England v France Six Nation Betting Tips and Preview 13/03/2021
The 2021 Six Nations has already provided excitement, action and drama and there are still two games left in the tournament. England have started poorly and are out of the race for this year’s title after losses to Scotland and Wales. France, however, remain in the chase and could set up a potential decider against Wales later this month if they beat England this weekend. With plenty at stake, this is a must-watch match in the 2021 Six nations. Can France shake off their poor run at Twickenham and keep their title hopes alive this Saturday afternoon?
Form and Team News
England have lost two of their three Six Nations matches so far and suffered a huge 40-24 loss to Wales two weeks ago. Eddie Jones has made three changes to his line-up on Saturday in a bid to salvage a higher finish in this year’s tournament. Full back Max Malins, hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie and Charlie Ewels will all start in place of Elliot Daly, Jamie George and Jonny Hill. France’s last game against Scotland was postponed due to a coronavirus outbreak in the squad. Les Blues won their opening two matches, beating Italy 50-10 and edging past Ireland 15-13 last time out. Three changes have been made to the French team. Winger Teddy Thomas comes in for Gabin Villiere, Romain Taofifenua will replace Bernard le Roux and Dylan Cretin replaces Anthony Jelonch.
Matchwinner odds
England remain the slight favourites heading into this weekend’s match, despite their poor start to the Six Nations. Eddie Jones’ side do have a good record against France at Twickenham and have won eight successive matches between the sides at home. France’s last victory at Twickenham came in a warm-up match for the World Cup in August 2007. For an England win, SBK are providing the best odds of 28/29. However, our matchwinner tip for England v France this weekend is to back the visitors. France defeated England in last year’s Six Nations and come into this match in much better form. Our value matchwinner bet is to go with Bet 365’s 11/10 odds for a France win.
Anytime Try scorer
Despite England’s loss to Wales two weeks ago, they did score two tries in the match and Anthony Watson scored another to take his Six Nations tally to three. For Watson to score again this weekend at any time against France, Paddy Power are offering good value with odds of 23/10. Odds for returning France winger Teddy Thomas to score a try at anytime are also good value, with Sky Bet providing 9/4. Our try scorer tip this week is to back French star Damian Penaud to score a try at any time. Penaud scored the winning try for France against Ireland in February and Sky Bet are backing him to score again against England with odds of 11/4.
Winning Margin
England and France possess top quality players in their ranks, which usually leads to a close encounter between the sides in terms of scoring. Four out of the last five meetings between the two nations has been decided by seven or less points, while the last match between the sides in December 2020 ended in a narrow 22-19 win to England. For another narrow victory to either England or France by 1-5 points, Betfair are offering odds of 5/1 for either side. However, after their positive start to the tournament, and given England’s poor form, our tip this week is to back France to win by 1-10 points, which Paddy Power are backing at 5/2.
Although both England and France have different priorities in this year’s Six Nations, the meeting between the two sides always produces some of the best quality rugby of any Six Nations tournament. We hope you take enjoyment from watching the game and placing a bet on the fixture and if you decide to follow one of our tips, remember we try to find and advise on good value bets based on form and team news, not guaranteed winners. Ensure you are always gambling responsibly and considering the value of each bet before committing. For more information on online bookies free bets to choose this weekend, check out our homepage for the latest deals from bookmakers.