With Rugby World Cup 2021 finally here, it’s time to look at what games are in place for this years tournament!
At first glance it seems that we might have a fantasy game, but then again maybe not (more on that below…). What we definitely have is two predictor games. Rugby Predictor games are extremely simple yet surprisingly challenging games. The aim of the game is to log in each week, look at the fixtures lined up for that week and predict the outcome of the match. The more accurate your prediction is, the better you do. It is a marathon, not a sprint and over the course of the season, the most knowledgeable players always rise to the top. It’s a great way to stay focused on the season if maintaining your fantasy team is too much, and can take as little as 5 minutes each week to maintain.
Anyway, here goes…
Rugby World Cup Dream Team
This one is a bit of a mystery. It appeared on the RWC website with no announcement, and nothing has been mentioned about it on the RWC socials. It certainly resembles a Fantasy Rugby game and you can select a captain, but there are no explanations of rules, no leagues to join and no explanation of the scoring. So who knows…
…maybe it is a application that just lets you select your favourite players and is not a game at all. Hopefully those folks at World Rugby can unravel the mystery before the tournament starts! There is clearly a big desire for a fantasy game based on the engagement seen during the Women’s Six Nations, and the buzz on Twitter when the Dream Team appeared on the RWC site…
SQUIDGE FANTASY LEAGUE IS A GO EVERYBODY https://t.co/Mk2XTouceM
— Squidge Rugby (@SquidgeRugby) October 4, 2022
Rugby World Cup Predictor
What is definitely in place is an official Rugby World Cup predictor game, which you can join the FRG league on here.
More than just a score predictor, you get 5 points for selecting the correct winner for a given game, up to 10 points for guessing the winning margin, 15 points if you get it spot on, 15 points for predicting the first try-scorer and a bonus 15 points if you get all of the above spot on for a specific match
Then additional points for getting close to the margin of victory:
- 1 point away from exact score = 10 points
- 2 points away from exact score = 9 points
- 3 points away from exact score = 8 points
- 4 points away from exact score = 7 points
- 5 points away from exact score = 6 points
- 6 points away from exact score = 5 points
- 7 points away from exact score = 4 points
- 8 points away from exact score = 3 points
- 9 points away from exact score = 2 points
- 10 points away from exact score = 1 point
Once you have entered the game you can compete against fans from around the world, fans of your favourite team or you can set up your own mini-league and compete with your mates.
The addition of first tryscorer should somewhat scratch the itch of hardcore fantasy rugby players, and the game looks intuitive and easy to play.
Sign up and get into the Fantasy Rugby Geek league now!
SuperBru Predictor
SuperBru is a classic game and one of the original Predictor games. They cover a wide range of tournaments, obviously including Six Nations, Premiership Rugby and Super Rugby, but also ranging out into the likes of Major League Rugby, Currie Cup, Mitre 10 Cup and the Shute Shield. Not only that, but they provide games for many other sports including Rugby League, Rugby Sevens, NFL, F1, Football and Golf among many many others. They also offer up Fantasy games (including Six Nations, Super Rugby and Champions Cup) and a variety of short-form fantasy games. It is a bit of a sports fan’s paradise!
Their Rugby Predictor Games are where they started out and as such they have a large and loyal community of players. It is a simple and well executed game. To play simply select who you think will win and by what margin and based on the actual result, you will gain points that accumulate over the course of the season.
The scoring is as follows…
- Win Point (WP) – If you correctly predict the outcome of a match (the correct winning team, or a draw), you will earn a Win Point. During league games, the WP is typically valued at 1 pt but, it can rise to 1.5, 2 or 3 in knockout stages to reflect the greater difficulty in picking winners amongst more competitive teams. If you miss a pick, you can still earn a WP through a default pick. A default is a pick for the team the community most expects to win. You are eligible for 7 default picks in Gallagher Premiership.
- Margin Point (MP) – If your margin prediction is within 5 of the actual margin, you will earn a Margin Point valued at 0.5 pt. You can earn a MP even if your outcome is wrong in close situations: e.g. if you pick the Blue team by 2 and the Red team wins by 1, your margin prediction is 3 away from the actual margin and you qualify for MP.
- Bonus Point (BP) – If you get the outcome right and your margin prediction is the closest in your pool and within 15 points of the actual margin, you will score a Bonus Point valued at 1 pt, but, if more than one player qualifies, the BP is shared, down to a minimum value of 0.25pts. Because each pool contains different players, your pick might be the closest in one pool but not in another. You’ll earn BP in the first but not in the second. The Bonus Point is only used inside pools: not on the global or country leaderboards.
- Grand Slam Point (GSP) – If you correctly predict the outcome of every match in a round, you will score a Grand Slam Point. GSP value can vary by round. In Gallagher Premiership the GSP values are 2.00 pts (only in the league rounds, not the knockout rounds). There is no GSP if there are fewer than 4 matches in a round.
Join the the Fantasy Rugby Geek SuperBru league here!
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