The 2020 Six Nations Championship has got off to an exciting start. As of mid-February, we’ve already seen quite a few close matches and shocking results.
Take the very first match of the tournament, for example, which saw reigning champions Wales completely thrash Italy in a crushing 42-0 defeat. Or the recent Scotland vs England match, which was especially tense as very few points were scored, with Scotland earning just 6 and England 13. There are still a few more matches to be played before the tournament’s grand final on 14 March. Of the six nations competing, which ones are likely to win?
According to Oddschecker, it’s between England, Ireland, France and Wales. This is down to the fact that both Scotland and Italy have lost all the matches they’ve played so far in the tournament. England is the outright favourite with top odds of 28/17, while Ireland is the second favourites at 5/2 and France has odds of 3/1.
As for Wales, it’s the least favoured of the four, with its current odds standing at 11/1. As for Scotland and Italy, Oddschecker has these two countries at 250/1 and 5,000/1 respectively. Since the Six Nations Championship started in 2000, neither one of these countries has ever won, which explains why they both have such low odds. If you are a sports betting fan, you need to check the odds to place your bet. A highly recommended sports betting source is 777Casino where you’ll find the most up to date odds and offers.
Over at Easyodds, another popular odds comparison site, England is still the favourite with top odds of 13/8. France is the second favourite at 4/1, while Ireland is the third favourite at 6/1 and Wales is again the outsider with its odds standing at 11/1. Both Scotland and Italy have very low odds of 200/1 and 5,000/1 respectively – again, this is due to neither team winning any matches.
Many punters only use the odds offered by sportsbooks to help them decide which team(s) to place bets on. However, it’s always good practice to take past and ongoing statistics into account when making your betting decision.
If we look at the line-up of past victors, it’s actually fairly balanced. Ireland has won four tournaments, while both France and Wales have won five and England has won six. Let’s consider the tournament as a whole – it originated back in 1883 as the Home Nations Tournament with France joining in 1910 and Italy in 2000. Wales has secured 39 victories (27 outright and 12 ties), while England has more outright victories at 28, along with 10 ties for a total of 38 victories.
All six teams have played two matches as of the time of writing. Both France and Ireland are actually the tournament’s top-placed teams right now, each team having won both matches and scored nine points. As for England and Wales, both teams have won once and been defeated once – these two countries have five points each.
Even though England isn’t in the lead, this hasn’t stopped the nation from being the favourite to win the tournament outright. Two out of five rounds have been played and all nations have three more matches to take part in. So far, England’s won against Scotland and lost against France; it’s got matches against Ireland, Italy and Wales to play over the next few weeks and is expected to win all three. Oddschecker has odds for an England win at 2/5 against Ireland, 1/41 against Italy and 1/3 against Wales.
So which team will win? Of the four teams that realistically have a chance of winning, it’s likely to be England that takes home the Championship Trophy. As for which team will come in second place, it’s between France and Ireland, with Wales most likely to end up in fourth place overall. There are nine matches still to be played and if the bookies are to be believed, it’s England you should be backing.
