Three Six Nations Games to be at the Allianz Stadium in 2025

Guinness Men's Six Nations logoThe 2025 Six Nations tournament begins on Friday the 31st of January, with Wales visiting France. This will be the 26th edition of the tournament (as a six-team competition, though the 131st overall) and it is one of the more open renewals we have seen for some time.

Defending champions Ireland, who also won in 2023, are narrow favourites to complete a hat-trick but there is virtually nothing between them and France if the bookies are to be believed. Both are priced at odds of around 2/1, but with England around 4/1 and Scotland deemed an 11/2 shot by several bookmakers, we could see four teams battling it out.

The champions get their tournament started on Saturday in the second match of the day and it could prove to be a pivotal battle. England will head to Dublin knowing that if they can claim a win they will be in pole position to win the Six Nations for the first time since 2020 and possibly even claim a Grand Slam, something they have not achieved since 2016. A trip to play Ireland is the toughest start they could have been handed but it will give them a very early indication of how their tournament may go.

Of course, the hosts will feel similarly, although they will fear no team and will be happy that their opener is on home soil. Last year the two rivals met at Twickenham, as the stadium was still called at that stage, and they played out a real thriller. England won 23 points to 22 thanks to a very late drop goal, despite playing the closing stages with just 14 players due to injury (and having used their subs).

Let’s hope there are more games as exciting as that one this time around and that England can break their unwanted habit of losing big games when they seemed set for victory. Starting in Dublin is far from ideal for Steve Borthwick’s men but a big plus is that they will have three home games this time around. Those matches, at what we must now call the Allianz Stadium (but will still call Twickers for a while yet), are our focus here, and England will be confident of getting three wins.

England v France, 8th February 2025, 16.45

England vs France rugbyFrance will be the first visitors to the Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, and given France are the second favourites for outright glory at a very similar price to the Irish, this is yet another huge test for Borthwick’s men. Of course, if England can win both of their opening clashes they will be in an incredibly strong position… but that is a big if.

On the 16th of March 2024, France nicked the win when these two faced in Paris, a 79th-minute penalty from Thomas Ramos seeing the hosts home. Ramos kicked all three of his conversions and four out of five penalties as France won 33-31. Again, another similarly entertaining clash would be great for all concerned, especially neutrals, but those in white shirts will be hoping that the scores are reversed and it is England that can get the win.

France open their tournament against Wales, as said at the start of this article, and they will be huge favourites for that one. That allows them to settle nicely into the Six Nations ahead of what will be one of their toughest games. There are, of course, five games for each nation, and they all matter, but whoever wins this one will have a great chance of topping the table and it could be a cracking contest.

England v Scotland, 22nd February 2025, 16.45

England vs Scotland rugbyEngland are playing the first, second and then, if we exclude England themselves, the third favourites, for the Six Nations in that order in their opening three games. Aside from the fact that two of the clashes are at Twickenham, or in Twickenham (the area) if we don’t want to upset the people who paid millions of pounds to rename it, things could hardly have been any tougher.

If England, now under the captaincy of the brilliant Maro Itoje, should start the game as favourites but of course, that might depend on how the two preceding games have gone for the Calcutta Cup rivals. Scotland will have played Italy and Ireland, both at home, so should have at least one win under their belts.

In 2024 Scotland produced a fine display on home soil to beat England 30-21, so Itoje’s men will be out for revenge. It is England who have the upper hand overall, having won more than half of the 142 matches, though a surprisingly high number of games (19) ended as draws. The hosts should get the win but don’t rule out a draw, with the stalemate invariably available at very high odds. Given a 13% strike rate, likely odds of 20/1 or more could offer real value.

England v Italy, 9th March 2025, 15.00

England vs Italy rugbyEngland’s final home game sees them finally given a bit of respite, with perennial wooden spoon kings Italy coming to Twickenham. The Allianz Stadium will be expecting to see a bit of a show and points aplenty before England play Wales in Cardiff in their final game of the 2025 tournament.

Italy have not developed in the way authorities hoped they would when they became the sixth nation in this competition. Overall England have played Italy 31 times and Italy are yet to get a win on the board. England boast a perfect 31 wins, outscoring their opponents by 1,224 points to 380, with the difference naturally more marked when games have been played in London.

Last year the teams played in the first round of matches and Italy produced one of their best performances ever. They gave England a real scare, going down 24-27 in the end. A converted try after the 80-minute mark made the score look closer than it really was but even so, Itoje, Borthwick and the many English fans inside the Allianz will be hoping for a much more convincing win this time around.

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