STAR PREVIEW: Six Nations Specials

One of the great benefits of the Six Nations is the variety of markets on offer and there are plenty of contests which actually might offer more value than the overall contests. Here are a look at some of them below:

Top Tryscorer

Betting on the top try scorer market for the 6 Nations is a tempting but tricky challenge; There are good prices on offer, but with just five matches, there are incredibly tight margins – and indeed as the past winners’ column shows there have been three occasions when the award has been shared between one or more players, and ties for the places are also common.

Don’t forget that you can request a player for this market, too – so there’ll be plenty of big prices on offer.

Bookmakers have understandably focused on Josh Adams, who was brilliant at the World Cup when he scored 7 tries – the most of any player at the tournament – and Jonny May, who scored six tries for England in last year’s Six Nations and took the top tryscorer award. Both will take a fair amount of beating here.

Jacob Stockdale won this for Ireland with seven tries two years ago and he might be value now this year under Andy Farrell. Stockdale scored six of his seven tries in home games in 2019, with three braces against Italy, Scotland and Wales, and whilst Mike Catt has only just arrived, he would be an obvious beneficiary of a more expansive Irish game plan.

France finished fourth last year but still had Yoann Huget finish second with four tries and Teddy Thomas looks an ideal contender this time around. Thomas scored three tires in 2018 for the French and has been flying at Racing 92, with six tries in this season’s Champions Cup, including three against Munster and a brace at the Ospreys from just four appearances. The high intensity gameplan of Romain Ntamack and Antoine Dupont should see the ball going wide regularly and Thomas looks sure to be on the premises regularly.

If it’s not Thomas scoring the tries for France, then Virimi Vakatawa could well be the one to make a big impact. Vakatawa was excellent for France during the World Cup, scoring their third try in the quarter-final against Wales, and has since kicked on for Racing 92, scoring four tries in the pool stages of the Champions Cup including a double against Saracens in the final pool stage. Vakatawa might benefit more directly from playing alongside Romain Ntmack if France can produce quick ball and 20/1 looks big about his chances.

Past Winners
2019: Jonny May (England, 6 tries)
2018: Jacob Stockdale (Ireland, 7 tries)
2017: Eight players tied for first with three tries (Danny Care, Keith Earls, CJ Stander, Stuart Hogg, Craig Gilroy, Johnathan Joseph)
2016: George North (Wales, 4 tries)
2015: Johnathan Joseph (England, 4 tries)
2014: Mike Brown and Johnathan Sexton (England and Ireland, 4 tries each)
2013: Alex Cuthbert (Wales, 4 tries)
2012: Tommy Bowe (Ireland, 5 tries)
2011: Chris Ashton (England, 6 tries)
2010: Tommy Bowe, Keith Earls, Shane Williams, James Hook (First two from Ireland, last two from Wales, all with three tries)

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Top Pointscorer

Owen Farrell, who won this last year with 59 points and was second only to Handre Pollard at the World Cup, is an obvious favourite but at even money the market has found him and there’s little to entice anyone into backing him. Dan Biggar is an interesting value option against Farrell at four times the price, given that he’ll have the kicking duties back from the injured Gareth Anscombe, as he did in the World Cup when he notched up 41 points. Wales were extremely effective in winning penalties last season and it would be no surprise to see them take plenty of shots at goal on the road, and Biggar, who is in form at Northampton, has the range to act as both the short and long distance kicker. He’s favoured ever so slightly over Jonnny Sexton.

Romain Ntamack is the second choice at 7/1. He’s been paired with Antoine Dupont, meaning that he should get the responsibilities off the tee given that Thomas Ramos, who kicked against Scotland last year, is not in the squad for Le Crunch this weekend. With three away games, neither of Scotland’s potential options make great appeal.

Past Winners:
2019: Owen Farrell (59 points, England)
2018: Maxime Machenaud (50 points, France)
2017: Camille Lopez (67 points, France)
2016: Owen Farrell (69 points, England)
2015: George Ford (75 points, England)
2014: Jonathan Sexton (66 points, Ireland)
2013: Leigh Halfpenny (75 points, Wales)
2012: Leigh Halfpenny (66 points, Wales)
2011: Toby Flood (50 points, England)
2010: Stephen Jones (63 points, Wales)

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Top Nation Tryscorers

A top way to get more chances at an outright winner can be to back a player to score the most tries for their country – taking other players out of the equation. For Italy, one player stands out – the returning fullback Matteo Minozzi. He missed last year due to a serious knee injury but he scored in four different games during a brilliant 2018 run and he scored in Italian wins against Namibia and Canada at the World Cup. He’s scored in two of his last three starts for Wasps, so enters in fine form, and 14/1 feels big about his chances of being the highest scoring Azzuri tryscorer. For Scotland, Huw Jones, who initially exploded onto the scene with with 10 tries in his first 14 Tests, could be value now he’s been recalled into the side. Scotland have tough fixtures but he’s scored against four of the five opponents in the Championship including a double against England and 14/1 is too big to pass up.

RECOMMENDED BETS (scale of 1-100 points)
BACK Teddy Thomas (top tryscorer) 1 pt each/way at 7/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Jacob Stockdale (top tryscorer) 1 pt each/way at 9/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Virimi Vakatawa (top tryscorer) 1 pt each/way at 20/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Dan Biggar (top point scorer) 1 pt at 4/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Romain Ntamack (top point scorer) 1 pt at 7/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Matteo Minozzi (top Nation tryscorer) 1 pt win at 4/1 with starsports.bet
BACK Huw Jones (top Nation tryscorer) 1 pt at 5/1 with starsports.bet

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PROFIT/LOSS SINCE JAN 1 2017: PROFIT 237.54 points