Six of the best

The 6 Nations kicks off this weekend, with a cracking headline fixture at Twickenham. Can last year's winners Wales cause an early upset?

England v Wales
Going on recent form (ie last autumn's internationals), England appear to have the edge. Both sides lost to the All Blacks and beat Australia, but Wales managed just 27 points in the process, compared to England's 45 points. The Dragons were missing several Grand Slam winners for both games, and many of those key players will be absent again on Saturday. In particular, Henson (suspended), R Jones and Cobain will be sorely missed.

Please note that odds are correct at time of publication and are subject to change. It's fair to say that England underperformed in 2005, but there are signs of improvement in recent matches. The key to this game lies with the forwards, where England are certainly stronger. Sporting Index are predicting a victory for Andy Robinson's side, by 14 to 17 points.

Their superior forward line can compensate for the lack of flair at the back and also cut off the supply to the strong Welsh back line. A Jones will be a key player for the Dragons. The Osprey's prop will have the difficult task of scrummaging against Sheridan, and if he comes out second best, England could be in for a comfortable afternoon.

Supremacy Total Points Bet Low Bet High Bet Low Bet High Ireland/Italy 25 28 49 52 England/Wales 14 17 46 49 France/Scotland(H) 14 17 44 47

'Supremacy' is a market predicting a team's dominance over their opposition. Sporting Index predict the margin (in points) by which a given team will beat their opponents, and you decide whether their prediction is either too high or too low.

For the England v Wales game, Sporting Index are predicting a victory for England by a margin of 14 to 17 points, so you have a choice to make:

a) Will England win by MORE than 17 points? or b) Will England win by LESS than 14 points, or tie, or Wales will win?

Let's say that you think England will beat Wales by more than 17 points and stake £5 per point on the outcome...

If England beat Wales 35 - 10, then England's margin of victory or `supremacy' will be 35 minus 10 = 25 points. You were betting on England to beat Wales by at least 17 points for £5 per point. So you would have just won (25 - 17) x £5 = 8 x £5 = £40. Not bad!

However it could go the other way. Let's say England end up beating Wales 45 - 44, a winning margin of just 1 point. Because you bet `high' at 17 points, there is a short fall of 16 points (17 minus 1). At a stake of £5, this would result in a loss of (17 - 1) x £5 = 16 x £5 = £80.

If you're thinking about having a punt, check out the spread betting markets from Sporting Index. They are offer a wide range of markets on each game (Total Points, Total Bookings, Shirt Numbers and many more), as well as a 6 Nations Outright Win Index. With £100 cash on offer to all new clients**, you could be celebrating on Saturday night no matter how your team gets on.

If you haven't got a Sporting Index account yet, it's a good time to take advantage of the £100 cash on offer:

For full details of this offer, and to open your Sporting Index account, click here.

Open a Sporting Index account* and place ten sports bets (each with the potential to win and lose £20), and you can claim a free £100 straight into your account**.

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The information contained herein is for your general information and use. In particular, it does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by Sporting Index Ltd and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making (or refraining to make) any specific decisions.