Six Nations acca: Scotland fast start, Ireland to heap misery on Wales, France to ease past Italy
- Thomas Ridley
- 20 February 2024
The Six Nations reaches the halfway mark this weekend and the oldest of enemies will commence battle at Murrayfield as Scotland look to win a fourth consecutive Calcutta Cup when they take on England.
The dust has settled on a thrilling and controversial second round of fixtures in the Six Nations and it's time for Europe's best sides to resume hostilities after the first fallow week of this year's tournament.
The showpiece of the third weekend is the Calcutta Cup as Scotland take on England and they are looking to beat their bitter rivals for a fourth successive year, something which they haven't done since 1896.
Meanwhile, Grand Slam chasing Ireland take on a Wales side who are looking for their first win of the tournament and on Sunday, France face Italy in Lille.
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Six Nations acca:
Ireland vs Wales (Sat 14:15 GMT)
Ireland started the tournament in brilliant form, with Andy Farrell's men now short-price favourites to win the Grand Slam.
They backed up their brilliant win in France with a straightforward win against Italy and look like the team to beat in this year's tournament.
On the other hand, Warren Gatland's inexperienced Wales side have struggled to make an impression this year, with no wins from their opening two games.
They showed plenty of promise against England last time out, but their lack of discipline cost them in the late stages of the game.
While there is clear daylight between the two sides, we've gone for a handicap in Wales' favour as while they have lost their opening two games, they have only been by one and two point margins respectively.
The Wales +23.5 handicap offers plenty of value for your acca, as Wales have only lost one of their last 10 Test matches by a margin larger than 23 points. While Ireland have won just three Tests this season by the same margin and they were against Italy, Romania and Tonga.
Scotland vs England (Sat 16:45 GMT)
England travel north of the border to resume their rivalry with Scotland for bragging rights, the Calcutta Cup and with the aim of continuing their perfect record in this year's competition.
However, in recent times Scotland have held the edge in this fixture, with four Scottish wins in the last six meetings between the two sides.
Finn Russell and co were on the end of a contoversial decision in their last match against France, as they had a late Sam Skinner try ruled out by the TMO, a decision which enraged the Scottish camp and attracted plenty of criticism from fans and pundits alike.
Scotland once again took the lead in that match and enhanced their reputation as quick starters, as they led France at half-time like they led Wales the week before, but they have been stuttering in the second half of games.
On the other had, England have been far from convincing in the tournament so far and have relied on second-half comebacks to bail them out in both games after falling behind in the first half.
With both sides struggling to maintain a consistent level of performance across the tournament so far, it feels that the full-time market is difficult to predict, but the half-time result maket has Scotland at a good price and it would be a good selection for your acca.
France vs Italy (Sun 15:00 GMT)
It seems to be one step forward and two steps back for the Italians as their battling display against England was followed by a pasting at the hands of the Irish, where they failed to even get on the scoreboard.
They now travel to Lille to face France, who have not lived up to their pre-tournament favourite billing yet.
A rugby lesson at the hands of Ireland and a nervy win at Murrayfield means that France's title hopes are hanging by a thread.
The absence of star player Antoine Dupont has been felt by the French, but the visit of the Italians may provide an opportunity for Fabian Galthie's side to find the form that has earned them many plaudits over the last few years.
While the Italians will be ruled out by most, they almost caused an upset last year when they led the French until a Matthieu Jalibert try gave the visitors the victory.
A French win should be on the cards here, but given their indifferent start to the Six Nations, an Italy +25.5 handicap offers plenty of good value for your acca.
