06 February 2020, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

Six Nations Predictions – Round 2

Intrigue is at its peak heading into the second round of the Six Nations this weekend, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld.

Leave it to Les Bleus to shock the world. The French’s stunning 24-17 upset of title favourites England has thrown the tournament wide open and left pundits and punters alike pondering if more upsets are on the cards this weekend.

This is how we see things playing out in Round Two:

Always a huge game, but the second-round opener in Dublin has been elevated to blockbuster status following England’s shock loss. The winners, now, will take a massive leap towards the title, while the hopes of a Grand Slam will further fuel the old foes.

Wales looked like a million bucks in their 42-0 annihilation of the Azzurri, while Ireland stuttered to a 19-12 win over Scotland last week. Captain Johnny Sexton took the positives out of the match and mentioned Ireland’s history of shaky Six Nations starts. He admitted they’d have to up their game significantly against Wales and they have the experience and class to do just that.

The teams are so evenly-matched and have been for years. Interestingly, it’s Wales who lead the head-to-head stakes in Dublin (19-18), but Ireland have won five of the last 10 meetings overall (the teams drew 16-all in 2016), including the last two. Having overcome a stern test would’ve steeled the Irish and the home crowd should will them on to a narrow victory.

Prediction: Ireland by three.

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Many will make the mistake of dismissing Scotland’s chances straightaway, given England’s historical dominance of the rivalry (74 wins to the Scots’ 42). However, Scotland have been their bogey team of sorts in recent years; they’re the holders of the Calcutta Cup, having won the last encounter in Edinburgh 25-13 in 2018 and going on to stage an incredible comeback from 31-0 down to salvage a 38-all draw at Twickenham last year.

This will be a clash of character in which the team who dig down the deepest and stay mentally strong for the full 80 minutes will come away with the win and the trophy. For the hosts, it’ll be about cutting out the cynical indiscipline that cost them so dearly and building on the intensity and physicality they showed against Ireland.

Meanwhile, Eddie Jones and his charges have the weight of a nation on their shoulders, the Paris catastrophe ripping open the wound of the heart-breaking World Cup final defeat to the Springboks in Yokohama. Based on these two crushing losses, it would be fair to suggest England don’t cope well with pressure, yet these are the guys who dumped the All Blacks out of the World Cup. Simply put, they are the better team – by some margin – and a renewed focus and back-to-basics approach should see them stop the bleeding somewhat.

Prediction: England by 10.

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Even die-hard France fans would’ve been stunned by their team’s heroics against England, especially the dominant first-half performance that saw them go into the break with a 17-0 lead. Facing listless Italy, the infamously erratic French seemingly have a margin for error that should allow them to make it two-from-two even if their affliction kicks in on Sunday.

It can’t get much worse for Italy…or can it? There were no positives for them to take out of the disastrous 42-0 drubbing by the Dragons, which would’ve left new coach Franco Smith missing South Africa. Very little was expected of the Azzurri in Cardiff and they still underperformed. They simply don’t have the talent to be competitive against Europe’s elite. All Smith can hope for is for his charges to pitch up with more passion and heart, but they’re very much like lambs to the slaughter.

Prediction: France by 28.

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