Formbook: horse racing and sports blog

Sporting Index took a pasting when they predicted the Irish would only triumph by a margin of four to seven points over the English. No wonder then that Eddie O’Sullivan’s unit are once again up to second on the Outright Index. They’re priced at 41-44 with England drifting away on 19-22. Sporting Index have Bernard Laporte’s troops nailed on as favourites at 53-56. The index offers 60 points to the winner, 40 to second place, 20 to third, 10 to fourth place, five for fifth and 0 for sixth. Brian Ashton saw his side stutter along against Italy so how will they fare against the French at Twickenham? France welcomes back scrum-half Yachvili, and his kicking has caused major problems for the English since the 2003 World Cup. It’s interesting to see what Sporting Index predict on the France Kicking Metres market for the tournament. This is a prediction on the aggregate distance of all successful kicks at goal (including drop goals). They’re priced at 825-845 and have a so far of 476 metres from the three games they’ve played. With Vickery, Wilkinson and Farrell missing, will France be able to match Ireland’s 30 point margin of victory? Sporting Index reckons it won’t be as brutal for the home fans and have France to win by a margin of seven to ten points. Ireland should be unchanged when they visit Murrayfield. Sporting Index has them to win by 14 to 17 points. Expect that market to see plenty of buyers!