The second round of Six Nations games threw up some thrilling encounters but no real surprises as tournament favourites France edged past a determined Ireland, England outclassed Italy and defending champions Wales bounced back from their opening-weekend defeat to Ireland by beating Scotland in Cardiff. The title is now France's to lose and while we're still to be convinced that there will be a Grand Slam in this year's competition, the French will certainly fancy their chances of achieving this.
Nevertheless there are three rounds of fixtures still to play and there will be a defining moment – as there generally is in this competition – that may well turn a result on its head. France are proving to be more clinical than the other sides and will doubtless fancy their chances of going all the way, however following their dominant win in Italy, England will feel that their destiny is in their own hands. Wales will take much hope from their much-improved display at home to Scotland while the Scots will just be happy that they got one over on their ‘auld enemy'.
The Six Nations action continues on 26th and 27th February with three potential thrillers heading our way. Scotland will face their biggest test yet when they entertain unbeaten France at Murrayfield on Saturday afternoon while England will lock horns with Wales at Twickenham later the same day. The final match of this round takes place on Sunday when Ireland entertain an Italy side which look destined for yet another wooden spoon.
Scotland v France
2:15pm, Saturday 26th February 2022, Murrayfield
Scotland closed out their victory over England at Murrayfield in superb fashion but in many respects they threw it away against the Welsh in their second tournament outing last weekend. Their game management in Cardiff was undeniably poor and when Finn Russell was off the pitch they needed to be somewhat more conservative and recognise that they were down on numbers. A notable improvement in all areas will be needed when they come up against a French side which owe much of their recent resurgence to Wigan rugby league great Shaun Edwards who has made a positive impact since joining the French coaching staff two years ago.
France showed their usual flair in attack when beating Ireland at the Stage de France last weekend and they succeeded in neutralising Irish forwards used to dominating in the ruck. France are now unbeaten in two games and they are big odds-on favourites to claim a maximum points haul in the Scottish capital in their third tournament outing. Most bookmakers go 7/17 on the French in this one although extra value can be had by taking advantage of the many free bet offers available from the leading bookmakers. Details of these free bets and how they can be claimed can be found at Freebetting.co.uk, while you can compare the leading UK bookmakers at leading comparison site Bettingsites.uk.com.
England v Wales
4:45pm, Saturday 26th February 2022, Twickenham
England bounced back from their disappointing Calcutta Cup defeat at Murrayfield in their tournament opener by comfortably disposing of Italy in Rome last weekend, a result which wasn't really unexpected. Coach Eddie Jones has moved England more towards an attacking game and this came together in a very fast-paced victory over the Italians, backs and forwards alike creating an abundance of options for playmaker Marcus Smith to choose from. There was an excellent balance in this attack and this should serve them well against defending champions Wales at Twickenham in their third match in the competition.
Wales tend to play at their best when billed as underdogs and they certainly fall into that category here. An injury-ravaged side were subjected to a hefty defeat in Dublin in their tournament opener but they will have been buoyed by their well-deserved win over the Scots last time out and will head to Twickenham in fine spirits for their third outing in the competition. Odds of 6/1 suggest that the Welshmen will be hard pushed to grind out a second successive victory in this one but this could prove to be a closer scoreline than many predict. At 1/6 odds-on, there isn't much value to be had on backing England here although there are many great bookmaker offers which can be used to create additional value, leading free bets comparison site freebet.com listing all of the best free bet bonuses which can be used on this match. You can also find full details of all the best bookmaker odds and offers on this match at Bellbet.com.
Ireland v Italy
3:00pm, Sunday 27th February 2022
Ireland pushed France all the way at the Stage de France last weekend but ultimately their bid for a Grand Slam came to an end in the French capital. This was another impressive display from the Irish and we don't envisage them being tested too much when they entertain Italy at the Aviva Stadium in the next round of tournament fixtures. A moment of contention for Ireland came late in the day when a decision was taken not to kick a penalty to the corner with Farrell's men trailing by six points, Joey Carbery taking three points from the tee instead, however on the whole the French deserved their win on this occasion.
Italy once again came off second best when losing 0-33 to England in Rome last time out and it's difficult envisaging them taking anything from their trip to Dublin in their third tournament outing. The Italians are once again favourites for the wooden spoon in this Six Nations and they are as high as 90/1 to get a positive result here, the best odds and free bet offers on this match available from leading Irish comparison sites freebets.ie and bettingsites.ie.
