It’s Super Saturday on the final day of the Six Nations 2021, and all is still to play for. The plum clash, of course, is Wales v France, with the Welsh aiming to pick up an incredible Grand Slam. Across from them stands arguably their toughest test in Fabien Galthie’s France. The only two sides who can win the competition at this stage, the hosts will need to pick up a solid victory just to make their rescheduled clash with Scotland next week worthwhile. Meanwhile, Scotland will look to grab a bonus point against bottom side Italy, and England travel to Dublin for a big grudge clash.
Here’s our Six Nations round 5 betting preview and team news.
Round 5 fixtures and TV Schedule
Sat 20 March, Scotland v Italy, BT Murrayfield, 2.15pm Live on BBC
Sat 20 March, Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium, 4.45pm Live on ITV”Sa
Sat 20 March, France v Wales, 8pm Live on BBC
Scotland v Italy Six Nations Preview, Team News and Betting Tips
Scotland started the year with a stunning upset victory at Twickenham, but since have lost to Wales and Ireland either side of a cancelled clash with France. They’ll be expected to pick up the win at home against Italy and head into their rescheduled game with a bit of momentum. Scotland boss Gregor Townsend views the match as an opportunity to show a ‘much truer reflection’ of who his side are as a team. He told the BBC that they expect them to produce their best rugby of the season against us.”
In terms of value on matchday, Scotland are unbackable favourites, while Italy are priced at 11/1. At 38/1, a draw seems highly unlikely, but fortune favors the brave and what a way to start your weekend if it comes through. We’ve also had a tiny bit of success with tipping Italy to score first in their games this year, 14/5 is the betting line this weekend. It’s the same price for them to score last, so it might be worth a punt if you’re interested.
Scotland: Maitland; Graham; Jones, Johnson; Van der Merwe; Hogg, Steele; Sutherland, Cherry, Z Fagerson; Skinner, Gilchrist, Ritchie, Watson, M Fagerson.
Replacements: Turner, Bhatti, Berghan, Craig, Haining, Price, Van der Walt, Harris.
Italy: Edoardo Padovani; Mattia Bellini, Juan Ignacio Brex, Federico Mori, Monty Ioane; Paolo Garbisi, Stephen Varney; Danilo Fischetti, Luca Bigi (captain), Marco Riccioni, Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza, Sebastian Negri, Johan Meyer, Michele Lamaro.
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Andrea Lovotti, Giosuè Zilocchi, Riccardo Favretto, Maxime Mbanda, Marcello Violi, Carlo Canna, Marco Zanon.
Ireland v England Six Nations Preview, Team News and Betting Tips
Eddie Jones’s troops head to Dublin for what will be their least hostile visit in years as they look to finish the tournament on a high. They’d be used to a terrifying reception from over 50,000 rabid fans at the Aviva Stadium, but with no Irish fans in attendance due to Level 5 lockdown restrictions, Andy Farrell’s men will be a slightly less intimidating prospect. After a drab campaign from both sides, last week’s win over France for the visitors will have English heads high and ready to get their third win of the year.
Our win percentage calculator gives England the slight edge with a 54% probability, while Ireland are 42% likely with a draw highly improbable at 4%. Prices are 8/5 for an away win, 27/20 for a home win and 18/1 for a draw. This is sure to be a razor tight result, with an English victory within the margin of 1-5 points at 33/10 looking tasty. If Ireland get the reverse, you could make a decent chunk off a bet at 5/1. If you’re not quite as brave, it’ll be 5/4 for Eddie Jones’ troops to win it within 1-12, while Ireland reversing that is 2/1.
England: Malins; Watson, Daly, Farrell (capt), May; Ford, Youngs; M Vunipola, Cowan-Dickie, Sinckler, Itoje, Ewels, Wilson, Curry, B Vunipola.
Replacements: George, Genge, Stuart, Hill, Earl, Robson, Lawrence, Marchant.
Ireland: Keenan; Earls, Henshaw, Aki, Stockdale; Sexton (capt), Murray; Kilcoyne, Herring, Furlong, Henderson, Beirne, Stander, Van der Flier, Conan.
Replacements: Kelleher, Healy, Porter, Baird, O’Mahony, Gibson-Park, Burns, Larmour.
France v Wales Six Nations Preview, Team News and Betting Tips
A remarkable tournament for visitors Wales could culminate in a Grand Slam in the weekend’s final game. However, they’ll find it tough to pick off a French side who themselves are harboring ambitions of taking home the trophy they were essentially favourites for back in February when this all started. While Wayne Pivac’s men have ultimately been worth their four victories up to this point, they’ve had some very favorable luck, particularly against England, and will need a little bit more to complete their clean sweep. Should they lose, France will face Scotland next week in a decisive clash, but Wales could still be named champions albeit a week later.
As was the case against England in round three, Wales are the underdogs, although at a wildly intriguing 39/20. France are 5/14 favourites, with a draw at 20/1. Honestly, with so much on the line for Wales, that clip seems too good to be true, so it’s a strong recommendation from us. Should they pick up the win, it’ll almost certainly be within a 1-12 point margin, so why not try that at 27/10.
France: Brice Dulin; Teddy Thomas, Virimi Vakatawa, Gael Fickou, Damian Penaud; Matthieu Jalibert, Antoine Dupont; Cyril Baille, Julien Marchand, Mohamed Haouas, Romain Taofifenua, Paul Willemse, Dylan Cretin, Charles Ollivon (capt), Gregory Alldritt.
Replacements: Camille Chat, Jean-Baptiste Gros, Uini Antonio, Swan Rebbadj, Anthony Jelonch, Baptiste Serin, Romain Ntamack, Arthur Vincent.
Wales: Liam Williams; Louis Rees-Zammit, George North, Jonathan Davies, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Gareth Davies; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Tomas Francis, Adam Beard, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Josh Navidi, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Elliot Dee, Nicky Smith, Leon Brown, Cory Hill, James Botham, Tomos Williams, Callum Sheedy, Willis Halaholo.
*Odds are subject to change.
