Six Nations Betting Tips: Ireland to close in on grand slam with England win

• Relentless Ireland maintain dominance

• England bid to pull off Twickenham upset

• Scotland win keeps them in title picture

England v Ireland
Saturday, 16:45
Live on ITV

Ireland on track for another grand slam

Ireland are in control of the Six Nations and can seal a successful title defence with a bonus-point victory against England at Twickenham this weekend. Andy Farrell's team have been the outstanding side over the last two years and back-to-back grand slams is within their sights.

As the only team with a 100 per cent record in the competition, Ireland will head to west London confident of putting England to the sword. Their emphatic opening win in France set the tone and Ireland were far too strong for Wales in the last round. Tadhg Beirne's try clinched the 31-7 bonus-point victory in Dublin and Ireland have only conceded seven points in their last two matches. Farrell makes just one change with full-back Hugo Keenan fit to return in place of Ciaran Frawley.

England won their opening two games against Italy and Wales and an early try from George Furbank helped them take a 10-0 lead against Scotland at Murrayfield. But Duhan van der Merwe's brilliance enabled Scotland to hit back and storm to a 30-21 win. England made too many mistakes and their lack of potency in attack was exposed by Scotland. Steve Borthwick hands wing Immanuel Feyi-Waboso his first start after scoring off the bench in Scotland. Scrum-half Alex Mitchell returns and Marcus Smith is available again from the bench.

Ireland are overwhelming favourites at 1.282/7 for this match and it is difficult to remember the last time England were available at odds of 5.39/2 to win at Twickenham. But this is a fair reflection on the gap between the teams, with Ireland one of the best teams in the world. Ireland have won the last four clashes against England, with two of them between eight and 14 points. A bet on this margin of victory appeals at [3/1] for another game which Ireland should dominate.

Italy v Scotland
Saturday, 14:15
Live on ITV

Scotland bid to avoid Rome upset

Scotland still have an outside chance of chasing down Ireland but Gregor Townsend's team must take maximum points in Italy and hope for some help from England. There will be frustration that Scotland have not won their three matches, with France pipping them after a controversial finish in the second round.

Scotland's recent dominance over England continued with their fourth successive Calcutta Cup triumph in the Six Nations. Electrifying wing Duhan van der Merwe scored a sensational hat-trick to help Scotland hit back for a 30-21 victory in Edinburgh. Cameron Redpath replaces the injured Sione Tuipulotu at inside centre while George Horne is preferred to scrum-half Ben White.

Italy were denied a first Six Nations victory in France by the narrowest of margins after Paolo Garbisi's injury-time penalty struck the post. Despite the agonising finish, Italy still drew 13-13 in Lille to confirm their progress following a slender defeat against England in Rome.

Scotland are heavily fancied to win for the 14th successive time against Italy and odds of 1.261/4 are no surprise. Italy are handed a 10-point handicap advantage but preference is to back Scotland to win by between eight and 14 points at 3/14.00. This has been a winning bet in the last three contests between the teams.

Wales v France
Sunday, 15:00
Live on BBC One

Wales aim to end losing run

Wales have lost their three matches in this year's competition but Warren Gatland will be confident his team can get off the mark against a lacklustre France this weekend. Although Wales were no match for Ireland in the last round, they showed enough in narrow defeats against Scotland and England to suggest they will be competitive in Cardiff. Joe Roberts and Owen Watkin form the centre pairing after replacing George North and Nick Tompkins.

France have been a shadow of the team that went into last year's World Cup as one of the favourites. Their quarter-final exit on home soil has clearly affected them badly and they have failed to convince throughout this season's Six Nations. Fortunate to win in Scotland, France escaped with a draw at home to Italy after having centre Jonathan Danty's yellow card for a high tackle upgraded to red.

Wales are worth considering at 3.39/4 for this match, with France hard to trust at odds of just 1.528/15. Les Bleus have shown too many weaknesses in the competition and look a poor imitation of the team that have won the last five clashes against Wales. There is every chance of this being settled by small margins and the hosts should be backed with a six-point handicap advantage.

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