Ireland travel to Italy as the 1/6 favourites, and should complete a massacre for the bookies. France and Wales weren’t exactly comfortable yesterday, but they obliged as the first 2 legs of the 4/9 treble.

Ladbrokes took at €20,000 bet on Wales for yesterday’s match and have been forced to cut Ireland into 1/9.

They were impressive in finally beating the French (30-21) and have never lost at the Stadio Flaminio – bad news for 7/1 Italy.

Declan Kidney will be fielding the same team, with Paddy Wallace at centre.

Mauro Bergamasco has a terrible game at Scrum Half at Twickenham, and will be playing in the 3rd line. Nick Mallet has reported the team to be working well this week, so I could be confident in backing Ireland with the -13.5 handicap.

The First Tryscorer market is difficult to get involved in, but Tommy Bowe is the 10/1 favourite with Skybet and should get involved. Alternatively you could back no tries at 33/1! The bookies are expecting plenty of points, but at 5/6 I’d be below the 42.5 line.

William Hill go 4/1 that the Irish get off to a great start, scoring a try as the first scoring play. An Italian penalty would be an exciting bet at 2/1 though.

For those readers who backed Ireland at 7/2 before the France match, I can’t see any reason to have a bet today. It’s a bit of a shame that we didn’t back Ireland at 11/1 for the Grand Slam, because it would’ve been a great trading bet ahead of the Wales match on the 21st March.

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Italy v Ireland Match Betting

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7/2 tip Ireland beat France in a Croke Park thriller, whilst we also pointed readers in the direction of 14/1 winner, Madison Du Berlais.

If the Levy Board chase had one extra runner, we would’ve gone large on Madison Du Berlais. Instead I just had a few quid on at 19/1 on Friday night. We also forecasted the bookies’ reaction to a Denman flop:

I’d expect the bookmakers to cut stable-mate Kauto to about 6/4

Kauto Star is now generally a 7/4 chance, having been 3/1 with Coral in the morning.

We were thrilled with the Ireland performance, and they are now the 2/1 favourites for the tournament. I wouldn’t get too excited now because of their dreadful away record, but so far so good.

Wales cannot be backed at 8/15 for tomorrow’s trip to Murrayfield. The last time the 2 sides met on Scottish soil, Wales were taught a 21-9 lesson. Yes, things have changed dramatically in Welsh rugby, but Warren Gatland won’t be taking the fixture lightly.

England have often imploded at Murrayfield over the years, but Wales will be hoping to avoid the curse of the favourite. Gavin Henson is out, and they have only won once out of the last 5 encounters in Scotland.

Backing the away side will never make you rich, so I am tempted to give the Scotland a +5.5 head start at 10/11 with Ladbrokes. Another decent bet could be Scotland to score first at 11/10, which would really put the cat amongst the pigeons. As of early 2007, Scotland have scored the first points in 16 of their 22 matches.

2/1 Scotland are missing both Euan Murray and Nathan Hines, and will start the match without Chris Paterson.

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Scotland v Wales Match Betting

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Like all big betting events, it makes sense to start with the favourites. Should we be backing 2/1 Wales, or be looking to take them on?

Last year’s winners Wales have been backed from 5/2 into 2/1, and are 6/1 for the Grand Slam. They may not have the best team on paper, but confidence will be brimming with the solid club performances of both the Ospreys and the Blues.

Ladbrokes are ducking the favourites by only offering 7/4, but I’d be looking to take them on, maybe as early as this Sunday. They are 1/2 for their away trip to Scotland, but I’d would opt for the home side on the handicap (+6) for value’s sake.

England aren’t of interest, even at 9/2. Then got trounced in the autumn internationals, but that was hardly surprising. Martin Johnson’s side haven’t had the best press, and brave selections such as Andy Goode are already being questioned before the tournament. They also have a difficult schedule, but expect them to make light work of Italy at 1/7.

In the outright winner market, I am caught up between France and Ireland – both 7/2. We’ll know more about the 2 sides after he clash in Saturday’s Croke Park fixture, but by then one of the 2 sides could be the new favourite.

French clubs have given a terrible showing in the Heineken Cup, but the international side are more than capable of pulling this off. Having been 4th in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, they have slipped down the world rankings to 7th. If they are well organised and if Lionel Beauxis is kicking well, 11/8 to beat Ireland will look lke a massive price.

French coach Marc Lièvremont is focused on the 2011 World Cup, meaning that I shall side with 7/2 IRELAND. If they win the match against France, they wil grow in confidence and give Wales a run for their money. Declan Kidney is a great tactician, who will be relying on his Munster pack and Brian O’Driscoll.

They beat Argentina 17-3 last November and are a fit team; so could be worth an in-running investment should they find themselves trailing in a match. Their recent away record is concerning, especially as they travel to both Scotland and Wales.

Italy are the 4/7 favourites for the wooden spoon.

Recommendation:

2pts @ 7/2 Ireland to Win 2009 Six Nations

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The first Test Match between West Indies and England begins tomorrow in Jamaica, with England the 4/7 favourites to win the series.

England have not lost a test series to West Indies in 15 years, and it is difficult to make a case for the home side. Punters hoping for an 27/10 upset in the first test will need Chanderpaul to be at the top of his game, who is 11/4 to be the Top West Indies Batsman, just ahead of 9/2 Chris Gayle.

England drew their tour match with West Indies A, which was fair enough as they were only given 4 sessions in which to bat.  Andrew Strauss thought that it was a pretty good work-out, but still admits that his side needs to sharpen up.

In the betting for the 1st Test Match, there has been a bit of money for the draw, which has been cut from 5/2 into 9/4. If Andrew Flintoff stays fit, England will be good value to cover totesport’s 1.5 test match handicap at odds of 5/4.

I won’t be having an interest in the Man of the Match market, because the bookmakers are betting to 150%. Chanderpaul and Flintoff are the 10/1 co-favourites in that market, whilst Flintoff is 11/4 to be the top series wicket-taker.

Kevin Pietersen is pretty short at 11/4 to get the first English Century, so backers could be tempted by either 7/2 Strauss or 4/1 Cook. Alastair Cook is 4/1 to Hit a Six and Matt Prior is 6/5 to make a stumping.

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West Indies v England Series Betting

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Jonny Wilkinson could be the most high profile transfer of the year, and you’ll be surprised to hear that his most likely destination is France. Last year it was unthinkable, but now with the credit crunch things have changed in the rugby world. Dan Carter’s transfer to Perpignan proved that anything is possible, so I wouldn’t bet against Wilkinson moving across The Channel.

If there was a market available, his departure from Newcastle would be odds-on. The clubs said to be interested at this stage are Bayonne and Racing-Métro. Wilkinson is currently injured (again) and should return in March. That means he won’t be taking part in the 6 Nations, in which England are 10/3.

Jamie Noon, also 29 years old, could be offloaded to Brive, whilst Stade Français are looking at Tom Palmer, James Haskell and Iain Balshaw.

Danny Cipriani may look like a surprise move at this stage, but he could be of interest to Bayonne and Perpignan, who are both looking for a Number 10.

Sébastien Chabal has already said that he will return to France, but we aren’t quite sure where yet. He still attracts a lot of press and was supposed to join Montpellier, but since then he has also been linked to Racing-Métro and Toulon. French captain, Lionel Nallet, will leave Castres to join up with either Montpellier or Bayonne.

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Les Bleus are as short as 5/4 with Ladbrokes but are on offer at 7/4 with Corals, who clearly want to ‘get’ the Gallic team.

England are second favourites at a top price of 5/2 with betinternet, which is also a hugely generous price compared with most bookies.

Next up in the betting are Ireland at a general 11/2, followed by Wales at 9/1 and Scotland at 14/1. Italy are, as usual, the massive outsiders and are offered at 100/1.

The difference of opinions means bookies are betting to 98% on the Six Nations winner; that means you can currently bet on every side and be guaranteed to make a profit on the event.

The bookies clearly believe that there is no dominant side among the six as you can bet on there being no Grand Slam winner at a best price of 4/5 with Skybet. No Triple Crown winner is a 2/1 shot.

At Bookies.com we are still waiting for a proper set of spread betting prices to come out so we can have a bet on a low scoring Six Nations season. Evidence from recent rugby union fixtures in the Heineken Cup and Premiership games suggest the top sides are doing a lot more time wasting and diversionary tactics once they are in the lead and I think this all adds up to low scoring (and slightly dull) games.

Check out the Six Nations 2008 winner betting or the Six Nations Betting Index at bookies.com