Fantasy Rugby Tips, Picks and Pre-match Thoughts – Guinness Six Nations 2020 Round 1

Fantasy Rugby Geekon

It’s time! If you are new to Fantasy Rugby Geek, then welcome to our first instalment of our weekly pre-match updates for the Guinness 2020 Six Nations 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.

What will go down…

In the bookies eyes (and in the eyes of most people) the biggest mismatch occurs in Cardiff, where 500-1 tournament outsiders Italy visit a Wales side who have high hopes and general expectations to have a strong Six Nations.  Paddy Power have given the defending champions a 23 point handicap, suggesting Wayne Pivac’s men will run riot against an inexperienced looking Italian side. From a fantasy perspective it is time to go heavy on Wales (Caveat, Jake Polledri plays, and if there is one Italian you want in your team, it’s him).

Elsewhere, Ireland welcome Scotland to the Aviva Stadium. Ireland enter the Six Nations off the back of an incredibly disappointing 2019 including a hugely demoralising Rugby World Cup. Ireland will have apoint to prove and they come up against a Scotland team who also had an enormously disappointing RWC and have also suffered retirements to some key players and a very unwelcome and high profile controversy after their key player, Finn Russell, was sent home after a “Breach of Protocol”. Ireland should have too much class and the bookies agree, giving Ireland a 13 point handicap.

The closest game to call is at the Stade de France where England take on an extremely young but gifted and exciting French side. England enter the Six Nations of the back of a memorable World Cup, but with injuries to several key players, and the bookies are struggling to seperate the two teams. They have given England a 4 point handicap. Either way expect fireworks in Le Crunch.

Top 10 most likely to score (Odds via Paddy Power)

  • 1 – Josh Adams (Wales) – Anytime scorer odds: 1.44
  • 2 – Johnny McNicholl (Wales) – Anytime scorer odds: 1.57
  • 3 – Jacob Stockdale (Ireland) – Anytime scorer odds: 1.91
  • 4 – Andrew Conway (Ireland) – Anytime scorer odds: 2
  • 5 – Jonny May (England) – Anytime scorer odds: 2.1
  • 6= –  Leigh Halfpenny (Wales) – Anytime scorer odds: 2.25
  • 6= – Tomos Williams (Wales) – Anytime scorer odds: 2.25
  • 8 – Jordan Larmour (Ireland) – Anytime scorer odds: 2.4
  • 9= – George North (Wales) – Anytime scorer odds: 2.6
  • 9= – Taulupe Faletau (Wales) – Anytime scorer odds: 2.6

Expected to go well

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

HOOKERS

  • Jamie George (England)
  • Rob Herring (Ireland)

PROPS

  • Cian Healy (Ireland)
  • Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
  • Kyle Sinckler (England)

LOCKS

  • Iain Henderson (Ireland)
  • Courtney Lawes (England)*
  • James Ryan (Ireland)

BACK ROW

  • Justin Tipuric (Wales)
  • Caelan Doris (Ireland)
  • Aaron Wainwright (Wales)
  • Jake Polledri (Italy)

SCRUM-HALF

  • Conor Murray (Ireland)
  • Tomos Williams (Wales)

FLY HALF

  • Jonny Sexton (Scotland)
  • Dan Biggar (Wales)

CENTRES

  • Garry Ringrose (Ireland)
  • Damian Penaud (France) * – Categorised as a Centre in some games
  • Virimi Vakatawa (France)
  • Hadleigh Parkes (Wales)

OUTSIDE BACKS

  • Jacob Stockdale (Ireland)
  • Josh Adams (Wales)
  • Jonny McNicholl (Wales)
  • Jonny May (England)

Under-the-radar pick

Tomos Williams – While the selection of debutant Johnny McNicholl on the wing for Wales is a good value and recommended differential pick, our under the radar pick for Round 1 is Tomos Williams. Williams will be looking to make a big statement having been selected ahead of Gareth Davies and also with the returning Rhys Webb breathing down his neck. A proven scorer at club and international level, with searing pace and an elusive step, Williams should run riot against Italy and should provide a return to those fantasy managers who put their faith in him…

 

 

If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Six Nations glory and win you some stash while you are at it, then join our public fantasy league on The Rugby Magazine fantasy game, where a signed paperback copy of the Fantasy Rugby Handbook and a Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat, will be on offer for the winner of the league. Keep your eyes peeled for details on how to join soon!

Fantasy Rugby Games for the 2020 Six Nations

A summary of the top games that you can play fantasy rugby for the 2020 Six Nations (some of these are currently unconfirmed so may not have 6 Nations games live)…

  • The Rugby Magazine – Stats rich fantasy game for the purist rugby fan – Check out our 2020 review here
  • ESPN – A classic and straightforward Six Nations fantasy game – Check out our 2020 review here
  • SuperBru – An old favourite with fantasy rugby among other games and sports – Check out our 2020 review here
  • The Irish Times – Salary cap game with a €3000 top prize – Check out our 2020 review here
  • The Official Six Nations Fantasy Game – A salary cap game brought to you by the Official Six Nations organisers – Check out our 2020 review here

Pre-tournament articles

In case you missed any of our other pre-Six Nations articles, make sure you check out the following to help guide your pre-tournament preparations…

Buy me a Coffee!

If you’ve been enjoying the FRG tips over the years, please consider supporting the blog and donating a coffee, all donators will receive a name drop on the next weekly tips, and your donations will help with the running of the blog (and keeping me fuelled to do so!) >>> https://www.buymeacoffee.com/FRugbyGeek Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee 

A huge thank you to Terry Gore who bought 3 coffees this week! Thanks Terry!

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 2020 Six Nations fantasy games, all the stats sources, injury news, team news, fantasy relevant rugby betting odds and tons of other useful information.

Found this interesting or useful and looking for more Fantasy Rugby news, tips and advice? Follow @frugbygeek on Twitter, Like us on Facebook or sign up to the newsletter below to get fantasy rugby news delivered straight to you!

SUBSCRIBE HERE FOR FANTASY RUGBY NEWS STRAIGHT TO YOUR INBOX