The weekend is approaching fast and the next round of the 6 Nations Championship is starting to unfold. The burning question is, “who can stop the French?” Their Friday night match is the opening game but it’s in Wales so could they meet their Waterloo there? Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun.
The next match sees injury hit Scotland making the difficult trip to Italy. Both Ireland and England struggled against them so this could be the Italian win, which we predicted.
The weekend’s final game is at Twickenham where we wonder if unbeaten England is capable of going up a gear to stay in the race by winning against Ireland.
Wales have already played their “get out of jail card” against Scotland. They’ll be buoyant after this victory and, if they can match the French up front, they could make a game of it. I have to admit that this assessment comes from the heart rather than the head. In the cold light of day, I have to go for a French win. They’ve proved me right against the Scots and the Irish and, despite my biased hopes, I expect them to win again.
The Scottish casualty list could have left them at a low ebb though I’m sure that Andy Robinson will have been working hard to plug the gaps left by the absence of key players. Italy ran England extremely close and their awkward kicking tactics make them a very difficult team to play against. This really could be their day and I’m taking a punt on them to beat Scotland.
England face Ireland with a 100% record so far this season. However, they’ve only occasionally looked convincing and I feel they could suffer from an Irish backlash following their Paris humiliation. In my opinion, restored Irish passion will see them through although this is a difficult game to predict.
In summary, English & French victories could set up a thrilling finale to the Championship. If Wales and Ireland were to win, it would put them back into Championship contention. The most likely result of all will be the end of my 100% winning predictions.
Back with more news before the Friday kick-off
Rhys Morgan
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