Can England keep their winning streak intact when they travel to Wales on Saturday, at 4pm on BBC One?

For a moment there it looked like Eddie Jones was going to suffer his first defeat since taking over England back in November 2015. With just 10 minutes to go France were leading at Twickenham, the injury-weakened Red and Whites playing with a sloppiness absent from most of their stellar run last year. Yet then on came Ben Te’o, scoring his first England try just 2 minutes after stepping onto the pitch – and despite Owen Farrell missing the subsequent conversion it was enough, giving Jones’ the narrowest margin of victory of his tenure at 19-16.



Nevertheless a win is a win, one that takes England’s string of unbeaten games to 15. That’s just 3 away from New Zealand’s record of 18, an achievement that could be surpassed if Jones’ side repeat their Six Nations success from last year. The Outright Index spreads suggest as much, with England sitting at 45-58, far above Ireland at 28-31, France at 19-22 and Wales at 16-19; they also are odds on favourites at 4/7, and are at 2/1 to win the Grand Slam.

Standing in their way this week is a Wales side who predictably swept past Italy 33-7, with an impressive kicking performance from Leigh Halfpenny. Considering what is at stake the pressure will undoubtedly be more on the English and the result may be just as tight was it was at Twickenham last weekend, with Spreadex offering an England/Wales (h) Points Supremacy spread of 3.5-5.5.

Before that game in Cardiff, however, Ireland need to try and recover from last weekend’s shock defeat to Scotland by trouncing Italy in Rome, at 2.25pm on ITV. Ireland will be gutted that, after their historic win over New Zealand last November, they slumped to a Scottish loss for the first time since 2013. At least they have the softest 2nd game possible, taking on an Italian side that have won just 1 Six Nations game in their last 11. Joe Schmidt won’t be happy with anything but a cricket score – lucky our traders have the same thing in mind, offering an Ireland/Italy (h) Points Supremacy spread of 24-27.

Finally, Sunday sees an aggrieved France look to take their frustrations out on Scotland, at 3pm on BBC One. The French were unlucky not to beat England at Twickenham, a fact that may end up hurting the Scots rather badly. Vern Cotter’s side, however, have an underappreciated tenacity, as Ireland came to find out last weekend. The hosts are still fancied, but it could be close, with Spreadex offering a France/Scotland Points Supremacy spread of 5-8.