Six Nations predicted by supercomputer as Scotland chances of glory ranked alongside rivals

Scotland’s chances of success in the Six Nations has been ranked by a supercomputer.

Gregor Townsend's side begin their hunt for a historic maiden Six Nations title when Italy are the challengers at Murrayfield on February 1st. It would be a major upset if Scotland were to go all the way, having last won the tournament in 1999 when it remained the Five Nations.

It hasn’t been all gloomy though as Scotland have had four straight Calcutta Cup glories to celebrate over recent years. There’s little hope of England winning the tournament either with Ireland and France given stats experts Opta’s backing.

To gather the data and come out with a prediction, the tournament is simulated 10,000 times to make the most likely results. Ireland are tipped for success this year, just like they were when they won the Six Nations last time out, with an overwhelming score of 63. It’s miles ahead of France in second who have 29.

Opta say: "Ireland are strong favourites to become the first side to win the men’s Six Nations three times in a row (63 percent chance), while Wales are heading for back-to-back Wooden Spoons.

“Although it definitely feels like any side could beat any other on their day, it also seems like there are three defined battles in this year’s Championship. Ireland and France will fight for top spot, Italy and Wales will try to dodge the lava and Scotland and England will vie for third behind the two favourites."

Townsend said recently ahead of the tournament: "We now have a really experienced group. I think we were close to 700 caps in November, so they've got that cohesion and they understand the game we want to play. They understand what their teammates bring.

“We have some excellent players. So we have players that bring their own strengths to the group and we know that we have some real players of skill that can bring other players into the game, and the game that we want to play will mean that our wingers will get more touches of the ball. That's certainly the aim."

• Ireland - 63 percent
• France - 29 percent
• Scotland - 5 percent
• England - 2 percent
• Italy - 0.5 percent
• Wales - 0.2 percent