If you are new to Fantasy Rugby Geek, then welcome to our first instalment of our weekly pre-match updates for the Guinness 2025 Six Nations. This 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.
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Okay, back to the briefing…
What will go down…
Into the first round of the 2025 Six Nations and we have 3 mouthwatering ties to kick us off.
Opening proceedings on Friday night in Paris will be France v Wales. Wales start their Guinness Men’s Six Nations campaign in the midst of a 12-match losing streak and now find themselves facing a loaded France team that includes the Six Nations return of their captain Antoine Dupont. France will be a very popular destination for fantasy players in this round. The bookies are expecting a comfortable France victory by 27 points.
The action on Saturday kicks off with Scotland v Italy in Edinburgh. Italy had a great 2024 Six Nations campaign with two wins (including a 31-29 win over Scotland) and a draw, and they will be looking to build on that in 2025. Nonetheless, Scotland continue to impress, and despite losing their captain Sione Tuipulotu to injury they will still be expecting to get their 2025 campaign off to a winning start. The bookies agree, backing a Scotland win by 17 points.
The final game of the round sees England visit the Aviva Stadium to take on the reigning champions Ireland. Last year England beat Ireland 23-22 and with a very strong match day squad, they will be looking to spring another shock. However, with Ireland pushing for a historic Six Nations three-peat, it would take a brave person to look past an Ireland win on home soil. The bookies have also given Ireland the edge with a 6 point win.
Top 10 most likely to score (Odds via BoyleSports)
- 1 – Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.55
- 2= – Duhan Van Der Merwe (Scotland) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.7
- 2= – Darcy Graham (Scotland) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.7
- 4= – Theo Attisogbe (France) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.75
- 4= – Antoine Dupont (France) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.75
- 4= – Peato Mauvaka (France) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 1.75
- 7 – Dave Cherry (Scotland) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 2
- 8 – James Lowe (Ireland) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 2.25
- 9= – Blair Kinghorn (Scotland) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 2.3
- 9= – Huw Jones (Scotland) – Anytime tryscorer odds: 2.3
Expected to go well
*Players who are starting favourably out of position (i.e. Hooker in back row, Centre on wing, etc.)
HOOKERS
- Ronan Kelleher (Ireland)
- Peato Mauvaka (France)
PROPS
- Andrew Porter (Ireland)
- Pierre Schoeman (Scotland)
- Jean-Baptiste Gros (France)
LOCKS
- Tadhg Beirne (Ireland)
- Emmanuel Meafou (France)
- Alexandre Roumat (France)
BACK ROW
- Ben Earl (England)
- Jac Morgan (Wales)
- Gregory Alldritt (France)
- Caelan Doris (Ireland)
SCRUM-HALF
- Antoine Dupont (France)
- Ben White (Scotland)
FLY HALF
- Finn Russell (Scotland)
- Marcus Smith (England)
CENTRES
- Huw Jones (Scotland)
- Stafford McDowall (Scotland)
- Bundee Aki (Ireland)
BACK 3
- Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France)
- Thomas Ramos (France)
- Duhan Van Der Merwe (Scotland)
- Darcy Graham (Scotland)
Recommended Captain Picks
This week I’d suggest the following as Captain Pick options…
- Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France)
- Thomas Ramos (France)
Supersub Strategy
For those playing the Official Game, we look at potential options for the SuperSub role.
Ultimately SuperSub is a bit of a lottery. You could luck out if one of the starting XV needs to go off in the early stages of the game, but likewise you could be at the mercy of a coach who decides to leave his backs on the bench for the entire 80 minutes, so you have to play the percentages and consider the risks.
As covered in detail in a previous post, for me the key areas to consider in a SuperSub are…
- Will they come on, and will they play a significant period of time
- How the team has used their bench in previous games
- The split of subs on the bench
With this in mind, I will be looking to the following candidates to give the SuperSub selection to in Round 1…
- Julian Marchand – H – France
- Tom Willis – BR – England
- Oscar Jegou – BR – France
- Ewan Ashman – H – Scotland
Bargain buys on the Official game
The following players, valued at 12 stars or less, have been identified as potentially scoring well for their cost in the game and should be considered as good value enablers…
- Freddie Steward (England) – Back Three – 12 stars
- Theo Attissogbe (France) – Back Three – 11 stars
- Cadan Murley (England) – Back Three – 10 stars
- Pierre-Louis Barassi (France) – Centre – 12 stars
- Sam Prendergast (Ireland) – Fly Half – 12 stars
- Tommaso Allan (Italy) – Fly Half* – 11 stars
- Tom Willis (England) – Back Row – 10 stars (Supersub option)
- James Botham (Wales) – Back Row – 11 stars
- Emmanuel Meafou (France) – Second Row – 11 stars
- Alexandre Roumat (France) – Second Row – 11 stars
- Will Rowlands (Wales) – Second Row – 10 stars
- Luke Cowan-Dickie (England) – Hooker – 12 stars
- Dave Cherry (Scotland) – Hooker – 9 stars
Six Nations 2025 – Join the FRG Leagues!
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To join on the Official Game, simply join my league directly here.
To join on Superbru, join my league directly here or by downloading the Superbru Rugby app and searching for the league with code: pansoven
Looking for other prize leagues? Then check out the FRG overview of all the Six Nations Mini Leagues and Prize Leagues.
FRG Six Nations Guest posts and Preview content
ICYMI, 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 on the FRG site. So for some weekend reading to get you up to speed with all things Fantasy Six Nations, have a read here 👇
- Guide to the Official Six Nations Fantasy Game
- Guide to the SuperBru Six Nations Fantasy Game
- Overview of all the Six Nations Mini Leagues and Prize Leagues
- Round by Round fantasy preview
- Top 5 Premium Picks
- Top 5 Value Picks
- 100 of the best Fantasy Rugby Team Names
- Team by Team Fantasy Preview
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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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