Rugby Union Preview – Six Nations, Friday 1st February to Saturday 16th March 2019

Will England’s 2019 Six Nations get off to a rosy start, or will they fall afoul of the luck of the Irish?

There’s a reason why Ireland are clear favourites heading into the opening weekend. Ranked 2nd in the world – a position that makes them the best ranked side in Europe – they only lost once in 2018, the first of their 3 game tour in Australia.

During that period there was their Grand Slam Six Nations triumph, a pair of wins over the Aussies in the summer, and a year-closing run of 4 victories in November, one that saw expected successes against Italy, Argentina and the USA joined by another glorious result against New Zealand.

That leaves Joe Schmidt’s side with an Outright Index spread of 45-48, alongside a fixed odds price of 4/6. In comparison, England are at 31-34 and 7/2 respectively, following a disappointing tour of South Africa that saw the country pick up just one win, and including a first time ever Quilter Cup defeat at the hands of the Barbarians.

With the fixture at the Aviva Stadium, the Irish have yet another reason to feel confidence; Spreadex are offering an Ireland/England Points Supremacy spread of 8-11.

The competition actually kicks off on Friday night, as France and Wales both try and put their best foot forward in Paris. Having lost back-to-back games to England and Ireland in last year’s Six Nations, the Welsh actually went on a nice little run in the rest of 2018, including victories over France, South Africa (twice) and Australia.

The French had a 2018 to forget. They can 4th in the Six Nations, barely showed up in their tour of New Zealand, and lost to both South Africa and Fiji in November. Yet despite the Welsh sitting at an Outright Index spread of 23-26 to their hosts’ 14-17, Friday’s fixture itself is too hard to call, with Spreadex offering a choice France/Wales Points Supremacy spread of -1-1, alongside a Total Points spread of 36-39.

In the race to avoid the wooden spoon, Saturday sees Scotland take on Italy at Murrayfield. The Scots have a far better Outright Index spread than their opponents, at 14-17 to Italy’s embarrassing 0.5-2, and will be looking to pick up some bonus points given Spreadex are offering a Scotland/Italy Points Supremacy spread of 23-26.