The 2017 Six Nations Championship takes place between 4th February and 18th March over five match-day weekends. England are the defending champions, having won the Grand Slam last year and go into the tournament unbeaten since the appointment of Eddie Jones as coach after the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
For the first time, the 2017 tournament will use the bonus point system common to most other professional rugby union tournaments. As well as the standard four points for a win or two for a draw, a team scoring four or more tries during a match will receive an additional league table point, as will a team losing by 7 or fewer points.[Additionally, to ensure that a team winning all of its five matches (a Grand Slam) will also win the Championship, three bonus points will be awarded.
The teams play either three home/two away or two home/three away matches (in alternate years) the split of which can be crucial depending on the strengths of the teams in any given year
Current outright odds (with bookmaker offering the best price shown)
England 10/11 (Paddy Power)
Ireland 5/2 (William Hill)
Wales 8/1 (William Hill)
France 14/1 (Coral)
Scotland 25/1 (Coral)
Italy 200/1 (Paddy Power)
No Grand Slam is even money favourite (Paddy Power), England 9/4 (Paddy Power) Ireland 11/2 (Coral). Be sure to compare with other green listed bookmakers, as lines could shift.
England
Fixtures: R1 France (h), R2 Wales (a), R3 Italy (h) R4 Scotland (h), R5 Ireland (a)
A perfect 2016 for England started with a 2016 Six Nations Grand Slam followed by a 3-0 away victory in Australia in the summer and wins against South Africa, Fiji and Australia in the autumn Internationals.
Three games at home this year and likely to be unbeaten headed into the last match in Dublin which shapes up as a championship decider. England will have to overcome the loss of a series of key players through injury but such is their strength of depth that it would be a major surprise to find them outside the top two at the end of the Six Nations
Ireland
Fixtures: R1 Scotland (a), R2 Italy (a), R3 France (h), R4 Wales (a), R5 England (h)
Ireland lost their Six Nations title early in the tournament, drawing at home to Wales and losing in France and England before finishing with two home wins over Italy and Scotland.
The June tour to South Africa started with a win in Cape Town but a series win eluded he after a late Bok comeback in Johannesburg and a narrow defeat in the decider in Port Elizabeth.
The November internationals started with a memorable victory over the All Blacks in Chicago and although New Zealand took revenge in Dublin two weeks later, Ireland finished the year with a home win over the Wallabies.
Ireland should at least run England close, the Irish provinces have improved dramatically this year and there is a wealth of talent in the 40 man squad, which plays in a well established defined pattern under coach Joe Schmidt.
Wales
Fixtures: R1 Italy (a), R2 England (h), R3 Scotland (a), R4 Ireland (h), R5 France (a)
A 25-21 defeat to England at Twickenham in Round 4 cost Wales the Six Nations title last year. In June they were competitive for the bulk of the first two tests against the All Blacks before succumbing to late pressure and they were thrashed in the third contest to lose the series 3-0. In the November internationals in Cardiff Wales were trounced by Australia but they recovered to complete narrow wins over Argentina and Japan before beating South Africa.
Wales are an experienced team who have three main challenges in this six nations a) transitioning their style of play to be more expansive and create more opportunities, which has been a struggle for over two years b) overcoming a lack of depth in the tight forwards and c) winning away games of which they have three this year. In their favour they do have both tournament favourites England then Ireland at home.
France
Fixtures: R1 England (a), R2 Scotland (h), R3 Ireland (a), R4 Italy (a), R5 Wales (h)
France started heir 2016 campaign with two narrow home wins, surviving a scare against Italy and then edging out Ireland. They lost their next three matches in Wales and Scotland and at home to England by margins of 9 to 11 points. A two match series in Argentina in June was shared 1-1 and two big home tests in November saw them 23-25 to an under-strength Australia side before they gave the All Blacks a decent game in Paris, albeit in a 24-19 defeat.
France are not the best travelers and have three away games (and the toughest start of all, at Twickenham) and beyond that the major challenge is convert their talent into consistent performances, an achievement lacking for the last five years where their highet six nations finish has been 3rd.
Scotland
Fixtures: R1 Ireland (h), R2 France (a), R3 Wales (h), R4 England (a), R5 Italy (h)
The Scots lost narrowly at home to England and away to Wales before completing back to back wins in Italy and at home to France in last year’s tournament. They came unstuck in Dublin in their final match and in June they won both tests away to Japan. The November internationals included another last gasp defeat to Australia and a narrow win over Argentina.
This year Scotland should really make substantial progress, and Glasgow’s performance in making the knock-out stages of the European Champions Cup for the first time, with the bulk of the national side, is an encouraging portent. A talented crop of players with more experience simply has lacked the ability to win close games for two years now. A minimum of two wins expected, and maybe three as part of a mid table finish
Italy
Fixtures: R1 Wales (h), R2 Ireland (h), R3 England (a), R4 France (h), R5 Scotland (a)
A 23-21 defeat to France in Paris in Round 1 last year was as near as Italy got to a victory in the 2016 Six Nations. In June a narrow defeat to Argentina was followed by wins over USA and Canada and in November a 68-10 hiding off the All Blacks in Rome was followed by easily their best result of the year, a 20-18 victory over South Africa in Florence.
A new coaching set up is in place, but realistically with the Italian provinces still performing poorly both in Europe and the Pro 12 one win would be progress for Italy this Championship.
Recommendation:
England are clearly the most likely winners but odds-on and having to play in Dublin aren’t great value for the title. The upside is more defined with Ireland at 5/2 who should be in with a shot of winning the Championship going into that last game where they are currently 5/4 to beat England.
“No Grand Slam at Evens also looks likely this year”.None of Wales, Scotland and France should threaten the top two for the title, or finish below Italy for the wooden spoon
Calculators
