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2025 Six Nations predictions betting tips and odds: France to leave hat-trick contenders Ireland feeling blue

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Six Nations best bet

France-Ireland straight forecast
1pt 4-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Six Nations betting odds

Odds correct at the time of publication

Six Nations winner predictions

For the last three years the Six Nations has been all about Ireland and France and the 2025 tournament looks set to be no different.

Those two nations have locked down first and second spot in the last three years, although 2024 wasn’t supposed to be Ireland's year as Les Bleus went off 6-5 tournament favourites largely because they had home advantage for the clash between the two.

France fluffed their lines in that match and again in a draw with Italy, and given the betting pattern over recent tournaments, Ireland should be favourites again as they face Les Bleus in Dublin.

However, just as last year doubts over France’s readiness for the campaign proved justified, this year Ireland are the ones being questioned while the French look to hold the aces.


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The main question mark over Ireland is how they will perform without Andy Farrell, who led them to their back-to-back successes but is now on sabbatical as he prepares to lead the British & Irish Lions to Australia in the summer.

Defence coach Simon Easterby is holding the reins and one of the big calls he has had to make is at fly-half. 

Last year Munster’s Jack Crowley was seen as the man to succeed Johnny Sexton but this year Easterby has gone for Sam Prendergast of Leinster, who started Ireland’s last two autumn Tests.

There's stacks of experience around the pitch but the combination of a new man at the helm and a new playmaker at number ten leaves a feeling that Ireland may be slow into gear, and coming up against great spoilers England in round one only reinforces that.

Contrast Ireland’s start with that of France, who kick it all off against Wales on Friday night.

Last year France were the ones with a selection headache due to the unavailability of their two best players. Scrum-half Antoine Dupont was away with the Olympics Sevens squad, while fly-half Romain Ntamack was injured.

Romain Ntamack (right) is back to pull the strings for France
Romain Ntamack (right) is back to pull the strings for FranceCredit: Charlotte Wilson/Offside

The Toulouse teammates are back in tandem now and their club’s performance in Europe has set a blueprint that the national team can follow.

Les Toulousains signed off for the pool stage in Europe with an 80-12 rout of Leicester just two weeks ago to make it a perfect four wins from four with 33 tries scored.

There are no fewer than eight Toulouse players in France’s starting line-up on Friday, while six of the seven backs play for either Les Toulousains or Bordeaux, who remarkably matched that fine European record with four wins and 33 tries to finish above Ugo Mola's side.

There’s plenty of power up front too and France look poised to make a confident start against a Wales side who seem to have lurched from one adversity to another, having failed to win a single match in 2024 and now facing a raft of injuries.

So a fast start for France, uncertain times for Ireland, is that enough to decide a championship? Well, not on its own, but in a campaign of five matches crammed into seven weeks it’s vital to hit the ground running and France look ready to do just that.

If it’s just a two-horse race then a France-Ireland dual forecast at 17-10 looks a nice price, while the straight forecast is an attractive 4-1, but can any team crash the party?

Wales and England are the only teams to have done so, and given that Wales are the easier team to draw a line through, the key question is what can England offer?

Having reached the semi-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Steve Borthwick’s men endured a disappointing 2024. The one high point was victory over Ireland to deny them another Grand Slam, but even that came thanks to a last-gasp drop goal, and they won only two of eight subsequent games, both against Japan.

That run includes three meetings with New Zealand, all of which were decided by seven points or fewer, and losses to France, South Africa and Australia were also by single-figure margins.

England will need mercurial fly-half Marcus Smith to be at the top of his game
England will need mercurial fly-half Marcus Smith to be at the top of his gameCredit: David Rogers

The major concern for England, as was pointed out at the time, is that so many of those defeats came from winning positions in the closing stages, just as in the World Cup semi-final against South Africa, when they led 15-6 with a shade over ten minutes to go before losing 16-15.

The glass is half full in that England are at least putting themselves in those positions, but losing 42-37 to Australia through a try scored with the clock in the red was one of the most painful experiences of the year.

Having scrum-half Alex Mitchell fit again is a boost, Marcus Smith is a genuine talent at fly-half and there’s plenty of physicality in the side, but consistency is still the missing link.

And consistency is yet again the issue for Scotland, who last year beat England, lost only narrowly to France and Ireland, yet went down to Italy in Rome.

The Scots have picked up three wins in five of the nine seasons since they ended up with the wooden spoon in 2015. But the leap from three wins to four – the standard needed to challenge for the title – still appears too great.

The wooden spoon then comes down to Wales or Italy, who meet in Rome in round two.

Wales are odds-on to finish bottom of the pile again while Italy are 13-10. It’s 22-1 bar the two.

It looks set to be a tough scrap at the bottom but things could be more clear-cut at the top and the top two should pull away again.

France, the only northern hemisphere team to beat New Zealand in the autumn, look the pick with their huge array of in-form attacking weapons and they can lead the way from two-time defending champions Ireland.


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Read more on the Six Nations . . .

France vs Wales predictions, betting tips and odds: Les Bleus can deliver a statement of Six Nations intent 

Six Nations: France stars Bielle-Biarrey and Dupont tipped for individual honours


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