Update made at 12:00 GMT on Friday February 6th following the injury to Immanuel Feyi-Waboso
If you are new to Fantasy Rugby Geek, then welcome to our first instalment of our weekly pre-match updates for the Guinness 2026 Six Nations. This where we analyse the weekend’s lineups, crunch the stats and see what the bookies are thinking to help you optimise your lineups for peak performance this weekend! By the time you finish this article you should have all the insight you need to score big fantasy points this weekend.
Before we do however, a word from the FRG editor…
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Okay, back to the picks…
What will go down…
Into the first round of the 2026 Six Nations and we have 3 mouthwatering ties to kick us off.
Round 1 will kick off for the first time ever, on a Thursday night. All eyes will be on Paris, as reigning champions France open Round 1 at home against Ireland. Ireland, currently ranked fourth in the world, will be desperate for revenge after being comprehensively dismantled by France last year in Dublin. That match finished 42–27 to France, and was France’s biggest-ever away win over Ireland. The bookies are expecting France to make home advantage count and expect France to win by 13 points.
Moving on to Saturday, the action begins with Italy hosting Scotland. Italy finished fifth last year, but heading into 2026 their depth looks stronger than ever — with a nice blend of established internationals and exciting young talents. Scotland, meanwhile, showed flashes of brilliance in 2025, particularly through their backline. Italy had had some tough injuries in their backs that firmly points this one in the favour of Scotland. With Italy’s injury woes, the bookies are backing Scotland to win by 7 points.
Round 1 wraps up with the biggest World Ranking mismatch of the tournament. World number three England host world number eleven Wales. Last year, England absolutely dismantled Wales with a 68–14 win in Cardiff — Wales’s heaviest-ever home defeat and worst Six Nations loss. All signs point to another dominant England win, with the bookies backing England to win by 29 points.
Expected to go well
*Players who are starting favourably out of position (i.e. Hooker in back row, Centre on wing, etc.)
HOOKERS
- Dan Sheehan (Ireland)
- Ewan Ashman (Scotland)
PROPS
- Ellis Genge (England)
- Pierre Schoeman (Scotland)
- Zander Fagerson (Scotland)
LOCKS
- Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
- Mickael Guillard (France)
- Dafydd Jenkins (Wales)
BACK ROW
- Ben Earl (England)
- Jack Dempsey (Scotland)
- Oscar Jegou (France)
- Alex Mann (Wales)
SCRUM-HALF
- Antoine Dupont (France)
- Jamie Dobie (Scotland)*
FLY HALF
- Mathieu Jalibert (France)
- George Ford (England)
CENTRES
- Nicolas Depoortere (France)
- Tom Jordan (Scotland)*
- Tommaso Menoncello (Italy)
BACK 3
- Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France)
- Tommy Freeman (England)
- Thomas Ramos (France)
- Henry Arundell (England) – Updated after Feyi-Waboso injury
Recommended Captain Picks
This week I’d suggest the following as Captain Pick options…
- Antoine Dupont (France)
- Tommy Freeman (England)
- Henry Arundell (England) – Updated after Feyi-Waboso injury
Supersub Strategy
For those playing the Official Game, we look at potential options for the SuperSub role.
Ultimately SuperSub is a bit of a lottery. You could luck out if one of the starting XV needs to go off in the early stages of the game, but likewise you could be at the mercy of a coach who decides to leave his backs on the bench for the entire 80 minutes, so you have to play the percentages and consider the risks.
As covered in detail in a previous post, for me the key areas to consider in a SuperSub are…
- Will they come on, and will they play a significant period of time
- How the team has used their bench in previous games
- The split of subs on the bench
Based on squads so far, the following will be in contention…
- Henry Pollock – BR – England
- Marcus Smith – FH – England
- Luke Cowan-Dickie – H – England
- Kalvin Gourgues – C – France
Bargain buys on the Official game
The following players, valued at 11 stars or less, have been identified as potentially scoring well for their cost in the game and should be considered as good value enablers…
- Jamie Dobie (Scotland) – Scrum Half* – 9 stars
- Tom Jordan (Scotland) – Centre* – 10 stars
- Guy Pepper (England) – Back Row – 11 stars
- Freddie Steward (England) – Back Three – 9 stars
- Nicolas Depoortere (France) – Centre – 11 stars
- Theo Attissogbe (France) – Back Three – 10 stars
- Josh MacLeod (Wales) – Back Row – 7 stars
- Mickael Guillard (France) – Second Row – 10 stars
- Anthony Jelonch (France) – Back Row – 10 stars
- Nacho Brex (Italy) – Centre – 11 stars
- Oscar Jegou (France) – Back Row – 9 stars
- Tommy O’Brien (Ireland) – Back Three – 11 stars
- Kyle Steyn (Scotland) – Back Three – 10 stars
- Alex Mann (Wales) – Back Row – 9 stars
- Henry Arundell (England) – Back Three – 11 stars
- Jamie George (England) – Hooker – 11 stars
- Manuel Zuliani (Italy) – Back Row – 11 stars
- Cian Prendergast (Ireland) – Back Row – 8 stars
- Jeremy Loughman (Ireland) – Prop – 6 stars
Six Nations 2026 – Join the FRG Leagues!
The Six Nations returns on Thursday 5th January! The fantasy games are now live on both the Official Game and Superbru, so get signed up and join our leagues now!
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If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the Six Nations fantasy games, all the stats sources, injury news, team news, fantasy relevant rugby betting odds and tons of other useful information.
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