Six Nations Betting: What Are The Odds On A 2023 Triple Crown Winner?
It may only be the penultimate round of the tournament, but betting sites are preparing themselves for the prospect of the first major piece of silverware in the 2023 Six Nations being handed out this weekend.
Although a series of prizes have been handed out already – such as the Calcutta Cup, the Giuseppe Garibaldi Trophy, the Doddie Weir Cup and the Auld Alliance Trophy – these came at the end of individual games.
In order to claim the Triple Crown in a given year, you have to achieve a 100% record in head-to-head clashes between sides that originally made up the Home Nations Championship.
Ireland And Scotland Left In Triple Crown Running
Scotland find themselves on the brink of doing so this year with victories over England and Wales under their belts in advance of this Sunday’s encounter with Ireland at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.
Should the Scots get the better of Ireland, they will secure the Crown for the first time since 1990.
Indeed, given the Triple Crown trophy wasn’t awarded until 2006, it would be their first time to display this honour in their cabinet.
As the only undefeated team in the Championship, Ireland are also on course to win the Triple Crown for a second year in succession and have a chance at securing a fourth ever Six Nations Grand Slam.
However, they will be welcoming England to the Aviva Stadium in the final round of the tournament and therefore require more than a win this weekend to maintain their stranglehold on this trophy.
While Ireland did have 21 points (26-5) to spare over Gregor Townsend’s charges at the tail end of last year’s Championship, Six Nations meetings between these teams are generally tight affairs.
Ireland The Clear Choice For A Second Successive Crown
Nevertheless, Ireland are favourites to come out on top of Sunday’s game and this – by extension – means the best betting sites for rugby union are continuing to back them in their quest for a Triple Crown.
Across the various guises of this tournament, Ireland have won the Crown on no fewer than 12 occasions.
There was a point when the Scots were well ahead of their Celtic cousins in this regard – their 10th Triple Crown success arriving 33 years ago.
Yet Ireland have developed a healthy habit of winning this prize during the Six Nations era with Andy Farrell becoming their fourth head coach in succession to spearhead a Triple Crown-winning side.
The Green Army won it three times in four years under Eddie O’Sullivan (2004, 2006 and 2007), before Declan Kidney (2009), Joe Schmidt (2018) and Farrell (2022) subsequently did likewise on one occasion each.
Their relative lack of success before the turn of the 21st century highlights how much Irish rugby has developed in the professional era.
They have been sitting on top of the World Rugby rankings for several months now and it comes as little surprise that Bet365 are rating them as 4/7 favourites for the Triple Crown.
Despite encountering a number of injury issues to date in the tournament, the Irish have managed to deal with them thus far and will actually be welcoming back the likes of Jonathan Sexton, Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw for the weekend coming.
They didn’t have it all their own way against the Italians in Rome last Saturday week however, and this served as a reminder that there is a long road still left to travel in this year’s tournament.
Challenge Of Scots Not To Be Dismissed
Even though Scotland fell short in their showdown with 2022 Grand Slam winners France in Saint-Denis on the following day, there was still much encouragement to take from their performance on foreign soil.
The combined forces of Finn Russell and Huw Jones kept the Scots in contention throughout and it took a final minute converted try from Gaël Fickou to officially confirm a 32-21 win for Les Bleus.
It is widely accepted that this is Scotland’s best side for a number of years, and they will sense a real opportunity to secure something tangible this weekend to show how much progress has been made.
Despite being firm second favourites for the Triple Crown, 888sport are offering odds of 5/2 on Scotland getting their hands on this trophy in front of their ever-passionate home supporters on Sunday.
When Ireland last visited Murrayfield in March 2021 – at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic – they required a 77th-minute Sexton penalty to seal a 27-24 triumph over the Scots.
A nine-point victory was secured in 2019, but there were also reversals to the Scots in Edinburgh over the course of the 2013 and 2017 Six Nations.
No Guarantee That Triple Crown Will Be Handed Out
In order for there to be no Triple Crown winner in 2023, Ireland will need to deny Scotland this weekend and for England to do the same to them on the final weekend of the Six Nations Championship.
Current form would suggest that the English would be underdogs for any fixture with Ireland at the moment, but it remains a possibility nonetheless that the Triple Crown trophy will be idle until the 2024 Six Nations.
Betting apps are offering odds of 5/1 on neither Ireland or Scotland claiming this prize in the closing weeks of the tournament.
Given how some of the recent Championships have transpired, there could yet be some significant twists and turns in the 2023 edition of the tournament.