Six Nations betting thread

[Fishmonger]

France (-13) to beat Italy 1/1 1 unit <font color="green"> WIN </font> + 1 unit
A good start. France very impressive, though Mignoni is not as good as Yachvilli. Italy got lucky by having to bring on Pez because of injury. Berbizier's strategy of holding back his 1st choice front-row would probably work better against a weaker team such as Scotland.

[Fishmonger]

Scotland to beat England 4/1 2 units <font color="red"> LOSS </font>
-1 unit

Bah. A quite convincing win by England as I had predicted. Wilkinson very good, Farrell not the weakness I thought he would be. Harry Ellis benefited from the metagame of many bad performances.

[sixfour]

Meh, I had Italy and Scotland on the handicaps, did not expect Chabal to be playing (and obv be awesome) seeing how he'd been overlooked forever, also did not expect Wilkinson to be back in form so quickly and for the Scottish pack to get run over so easily. So obv Wales will cover tomorrow...

[Fishmonger]

Ireland (-3) to beat Wales 1/1 2 units <font color="green"> WIN </font> + 1 unit

Shows what I know. Patchy performance from O'Gara put this bitch on a knife-edge. Morgan incredibly good, new Welsh winger promising but in need of seasoning. Ireland terrific in defense and their 3/4's quality shined through. I pray O'Driscoll and D'Arcy are OK.

[Fishmonger]

France (+5) @ 10/11 is probably a good punt.

The French pack is still just as strong if not stronger after a few changes, Clerc and Marty are solid players if not quite of the calibre of Heymans and Fritz.

Horgan is fit again, so Ireland have a viable plan if O'Driscoll cannot play. Boss is almost an improvement on Stringer against a team like France.

Even at home this should be very tough for Ireland, even more so if O'Driscoll doesn't recover in time.

Not much value in the other games, although Italy with the points should be worth a pop if it's raining, 26 points is a lot to cover.

[Fishmonger]

Italy v England Over 51 11/10 1 unit

Pitch slippy but not currently raining. Look to England to do some heavy scoring today.

[Fishmonger]

Italy v England Over 51 11/10 1 unit <font color="red"> LOSS </font> Breakeven

Not at all the game I expected. A surprising Italian kicking game exploited Balshaw's weakness and froze the game for England. Italy looking like real professionals at times but still plagued by almost-comical mistakes. Their forwards hugely impressive, I expect them to give Wales and Scotland real trouble. England lacklustre, Wilkinson's tactical kicking still for s**t.

[Fishmonger]

Ireland for the Grand Slam 3/1 5 units <font color="red"> LOSS </font> -5 units

A week later and this still hurts. Ireland again cursed by a slow start. Both sides hugely impressive for most of the game. Brutal to watch.

Ireland (-6) to beat England 10/11 3 units

Ireland are a settled, rested team with home advantage. Their kicking should cause major problems for the England fullback. Ireland's back row will not give the England half-backs the time and space that allows them to shine, expect to see Ellis under pressure and Wilkinson the target of some big hits and chargedowns.

[Fishmonger]

Wales (+14) to beat France 10/11 3 units

Welsh injury nightmares largely over although losing Morgan is a bit of a blow. They're playing their heavier pack to try to match France upfront and a few of their big attacking threats(Shanklin, S Williams) are back in the game.

France have Rougerie back on the wing but have lost Chabal at 8. They'll probably win the game but the spread should not be this big at all.

[Fishmonger]

Scotland (-9) to beat Italy 1/1 1 unit

If Italy attempt the same style of kicking game that they used against England they will get punished, Scotland's best attacking threats are in their backline. Italy lack the great defenders that allowed Wales to stop the Scots from netting any tries, and any indiscipline will be turned into points by Paterson.

Italy are not starting Pez again, so they don't have an even halfway good goalkicker. They still have trouble moving the ball from one side to another (improving though with the return of Troncon) so I don't see them scoring much.