Wales

Ireland v Wales Six Nations rugby betting sees a cracker of a match on the first weekend of the this year’s tournament. Ireland coach Declan Kidney, has called upon some youth for his side, determined to ring in a new golden age of Irish rugby. The notable inclusions to the Irish squad have been wingers Simon Zebo and David Kearney and while Kidney will look to some of the old guard to nurture the youngsters, they will have to go without key man Brian O’Driscoll. O’Driscoll will miss the entire tournament because of a shoulder injury, so there is a big chance up for grabs in the back line. The likelihood is that it will be a relatively familiar Irish side challenging for the Six Nations as Kidney has not rang too many changes from the World Cup squad. It is Keith Earls who will fill O’Driscoll’s shoes, and there is no place in the starting fifteen for Ronan O’Gara, as Jonathan Sexton gets the start. Ireland of course scored a huge pool match victory over Australia, when the Irish pack destroyed their opponents up front. It wasn’t a particularly strong World Cup though as a whole from Ireland, bowing out in the quarter finals to Sunday’s opponents Wales. The Irish need to definitely show a step forward from last year’s Six Nations where there were troubles and inconsistencies a plenty. The Irish saved their best for the big matches against England and France, but struggled badly when they faced the weaker Scotland and Italy. The largest problem was that there was just too many simple errors, basic mistakes which disrupted the entire flow of the game. But the Irish game is a powerful one when it is on song, and if they come out of the blocks firing and take down an exciting young Welsh side, then it will do their confidence a whole world of good for the rest of the tournament. Ireland may well not be as good as they were a few years ago, but when they string things together, and get their backs like Tommy Bowe and Andrew Trimble running off the back of powerful forward work, they can compete at the highest level. The one thing about the Irish, is that while other nations in the tournament have gone for wholesale changes, Ireland have gone for consistency and continuity.

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Wales will have to head to the Aviva Stadium in Dublin without hooker Matthew Rees, which is a big blow for them. Rees, who picked up a calf strain, could well miss the opening two matches. While Wales covered themselves in a lot of glory at the World Cup, playing some fantastically exciting rugby, injuries have weakened them ahead of Ireland v Wales Six Nations rugby betting. Forwards Alun Wyn Jones, Luke Charteris and Gethin Jenkins have already been scratched from the teem because of injury and there are doubts over whether flanker Dan Lydiate will be ready to go either. The backs have also been hit with injuries, as Jamie Roberts and Rhys Priestland may miss out on the Dublin test as well. So while Wales go into the 2012 Six Nations rugby betting as one of the favourites to land the title, it is going to be a tough opener for them. Coach Warren Gatland of course has experience to call on with the likes of Gavin Henson, Stephen Jones and James Hook, but the Wales coach can’t put out his preferred strongest side. That could spell a bit of trouble, because Ireland will be out for revenge, losing to Wales in controversial circumstances in last year’s Six Nations, and then exiting the 2011 World Cup to them as well. But Wales have developed a huge strength in their national game through their youth. They are powerful side up front, and very quick and mobile. Naturally with youth there comes the speed and enthusiasm as well in the running game, but they were guilty of over playing things at the World Cup and not doing the simple things well. One major feature of Wales’ World Cup campaign was their incredible defence. The scrambling, line defence and last ditch tackling was supreme and they will probably need plenty of that in order to hold things together against the Irish, who will be gunning hard for them. It is an evenly poised match in prospect.

In the Ireland v Wales head to head record it sees the two sides having come together 117 times before. It is Wales who lead the head to head, winning 64 to Ireland’s 47 triumphs. There really is nothing to split the two nations in terms of average points scored per match when they come together, Ireland average 10.59 points per game against Wales, while Wales average 11.71 points per game against Ireland. There were the two meetings between them last year of course, with Wales taking the spoils on both occasions. The last time they met in Ireland, the Irish ran out 27-12 winners.

Ireland v Wales Six Nations Rugby Betting Odds
Ireland to win: 8/15 at Stan James
Draw: 22/1 at Bet365
Wales to win: 9/4 at SportingBet

Ireland v Wales Six Nations Rugby Handicap Betting Odds
Ireland -4 for 10/11 at SkyBet

Bulgaria v Wales betting sees the home nation looking to pick up their first away win of their Euro 2012 qualification campaign. Wales continued their improved form with a 2-0 home win over Switzerland in Swansea on Friday night. Aaron Ramsey’s finish from the penalty spot and Gareth Bale’s goal secured three points for Wales, taking off the bottom of the Group G (which England won). Qualification to Euro 2012 has long gone for Wales, but manager Gary Speed is still looking for a lot more from his men, as they look to build towards the future. It has been a good turn around in form by Wales after losing all four of their opening qualification matches, which put them out of contention, but those two wins, sandwiching a tight 1-0 defeat at Wembley against England, may have just seen them turn the corner. They have a chance to build upon their good work as they head to Sofia to take on bottom side  Bulgaria. Wales actually strung together some good cohesive attacks against Switzerland, who hit the UK with their own qualification hopes still in tact. Not any more, as the Welsh win eliminated the Swiss, but before they get too carried away there is still a lot of work to be done for the future. They certainly need to find a way to tighten up at the back, because Switzerland had their chances in the first half. Basically put, Wales look better going forward than they do defending, so that is an issue and they also lost a lot of focus after Switzerland have been reduced to ten men. But, they got the job done, and are in with a chance of finishing a respectable third in the group, if they win and Switzerland lose to Montenegro. Bulgaria really have not offered all that much in the group, their only winning coming in Cardiff against Wales last October. Bulgaria have not won any of their last three matches, and with a new head coach are looking to the future as well. There is another great opportunity for a Welsh three points here, because Bulgaria have only picked up one point from three matches at home in qualifying and have managed only three goals all campaign. Wales have only managed five of their own, but they are the team with the momentum, so could be worth backing in your match betting to get their first points on the road in Euro 2012 qualifying.

Bulgaria v Wales Euro 2012 Qualifier Betting
Bulgaria to win: Evens at Ladbrokes
Draw: 5/2 at Totesport
Wales to win: 10/3 at Bet365

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Wales v Switzerland Euro 2012 qualification betting may just have a big bearing on the outcome of the top two spots. It is not going to involve Gary Speed’s men of course, as they sit bottom of Group G, with just three points to their name and two matches remaining. After struggling through the group, Wales finally scored their first points of the campaign, when they produced a fantastic display to beat Montenegro in Cardiff. That result did England a huge favour at the top of the group, but it also breathed new life into Wales. Following that victory, they went to Wembley to face England, and they had their chances to get something out of that match as well with a spirited display, in particular a glaring miss from striker Robert Earnshaw, when it would have been easier to score. That 1-0 defeat at Wembley at least showed a lot of character from Wales, and perhaps just the early signs of something better to come down the line from Gary Speed’s men. The Welsh have two matches remaining, this home fixture against Switzerland and then one away match against Bulgaria. Wales can really target these two matches and go for broke, build some confidence for the future. They are actually winnable matches, but the game against Switzerland could affect who gets through in the top two spots. If England beat Montenegro on Friday and Switzerland beat, or draw with Wales, then the Swiss could still qualify in second place, if the Swiss go on to beat Montenegro at home in their final group match. If Wales get a win, Swizterland could technically still beat Montenegro and go through (as long as Montenegro lose against England)  but taking that runners up spot would be more difficult. So Switzerland, who are on eight points in the group, have a lot to play for here and will be keen to pick up a victory.

When the two sides met in Switzerland back in October of last year, it was the Swiss who ran out big 4-1 winners. The Swiss have been more prolific in front of goal than many predicted they would be, firing in ten goals in their six matches so far, with only England having done better in that department. With a 2-2 draw at Wembley being followed up by a strong 3-1 over Bulgaria, the Swiss are in good form. However, they have not managed to pick up a win away from home in Group G of Euro 2012 qualifying so far, drawing two and losing one. So there is some hope for Wales there. But Wales haven’t exactly racked up a great home record, as they have lost two and won one, so you get the feeling that a draw could be on the cards here. The best Wales could hope for would be a third place finish in the group, and that is relying on other results going their way. But there is a chance for confidence and a nod towards the future here. They played some good open football at Wembley against England, and that win against Montenegro was arguably the best they have played for a long time. Wales do have some selection problems, with Robert Earnshaw and Danny Gabidon being left out, and Joe Ledley, James Collins and Danny Collins have also withdrawn from the squad as well. Gary Speed does get back the services of Craig Bellamy and David Vaughan. The Swiss get back Steve von Bergen and Valon Behrami in the fold, and Ricardo Rodriquez, one of the most unlikeliest sounding Swiss names you’ll ever hear, gets a call up. The Swiss take only three recognised strikers into their next two matches, so we can expect a heavy midfield presence from them.

Wales v Switzerland Euro 2012 Qualifying Betting Odds
Wales to win: 15/4 at Stan James
Draw: 13/5 at Bet365
Switzerland to win: 13/ 5 at SkyBet

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Wales v England Rugby betting for Saturday, August 13th at the Millennium Stadium, will see the two old rivals go back into action against one another for the second weekend running. England ran out 23-19 winners at Twickenham in their first encounter, which was a bit of rusty affair after players were getting back into action. England had to survive a good second half comeback from Wales in the second half, and while some questions for the coaches will have been answered ahead of Saturday’s rematch, there are still plenty awaiting conclusion. Wales v England rugby betting is another step along the path to the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and that is what this is all about. While the Southern Hemisphere teams scrap it out in the Tri Nations, the home nations square off against each for vital fine tuning ahead of the tournament. England go into the match having made 13 changes from last Saturday’s line up at Twickenham. Centre Mike Tindall will take over the captains armband again as regular captain Lewis Moody remains under cautionary watch. It should be an England side closer to what we may see at the World Cup. The likes of Toby Flood, Dan Cole and Courtney Lawes will be on display in a strong side. After the match against Wales, coach Marin Johnson will trim the current 40 man squad down to just 30.

England were surprisingly cautious and not really willing to play with too much width. Delon Armitage did try and get things moving, and the steady old hand of Jonny Wilkinson was attempting to move the ball, but the width was not there. Certainly not the kind of invention we had seen in the Six Nations from the English. Still, Martin Johnson used the match very wisely in only fielding four players from the 2011 Six Nations in the starting line up. Johnson wanted a good look at players on the fringe of the starting fifteen, so that players could have their chance to impress and make a World Cup starting place their own, or even book their place in the squad travelling to New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup which starts on September 9th in new Zealand. While England were the better team in the close quarters, and Jonny Wilkinson gave a very controlled and efficient performance in taking over from Toby Flood at fly half, the expansion wasn’t there. That is not to say that is it is not coming, that it is not going to be there at the World Cup, but this was more of a match for Johnson to see what further work needed to be done on the training ground. One area is certainly in discipline as the English defence gave away a lot of penalties when they came under pressure from the Welsh toward the back end of the match. They won’t be able to afford to do that against better teams on the day. There was a lot of solidity about the pack, and England do look to have pretty good coverage in depth in that area, just what is needed for a tough World Cup campaign. One of the bright sparks for England, was Manu Tuilagi, who ran in a fantastic try off a Jonny Wilkinson pass. His pace and power in the midfield is something England will certainly benefit from at the World Cup. He gives England big options there to split a game open. England will know that they can still rely on Wilkinson himself, who was precise and controlled all afternoon, and while he may not get the starting call in New Zealand, he is still pressing hard for a starting place. England said that they needed realistic pressure to really see where they were, and because the whole test match was a bit lack lustre (just compare it to the relentless blood and thunder of the New Zealand v Australia Tri Nations match earlier in the day), both sides will probably feel satisfied to shake the rust off and look ahead.

Wales, for their part, although they lacked a bit of quality at times, put up a better show than many were expecting. After losing Stephen Jones in the warm up and then Morgan Stoddart to a broken leg in the match, there was a degree of disruption going on for Wales. Still, they tried to approach the game with as positive a mind set as possible and they will be relatively happy with what they delivered as a whole. They kept their penalty count down to a minimum and they threw the ball out wide. They also made England work very hard at the break down, because the Welsh were very, very keen in aggressive defence. Granted, Wales do need a bit more defensive organisation, and their pack looks as if it needs someone to hold it together and give it a bit more cohesion. On the first outlook of the match at Twickenham, Wales may get easily bullied by opposition packs. Young captain Sam Warburton was something of a revelation for them, and is a definite huge prospect for the future, while Rhys Priestland stood up very well in goal kicking duties. There will be worries about the strength of depth that Wales will be able to carry down to New Zealand for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but there does look to be something taking shape there, so there are positives to take and build upon. Coach Warren Gatland does need quite a bit more time on the training ground with his squad, and they looked as if they were playing off the cuff as to having any concrete game plan in how to approach the game. We could see a much stronger, more experienced Welsh side, with the likes of Lee Byrne, James Hook, Matthew Rees, Gethin Jenkins coming back in to the fold. Hook will come in at Full Back on Saturday, while Gavin Henson also makes his way back into the starting fifteen in the centre. Wales want to send a message to their rivals and their fans that they can compete.

With the home crowd, Wales will be keen to overturn the damage done to them at the Millennium Stadium by England in the Six Nations earlier in the year. Then England seemed to be in control and had to weather a come back from Wales. These test matches are never going to be played at full intensity, it is just not going to happen. Both coaches will continue to work the kinks out of their squads, and take a look at players, so there could be several different personnel in action on Saturday. Still, England are the more accomplished, stronger team all round. They are able to knuckle down and win the big battles up front, and if they do expand, then they look ready to pick the Welsh off. But the Welsh will probably be the more open of the two teams again, and that may be a good thing for England’s defence as they test their mettle. England did look a bit naïve in defence, and while it wasn’t anywhere near the starting fifteen that we will see at the World Cup, Martin Johnson will want to know that he can rely on players coming in. This is massive game for some of the players involved, especially in the competitive England squad. There are places to be grabbed on the plane to the Southern Hemisphere to face the best in the world, and the preparations really need to start going up a gear.

Wales v England Rugby Betting
Wales to win: 9/5 at SportingBet
Draw: 22/1 at Paddy Power
England to win: 4/7 at Totesport

Wales v England Rugby Betting Tip:
Has the makings of being close again, with the two teams feeling their way to their strongest squads, yet players wary of not getting injured. Wales will be fired up on home turf, but England may just have that bit of extra control in the end to get the job done. England should still have a greater advantage in scrimmaging power and technique.

Wales will be looking to pick up their second consecutive victory as they take on Italy in Rome in this weekend’s RBS Six Nations. The Welsh, to their great credit, put in a decent performance up in Murrayfield, to defeat the Scots. It’s not that the Welsh were great by any means, they simply made less errors than the wayward Scottish, and had just a little more conviction in going forward. Wales, after losing their opening match in this year’s competition to England in Cardiff, will be happy with that rebound result and will now look to consolidate it with victory over wooden spoon candidates, Italy. There has been a little shuffle in the line up, with Stephen Jones, the epitome of control at Number 10, comes back into the side, as James Hook moves to centre. Coach Warren Gatland doesn’t quite seem to know what the best line up for Wales is in midfield at the moment, but the victory over Scotland, at least ended a run of eight straight international test match defeats. Wales still are not at full strength, with Adam Jones and Gethin Jenkins missing out from the forwards, and winger George North has pulled out because of an injury. Fortunately Gatland can use the versatility of James Hook to at least give some dynamics to the back. Hook is a player who can change a game, but often doesn’t fulfill his role as the spark of inspiration for his country.

Wales, along with Scotland, are the only two sides to lose in Six Nations history to Italy, and this is a potential banana skin, to put it in Gatland’s own words. Italy ran Wales close in a 15-20 defeat when the two sides last met in Rome, but the previous encounter on Italian turf, produced a famous 23-20 victory for the Italians. Wales would have seen Italy give Ireland a torrid time on the opening weekend, and were in touching distance of beating the Irish, until a late drop goal from Ronan O’Gara crushed their hopes. It doesn’t make reading in the copy books for Italy, as they have won just two of the seventeen matches between the two nations. That leaves Wales with fourteen victories and a tie. The points difference is often telling when reading into stats, and Wales average 33 points per match against Italy, while the Italians average just under 18 points. That’s a massive 15 points between the two sides on average. Italy though are heading in the right direction, despite being mauled by England at Twickenham. Back in front of their home crowd, they should find stopping Wales playing will be a lot easier than trying to stop England playing at Twickers. The Bookies rightly have Wales penciled in as favourites, and that should play out on the day. Wales have a little more adventure, a little more pace, and even though they may get bullied a bit up front by the superior Italian front line, they’ll create enough to get the job done.

Italy to win: 23/5 at Unibet
Draw: 25/1 at Bet365
Wales to win: 2/9 at BetFred

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

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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

The RBS Six Nations is set to kick off with a bang as Wales host England on Friday night. With our full RBS Six Nations betting preview already posted, it is time to look at the individual matches in more detail, as the try to get out of the blocks the quickest. England are going as favourites to win the tournament this year, and that is largely down to two factors. First of all, they showed much attacking improvement over the autumn, and the second factor is that they have three home matches at Twickenham during this year’s campaign. The trip to Wales is the tough opener for Martin Johnson’s men though, as they have lost on their last three visits to the Millennium Stadium. The strengths of England will be all in the pack, and that is where they really have to take Wales on, as the home side are much weaker in that department. While England developed something of an unexpected running game against the Southern Hemisphere teams during the autumn, it was clearly something that was new to the set up. While it produced a lot of exciting rugby for the Twickenham crowd to enjoy, the tactics were still in their infancy, as there were still many flaws in the English game. The defense in midfield was particularly lax, with Mike Tindall taking a lot of the blame on his shoulders. The England backs still seemed to be playing on a wing and a prayer at times, trying their best to play expansive rugby, but not fully communicating or understanding the players around them, and those all important partnerships and understandings have fully yet to develop. Martin Johnson won’t be able to field his ideal fifteen due to injuries, but if Toby Flood exerts the kind of control from fly half as he did against Australia at the back end of last year, they should be fine. It all comes down to decision making.

At least there is a lot more promise there, and England really should, and have to do better than their third place finishing in the Six Nations this year. There is a World Cup looming later in the year, and England have to be ready. These five matches are invaluable contests in the context of the World Cup, and the trip to Cardiff will really test their mettle. They were bullied out of their game by South Africa in the Autumn, who really took England on up front and took a lot out of the England game. England have lost captain Lewis Moody and Courtney Lawes, which will have a big pack on the mobility of the pack. There is thoughts that England may just revert to their old, boring kick and chase, aim for territory game, instead of showing the kind of adventure which helped England beat Australia last year. There really isn’t a lot to choose from between the teams, in particular, England, France and Ireland in terms of winning the championship, and a Grand Slam seems a very distant dream for any of them. England need to lay down a marker by beating Wales, and if that victory comes, and banking on the three home victories, by the time they go to Ireland in the final round of matches, the result may not matter. England are stronger than they were twelve months ago, but they still lack that killer instinct, that ruthlessness which comes so naturally to the Southern Hemisphere teams. If the England pack get their momentum going, and get rolling against the Welsh, then they should win. The England defence in the back line still needs some work, and they will come under the cosh by Wales, who will probably take a running game to the Auld enemy.

Wales though are not in any kind of form. They haven’t won a test match in seven attempts now, and their terrible draw against Fiji somehow seemed worse than a defeat. They won’t have Gavin Henson in the set up, no influence from Martin Williams, and there seems some indecision from coach Warren Gatland, as to how the three quarters line is going to set up. As always, Wales are talking the big talk, but really they could find themselves in a mighty struggle through the Six Nations this year, if they do not get themselves off to a good start. It’s not that they do not have attacking threats at all, because they do. They are often one of the more exciting and adventurous teams with the ball in hand, but the trouble with them, is that they really do not have any defensive prowess at all. They will be vulnerable to big score lines being ran up against them, because their pack is not the strongest (even less so with Gethin Jenkins and Adam Jones out), and there are serious gaps in the Welsh midfield, which teams can easily exploit. On paper you would put England down for a win and expect nothing less, but the Welsh will of course have that all important home advantage on the night, and that is worth a few points in the bag. However, they really don’t have the heavy hitters that England do, and because of the frailties in the Welsh line and at set plays, you would expect England to win this one, probably not by a big margin, because the English will be made to scrap and work hard.

There have been 119 Wales v England matches throughout history, and things stand pretty much even. Wales have won 53 encounters, while England just have the edge with 54 wins in the meetings. Twelve of those 119 matches have ended in draws. What makes for interesting reading is the average points per game, and Wales have ran in 11 points on average, while England have just under 13 points per game on average against the Welsh. There really is not much to call between the two sides in the statistics, the biggest win for Wales over England was 25-0 thrashing, and England’s biggest win was a massive 62-5 thumping of the Welsh. This should be a cracking match, and has every potential to be an open, running affair, full of counter attack. It could be a bit cagey at first, but as the game wears on and teams settle down and get a feel for the ball, it will get sprayed around. Look for second half tries when legs are tiring.

Last Year’s Result: England 30, Wales 17
England Last Year’s Six Nations Finishing Position: 3rd
Wales Last Year’s Six Nations Finishing Position: 4th

Wales to win: 16/11 at Unibet
Draw: 20/1 at BetFred
England to win: 4/6 at SkyBet