Six Nations acca tips: England to ease past Wales, France to bounce back, Ireland to continue Grand Slam surge
- Thomas Ridley
- 7 February 2024
After a thrilling first round of action, the Six Nations continues with some exciting encounters including the renewal of one of the sport's oldest rivalries, England vs Wales.
A dramatic opening weekend saw Ireland give pre-tournament favourites France a rugby lesson in their own back yard, Scotland almost threw away a 27-point lead in a thriller against Wales and England avoided a potential banana skin as they edged past an improved Italy side.
This weekend's action will see rivalries renewed as Wales travel to Twickenham, France look to put their opening weekend thrashing behind them as they face Scotland and Italy face a daunting test in Dublin.
Six Nations acca:
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Scotland vs France (Saturday, 14:15 GMT)
Despite making a winning start against Wales, Scotland's performance was akin to a slice of toast from a hotel conveyor-belt toaster, nicely done on one side and underdone on the other.
They raced into a 27-0 lead and looked to be easing to victory, but Wales scored 26 unanswered points in the second-half to leave Scotland sweating in the final minutes when they thought victory was secure.
Gregor Townsend's men have been plagued by inconsistencies in recent years and the opening match epitomised that.
France will have been reeling after their 38-17 hammering at home to Ireland in Marseille and the 2022 Grand Slam winners will be looking to kickstart their title challenge here.
Antoine Dupont's absence was felt in the tournament opener, but they still have a squad littered with talent, including talented centre Gael Fickou and last year's top try scorer, Damian Penaud.
While Scotland can count on stars like Finn Russell and Duhan Van Der Merwe, they don't have as much quality in the squad as the French do, who won 36-17 on their last visit to Murrayfield.
England vs Wales (Saturday, 16:45 GMT)
It's one of the oldest rivalries in sport; when George meets the Dragon, when the rose goes stem to stem with the daffodil and hostilities will resume once again when England take on Wales on Saturday.
Wales gave Scotland a head start in their opening game, while England showed resilience to come from behind and avoid a potential banana skin at Italy.
The trip to Twickenham has been an unpleasant one for Warren Gatland's men in recent years, with the Welsh winning just one of their last nine games in West London and that win was back in 2015 during the Rugby World Cup.
Gatland's troops cannot afford to give England a headstart, as otherwise their title hopes could disappear and it would give Steve Borthwick's side a great chance to win the title for the first time since 2020.
Borthwick will have been thanking his lucky stars as England narrowly beat Italy and there's plenty to improve on, especially on the try scoring front, with 17 of their 27 points in that match coming from George Ford's boot.
While England still have plenty to improve on, they should beat an inexperienced Wales side who are a shadow of their past selves.
Ireland vs Italy (Sunday, 15:00 GMT)
Grand Slam chasing Ireland take on a much improved Italy side in the first Sunday match of this year's tournament.
Italy's opener against England had many similarities with last year's game against France, a promising performance which pushed a top side all the way, but they were unable to hold on and claim a famous win.
Paolo Garbisi and Tommaso Allan were excellent for the Italians, but they face a much tougher challenge when they travel to Dublin and take on reigning Grand Slam champions Ireland.
Andy Farrell's Ireland started their Grand Slam defence in style with a fantastic 38-17 win against pre-tournament favourites France.
There was much attention on how Ireland would cope without Johnny Sexton, and the Irish team replied with "Johnny who?" as they claimed their biggest Six Nations win on French soil.
Jack Crowley and Six Nations debutant Joe McCarthy impressed, while Calvin Nash is proving to be a real find on the wing and will see this Italy game as a chance to add more tries to his collection.
In five of the last 10 meetings between these two sides, Ireland have scored at least 50 points and if they find the form they displayed against the French then Italy could be at the wrong end of another Irish hammering.
Suggested bets
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