Sky Bet 6N Q&A

The punters all wanted to be with Scotland right up until kick-off, but we then saw a few huge bets for England. Punters who backed Scotland can probably count themselves as unfortunate.

The France game went pretty much as expected, the least popular game of the weekend.

Ireland v Wales was an odd game, as we lost heavily on Wales winning the match, but won huge on Ireland not covering the handicap. All in all a good first weekend for us.

Q: One the face of it France against Ireland looks easily the most competitive match of this weekend. Where is the money going so far?

Italy v England is actually the closest handicap of the week, who would have thought that a few years ago?

Obviously that is hugely influenced by Italy being at home and Ireland being away. You are right in that France and Ireland are the best matched teams meeting this week, but with Ireland's poor record in Paris I would expect to see all the money for France, who were reasonably impressive last weekend.

Q: In Rome England surely will be looking to play a more expansive game It should be a case of how many and if so will this be the most popular market?

England were terrible last weekend. I know they are a new team, under a new coach, but they need to improve very quickly. Italy match-up well in a lot of England's areas of strength, ie set piece, and I think they will make things very difficult for England this weekend. I would be far from surprised if Italy beat them.

Q: Wales began the campaign in great fashion and now take on Scotland. How is the book looking?

Wales will be well backed as always this weekend. The punters love them against any team, so at home to Scotland I would envisage all the money for them, even at a biggish looking handicap.

Scotland will probably perform with more credit against Wales, and I am happy to lay Wales giving up 12 points against a team with a lot of improvement in them.

That said, Wales look like they could blow most sides in the world away on their day and have more improvement to come, especially when they get their main line-out forwards back.

Q: Wales centre Jonathan Davies was the try scoring star of the weekend with two against the Irish. How is he looking in the try scoring markets?

He gets a lot of tries at club level, and is a top class player, but goes somewhat under the radar. All the attention is on George North (8/1), understandably so to an extent, and he will have a big say on how Sky Bet do over the rest of the tournament as far as this market is concerned.

Q: England flyer Chris Ashton will be looking to get off the mark against Italy after drawing a blank against the Scots. Is he still a popular choice in the try scoring market and have you seen money for anyone in particular?

Ashton is a phenomenal try scorer, and remains hugely popular, albeit not quite at the level he was after his amazing try scoring feats against Italy last year, when punters would seemingly back him at any price - first/last/anytime. He will be odds against to score anytime this weekend (11/8), which we would have been absolutely knocked over for this time last year.

Q: What about any movement in the overall outright markets in terms of the title, Triple Crown and Grand Slam?

Wales (11/4) are now shorter than France (7/2) to win the Grand Slam, helped by the fact that they are at home to France, in what looks to be a Championship and Grand Slam decider. Wales will be favourites at Twickenham, and rightly so. If they beat Scotland this weekend, and then see off England at Twickenham it looks all set for a huge match at Cardiff to decide it all.