Wales turn to Scotland for a bit of help catching Ireland

Key stats for the penultimate set of 2009 Six Nations fixtures

Wales’ hopes of retaining the Six Nations for the first time in thirty years were severely dented by defeat in France a fortnight ago and as a result they will be looking for favours from Scotland and England, who host Ireland and France respectively:

Italy v Wales (3pm, Saturday, BBC1)
Defeat is not an option for Wales but their last trip to Italy ended in a shock 23-20 loss while during their last Six Nations defence in 2006 they were held 18-18 at home by the Wooden Spoon regulars. Wales returned to form by thumping them 47-8 last year but the best price of 1/14 offered by Paddy Power on the away win isn’t good enough value for a team who have won just one of their last three against Italy. Another worry for Wales is that they have won just six of their last away games in the competition but they should still be too strong for a team who have lost eight of their last nine.

Scotland v Ireland (5pm, Saturday, BBC1)

Posted: March 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Ireland look to capitalise as Wales face their toughest test

Key statistics for this weekend’s three Six Nations matches

Photo Credit: Dylan Martinez/WPA ROTA/PA

Ireland and Wales have won their opening two games but both face tough tests this weekend as Wales travel to France and Ireland host England. If one of the two slip up this weekend it will leave them at a massive disadvantage when they meet on the final weekend. Here are all the important statistics:

France v Wales (8.05pm, Friday, BBC2)
Wales have now won eight straight Six Nations matches but they lost 32-21 on their last trip to France two years ago. Even more worryingly for the tournament’s favourites is the fact that they have won just two of their last eight matches against Les Bleus. Since 2002, France have won seventeen of their nineteen Six Nations home games so the 2.46 that Betfair are offering on them triumphing shouldn’t be sniffed at.

Scotland v Italy (3pm, Friday, BBC1)

Posted: February 27th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

Wales look for first successive wins over England since 1989

Previews of all three of this weekend’s Six Nations matches

Wales coach Warren Gatland has raised the stakes ahead of his team’s home clash with England by accusing them of being negative. The New Zealander says his opponents have gone “backwards in term of positivity” under Martin Johnson and claims they are “clearly trying to get a win no matter how”. Will he be proved right? Here are the key stats for this weekend’s action:

France v Scotland (3pm, Saturday, BBC1)
Les Bleus have beaten the Scots in nine of their last ten encounters and a decade has passed since the visitors last triumphed in France. It’s very unlikely that an upset will take place. Besides one victory against regular wooden spoon winners Italy in 2006, you have to go back to 2002 (Wales) to find Scotland’s last away win in the Six Nations. France haven’t lost successive Six Nations games in the same year since 2001.

Wales v England (5.30pm, Saturday, BBC1)

Posted: February 13th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

England need to slay the Dragons again in the rugby

Spread betting firm IG Sport preview the big Six Nations clash

England travel to the Millennium Stadium this weekend for a Valentine’s Day encounter with last year’s Grand Slam winners Wales. Here’s what our friends at IG Sport had to say about proceedings:

“Dragon slaying used to be easy for the English.  Back in the day all you needed was a lance, a stead and to have been canonized.  Things have got tougher since then!  Even the most diehard England rugby union fan could take little out of the Bergamasco fiasco last Saturday which produced a victory scoreline for England more flattering than a hippo, entering a ‘cutest smile’ competition for which the late replacement judge is a walrus and the work experience journalist covering the story just happens to be a mole!  A truer gauge of how far England have come (or indeed regressed) under Martin Johnson will come against Wales in Cardiff this weekend.  The Welsh are 9-12 point favourites on IG Sport’s supremacy line, a quote justified by their performance (for 60 minutes at least) against Scotland at the weekend.  The legend lives on, but in the real life, sometimes the dragon wins.”

Click here for a detailed description of how spread betting works

Posted: February 12th, 2009 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment

New Zealand chase twentieth straight win over Wales

The chickendinner preview of all this weekend’s televised rugby

While Sky’s “Super Sunday” this weekend is the rather humble combination of Tottenham/Blackburn and Sunderland/West Ham, there are some big rugby internationals taking place tomorrow where you won’t find many players crying off with injuries. Here’s our guide to all the televised games:

England v South Africa
This is the first time the two nations have clashed since last year’s World Cup final and England have lost their last five encounters with the Springboks. The good news is that England have won six of their last seven collisions at Twickenham, however South Africa have won all twelve of their matches in Europe since their last defeat there.

Ireland v Argentina
Since becoming the first new nation in twelve years to reach the World Cup semi-finals last year, Argentina have been on a downward spiral, losing four of their last five. The most embarrassing of those defeats was a home defeat in June to Italy although they have also been beaten by Scotland, South Africa and France. Ireland haven’t been in great form themselves, losing five of their last six but boast a 100% home record against Los Pumas.

Posted: November 21st, 2008 by Michael Lintorn | Add Comment