Wales v Scotland – RBS Six Nations Betting

Saturday sees the second round of the Six Nations, with a crucial clash at the Millenium Stadium between two of last week’s losers. Either Wales or Scotland will get their championship on track with a victory down in Cardiff, and this can have huge repercussions about gaining momentum for the rest of the tournament. Wales played an error-ridden game against England, and looked uncohesive in the backs, which is where they are most expected to show a lot of potential. It was only in 2008 which they won the Six Nations, but they looked a long way short of that fluency and leadership which took them there. They did put up something of a spirited fight back against the English after the home side had stretched out a big lead at Twickenham after the sin-binning of Alun-Wyn Jones. That was just the main highlight of a lot of errors.

While the teams are usually a bit rusty on the opening weekend of the RBS Six Nations championships, Wales’ defeat will have left coach Warren Gatland with a lot of head scratching. While there were positives to take from the defeat, such as James Hook, the biggest change looks as it needs to come in the scrum half position, to try and inspire some fluency, but above all, accuracy. Richie Rees should get the nod, while Wales await’s the return of first choice scrum half Dwayne Peel from injury. The Welsh were also a mess at the line-outs, and the management staff will just be looking for more consistency, and an all -round step up in performance. The defeat will have put pressure on the whole team, and now Wales have now lost their last three Six Nations games and need desperately to stop the rot. Wales do favour the running game, but they need the forwards to try and stabilise positions first, giving them a platform. If they can expand against Scotland, then the Welsh will be the better team.

However Scotland will favour a more defensive tactic, and lean heavily on the kicking game, especially away from home. It was a tactic which England employed against the Welsh, albeit not a very accurate one, but it was still enough to keep Wales largely on the back foot. Wales will also face another deadly penalty kicker, just as they did in Jonny Wilkinson. On Saturday they will have the remarkable Chris Paterson, who just never seems to miss from anywhere, such an exemplary kicker he is. Now there is a big row over Scotland’s coach Andy Robinson not wanting the roof of the Millenium Stadium closed in the days leading up to the match. Both coaches have to agree to have it closed against the elements, therefore making for a hard surface. Naturally that would suit the running game of the Welsh, so naturally Robinson doesn’t want to give the opposition an advantage.

Scotland need to address some serious problems which were highlighted in their scrum. They literally got torn apart by a rampant and strong French pack, and if the forwards aren’t there for the Scots, then they will have problems. Scotland need to challenge at the line-outs, and slow the Welsh game down by controlling things in the forwards. Even if that happens, it looks unlikely that even on a good day, the Scots would be able to outscore the Welsh. Scotland do have big backs, but the speed of the Welsh backs should more than counter for that. A lot could depend on the condition of the pitch when it comes to kick off. Scotland would be happier with a slower game, mired in the mud, because a wet ball will be unlikely thrown around the Welsh backs as much. Scotland will have the important figure of Euan Murray in the scrum, as they need to step up a gear, and find the unity that saw them beat Australia in the autumn.

Wales v Scotland Stats

Matches
Wales: 64
Scotland: 48
Drawn: 3

Biggest winning margin
Wales: 22-46
Scotland: 31-10

Average points per match:
Wales: 12.30
Scotland: 10.25

Match Prices:
Wales to win: 2/7 at Bwin
Scotland to win: 9/2 at SportingBet
Draw: 25/1 at Bet365