Round 1 is here, and for all Fantasy Rugby players, hopes are high. This may be the year that you leave your friends, family and team-mates in your wake in your mini leagues!
With five rounds and 15 matches of action over the next seven weeks, it is critical that your Fantasy team gets off to a strong start. So with that in mind, here’s some pointers to get you off to a flyer!
The first thing to note is that this year there have been a number of tweaks to the overall scoring.
The complete guide to Guinness Six Nations Fantasy Rugby
New opportunities to rack up your score include lineout steals (7 points) and assists (worth 7 points).
Assists, had they been in place last year, would have hugely benefitted Jamison Gibson-Park and Romain Ntamack owners, with both gaining 4 assists each.
50:22s are another new development (10 points – although with just 8 successful 50:22’s in last year’s Championship, including a sensational effort from Tadhg Beirne, it is one of the more challenging stats to predict).
However, while there are some great new ways to gain individual points, another big change this year is that there is no margin of victory team points.
That means you need to focus your selections on the high performing individuals rather than loading up against any big underdogs.
Six candidates for Guinness Six Nations Player of the Championship
The SuperSub remains a huge differentiator that can make or break your team’s performance.
With triple points on offer, a successful SuperSub pick can propel you to the very top!
Selection of your SuperSub is all about how much of a risk you want to take.
You could luck out if one of the starting XV needs to go off in the early stages of the game, but likewise you could be at the mercy of a coach who decides to leave his backs on the bench for most of the 80 minutes. So you have to play the percentages and consider the risks.
For me, the key areas to consider in a SuperSub are…
Will they come on, and will they play a significant period of time? Often we see front rows and scrum halves switched early on in the second half.
Hookers in particular, being good all-round fantasy scorers (and often on the end of a driving maul try), are a great option.
Also take a look at previous games to see if there are any trends in how the team operates their replacements.
Finally, is your prospective SuperSub the only option in their position? If a team is playing a 6-2 split on the bench for example, then that is probably a good time to select a utility back as they are far more likely to come on in time to make a decent impact.
Fantasy Rugby: The must-have back three players
So the big question, who to invest your 245 stars in for Round 1?
In terms of players who will give you the edge, the first place to look at is France. With their eyes on defending their title and looking to get off to a flying start against Italy, they have fantasy potential all over the park in Thomas Ramos, Antoine Dupont, Ethan Dumortier (a winger classified as a Centre…), Gael Fickou, Damian Penaud, Gregory Alldritt and Julien Marchand.
Elsewhere, the likes of Ellis Genge and Andrew Porter are always high scoring options in the Front Row, while Dan Sheehan is lethal with ball in hand and often on the end of a driving maul.
In the second row, Tadhg Beirne is a threat in all aspects, and the hard-carrying Lorenzo Cannone lines up at 8 but is classified as Lock.
In the back row, Josh Van Der Flier and Alex Dombrandt are fantasy machines that should both return for fantasy managers.
Into the backs and while there are many great French options, it is also worth looking at Jamison Gibson-Park, Marcus Smith (even if he doesn’t have the kicking tee, he’s still a great fantasy option), Joe Marchant and Garry Ringrose.
Fantasy Rugby: Three must-have centres
In the back 3 there are some tough decisions to make but James Lowe, Ollie Hassell-Collins and Duhan Van Der Merwe should feature amongst the high scorers.
PICK 4
Round 1 also sees the introduction of the new Pick 4 game.
Pick 4 is a short-form fantasy game where you pick 4 players, each specialising in a certain facet of the game, be it kicking (Kicker), defending (Defender), carrying (Ball Carrier) or all round attacking play (Superstar).
The complete guide to Guinness Six Nations Fantasy Pick 4
For the Kicker I’ll be looking at Thomas Ramos or Johnny Sexton (Smith & Farrell both options, but who will get the tee?).
For the Defender role, Richie Gray, Michele Lamaro, Anthony Jelonch, Danilo Fischitti and Matt Fagerson will be right in contention. For the Ball Carrier it is hard to look past Gregory Alldritt.
Top players to select in Guinness Six Nations Fantasy Pick 4
Finally for the Superstar, there are obviously some great French options in Damian Penaud and Antoine Dupont, but the likes of James Lowe and Ollie Hassell-Collins could give you a differential edge!
Good luck, and make sure you don’t miss the first match deadline on Saturday!
My Team For Round One
15 Thomas Ramos (France) CAPTAIN
14 Damian Penaud (France)
13 Ethan Dumortier (France)
12 Joe Hawkins (Wales)
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins (England)
10 Marcus Smith (England)
9 Ben White (Scotland)
1 Ellis Genge (England)
2 Dan Sheehan (Ireland)
3 Andrew Porter (Ireland)
4 Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
5 Lorenzo Cannone (Italy)
6 Jac Morgan (Wales)
7 Josh van der Flier (Ireland)
8 Gregory Alldritt (France)
Replacements:
Ange Capuozzo (Italy)
Ben Earl (England) SUPERSUB
Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)
My Pick 4 team for Round One
Kicker: Thomas Ramos (France)
Defender: Michele Lamaro (Italy)
Ball Carrier: Gregory Alldritt (France)
Superstar: Damian Penaud (France)
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