Six Nations Rugby Preview – 2.15 pm kick off
Ireland had a tough day at the office at home against England last weekend. The reigning Grand Slam champions suffered a comprehensive loss against the resurgent Red Rose. What response will they come up with? Will Scotland, who picked up a win over Italy, feel their backlash?
Scotland v Ireland odds*
Ireland 2/5
Scotland 11/5
Draw 25/1
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on February 6th, 2019 at 11:06 pm)
Scotland v Ireland Preview
Scotland produced a 33-2o victory at home over Italy last weekend. There was much to enjoy from them, including the four tries scored by Blair Kinghorn in the match. However, when they lost Simon Berghan to a yellow card in the 71st minute, Scotland just totally fell apart.
They allowed Italy to run in three easy tries in the final nine minutes of the match and they were easy tries that the Italians gave up. Can the Scots make it back to back home victories over Ireland in the Six Nations and keep their title challenge alive? When they met in early 2017 in the Championship, Scotland upset the odds in picking up a 27-22 home win.
Head to head
Scottish successes have been few and far between in recent meetings through. Their 2017 victory over the Irish is Scotland’s only win over Ireland in their last six meetings. I the last decade of meetings, Ireland hold a W8 L4 record against the Scots. Scotland though have won three of their last four games against Ireland at Murrayfield, including two of their last three Six Nations meetings there. A Scotland +6 handicap is at 11/10 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on February 6th, 2019 at 11:06 pm)
Irish to rise to the occasion
The Irish were just never given a chance by England to play their game last weekend. They couldn’t make inroads into a fierce English defence and couldn’t find ways to stem the flow of attacks by their opponents. That loss ended a 12 match winning streak that Ireland was on at home. Now they have to raise their game, shake off that tough defeat and get stuck into Scotland.
Will they face the same kind of energy and intensity up front as they did against England? Probably not. But the Scots do have the ability to throw the ball around a bit and get at the Irish. Defeat has been an unfamiliar feeling for Ireland to have to deal with. This is the team who beat New Zealand last year. Will they change much? No. They really don’t need to. They just need to get back to their strength.
Scotland v Ireland Prediction
Murrayfield hasn’t been a comfortable place for the Irish recently, having lost two of their last three trips there. It will be so interesting to see how they handle themselves when they come under pressure in this one. They are facing a confident Scottish side who are looking for their fourth Six Nations win in five games.
This is a must-win game for the Irish and we can see them just getting over the line, but will support a Scotland +6 handicap at 11/10 odds* (betting odds taken from bet365 on February 6th, 2019 at 11:06 pm)
