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Scotland’s 2021 Six Nations Odds Move to +408 After Beating England Away

Robert Duff

by Robert Duff in Rugby

Updated Feb 16, 2021 · 8:43 AM PST

Scotland's Hamish Watson and Scott Steele celebrating after beating England
Scotland's Hamish Watson, left, and Scotland's Scott Steele celebrate at the end of the Six Nations rugby union international between England and Scotland at Twickenham stadium in London, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. Scotland won the match 11-6. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
  • Scotland’s average odds of winning the Six Nations rugby championship have shortened from +1775 to +408
  • The Scots were 11-6 winners away to England, their first victory at Twickenham since 1983
  • France is now the +120 chalk to win the tournament

For the first time in decades, Scotland are long on success. That’s causing the odds on the Scots winning the 2021 Six Nations Championship to shorten significantly.

Scotland opened the tournament with average odds of +1775 to emerge as Six Nations champions. Following Saturday’s stunning 11-6 away triumph over reigning champions England, Scotland’s average odds of capturing the title are now shortened to +408.

Bet365 goes even lower. The sportsbook is listing the Scots with odds of +400 to win it all. That puts Scotland level second on the board with the English in the 2021 Six Nations odds.

2021 Six Nations Rugby Odds

Country Odds
France +120
England +400
Scotland +400
Ireland +700
Wales +700
Italy +100000

Odds as of Feb. 10th at Bet365.

France are the +120 favorites to win the Six Nations.

Scotland The Brave

How long had it been since Scotland won at Twickenham? Well, Margaret Thatcher was in her first term at 10 Downing Street as British Prime Minister when the Scots downed England 22-12 on March 5, 1983, in what was then still the Five Nations tourney.

Factor in the Scotland-England 38-38 draw in 2019, and for the first time in history, the Scots have gone two games in a row at Twickenham without suffering defeat. In fact, Scotland is 2-1-1 over the past four Calcutta Cup matches.

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Going back to last year’s tourney, Scotland have won four Six Nations matches in succession. The last time the Scots did that was in 1990, when they went 4-0 to capture the Five Nations title. They haven’t won five in a row in this competition since 1983-84, a streak that was launched via their previous win at Twickenham.

Now comes the hard part. Upsets are special, but with success comes expectations. Scotland play host to Wales at Murrayfield on Saturday, Feb. 13 and will be expected to come away with the victory.

French Dine On Italians

Coming ever so close to grabbing the Six Nations crown a year ago, France’s young side is a year more experienced and favored to close the deal this time around.

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The French did the required in Round 1, drubbing Italy 50-10. They’ll get a tougher test this week, traveling to Dublin to tangle with Ireland.

Methodical England

For the second time in as many years, England opened the Six Nations with a setback. Last year, the English lost at France. Then they ran the table to top the table and take the title.

There’s a worrisome concern with England’s style, though. Despite lining up several backs equipped with attacking flare, England manager Eddie Jones is preferring a methodical, almost robotic style of rugby.

Kicking is their first option, looking to play a physical game and wear down opponents into mistakes.

It didn’t work against the Scottish, who were able to outmuscle the England pack and put the English on the back foot.

Two Key Matches

The fate of the Six Nations likely comes down to two matches. In Week 3, Scotland journey to France on Sunday, Feb. 28. Week 4 sees the French as the visitors at Twickenham on Saturday, March 13.

If France gets through these two contests unscathed, the French will celebrate their first Six Nations title since 2010.

Pick: France (+120)

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