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Ireland to win? No yellow cards? 5 Grand Slam-ming bets for Ireland v England

It’s the final weekend of the Six Nations. Can Ireland end on a high?

Ireland to win by 6 – 10 points – (5/1)

Ireland fans celebrate Will Ireland have cause to celebrate? James Crombie / INPHO James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO

UNFORTUNATELY THE BUILD up to this game has been a bigger let-down than Douvan in the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

What was first billed as a potential Grand Slam decider, was then downgraded to a possible Six Nations Championship showdown, and has now become just an opportunity for Ireland to play party-pooper on Saturday.

Watching the Boys In Green squander chance after chance in a one-dimensional performance against the Welsh in Cardiff last week leaves you wondering how they can overturn an English side that put a whopping 61 points on the Scots. But don’t forget, there’s nothing we love more than spoiling an English Grand Slam party.

Wales had nothing to play for last week and similarly Ireland’s pride will not allow them to roll over and have their bellies tickled by Eddie Jones’ England. The average winning margin between these two over the last four meetings is just 7.5 points, so we’re going to back Joe Schmidt’s men to turn it all around by a winning margin of 6-10 points on Saturday at 5/1.

An 11, 14 or 15 to score the first try – (6/4)

Simon Zebo celebrates a a try which is later disallowed Can Simon Zebo score first? Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

There’s no denying recent outings between these two have been tight affairs. In fact, between 2012 and 2016 there were only six tries scored in the four contests.

England have managed an average of just 13.75 points per game against Ireland in the last five years, while the Boys In Green have only grabbed an average of 11.25 points in return, so don’t be expecting a try-fest in Dublin.

Of those six tries, half have been scored by players in the wing or full back positions – Rob Kearney in 2014, and both Anthony Watson and Mike Brown touching down from 14 and 15 respectively in last season’s 21-10 victory for England at Twickenham.

It’s 6/4 for a player from one of these positions to repeat the trick and the stats definitely suggest it’s worth a ‘try’.

No yellow card – (Evens)

James Haskell is shown a yellow card We don't expect to see one of these in the game. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

Remember that one teacher you had that had the ability to keep the whole classroom quiet or fear the consequences? Well that’s what it must be like to be coached by these two world class leaders in Schmidt and Jones.

Strict disciplinarians is putting it mildly!

If you think England conceding a mere five penalties against Scotland last week was impressive, then we raise you Ireland giving up just four against the Welsh – and they still lost.

Staying in the good books of referee Jerome Garces will certainly be the aim of the game.

England may have picked up a couple of yellows from Romain Poite in last season’s test, but they have been the only flashes of a card in the last five matches between Ireland and England.

When you add in that they have only three yellows combined (two for Ireland, one on the English side) in this season’s tournament then you’d have to fancy the cards to stay firmly in the pocket at even money.

Danny Care to score a try in 80 min – (5/1)

Danny Care scores a try Danny Care knows how to score against Ireland. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO

After a performance like their dismantling of the Scots last weekend you have to believe it’s going to be very difficult for Ireland to stop England crossing the whitewash at some stage.

With his nemesis Conor Murray ruled out of the game through injury, scrum-half Danny Care will be licking his lips at the prospect of a crack at the Irish – especially with a brace under his belt from the Scotland game.

That was his third touchdown of the Six Nations and another this weekend could see him land the leading try scorer’s title.

There’s no doubt he’ll at least have a snipe at it and, if you fancy him to be successful, you can grab him at a neat 5/1.

Paddy’s Personal Pick: Ireland to win – (6/5)

It was meant to be the greatest weekend ever with Cheltenham finishing up and Ireland scuppering England’s Six Nations hopes at the Aviva.

However, Wales ensured that it wasn’t to be and now all we have to hope for is to ruin the Sweet Chariot’s chances of a Grand Slam.

Eddie Jones’ side come to Dublin looking for a record 19th win on the bounce, and considering that this England side is nowhere near the best to have ever graced the pitch, we owe it to rugby to put the dampeners on their efforts.

In my opinion, we’re not as bad as we looked last weekend and England aren’t as good as they looked, so I genuinely believe that we’ll turn them over on Saturday. Joe Schmidt’s men would love nothing more than to deny their great rivals a slice of history so I’ll be weighing in behind them at 6/5.

That tip should come with a health warning though because I do tip Ireland for every single game.

Come on Ireland!

Fancy a punt on the Six Nations? Ireland’s biggest bookmaker Paddy Power have the odds on every market – plus when you sign up and bet €10, you’ll get €30 in free bets. Check out Six Nations odds here, or simply download the Paddy Power app for iOS or Android

For more tips, insight and the odd star columnist, head over to the Paddy Power blog.

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