix things up even further OVERALL BEST DEFENSIVE team was
Fluminense giving away just 36 goals to average 0.94 per game.
Add to these figures that in almost 10% of all games at least one team scored four or more goals.
All in all I would consider it imperitve to follow the form book but with caution.

ALLSVENSKAN. (SWEDEN)
Probably the most popular European Summer League.
Composed of 16 teams. Champions get a Champions League Qualification spot. 2nd and 3rd get Europa League Qualifications spots. Relegation is automatic for bottom two, whilst 14th placed team has a play-off against Superetten 3rd place side. Syrianska and Norrkoping were automatic promotion teams for the coming season.
Over the past few seasons honours have beenspread around without any teams really dominating as with some of the lower class leagues.
Form must be scrutinised very closely. Last seasons returns of 49.0% home wins was a vast improvement on all of the previous six seasons.
Twice the home teams returned just 39.0% wins. Real food for thought. The return for draws is also quite erratic. A low of 20.9% and a high of 30.8%.
The aways figure has been fairly constant are 28%+.
Last seasons champions were Malmo. A repeat of 2004. Since then they’ve hovered around between 5th and 10th.
Total goals last season were 601 over 240 matches. An average of 2.5 per game. Malmo were top of the scoring chart with 59 goals. 27 at home and 32 on opponents grounds. 
Worst defensive side was Atvidabergs shipping 51 goals with 32 of them away from home.
With an average of 2.5 goals per game, there’s always the likelihood of a few high scoring games. Last season there were 21 games were four goals were  scored by
at least one side.
57 games ended 1 – 0 or 2 – 0.

Ireland (Republic).
This league must pose quite a challenge when it comes to forecasting. Most leagues average around 47/48% on home wins. Not so here. The last few seasons
have seen figures ranging between 36% and 45%. The low 40′s should be the average expectation. Obviously someone must be gaining from the home teams low
showings and that appears to be the away sides. They regularly ring up over 30% successes. Something I have noticed over the past couple of years is the
unexpected away win. They seem to have a habit of happening when the home side looks "nailed-on".
Over the past few seasons Bohemians have been the most consistent side with Shamrock Rovers (Champions last season) and St. Patricks Athletic being not too far behind.
The League Champions get a Champions League qualifying spot. 2nd and 3rd get Europa League spots.
Bottom side is automatically relegated but 8th and 9th have a play-off to decide who meets the winner of the First Division 2nd and 3rd place play-off.
Which means it’s possible only one side will be promoted. Still with me?
Goal average per game was at a high last season at 2.6 per game. Sligo Rovers were top scorers with 61 goals. Their home win percentage of 61.1 was, along
with Shamrock Rovers, the best in the league.
Worst defensive sides were Bray Wanderers and Drogheda United who each gave away 74 goals.
Unfancied Sporting fingal were draw championa with 14 out of 36.(38.9%).
There has been some upheaval in the past couple of seasons due to cash problems. Mainly Cork City and Derry City who found themselves relegated. However Derry were
1st Division champions last season, so be prepared for a bold showing in the coming Premier season.

Scotland v Ireland presents a tricky match for both sides. Ireland were incredibly lackadaisical on their trip to Rome on the opening weekend of the 2011 RBS Six Nations, and were drawn into a tight battle against the French last week in Dublin. Ireland managed to scrape past the Italians with a late Ronan O’Gara drop goal, while they couldn’t hold on against the French, losing 25-22 in a thrilling match. O’Gara has been rewarded with a recall to the starting number 10 shirt for the trip to Murrayfield, in this match which Ireland need to win to keep themselves in with any hopes of title success this year. Eoin Reddan also gets a starting recall, deposing Tomas O’Leary from his scrum half position. Ireland look though as if they are still trying to find their feet after a difficult 12 months, and they haven not put together the clinical power game and handling that is so expected of them. They haven’t been helped along with a long catalogue of injury problems either, and really need the likes of Tommy Bowe to get themselves firing. Ireland have just been full of errors and have not managed to put any kind of consistency together. A couple of years ago they would have been a shoo-in for success against Scotland, but it was defeat to the Scots in Dublin, on the final day of last year’s Six Nations, which really started a poor run of form from the usually powerful and consistent Irish. They have lost their edge, and now this visit to Scotland really will be hard work for them.

Scotland went into the Six Nations as one of the teams most in form. They had drawn a great deal of plaudits for the way they were stringing together results, including a win over the Springboks last year. However, they have failed to pick up a win in their opening two matches. They put in a decent showing out in Paris against the French on the opening weekend, managing to cross the try line three times. For a side which has barely scored any tries in the Six Nations over the past few years, that was a big step forward for them. However, they completely came unraveled when they faced Wales on the second weekend at Murrayfield. The Welsh, not great themselves, really gave the Scots the run around, and the Scottish just continued to make error after error in the match, and could not gain any forward momentum from anywhere. No doubt coach Andy Robinson will have been fuming over that performance, a match which they would have had penciled in as a prospective victory. Now they need to pick themselves back up and take the game to the Irish. Even with home advantage, Scotland will start as slight underdogs, and that would be fairly reflected in how you go with your betting on this one. Even though Ireland are stuttering, even with confidence, you would expect them to pick up the victory here. They just have that extra edge, that bit of creativity and speed to break the back line of the Scots. They also have a decent record against the Scots, winning five of the last six at Murrayfield.

Scotland to win: 21/10 at Bet365
Draw: 22/1 at Bwin
Ireland to win: 1/2 at Victor Chandler

England coach Martin Johnson will keep faith with the starting fifteen which gave him a winning start to the 2011 Six Nations tournament. Hendre Fourie, after being ruled out of the Wales match because of injury, has been called into the squad, but James Haskell keeps his starting his starting position at open-side flanker. Fourie has been called up as a replacement for Joe Worsley. England made an impressive start to their Six Nations campaign, which they started as favourites at the bookmakers, by taking out Wales at the Millennium Stadium. Although the English opened up a solid lead against the home side, the Welsh did battle their way back into it. But perhaps the most impressive thing about England’s overall performance, is that they didn’t look rattled at all when they came under pressure, instead they remained calm and in control, and didn’t resort to any panic tactics after losing their 14 point lead. The main man at the centre of it all was Toby Flood, who pretty much ran the entire show for England, and was one of the most commanding performances by the fly half. So there are plenty of positives to take forward for England, as they start a run of three home matches by facing Italy at Twickenham on Saturday. This should be a win for England in front of their home support, having never lost to the Italians in the Six Nations. Even though England were depleted in some respects through injury, the replacement players who stepped in, showed plenty of composure.

There could be a bit more attacking flair through the centre, it has to be said, as Flood didn’t use the centre’s enough, but it was an away match and England did what they set out to achieve. Win. That is an important victory on the board, and with the Italian match expected to double their points from their first two matches, England will be in a strong driving position. There is a crunch home match to come against France, but England have gotten one of the two tricky away matches out of the way for now. The win in Cardiff was a major boost for them and their Grand Slam, Six Nations and World Cup ambitions. Yes, England finally look to be growing, to be gaining an identity in attack. It was a good solid all round performance. They are not a world beating team at the moment, don’t be fooled into parting with all your money on England winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup yet, they are quite a way from that, but at least there is progress. After some horridly labouring and lackluster performances in Johnson’s reign, finally brave selections of attacking players like Chris Ashton, Ben Youngs and Ben Foden are starting to pay dividends. There should not be any hint of an upset at Twickenham against Italy.

Italy, to their credit almost beat Ireland on the opening day of the 2011 Six Nations. At home in Rome, the Italians pushed the Irish all of the way, and it was only a late drop goal from Ronan O’Gara which won the match for Ireland. Italy, rank outsiders in the Six Nations again, are a young side, who are heading in the right direction. What they always bring is a fantastic team spirit and energy, but they have yet to really find a way to last the full ninety minutes in their international matches in Six Nations. Having only ever beaten Wales and Scotland in their Six Nations history, there are still a lot of walls to break down for Nick Mallett’s Italy. Mallett has made four chances to his squad as they head to Twickers, and have lost the services of exciting young scrum half Edoardo Gori for the match, which will be a blow. In sixteen matches against the English, Italy have failed to register a  win in the encounters, but they may take heart from the grueling work they made England go through in Rome last season, where they lost a narrow match 17-12. But while Italy are changed, England are also a much better side than last season’s Six Nations, and you would expect them to run in some tries, especially in the second half. The strength of the Italians really is in the front line, and if England negate that threat, or drain the Italian forwards in the first half, it really will open them up.

While England still lack that clinical cutting edge to properly kill off games, this is a big chance to build some confidence ahead of the visit of France. This really should be something of a showcase for England to run up a decent victory. They have set the groundwork with a strong away victory, something which hasn’t happened often during Martin Johnson’s reign. You have to look for England to be a good eleven points better than the Italians, because the difference from playing at home to playing away is immense. The Italians will give their all up front, and while England’s defence in the centre of the park isn’t great, it should be able to withstand what Italy can throw at it. The game will be won up front of course, and with England’s forwards picking and driving relentlessly and with good handling against the Welsh, that will be a major factor against Italy too. It is the platform from which England will go onto to win games. Toby Flood needs to continue his brilliant form, and if he controls and Chris Ashton finishes, then England will be OK. This is a must win, and the unthinkable should not come close to happening. This is the time for more than just a professional job from Martin Johnson’s men, it is the time to show that they really have another aspect to their attacking game. England win.

England to win: 1/33 at BetFred
Draw: 50/1 at Bet365
Italy to win: 20/1 at SportingBet

England are 5/2 favourites at Paddy Power to win the Six Nations
England are 5/2 at Boylesports to win the Grand Slam

Online bookmaker BetFred are running a great rugby betting promotion for the England v Italy match. If the player you back as First Tryscorer lands the first try of the match, and then scores a second try for himself at any time during the match as well, BetFred will double your initial odds. If you had taken this offer on England’s Chris Ashton last week, you would have been doubly happy at BetFred! There is further good news, as if your First Tryscorer lands a hat trick of tries after scoring the first of the match, then you will be paid out triple your original odds. BetFred welcome new customers to their site with a £50 free bet when opening a new account.

With a thrilling opening weekend of the 2011 RBS Six Nations over and done with, it is time to take stock and assess things ahead of the next round of matches. SportingBet are running a great Rugby betting promotion for the duration of the Six Nations, as the best of the northern hemisphere square up against one another in the hope of Grand Slam and Six Nations glory. France are the defending Champions, and they put in an all round impressive performance against Scotland in Paris, but there were just a couple of cracks in their defence to suggest that they are beatable. Ireland just about escaped from Rome with maximum points, as the Italians were in touching distance of their first ever Six Nations win over Ireland, until Ronan O’Gara dropped a late winning goal. England went to Cardiff on the opening night, and saw off the challenge of the Welsh, in a performance which should give a lot of hope to the England supporters. England are currently favourites to win the Six Nations, with a run of three home games to come giving them a big advantage. SportingBet are running Six Nations Rugby Handicap Tie Refunds for all their match betting for this year’s tournament.

Here is the promotion deal. When you place a bet on either team to win a Six Nations match in the SportingBet Handicap Prices market, but the match ends even in a Handicap Tie (not a physical tie on the pitch, but if the handicap spread finishes as a tie), then the popular online bookmaker will Refund your losing bet as a free bet, and this is covered by a value of up to £25 per match bet on. So, if for Example, you took England -2 Handicap v France, and England won by exactly two points, then the Handicap would be tied. Your bet will have lost because England failed to overcome the handicap, but with this bit of added insurance, your rugby betting on the 2011 Six Nations is covered. Check out Handicap betting at SportingBet for the Six Nations. There is value to be picked up there, an it adds an extra dimension to your regular rugby betting.  SportingBet are great exponents of sports betting promotions and really should be looked at, for their excellent betting services and rewards on their website.

Online bookmaker Blue Square are well worth a visit for your 2011 RBS Six Nations rugby betting. What the popular bookie do very well, is offer great handicap markets on the rugby. This handicap rugby betting is a great alternative to your outright winner markets, as not only does it make the bet a little bit more challenging, but sometimes there is also better profit to be made. Take Ireland’s opener against Italy, the Irish are going into that one as favourites, and so their price on winning the match outright would be pretty short. But, by looking for an handicap instead, you can expand your odds by predicting how much of a margin they will win by. Back the Irish to beat their handicap and you’ll be doing so at better odds. With the handicap at Blue Square on Six Nations rugby betting, it is not about just picking the winner, it is making the call of just how good a win it is going to be. The bigger the winning margin, and the braver you are with your betting to make the call in the first place, the bigger your profits are going to be. But that isn’t the be-all and end-all of things though, as handicap markets allow you win profit when the team you back loses. The Six Nations looks as if it will be an incredibly close ran thing this season, and if you think underdogs Scotland may lose their opener against France, but not by a big margin, you could take them with a positive handicap for example, so there are ways to juggle with your betting here. As for predicting outcomes, England, Ireland and France will be the most prominent forces again in the tournament, but look at important stats such as average points scored and winning margins.

See our full match previews for stats and info:
Wales v England
France v Scotland
Italy v Ireland

Blue Square run a great online sports betting service, with competitive prices for these rugby handicaps. The handicap system at Blue Square is just a little more prominent than with other bookies, so it is a feature which gets a lot of attention with them. With the Six Nations expected to be tight, and matches tough to call, adding the dimension of handicap betting to your repertoire may well pay dividends for you. England are favourites to beat Wales away at the Millennium Stadium on the opening night, and while England are priced 4/6 to win, and 10/11 to overcome a -2 Handicap (explore the markets for larger handicaps). How about Ireland overcoming a -13 Handicap against Italy in Rome? That will pay out 10/11 opposed to Ireland outright odds of 1/8. France also start against Scotland with 10/11 on a -13 handicap as well. So there is plenty to explore as well as good fixed odds outright on the opening round of RBS Six Nations matches with Blue Square, as listed below. The popular online bookmaker welcome new customers opening an account with a generous offer. When you open an account with Blue Square, you can get yourself a free £10 bet. Simply place a bet of £5 or more, and Blue Square will generously give you £10 for free. That is potentially a 200% match first bet! Consider them for some handicap betting on the Six Nations Rugby.

Wales v England
Wales 6/5, Draw 20/1, England 4/6

Italy v Ireland
Italy 5/1, Draw 25/1, Ireland 1/8

France v Scotland
France 1/8, Draw 25/1, Scotland 5/1

2011 Six Nations Outright Winner
England 2/1, France 9/4, Ireland 3/1, Wales 11/2, Scotland 10/1, Italy 250/1

Italy v Ireland may not exactly be the most exciting of fixtures on the opening weekend of the 2011 RBS Six Nations, but this is a pretty interesting one to watch. Ireland, for all their great presence in the Six Nations, have been slipping back a little this year. They don’t come into the tournament in any great form themselves, losing six test matches on the bounce, including a shocker against Scotland in the final match of last year’s tournament. You always expect Ireland to give a tough match to any opponent, and with the World Cup coming up this year, you really expect them to be strong. However, they are just the opposite at the moment, they are weakened (not helped by injuries) and are looking to find a way to bounce back. That all sounds doom and gloom for the Irish, and while they are a bit short on confidence, clearly, they will probably still challenge for the Six Nations title, and they have been handed a good start. Even though it is an away match, they should be able to win this comfortably and get some momentum going. Even during the matches which they did win in the autumn against Argentina and Samoa, they weren’t their usual explosive and dominant selves and it raises a big question mark over their ability to win the Six Nations this year. There seems to have been a shift of power back to England, for dominance in the home nations, even down to club level, and all of a sudden, the golden generation of Irish rugby looks to have come to and end. As sad as it is, Declan Kidney can ill afford any nostalgia, and needs to get fresh faces into the team. This is a must win game in Rome, and if the unthinkable were to happen and Ireland lost, you would really have no idea where they would go from there. Kidney would know where to go, and that is probably out of the door.

Ireland have been hit with the projected loss of Andrew Trimble and Tommy Bowe who are among seven potential starters ruled out of the Italy match, so they won’t be at full strength. The usual qualities of Ireland are just lacking a bit at the moment, perhaps cohesion and confidence, and they look a shadow of the team which won the Grand Slam just a couple of years ago. That sound efficiency in both attack and defence, that strong stepping up into the line, simply isn’t there, and the Irish will have to work a lot harder to their rewards this year, as opposed to relying on their inherent talent and teamwork. It’s not all as bad as it seems though, as they can still field plenty of talent with the likes of Brian O’Driscoll pulling the strings, and they have been dealt a huge helping hand with the fixture list. They take on France and England at home, the other two main contenders for the Six Nations title, and wins in those matches (against who they have done well in recent times) and they will be in the hunt. They don’t look quite so certain as they should be on the road, but at least the trip to Italy is a good way to start their campaign. They should find the going relatively easy against the Italians, who are still trying to hone that ideal mix of veteran and youthful talent, and this really could be an important game in the context of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign. It as game in which they can not only win points, but perhaps more importantly, confidence. The way through the Italians will be by keeping the ball in hand through the back, and avoiding too much contact up front, where the hosts will be a lot stronger.

In fact, Italy have a great front line, full of pace and power, and no doubt, they will enjoy patches of the Six Nations where they are getting on top of the opposition. The problem with the Italians is of course, consistency and stamina, and it is rare that you will see them last the full eighty minutes in playing an entirely solid game. They do play with a lot of heart though, and it is indicative of their standing in the Six Nations, that the only teams they have beaten is Wales and Scotland. You have to ask yourself whether you can see Nick Mallett’s Italy winning two games out of their five to try and avoid the wooden spoon. It looks very unrealistic, even though they are steadily improving. They have thrown young 20 year old Edoardo Gori in at scrum half, who is something of a prodigious talent, supposed to mature into one of the best in his position in Europe. This is a big stage for him, and there are some good young Italian players coming through the ranks. That is not going to help them too much in this campaign, but they really need to get experience and build for the future. They have always been gutsy, and not afraid to have a go, but they should have a hard time breaking down the Irish defence really. The Italians, it must be said, do look very good up front, and the more they keep the ball there, and keep the game tight, the better off they will be in the long run. By tiring the Irish out, that is the only way they are going to win this game. Struggled to beat Fiji in the Autumn, and while this game against Ireland may get away from them, there is definitely something to build upon.

A look at the stats sees Ireland with a massive advantage in the head to record. In all matches between the two sides, Italy have won just three, while Ireland have won 15 of their 18 matches. That’s a whopping 83% success rate against the Italians. In terms of current runs of form in the fixture, Italy have lost fourteen in a row to Ireland, and this is why this match should be in the bank for the visitors. The largest winning margin for Ireland over Italy was a 61-6 thumping, while Italy’s biggest success was a 37-22 triumph. The average points scored though really tells the tale. Italy have averaged just under 18 points per match against the Irish, while Ireland have averaged 33 points per match in the fixture. The total points are almost double in favour of Ireland, and while the Irish aren’t in great form at the moment, they should play this out to a comfortable victory. No reason to expect anything else.

Last Year’s Result: Ireland 23, Italy 11
Ireland Last Year’s Six Nations Finishing Position: 2nd
Italy Last Year’s Six Nations Finishing Position: 6th

Italy to win: 11/2 at Boylesports
Draw: 33/1 at Bet365
Ireland to win: 3/19 at Bwin

It is less than a week now before the 2001 RBS Six Nations betting gets underway, with the Friday night lights shining down at the Millennium Stadium as England head across the border to face Wales. England are favourites in the betting to take the Six Nations crown this year, and that is fair enough, considering their much improved performances over the autumn, which finally saw them cut loose a little bit, and develop something of an attacking edge. It was not prolific, there are definitely still kinks to work out of the master plan, but this Six Nations is huge. The teams need to be ready, as this will provide those all important competitive matches ahead of this year’s Rugby World Cup. So with the fixture list drawn for the opening weekend, what can we expect from the combatants. Well, England are standing out front with the online bookmakers and in all likelihood, none of the teams look good enough to complete the Grand Slam. England still have their faults, so do Ireland. France will always be a threat, but even they have their weaknesses at the moment. Really the tournament is wide open, and you have to have a look at those away fixtures. England have to be looked at as the favourites, they are improving where the other nations seem to be stuttering just a bit. Therefore they will rightly be front runners, but this is going to be a close, hard fought tournament.

RBS Six Nations Fixtures 2011

Friday, 04 February 2011
Wales v England

Saturday, 05 February 2011
France v Scotland, Italy v Ireland

Saturday, 12 February 2011
England v Italy, Scotland v Wales

Sunday, 13 February 2011
Ireland v France

Saturday, 26 February 2011
England v France, Italy v Wales

Sunday, 27 February 2011
Scotland v Ireland

Saturday, 12 March 2011
Italy v France, Wales v Ireland

Sunday, 13 March 2011
England v Scotland

Saturday, 19 March 2011
France v Wales, Ireland v England, Scotland v Italy

2011 RBS Six Nations Betting Tips

So where to go with your betting? The first market in which you want to look, is the Six Nations Grand Slam betting odds. You can use a bit of reverse betting here, and pick No Grand Slam, which will pay out at 4/6 at Paddy Power. That is the favourite in this market and really makes a sound bet. It all least should guarantee some return and makes a pretty good Six Nations betting tip. If you want to push the boat out on this market, then England are the favourite nation to do the Grand Slam, but best priced at 11/2 at Totesport, you can that it really isn’t expected. What about the Triple Crown between the home nations? Well, again you can picked a healthy 15/8 at Paddy Power for No Winner in this market, and again England are the only team who look to have a chance at pulling it off, and they are 3/1 at Totesport to win the Triple Crown. The away matches against Ireland and Wales may scupper that dream. Italy are 2/5 favourites at BetFred to finish bottom, and that should pretty much be a banker. As for the winner market, well here are the outright odds along with previews for the hopes of each nation:

England: 2/1 at Totesport

Still in that mould of potential more than being able to deliver. They should win their home matches here at the Six Nations, but there are still question marks over them, enough to warrant looking at them losing their away matches (against Wales and Ireland). England did develop more of a running game and took the Aussies and the Kiwis on when they came over in November. England still fell short against the All Blacks, and were pretty much mailed by the South Africans as well. As for all of the hype about England being a much better team than they have been for some time, well, that probably can’t be argued with. They need to find improvement from their third place finish last year, and hopefully the Six Nations will be the perfect testing ground for the team to gel together even more, and work out the flaws which are still in the team. The midfield is far from perfect defensively and with Captain Lewis Moody out, manager Martin Johnson probably won’t be able to select his preferred starting fifteen. Moody’s partner in the back row Tom Croft will also miss the Six Nations, both big blows. But Johnson has also lost Courtney Lawes, which is perhaps one of the big elements missing from the pack, as the rampaging Lawes looked mightily impressive in the autumn internationals. Those are England’s two most mobile forwards, and that could have a major impact on how they play. Will hey go back to a static, set piece, territorial game? England will be without Delon Armitage, who has picked up an 8 week ban. But what England managed to do over the autumn, was to finally bring a bit of flair into the side, and that is in the shape of Ben Foden from Full Back, Ben Youngs and Chris Ashton, who is an incredibly talented and exciting young winger. England simply are not going to win the Grand Slam, the opposition, who always like to give the English a hard time, will make sure of that. The final match of the campaign in Ireland, really looks as if it will be the make or break one, and with having lost on all three of their last visits to Wales, England are not guaranteed of anything. They need to find the balance between the new found running game, and holding shape in defence. They have a big chance at winning the Six Nations with three home games, but they do still carry a very poor away record of late, and that will be the dampener on the whole Grand Slam party. Well worth a punt, but simply not consistent, or refined enough as a unit to win all of their matches.

Ireland: 7/2 at Stan James

Not quite sure what has happened to the Irish really. Two years ago they were rampaging their way to the Grand Slam, but now they are struggling for victories, and a bit soft in the centre. There is a proud rugby tradition in Ireland, but the balance of power seems to have shifted back in favour of England to be honest, particularly at club level. The fixtures have been kind to them this year, as they get home advantage for their main rivals for the Six Nations title, France and England. Ireland won a couple of games in the Autumn, but there is something from missing from them, that spark that has made them one of the strongest forces in the Six Nations. Something is not right, as it is not with England, but England seem to be going forward, while Ireland seem to be looking to stop the slide backwards. There is still quality in the side, like Brian O’Driscoll, but the best days of the golden generation of Irish rugby has probably gone, and they need to take stock and rebuild. A bad campaign here could mean the end for coach Declan Kidney, and while his team may be past their best, he has to get the young blood in there now to work alongside the experienced heads. They may be without Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble though because of injury. They do have a good record at home against England and France, so they will still be hopeful of gunning for the Six Nations. It is unlikely that they are going to win the Grand Slam anytime soon, but those two home matches will be crucial to their overall performance. The Irish have had their struggles on the road, just like England, and lost to Scotland last year in a shocker.

France: 13/5 at Victor Chandler

What has happened to Ireland? What has happened to France? They were awesome in last year’s Six Nations, ball retention, running, forward power, defense, there was a lot to be admired about them. The wheels rapidly fell off though in the autumn, including an embarrassingly heavy defeat against Australia, by a score of 59-16. The French simply had no fight in them, and their defence is completely in tatters at the moment. They will concede tries in the Six Nations, more so than many will expect them too. The key games for them this year will be the visits to England and Ireland, so they don’t have a very friendly fixture list awaiting them. The French will still be unpredictable, and you never know, coach Marc Lievremont may well put out a side which makes a clean sweep of the Six Nations. That is just a far fetched example of how unpredictable the French could be. For your Six Nations betting, one of the most crucial factors is the fixture list. They are not at their best, but should still win matches and be close in the running for the Six Nations title. They always make an exciting World Cup side, but they need to step up from where they were in the Autumn. They looked incredibly short on confidence for some reason, and it does not take too much to fracture the spirit of the French. They can be got at in the packs this year, and will lose games. Most likely those crucial away ones.

Scotland: 16/1 at  Bet365

Well, they have a new captain. Alastair Kellock, after leading Scotland through the autumn internationals, keeps his job, and will try and give them hope of better things to come. Coach Andy Robinson really has done a fantastic job with them, and they are the most in form team of all the competitors going into the 2011 Six Nations. That’s right, after beating Ireland in the last round of the 2010 Six Nations, they had a great rest of the year. You may remember them beating Australia. You may remember them beating South Africa as well. In fact, the only blot on their copy book in the last six Test Matches, was a thrashing dealt out by the All Blacks, which, all things considered, is nothing to be ashamed of. Andy Robinson has made Scotland very hard to beat. No, they do not have the flair, or quality of personnel that the likes of France and England can call upon, but they have a great team ethic and spirit, which the other nations could be envious of. As for the Six Nations in 2011, well, Scotland aren’t going to win it. They are pencilled in again as one of the runners for the Wooden Spoon, perhaps harshly, given the positive strides forward which they have taken. Have a great chance to take out Italy and Wales up at Murrayfield, and will probably rattle the Irish again. However, their away trips may just break their resolve, as they have to go to Twickenham and to the Stade Francais, and the Scots haven’t won at either of those places in the last five matches at each venue. You really should see a much improved Scottish side, and one that should pick up a couple of victories at least. They should beat Wales and Italy, the crucial one should be against the Irish really, a match which could move them well clear of the bottom (if you are writing off the away games as defeats).

Wales: 15/2 at SportingBet

The Welsh will be chomping at the bit to get their teeth into the improving England at the Millennium Stadium in the first match of their campaign. Coach Warren Gatland needs to pull some kind of miracle out of his hat, if he is to keep the Welsh fans happy. They are on a run of seven straight defeats, and they need to turn to their great record against England to give them some confidence ahead of the rest of the Six Nations campaign. That match will probably make or break the Welsh to be honest. If they can eek out a fourth consecutive win over England at the Millennium Stadium, then they will set themselves up well. A defeat, and they will be wondering where the next win is coming from, and that is because it will be a long way to fall after getting so hyped up against the auld enemy. The problems for Wales really lie in their defensive frailties. They just have not got any staying power, and have no clue as to how to see out a game. They blew some strong leads during 2010, and what really set the Welsh fans groaning was an absolute dire performance in which they could only draw with Fiji. It was that bad. They have lost Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones, which will weaken their front line, the last thing they want when trying to take on the might of England’s front row. Suddenly Wales find themselves behind Scotland in the pecking order, and they won’t be happy with that. There are winnable games, one against Italy (in Rome) and perhaps their only other best chance is a spirited rousing affair against the Irish at the Millennium Stadium, because Ireland haven’t got a great record there. There is no poster boy Gavin Henson to add a spark in the three quarters, there is a little indecision as to how Wales will actually line up at the back, with James Hook, Lee Byrne, Stephen Jones and Jamie Roberts all looking to hold their favoured places down. However, when Wales start tossing the ball around in the backs, they look a threat. They haven’t got the defensive power to back it up, and have a weak front row in the scrum. Wales are a long way from their Grand Slam winning year of 2008, and may well find themselves scrapping it out with Italy for the wooden spoon, although only in terms of finishing fifth, as they aren’t going to be worse than the Italians.

Italy: 250/1 at Paddy Power

Well, they have still really to make an impact since joining the Six Nations, and again they will be favourites to finish last. The Italians do have a good crop of young players coming through though, and that should finally give them some good hope for the years ahead. They look to be on the right track finally, but they need time and experience to really step up. It is hard to picture the Italians going out and winning two matches in the campaign this year, but there are a couple of matches which they could be targeting. First of all they get to face Wales in Rome, and if Wales are having one of their off days, their defensive is poor enough to be rattled by the Italians. The strength of the Italians will be in their front row actually, and this is where they could get into teams and perhaps cause an upset. They are not going out looking to be world beaters at all, they seem to understand that this is an ongoing process. The only other team that Italy have beaten in the Six Nation apart from Wales is Scotland. But Italy face Scotland at Murrayfield, and you really don’t bank on Italy going away and picking up a victory. It would be hard to see them doing that, even if Scotland weren’t the much improved side that they are at the moment. With tough trips to France, England and Scotland, the Italians are going to come up short again. Hopefully they won’t just be the whipping boys, and some fairly solid performances in the autumn internationals suggest that they are going to get better over time.