12 Jun 2019
The third weekend of the 2018 NatWest Six Nations Championship is upon us and, following the rest weekend, rugby fans will be pleased to see more action.
Looking ahead to round three of this year’s tournament, France take on Wooden Spoon favourites Italy at the Stade Velodrome, Marseille on Friday night. French rugby has been in free fall over the last few years, failing to record a victory in the Autumn internationals and starting this campaign with two losses, they find themselves fifth in the table. Their problems were perpetuated as Jacques Brunel dropped several players who went out in Edinburgh following their loss to Scotland in the last round, including Six Nations top try-scorer Teddy Thomas. They face an Italy side that have again been on the receiving end of some brutal results, losing to Ireland on the opening weekend by 37 points and then England a week later by 31. Les Bleus are still favourites going into this weekend, but you can back the underdogs with odds of 8/1 here.
Tournament favourites England will look to continue their winning ways as they hope to win their third consecutive Championship with a Grand Slam. Scotland come off the back of a thrilling victory over France at Murrayfield in round two and go into the match with bags of confidence. If they are ever going to beat England, it’s now, and they will fancy themselves at home against the old rival. England will welcome back loose-head prop Joe Marler after serving his suspension and Nathan Hughes looks set to return, recovering from a knee injury ahead of time, as Sam Simmonds nurses a shoulder injury picked up in the victory over Wales. Despite Scotland’s brilliant result last time out, bookies see England as the favourites going into the match and you can back them winning at 1/3.
Ireland are the only other team with a Grand Slam still on the cards. They beat France in week one in emphatic fashion as Johnny Sexton hit a drop goal in the 83rd minute to seal victory and followed it up with a dominating performance over Italy. They meet Wales this week at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, who, have been given a clean bill of health before the game. Back-rower Ross Moriarty returns to the squad after recovering from injury and British and Irish Lions, full back Leigh Halfpenny and fly-half Dan Biggar, are both back in the starting XV. Despite Wales’ good news, Ireland are favourites going into Saturday afternoon. Odds for them to win by five points or less are at 17/4.
Enjoy live Six Nations action in your local casino, find your nearest Genting here.
