Here is a closer look at how using specific data, such as team form and head-to-head statistics, can potentially help you turn those frustrating losing bets into winning bets when wagering on the Six Nations Rugby, which is currently in full swing. It got underway on 31 January and will end on 15 March.
What is the Six Nations rugby tournament, and which teams are involved?
The Six Nations involves the following teams:
- England
- France
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Italy
- Wales
It’s an annual event, and each of these international rugby teams plays the other five teams once each season.
The most successful team with 29 outright wins and 10 shared wins is England, followed by Wales with 28 outright wins and 11 shared, France with 18 outright and eight shared wins, Ireland has 16 outright and eight shared wins and Scotland has 14 outright and eight shared wins.
How form and head-to-head stats can be used to place more strategic Six Nations bets
If you are at all familiar with sports betting, then you should already know that understanding a team or individual’s recent form can give you a rough idea of how they will perform in their next event.
For example, if Team 1 that you’re considering betting on has won all five of their last events, then you could say that they’re in good form going into their next event.
If they are playing Team 2, who has lost their last five games, then Team 2 is currently in bad form and likely to put on a similarly poor performance in their next match.
So, if Team 1 plays Team 2 with both their current forms, it’s highly unlikely that Team 1 will lose. They should obliterate their opponents, and the real-time pre-match and in-play odds will reflect this.
In other words, understanding the form and the odds and associated odds for any given betting market can help you make better decisions and more sensible wagers.
Another thing to consider is head-to-head stats and historical results between the two teams. For example, using the same example above, if Team 1 always smashes Team 2 by a huge scoreline, it would be silly to bet on Team 2.
However, it’s also important to remember that anything can happen in a rugby match to upset the odds, meaning the least favourites with the lowest odds and implied probability rate can sometimes beat the clear odds-on favourites.
It doesn’t always happen, but crazy results can happen. To mitigate risk, you should try to gather as many stats and as much head-to-head data as possible to help you place far more informed bets with a much higher chance of returning a profit.
For example, at this year’s Six Nations, England is set to face Scotland on 22 February at 16:45. The last four times these two teams have faced each other, Scotland has won all four, so if you were to bet on this match, a much safer bet would be on Scotland to win, not England.
This is already reflected in the odds currently being offered by the iGaming industry’s safest online sports betting sites, most of which have been expertly reviewed for you on the official AskGamblers UK review site.
For example, the bookies currently have Scotland priced at around 27/100 in the UK fractional odds format, meaning Scotland has an overwhelming 78.70% chance of winning the match outright.
In comparison, England is the underdog in this fixture and is currently priced at around 5/2 with only a 28.60% chance of winning.
Are there any clear favourites already determined?
Yes. According to the bookies, it’s already Ireland’s year to win the Six Nations competition outright, but only two exhilarating games have been played so far.
In terms of odds, the second most likely to win is France, followed by England, Scotland and Italy, with the clear underdogs being Wales.
Even though England have a better chance of winning the Six Nations than Scotland, Scotland is more likely to win their upcoming match against England.
Many pro sports bettors would see England as being a good ‘value bet’ when they face Scotland, and many say that England is worth betting on, even though they are the underdogs going into this fixture. It’s the nature of sports betting.
Conclusion
Arming yourself with as many relevant Six Nations rugby statistics as possible is the best way to ensure that any bets you place on this world-famous competition have the best chance of succeeding for you. You won’t always win, but using this knowledge to your advantage should help you lose fewer bets.
If you decide to place any bets on the 2025 Six Nations Rugby Championship, the safest thing to do before signing up anywhere and depositing is to devise a simple and sensible spending budget.
To ensure you never exceed your initial spending budget, the best advice we can give you is to head straight to your chosen online sportsbook’s responsible gambling section.
When logged into your account, you can manually set a range of effective gambling controls called safer gambling tools, which keep things safe and fun every time you log in to place bets.
We’ve found that some players find daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits work best for them to ensure they remain within their budgets, whereas others find that win/loss limits, session time reminders and spending caps work better. The important thing is that you use them and don’t overlook them.