- Italy +10 on the half-time handicap (10/11, William Hill)
- France to win by 21-30 points (100/30, Paddy Power)
- England v Scotland - Under 46.5 points at 5/6 (Bet 365, Bet Victor)
Italy v France, Saturday 6 February, 2.15pm (GMT), Stade Olimpico, Rome
France have shown that age is just a number of late with several members of their World Rugby U20 Championship-winning sides of 2018 and 2019 going on to star at international level.
Italy have unearthed some good young players of their own, through their U20 system, notably starting 10 Paolo Garbisi, but generally speaking they are not on the same level as Les Bleus’ young guns.
Nevertheless, Azzurri coach Franco Smith is looking to the future if his team selection for Saturday’s curtain-raising game is anything to go by.
With Test centurions like Leonardo Ghiraldini and Alessandro Zanni now retired, the majority of players in the starting XV only have a single-figure cap count and the average age is only 20.
Whether this Italy side has the maturity to deal with adversity is open to debate, as past Italian sides, even with more experienced heads on the pitch, have shown they are prone to falling apart when things start to go wrong.
This happened the last time the sides met in the Autumn Nations Cup. Italy did well in the first 40 to only trail 10-5 but they imploded after the break, following a yellow card, shipping three tries in eight minutes to lose by 30 points.
A similar pattern of events could unfold at the Stade Olimpico in Rome, where, after a bright start, Italy fade and are overrun by a Les Bleus side packed with attacking talent. With this in mind, giving the Azzurri a 10-point start on the half-time handicap looks a tad generous.
Italy: Trulla; Sperandio, Zanon, Brex, Ioane; Garbisi, Varney; Traore, Bigi, Riccioni, Lazzaroni, Sisi, Negri, Meyer, Lamaro.
Replacements: Lucchesi, Fischetti, Zilocchi, Cannone, Ruzza, Mbanda, Palazzani, Canna.
France: Dulin; Thomas, Vincent, Fickou, Villiere; Jalibert, Dupont; Baille, Marchand, Haouas, Le Roux, Willemse, Cretin, Alldritt, Ollivon (capt).
Replacements: Bourgarit, Gros, Aldegheri, Taofifenua, Jelonch, Serin, Carbonel, Penaud.
England v Scotland, Saturday 6 February, 4.45pm (GMT), Twickenham.
The last two Calcutta Cup matches played on the opening round of the Six Nations were hard-fought dour encounters played in poor conditions, and we don’t expect the latest instalment of the Calcutta Cup rivalry to be any different even if it is at Twickenham, not Murrayfield.
Stuart Lancaster began his reign in charge of England with a 13-6 win in 2012, while Eddie Jones’ opened up with a 15-9 win in 2016. Last season’s clash, also at a wet and windy Murrayfield, was of a similar vein, ending 13-6 to England.
The reigning champions are short-priced favourites to retain the trophy and have not lost to Scotland at Twickenham since 1983, so they are rightly expected to win again. But by 15 points?
Under Jones, England do not care how they go about winning, just as long as they do, and a repeat of the 76-point thriller that everyone was treated to the last time the Scots visited south-west London two years ago, when they came away with a 38-38 draw, is highly unlikely.
With two in-your-face back rows going toe-to-toe, both sides will probably struggle for good clean possession needed to release the backs. Also, the selection of Owen Farrell at 10, not 12, in place of George Ford, who is benched, suggests England are not going to break free from their shackles anytime soon.
Of course, players like Jonny May, the Championship’s top try-scorer in 2019, and Scotland’s steamrolling wing Duhan van der Merwe can make something out of nothing, but our advice would be to go low in the total points market (under 46.5 points, 10/11 Bet 365, Bet Victor)
Scotland will be up for the fight and this has all the makings of a right old scrap.
England: Daly; Watson, Slade, Lawrence, May; Farrell (capt), Youngs; Genge, George, Stuart, Itoje, Hill, Wilson, Curry, B Vunipola.
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Obano, Williams, Lawes, Earl, Robson, Ford, Malins.
Scotland: Hogg (capt); Maitland, Harris, Redpath, Van der Merwe; Russell, Price; Sutherland, Turner, Z Fagerson, Cummings, J Gray, Ritchie, Watson, M Fagerson.
Replacements: Cherry, Kebble, WP Nel, R Gray, Graham, Steele, Van der Walt, Jones
