Our 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.
Make sure you come back every weekend before finalising your lineups!
Potential mismatches
After the European break it is back to domestic action with 6 mouth-watering ties. The game that all eyes will be on is at the Allianz where the early front runners Bristol visit a Saracens side desperate for all the points they can gather. The bookies are expecting a dominant Saracens win, giving them a huge 17 point handicap which seems very high indeed. Nonetheless, here are this week’s projected lines…
- Saracens to beat Bristol by 17 points
- Gloucester to beat Worcester by 10 points
- Exeter to beat Leicester by 5 points
- Wasps to beat Harlequins by 3 points
- Sale to beat Northampton by 2 points
- London Irish to beat Bath by 2 points
Expected to go well on Fantasy Rugby Draft and The Rugby Magazine
*Players who are starting favourably out of position (i.e. Hooker in back row, Centre on wing, etc.)
Recommended The Rugby Magazine captain pick in bold
FRONT ROW
- John Afoa (Bristol)
- Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
- Coenie Oosthuizen (Sale)
- Val Rapava Ruskin (Gloucester)
- Harry Thacker (Bristol)
- Akker Van Der Merwe (Sale)
- Jamie George (Saracens)
LOCKS
- Maro Itoje (Saracens)
- Jonny Hill (Exeter)
- Franco Mostert (Gloucester)
- Albert Tuisue (London Irish)*
- Christopher Vui (Bristol)
BACK ROW
- Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
- Lewis Ludlam (Northampton)
- Ben Morgan (Gloucester)
- Ben Earl (Saracens)
- Sione Vailanu (Wasps)
- Nathan Hughes (Bristol)
SCRUM-HALF
- Ben Spencer (Saracens)
- Francois Hougaard (Worcester)
- Cobus Reinach (Northampton)
FLY HALF
- Danny Cipriani (Gloucester)
- Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
- Owen Farrell (Saracens)
CENTRES
- Rohan Janse Van Rensburg (Sale)
- Rory Hutchison (Northampton)
- Mark Atkinson (Gloucester)
- Elliot Daly (Saracens)*
- Cadan Murley (Harlequins)*
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Charles Piutau (Bristol)
- Taqele Naiyaravoro (Northampton)
- Stuart Hogg (Exeter)
- Sean Maitland (Saracens)
- Matteo Minozzi (Wasps)
- Chris Ashton (Sale)
- Jonny May (Leicester)
Value Fantasy Rugby Draft Free Agent Pick-ups
Please note that not all of these players may be available as free agents in your leagues, but if they are, then move quickly!
- Lewis Ludlam – LF – Northampton
- Lewis Ludlow – LF – Gloucester
- Michele Campagnaro – M – Harlequins
- Toby Fricker – OB – Bristol
- Tom Curry – LF – Sale
- Ollie Hassell-Collins – OB – London Irish
- Ian Whitten – M – Exeter*
- Brad Barritt – M – Saracens
- Nick Isiekwe – L – Saracens*
- Franco Mostert – L – Gloucester
- Sam Bedlow – M – Bristol
- Don Armand – LF – Exeter
Premiership Rugby Injury News
Gaining reliable Injury news for the Premiership is extremely difficult, and while we don’t have a database of the latest injuries at Fantasy Rugby Geek, we would highly recommend The Rugby Magazine’s injuries page which remains the most exhaustive source of Premiership injury news that can be found. Details of this and many other useful Fantasy Rugby resources can be found at our Resources page.
Come and join the FRG league!
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Get free tickets to The Rugby Show
The Rugby Show is a two-day gathering at the Ricoh Arena, home of Wasps, in July 2020. The Rugby Show already has a fantastic range of phenomenal speakers from across the professional game. The likes of Lawrence Dallaglio, Maggie Alphonsi, current England World Cup duo, Joe Marler and George Kruis and World Cup winner Sarah Hunter will be talking about their own experiences, about coping with injury, maintaining fitness, nutrition, providing demonstrations on how to improve your skills as a player and more. The line-up also includes recent MMA convert James Haskell, Premiership regulars Jimmy Gopperth and Tommy Taylor to name a few. Registration has now gone live and as an ambassador of the Rugby Show, Fantasy Rugby Geek is offering you FREE ENTRY to the event (which usually costs £15 for an adult ticket). Click this link https://the-rugby-show-2020.reg.buzz/fantasy-rugby-geek and enter the following code TRS20GRASSROOTS to book your FREE tickets now!
Looking for more Fantasy Rugby insight and Resources?
New for the 2019/20 season, we are proud to present the The Fantasy Rugby Handbook. An exhaustive collection of wisdom and experience gained from over a decade of fantasy rugby playing. Primarily aimed at less experienced players but with enough nuggets of wisdom and insight for even the most grizzled fantasy rugby veteran. There is something here for all players. The eBook is available to download now for just £3.99 on Gumroad as a PDF and on Amazon in Kindle format (Free on Kindle Unlimited) – check it out!
If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where you’ll find all the 2019/20 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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