Punters join in Wales Grand Slam party

WALES won a third Six Nations Grand Slam in eight years on Saturday by beating France 16-9 in Cardiff and plenty of punters joined in the celebrations.

Ladbrokes reported a £250,000 payout on Wales with spokesman Alex Donohoe saying that they had started seeing support for the  Dragons at 6-1 after their fourth place at the World Cup.

Hills had been 8-1 about Wales winning all five of their matches, and before the game heavy support forced the firm to cut them from 2-5 to 4-11 to avenge October’s 9-8 semi-final defeat to France in Auckland.

Captain Sam Warburton  was shown a red card in the 18th minuteof the World Cup game but he and his men kept their composure throughout yesterday’s hard-fought contest to claim the title for which they had been 3-1 second-favourites.

Ladbrokes go 9-4 about Wales keeping their title next year while Hills offer 11-2 about back-to-back Slams.

England’s 30-9 win over Ireland at Twickenham has seen Ladbrokes cut interim manager Stuart Lancaster to 1-6 for the permanent Red Rose post.

Hills make England are 3-1 joint-second favourites with France for the 2013 Six Nations.

In Rome, Italy beat Scotland 13-6 to avoid finishing bottom. Scotland were 11-4 for the wooden spoon at the outset.