Ireland vs Wales Prediction & Betting Tips - Six Nations

Prediction published on 02/02/2022, 10:33  by Indran | Modified on 02/02/2022 at 11:33 in Six Nations Prediction

Ireland and Wales meet in the opening match of the Guinness Six Nations 2022 at the Aviva Stadium. The hosts will be desperate for a good start on their home ground as they will want to quickly forget last season’s campaign when they finished third. They lost two matches in the last edition and it was a home loss to France that ended their title hopes. They come into this year’s tournament with a near full strength team and with Captain Johnny Sexton fit again they are serious title contenders. Their recent record is evidence of this as they have won their last eight matches. The undoubted highlight during this run was the 29-20 defeat of the All Blacks. Ireland don’t have a kind draw this year as they play both England and France away from home. They will need to win one of these away matches to be at the top of the table at the end of the tournament.

Defending champions Wales start the defence of their crown with a daunting trip to Dublin. To make the trip more difficult their squad has been decimated with injuries with Captain Alun Wyn Jones the most notable absentee. Wales won last year’s tournament despite being one of the rank underdogs before the competition. Many critics considered them lucky to win the title as three of their wins came against teams playing with 14 men. Their form since that Six Nations has been poor with just three wins in seven matches. They did however win their last two matches against Australia and Fiji. They will look to Lions star Dan Biggar to have a colossal game for them to have a chance of victory.