Six Nations 2010 betting - England v Wales preview

Both these sides may harbour ambitions of being Six Nations champions but for the loser of this game those ambitions will be practically over before the tournament has barely began. 

Following a disappointing autumn series for both teams, coaches Martin Johnson and Warren Gatland will be under pressure to come away with a victory on Saturday.

England go into the game as favourites at 8/13 (totesport) with Wales 7/4 (Sporting Bet).

Martin Johnson seems to have recognised that there is more to rugby than size and power and replaces the likes of Dan Hipkiss, Ayoola Erinle and Matt Banaham with the pace and flair of Ricky Flutey, Matthew Tait and Delon Armitage. 

Johnson will hope that the inclusion of these three will give England greater potency going forward after scoring only one try in three games in November. Armitage has scored five tries in his last six England appearances and looks overpriced at 25/1 (William Hill) to be the first try scorer.

Wales seemed to have problems in attack and defence in their last match against Australia suffering a heavy defeat by 33 points to 12. The return of Lee Byrne (18/1 Blue Square to be first try scorer) to the side may help going forward as he has the ability to cut through any defence and Wales will be looking to his huge boot to keep England pinned back. 

Another to return for Wales is prop Adam Jones but his this gain is likely to be more than offset with the absence of his fellow Lions front rowers Gethin Jenkins and Matthew Rees. With two relatively inexperienced front rows on display England will hope that Tim Payne can put his recent scrummaging troubles behind him.  Paynes’ Wasps have conceded penalty tries from scrums in two games last month.

If Wales can get the upper hand up front then all action flanker Andy Powell could score the game’s opening try (28/1 Sporting Bet)

In the handicap betting England start at -4 with Bet 365 and given Wales lacklustre attacking displays in November and the fact that England have only conceded three tries in their last three games England should overcome this handicap. 

Wales’ preparation for this may be affected by the Lee Byrne suspension saga and the late withdrawal of Jenkins while England have been working at their Portugese training camp and will be confident of adding to Wales’ woes.  A home win by 11-15 point is 8/1 with Ladbrokes.

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