Six Nations / Will Hamer / 11 February 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

Backing England is a painful, albeit thankfully rare, course of action, but it might have to be contemplated in this year's Six Nations rugby, admits Will Hamer.

It's a dilemma familiar to all fans of international sport.

If you think England might win, do you have a flutter?

Or, do you steer clear, fearing that the prospect of a few grubby bucks might tempt you away from your moral duty to cheer the opposition?

Fortunately, it's not a situation that arises often.

The Poms are generally hopeless, so there's normally no reason to back them (unless you own shares in the bookie and you're trying to launder money). However, I regret to report that this year there's a real danger they'll overachieve in the Six Nations.

The Northern Hemisphere's flagship rugby union tournament is underway and punters will have to choose between their patriotic duty and their bank balance.

The reality is, England are attractively priced.

Following a string of hilariously inept performances, Martin Johnson's team has had some justified stick in recent months, but cold-hearted number crunching reveals why they can never be ruled out.

England has more professional players than all the other nations put together, meaning they should really win the tournament every year.

That they don't is a testament to years of shambolic organisation, but what pundits (and a surprisingly large number of punters) fail to see is that underachieving is not the same as losing.

Even at their worst, they rarely lose by much, and there's some evidence (admittedly, not much) that under Johnson, who captained the World Cup-winning team of 2003, they have turned a corner.

They've already made a winning start, beating a dangerous Wales team convincingly, albeit with a characteristic wobble in the second half.

In short, they are way too long at $4.20 for the tournament and it's particularly ludicrous to rate them at $3.05 for the Triple Crown (ie victory over the other three 'Home' nations: Wales, Scotland and Ireland.)

The Wales win means the job is half done, given that Scotland are perennially hopeless and that the Poms will have home advantage for the match against champions Ireland.

Nor would it be a huge surprise to this observer if they won the Grand Slam (winning all their games), making a price of $8 hard to ignore.

They'd have to beat favourites France in Paris, but long-time observers of French rugby will know that, with Les Bleus, anything is possible, including spectacular self-destruction.

Granted, England are outsiders (even by my reckoning) for the Slam, but the value is tempting.

For those who like shorter odds and greater certainty, the English are 1.13 to beat Italy on Sunday, which effectively amounts to a bank account offering you a 13pc return in the space of 80 minutes.

In other words, get in now. At the very least, it will numb the pain when the Poms start singing 'Swing Low Sweet Chariot'.