Ireland and France are currently ranked one and two in the world and it is quite foreseeable that they will finish in that order in the 2023 Six Nations.
A straight IRELAND-FRANCE forecast is 100/30 with Paddy Power and Betfair.
They are the most disciplined of the six teams, the best defensively, and have relatively settled squads and head coaches in Andy Farrell and Fabien Galthie who are entering their fourth Championship in charge.
Only having two home games is sometimes seen as a disadvantage but in the last 10 Championships, that hasn’t been the case with the titles split 50:50.
Crucially though, Ireland play Les Bleus, the defending champions, at the Aviva Stadium in round two. It may be made up of a lot of glass but very rarely are any cracks exposed.
Last year the destiny of the title was effectively decided by the result in Paris and it is shaping up to be that way again, but with Ireland the team at home this time around.
Ireland are currently on a record 12-game winning streak at their fortress, where they have only lost twice in the past six years.
France has the know-how to win there, having been one of the two teams to have done so in that six-year period in the 2021 Six Nations but of the two outfits, they have been more inconvenienced by injury, and we reckon Ireland will get over the line.
Eddie Jones won the Six Nations in his first season in charge and Steve Borthwick will look to do the same but while doing the basics well might be good enough to win the Gallagher Premiership, it looks improbable that his success with Leicester will translate to the Test stage, not immediately anyhow.
Serial winner Warren Gatland will give Wales an emotional uplift but with many of the squad now in the twilight of their Test careers, it probably won’t be enough.
Scotland are still maddeningly inconsistent and while Gregor Townsend is still around as head coach, for now, changes to his backroom team on the eve of the Six Nations must have been disruptive.
As for Italy, it is hard to argue the case for anything other than an eighth straight wooden spoon. Wales at home and Scotland away are their best bets to avoid a whitewash but, by then, their squad might be feeling the effects of three massively physical games.
