rugby union

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.
 

After failing to land a threatening shot in Dublin, as they were striving to not blow another Grand Slam chance, England have to regroup ahead of the Rugby World Cup after missing out on the Six Nations slam. However, they did do more than enough to win the Six Nations title, something they were pretty much assured of, going into last weekend’s action. But the England which were expected in Dublin, just simply never turned up. They looked edgy, they looked nervous, unsure of themselves, and allowed a more intense Ireland to dominate the game. This may well now have raised questions about England’s true potential to go all of the way at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, betting for the tournament in New Zealand, which starts in September should really begin in earnest now. We have seen what the northern hemisphere teams have to offer. England have looked full of invention, running and power at times during the Six Nations, and while the defeat against Ireland can be written off as a bad day at the office, there are other signs which point to England being unable to take the World Cup crown this year. England are still a young side, they were vastly inexperienced in terms of international caps in comparison to party poopers Ireland. Ireland had over double the amount of international caps in their side collectively, to what England did. The majority of the English side are also under the age of 25 (ten of the 15 starters against Ireland were), and perhaps that inexperience in the big games, those crucial tests away from home when everything is on the line, is a downfall of theirs at the moment.

England boss Martin Johnson has said that his side are still in good shape for later in the year, but perhaps the attention should be turned back to the game prior to the Irish one. The one where England struggled to put away Scotland at Twickenham. That should have set more alarm bells ringing really than the defeat in Ireland. Ireland are tough opposition, and have shown that they themselves, though not at their best, can still compete and pose major threats. It was the mistakes and lack of conviction in passing and running lines properly from the backs against Scotland, which should worry Johnson more. If Scotland can throw England off their full game, simply by scrapping and fragmenting the game so easily, then England will be in trouble at the World Cup. England come up against the Scots in Pool B of the tournament, along with the fighters that are Argentina. England would meet either New Zealand or France in the Quarter Finals. Still, England are expected to cruise to the top of the group there, but they are still lacking the clinical finishing which separates them from the best sides in the world. England’s defence, by and large, have stood very firm, the pack is more mobile, but the three quarters still look as if they are missing that true genuine spark of creativity to open up stubborn teams. New Zealand, Australia and South Africa all have this edge over England, so too France in their regard. That is why England may again be on the periphery of things at this World Cup. But perhaps the defeat by the Irish has simply highlighted where England are at, and should help to balance expectancy over England’s 2011 Rugby World Cup betting credentials.

Four years ago, they did upset the apple cart in getting to the final, when they weren’t in any kind of form. They lost there to South Africa, simply because they couldn’t find a creative way to break down the tough tackling Springboks. England have slipped down to fifth in the world rankings now, having been overtaken by Ireland. On the plus side of everything in the current standings of international rugby, England have won six of their last nine test match. They have excellent depth in their squad now, with Johnson being spoilt for choice in the pack. There is fierce competition for places in the squad now, England take on the Barbarians on May 29th at Twickenham, and three World Cup warm up matches will follow on from that. England start their 2011 Rugby World Cup campaign against Argentina on September 10th. England are better now than they were at the 2005 World Cup, and that should put them in some kind of good stead. Was the Ireland game just a “hiccup” as Irish coach Declan Kidney suggest.

2011 Rugby World Cup Betting Odds

New Zealand: 9/10 at Unibet
Australia: 5/1 at Paddy Power
South Africa: 13/2 at Totesport
England: 9/1 at Totesport
France: 14/1 at SkyBet

Rugby World Cup draw 2011

Pool A
New Zealand, France, Tonga, Canada, Japan

Pool B
Argentina, England, Scotland, Georgia, Romania

Pool C
Australia, Ireland, Italy, Russia, United States

Pool D
South Africa, Wales, Fiji, Manu Samoa, Namibia

It should be a thriller up at Murrayfield when Wales face Scotland. Both nations are losers from the opening weekend, and so both should be gunning for that big victory. Scotland did a pretty good job, and gave a decent account of themselves out in Paris when they took on a strong French side. Andy Robinson’s Scotland managed to get over the try line three times, giving the French a good run for their money in the match. Scotland went into that match as underdogs, and rightly so, but the Scots over the Autumn have really start to show some progress and it showed again against France. They scrapped and battled well, and while they lack the flair, speed and cutting edge that France had against them, they showed enough to suggest that they can win a couple of matches in this season’s Six Nations. The main area which let the Scottish game down, was up front, where their superior weight over the French pack, could not be put to good use. Instead, the French and their superior scrimmaging skills won the day, and that is a big area in which Scotland need to improve. They do look a far more confident side than they have done in the Six Nations, and this has the potential of being a good year for them. Scotland will start this match as favourites and really with the crowd behind them, they should be able to exploit Welsh weaknesses, of which there are many.

Scotland will be looking for a bit of payback after losing a big lead against the Welsh last year in the Six Nations, and they look a good bet to do that. They are the stronger unit at the moment, and look altogether more tactically sound than what the Welsh are.  After failing to score a single try in the Six Nations last year, Scotland have already ran in three, which is a huge boost for their attacking confidence. Granted, they were borne of hard work, and can be argued that they were scrappy and down to some poor French defence, but the chances were still taken. Scotland have lost six of the last eight matches against the Welsh, and now this game has huge importance. Whoever loses this time around can pretty much count themselves out of any title hopes, and that could be starting the wooden spoon in the face. Scotland may be without forward Richie Gray, who has a bit of a stomach bug, and while coach Andy Robinson named an unchanged starting 15, Gray may have to sit this one out, with Nathan Hines likely to step in. Scotland have a bit of momentum in their game at the moment, even though they lost against France, they showed that they can compete and hold their own. They are not going to win the Six Nations this year,  but they are heading in the right direction, and with a more solid performance up front and in the line outs, they should be fully capable of beating the Welsh.

That is because Wales are in a bit of disarray at the moment, and are now on an eight match losing skid in International Test rugby. They put on something of a comeback against England after the visitors to the Millennium Stadium had opened up a strong first half lead, but there were still glaring errors in their game, which could leave them flailing again. For starters, there really was no leader on the field for Wales, and not one of the big stars, the big game players really turned up to try and stamp any authority on the game. This is probably due to a lack of confidence, as Wales are desperate to pick up a win from anywhere. You would expect Wales to have a stronger running back line than what the Scottish have, but the Scottish defence in that area is head and shoulders above that of the Welsh. The defence of Wales at the moment is pretty miserable, and they look disjointed and unsure of positioning and aren’t going into tackles full tilt. There was just a lack of direction and conviction from Wales, who looked more content to kick the ball away than take it into contact, and pretty much just ended up running sideways against the English for  most of the match. Another big problem was the back, who really struggled to earn possession of the ball against England, and so they had no real platform to work from.

Wales will have to work hard to secure ball, and they need a huge game from the likes of Jamie Roberts, who was anonymous as a ball carrier against England. What Wales will do, is continue to create chances though, and they really will have to land some of them. They will get a little more space against the Scottish backs if they can get ball in hand, because they will have that edge of pace. But the work has to be done up front, where the Welsh did not operate as a full pack at all, and Scotland may get the chance to use their weight and strength and bully the weakened Welsh in that area. Scotland will want a tight game, while the Welsh will be more likely to throw the ball around. Wales just need to be more direct really, and run straight lines in the middle of the park. They have a chance, but they look as if they will be easily exposed at the back, the more they try and create chances up front. On form, Scotland really should edge this one, it is a great opportunity for them against the Welsh at Murrayfield, if they keep the ball up front and not give it away, then they will win.

Scotland to win: 4/6 at Boylesports
Draw: 20/1 at Bwin
Wales to win: 8/5 at SportingBet

Check out BetFred and their Double Delight Hattrick Heaven rugby betting promotion for your Six Nations betting. If the player you back as first tryscorer scores the first try but then goes on to cross the line for a second time in the match, then BetFred will pay out double your initial odds. If that player managed to land himself a hat trick, then BetFred will triple the original first try scorer odds taken on that player. This is a great offer, and is a great way to enhance your rugby betting this weekend on the Six Nations. BetFred offer a £50 free bet as well for new customers opening an account with them.

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.

Still looking to make a late bet on the Wales v England 2011 Six Nations opener tonight? Then hit online bookmaker Paddy Power, where they are offering a great promotion for your rugby betting for tonight‘s match. If Wales’ Shane Williams or England’s Mark Cueto scores the last try of the match, then the bookmaker will refund all losing bets placed on all Tryscorer and winning margin bets placed on the match. The action kicks off soon in Cardiff, with England going as favourites for the Six Nations this year. However, Ireland, England and France look evenly matched in terms of winning the tournament this year, and there doesn’t come much more hostile ways to start a campaign for Martin Johnson’s England than a trip to the Millennium Stadium. Both sides have been weakened through injury, and the war of words between the two camps have been raging all week long. It’s time now for the players to do the talking on the pitch. England are favourites to win the match at 10/11, with Wales the underdog at 10/3. The Winning Margins options are actually a good thing to look at, as it will offer a little bit more variety for your betting than just plumping for an outright winner. It’s not just picking the winner at Paddy Power, it is judging by how much either team will win. England are 9/2 to win by 6-10 points for example, while Wales are 9/2 also to win by 1-5 points. Take a look over the margins, knowing that they are covered by the Paddy Power promotion above. So to will your Tryscorer bets, with James Hook going at 14/1 for the home side, while the exciting Chris Ashton is 15/2 to open the scoring. If you are not a Paddy Power customer, then don’t worry, there is still time to take advantage. Just sign up and take advantage of their very generous £50 free bet offer for new customers, and enjoy your sports betting at one of the most highly recommended online bookmakers for sports promotions.

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

France v Scotland really should be a cracker. France, the current defending Champions in the RBS Six Nations, had a stuttering 2010 when to trying to build on their tournament success. A horrific defeat against Australian in the autumn, means that the French have lost three of their last five test matches now, and the French side are suddenly under a lot of pressure. Coach Marc Lievremont must be wondering what has happened to his defence, as they simply haven’t been at the races. It looked as if the Six Nations effort, in which they were simply brilliant, either took everything out of them, or they were guilty of being far too complacent in their approach to the rest of the matches. This should be a World Cup contending team, but in their last few performances, they have looked far short of being world beaters. Conceding 40 points per match in those three defeats mentioned above, is a pretty horrendous record. They have simply lost their confidence and once that goes, the French can fall apart pretty quickly. There is no middle ground with the French, they are either breathtaking or they are poor. They showed so much quality in last year’s tournament, with almost perfect ball control in the rucks, and the ability to demolish teams out wide and in particular through the centre. They will be hampered by a tough fixture list, having to play Ireland and England away, and so this opener against Scotland is crucial. A loss in Paris for the home side would pretty much destroy their chance at winning the Six Nations one would imagine.

They are still the unpredictable, maverick side which has the ability to thrill and entertain, but more than that is needed here. They need to buckle down up front, cut out the errors and find some way of injecting a bit of life into their play. They simply rolled over against Australia without putting up any kind of fight, and if they thought that the visit of Scotland this year was going to be an easy one, it is not. The Scots are improving rapidly, and the French need to get out of their rut, and that is what makes this encounter so interesting. France have all of the potential in their squad to win the Six Nations, don’t be thinking that they don’t as they have talent right throughout their squad. The French have to be watched, and how much their creativity and will to win comes into play, will be a huge factor in them getting of to a winning start. They are the home team of course here, and that should count for a lot. They are not at the bottom of the barrel yet, but they still seem a way short of the 2010 Grand Slam busting team which swept through the tournament. You can’t write them off course, and they should win this match, but it is how they will cope on the road this season which will determine their success or failure. The big thing about France, is that they don’t look consistent enough to be a Grand Slam winning side again this year, but they shouldn’t have any problems getting out of the starting blocks. Confidence is everything, and that joie de vivre could well creep back into the side with a good victory. Their front five look in pretty good shape to be honest, and Scotland won’t match them.

As for Scotland, coach Andy Robinson has turned them into a team which are incredibly hard to beat at the moment. They only avoided the wooden spoon in the 2010 RBS Six Nations by a single point over Italy, but enjoyed a far more productive year after that. They have been struggling to win more than one match in the Six Nations for some time now, and they broke a long record of not being able to win away in the tournament, when they squeezed out Ireland in last year’s final round of fixtures. The thing about Scotland, is that if they do not play to the absolute heights of their potential, then they will be beaten, more often than not, comfortably. While they have beaten the likes of South Africa in the Autumn, the Scots really are still struggling to find a genuine offensive weapon in their game. They have racked up just seven tries in the thirteen matches in which Robinson has been in charge of the nation. They were horrendously undone by New Zealand in the Autumn internationals, and that brought them massively back down to earth. However, they have won five of their last six matches now, and so they are showing definite signs of improvement. No, they are not going to win the Six Nations this year, that is out of the question, particularly because they have to travel to both Twickenham and Paris, there is real potential of them picking up solid home wins. While they have done well lately, it is unlikely that they will beat France. The French have a really big point to prove to England and Ireland that they can make an impact, and they should have enough flair to outscore the stubborn Scots on the day.

In the head to head stats department, we are looking at 46 wins for France and just 34 for Scotland. There have only been three draws between the two sides, and France’s biggest winning margin over Scotland was a 51-9 victory, while Scotland’s biggest triumph in this fixture was a 31-3 win. This could be quite a close match if Scotland’s defence stands strong from the start of the match. France have averaged 13 points per game against Scotland, while Scotland have averaged just under twelve points per match. Not a great deal to choose between them in the stats here, but the ball really is in the court of the French, and they have to take the game to the visitors. You can see them running in a couple of tries at least, while trying to picture the Scottish doing the same, is a little bit more difficult. The tighter and slower the Scottish keep the game, the longer they will stay in it. They aren’t vastly expansive and will have trouble coping with the pace of the French midfield.

Last Year’s Result: Scotland 9, France 18
France Last Year’s Six Nations Finishing Position: 1st
Scotland Last Year’s Six Nations Finishing Position: 5th

France to win: 1/8 at Bwin
Draw: 33/1 at Bet365
Scotland to win: 6/1 at Boylesports

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.

England v South Africa Betting Odds
England to win: 1/2 at Paddy Power
Draw: 22/1 at Unibet
South Africa: 2/1 at Bet365

Online Bookmaker Promotion: SportingBet are running Rugby Refunds for the weekend. If the handicap tie is the winning selection for any of the Autumn Internationals, then SportingBet will refund your losing bet as a free bet, right up to the value of £25! So, have a bet on any Handicap Prices for any of this weekend’s international rugby matches, and you’ll get a stake refund if the Handicap Tie is the winning selection. England are -6 Handicap for a price of Evens at SportingBet. There is also still time to get a free £50 bet when you open a new account. This is a great sign up bonus, worth double the regular amount of £25 until the end of November, so get in quick!

England are looking for the same side which brought them a record victory over Australia a fortnight ago, to bring an inspiring win over South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday. The match closes out the November series of games for England, and a victory would give England their third win in a row. After starting off with a defeat against the All Blacks, England responded well to beat Australia in emphatic fashion. Last weekend they had to grind out a result against Samoa, which they did with a 26-13 scoreline, after coach Martin Johnson had rang the changes. But Johnson now goes back to the same fifteen which put Australia to the sword. All of sudden there is more optimism surrounding England than there has been for some time. A win over the Springboks would really cap that off, but of course, the side which beat them in the last World Cup Final are never a push over. Back into the side come Lewis Moody, Mike Tindall moves back into the centre, while up front Tom Croft and Dan Cole regain their starting places. Scrum half Ben Youngs will need to find the same spark of creativity that he had against Australia, but lost against Samoa.

England have been more expansive, and Johnson is finally delivering on his word that England will produce more attacking rugby. A lot of the changes have to be down to the people that Johnson are putting on the pitch in the first place, players like Chris Ashton and fullback Ben Foden. England are no where near as being genuine World Cup 2011 challengers as the coaching staff and fans would really like, but this November has seen a significant shift forward for England. However, as displayed in the game against Samoa last weekend, there is one big difference between England and the best teams in the world. That is finishing power. Having that clinical ruthless edge to get over the try line with a higher percentage of attacks. That is still letting England down, but at least they are going forward with some kind of conviction. Maybe the rest will all fall into place.

South Africa are not as strong as they have been for some time now. This has been a tough year for them, completely being outplayed in the tri-nations, while suffering defeat at the hands of the Scottish last weekend. However, the SpringBoks always raise their game against England, and this will probably be the most physical and bruising encounter of the four matches England will have played this November. South Africa are currently on a six match winning streak against England. But England do have the momentum going into the match this time however, and will be favourite to beat an out of sort SpringBoks side. What the game will be though, is intense. South Africa are big side up front, and they are experienced. So they may not be on the best form, but they are still a handful. They still beat Ireland, who are arguably, still the best of the home nations. There will also be the factor of wounded pride. The SpringBoks will be wanting to shake that shock defeat against the Scots out of the system, and there will be no better way to forget it, than by beating England at Twickenham. South Africa go with Ruan Pienaar at scrum half for this one.

England will face a tougher battle up front than they did against New Zealand, Australia and Samoa. The South Africa pack is a wily one, and will use that area of the game to disrupt England. The SpringBoks have the power there to drive England back, and while England do have the more mobile and more dynamic pack, they may just have to double their physical efforts to secure and win ball against a rampaging back of SpringBoks. For your rugby betting, you would expect that if England can weather any early storm by the SpringBoks, who want to take their frustrations of last weekend’s result out on the England pack, then the home side should have enough to win. England have the confidence and that counts for a lot, but they need to contain the power that is in the South Africa pack. If England use quick ball like they did against Australia and start running the lines better, then there is no reason why England cannot finish with three wins out of four in these November tests. Look for Mark Cueto to end his barren spell with no tries, he has a good record against South Africa.

England:
Backs: B Foden, C Ashton, M Tindall, S Hape, M Cueto; T Flood, B Youngs
Forwards: A Sheridan, D Hartley, D Cole, C Lawes, T Palmer, T Croft, L Moody, N Easter.
Replacements: S Thompson, D Wilson, S Shaw, H Fourie, D Care, C Hodgson, M Banahan.

England v South Africa Stats
Games Played 31
England wins: 12
South Africa wins: 18
Draws: 1

Largest Points for England v SA: 53 (53-3)
Largest Points for South Africa v ENG: 58 (58-10)

Largest winning margin for England v SA: 53-3
Largest winning margin for South Africa v ENG: 58-10

Average points for England v SA: 15.48
Average points for South Africa v ENG: 20.6