So it’s England against South Africa for world cup rugby betting fans. We blogged they could do it and now they are there – in the final – against a formidable opposition. Rugby free bets need to be ready this week for you to get the best betting odds for this titanic match.

After Saturday’s victory against France, England showed how they have improved in every area during this tournament and especially since the 36-0 thrashing at the hands of South Africa in the qualifying stages. This is a very special group fo guys who are able to dissect their game and improve each area in turn. Against the Aussies, we showed that our attacking options were coming together and we can provide a real threat, particularly up front. But, the slight downside to that performance was some of our first up tackling which let the Aussies punish us territorially. On Saturday though, this was the area where we had really lifted our game. Our defensive lines were superb against a fantastic french side and to keep them from crossing our try line was a massive effort that affords the utmost praise.

So with England now seemingly having improved beyond comparison to their previous encounter against the Boks, the final shapes up to be a game that will be up there with the classics. My feeling is that England’s forwards will take it the South Africans and our defence won’t let them through.

South Africa made hard work of a victory against Fiji and the scoreline against Argentina flattered them as the Argies looked nervous and lost their cool to give an uncharacteristic error-strewn performance.

I state for the record that I can see England winning comfortably.

For us english rugby betting fans, it’s all about turn as the odds take a plummet over one weekend. Get your rugby world cup free bets organised as the bookmakers re-evaluate the odds for England the competition. Were you one of those who had the courage to stick with England and achieve 50/1 on them winning the tournament before it started? You won’t get that now, as the difference is incredible at 6/1.

One of the classic matches against the old enemy took place on Saturday as the England pack finally clicked (see our previous blog) and boy oh boy, didn’t they show what they can do. It’s not often that you see the Australian pack bullied out of a game but thanks to the likes of Andrew Sheridan, that’s exactly what happened. The Aussie front row couldn’t cope with the English after the first 20 minutes, when the ref. seemed to get the culprits wrong in the collapsing scrums. When he finally got the idea of who was bringing it down, the Aussies went backwards! We took them on in the loose and despite dogged defence, as you’d expect, we were gaining the hard yards.

In the backs, we showed generally good defence but this first-up tackling needs to be improved. It’s where we let oppositions back into a game when they don’t deserve it. The french, with their extra pace in the back line will exploit this to the full and even take us apart if their forwards get their share of possession.

This next Saturday is going to be another test for the English side but probably more for our backs than forwards this time. Our pack will no doubt gain parity up front and may dominate, but the french can click, as we did last game, and their backs could prove to be a much sterner test for our first up defence.

 Get set for a powder keg of an atmosphere for this one!

As the rugby world cup progresses, the England team to face Tonga this weekend and rugby free bets will be picked up at pace as we see captain Phil Vickery on the bench for start of the game. The question has to be asked – does Brian Ashton have the ruthlessness it takes to get the most out of this England squad? It would seem so. The front row against Samoa last Saturday gave a superb performance against a powerful Samoan pack. This front row excluded Vickery who seemed sluggish in the previous two games that he played in in the tournament.

So, despite being given the skippership, Phil Vickery is ruthlessly brought down to earth, as is Shaun Perry after his disapponting show against South Africa. Andy Gomarsall showed why he is back in the frame by giving a sharpness to the backs which allowed England to finally make yardage when they win possession in midfield.

England looked like a team who had had a sharp kick up the backside last Saturday. Brian Ashton may just have stirred things up in the England camp by pressuring all the players, especially those that tend to maintain there places, as the forwards looked to have a sharpness about them that has been missing for four years.

If the improvement shown last Saturday is increased this Friday, I think England will blow Tonga away. Even more than that, I think we could look to peak at the right time and after watching the all blacks on Sunday, we have nothing to fear! They are very beatable and we have the players to do it.

A strong performance by England against Wales in the Rugby Union clash at Twickenham on Saturday saw the rugby betting world a little surprised by the result. One likes to be positive about the England victory which was platformed by a dominant forward unit that the Welsh couldn’t live with.

It was great to see Shaun Perry creating the kind of menacing presence around the scrum and breakdowns, that you would have associated with Matt Dawson or Kieran Bracken. The weight that he has lost has obviously paid off and has made him a more complete player in his position and if he can maintain consistency then he will be hard to edge out.

There has to be a word of caution to the victory though,. England, with the amount of possession they had, should have experimented more with the backs and let them work a few things out. They still look short of ideas in mid-field and we need to be sure that Andy Farrell can live with the Southern Hemisphere teams in attack. The guy can tackle but we need him to break the line and gain yardage, at present he seems to do like a forward, i.e. barge in and then fall over!

France will be a better test and to really stretch ourselves, we should spin it out. Get the backs tested in attack, let them make mistakes now while it’s not too dramatic if they get it wrong. This is the way Martin Johnson approached the 2003 campaign, with tough opposition for the warm up games to get the honest truth and know where we are at this stage.

After another action packed weekend of Wimbledon tennis, British Grand Prix and plenty of others, rugby betting fans would have watched overseas action with Australia taking on South Africa at the Telstra stadium on Saturday.

The Aussies were down by 14 points after only 8 minutes as a try went over almost uncontested and then another breakaway try really shook them up. But they came back to eventually win the game 25 – 17 by suddenly shutting out the bocks and slowly squeezing the pressure back onto them.

It was also surprising to see the South Africans matched for physicality up front. Their usual brutal approach to forward play was stopped in it’s tracks and the backs were unable to get their usual yardage gain.

So where does this leave the Aussies in the rankings v the All Blacks? Well, not much changes really because we know that New Zealands’ defeat the weekend before will just spur them on and wake them up. One of the characteristics of the Kiwi game has always been to convert territory into points. Their last game when defeated by Australia, they had most of the territory and possession but didn’t convert it and that’s why they lost.

 Rest assured, they won’t be allowing themselves to make the same mistake and Graham Henry definitely won’t.

Still favourites? Now even more so.

If you watched the first rugby Test in South Africa on Saturday, you wouldn’t have enjoyed betting on the result but you would have been even more frustrated at the site of an under strength side that could have competed.

I’m going against what I’ve blogged about recently by saying that this side actually had the players to give a better game to the bocks and at a certain period in the second half looked as though they can play to the standard needed.

Not to take anything away from the Springbocks, because they were their normally powerful selves up front, but England seem to be hustled off the ball too easily and lacked composure when off loading.

The tackling let them down but not due to man on man tackling necessarily (although this was an issue) but more that the lack of thinking on their feet and keeping the defensive formation.

 Brian Ashton’s got his work cut out to get his squad to turn it around for the next test only this Saturday away. It seems a tall ask but I think there was a framework there on Saturday from which the English players can take something positive.

Hey – you’ve got to keep hoping, haven’t you?

Would you go betting on the six nations for an England win over Ireland on Saturday? Free Bets are available from bookies for the tournament but England fans will have a complete change of heart on where they bet online on Saturday.

It was an unsettling fright to hear on the news yesterday that Jonny Wilkinson had missed a training session with the England Rugby Squad. Apparently a tight hamstring was the cause of the worry but he is not yet out. He has until just hurs before te game to prove fitness but now we also have Jason Robinson out. England’s chances are therefore dramatically affected and you’ve got to think that they don’t have the calibur of player to replace them.

Strength in depth?

Do England now have the strength of squad that it took to win the 2003 world cup – doesn’t look like it! Something has to be looked at here if England are constantly relying on one or two players to give them the winning edge. The betting odds have swung in Ireland’s favour now and understandably so.

You can get your free bet on the six nations by visiting our six nations betting page.

So France have beaten Ireland, the six nations favourites, and the whole tournament is wide open.

It was a tight match with some superb rugby and a thrilling finish. Everybody had Ireland to win this game , based on their form in the autumn. Let’s face it, you just can’t write off the French – ever! Their try in the dying minutes gave them victory when Ireland were in the process of trying to run the game time down. Some defencive slips at this stage allowed the french no. 14 (Vincent Clerc) the opportunity to break through to touch down in the last minutes.

All the players were showing signs of fatigue in the last quarter as the game had been played at such a pace. The try count evenually went in France’s favour by 2-1. This sort of game demonstrates that the autumn internationals are no indication of how the six nations tournament will go. It’s a unique contest in unique conditions. Ireland looked unstoppable in the autumn, whilst England looked like they might be wooden spoon candidates even back then. But they showed against Scotland that they have the players and now have the coach. Their display against Italy wasn’t too convincing though and consistency is something they will have to build on.

So who did you bet on for this championship? There were very few pundits rating France – and now they’ve beaten the favourites. Look for all sorts of odds changes after this weekend’s results. Take a look at our Six Nations Betting page.

I don’t know if people saw Jeremy Guscott’s pre-match presentation on Saturday of Jonny Wilkinsons’ awareness during a game – it was mind-blowing! These were clips from before his many injuries.

We all know how he can kick, cover tackle and run with ball in hand but Guscott’s analysis showed how Wilkinson has tremendous vision on the field, almost as though he has 3 pairs of eyes, one in front and two either side! Honestly, to us mere mortals, you can hardly understand how the guy can see so much in terms of gaps or space that open up at critical points of a match. It is becoming difficult that betting on rugby is becoming reliant on just one guy when it comes to the England side.

Not only did the clips show how he identified the spaces but also how he then moves to clinical execution of the pass, or more usually, a cut-out pass to deliver the ball and carrier through the opposition defence line to score. It was an area that I, as a big rugby fan, have not fully appreciated in the past and that’s why I found Jerry Guscott’s demonstration absolutely fascinating.

The odds on who’s going to triumph as Grand Slam Winners in 2007 have turned around after England’s dominant performance. Check out our Six Nations Betting.

Six Nations Betting : After the 2006 autumn internationals, what do we make of the upcoming 6 nations tournament?

Ireland have been exceptional and have surely got to be favourites? They will be followed closely by Wales who have shown tremendous growth as an international power in the last 2-3 years.

Ireland demonstrated their phenomenal development and back row speed against South Africa and they now look a complete side, having a powerful and disruptive pack and real flare in the talented line up of backs. They must be favourites in the minds of rugby betting punters but in the six nations, it’s never easy to predict a result.

It’s no secret that England have been struggling to find some form even as far back as their world cup win. However, a new look side, lead by Phil Vickery may bring surpises. Why? Well, Phil Vickery seems to have that quality that you can’t quite put your finger on but when he is in the side it gives a big lift – the difference between winning and losing in top level sport! Look at the difference he made (admittedly with a couple of other changes) when he came on against South Africa in the first of the two games last autumn. England will probably be the side that most people are interested in seeing perform.

Scotland again have made great progress over previous years but seemed to be stumbling again in the autumn and consistancy seems to be a problem for them. Their development was  increasing exponentially but that now seems to have tailed off. But, we all know that Scottish guts can take them a long way.

Italy continue their progress and improvement as a serious international contender but they seem to lack innovation. They must have some of the most powerful, naturally stong players in the world but without technique, this is nullified.

For Free Bets bookmakers offering odds for the six nations, visit our Six Nations 2007 Page 

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