Six Nations - Final Game Weekend

Details

Last Updated on Thursday, 18th Mar 2010, 

Written by Anto

Hits: 16225

Saturday’s action gets underway at 14:30 at the Millennium Stadium as fourth placed Wales host fifth placed Italy. The loser of this match will leave themselves open to the chance of finishing bottom and claiming the Wooden Spoon should Scotland cause a major upset and beat Ireland in Dublin. Because of this both sides will be pushing for the win, with Italy especially desperate to win and ensure that they do not collect the Wooden Spoon for the third year running.

Despite both of these sides having picked up only one victory each in the tournament so far (both home victories against Scotland) Wales are the favourites to win the match at 1/10 with Italy at 13/2 and the draw is 25/1. The only reason that Wales can have such a large advantage in the odds is that they are at home as both sides recent form is about equal. However, the home advantage should be enough for Wales to claim their second victory against a side that has not won in seven away Six Nations matches.

BetRepublic Recommends: Back Wales (-15) to beat Italy on the match handicap market @ 10/11

This game, which kicks off at 17:00 at Croke Park, is a must win game for Scotland. If they do not win or draw this game they will finish this season with the Wooden Spoon. Unfortunately for the Scots they face a side that is looking to retain the championship won in 2009 and must win this game to stand any chance of being the 2010 champions.

Ireland have not performed to the standards that they set last year and as a result of this, and the loss to France in Paris, retaining their title is now out of their hands. William Hill believe that Ireland will walk this match and have them at odds of 1/9 to win. Scotland are at odds of 6/1 and the draw is 25/1. I don’t disagree with them either. Since losing to France the Irish have looked a better side than prior to that 33-10 defeat. The Scots on the other hand have not looked like the side that defeated Australia in their Autumn International match and will have practically accepted that they will not be able to beat a very good Irish side and will end up with the Wooden Spoon.

BetRepublic Recommends: Back Ireland (-14) to beat Scotland on the match handicap market @ 10/11

This game is the final game of 2010 championship and France are looking to beat England and claim the championship and the Grand Slam all in one go. The game starts at 19:45 at the Stade de France and shortly after 21:00 France are likely to be celebrating in front of their own fans.

France are at odds of 1/6 to win the game compared to England’s 9/2, with the draw being at 22/1. France have beaten all around them in this year’s competition, with the highlight being the 33-10 defeat of the 2009 Grand Slam winners, Ireland. Their only other game at home was the 46-20 beating of Italy, giving them a total of 79-30 on aggregate, while England scraped past Italy 17-12 and drew with Scotland 15-15 on their travels this year. Things do not look good for the English.

However, France have not beaten England in a competitive fixture since their meeting in the 2006 Six Nations championship and on the three occasions they have met since England had performed poorly prior to the match. Can England manage to do it again? This time around they do not have talisman Johnny Wilkinson in the side as he has been dropped and replaced by Toby Flood, so I do not think that England will be able to overcome the brilliance of the French side.

BetRepublic Recommends: Back France (-10) to beat England on the match handicap market @ 10/11.