The opening weekend of the Six Nations may not have yielded the best quality of rugby in recent times, but it was as high on drama as ever. Initial skirmishes have been made; three contenders took a step in the right direct while for the other three, it is a make or break weekend. Here are our predictions for round two.
England vs Italy
Twickenham, London
Sat 21st Feb 14.30
England welcome Italy to London with the most to cheer about after round one. They banished the demons of 2013 and worked immensely hard to beat Wales in Cardiff, leaving with a win that puts them in a very good position to challenge for the title in a World Cup year. Italy, meanwhile, look completely lost; devoid of ideas in attack and weary in defence come the end of the game. They rarely threatened Ireland and will have to be significantly better if they are not to avoid a walloping at home from England. Jamie Hosie thinks riding the wave from the Wales triumph it will be a comfortable home win, predicting England to win by 25.
Ireland vs France
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Sat 21st Feb 17.00
This is a much more difficult game to call. Both sides come into the game with a win under the belt, and yet there was an undeniable sense of the underwhelming about both of their performances against teams they probably should have beaten more comfortably. Ireland welcome back several crucial individuals, none more so than fly-half Johnny Sexton, who will be hoping to shake off the cobwebs after several weeks away from contact. The French are capable of brilliance but they are notoriously shaky on the road; Calum Gillon thinks that, with all their star names back, it will be a comfortable home win, predicting Ireland to win by 14.
Scotland vs Wales
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
Sun 22nd Feb 15.00
And so we come to the final and most crucial game of the weekend. Both of these sides have the quality within their ranks to challenge for the title, and yet the loser will be staring down the barrel of two losses on the bounce. It is a psychological blow that will be hard to come back from, so expect this to be a bruising encounter, and not necessarily one that will be especially pleasing on the eye. Scotland will look to gain at least parity up front in a bid to let their exciting backs run free, while Wales will, in all likelihood, stubbonly stick to the power game that failed so miserably against England. Will it work? Charlie King thinks it just might, predicting Wales to win by 8.
| Hosie | Hutch | |
|---|---|---|
| England vs Italy | England by 25 | England by 48 |
| Ireland vs France | Ireland by 4 | Ireland by 13 |
| Scotland vs Wales | Scotland by 2 | Scotland by 1 |
How do you see the weekend going? What do you make of the predictions above? Don’t forget, if you think you know better you can play in our SuperBru predictions league.
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
6 replies on “Six Nations 2015: Round 2 Predictions”
Scotland by at least 4, I fear:-(
Scotland look so much stronger than in previous years.
However, they do still tend to cough up possession when in promising positions, and give away penalties at the wrong time, in the wrong place.
I think that Wales will make fewer errors and will gain the win.
Not convinced that Bergamasco and Bortolami is a good move for Italy. They may rue this, as these two will not enable the Italian 8 to dominate the English for 80 mins, and I can’t see them improving their breakdown work. Smacks of a desperate gamble if i am honest.
I do agree about Bergamasco and Bortolami not being a good move, however I don’t think that there are any players they could pick that would ‘enable the Italian 8 to dominate the English for 80 mins’, and it is unlikely to make any difference to the result.
Also if they’re going to bring in Bortolami, why take out Furno who is a much better player than the other 2nd row in my opinion.
Provided Italy can keep a full squad on the pitch I don’t think england will run away with it, England win by around 10 (although i’ll be rooting for Italy to win)
France v Ireland I see being very close, probably a 5 pt win for Ireland.
Wales v Scotland, i have to hope Wales put a good performance out and get a big win but that’s unlikely to be the case so Wales by 7
Im gonna give up making predictions lol Italy are being stomped, not sure wth they are doing. Not only have they lost all structure but I don’t get the logic of missing a conversion & penalty…getting another penalty and trying again..failing then 60seconds later trying yet again? At some point surely you make the decision, it’s not your day and go for ground? Utterly ridiculous.
England will riot the Italy by big score around 38, Ireland win by 5, Wales by 12.