Guinness Six Nations - Round 3

It's the middle weekend of the Guinness Six Nations 2024 which means it is crunch time for all teams. Ireland and England are unbeaten, Wales and Italy have lost both and Scotland and France have won one and lost one. All to play for in a pivotal weekend in the Six Nations. Here are my predictions for round 3

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Ireland look like they are on a crusade to win back-to-back Grand Slams and will be very confident of beating Wales in Dublin in the first game of the weekend. They nilled Italy last time out having rested a number of players and they are back to pretty much full-strength so a tough day for Wales ahead. They could have beaten both Scotland and England in their two games so far but I don't think they have a chance in this one. Ireland by 15

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The big one! The Calcutta Cup is on the line and this is a trophy that has almost become a permanent resident at Murrayfield recently with Scotland winning the Cup in 5 of the last 6 years (the draw in 2019 meant Scotland won the Calcutta Cup as holders!). Scotland have the belief having won the last 3 years but their confidence will have taken a hit with losing last time out against France. England come into this game two from two, full of confidence from winning without necessarily playing their best. This is going to be very tight indeed but home advantage might well be the difference. Scotland by 3 points.

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France play away from Paris again, this time in Lille, and will take some comfort from winning in Murrayfield last time out. They found a way to win when they probably shouldn't have and that can give a team confidence. They are a shadow of the team that played last year and they will see this game as a chance to get things back on track. Italy were blown away against Ireland, not scoring a single point, but they will see this as a chance because of the way France have played so far. France will be too strong and powerful and will win this one by 12 points.

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