There has been a lot of talk about the Scots heading into the RBS Six Nations 2017. 18 years ago the Scots last tasted success in the competition, then it being the Five Nations, but the current set up that Vern Cotter has going with the Scottish setup has landed comparison to that vintage team from 1999. The man at the helm of that 1999 success for Scotland, Jim Telfer, has drawn comparison to what Scotland have now and what they have back then. But how will that translate to improving results out on the pitch in this season’s campaign?
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Talk doesn’t do much for Scotland ahead of them stepping out against Ireland at Murrayfield in their Six Nations 2017 opener on Saturday. This will be head coach Vern Cotter’s last spin with Scotland before moving aside from the job in June to be replaced by Gregor Townsend. So can Scotland make a splash in this season’s competition? Granted their attack has come on leaps and bounds under Cotter, and they are looking more and competitive, but what can they do about their poor Six Nations form?
Scotland have won just 20% of their Six Nations games, but they did land two wins in last season’s Championship. They do need to snap a losing streak of form against the Irish. Ireland should be in the mix for the the Six Nations title this season. They famously snapped New Zealand’s long unbeaten streak of matches last November when they took down the All Blacks at Soldier Field in Chicago. The men in green do go without the influential fly-half Johnny Sexton though.
But Ireland have plenty of depth in their squad, but the same can’t quite be said of Scotland, who may struggle in the front row without Willem Nel because of injury. Ireland are fantastic at controlling the ball and therefore the game and Scotland are going to have to do a lot of work in trying to break up the flow of the Irish from the set piece bases. Scotland have won just one of their last six and just two of their last fifteen games in the Five/Six Nations against the Irish. So the head to head form isn’t there.
Scotland v Ireland Rugby Betting Odds
Ireland 4/9, Scotland 2/1, Draw 22/1
Their last meeting at Murrayfield saw Ireland land a 40-10 win in 2015 and the Irish landed a ten point victory over the Scots in last season’s championship at Lansdowne Road. Each of Ireland’s last four wins over Scotland in the Six Nations have been by at least a margin of 10 points and three of them 18 or above. So that is a lot of ground that Scotland have to make up. In the Paddy Power Scotland v Ireland Handicap market, an Ireland -5 is running at good value of 10/11.
Six Nations 2017 Outright Winner Odds
England 4/5, Ireland 9/4, Wales 7/1, France 12/1, Scotland 20/1, Italy 1000/1
Scotland v Ireland Rugby Betting Prediction
Basically Scotland have a lot more to prove than the Irish did. They have to show that they can live up to the hype, and that they aren’t just being talked about as their best side since 1999. Ireland have more pieces of the puzzle together and will make big ground in the front row. No matter how much Scotland try and challenge at the set pieces, they are likely to fall short here and Ireland, who are genuine Six nations title contenders should land the win.
