Fantasy Rugby Tips, Picks and Pre-match Thoughts – Aviva Premiership Round 18

The latest instalment of our weekly pre-match updates 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. A reduced report this week due to the Fantasy Rugby Geek’s day job duties!

Potential mismatches

As we reach the business end of the season, with just 5 rounds left of the regular season and places in the Fantasy Rugby Draft semi-finals being secured, Round 18 offers up a number of great opportunities for some big scores, particularly with the returning big names after the Six Nations. In the eyes of the bookies, there are three outstanding fixtures where one way traffic is expected…

In Paddy Power’s eyes the most nailed on games this weekend with a projected winning margin greater than 10 is…

  • Saracens to beat Harlequins with a margin of 15 points
  • Sale to beat Worcester with a margin of 12 points
  • Newcastle to beat Northampton with a margin of 12 points

Elsewhere, a tight win is expected for Gloucester at the Madejski by 4 points, Leicester are expected to squeak past Wasps by 3 points at Welford Road and despite having home advantage, Bath are expected to just fall short against Exeter.

Expected to go well

*Players who are starting favourably out of position (i.e. Hooker in back row, Centre on wing, etc.)

Recommended captain pick in bold

FRONT ROW

Richard Barrington (Saracens)
Rob Webber (Sale)
Greg Bateman (Leicester)
Ross Harrison (Sale)
Jamie George (Saracens)

LOCKS

Don Armand* (Exeter)
Bryn Evans (Sale)
Nick Isiekwe* (Saracens)
Calum Green (Newcastle)
Jonny Hill (Exeter)
Graham Kitchener (Leicester)

BACK ROW

Jackson Wray (Saracens)
Ben Curry (Sale)
Jamie Gibson (Northampton)
Josh Strauss (Sale)
Lewis Ludlow (Gloucester)

SCRUM-HALF

Willi Heinz (Gloucester)
Faf De Klerk (Sale)
Dan Robson (Wasps)

FLY HALF

Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
Billy Burns (Gloucester)
Jimmy Gopperth* (Wasps)

CENTRES

Joe Marchant (Harlequins)
Sam James (Sale)
Chis Harris (Newcastle)
Henry Trinder (Gloucester)
Manu Tuilagi (Leicester)

OUTSIDE BACKS

Jason Woodward (Gloucester)
Denny Solomona (Sale)
Vereniki Goneva (Newcastle)
Liam Williams (Saracens)
Christian Wade (Wasps)
Alex Goode (Saracens)

If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all this year’s Aviva Premiership 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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