2024 Six Nations Preview: Betting Offers, Tips and Odds

Here at betting.bet we’re going to preview this year’s tournament, offering expert betting tips whilst also providing the very best free bet offers and tournament odds from our betting partners at 888Sport.

The 2024 Six Nations Championship will get underway on February 2nd with six weeks of top-class international rugby ahead of us. Here at betting.bet we’re going to preview this year’s tournament, offering expert betting tips whilst also providing the very best free bet offers and tournament odds from our betting partners at 888Sport.

2023 Six Nations Championship Recap

In 2023 Ireland won their fourth Grand Slam with a perfect five wins from five. Under the guidance of future British & Irish Lions head coach, Andy Farrell, Ireland earned 27 points from a possible 28 (including bonus points) to finish clear of reigning champions, France.

Italy finished rock-bottom for the eighth successive year whilst an under-performing Wales were the tournament’s lowest scorers with just 84 points in their five matches. Highlighting just how poor a tournament Wales endured in 2023, Wales points tally of 84 points was matched by the personal haul of Frenchman, Thomas Ramos.

Ramos’ 84-point total helped France to a colossal total of 174 points throughout the tournament, aided by five tries for Damian Penaud.

A Changing of the Guard in 2024

In a post-World Cup year retirements at the top level of world rugby are inevitable but this year’s Six Nations seems to have served up an unprecedented level of absent stars. Incredibly, only Italy go into this year’s competition with the same captain as in their 2023 campaign.

The one hugely significant absentee from the French squad ahead of this year’s Six Nations Championship is three-time Six Nations Player of the Tournament, Antoine Dupont. Toulouse scrum half, Dupont will instead join up with his nation’s seven-a-side squad as he prepares to take part in the Olympics scheduled for Paris later this year.

France aren’t the only nation having to make do without one of their most important players at this year’s tournament. England fly-half and captain, Owen Farrell made himself unavailable for England selection ahead of the Six Nations. England will also be without recently-retired duo Courtney Lawes and Ben Youngs.

Just a few months on from the 2023 Rugby World Cup, many of the game’s biggest names have decided to call time on their respective international careers. Ireland are without their record points scorer, Jonny Sexton and 101-cap winger, Keith Earls whilst Scotland are missing their all-time top try scorer and two-time Six Nations Player of the Tournament, Stuart Hogg.

Meanwhile, Wales are undoubtedly a nation in transition. Warren Gatland’s side lost the likes of Alun Wyn Jones, Dan Biggar and Leigh Halfpenny to retirement after the World Cup but that is just the tip of the iceberg as far as absentees are concerned. Liam Williams and Tomas Francis are unavailable following their respective switches to play in Japan and France, Taulupe Faletau is injured and Louis Rees-Zammit has opted to swap Rugby Union for the NFL’s International Player Pathway.

Betting Tips

The bookmakers’ outright odds point towards another two-way battle between Ireland and France. The two nations meet in the tournament’s opening fixture but the Friday evening match will be posted in rather unfamiliar surroundings. Not only have France lost their captain and talisman for this year’s Six Nations but Les Bleus have also lost use of their traditional Stade de France home. The venue is being readied for the Olympic Games and instead France’s home games during the Six Nations will be played elsewhere across the country. France take on Ireland at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille before taking on Italy and England in Lille and Lyon respectively.

Despite losing to Ireland in a subsequent Grand Slam decider twelve months ago, France head into this year’s tournament as the bookies’ outright favourites. The likes of Penaud and Ramos will undoubtedly feature prominently in the ‘top points scorer’ and ‘top try scorer’ markets.

The nation arguably being overlooked ahead of this year’s Six Nations is Scotland. A kind run of fixtures coupled with the sort of squad consistency most other nations can only dream of could give Scotland a real chance.

Scotland should prove too strong for a new-look Wales in Cardiff on the opening weekend before home advantage could be a deciding factor in back-to-back games at Murrayfield against France and England. Scotland would be expected to win away at Italy on match day four and that leaves just the small matter of Ireland in Dublin on the final weekend.

If Ireland and Scotland both go into the final weekend with four wins apiece, the Aviva Stadium crowd could get the Irish over the line, however away games against France and England may well see Ireland’s Grand Slam hopes dashed well before that March 16th fixture.

Six Nations Prediction from Jamie Baulch

Olympian Jamie Baulch, who is one of our Sports Betting Ambassadors at betting.bet, shares his thoughts and predictions on the Six Nations:

"Hemisphere teams? England was the only one to get to the Semi-Finals, and even they got knocked out by South Africa, who took the whole thing. Oh, and Netflix just dropped that ‘Six Nations: Full Contact’ docuseries about last year's games right before the 2024 season kicked off. Some teams definitely played up to the cameras more than others.

This year, we're missing a bunch of familiar faces. A bunch of legends retired, some players are taking a break for the Sevens at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, others stepped back for personal stuff, and then there’s Louis Rees-Zammit from Wales who's trying his luck in the NFL for a bit.

This tournament's gonna be wild, right? Let's dive into the preview and predictions.

6th place: Italy. Yeah, we thought they'd be awesome this year, but maybe we got a bit carried away. Their coach Kieran Crowley is out after the World Cup. He did some good stuff, like breaking their losing streak in the Six Nations and beating Australia, but Italy's still struggling. They've got a new coach, Gonzalo Quesada. He's got a solid track record, but it's tough for Italy at the senior level. They're getting better, but it's not quite there yet.

5th place: Wales. It's been rough for them. Gatland's back as coach, but there's been a lot of drama with player strikes and budget cuts. A lot of their star players just retired, and now they're missing key players like Jac Morgan, Dewi Lake, and Taulupe Faletau. And Rees-Zammit's NFL move was a total shocker. Gatland's got a young squad now, so it's gonna be a bumpy ride.

4th place: England. They're shaking things up too, with a bunch of new players. Owen Farrell's taking a break, and that's huge. There's a lot of talk about who's going to fill his shoes. They're usually slow starters in the Six Nations, but they've got a solid forward pack. The backline's a bit green, though, so we'll see how they do.

3rd place: Ireland. They're not as unstoppable as they were last year. They were favorites at the World Cup but got knocked out in the quarters. Johnny Sexton's gone, and that's a big gap to fill. They've got some solid players stepping up, though, like Ross Byrne and Jack Crowley. The team's strong, but starting against France in Paris is tough.

1st place: Scotland. It's their time. They're in good shape, health-wise, and have Townsend and Finn Russell leading the charge. They've got home games against France and England, which could be a big advantage. Their pack's strong, and they've got some great players in the backline. The big test will be against Ireland in Dublin. This could be their year.

So, there you have it. The Six Nations is always full of surprises, so let's see how it all plays out!"

Six Nations Fixtures

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

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