Six Nations 2010 #1: rugby, rugby en nog meer rugby

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Op vrijdag 29 januari 2010 20:03 schreef thingamajig het volgende:

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Ospreys 16th man vs. Leicester

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Six Nations betting - RBS 2010 Six Nations Championship preview

Even before the first match kicks off at Croke Park on Saturday it seems as if the 2010 6 Nations Championship has been split into three mini competitions if the betting is anything to go by.

France and Ireland are the market leaders with Les Blues just head at 13/8 (Stan James), presumably due to fact that they’ll enjoy home advantage when the two sides clash in the second round of matches.

Ireland are second favourites (5/2 Betfred) and will probably have to win at either Twickenham or Paris to retain their title.

England and Wales are seemingly battling to be best of the rest with Corals offering both sides at 4/1 although either can be backed at 5/1 - England with Totesport and Wales with Ladbrokes.

Scotland and Italy make up the numbers and are 20/1 (bet365) and 250/1 (Skybet) respectively as they seem set to continue their annual battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

As for who will actually win, our choice would be Ireland. They have an experienced side with many in form players, have three home games and should be good enough to win away against France or England, although they are 6/1 (bet365) to repeat their Grand Slam success of last year the more likely outcome is for no Grand Slam winner (4/6 Coral).

France are certainly in with a shout but, as always with France, a lack of consistency, both on the field and in selection may cost them top spot.

England’s chances may well depend on their opening game with Wales. A victory in that game should be followed with a routine win in Rome a week later which would leave England two from two and possibly very confident. The returning Delon Armitage at full back and Ricki Flutey in the centre should give them an extra attacking dimension that was desperately missing in the autumn internationals.

Injuries threaten to wreck Wales' title hopes with the likes of Lions quartet Shane Williams, Stephen Jones, Mike Philips, Matthew Rees and Adam Jones all currently struggling match. Without these players firing on cylinders Wales could struggle.

Following their historic win over Australia in November Scotland should be quietly confident of getting a couple of wins to lift them out of the bottom two while Italy (1/2 to finish bottom, Victor Chandler) may find the whole tournament a huge struggle without their inspirational Sergio Parisse who is out injured and are likely to finish without a win.

Tournament top try scorer looks to be a fairly open market where in form Ireland winger Tommy Bowe is the 9/1 favourite (Paddy Power) with French flyers Juliien Malzieu and Vincent Clerc just behind – both are 12/1 with Blue Square.

We would be looking towards someone who is almost guaranteed to start every game, which for us rules out the two Frenchmen given France’s penchant to make regular changes. Wales and England both struggled to create chances in the autumn which points toward an Irish player, especially when you consider that they have home games against Scotland and Italy, the two supposedly weaker sides in the tournament.

While Bowe’s form justifiably makes him favourite, record try scorer Brian O’Driscoll has been in decent try scoring form for Leinster in the Heineken cup this season and at 16/1 (Sky Bet) looks good value.

http://www.oddspreview.co(...)review-201002020017/

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Op vrijdag 29 januari 2010 20:03 schreef thingamajig het volgende:

[..]