And we’re back!!! It’s been exactly 159 days since we last had some Premiership Rugby to enjoy, and with the hiatus over, it will be fascinating to see how the weekend unfolds. With no form to go by, some dramatically different looking teams, and with players having had close to 6 months of rest between matches, you should expect the unexpected this week.
This is the first FRG weekly tips since the return. For those new to FRG, the weekly pre-match tips are 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 such a long gap, and plenty of teams introducing new players into their sides and some also losing key players, it will be very interesting this weekend to observe how quickly the sides gel after such a long break. There have been many new signings, including some huge names in the likes of Radradra and Nadolo (Take a look here for a fairly comprehensive overview of the comings and goings). That said, there are a few games where the smart money will be going on some big wins for the likes of Bristol and Exeter.
Here are the expected results from the bookies this week…
- Exeter to beat Leicester by 17 points
- Bristol to beat Saracens by 10 points
- Bath to beat London Irish by 9 points
- Northampton to beat Wasps by 5 points
- Sale to beat Harlequins by 5 points
- Gloucester to beat Worcester by 3 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
- Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter)
- John Afoa (Bristol)
- Akker Van Der Merwe (Sale)
- Harry Williams (Exeter)
- Ellis Genge (Leicester)
- Jamie George (Saracens)
LOCKS
- Chris Vui (Bristol)
- Albert Tuisue (London Irish)*
- Jonny Gray (Exeter)
- Lood De Jager (Sale)
- Courtney Lawes (Northampton)*
- Maro Itoje (Saracens)
BACK ROW
- Sam Simmonds (Exeter)
- Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
- Jack Willis (Wasps)
- Jake Polledri (Gloucester)
- Nathan Hughes (Bristol)
- Zach Mercer (Bath)
SCRUM-HALF
- Harry Randall (Bristol)
- Ben Spencer (Bath)
- Faf De Klerk (Sale)
FLY HALF
- Joe Simmonds (Exeter)
- Callum Sheedy (Bristol)
- Rhys Priestland (Bath)
CENTRES
- Henry Purdy (Bristol)*
- Henry Slade (Exeter)
- Ollie Lawrence (Worcester)
- Semi Radradra (Bristol)
- Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Stuart Hogg (Exeter)
- Charles Piutau (Bristol)
- Anthony Watson (Bath)
- Byron McGuigan (Sale)
- Luke Morahan (Bristol)
- Olly Woodburn (Exeter)
- Ruaridh McConnochie (Bath)
- Jonny May (Gloucester)
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!
- Sean Maitland – OB – Saracens
- Henry Purdy – M – Bristol
- Juan Pablo Socino – M – Saracens
- Joe Simpson – HB – Gloucester
- Jack Maunder – HB – Exeter
- Courtney Lawes – L – Northampton
- Malani Nanai – OB – Worcester
- Matteo Minozzi – OB – Wasps
- Dominic Morris – M – Saracens
- Billy Vunipola – LF – Saracens
- Thomas Young – LF – Wasps
- Alex Mitchell – HB – Northampton
- Billy Searle – FH – Worcester
- Ashley Beck – M – Worcester
- Sam Hill – M – Sale
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.
The FRG Book Club
As well as being a Fantasy Rugby Geek, I am also an unapologetic book geek. I’ve got through a scary amount of books during lockdown and one rugby book in particular hit the spot that I want to share with you all.
Fringes by Ben Mercer by description alone should not be an exceptional read. Telling the story of a journeyman professional on one of the lower rungs of the French league pyramid hardly sounds like an inspiring read, yet it has over the last year consistently outsold autobiographies by the likes of Eddie Jones, Sam Warburton, Warren Gatland, Rory Best and Richie McCaw. It has been featured in The Guardian, BBC and Rugby Pass, and has lodged itself to the top of the Rugby book charts on Amazon for the last few months. And for good reason.
This is an exceptionally well written and insightful tale, unflinching in it’s honesty. At times downright brutal and other times eyewateringly hilarious. There are few more comprehesive overviews of what it is like in the modern game for the vast majority of professionals outside of the elite echelons of the pro game.
Ben Mercer is a former professional rugby player who after becoming disillusioned and uninspired plying his trade in the English Second Division, accepted an offer out of the blue to go to France and do something different – help an amateur team turn professional. Fringes is a first hand account of what life is like in the lower reaches of professional sport – where your employment status is as precarious as your health and barely anyone will know your name.
It’s about how it feels to live year to year, with teammates constantly on the move. It’s about how professionalism irreversibly changes the French club Stade Rouennais as they move up the divisions, about the tension between progress and identity in a rugby team. It’s also about how it feels to actually be out there on the field, how it feels to occasionally do something extraordinary and how it feels when this is no longer enough for you to make the sacrifices that you need to make to keep playing.
If you’ve wanted to know what life is really like as a professional athlete, on the Fringes, away from the glitz and glamour of the international game then look no further.
Fringes is available here on Amazon and in most online booksellers. Don’t miss out, insights on the game don’t come much more incisive and raw.
I will periodically share any other Rugby Books that I feel worth sharing with you all, but in the meantime if you would like to check out some of my other favourite Rugby Books, please check out my Top 5 Rugby Books here (which was published before I read Fringes!).
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!
Buy me a Coffee!
If you’ve been enjoying the FRG tips over the years, please consider supporting the blog and donating a coffee, all donators will receive a name drop on the next weekly tips, and your donations will help with the running of the blog (and keeping me fuelled to do so!) >>> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FRugbyGeek 
Buy me a coffee
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! Looking for more Fantasy Rugby news, tips and advice? Follow @frugbygeek on Twitter, Like us on Facebook or sign up to the newsletter below to get fantasy rugby news delivered straight to you!