Six Nations 2015: Latest Odds and Predictions for Round 2 Fixtures
A hard-fought win at the Millennium Stadium has established England as the bookmakers' favourite to win this year's Six Nations, with Ireland struggling to assert themselves while beating a lame Italy side.
Each and every one of the Six Nations combatants while need time to reach top speed, with Week 2's generous fixture list the next possible avenue at which to do so.
Starting slowly in this kind of competition is a forgivable sin, but it's now that the six teams will need to start showing more fervour if their respective bids for the title are to amount to anything.
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| England | 11-10 |
| Ireland | 7-4 |
| France | 11-2 |
| Wales | 12-1 |
| Scotland | 66-1 |
| Italy | 1000-1 |
| Saturday, Feb. 14 | 2:30 p.m. GMT/9:30 a.m. ET | England | vs. | Italy | England by 25 |
| Saturday, Feb. 14 | 5 p.m. GMT/12 p.m. ET | Ireland | vs. | France | Ireland by 5 |
| Sunday, Feb. 15 | 3 p.m. GMT/10 a.m. ET | Scotland | vs. | Wales | Scotland by 5 |
Predicted Week 2 Storylines
Ireland Overcome Les Bleus
A make-or-break trip to Paris in Week 5 of last year's competition led Ireland to claiming the Six Nations title, but Les Bleus don't offer quite the same threat this time around.
Philippe Saint-Andre may finally have come upon a half-back partnership for the long term in Rory Kockott and Camille Lopez, but there are numerous players in his squad still settling into their international surroundings.
Those growing pains were evident during Saturday's 15-8 win over Scotland at the Stade de France where, despite having a fully fit squad, Les Bleus couldn't put the finishing touches on a lot of running passages.
Ireland, on the other hand, should welcome Johnny Sexton back into their lineup this week, while RTE Rugby claims back-row icon Sean O'Brien could yet give the pack a tremendous boost:
Even without those players, Ireland could be hopeful of a victory over France, with Ian Keatley doing a fine job in the fly-half role and Joe Schmidt's squad displaying what grand depth of resources it has.
Another two points will give Ireland the chance to keep pace at the top of the Six Nations table, but that will be more down to France's current concerns rather than the Dublin hosts' own brilliance.
England Rise While Wales Continue to Fall
Five of the six nations will have been at least slightly disappointed with their opening performances, but if there were one team who have absolutely no reason to be glum, it's England.
And if a 21-16 win over Wales in Cardiff wasn't reason enough to be happy, a Week 2 fixture against Wooden Spoon favourites Italy will put smiles on their faces.
Having been left impressed by those who took to the field last Friday, Stuart Lancaster will name an unchanged XV for the visit of the Azzurri this Saturday, according to the Telegraph:
Italy were uninspiring in Rome last Saturday and fell to Ireland without so much as a whimper. With the wind in their sails, it's likely we'll see a more liberated England team increase their scoring count at Twickenham, where the atmosphere could urge the home outfit on to a hefty victory.
Meanwhile, Ex-England international Stuart Barnes outlined just how damaging this defeat to the English could be for Warren Gatland's men, per Wales Online:
A trip to Murrayfield in Round 2 doesn't make for a much easier test either, with the Welsh still reeling from a dismaying second-half display against England, where they surrendered an eight-point lead to lose by five.
Failing to score in the second period against England showed the attacking inadequacies that Wales displayed during the autumn, while Scotland frustrated France to no end in Paris.
If they're able to accomplish the same feat in restricting the Welsh back line while splicing their own threat, Vern Cotter's side may well be capable of taking an upper hand in the race for a top-three finish.
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