A revamped England team will bid for salvation when they head into battle at the Six Nations this year. Eddie Jones’ men blew their rivals away in 2020, and they were the heavy favourites to defend their crown last year.
However, it ended in ignominy, as England finished fifth after losing to Scotland, Wales and Ireland. They are now firmly in rebuilding mode, but they have been installed as the second favourites to be crowned champions.
Can they pull it off? And are there any interesting betting angles that can heighten the excitement? Read on to learn how to spread bet on the Six Nations.
Six Nations Winner Betting
It promises to be the most open and entertaining Six Nations for many years. Wales are the reigning champions, and they will be full of confidence as they gear up for the tournament.
The Welsh beat Australia towards the end of November, while England secured a narrow victory over South Africa and France walloped the All Blacks by 15 points, completing a clean sweep and leaving the northern hemisphere as arguably the dominant region in world rugby.
Scotland also beat Australia and Japan in the autumn internationals, while Ireland got the better of New Zealand and thrashed Argentina 53-7 to bolster that sentiment.
Italy are likely to receive yet another wooden spoon, but the other five teams can all dare to dream of glory. Yet it is France that have been installed as the Six Nations favourites. They are priced at 6/4 with Sporting Index to be crowned champions.
England are next in the betting at 5/2, followed by Ireland at 7/2, Wales at 7/1, Scotland at 11/1 and Italy as the 1000/1 outsiders.
Six Nations Spread Betting
The prices quoted above are fixed-odds markets. You know exactly how much you stand to win or lose, as everything is fixed.
For example, if you were to bet £10 on England to win the Six Nations at 5/2, there would be two potential outcomes: you could earn a £25 profit if they were successful, or lose £10 if they were unsuccessful.
Spread betting differs to fixed odds betting, because your potential profit or loss is not fixed, and there are lots of potential outcomes.
For example, a leading spread betting site like Sporting Index might predict that there will be 43-46 points in a match at the Six Nations. You then have two options: sell at 43 if you think there will be fewer than 43 points, or buy at 46 if you think there will be more than 46 points.
Your profit or loss is calculated by multiplying your bet amount by the difference between the price you bought or sold at and the result. For example, if you bought at 46 for £10 and there were 50 points, you would earn a £40 profit. The result is 4 greater than the price you bought at, and that is multiplied by your £10 stake to calculate your profit.
If there were 51 points in the match, you would earn a £50 profit. If there were 52 points, you would earn £60, and so on. As you can see, nothing is fixed. If you buy at 46 for £10 and there are only 43 points in the game, you lose £30, because it is 3 lower than the price you bought at.
Many sports fans like spread betting, because it offers the opportunity to earn a large profit from a relatively modest bet amount. However, it is potentially riskier than fixed-odds betting, you can lose several times your stake if you make incorrect predictions.
A Variety of Options
You will be able to choose from an abundance of spread betting options on the Six Nations. A popular option is Match Supremacy Index.
For example, at last year’s Six Nations, Sporting Index made England the 2-5 point favourites to beat Ireland. If you thought England would win by more than 5 points, you could have bought at 5. If you thought they would lose, draw or win by just a single point, you could have sold at 2.
In the end, Ireland won 32-18, so anyone that sold at 2 earned 16 times their stake. That is because the result of the market was -14, as the underdog Ireland won by 14 points, and the difference between the sell price of 2 and -14 is 16.
There are also sorts of fun spread betting options on the Six Nations. You can bet on team points, the minute of the first team try, the cumulative minutes at which a player will score tries, and so on.
There are lots of fun, unique markets that you will not find at fixed-odds betting sites. For example, Team Shirts is a prediction on the cumulative shirt numbers worn by all the try scorers in a match.
You will also find markets covering the entire tournament, such as the Championship Index. The winner of the Six Nations Championships is awarded 60 points, while the runner-up gets 40 points, third gets 20 points, fourth gets 10 points and the other two teams get nothing. You will find a buy and a sell price on each team, allowing you to pit your wits against the bookie in a bid to win a handsome payout while enjoying the 2022 Six Nations.
