It’s the middle weekend of the 2025 Six Nations Championship and time for the challengers to step up to the mark.

Ireland heads into week 3 as the only unbeaten team in the competition and conventional wisdom doesn’t just suggest that it will remain that way after this trip to Cardiff – it screams that it will. That’s only partly due to Irish quality. Mostly, it is down to the dismal state of Welsh rugby.

Elsewhere the three teams with one win and a loss will be looking to emerge from week 3 with a live chance of catching the Irish if they trip up in the final two matches.

Two of those teams, England and Scotland, face each other in the Calcutta Cup. The Scots have an excellent record in the match in recent years, but the English are feeling confident after defeating the French last time out.

The final game of the weekend will see the Italians play host to the French who will be sore about defeat in London and another wasted Grand Slam opportunity. Will Italy ddd to the pain or will the French rebound in style?

Let’s see how the bookies have re-ranked the teams to win the championship and also in this third set of matches.

Six Nations Championship odds

Here are the updated tournament odds from BetMGM:

• Ireland – 4/9
• France – 7/2
• England – 11/2
• Scotland – 80/1
• Italy – 175/1
• Wales – 425/1

The odds compilers are in no doubt that Ireland is the team to chase, not least because France must still visit Dublin. Might England represent value?

The schedule sees them play Scotland, Italy and Wales in the final three matches and if they win all three, and the French do them a favour, they might yet upset the favourites. They need to start winning by big margins, however, and that’s something that has been beyond them in the last two years.

Wales v Ireland

The Welsh head coach Warren Gatland has gone, replaced by Englishman Matt Sherratt, but realistically what has changed for the embattled principality? Perhaps only that there was a sense, in the defeat to Italy last time out, that Gatland had lost the squad and that the players needed a new voice.

It remains a brutal truth that the playing reserves are currently low, however. On the upside, the visitors have something of a mini-injury crisis as they cross the Irish Sea. Among those sidelined are captain Caelan Doris and the influential Tadhg Furlong. But it’s a reminder of Welsh weakness that Ireland’s squad depth can cope with such problems.

Wales v Ireland odds

Here are the latest match odds for Wales v Ireland from Betfred.

• Wales: 14/1
• Draw: 28/1
• Ireland: 1/80

Betting Tip: Dan Sheehan to score 2 or more tries

A new coach’s voice will bring new energy to Wales and the selection of Gareth Anscombe at fly-half will provide experience and solidity, but this remains an incredibly difficult task. The fact that the Irish have lost world-class talent and replaced it with more of the same almost mocks the Welsh problems.

New Irish captain Sheehan can add to the pain. He’s a huge threat from set pieces close to the opposition line and also dangerous in open play. He was the joint top try-scorer in last year’s championship and scored again from the bench in week 1.

Bet on Dan Sheehan to score 2 or more tries at 11/4 with SBK

England v Scotland

If you could hear a noise emanating from the Twickenham area on Saturday teatime a couple of weeks ago it was 82,000 fans breathing an enormous sigh of relief as England finally won a match that went right down to the wire. Nor was it a fluke because the team had to show desire and skill as they went toe-to-toe with the French in an exhilarating rollercoaster finale.

New fly-half Fin Smith became an instant hero and will now have to cope with extra scrutiny as well as informed attention from the opposition. The Scots were yet again trampled by the Irish but they will be hoping to maintain a different trend this week because they have won five of the last seven matches between these two teams.

England v Scotland odds

Here are the latest match odds for England v Scotland from Betfred.

• England: 1/4
• Draw: 22/1
• Scotland: 3/1

Betting Tip: England to win by 1-12 points

The French are deserved favourites and England have taken an attacking approach to the situation, bring in Finn Smith at fly half and pushing Marcus Smith to full back. While that offers options going forward it might be worth recalling the extent to which the French scrum half Antoine Dupont used his kicking game to find the wingers in week one.

If the returning Damian Penaud, who needs only two tries to tie the great Serge Blanco as France’s all-time top tryscorer, gets one-on-one with Smith it could be a repeat of Mike Catt versus Jonah Lomu whether on the ground or in the air. 

Bet on England to win by 1-12 points at 8/5 with bet365

Italy v France

If Josh Adams had collected a relatively straightforward kick early in Italy’s last match against Wales, the result might have been different. But he didn’t and thereafter the Welsh were an easy nut to crack for an Azzuri team that desperately wants to prove it is more competitive than ever.

That said, the Italians are up against it this week. They defeated the French back-to-back in 2011 and 2013 but they’ve not won since. On the other hand, last year’s result was a draw. How will France respond to defeat in London? For all their imposing strength and quality they lack a ruthless streak.

Italy v France odds

Here are the latest match odds for Italy v France from Betfred.

• Italy: 15/2
• Draw: 28/1
• France: 1/16

Betting Tip: France total points under 36.5

Matches between these two are either tight or France runs away with it. That makes complete sense of course: it’s a titan of the game versus a minnow.

This market allows for both possibilities unless the Italians collapse absolutely. Put simply: the bet would have won in 13 of the last 18 matches between the two teams and two of the exceptions were World Cup warm-up matches. The numbers are on our side with this one.

Bet on France total points under 36.5 at 20/23 with Betfred

How to watch the Six Nations Championship Week 3

Wales v Ireland: 

• Location: Principality Stadium, Cardiff
• Date and Time: Saturday 22nd February, 14:15
• How to watch: BBC, S4C, Virgin Media

England v Scotland:

• Location: Allianz Stadium, Twickenham
• Date and Time: Saturday 22nd February, 16:45
• How to watch: ITV, RTÉ

Italy v France: 

• Location: Stadio Olimpico, Rome
• Date and Time: Sunday 23rd February, 15:00
• How to watch: ITV, Virgin Media

About the author

Matt Cooper

Matt Cooper has been a golf journalist for 15 years. He’s worked for, among others, Golf365, SkySports, ESPN, NBC, Sporting Life, Open.com and the Guardian. He specialises in feature writing, reporting and tournament analysis. He’s covered numerous Opens, Ryder Cups and Solheim Cups, and travelled to golfing destinations as varied as Kazakhstan, South Korea, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Find Matt on Twitter @MattCooperGolf

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