We now have some form to analyse as we look ahead to the next two Rounds of the campaign, so it’s time to look at the key stories from Round 1 to help you gain even more fantasy points in Round 2 and 3!
The first team to look has to be France, where the fantasy points rained in their match against Japan. Six of the top 10 highest scoring players this week were French, and no less than nine of their players scored over 30 points. This was without Damian Penaud, who was a late withdrawal due to illness. Penaud was a very popular captain choice in this round, so his removal had a big impact, and it demonstrates the importance of keeping an eye on team news right up until the start of the match. With Penaud out, many players switched the captaincy to Louis Bielle-Biarrey and they were rewarded with the highest fantasy score of the week, 68 points. This came through a Player of the Match performance that included two tries, 150 metres carried, five defenders beaten and eight tackles.
While France dominated the fantasy scoring, there were some outlying performances in the other matches, and one player to highlight is Marcus Smith, who delivered a high volume of fantasy points for a second week in a row. Smith scored 50 fantasy points against Australia and has now got an average fantasy score of 49 points a match. His combination of an outstanding running game, exceptional creativity and an unerring accuracy with the boot has made him the kind of fantasy option that could be selected every week regardless of the opposition. Smith has now carried for a total of 216 metres in two matches and has also beaten 11 defenders. He has a tough match against South Africa in Round 2, but still remains a huge fantasy points threat.
Round 1 saw some strong performances in the Centre position. While many fantasy players chose Centres such as Mason Grady and Léo Barré in order to take advantage of them lining up in the Back Three, it was not the cheat code that many were hoping for. Instead, there were high scoring performances from the 2024 Guinness Men's Six Nations Player of the Championship, Tommaso Menoncello (41 points), as well as Emilien Gailleton (35 points) and Huw Jones (47 points). Jones in particular is proving to be one of the stars of the Autumn after his 67-point performance in Round 0, and if he lines up against Portugal this weekend, he will surely be one of the first names in most teams.
In addition to the aforementioned players, there were outstanding performances from Peato Mauvaka (61 points) and Chandler Cunningham-South (56 points). Mauvaka, who started at Hooker and then moved into the Back Row after the arrival of Julian Marchand, carried for 86 metres, beat three defenders, made an offload, won seven scrums, made a huge 24 tackles and scored a try in a truly sensational performance. Cunningham-South carried for 58 metres, got two tries, made an offload, won three scrums and made 18 tackles. When selecting forwards, you are well rewarded with players who can make a big impact in both attack and defence.
On the subject of dynamic forwards, it was France’s back rower, Paul Boudehent, who delivered a game-changing haul for anyone who gave him the Supersub assignment. Boudehent scored two tries, won five scrums and made 19 tackles, bringing in a fantasy score of 54 points, which resulted in a total of a huge 162 points for anyone who Supersubbed him. Boudehent was not the only Supersub to provide a massive return, as Ollie Sleightholme (30 points) and Mickael Guillard (24 points) both delivered a high score too.
Looking ahead to Round 2, we have another set of colossal clashes between the world's rugby elite. Standing out is France v New Zealand. Having most recently met in the epic Rugby World Cup opener (in which France came out on top with a 27-13 win), France will be looking to deliver another strong performance against the All Blacks in Paris. Preceding this will be a repeat of the RWC semi-final between England and South Africa. The match that catches the eye in Round 2 from a fantasy perspective (and also the match with the biggest disparity in world rankings in Round 2) is Scotland v Portugal. You can expect the Scotland players will be well backed, but if the Rugby World Cup taught us anything, the mighty Portugal are not to be underestimated, as Fiji will attest to.
This will be Portugal's only appearance in the 2024 Autumn Nations Series, and another team doing a one-and-done in Round 2 are the reigning champions of the Rugby Europe Championship, Georgia. It's always a massive occasion when the Lelos take on a Six Nations team, and this year they head to Genoa to take on Italy. Elsewhere in Round 2 we will see two of the Six Nations teams against two of the Rugby Championship nations with Ireland v Argentina on Friday night, and Wales v Australia on Sunday.
Make sure you get your team ready as the next round kicks off with another Friday night match. Stay tuned for more Fantasy Rugby content this week, including the Round 2 picks, which will go live later in the week.
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