This may be the year that you leave your friends, family and teammates in your wake in your mini-leagues. With four weeks of frantic fantasy rugby action ahead, it is critical that your team gets off to a strong start. So, with that in mind, here’s some pointers to get you off to a flyer.
A reminder that in this game you will only be able to select players from the Guinness Men's Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales). Although these Championship sides will be playing against teams such as New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Fiji, the only players scoring points in this fantasy game are those from the Six Nations.
While from Round 1 (starting on the 8th November) all six of the Six Nations will be playing, for Round 0 this week, only England and Scotland are scoring fantasy points this round, so build your team accordingly.
The format of the game will be familiar to anyone who played the Men’s and Women’s Six Nations fantasy games, however there are a few new scoring updates for the 2024 Autumn Nations Series. Firstly, an offload to hand is worth 2 points (The player will receive this if their supporting player is able to successfully catch the ball directly). In addition, all the team’s forwards on the pitch will get a point each when they win their own scrum. Finally, tries scored by a forward are now worth 15 points, making forwards even more valuable from a fantasy perspective.
Looking ahead to Round 0, despite consisting of just two matches, there is plenty of fantasy potential.
First up, all eyes will be on the Allianz Stadium for the Autumn Nations Series curtain raiser between England and New Zealand. Both teams battled out a close two-match Test Series in New Zealand in the summer with the All Blacks closing out the win in both tests (16-15 and 24-17 respectively). England will be hoping for home advantage to reverse this, but either way it should be another close battle with fantasy talent all over the park. Looking at potential fantasy picks from the England team, Ben Earl will be at the forefront of most teams after his outstanding international performances this year. Earl was the top scorer in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations 2024 fantasy game. He made the most carries (73) of any player in the Six Nations this year and beat the most defenders of any forward (24). Over the course of the entire Six Nations tournament Earl also carried for 419 metres, scored two tries and made 63 tackles.
Elsewhere, Ollie Lawrence is another player looking to build on an outstanding Championship. He’s started the Premiership season for Bath in great form, with three tries, one assist, 240 metres carried, 13 defenders beaten and six offloads. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso is another in-form talent, who has been scoring for fun and tearing up defences, despite the disappointing start to the season that the Exeter Chiefs have had.
Also worth a mention is arguably one of the best value players in the game at just 13 stars, George Furbank. In three appearances for England in the 2024 Guinness Men’s Six Nations he scored two tries and carried for 202 metres. He has started this season already in great form for the Premiership champions, Northampton Saints, with a try, four assists, seven offloads and 211 metres carried. With England naming a 6-2 split on their bench he will also likely play the full 80. Other strong fantasy options in the England starting XV include Marcus Smith, Chandler Cunningham-South, Ellis Genge, Ben Spencer and Jamie George. As for a Supersub options, both Alex Dombrandt and Theo Dan have the ability to make an immediate impact, and both have shown they have a habit of crossing the tryline, which will be of huge value with 15 points available for a try scored by a forward.
In the second match, Scotland host Fiji at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. The hosts will want to get their Autumn Nations Series campaign off to a winning start, but Fiji will be no pushover, even if they have named a relatively inexperienced team. They are just two places behind Scotland in the world rankings and will be heading to the Autumn Nations Series off the back of winning the 2024 Pacific Nations Cup which included a thumping 41-17 win in the final v Japan.
Looking at high potential fantasy players from Scotland, one name that will be first in most players teams is Duhan van der Merwe. The winger had another outstanding Six Nations campaign in 2024, finishing the Championship as joint-top try-scorer (on five) alongside Dan Sheehan. Van der Merwe’s try tally in 2024 was the joint-most by a Scotland player in a campaign, along with the five he scored in 2021. his points hauls in 2024 were not just as a result of his tries: he also generated points from the huge volume of work he achieved around the field including 355m carried, six line breaks, 15 defenders beaten, three offloads and 17 tackles.
Another prolific scorer can be found in the front row in Ewan Ashman. In his 19 international appearances (14 of which came off the bench) he has scored seven international tries. With a rare start, he will be looking to make a big impact. Scotland have talent all over the park with fearsome centre combo of Huw Jones and newly appointed captain Sione Tuipulotu, and a back three trio of Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson and Jack Dempsey. All of whom more than capable of bringing home a massive fantasy return. Finally, also consider Darcy Graham and Kyle Rowe in the Back Three - both good value and both highly dangerous attackers.
Scotland is also where I am looking closest for the Supersub option. Dylan Richardson is an enticing one. The Sharks' 25-year old can play both in the Back Row and as Hooker and already has three tries to his name in three Scotland appearances. Tom Jordan is also a great option - again, versatile in nature having recently played both Fly-Half and Centre, and he has had a brilliant start to the URC season, carving up defences and impressing with the boot.
Good luck, and make sure you don’t miss the first match deadline on Saturday!
Fantasy Rugby Geek's Top picks for Round 0
Back Three: Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland), Darcy Graham (Scotland), Kyle Rowe (Scotland), Immanuel Feyi-Waboso (England)
Centre: Huw Jones (Scotland), Ollie Lawrence (England), Sione Tuipolutu (Scotland)
Fly-half: Marcus Smith England)
Scrum-half: Ben Spencer (England)
Back row: Ben Earl (England), Rory Darge (Scotland), Matt Fagerson (Scotland), Jack Dempsey (Scotland)
Second row: Maro Itoje (England), Scott Cummings (Scotland), George Martin (England)
Prop: Pierre Schoeman (Scotland), Ellis Genge (England), Zander Fagerson (Scotland)
Hooker: Ewan Ashman (Scotland)
Supersub: Dylan Richardson (Scotland), Tom Jordan (Scotland)
Captain Pick: Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland)
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