The 2024 Six Nations opening weekend brought a mixture of everything from thrilling comebacks to record victories.
Ireland successfully launched a bid for back-to-back Grand Slam wins following their impressive triumph over France, as England put an end to their opening game curse to edge out Italy. Scotland managed to survive a thrilling comeback against Wales, ending their long wait for a victory in Cardiff.
Here are three major talking points following the wins in the first round of this competition. These key highlights will come in handy for punters looking for how to deposit money on Hollywoodbets to place wagers on the upcoming rounds of the competition.
Ireland launch their bid for successive Grand Slams
In the history of Six Nations, no team has ever managed to win successive Grand Slams. Ireland’s impressive away victory over France shows why the achievement hit the sports headlines in 2024.
Andy Farrell’s men were great in Marseille, diminishing any World Cup hangover they might have had following their disappointing quarter-final loss against New Zealand. Joe McCarthy was hailed as the man of the match during his Six Nations debut, after making three dominant tackles. The 22-year-old is among the most physical locks in rugby.
Ireland’s favorable draw of three matches in Dublin and the next in Italy put them in a great position to record another historic triumph under Farrell. For Italy, their disappointing loss to England leaves much room for improvement after conceding 22 tries during the last two pool World Cup games. As such, facing the rampant Ireland in Dublin might hinder their progress in the Six Nations despite their encouraging start.
England is still a work in progress
While Steve Borthwick has done plenty of work with his men to improve his, there is still plenty to be done for their upcoming game against Wales after winning over Italy. Despite their victory in Rome, their 27-24 scorecard is the narrowest winning margin that England has recorded in the last 31 games.
During their game against Italy last Saturday, England featured an inexperienced squad with plenty of new faces. With Jamie George’s debut as team captain in the absence of Owen Farrel, the team was occasionally sloppy in the defense and was exposed to some flamboyant ball handling. That said, England will need to tighten their defense as they host Wales on Saturday.
Gatland needs to let the youth shine
When Duhan van der Merwe outsmarted Tomos Williams to record Scotland’s third unanswered score in Cardiff, the match seemed sealed. Despite the huge 27-0 margin, Wales managed to record a thrilling comeback with their young and fearless players to end the game with a pulsating 27-26 loss. The main difference is that the team decided to walk away from Gatland’s conventional direct and physical system which has been successful for over two decades.
Instead, the game was all about running, with half-backs Williams and Lloyd injecting the pace during the second half. Essentially, it wasn’t about the selection that Gatland made, but the strategy that the tea adopted. That shows that Gatland needs to embrace a strategy that will allow the youthful talent in his squad to shine as they travel to Twickenham next Saturday.
