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Horse Racing France vs Italy Best Bets: Six Nations Rugby Sunday February 6th
Six Nations Rugby begins this weekend. Looking toward the opening match between France and Italy, bettingexpert Super Tipster TheBettingStig delivers his best bets for the game.
In this article:
- France vs Italy Six Nations match preview
- France vs Italy Six Nations best bets
France take on Italy with a kick-off time of 3pm (UK time) at the Stade de France, Paris, on Sunday the 6th of February.
The forecast is for this to be another wet game with 80% chance of showers and 31 kmph wind which means handling of the ball may prove difficult especially for a team like France that loves to throw the ball around as they have become known for their attacking style of play.
The referee appointed for the match is Mike Adamson of Scotland, and this may well be the one that raises the most eyebrows of all the Round 1 appointments. Adamson has recently been involved in controversy when he handed Munster’s Simon Zebo a red card in the 15th minute of a January URC fixture, but a disciplinary hearing committee later went on to overturn the decision.
To add fuel to the social media fire that ensued, in a later Heineken Champions Cup fixture between Harlequins and Castres Adamson was once again criticised, this time for how he handled the final minutes where Castres was knocked out of the competition despite seemingly winning a legitimate turnover which he overlooked which resulted in him awarding a late try which, even though the on field decision was no try, the TMO could not provide conclusive evidence for.
The pressure will be huge on him to make good decisions and it remains to be seen whether further controversy will arise, especially since he will also blow the England vs Wales match at Twickenham on 26 February.
Refereeing decisions aside, this French side is loaded with superstars and early fears that Du Pont or Ntamack might not be available has been brushed aside as both have been named in the starting line-up. And with the superbly accurate boot of Jaminet who has been named in his familiar 15 jersey, I see no reason why this wouldn’t be the one sided affair that the books expect.
Italy have named a couple of débutantes in Tommaso Menoncello on the right wing and Toa Halafihi at the back of the pack, while flanker Manuel Zuliani and flyhalf Leonardo could be capped from the bench should they be called upon. It will be up to the experienced half back pairing of Stephen Varney and Paolo Garbisi to try and gain territory in the wet, with Callum Braley providing fly-half cover from the bench.
France vs Italy Six Nations Best Bet
France: -18.5 points 2nd Half
Perhaps the only factor that can folly the French is the weather, as wet conditions doesn’t really suit their attacking flair.
That said, I do think the books (who priced France +34.5) got this right and the French will simply overpower their opposition in every aspect and should run away with the score line in the second half.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that my favourite bet for this match is the second half handicap market, with France minus 18.5 second half at 1.82 for 10 units. This allows for one missed conversion from 3 tries over and above what the Italians can muster.
In other markets I really like the line of under 11.5 total match points by Italy at 1.45 for 5 units, and under 1.5 total match tries by Italy at 1.41 for 5 units
- Best Bet: France -18.5 points 2nd Half at odds of 1.82 (10/10 stakes)
Also consider…
- Italy Under 11.5 points at odds of 1.45 (5/10 stakes)
- Italy Under 1.5 tries at odds of 1.41 (5/10 stakes)
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