After a week’s rest we are back to the grand old 6 Nations. This weekend it the halfway point and everybody is already saying there are only two teams going for the grand slam. In my mind the favourite to win the tournament isn’t either of them and we need to focus on winning the tournament not slams. Anyway here are my predictions for round 3.
First here is a link to my review of the round 2 action.
How did your round 2 predictions go?
3 from 3, a perfect result, you can’t ask for any more.
Wales v France
Wales who are still my favourite to win the tournament are set to face one of those two teams aiming for a grand slam. Whilst there has been talk of the Welsh trying to expand their game plan I have seen little evidence of that. Warren ball work just fine against European opposition and with few injury worries are looking fine. France have been their normal farcical selves calling up a player only to find out that he’s not eligible to play for them. With a new coach trying to bed in new systems and clearly some injury issues, a trip to Cardiff is not good. This should be a challenge too far for the visitors and I’m expecting a relatively comfortable win, in the score line at least if not physical bodies.
Wales by 10
Italy v Scotland
Italy have been able to put up some good resistance only to fade late on as the benches impact the game. Assuming that they can field most of their starting players I’m expecting to see something similar again this weekend. Scotland have been their normal selves, putting in performances but execution under pressure has let them down and they haven’t got the results. This time it should be different and they should win the battle of the wooden spoon but we said that last year.
Scotland by 5
England v Ireland
England have done fine under Eddie Jones so far but both games have been against the two sides that perennially prop up the bottom of the table. With only one extra injury worry we should see a very similar side turn out again and again we should expect a simple game plan. For Ireland, who have won the championship for the last two years, it’s a different prospect. There will be plenty of personnel changes as players have been injured and some are returning from injury. With all this change I’m going with popular opinion and backing England to win at home.
England by 7
Super Rugby Prediction League
Super Rugby starts soon, join in the predicting fun by clicking here for my SuperBru prediction league.
