Fantasy Six Nations 2022 Preview – France

Fantasy Rugby Geekon

With Saturday 5th February 2022 fast approaching, it’s time to delve a bit deeper into this year’s potential fantasy Six Nations stars. So over the next two weeks FRG is providing a quick preview of all the teams from a fantasy perspective. Today we look at France…

France

In a nutshell

2021 was the year that confirmed France’s status as a true global force in world rugby. The undoubted potential of their collective talents was fulfilled and they have now cemented themselves as one of the most exciting groups of players in the world today. This was confirmed by their sensational record victory over the All Blacks, which put the icing on the cake of a huge year. It wasn’t all plain-sailing however, and ending up second in the Six Nations for a second year was ultimately a huge disappointment for Les Bleus.

From a fantasy perspective, France are blessed with an abundance of riches that will surely be the bedrock of many fantasy teams. It goes without saying, that if he is fit, World Rugby Player of the Year Antoine Dupont will be the first name on many fantasy managers team sheets. There are few players gifted with such an all-round skillset. Elsewhere, France’s top tryscorer in 2021 with 7 tries, Damian Penaud will be expected to continue his impressive international form. Penaud, was one of only two players who featured in every game for France this year, along with Romain Taofifenua, and consistency like that is key.

Despite a great year from Matthieu Jalibert and suffering injury issues, Romain Ntamack’s performance against the All Blacks cemented his place as the first-choice option at fly-half. By the autumn, both Anthony Jelonch and Cameron Woki had progressed from outside the 23 to starters, the latter transferring from back row to lock and succeeding in the unfamiliar position. Worth noting how Woki will be categorised in the fantasy games. Melvyn Jaminet is another individual who had a stellar and breakout 2021. Lethal with the ball in hand as a counter-attacker, but also demonstrating himself as a first-class international kicker, he’ll be a great option in the outside back for an additional kicking option. Finally, France’s maul is another huge weapon, and their are big points to be had at the Hooker position with Peato Mauvaka and his Toulouse team-mate Julien Marchand.

Having been the runner-up the last two years, anything less than the Championship title will be a disappointment. The draw has them playing three home games, including matches against title contenders Ireland and England. Bet against France at your peril.

Current World Ranking

5th (As of the 10th January 2022)

Performance in the 2021 Six Nations

2nd

Odds on winning Six Nations 2022

6/4 (Favourites)

Six Nations History (Since start of Six Nations in 2000)

Winners x 5 (including 3 Grand Slams)

Most likely to make a fantasy impact

Antoine Dupont (Scrum Half – Toulouse)

Key players to consider

Demba Bamba (Prop – Lyon), Julian Marchand (Hooker – Toulouse), Peato Mauvaka (Hooker – Toulouse), Thibaud Flament (Lock – Toulouse), Paul Willemse (Lock – Montpellier), Cameron Woki (Lock/Loose Forward – Bourdeaux), Gregory Alldritt (Loose Forward – La Rochelle), Antoine Dupont (Scrum Half – Toulouse), Romain Ntamack (Fly Half/Centre – Toulouse), Virimi Vakatawa (Centre – Racing 92), Gael Fickou (Centre/Outside Back – Racing 92), Damian Penaud (Centre/Outside Back – Clermont), Gabin Villiere (Outside Back – Toulon), Teddy Thomas (Outside Back – Racing 92), Brice Dulin (Outside Back – La Rochelle), Melvyn Jaminet (Outside Back – Perpignan)

Top Performers in 2021 Six Nations

  • Most Points: Mathieu Jalibert (34 points)
  • Most Tries: Brice Dulin, Antoine Dupont and Damian Penaud (3 tries each)
  • Most Assists: Antoine Dupont (5 assists)
  • Successful Kicks: Mathieu Jalibert (15 successful kicks)
  • Most Metres Carried: Brice Dulin (492m carried)
  • Most Defenders Beaten: Brice Dulin (18 defenders beaten)
  • Most offloads: Antoine Dupont (8 offloads)
  • Most Successful tackles: Charles Ollivon (79 tackles made each)

Six Nations 2022 Squad

Likely Kickers

Successful kicks from France kickers since the start of the 2019/20 season…

Full list of Matches

  • Round 1 – Sunday February 6th, 3:00pm GMT – France v Italy – Stade de France
  • Round 2 – Saturday February 12th, 4:15pm GMT – France v Ireland – Stade de France
  • Round 3 – Sunday February 26th, 2:15pm GMT – Scotland v France – Murrayfield
  • Round 4 – Friday March 11th, 8:00pm GMT – Wales v France – Principality Stadium
  • Round 5 – Saturday March 19th, 8pm GMT – France v England – Stade De France

If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Six Nations glory and win you some stash while you are at it, then join our public fantasy league on the Official Six Nations Fantasy Game, where a signed paperback copy of the Fantasy Rugby Handbook and a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat, will be on offer for the winner of the league. Join the league here.

FRG Partners

Check out our selected partners at Canterbury, LooseHeadz and Oddballs for all your stash needs…

   

Fantasy Rugby Games for the 2022 Six Nations

A summary of the top games that you can play fantasy rugby for the 2022 Six Nations…

Pre-tournament articles

In case you missed any of our other pre-Six Nations articles, make sure you check out the following to help guide your pre-tournament preparations…

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If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the 2022 Six Nations 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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