The second of a series of game overviews to give you the ins and outs of the available games in place for this season’s Natwest Six Nations.
If any new games pop up, please let us know at fantasyrugbygeek@gmail.com or @frugbygeek on Twitter.
Next to look at is a well known and popular Six Nations game, a tried and tested favourite and one of the most popular Fantasy Rugby games in the world, the ESPN Scrum Fantasy Rugby game.
THE PREMISE
The most well known and most popular of Six Nations fantasy games. It has been around for years and is a simple and thoroughly enjoyable fantasy game. You select 15 players with no salary restrictions, select a designated kicker and away you go!
You need to pick 3 x Front-row forwards, 2 x Second-row forwards, 3 x Back-row forwards, 1 x Scrum-half, 1 x Fly-half, 2 x Centres and 3 x Outside backs with a maximum of 4 from each nation. You are allowed just three transfers each round, so you will need to ensure that your planning is on point throughout and hope that your players make it through each bruising encounter in one piece!
The only major change to the game this year are two new scoring tweaks; all players will get 2 points if they start a game, and big tacklers will now be rewarded with a point for every 5 tackles they make, so you will be well rewarded if you include the likes of Joe Launchbury, Jonny Gray, Justin Tipuric or Maro Itoje.
It’s a classic game that has been going for over 10 years, and is a staple of any fantasy addict come January every year. Not only that, but there are some great prizes on offer this year with a 13 inch MacBook Pro on offer for the winner and an Apple Watch Series 3 for each of the Round winners
THE KEY POINTS
- Site: http://fantasyrugby.espn.co.uk
- Squad Size: 15
- Team size: 15
- Double scoring captain?: No
- Designated Kicker?: Yes
- Transfers: 3 transfers per round
- Max players from one team: 4
THE EDGE
Try scorers will dominate
Looking at the points available, big points are on show for scoring tries, with 7 for try-scoring forwards and 5 for try-scoring backs. With this in mind, go for players with a track record of crossing the whitewash. Compared to meagre points offerings elsewhere, tries are definitely where the value is at in this game. To help you select players likely to score, keep an eye on the bookies anytime tryscorer odds to help you make your decisions.
Italy
Sadly, the strength of the Italian team does not seem to be improving and has regressed in recent years. In such a competitive competition, you need to find any potential mismatches where you can, and unfortunately Italy, who are currently 500-1 outsiders to win the Six Nations provide the best opportunity for a mismatch. Wherever possible load up with players who have a fixture against the Azzuri
Triple up on Hookers
In the ESPN game you can select three “front row forwards”, use this allocation on three Hookers. Hookers tend to be far more mobile so find themselves doing far more damage in the loose than props, as well as regularly finding themselves the beneficiary of driving mauls leading to tries. You only need to compare the anytime tryscorer odds of Hookers compared to Props to know that in fantasy terms, this is an absolute “no-brainer”.
Plan ahead
Keep an eye on the fixture list when making your transfers to ensure that you get the best bang for your buck and that the players in teams with favourable runs of fixtures are in your side
Keep an eye for man of the match
The player awarded Man of the Match by the official decision of the host broadcaster is awarded a healthy bonus of 5 points, which can make a huge difference. Looking at last year’s man of the match winners, there weren’t many trends to be found in the winners…
Stuart Hogg (Scotland), Louis Picamoles (France), Leigh Halfpenny (Wales), CJ Stander (Ireland), Joe Launchbury (England) x 2, Kevin Gourdon (France), Finn Russell (Scotland) x 2, Conor Murray (Ireland), Rhys Webb (Wales), Baptiste Serin (France), Jonathan Joseph (England), Brice Dulin (France), Peter O’Mahony (Ireland)
…so your best bet? Pick a great side packed with top class players with a proven track record at international level, and hope for the best!
Double check your XV is starting before the round lock
Once the gameweek lock has passed, you cannot change your team. Lineups are usually all announced by Friday afternoon, so keep an eye on the lineups and make sure your XV are all starting.
Defence wins Championships
With a point on offer for every 5 tackles a player makes certain big tacklers should provide you with big returns, consider including some of these top performers from 2017 in your team, especially in the second row, where attacking returns are usually low…
Out-of-position players are worth their weight in gold
Keep an eye on players who are classified in one position but end up playing in another position that may well provide greater returns (think a winger classified as a centre, a loose forward classified as a lock, etc).
If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Six Nations glory and win you some of this stash while you are at it, then join our Natwest Six Nations leagues on ESPN Scrum, where a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat will be on offer for the winners of each league. To join the ESPN Scrum league, simply go here, create your team, go to Leagues, select ‘Join League’ and enter the league League Password: 1304606-52973 Good luck!
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