The Machine continued where it left off in week one of the Six Nations, as the Grand Slam winner adopts a new tactic to try and even things up
Rugby is a numbers game, yet it is also a game that is played in the head.
For that reason, we are pitching the human instinct of World Cup and Grand Slam winner Mike Tindall against the mathematical calculations of the Betway Machine throughout the 2016 Six Nations.
The aim? To discover who can offer the most insight into which way the tournament will go.
The pair will be given two free bets of £5 to place on all three matches during each gameweek, with the overall winner being determined by who manages to accumulate the most profit by the end of the competition.
The Machine stormed into an early lead in Round 1 – banking £33.75 with two perfect predictions in the Scotland v England game at Murrayfield.
So, which way do they each see this weekend’s fixtures going? Let’s find out…
Match 1: France v Ireland (Saturday, 14:25)
Machine predictions:
7/1 – France to win by 11-15 points | 7/1 – France to score exactly 3 tries
Mike says:
“Most people have France as slight underdogs, and I will be amazed if France win by as many as the Machine is predicting.
“I still think France will win, but I think it will be a bit closer than that.
“France scored three tries last weekend against Italy and probably could have scored a few more had they not made so many handling errors.
“They also leaked quite a few points and Ireland always have it within them to score a couple of tries of their own so the game certainly has the potential to be quite a high-scoring affair.
“However, Ireland are naturally a very efficient side and coming so early in the tournament you never quite know what the weather is going to bring, so I think we will see fewer points than normal in this fixture.
4/1 – France to win by 1-5 points | Evens – Total points under 35.5
Match 2: Wales v Scotland (Saturday, 16:50)
Machine predictions:
9/2 – Wales to win by 11-15 points | 2/1 – Scotland to score exactly 1 try
Mike says:
“After their performance last weekend the onus is on Scotland to improve their attack.
“They had a few opportunities in the first half but barely created anything to trouble England during the last 50 minutes.
“Now that the hype surrounding their first game has gone, Scotland may be able to get back to return to playing with a bit more freedom – especially being away from home where they are not expected to win.
“The roof is probably going to be closed so conditions won’t be an issue and I can see Wales scoring three tries.
“I still don’t think that they will run away with it, however.”
9/2 – Wales to win by 6-10 points | 7/2 – Wales to score exactly 3 tries
Match 3: Italy v England (Sunday, 14:00)
Machine predictions:
11/2 – England to win by 21-25 points | 7/4 – Italy to score 0 tries
Mike says:
“Eddie Jones has demanded a ‘hiding’ but he has got to be a little careful about what he says because Italy played a lot better than anyone expected against France.
“Jacques Brunel seems to have given them a bit more freedom judging by the amount of offloading and moving the ball out wide that we saw in Paris.
“I still fully expect England to win but I don’t think that it will be a walkover.
“I think the handicap of 15.5 points is very generous but I will hedge my bets a little and go for a winning margin of over 13 points.
“England will certainly look to play a bit more rugby than we saw at Murrayfield, though, so I will still back them to score a total of four tries.”
1/2 – England to win by 13+ points | 13/2 – England to score exactly 4 tries
*Odds and amounts correct at time of publication but subject to change. See site for latest.
READ: Mike Tindall: Dylan stood out as a natural leader even when I was England captain
READ: Man v Machine 2.0: Will Mike Tindall make his Six Nations experience count in Round 1?
