Welcome to Day 1 of FRG’s Fantasy Rugby World Cup Diary! This will be a daily post during the World Cup in which I will be previewing the upcoming games, looking back at the previous matches and sharing the progress, trials and tribulations of all my teams across the 4 games live for the World Cup. In case you missed my original Diary post outlining my strategy for all four games, have a read here. Throughout the tournament I will provide a warts and all insight in to how I’m selecting my sides, who I’m selecting and how I’m getting on…
Match Day 1 Review
And we’re off! Despite an early scare and fairly tense first half, Japan stretched away with a 30-10 victory. Star of the show was undoubtably the hat-trick hero Kotaro Matsushima. Happy to say that he was one of the FRG picks of the week, and did not disappoint, long may the good tips continue! Another one of the FRG picks, Kizuki Himeno, also impressed, carrying for a huge 113m from Number 8, as well as racking up 2 clean breaks, 6 defenders beaten and 13 tackles. Other standout performances included Lomano Lomeki with 14 defenders beaten and Shota Horie & Pieter Labuschane, both registering 16 tackles each, with the latter also crossing the whitewash. All in all a good day for owners of Japanese players, especially those who captained Matsushima.
Match Day 2 Preview
Match day 2 promises to be a feast of rugby, and I don’t know how I’ll be able to sleep with these matches lined up.
First up we have Australia v Fiji, which should be a showcase of attacking rugby and should be well worth getting up early for (if you are in Europe, SA, America…). With both sides boasting some electric talent in the backs including Samu Kerevi, Marika Koroibete, Josua Tuisova, Levani Botia and Semi Radradra, expect plenty of line breaks, offloads and tries. Upfront there will also be plenty of fantasy relevant players on show, and I’m particularly excited to watch the legendary Leone Nakawara take to the field. The only disappointment is the lack of the ‘Tongan Thor’, Taniela Tupou in the Wallabies match-day squad.
In the second match-up of Argentina v France, there is more talent on show in a game that will go a long way to determining who will progress to the quarter-finals in Pool C. This match is too close to call, and I’m expecting big fantasy performances from the French contingent of Guilhem Guirado, Gregory Alldritt, Antoine Dupont, Romain Ntamack, and a possible dark horse for top tournament tryscorer, the electric Damian Penaud. On the Los Pumas side of things, anyone holding Guido Petti, Pablo Matera, Matias Orlando and Emiliano Boffelli should fancy their chances to rack up some decent points.
Finally, it doesn’t get any bigger than in the third match of the day, South Africa v New Zealand. Many expect this to be the Final match too, and unsurprisingly, there is class all over the field. Singling out talent in these two teams is almost impossible, but on the All Blacks side I’m particularly excited to see Sevu Reece, Richie Mo’unga and Ardie Savea, while for the Boks, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the attacking returns of Cheslin Kolbe, Malcolm Marx, and Makazole Mapimpi.
FRG’s Teams
The Rugby Magazine – Points: 110 – Ranking: 397
Very pleased with my start, having Matsushima was great, although I’m kicking myself at the last moment switch from Himeno to Leitch. Tomorrow I’ll be looking forward to seeing Malcolm Marx start his first game, and also looking forward to seeing Allan Ala’alotoa putting in some trademark runs with ball in hand to rack up some metre points. My locks also play with Nakawara and Petti starting, and in the Centres Samu Kerevi will hopefully be his ever-reliable fantasy points scoring self. On the bench I also have Mata and Kolbe who will hopefully supplement my score nicely.
I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Welsh team announcement as well, particularly with Gareth Davies as my captain, and will be ready to make some switches if needed…
SuperBru – Points: 47.5 – Ranking: TBC
A solid if unspactacular start, I had the disppointing Will Tupou in my Centres pick up 10 points, and Shota Horie with a solid 12 points at Hooker. It was great to have Kizuki Himeno pick up 24 points however with a barnstorming performance at Number 8. Tomorrow will be a big day for my SuperBru team, with captain Tuisova starting against Australia, as well as appearances for Semi Radradra, Leone Nakawara and Allan Ala’alatoa. I will also discover if my Welsh gamble pays off, and if Dan Biggar isn’t playing, then Handre Pollard will come in. As for Gareth and Jonathan Davies, if they don’t play… then I’m pretty stuffed.
The Daily Telegraph – Points: 93 – Ranking: 712
A GREAT start, 2 players and 93 points with Captain and hat-trick hero Kotaro Matsushima and Kizuki Himeno both coming up with the goods. Couldn’t be happier. Tomorrow I have 5 players in action including Leone Nakawara, Malcolm Marx, Ardie Savea, Samu Kerevi and Allan Ala’alatoa.
I won’t be making any changes to my team, and will be saving a couple of subs and a captain change for Sunday.
The Irish Times – Points: 40 – Ranking: 1125
The most disappointing of my four teams but hardly a disaster, I had Inagaki at Prop and Leitch in my back row, both scored okay but nothing special. Tomorrow, I have Marx, Nakawara, Savea, Radradra, Tuisova and Reece playing so will have fingers crossed to rise up the rankings a bit. I now understand the subs system a bit more, and it really will only help mid-gameweek to ship out any players who aren’t named in their respective teams, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Wales team announcement. Otherwise I don’t intend to make any changes in this window.
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Looking for more Fantasy Rugby insight and Resources?
New for the 2019/20 season, we are proud to present the The Fantasy Rugby Handbook. An exhaustive collection of wisdom and experience gained from over a decade of fantasy rugby playing. Primarily aimed at less experienced players but with enough nuggets of wisdom and insight for even the most grizzled fantasy rugby veteran. There is something here for all players. The eBook is available to download now for just £3.99 on Gumroad as a PDF and on Amazon in Kindle format (Free on Kindle Unlimited) – check it out!
If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the 2019 Rugby World Cup 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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