UPDATED at 12:15 Saturday 29th August
A slightly truncated pre-match tips this week with so much uncertainty this week, particularly with some squad announcements not taking place until Sunday lunchtime, but nonetheless, we’re here to give it a crack!
Two key points to be aware of this week…
- If you are playing Fantasy Rugby Draft, please note that the Monday matches will not count. So anyone with Saracens, Wasps, London Irish or Bath players in their lineup, be aware of this and adjust your team accordingly.
- Lineups for the following games (Quins v Northampton, London Irish v Saracens and Bath v Wasps) will not be announced until midday Sunday, so be aware of this when selecting your teams for The Rugby Magazine (and FRD for Quins v Northampton) – However as they rested a number of first team names in the midweek, you can assume that Quins and Saracens could well be naming strong sides
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.)
Please note that those in italics with “TBC” by their name may not be playing as this was published before the teams were confirmed
Those in red are ineligible for Fantasy Rugby Draft this week…
Recommended The Rugby Magazine captain pick in bold
FRONT ROW
- Coenie Ooosthuizen (Sale)
- Ben Moon (Exeter)
- Vincent Koch (Saracens) – TBC
- Akker Van Der Merwe (Sale)
- Jamie George (Saracens) – TBC
- Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter)
- Val Rapava Ruskin (Gloucester)
LOCKS
- Lood De Jager (Sale)
- Maro Itoje (Saracens) – TBC
- Stephan Lewies (Harlequins)
- Nick Isiekwe (Northampton)
- Jonny Gray (Exeter)
BACK ROW
- Billy Vunipola (Saracens) – TBC
- Sam Simmonds (Exeter)
- Dan Du Preez (Sale)
- Jake Polledri (Gloucester)
- Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)
- Jacques Vermeulen (Exeter)
SCRUM-HALF
- Joe Simpson (Gloucester)
- Jack Maunder (Exeter)
- Faf De Klerk (Sale)
FLY HALF
- Joe Simmonds (Exeter)
- Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
- Owen Farrell (Saracens) – TBC
CENTRES
- Luke James (Sale)*
- Jonathan Joseph (Bath) – TBC
- Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester)
- Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
- Rory Hutchison (Northampton)
- Manu Tuilagi (Sale)
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Stuart Hogg (Exeter)
- Ollie Thorley (Gloucester)
- Sean Maitland (Saracens) – TBC
- Jonny May (Gloucester)
- Denny Solomona (Sale)
- Nathan Earle (Harlequins)
- Jason Woodward (Gloucester)
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.
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