Our latest instalment of our weekly pre-match updates 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.
Make sure you come back every weekend before finalising your lineups!
Potential mismatches
With so many players away at the RWC and no club form to go off, it’s best to take the projected handicap lines with a pinch of salt. It’s Round 1 so anything can happen, but here are the projected lines…
- Wasps to beat London Irish by 13 points
- Exeter to beat Harlequins by 12 points
- Saracens to beat Northampton by 11 points
- Bristol to beat Bath by 6 points
- Sale to beat Gloucester by 6 points
- Worcester to beat Leicester by 4 points
Expected to go well on Fantasy Rugby Draft and The Rugby Magazine
*Players who are starting favourably out of position (i.e. Hooker in back row, Centre on wing, etc.)
Recommended The Rugby Magazine captain pick in bold
FRONT ROW
- John Afoa (Bristol)
- Alec Hepburn (Exeter)
- Harry Thacker (Bristol)
- Zurabi Zhvania (Wasps)
- Jack Yeandle (Exeter)
- Alex Waller (Northampton)
- Akker van der Merwe (Sale)
LOCKS
- Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
- Will Skelton (Saracens)
- Ed Slater (Gloucester)
- Jonny Hill (Exeter)
- Dave Ribbans (Northampton)
BACK ROW
- Zach Mercer (Bath)
- Jaco Kriel (Gloucester)
- Ruan Ackermann (Gloucester)
- Sam Simmonds (Exeter)
- Jack Willis (Wasps)
- Ben Earl (Saracens)
- Sione Vailanu (Wasps)
SCRUM-HALF
- Ben Spencer (Saracens)
- Francois Hougaard (Worcester)
- Dan Robson (Wasps)
FLY HALF
- Joe Simmonds (Exeter)
- Lima Sopoaga (Wasps)
- Duncan Weir (Worcester)
CENTRES
- Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
- Nick Tompkins (Saracens)
- Malakai Fekitoa (Wasps)
- Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
- Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester)
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Charles Piutau (Bristol)
- Taqele Naiyaravoro (Northampton)
- Marcus Watson (Wasps)
- Olly Woodburn (Exeter)
- Chris Ashton (Sale)
- Josh Bassett (Wasps)
- Alex Lewington (Saracens)
Value Fantasy Rugby Draft Free Agent Pick-ups
Please note that not all of these players may be available as free agents in your leagues, but if they are, then move quickly!
- Cadan Murley – M – Harlequins
- Nick Isiekwe – L – Saracens
- Tom Hendricksen – M – Exeter
- Zach Kibirige – OB – Wasps
- Rotimi Segun – OB – Saracens
- Martin Landajo – HB – Harlequins
- Max Bodilly – OB – Exeter
- Sione Vailanu – LF – Wasps
- Jonny Hill – L – Exeter
- George Furbank – OB – Northampton
- Cameron Redpath – FH – Sale
- Jack Maunder – HB – Exeter
- Jackson Wray – LF – Saracens
- Jack Willis – LF – Wasps
- Michael Le Bourgois – M – Wasps
- EW Viljoen – M – Leicester
Premiership Rugby Injury News
Gaining reliable Injury news for the Premiership is extremely difficult, and while we don’t have a database of the latest injuries at Fantasy Rugby Geek, we would highly recommend The Rugby Magazine’s injuries page which remains the most exhaustive source of Premiership injury news that can be found. Details of this and many other useful Fantasy Rugby resources can be found at our Resources page.
Come and join the FRG league!
If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Premiership glory and win you some stash while you are at it, then join our public fantasy league on The Rugby Magazine fantasy game, where a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat, and a signed paperback copy of the Fantasy Rugby Handbook will be on offer for the winner of the league. To join, Sign up to the game here & go to Leaderboards > Public Leagues and join “Fantasy Rugby Geek”. Good luck!
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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 2019/20 Premiership 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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