With just four weeks of fantasy action for this year’s Autumn Nations Series, getting off to a fantasy flyer is absolutely key, so a strong selection from the off is needed, but where are you best placed to invest your precious 240-star budget for the course of the series?
Here are five names that are well worth looking at as strong fantasy assets that will get you off to a rapid start in your fantasy point scoring!
A reminder that in this game you will only be able to select players from the Six Nations (England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales). Although the Six Nations 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 6 of the Six Nations will be playing, for Round 0 (Saturday 2nd November), only England and Scotland will be playing, so build your team accordingly with English and Scottish players for Round 0 then expand your team for Round 1!
One player sure to make an impact for Round 0 is none other than Ben Earl (England – 19 stars). Earl was the top scorer in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations 2024 fantasy game and in every round delivered a huge volume of points, peaking in Round 4 when he scored a monumental 72 fantasy points in England’s defeat of Ireland. Earl made the most carries (73) of any player in the Six Nations this year and beat the most defenders of any forward (24), in fact, Billy Vunipola is the only forward from any nation to make more in a single campaign (25 in 2016). Over the course of the entire Six Nations tournament, Earl also carried for 419 metres, scored 2 tries and made 63 tackles. With the points scoring updated to now be 15 points a try for a forward, Earl should always go well and should also usually be a safe captain pick.
Also likely to make an impact in Round 0 is another “set it and forget it” fantasy option, Duhan van der Merwe (Scotland – 19 stars). Van Der Merwe had another outstanding Six Nations campaign in 2024, finishing the Championship as the joint top try scorer (on 5) 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. Van Der Merwe’s points hauls in 2024 were not just a result of his tries, he also generated points from the huge volume of work he achieved around the field including 355m carried, 6 line breaks, 15 defenders beaten, 3 offloads and 17 tackles. If Van Der Merwe lines up against Fiji this weekend, he’s a safe pick for points and also a strong captain option. Scotland’s schedule for the Autumn Nations Series includes Fiji (2nd November), South Africa (10th November), Portugal (16th November) and Australia (24th November) and Van Der Merwe could be a reliable fantasy option throughout.
Looking further ahead, it’s hard to ignore the return to 15-a-side international Rugby of Antoine Dupont (France – 20 stars) who returns after an international hiatus, where he made a huge impact for the France 7s team to help deliver Olympic gold in Paris. Prior to taking his international break, Dupont had been the world's leading player at international level (in records since the 2019 Rugby World Cup) in a number fantasy points scoring areas including try assists (25) and offloads (53) as well as also scoring 9 tries since the 2019 RWC. Throughout this time Dupont has been outstanding at club level for Stade Toulousain and at one stage this season he had recorded a try or try assist every 23 minutes he was on the field in the Top 14 this season. He’s coming into the Autumn Nations Series hot, and you can expect him to deliver from the off.
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The French squad is blessed with talent throughout, and in addition to Dupont, a genuine triple threat for tries, attacking metrics and goals kicked is Thomas Ramos (France - 19 stars). A world-class goal kicker, Ramos topped the points scored at the 2023 and 2024 Six Nations (63 in 2024, 84 in 2023) and scored the highest number of conversions at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The 2024 Men’s Six Nations fantasy game showed us that kickers were key to fantasy success. In the 2024 tournament, 4 of the Top 10 average scorers with 4 or more appearances were kickers (Paolo Garbisi on 29.4 points a game, Finn Russell on 29.2 points a game, Thomas Ramos on 28.8 points per game and Jack Crowley on 27.6 points per game). In fact in the Back Three, Thomas Ramos had the highest average score of any of the Back Three players, more than Damian Penaud, James Lowe and even Duhan Van Der Merwe! And this was without him even scoring a single try. This is not to downplay his attacking and defensive abilities, he’s also a threat with the ball in hand, carrying for 274m with 17 defenders beaten, 23 tackles and 4 offloads (now worth 2 points in the Autumn Nations Series fantasy game). He’s got the ability to score points through multiple actions so for me when he plays, he has to be selected, and in general, if you find a kicker outside of the fly-half spot, like Ramos, then get them in, it’s a no-brainer.
Finally with the points for a forward now growing to 15 points (compared to 10 points for a back) you should like to the forwards to build the spine of your fantasy team. There are some great options throughout the Six Nations including Alldritt, Ollivon, Reffell, Darge, Lorenzo Cannone, Van Der Flier, Conan, Cunningham-South and the aforementioned Ben Earl, but one player who has always consistently delivered at this level and has also started the season in great form in the United Rugby Championship for Leinster with 3 tries in 3 games is Caelan Doris (Ireland – 19 stars). Doris was the picture of consistency for Ireland in the 2024 Six Nations, registering 6 lineout takes, 276 metres, 6 defenders beaten and 56 tackles made. He's entering the 2024 campaign in hot form, and this should carry over at international level.
So there are 5 top picks to start, use these players to build the foundations of a team that will bring you to fantasy glory for the 2024 Autumn Nations Series!
