Six Nations Championship: Round 1 Preview

The wait is finally over! The 2024 Six Nations kicks off this weekend, with six of the best European teams battling it out over five matchweeks in February and March.

The first round takes us to Marseille, Rome and Cardiff as we preview the opening three games below.

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France v Ireland – Friday 20:00

The opening game of the tournament kicks off at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille as reigning champions and Grand Slam holders Ireland initiate their pursuit of back-to-back Six Nations titles against co-favourites France.

The Irish team has always been strong and they tend to focus on playing at a high tempo, with a strong emphasis placed on ball retention, which they displayed in last year’s Championship with a 52.3% share of possession on average, and are 13/8 to win on the weekend. Notwithstanding the talent that Ireland possess as a squad, they have another string to their bow in the form of Lions’ coach-in-waiting Andy Farrell, who will be keen to right their wrongs against France in this competition.

Les Bleus have established themselves among the elite of international rugby since their wooden spoon in 2013, losing out to World Cup winner’s South Africa by just a point in what was a thrilling game. The French go into this titanic clash as 8/15 favourites, and will be looking to build on their strengths as the best carriers of the ball, recording the Championship’s highest gainline success last year in 2023, beating the most opposition defenders of any side (144) despite making the fewest carries (558). So, although the French don’t have the most possession of all teams, they make good use of the ball when they have it.

Italy v England – Saturday 14:15 

For the second game of the Six Nations, the England squad are travelling to the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, the home of Italian rugby as well as the home ground of Serie A football teams Roma and Lazio.

Despite the home side’s less than favourable reputation in the competition, we have seen Italy produce glimpses of magic in recent years. They have picked up the wooden spoon on 18 occasions since they joined the tournament back in 2000, coming last for the eighth time in a row last year. The Azzurri have only won once in their last 42 games, hence their 11/2 odds, but last year showed real promise and put in some solid performances.

The Italians will face an amped up England squad following a successful World Cup campaign in the summer, which may have saved Steve Borthwick’s bacon as head coach of the team after a disappointing run in the Six Nations last year. England can be quite unpredictable when it comes to playing style but have a wealth of talent and depth in their squad, so more emphasis is put on strategy. In 2023, we saw kicking as a key theme within their game which, given how few times they gained possession back, could be something England have dropped at the door of 2024. The side are bang-on favourites at 1/9, so it’s fair to say that should Italy somehow win, the English fans will be keeping their heads beneath the sand for a while.

Wales v Scotland – Saturday 16:45

The Doddie Weir Cup will be decided at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff as Wales host Scotland on Saturday. The Scots were successful in the last bout against the Welsh in a record win, having just retained the Calcutta Cup at Twickenham for the third year in a row.

Considered as a nation known for their prowess in the world of rugby, Wales have been slightly off the boil in recent years, coming fifth in the Six Nations three times across the last five editions, two of which in the last two years. However, the last time they were in this situation, they went on to complete a Grand Slam, but we shouldn’t jump the gun just yet.

Head Coach Warren Gatland has managed this team for some time now and is capable of dealing with situations like this, and he seems confident that they will do so in a convincing fashion. Wales tend to play rather old school rugby and would prefer to go straight through their opponents than around them, so the forwards will be as important as ever to their success ahead of the opening game. The Dragons are 6/4 to beat Scotland, and if they do, it’ll no doubt set the tone for the rest of their campaign.

Scotland are in fine form of late and have won three matches in five of their last seven Six Nations campaigns, which has now become standard with regards to the expectations from both the team and fans. In contrast to Wales’s direct, down the middle playstyle, Scotland tend to utilise their wingers and create some additional dynamism from the wide areas of the pitch, which they will hope to utilise when attempting to dismantle the Welsh outfit.

Not only are they strong in attack, but Scotland achieved a mega 92% tackle success rate from 831 tackles made in the Six Nations last year, the highest volume and relative success rate out of any team. Having not dipped below an 89% successful tackle rate in the last four years of the competition, it’s difficult to uncover any glaring weaknesses within the squad. They go into 2024 full of confidence and are favourites at 4/7 to win this clash for the second year in a row.