The third of a series of game overviews to give you the ins and outs of the available games in place for this season’s Natwest Six Nations.
If any new games pop up, please let us know at fantasyrugbygeek@gmail.com or @frugbygeek on Twitter.
Next to look at is a well known and popular Six Nations game, a tried and tested favourite and one of the most popular Fantasy Rugby games in the world, the ESPN Scrum Fantasy Rugby game.
THE PREMISE
2018 will be the third year of the Official RBS Six Nations Fantasy Game and it has proven to be a popular and highly competitive game with a few interesting loopholes allowing those who know what they are doing to score big.
It’s a salary-cap style game, so you have a budget of 100m to build a squad of 18 players. The value of the players goes up and down based on their popularity, so you have the ability to build your squad value throughout the tournament.
The scoring is interesting, teams are well rewarded for metres gained, tries, tackles, etc, but by a mile, the biggest points (18 points for a home win and a whopping 24 points for an away) are on offer for players on winning teams, so study the handicaps and if there are any runaway favourites, then load your team up. As brilliant a player as he is, you won’t be rewarded for the likes of Sergio Parisse, you’ll be far better off with a solid but unspectacular player on a winning team.
You have unlimited transfers between each round so make sure you take advantage of that and field the best possible team you can for each round, no need to plan ahead.
You also have a bonus three spots on your bench. These players will get you half points, so you will be rewarded if you manage your budget well and get a full complement of players on your team.
THE KEY POINTS
- Site: https://fantasy.sixnationsrugby.com/
- Squad Size: Minimum of 15 (Up to 18)
- Team size: 15 (Plus 3 bench players scoring half points)
- Double scoring captain?: Yes
- Designated Kicker?: No
- Transfers: Unlimited per round
- Max players from one team: 5
THE EDGE
Above all, pick players who will win
With 24 points available for players on an away winning team (and 18 for a home win), your first port of call should be to load your team up with players playing for the favourites. If in doubt, check the handicap betting (a market where the bookies give the underdog a points advantage to level the match up) odds. Any team given a handicap of -10 or more you should have the full complement of 5 of their players in your team. Less than 5 and you are best spreading your team with 3 players of the marginal favourite and 2 players of the marginal underdog (or if you are feeling ballsy, go with you gut feeling and select 5 players from the team who you think will win).
Out-of-position players are worth their weight in gold
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).
Use your bench effectively
The Official Game also lets you include an extra 3 players on your bench. These players will get you half points, so it is well worth saving a bit of your team’s budget for some bench players. Every point counts, and if you are not utilising the three spots on your bench, you are really losing out.
Play the market
The Official Game is a salary cap game, so how you allocate your budget is key. One key point to note is that players values go up and down throughout the tournament based on their popularity, so you can build your teams maximum value throughout the tournament. This can be of enormous value come the closing couple of rounds of the tournament, so make your transfers wisely, and if you have any players in your side who may lose value (they could be injured or out of favour with the coaches, then ship them out ASAP!).
Double check your XV is starting before the round lock
Once the gameweek lock has passed, you cannot change your team. Lineups are usually all announced by Friday afternoon, so keep an eye on the lineups and make sure your XV are all starting.
Kickers not categorised as fly-halves
Often 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 (Halfpenny and Laidlaw for example) then they are well worth picking up, as they are guaranteed points.
Make the most of the transfer allocation
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!
Italy
Sadly, the strength of the Italian team does not seem to be improving and has regressed in recent years. In such a competitive competition, you need to find any potential mismatches where you can, and unfortunately Italy, who are currently 500-1 outsiders to win the Six Nations provide the best opportunity for a mismatch. Wherever possible load up with players who have a fixture against the Azzuri
Looking to see the other games in place for the Six Nations? Then check out our reviews of SuperBru and ESPN Scrum and get the chance to win a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat while you are at it.
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