Although my track record as an oracle so far during this Six Nations hardly inspires confidence, here anyway are the TF predictions for Round 4:
Ireland v Scotland
If the Scots perform at the levels they reached against England at Murrayfield then they are in with a real shout against an Ireland team that was not wholly convincing last time out. I'm not convinced, however, that Scotland will be able to overcome their collective agoraphobia away from Murrayfield - Ireland therefore to win by 9-12 but with no bonus point.
France v England
My pre-Six Nations prediction that France would embrace chaos this year and take the tournament by storm has been laid bare by the fact that in reality the team just isn't very good at all. England really should win this one comfortably but the result in Edinburgh, aided and abetted by the re-selection of a back row with all the pace (and possibly the breakdown nous) of a three-toed sloth, makes me very nervous indeed. So much so that I'm going for France by 3.
Wales v Italy
Wholesale changes to the Welsh team by Warren Gatland suggest that he isn't really taking the Italian challenge very seriously at all, but as it turns out this looks a better Welsh team than that which took the field last time out against Ireland. Unless Conor O'Shea can pull a rabbit out of a hat in Cardiff on Sunday I honestly can't see anything other than a Welsh bonus-point win.
There you go. If you're partial to a wager and have any sense at all you'll put your money on precisely the opposite outcomes of those predicted above...
