England produced some fantastic stuff in their opening Six nations 2018 duel against Italy in Rome last weekend. It was always going to be a win for the English it was just a matter of how well they were going to perform and how much they were going to put Italy to the sword. It was convincing enough in the end and up in the Boylesports First Try scorer market Anthony Watson is there at 8/1, with only the equally impressive Jonny May at 7/1 shorter than him* (betting odds taken February 7th, 2018 at 10:41 pm).
It was a good opener for the English and it’s nice to ease your way into a tournament with a comfortable run out. The question is now, can they keep that high intensity going as they head into the first home fixture of the tournament when they welcome Wales, who are sending out an unchanged side to face the Red Rose. England will be defending an unbeaten home record under coach Eddie Jones, while Wales boss Warren Gatland has masterminded the victors for Wales at Twickenham in the last decade.
The partnership between George Ford and Owen Farrell was pretty magical at times for England against Italy and the home side will want to use the forwards against Wales to bust out holes in the Welsh defence to give those two plenty of time on the ball to run things. Defensively England were really quick in getting to the line against Italy and they will want that to continue as well to try and force the Welsh to throw the ball around a little more.
Wales had a barnstorming home opener to this seasons’ championships as they destroyed Scotland in Cardiff. Much of the hype ahead of the game was about how well Scotland did last year in the Six Nations and they were the ones to watch as they are progressing under Gregor Townsend. But Wales came out in stunning fashion, got everything right on the day and made Scotland look as if they had regressed five years. If they turn up with that wind in their sails and not forgetting that they nearly beat the English last year in Cardiff, this could be quite the duel.
England v Wales Odds*
England 1/5, Wales 4/1, Draw 28/1* (betting odds taken February 7th, 2018 at 10:41 pm)
England v Wales head to head
England are on a three-match winning streak gains the Welsh and the Red Rose pulled out a dramatic late win in Cardiff in last year’s Championship, but the Welsh were the orchestrators of their own downfall in that match because of wayward goal kicking. Wales’ last famous win at Twickenham was in the 2015 Rugby World Cup in which they destroyed the host nation’s hopes of putting together a positive tournament and that’s three victories in the last ten years they have taken at Twickenham.
Three of England’s last four wins over the Welsh have been by no more than a five-point margin (the other was a +14 in the 2016 Six Nations at Twickenham). Given that Wales pushed England hard last season and that the Welsh surprised a lot of people last weekend, it may be worth gunning for a lower handicap margin and a Wales +8 has decent appeal with Boylesports at 5/4 odds* (betting odds taken February 7th, 2018 at 10:41 pm).
England v Wales Head to Head
It should be England who gets the win on the board and they were solid enough in their last home game against the Welsh. However, the Welsh generally know how to rattle England so it is worth keeping the scoreline pretty tight in this one as England may have trouble opening up a great lead over the Dragons and indeed, the first half of the match may be nothing more than a respectful kicking chess match.
