The official Women’s Six Nations Fantasy game has returned for a second year. There is a huge amount of excitement at having the game in place alongside the tournament, which has reverted back to it’s classic format, mirroring the Men’s tournament with 5 rounds and all team’s playing each other once. This article gives an overview of the game itself as well as giving you a few pointers as to how to maximise your points so that you can reach the top of your mini leagues! If any new games pop up, please let us know at fantasyrugbygeek@gmail.com or @frugbygeek on Twitter.
THE PREMISE
The Six Nations Fantasy Game is now a regular staple of the Men’s Six Nations and it has grown to be a popular and highly competitive game. The format of the Women’s game is the same, so if you played the Men’s Six Nations game, you should be very familiar with how it works.
It’s a salary-cap style game, so you have a budget of 250 stars 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, players are well rewarded in particular for tries (15 points) and Player of the Match performances (15 points), but as in previous years (albeit to a lesser extent), the biggest influencing factor is on offer for players on winning teams (“team points” – 8 points for a home win and 12 points for an away), so study the handicaps and if there are any runaway favourites, then load your team up.
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 (unless they are a supersub… more on that below), so you will be rewarded if you manage your budget well and get a full complement of players on your team.
A key area to monitor is the Supersub. One player on your bench you can elect as “Supersub”. This needs to be a player starting on the bench in real life, if they come off the bench to play a part in the match then they are awarded triple points, so choose carefully a strong “impact” finisher!
THE KEY POINTS
- Site: https://fantasyw6n.sixnationsrugby.com/
- Squad Size: Minimum of 15 (Up to 18)
- Team size: 15 (Plus 3 bench players scoring half points – including a supersub)
- Double scoring captain?: Yes
- Designated Kicker?: No
- Transfers: Unlimited per round
- Max players from one team: 4
THE EDGE
Above all, pick players who will win
With 12 points available for players playing a full 80 on an away winning team (and 8 for a home win) and also for the margin of victory (+0.2 or -0.2 points per points difference), 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 4 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 gung ho, go with you gut feeling and select 4 players from the team who you think will win). Also make sure that you select a player who will play a lot of minutes as the match result points are awarded based on how long the player is on the pitch for.
England
In the Women’s Six Nations, England are big favourites, with their closest rivals France somewhat behind if the bookies are to be believed. England have class all over the park (The editor of FRG may be biased considering that some of the current England squad came from the same club that he coaches the minis at. Cmon PRFC!) and the likes of Emily Scarratt, Sarah Bern, Abigail Dow, Vicky Fleetwood, Jess Breach and Poppy Cleall should gather plenty of points for their fantasy managers.
Tries, Tries, Tries
Tries are another route to big points in this game (15 points) so go with tryscorers wherever possible. Tackles, runs and kicks are poorly rewarded in comparison, so primarily load up with those who are known to have a good international try scoring record.
In last year’s tournament, the following would have helped you hugely;
Caroline Boujard (France) – 5 tries, Manuela Furlan (Italy) – 3 tries, Abigail Dow (England) – 2 tries, Amee-Leigh Crowe (Ireland) – 2 tries, Beatrice Rigoni (Italy) – 2 tries, Beibhinn Parsons (Ireland) – 2 tries, Bryony Cleall (England) – 2 tries, Cliodhna Moloney (Ireland) – 2 tries. Cyrielle Banet (France) – 2 tries, Dorothy Wall (Ireland) – 2 tries, Eimear Considine (Ireland) – 2 tries, Emeline Gros (France) – 2 tries, Emilie Boulard (France) – 2 tries, Helena Rowland (England) – 2 tries, Lark Davies (England) – 2 tries and Poppy Cleall (England) – 2 tries
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)..
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 then they are well worth picking up, as they are guaranteed points (Another reason to pick Emily Scarratt who is categorised as a Centre…)
Supersub Strategy
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 their backs on the bench for the entire 80 minutes, so you have to play the percentages and consider the risks.
For me the key areas to consider in a SuperSub 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 early on in the secomd half, 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 match. 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.
- Likelihood of winning – As we know, the Official Women’s Six Nations fantasy game rewards the winning team well in points (especially when away from home). So you want a SuperSub on a winning team. At the same time you want to find a balance between having starters likely to win, as they are guaranteed nailed on points, while the SuperSub is reliant on getting sufficient game time.
Play the market
The 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.
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!
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If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Women’s Six Nations glory, then join our public fantasy league on the Official Six Nations Fantasy Game. Join the league here.
FRG Partners
Check out our selected partners at Canterbury, LooseHeadz and Oddballs for all your stash needs…
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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