England v Scotland 6 Nations – Maximum Bet
England kick-off their defence of their 6 Nations crown with an away game at Murrayfield. An England v Scotland rivalry obviously has a huge historical context and any England’s record in Scotland has not been great in recent years. Their last 2 visits during the 6 nations have been a draw and a defeat in matches where England was favoured in the betting.
Following a clear-out of players and management after a disappointing world cup campaign that ended in defeat by France in the quarter finals, England travel to Scotland with Stuart Lancaster as interim coach, Chris Robshaw captaining the side earning only his second cap with three new caps starting and five more uncapped players on the bench. I had circled this game as potential bet material a few weeks ago hoping to backing the underdogs at home with a 6 point start.
However, it seems every single pundit and expert has the same idea. This has set value alarm bells ringing for me. The Racing Post’s tournament preview finally mentioned England (the defending champions remember) after about 90% of their coverage and much has been made of their world cup campaign. However half of the team and management have been removed so maybe this may lead to an improvement?
Two of the new caps lining up in midfield are team mates at club level with a fellow Saracen (the highly under-rated) Charlie Hodgson playing at the crucial position of fly half. Many pundits and bookmakers have taken the wave of negativity of England without too much thought that Scotland are not that great either. They have flattered to deceive on many occasions and seem incapable of crossing the try line versus elite teams which England still remain.
I propose not climbing aboard the big bet bandwagon here and instead recommend buying a ticket to board the value bus instead and let’s fire some stakes around different markets…
2pts win ENGLAND @ 5-6
2pts win ENGLAND (-1) at Evens with Ladbrokes
Buy England/Scotland @ 3 on the spreads.
If most of the betting world is right and this betting blog wrong, finances may mean I will be making a valentine’s card and writing a poem next week rather than purchasing a dozen red roses and expensive gifts for my long suffering sports betting widow.
