This weekend’s predictions

Editor

It is that time of the week when we put our heads on the chopping block with Planet Rugby's predictions.

Ding ding, round four for the Six Nations as England and Wales square off in what looks like the Championship decider at Twickenham on Sunday, and our big encounter of the weekend.

In other Six Nations action, the Aviva Stadium in Dublin is the venue as defending champions Ireland do battle with Italy in a bid to avoid the wooden spoon and Scotland play host to France at Murrayfield on Sunday.

We also give our thoughts on the weekend's Aviva Premiership fixtures and there's also several interesting match-ups in Saturday's Round Three Super Rugby action.

Paddy Power is our chosen bookie for our rugby bets so without further ado, let's get stuck in to our picks.

Six Nations

England v Wales

All eyes will be on Twickenham as England and Wales go head-to-head in what promises to be a thrilling showdown. Although Wales were victorious when these sides last met – at the 2015 Rugby World Cup – we feel England can take revenge in front of their home crowd.

It's going to be close so we're backing England to win by 1-12 points at 11/8 while Anthony Watson and George North are worth a flutter at 10/1 to score the first try.

Ireland v Italy

Ireland are overwhelming favourites to end their winles run in the tournament this weekend and will be keen to do that in style so we think it's worth it to have a bet on them winning by between 21 and 25 points at 5/1.

Although the Azzurri are the underdogs, they always perform well up front so why not get on Sergio Parisse to cross first at 18/1 while CJ Stander is also worth a bet to do that at 11/1.

Scotland v France

This should be another close affair with both sides at 13/8 to secure victory by between one and 12 points but with Scotland being at home and France not at their best an outside bet for a draw could be worth it at 16/1.

Scotland to score the first points of the game via a try also looks handy at 7/1 while Stuart Hogg is worth a flutter at 16/1 to be the man to do just that.

Premiership

Harlequins v Bath

Both these sides have been struggling of late and the two sides are both at 10/11 for the win. We expect home ground advantage to swing things in Harlequins' favour though and George Lowe looks quite handy at 20/1 to score the first try.

Other Premiership scores:

Wasps v Leicester – Wasps by 5
Northampton v Sale – Sale by 3
Worcester v Gloucester – Gloucester by 4
Exeter v Newcastle – Exeter by 8
London Irish v Saracens – Saracens by 12

Super Rugby

Stormers v Sharks

This is expected to be another tight match and although we've backed the Stormers to win it, the Sharks are worth a bet to sneak in by between 1-10 points at 3/1.

The Sharks' driving maul from line-outs is always dangerous so we think it's worth a gamble for Marcell Coetzee to be the first try-scorer at 20/1.

Other Super Rugby scores:

Highlanders v Lions – Highlanders by 7
Rebels v Reds – Rebels by 10
Sunwolves v Cheetahs – Cheetahs by 9
Kings v Chiefs – Chiefs by 20