Ireland favored to beat Scotland and clinch back-to-back Six Nations titles

Ireland hosts Scotland in Round 5 of the 2024 Six Nations Championship this Saturday. The Irish saw their back-to-back Grand Slam dreams ended by England at Twickenham last weekend. But they can’t dwell on that, as they need to beat Scotland to secure the Six Nations. Can they do it? We give you the answer in our latest rugby betting picks.

What: 2024 Six Nations Championship Round 5
Who: Ireland vs. Scotland
Where: Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
When: Saturday, March 16th,
Time: 11.45 am ET

Under pressure and coming off a crushing defeat, Scotland isn’t the ideal opponent for Andy Farrell’s Ireland team to face this weekend.

The Irish were on the verge of rugby history in this Six Nations. The demolition job they carried out on France in Paris on the opening night of the competition put them on course to be the first team to win back-to-back Grand Slams.

After the win in Paris, the rest of the fixtures were supposed to be a formality. And although the England and Scotland matches were always going to be tough, the best team in the Northern Hemisphere and possibly the world was expected to win them both.

WHAT A RESULT#GuinnessM6N | #ENGvIRE pic.twitter.com/hND38BafbC

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 9, 2024

Sadly for the Irish, they came unstuck in the match against England, costing them the Grand Slam. And if they come unstuck against Scotland this weekend, it could cost them the Six Nations title.

Betting to win the 2024 Six Nations

Despite being under pressure, the bookmakers can’t see Ireland not winning the 2024 Six Nations. In the latest 2024 Six Nations betting odds, Ireland are -10000. Their closest rivals are England at +2500, with Scotland at +10000, and France at +20000.

If Ireland beats Scotland, they win the Six Nations. The Irish could also draw the match, or even lose to Scotland and still win the Championship if they secure a bonus point.

For England to win the title, they will need Ireland to lose without a bonus point, and they will then need to beat France in Lyon and secure a bonus point.

Mathematically, Scotland and France can still win the title, but the permutations make it almost impossible. One permutation would see either team needing to overturn a points difference deficit of 76, which is not happening. And it’s worth knowing that a lot needs to happen before point difference even becomes an issue.

Ireland vs. Scotland Match Betting

Onto the match-winner betting, and Ireland go into the fixture as the betting favorites. On the money line, Ireland are -1000 to beat Scotland and retain the Six Nations title. Scotland is +600 to stun the Aviva and leave Ireland needing France to do them a favor in the later match against England.

Onto the handicap spread, and the Irish are giving Scotland a 15.5-point start. To win and cover the 15.5-point spread, Ireland are -115. Scotland is -115 to win with the spread.

More Ireland vs. Scotland betting options are on our odds table. We have gathered our odds from the best rugby betting online sites.

Ireland vs. Scotland
Ireland	-600	-600	-600
Scotland	+1000	+1000	+1000

Ireland (-15.5)	-115	-115	-115
Scotland (+15.5)	-115	-115	-115

Recent Form

Ireland had won three from three going into the England match. They looked to have done enough at Twickenham to make it four from four, but Marcus Smith’s drop goal in the last play gave England an unlikely 23-22 win.

As for Scotland, after promising so much in this Six Nations, they arguably had their worst-ever result under Gregor Townsend when they lost 31-29 to Italy last weekend. The win for the Azuri gives them a great chance to avoid winning the wooden spoon for the first time since 2015.

Scotland is currently third in the 2024 Six Nations Championship with two wins and two losses. The wins came over Wales and England. The losses have come at home to France and away to Italy. The defeat in Italy was unacceptable for the team ranked No.6 in the world.

Ireland vs. Scotland betting picks

First up, it seems incomprehensible that Ireland won’t win this match. The hosts would have to be badly out of sorts to lose to a Scotland side that couldn’t even win away in Rome last weekend.

We fully expect Ireland to make up for the loss to England and beat Scotland at the Aviva.

But at odds of -1000, we understand that is way too short to back. So the question is, can Ireland cover the 15.5-point spread?

This looks like a very good spread set by the bookmakers. Scotland isn’t the worst team Ireland will face, and if this fixture was at Murrayfield, it would be regarded as a closer call than it is expected to be in Dublin.

But going on last weekend’s matches, there wasn’t a lot wrong with the Irish performance. Annoyingly for them, England was always going to produce a good performance at some stage of the competition. And it arrived last Saturday. They will probably revert to normal and get hammered by France this weekend.

As for Scotland, they were woeful in Rome. And they will feel that they owe head coach Gregor Townsend a performance.

But when it comes down to it, we expect Ireland to have too much. They are far superior to Scotland. And although 15.5 points is a big ask, we can see the hosts running riot in the last 20 minutes if they get on top.

Ireland to win and cover the spread is our betting pick.

Ireland (-15.5) To beat Scotland and Cover

-115

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