England will be confident but wary when they meet France in the World Cup Quarter-Finals. Its the third successive tournament they have met them in the knock-out stages, and the omens are looking good for England to progress to a semi-final match-up against the winner of Wales and Ireland – we really couldn’t have mapped out an easier route to the final if we had tried! With all the Southern hemisphere countries fcaing off against each other, all England have to do is win the Six Nations battles (again) to guarantee a place in the Final.
Whilst England haven’t exactly started the tournament firing on all cylinders, they have done enough to get through. Their close-fought matches against Argentina and Scotland will have given Martin Johnson and his coaching team plenty of head-aches, and it’s a relief to find out that they have made some changes!
Out goes Tindall, who has laboured through the past few games, and in comes Toby Flood – not only giving us more options in terms of passing and creativity, but also giving us an insurance policy should Johnny Wilkinson be misfiring once more. Easter is in at Number 8 to play his part in what England hooker Steve Thompson says will be a ‘brutal, physical game.’
The Flood change is most welcome – in the last two head-to-heads all but five points against the French have come from the boot of Wilkinson, so if he is stuck in his current ruck with a conversion rate of just over 50%, England might find themselves in trouble.
France have hardly set the rugby world alight so far, with two losses and two unconvincing wins enough to see them qulify from their group. They lost to England 17-10 in the Six Nations, and most punters can’t see it going any differently this time around. That said, France have knocked the mighty All Blacks out in the past two tournaments, so when they are on their game, they can do anything…!
Meanwhile, French betting company BetClic is so confident of a victory that it is offering England fans a £35 No Lose Bet. You can put your money on whatever you want, and if you win you get the full winnings, and if you lose you get your money back. You don’t just get a free bet back, you can actually just withdraw your cash and run. It’s a completely risk-free offer which, frankly, EVERYBODY should be taking them up on! Click here to take advantage of this deal!
RESULT BET
We have to back the English (available at 1.6 at Paddy Power)..
BEST BET
We think that England will win, but can’t see us rnning away with it. We’re guessing the winning margin to be something between 1 and 12 points, which looks reasonable value at 3.5 (with Bet Clic).
Who are you backing? Post your bets below and let us know your success stories!