The 2022 Six Nations Championship starts on Saturday 5 February, with the top rugby union betting sites anticipating that there are three main challengers to claim an overall success. Interestingly, champions Wales are not one of them, with Wayne Pivac’s side having a tough opening clash in Dublin and they are big betting outsiders to land a victory.
Ireland are among many people’s Six Nations betting tips, with this well-coached and well-balanced squad aiming to play to their potential and the advantage that they have is that three games at the Aviva Stadium starting with the arrival of Wales, with the rugby bookies expecting the boys in green to win by a comfortable margin.
Are Ireland the Best Six Nations Bet in 2022?
Many punters will be backing Ireland with the best rugby union bookmakers considering they are around the 3/1 mark to win the championship and they are a very short price when you look at the Ireland betting odds to beat Wales in this opener. The odds about the boys in green means that it might only be rugby union accumulators where punters will look to back them.
Indeed, the rugby union betting sites make Ireland sixteen points better than Wales when it comes to this encounter and that’s a big margin even taking into account the home advantage that they will enjoy. When the teams clashes at the Millennium Stadium on 7 February 2021, it was Wales who claimed a 21-16 victory, so the bookies are anticipating a 21-point swing by virtue of the rugby handicap market.
Over the past five years, Ireland have made the Aviva Stadium something of a fortress and you can count the number of home defeats that have been experienced on two fingers. That has included twenty-eight matches and they come into the Six Nations after racking up eight successive wins including some impressive performances in the autumn internationals.
Do Wales Stand Any Chance of Winning Six Nations Opener?
It’s hard to make too strong a case for Wales to win in Dublin despite that tight victory over Ireland twelve months ago and the cards appeared to be stacked against the current Six Nations holders who will be missing Alun Wyn Jones, Ken Owens and Justin Tipuric among others, something that is bound to hurt them.
The Six Nations outright betting odds actually have Wales as fifth favourites and it will be a patched-up side that take to the field at the Aviva Stadium, with the bookies prepared to make them a 6/1 chance to claim a victory in Dublin. We’re not sure that they’re going to beat any team aside from Italy in this Championship and it could be a fallow year for a team who often follow a good year with a bad one.
What Are the Best Bets for Ireland v Wales?
When it comes to the rugby union betting odds, we wouldn’t put you off backing Ireland to overcome a sizeable handicap in front of their own supporters when clashing against Wales. There was that crushing 53-7 win over Argentina to sign off in style for 2021 and that had come after a mightily impressive 29-20 victory over New Zealand to indicate that we’re looking at genuine World Cup contenders.
Ireland could even be taken on the alternative match handicap, with rugby betting sites offering them at around the 6/4 mark with a -19.5 points handicap. The team will be looking to make a fast start and their opponents might struggle to get any sort of points on the board.