Is there one position on the field that is getting all the points? On the evidence of Round 1 are there any players we should be targeting for Round 2? Any trends in the big supersub scorers? All this and more coming up...
To begin with, a quick look at some of the top scorers from Round 1 where Grégory Alldritt led the way with a huge 71 point haul - unsurprisingly, he was named Guinness Player of the Match. Alldritt was already scoring well and then a late try and the individual accolade propelled his score into the stratosphere! As he has done on so many occasions, Alldritt had a heavy carrying load, carrying for a total of 90 metres and beating 2 defenders. His score was boosted with 18 tackles, 1 breakdown steal, 3 scrums won and 1 offload.
Not far behind Alldritt on 66 points was another POTM, Huw Jones. The only player in the Top 5 scorers who wasn’t a back rower, Jones notched a 66-pointer that was largely down to a sensational hat-trick of tries, but he also carried for 126 metres, beat 2 defenders and made 5 tackles. Jones’s Scotland teammate Rory Darge recorded the 3rd highest score of the week with 52 points this week courtesy of a try, 53 metres carried, 2 defenders beaten, 3 offloads, 5 scrums won, 12 tackles and 1 breakdown steal.
The only other player to beat the 50 point barrier was Tom Curry. The England back rower recorded a massive 3 breakdown steals in one match, easily the highest tally of the week, with no other player getting more than 1. He also bagged a try and 13 tackles which boosted his overall score. Making up the Top 5 was Wales’s Jac Morgan who delivered 49 points in a heroic performance. Morgan’s points came via his 121 carried metres (the only forward to carry over 100 metres), 3 defenders beaten, 1 offload, 8 scrums won and 21 tackles.
As shown above, 4 of the Top 5 highest scorers were in the Back Row, and so with this in mind, it’s worth looking to see which positions the highest scores were in. This will help you with your captain selections and where to allocate the lion’s share of your budget. Starting with the Back Row, in total, there were 13 Back Rowers who scored 20 points or more. This was 50% of all Back Row players to make an appearance, including those coming off the bench. The combination of high tackle counts, high metres carried, the threat of breakdown steals and 15 points for a forward try really sets their scoring potential high and makes a back rower a prime candidate for the captain selection.
Unsurprisingly, also scoring well were the Back 3 players, with 7 players in the Top 20 highest scores. The combination of tries, metres carried and defenders beaten always brings in the points, with 9 Back Three players scoring 20 or more. Scrum-Half is a traditionally low-scoring position (Antoine Dupont excepted!), but in Round 1, Jamison Gibson-Park (42 points) also joined Dupont (31 points) in the higher echelons of the scoring in a Guinness Player of the Match performance, while the remaining scrum-half options were way behind on 20 points or less.
Surprisingly, there were no appearances of two usually high-scoring positions in the Top 20: Fly-Half and Hooker. Don’t expect this to continue in Round 2. Props also scored low with no players in the Top 20 and only 3 players, Danilo Fischetti, Andrew Porter and Jean-Baptiste Gros scoring 20 points or more. Finally, there were outlying performances from individuals in the Centres and Second Row. For the Centres, the scores of Huw Jones, Bundee Aki and Tommaso Menoncello set them apart, while for the Second Row, Tadhg Beirne, Dafydd Jenkins and Will Rowlands all scored way beyond the average Second Row score.
The scores of Dafydd Jenkins and Will Rowlands highlighted the value of a high tackle count. Along with Jenkins (24 tackles) and Rowlands (17 tackles); Jac Morgan also made 21 tackles, and all 3 had a total fantasy score of 30 points or more. Considering this, if there is a match where a team will be likely to be putting in a high volume of defensive work, then look to the players on their side who historically have had a high tackle count. The likes of Morgan, Jenkins and Rowlands could well find themselves in the high scores almost every week.
In addition to the heroics of the Welsh trio, there were some impressive tackle stats generated from the Italian team, including Sebastian Negri (26 tackles), Michele Lamaro (picking up where he left off last year with 20 tackles) and Giacomo Nicotera (20 tackles). There were several other outstanding performances in overall points-scoring metrics, that offer good options for consideration in the next rounds. In terms of running with the ball, it was James Lowe and Blair Kinghorn who were both streets ahead compared to the rest of the pack with Lowe carrying for 167 metres and Kinghorn not far behind on 159 metres.
Darcy Graham also impressed, not only carrying for 122 metres, but beating 11 defenders, more than double of his closest challenger, Ollie Lawrence, on 6 defenders beaten. James Lowe also topped the creativity charts, creating 3 try assists, matching only the imperious Antoine Dupont. For offloads, the Scottish contingent were strong with Jonny Gray (4 offloads) and Rory Darge (3 offloads) leading the way.
The final area we learned a bit more about is on the SuperSubs. In previous years, it was forwards that typically scored the highest for the Supersub, and again in Round 1 this was the case. Julian Marchand was the highest scorer off the bench, with 27 points, courtesy of a try scoring performance. This netted those who selected him as a Supersub a massive 81 points. Dan Sheehan was close behind, having scored yet another try to record 25 points off the bench. One back who did deliver as a Supersub however was Emilien Gailleton, who also scored a try in his 13-minute cameo off the bench. Despite this, it seems the lowest-risk strategy remains to focus on hookers and back rowers, who will be on the field for a good period of time to build up a good score.
So there’s five big lessons learned for Round 1. Round 2 comes around straight away, so stay tuned for more Fantasy Rugby content this week, including the Round 2 picks, which will go live on Friday.
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