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
Squeaky bum time is here with crucial points up for grabs in Fantasy Rugby Draft and The Rugby Magazine, and teams scrapping for survival in the Premiership. As a result, the games this weekend look incredibly tight, with only Exeter at home to Quins looking like a formality. In the eyes of the bookies, these are the expected results…
- Exeter to beat Harlequins by 12 points
- Leicester to beat Bristol by 6 points
- Saracens to beat Wasps by 5 points
- Sale to beat Bath by 3 points
- Gloucester to beat Worcester by 2 points
- Northampton to beat Newcastle by 1 point
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
Please note that these picks have been published before lineups were announced, so some of these picks may not be playing. Please double check the starting XV before you commit to your teams, or check back here at 1pm BST.
FRONT ROW
- Alec Hepburn (Exeter)
- Ellis Genge (Leicester)
- Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
- Tatafu Polota-Nau (Leicester)
- Harry Thacker (Bristol)
- Jack Yeandle (Exeter)
- Jamie George (Saracens)
LOCKS
- Alex Dombrandt (Harlequins)*
- Jonny Hill (Exeter)
- Maro Itoje (Saracens)
- Franco Mostert (Gloucester)
BACK ROW
- Dave Ewers (Exeter)
- Guy Thompson (Leicester)
- Jake Polledri (Gloucester)
- Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
- Ben Morgan (Gloucester)
SCRUM-HALF
- Ben Spencer (Saracens)
- Cobus Reinach (Northampton)
- Faf de Klerk (Sale)
FLY HALF
- George Ford (Leicester)
- Joe Simmonds (Exeter)
- Owen Farrell (Saracens)
CENTRES
- Billy Tweletrees (Gloucester)
- Henry Slade (Exeter)
- Rory Hutchinson (Northampton)
- Luke James (Sale)*
- Alex Lozowski (Saracens)
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Olly Woodburn (Exeter)
- Alex Goode (Saracens)
- Taqele Naiyaravoro (Northampton)
- Jonny May (Leicester)
- Joe Cokanasiga (Bath)
- Denny Solomona (Sale)
- Liam Williams (Saracens)
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!
- Anthony Watson – OB – Bath
- James O’Connor – M – Sale
- Tom Curry – LF – Sale
- Tom O’Flaherty – OB – Exeter
- Kahn Fotuali’i – HB – Bath
- Dave Ewers – LF – Exeter
- Chris Harris – M – Newcastle
- Phil Dollman – OB – 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.
Rugby Box – The World’s first Rugby Subscription Box…
You may be familiar with Subscription Boxes, a service which for a regular subscription fee, a box of curated goodies are sent out on a regular basis. Common in fashion, food, tech and bear for example, but up until now, not for Rugby.
This has all changed… Rugby Box is the world’s only Subscription Box for Rugby Players and is now live…
Rugby Box’s team of experts will, on a quarterly basis, put together and send out a personalised box full of great Rugby Gear and other cool stuff. Each box contains 7-10 items including Clothing, Accessories, Nutrition and everything else you need through the season. Each box is tailored depending on the time of year and the good guys at Rugby Box like to keep the contents a surprise until it is in your hands. It is part of the fun! Some of the brands featured in their boxes include Canterbury, Gilbert, Samurai, Bulldog Skincare, Eat Natural and Bulk Powders.
The Rugby Box subscription service is £50 per box with free delivery. Boxes are billed and delivered every 3 months. Rugby Box currently deliver to the UK with Free Delivery. Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy costs £8 for delivery. If you are from a country outside of these then please reach out to the team at Rugby Box will try and arrange a special delivery.
You can learn more about Rugby Box at www.rugbybox.co.uk
Looking for more Fantasy Rugby insight and Resources?
New for the 2018/19 season, we are proud to present the The Fantasy Rugby Geek Guide to Fantasy Rugby. 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 £3.99 on Gumroad as a PDF and on Amazon in Kindle format – 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 this year’s Gallagher 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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