So, England beat Wales, Ireland beat England, then Wales beat Ireland. The result? One storming climax to the 2015 Six Nations. The last round of fixtures of the are here, and what a finale it proves to be.
As it stands:
Assuming the top three all win – which you would expect – it all comes down to points difference. England currently lead the way on that front with +37, but boast probably the toughest fixture of the challengers, with France the opponents at Twickenham. Ireland trail England by just four points with +33 and could easily be seen to make up that difference against Scotland. For Wales though, they simply need to thump Italy. England did it earlier in the competition, but you’d expect Wales to need a victory margin of at least 40 points in order to take the title.
Italy v Wales – Saturday 12:30 (GMT)
Kicking-off proceedings, Italy welcome Wales to Rome, with Wales still in the title running.
Wales brought the competition back to life last week, beating Ireland with their opponents seemingly cruising to the title. However, with a huge winning margin probably required, you’d probably expect England and Ireland to have a better chance. Even if Wales do win – and win big – they’ll still have to wait until the two later matches to find out if they’ve done enough.
The Welsh may take some solace from the fact that their 2013 Six Nations win followed a similar pattern, losing their opening game before winning the rest to secure the championship.
Wales’ record victory over Italy was a 47-8 scoreline at the Millennium Stadium in 2007. They’ll probably have to improve on that in order to win the tournament, although 26 points will be enough to at least pressurise Ireland and England.
Scotland v Ireland – Saturday 14:30 (GMT)
Scotland put up a greater resistance to England than many people expected last week, and actually led at half-time prior to eventually going down 25-13 at Twickenham.
A comfortable win against the winless Scots could well be enough for Ireland at Murrayfield, but regardless of their own result, they’ll have to wait until around 6.45pm to be sure if they’ve done enough. The more points they get, the more pressure they put on England.
England are favourites to win the Six Nations, but it must be said that Ireland are great value at 9/5 with Stan James.
England v France – Saturday 17:00 (GMT)
England boast a massive advantage heading into the final game – not just because of their points difference – but because they’re on last. England will know, come kick-off, exactly what they need to do.
France haven’t had a great tournament, suffering defeats against Wales and Ireland, but they comfortably disposed of Italy in Rome last week in what was an admittedly drab affair.
England have won the last three meetings at Twickenham, but France edged out England when these sides last met at the Stade de France last year.
If the teams do tie level on points and match-points difference, then England boast a significantly better tries scored record compared to their rivals with 11 tries, compared to Ireland’s four and Wales’ five.
Of course, if France beat England by 13 points, and Ireland and Wales both lose – they would win the Six Nations. I wouldn’t advise you to put that on your bet slip, though.
Betting Tip:
Ireland to Win Six Nations – 9/5 at Stan James
