Into Week 4 and our last instalment of our pre-match updates for the Pool stage where we analyse the upcoming 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 week.
For the Rugby World Cup FRG will be producing picks on a weekly basis, and while we will do all we can to only select starters, we are limited by the fact that lineups are only announced 48 hours prior to kick-off, and while it will be made clear where players are unconfirmed, make sure you double check the starting XV’s before you finalise your team.
Changes to games as a result of match cancellations
The very unfortunate cancellations of England v France and New Zealand v Italy have resulted in a lot of fantasy managers being unclear as to what will happen to their selected players in these matches. All the games have taken different approaches so please see here for a summary of the proposed adjustments…
The Rugby Magazine
Official statement from The Rugby Magazine…
“Just to keep everyone updated on the impact of cancelled games on the fantasy: we have a mechanism in place that awards the average player gameweek score to each of the players involved in any cancelled fixture (this score is the average of all the scores achieved by players playing in the gameweek, not the average score for the individual player). If teams are announced, it’s the players involved who receive this score, if not, it is the entire team that receive this score.
Average Scores over the first four rounds as follows:
- GW1: 18
- GW2: 19
- GW3: 19
- GW4: 20
This means you can effectively still choose those players involved in any cancelled fixtures and earn points (or release them and choose others if you think they’ll perform better; up to you).
Just to clarify too, there are no changes to transfer rules, and the player locks remain in place for the fixture kick off times, despite those fixtures being cancelled.
As ever, any questions, get in touch: edward@therugbymagazine.com“
The Daily Telegraph
There will no alterations to the Telegraph game, so players with England, France, New Zealand or Italy players will simply have to grin and bear it…
It’s extremely unfortunate but no, we won’t be introducing new rules this far into the tournament.
— Telegraph Fantasy Football (@TFFootball) October 10, 2019
The Irish Times
No statement as yet, but this is in their FAQ’s…
“In the event of unforeseen cancellation of official match games, the cancelled fixtures will be removed from said round. This means the Round will be considered a BYE round for the affected teams. Players will not earn any points, but will remain unlocked for the duration of the Round and can be transferred out at any time.”
Superbru
Official statement from Suberbru…
“At Superbru, if a match is called off, it is treated as null and void… We appreciate that this unfortunate situation has more of an impact on our fantasy game, however, the same kind of thing applies. As has been the case when previous fixtures have been cancelled, affecting our fantasy games, players who were due to play in matches that have been cancelled will not receive any fantasy points, just as a player would receive no points if they were not selected for the match.
This is an unfortunate scenario for the tournament, but once again we send our thoughts to those in Japan that will be affected by this devastating storm.”
Potential mismatches Week 4 (11th-13th October)
Here are the matches in Week 4 and the handicap lines provided by the bookies…
- Australia to beat Georgia by 26 points
- New Zealand v Italy is CANCELLED
- England v France is CANCELLED
- Ireland to beat Samoa by 27 points
- Canada to beat Namibia by 1 point
- Wales to beat Uruguay by 46 points
- Scotland to beat Japan by 3 Points – N.B. Scotland v Japan is under serious threat of cancellation
Doubles and blanks
At the Rugby World Cup you need to understand the schedule, and optimise your team around it. The matches are unevenly spread throughout the tournament, so there are opportunities in some fantasy games to have one team potentially play twice in the same “Gameweek”. Likewise, it is also equally possible that if one team plays twice in 7 days, then they may have a blank in an other game week, drastically hindering your points potential.
Here are the doubles and blanks in the opening stages…
The Rugby Magazine
- Gameweek 5 (11th October-13th October) – Blanks: Argentina, Fiji, Russia & South Africa + England, France, New Zealand & Italy due to cancellation – Japan and Scotland under threat – Doubles: None
Superbru
- Round 4 (8th-13th October) – Blanks: England, France, New Zealand & Italy due to cancellation – Japan and Scotland under threat – Doubles: Scotland, USA, Wales & Canada
The Irish Times
- Round 4 (10th-13th October) – Blanks: Russia, Fiji, Argentina & South Africa + England, France, New Zealand & Italy due to cancellation – Japan and Scotland under threat – Doubles: None
The Daily Telegraph
- Match 33 to Match 40 (11th-13th October) – Blanks: England, France, New Zealand & Italy due to cancellation – Japan and Scotland under threat
Rules on transfers between Pool Stage and Knockout Stage
With the knockout stage just around the corner it is crucial that fantasy managers understand the rules so that they can get their teams in the best possible state following the pool stage. So here are the rules from each of the games for the transition period…
The Daily Telegraph
Expected to go well
Please note that some these picks have been published before lineups were announced, so some of these picks may not be playing – these players will have TBC beside them. Please double check the starting XV before you commit to your teams.
FRONT ROW
- Sekope Kepu (Australia)
- Tolu Latu (Australia)
- Tadgh Furlong (Ireland)
- Joe Taufete’e (USA)
- Rory Best (Ireland)
LOCKS
- Rory Arnold (Australia)
- Iain Handerson (Ireland)
- James Ryan (Ireland)
- Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)*
BACK ROW
- Isi Naisarani (Australia)
- David Pocock (Australia)
- CJ Stander (Ireland)
- Justin Tipuric (Wales)
- Kizuki Himeno (Japan)
- Sione Kalamafoni (Tonga)
SCRUM-HALF
- Conor Murray (Ireland)
- Nic White (Australia)
- Gareth Davies (Wales)
FLY HALF
- Johnny Sexton (Ireland)
- Matt Toomua (Australia)*
- Rhys Patchell (Wales)
CENTRES
- Samu Kerevi (Australia)
- Bundee Aki (Ireland)
- Hadleigh Parkes (Wales)
- Robbie Henshaw (Ireland)
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Kotaro Matsushima (Japan)
- Jordan Petaia (Australia)
- Marika Koroibete (Australia)
- Jacob Stockdale (Ireland)
- Josh Adams (Wales)
- Keith Earls (Ireland)
- DTH Van Der Merwe (Canada)
- Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
* Players who are categorised in a different position in some games but are starting in a potentially more favourable position to accumulate fantasy points (i.e. A centre on the wing)
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Get free tickets to The Rugby Show
The Rugby Show is a two-day gathering at the Ricoh Arena, home of Wasps, in July 2020. The Rugby Show already has a fantastic range of phenomenal speakers from across the professional game. The likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Maggie Alphonsi, current England World Cup duo, Joe Marler and George Kruis and World Cup winner Sarah Hunter will be talking about their own experiences, about coping with injury, maintaining fitness, nutrition, providing demonstrations on how to improve your skills as a player and more. The line-up also includes recent MMA convert James Haskell, Premiership regulars Jimmy Gopperth and Tommy Taylor to name a few. Registration has now gone live and as an ambassador of the Rugby Show, Fantasy Rugby Geek is offering you FREE ENTRY to the event (which usually costs £15 for an adult ticket). Click this link https://the-rugby-show-2020.reg.buzz/fantasy-rugby-geek and enter the following code TRS20GRASSROOTS to book your FREE tickets now!
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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