If like me you are hugely excited about the kick-off of the Six Nations, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post I’ll be covering all you need to know ahead of the 2024 season kick-off.
In this post you’ll see what games that you can play Fantasy Rugby for the 2024 Six Nations, how to win in your chosen game, when you can expect the team lineups to be announced, where you can listen to great fantasy tips in the podcast world and (most importantly) how to select a great team name, along with many other valuable tips. Read on until the end as well to see how to join the FRG Fantasy leagues.
Before we get going…
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Okay, back to the briefing…
The Games
So first of all, there are two games live for the Six Nations this year.
The games that are going ahead are The Official Six Nations Fantasy Game and SuperBru.
Let’s dig into both…
The Official Six Nations Fantasy Game
A quick overview of the core rules of the game: You have a budget of 240 stars to build a squad of 15 starters and 1 player on your bench. You can select any player named in the Guinness Six Nations squads; however, each player has a different price (based on the player’s reputation and likely performance in the game), so you need to manage your budget wisely and work to identify value players. Your team must consist of 3 back-three players, 2 centers, 1 fly-half, 1 scrum-half, 3 back rows, 2 second-rows, 2 props, and 1 hooker; while your bench player can be from any position. It is important to note that you can only select a maximum of 4 players from the same country. You can also use the auto-pick function if you want to quickly select your team before you do any tinkering.
In addition, for each round, you will have two bonus chips you can assign to your selection. These are the Captain and the Supersub. These will be familiar to those who have played the game before, but for the uninitiated, the player you select as Captain will have their points doubled, while the player you select as Supersub will have their points TREBLED. There is a wrinkle with the Supersub rules, however; you must select a player who is beginning the match on the bench. If you select a starter in the Supersub position, you will only get half their points.
Points are awarded for a variety of Attacking actions and Defensive actions. From an attacking perspective, points are awarded for Tries (10 pts), Try assists (4 pts), Try conversion (2 pts), Penalty kick (3 pts), Drop goal (5 pts), Defenders beaten (2 pts), Carried meters (1 pt per 10m made), and 50-22 kicks (7 pts). While on the defensive side, points are awarded for Tackles (1 pt), Breakdown steals (5 pts), and Lineout steals (7 pts). You will also need to be careful if you have players prone to disciplinary issues, as there are points deductions in place for conceded penalties (-1 pt), yellow cards (-3 pts), and red cards (-6 pts). Finally, there is a massive 15 points on offer for the Official Player of the Match, so choose carefully!
Two important changes to note from the 2023 game are that, firstly, you will now only have one substitute on your bench, as opposed to the three substitutes previously available for selection. Secondly, when it comes to scoring, there have been some slight alterations, the biggest being the removal of what was known in previous years as ‘team’ points for the team’s victories and draws; these no longer apply so outstanding performers on losing teams will now score on an even level compared to their victorious counterparts.
On the Supersub, for me the key areas to consider are…
Will they come on, and will they play a significant period of time – For this we see Props, Hookers and Scrum-Halves tend to come on typically between the 45-60 minute point, so they usually get some good game time. With Locks and Loose Forwards it is not rare to see a starting Lock or Loose Forward play the full 80. That said, Locks and Back Rowers are not typically left on the bench either. Fly Halves are a bit more unpredictable, they could come on early if the game plan is not working but, likewise, sometimes a change is too disruptive and can be left late, and in some cases not at all. Centres and Back 3 is also a bit of a lottery.
History – Take a look at previous games to see if there is any trends in how the team operates their replacements. In some cases, past matches can provide a pretty educated insight into how a team will play their bench.
Options – Is your prospective SuperSub the only option in their position? If a team is playing a 6-2 split on the bench for example, then that is probably a good time to select a utility back as they are far more likely to come on in time to make a decent impact.
Good luck, with triple points on offer, a successful SuperSub pick can propel you to the very top!
Keep an eye on players who are classified in one position but end up playing in another position that may well provide greater returns (think a winger classified as a centre, a loose forward classified as a lock, etc). In previous years, great examples have included Keith Earls (categorised as a Centre but playing on the wing), Elliot Daly (categorised as a Centre but playing at Fullback), Maro Itoje (categorised as a Lock but playing in the Back Row), Damian Penaud (categorised as a Centre but playing on the wing) and Owen Farrell (categorised as a Fly Half but playing as a Centre).
Please note, Mauro Bergamasco playing at scrum half is the “exception that proves the rule”!
Lineups are usually all announced by Friday afternoon, so obviously keep an eye on the lineups and make sure your full squad are all starting.
Also worth noting that while many fantasy games force you to select one kicker to gain points from conversions, penalties, drop goals etc. Not here, so if you can find kickers who play outside of the fly-half position then they are well worth picking up, as they are guaranteed points.
Finally, unlike other games, the Official Game allows you to completely tear up your team for no points penalty in between rounds. This means you can load your team fully optimised for each round. If you need to make 15 changes, then don’t hold back. Just do it!
Lastly, click here to join the FRG League for the Official Six Nations game.
SuperBru
While Superbru is well known to many Fantasy Rugby fans, the game has had a massive reboot for the 2023/24 season. The most dramatic change is that the fantasy game is now a salary cap style game in which you have a budget of £100m to build a squad of a 23 players, with one in each field position plus one reserve for each grouping (So your squad is four outside backs, three centres, two fly-halves, two scrum-halves, four loose forwards, three locks, two hookers, three props), unlike some other fantasy rugby games, you do not get any points for the players on your bench (although if one of your starters isn’t playing then your bench players will come on), so choose your starting XV wisely.
You are limited to six players per team, and once the tournament gets underway, you can make four transfers each round (any extra transfers incur a 6 point hit).
For those familiar with SuperBru, there are some notable scoring changes to their fantasy games for the 2023/24 season, these are…
- 50:22 added – 2pts each
- Turnovers added – 1pt each
- Handling errors added – -0.5pt per knock-on/forward pass
- Investec Player of the Match added – 3pts awarded to the player that wins that award each match
- Plus, clean breaks have been changed to 1pt per clean break rather than 1pt for every 2 clean breaks.
Obviously full scoring info is available in-game.
In addition, ICYMI, Superbru have also launched a new Rugby app which will be the home of all their fantasy and predictor games, including also URC, Premiership and Champions Cup. You can check it out here for iOS and here for Android.
You are limited to six players per team, so you can some good coverage on players lining up against perennial whipping boys Italy, however you will also need to choose carefully elsewhere. Once the tournament gets underway, you can make a limited number of transfers each round (four per round).
Like the official game, once the gameweek lock has passed, you cannot change your team, so keep an eye on the lineups and make sure your XV are all starting. Also, keep an eye on players who are classified in one position but end up playing in another position that may well provide greater returns.
If you are a keen SuperBru player, make sure you check out our interview with one of the founders of SuperBru, Hutch, here, and also our interview with a previous Global winner of the Six Nations SuperBru game here.
Lastly, click here to join the FRG League for SuperBru.
Predictor Games
As always, in addition to Fantasy Games, there are also a number of great Predictor Games, first up is FANZO. An app only game, you can download Fanzo from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
The Guinness Pint Predictor is a game that FANZO run during the Six Nations. It allows sports fans to predict the scores of all Six Nations matches, and rewards you for getting them right. Predominantly, this is via free pints but there are also much bigger prizes up for grabs – including tickets and signed goodies.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, simply click the Guinness Pint Predictor button on the app. Then in the play tab you’ll then be able to make predictions by picking the winner and margin of victory of each match. The closer your predictions are, the more points you’ll get on the leaderboards and the more pints you’ll earn.
An addition, as well as providing a fantasy game SuperBru are also providing their tried and tested Predictor game.
Mini leagues
If you are looking for some more mini leagues to join, especially prize leagues, then head over to our post Notable Fantasy Six Nations 2024 Mini Leagues to get involved!
Also make sure you join the FRG leagues which are now live on Superbru and the Official Six Nations game.
Join the Superbru league here and the Official Six Nations league here
FRG Six Nations Guest posts
In the lead up to the Six Nations, George from FRG has been writing some guest posts for the Official Six Nations site and also contributing to an excellent Fantasy Six Nations post on W-Rugby. Have a read here 👇
- Six Nations Website: Fantasy Rugby Geek’s Guide to the Game
- Six Nations Website: Fantasy Rugby Geek’s Six Nations Value Picks
- W-Rugby: Six Nations Fantasy 2024: The Ultimate Guide
- Six Nations Website: Fantasy Rugby Geek’s 5 to watch
- Six Nations Website: Fantasy Rugby Geek’s MORE Six Nations Value Picks
- Six Nations Website: Fantasy Rugby Geek’s Team by Team Guide
Fantasy Team Names
Got your team in place but struggling for a team name? Fear not, check out our guide to the Top 100 fantasy team names here.
Podcasts
With a few days until the tournament you may be looking for some advice in audio form. Look no further than friends of the blog, The Fantasy Rugby Yanks. No matter what, they put out two great quality shows every week.
Keep an eye out for their Fantasy Corner show, which is usually published Thursday or Friday each week.
You can find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all the usual podcast spots.
When will the FRG tips will be posted
Finally as always, the FRG Fantasy Tips will be published again prior to each Round. They will be going live once all teams have been announced (usually on the Friday afternoon). Covered in the posts will be pre-match previews, recommended players in all positions, the bookies picks for most likely try-scorers and the FRG under-the-radar pick of the week. You can check out one of last year’s tips posts to get an idea of what to expect.
Lastly, make sure you follow Fantasy Rugby Geek on Twitter and stick notifications on, to ensure you get news as soon as possible.
Want to know what it takes to finish the tournament in SuperBru as #1 in the world? Read an interview with a previous Champion here…
Help shape the future of Fantasy Rugby!
The good folks at Dream XV Rugby need your help to input on their future fantasy game, please spare 5 minutes to fill out this quick survey. Your feedback is hugely valued!
You can access the survey here.
FRG Premium – Join today to elevate your Fantasy Rugby performance
Now live on Buy Me A Coffee, unlock further fantasy rugby insights with Fantasy Rugby Geek Premium! Covering URC, Premiership Rugby, Champions Cup and Men’s and Women’s Six Nations. With your subscription, you’ll see the exact teams that I am playing with, get access to further private posts, and I will also offer you a personalised review of your teams, outlining any opportunities for improvement. All your subscriptions go back into the costs of running fantasyrugbygeek.com!
Elevate your fantasy rugby game – subscribe to Fantasy Rugby Geek Premium today and embark on a winning journey like never before! Act fast, and seize your ticket to fantasy rugby glory today!
A big thank you to all the FRG Members who have signed up to FRG Premium since the start of the RWC (Keeping you anonymous in case anyone in your mini leagues is reading! 🤫)
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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 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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