The Six Nations returns on the weekend for the start of the new season. It is Wales, who secured a Grand Slam in 2019, that will be coming back as the reigning champions.
So there will be extra pressure on them because of that. But heading into the new season of the famous tournament, it is England who are the outright favourites.
After losing in the 2019 World Cup Final, the Red Rose have some wounds to heal. But their slightly questionable away form in the Six Nations will come under some heavy scrutiny.
Table of Contents
- 1 Six Nations 2020 Winner Odds*
- 2 England Favourites for title
- 3 Can Wales defend their crown?
- 4 Farrell to unlock Ireland’s attacking potential?
- 5 Scotland set for more struggles?
- 6 France the dark horse?
- 7 Italy not likely to close the gap
- 8 Six Nations 2020 Predictions
- 9 Betway First Try Scorer Double Winnings
Six Nations 2020 Winner Odds*
England 10/11
Ireland 4/1
Wales 5/1
France 11/2
Scotland 25/1
Italy 750/1
* (betting odds taken from Unibet on January 30th, 2020 at 16:57)
England Favourites for title
The Red Rose looked on course for the World Cup title last year in Japan. After peaking at the perfect time to beat Australia and New Zealand in back to back games during the knockout stage, they were up against South Africa in the Final. England were strong odds-on favourites. But they weren’t prepared tactically for what the Springboks threw at them and England came up short.
But the positives, of course, was the successful camping in reaching the fInal. It also saw head coach Eddie Jones put trust in young players like Tom Curry and Sam Underhill and establish their places. The two areas in which England do look as if they are lacking is at the full-back position and scrum-half.
Without question, England have the best pack of the competing nations at the Six Nations. They have a new coach working with them, Matt Proudfoot, the man who just led South Africa to the World Cup. That could be huge for the Red Rose. England are the 10/11 favourites with Unibet for the 2020 Six Nations Title* (betting odds taken from Unibet on January 30th, 2020 at 16:57)
England fixtures: France away, Scotland away, Ireland home, Wales home, Italy away
Can Wales defend their crown?
There is a new head coach in charge of Wales. It is Wayne Pivac who has taken over from Warren Gatland and so he has some huge shoes to fill. This is not an easy situation for the New Zealander considering the legacy that Gastalnd left, in securing Wales the Grand slam last season.
They have also lost their defensive coach Shaun Edwards, who has been employed by France. Wales were astoundingly good in defence in last season’s campaign, giving up just the seven tries in the campaign. A lot of their success was down to the discipline and tactics that Edwards implied.
In terms of personnel, the Welsh look pretty settled with the additions of Rhys Webb and Taulupe Faletau coming back into play after having missed the World Cup. The Welsh fell at the Semi-Final stage of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, beaten narrowly by South Africa. Wales are 5/1 to defend their Six Nations crown.
Wales fixtures: Italy home, Ireland away, France home, England away, Scotland home
Farrell to unlock Ireland’s attacking potential?
There have been changes in Ireland as well. Andy Farrell takes over as head coach from Joel Schmidt. The Irish suffered a seismic loss at the 2019 World Cup at the hands of Japan. That was one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament and it proved costly in the long run. Ireland could only take second place in the pool stage and ended up meeting New Zealand in the quarter-finals.
Ireland bowed out. 34-year-old Johnny Sexton has been named captain, not exactly a not to the future, but they need him. When he plays well, Ireland are playing well. This is a campaign, with three home games to come, in which they can start to give experience to his future replacements.
Ireland look very mobile up front with some real quality there. They look the closest to England in that regard and have a potential tournament star in the roaming number eight Caelan Doris. Ireland were a very rigid kick and chase disciplined team under Schmidt. Will Farrell start unleashing them as more of an open attacking unit?
Ireland fixtures: Scotland home, Wales home, England away, Italy home, France away
Scotland set for more struggles?
2020 has certainly been the year of change as far as the Six Nations goes. Scotland still have Gregor Townsend at the helm, but he has shown a ruthless hand this year, cutting adrift some of the stalwarts of the team. Arguably their most impactful creative player Fynn Russel is suspended for apparently turning up late for training.
Stuart Hogg has been handed the captaincy now. Scotland just looks as if they are going to fall massively short in the pack against the others in this tournament. Their defence has been questionable at best for a long time and after a fairly miserable World Cup last year, losing to Ireland and Japan and not making it past the pool stage, expectancy is not going to be high.
Scotland fixtures: Ireland away, England home, Italy away, Ireland away, France away
France the dark horse?
The great unknown. Les Bleus also have a new coach with Fabian Galhtie taking over. He drafted 19 uncapped players into his initial squad for the champions (of a 42 man squad). It’s not going to be the wholesale changes in terms of uncapped inexperience in the starting 15. For the opening weekend, only two-uncapped players are making the starting lineup for their home game against England.
There is a lot of superb youth in France at the moment and notably this season they have secured the services of defensive coach Shaun Edwards. Does that mean that they are going to be making a shift towards the defensive side of things? Will they be turning into a pragmatic, organised set up?
France fixtures: England home, Italy home, Wales away, Scotland away, Ireland home
Italy not likely to close the gap
Once again the whipping boys of the Six Nations is going to be Italy. They have made a change of leader as well, with Conor O’Shea moving aside and Franco Smith taking over in the interim. They will be heading into a new era without the great Sergio Parisse. But there is really little to suggest that the Azzurri are going to close the gap on the others at all. Itlay are 1/20 odds-on to finish bottom
Italy fixtures: Wales away, France away, Scotland home, Ireland away, England home
Six Nations 2020 Predictions
2020 Six Nations betting is very interesting because of all the changes. Only England really seem to be carrying forward any consistency from last year’s World Cup, with Wales there or thereabouts with them.
But Wales have lost a key component of their set up, defensive coach Shaun Edwards. How much is that going to knock them back? Will there be changes of approach by Ireland and France with new head coaches?
There are a lot of unknowns floating around.
England have lost four of their last six away games in the Six Nations and that questionable away form with cast a shadow over their chances. But they do look to be the most settled of all the participants this year. A win in France on the opening weekend should set them up well with them taking on Wales and Ireland at home this season.
Betway First Try Scorer Double Winnings
For all 2020 Six Nations matches, Betway are running a First Try scorer Double winning promotion. It means that if your First Try scorer selection in a match does score the first try and then scores another in the match, double winnings will be paid out. The bonuses paid through this Six Nations rugby betting promotion are credited as cash.
Single bets on the first try scorer market qualify. A maximum of £/€100 will be credited in the form of cash, per customer, per match.
Key Terms & Conditions
Maximum Double Winnings Payout: £/€100 (or equivalent, see below).
Applies to single bets on the First Tryscorer market on any match in the 2020 Six Nations.
One Cash Payout per customer, per match. First eligible bet placed included.
Only the winnings of the bet will be doubled in Cash, the stake will not be included.
Any bets that result in a void or push result, as well as those cashed out partially or in full, will not be eligible.
Cannot be used in conjunction with any other promotional offers on these events.
Bets placed using Free Bets will not qualify
Winnings will be credited in the form of cash.
Winnings will be credited within 24 hours of the player scoring his second try of the match.
Promo ID – 188786
In the event that the first try is a penalty try, then the second try will count towards the promotion, and so on. Penalty tries will not count toward this promotion in any form.
Any customer who places two or more eligible bets at the same time will have their bet with the lowest odds count.
Promotion expires on the 14th of March 2020.
Only accounts registered in Guernsey, Isle Of Man, Jersey, Ireland and the United Kingdom are eligible for this promotion.
