Fantasy Rugby Tips, Picks and Pre-match Thoughts – Rugby World Cup Week 1

Fantasy Rugby Geekon

And away we go, it’s good to be back! Our first Rugby World Cup instalment of our pre-match updates where we analyse the upcoming lineups, crunch the stats and see what the bookies are thinking to help you optimise your lineups for peak performance this week!

For the Rugby World Cup we will be producing picks on a weekly basis, which should allow enough foresight for players to plan effectively but where possible should avoid the perils of in-tournament injuries and squad rotation. Also, keep an eye out for the FRG daily diary which will be published daily during the tournament looking back at the previous days games, looking ahead and also sharing the progress of the FRG teams!

While we will do all we can to only select starters, we are limited by the fact that lineups are only announced 48 hours prior to kick-off, and while we will make it clear where players are unconfirmed, make sure you double check the starting XV’s before you finalise your team.

Potential mismatches Week 1 (20th-26th September)

A regular signature of Rugby World Cup pool stages are the mismatches, with many Tier 2 teams lining up against Tier 1 teams, there is often considerable potential for some big fantasy points hauls. Unsurprisingly there are a number of these matches in Week 1.

Here are the matches in Week 1 and the handicap lines provided by the bookies…

  • Japan to beat Russia by 40 points
  • Australia to beat Fiji by 16 points
  • France to beat Argentina by 1 point
  • New Zealand to beat South Africa by 5 points
  • Italy to beat Namibia by 30 points
  • Ireland to beat Scotland by 8 points
  • England to beat Tonga by 40 points
  • Wales to beat Georgia by 27 points
  • Samoa to beat Russia by 29 points
  • Fiji to beat Uruguay by 28 points
  • Italy to beat Canada by 22 points
  • England to beat USA by 38 points

Doubles and blanks

At the Rugby World Cup you need to understand the schedule, and optimise your team around it. The matches are unevenly spread throughout the tournament, so there are opportunities in some fantasy games to have one team potentially play twice in the same “Gameweek”. Likewise, it is also equally possible that if one team plays twice in 7 days, then they may have a blank in an other game week, drastically hindering your points potential. 

Here are the doubles and blanks in the opening stages…

The Rugby Magazine

  • Gameweek 1 (20th-23rd September) – Blanks: Uruguay, Samoa, USA & Canada – Doubles: None
  • Gameweek 2 (24th-29th September*) – Blanks: Australia, France, New Zealand, Scotland & Wales – Doubles: Uruguay

*On the 29th September, Georgia v Uruguay is considered Gameweek 2 and Australia v Wales is considered Gameweek 3

Superbru

  • Round 1 (20th-25th September) – Blanks: USA & Canada – Doubles: Russia & Fiji
  • Round 2 (26th-30th September) – Blanks: France, New Zealand, Russia & Fiji – Doubles: None

The Irish Times

  • Round 1 (20th-26th September) – Blanks: None – Doubles: England, Italy, Russia & Fiji

Expected to go well

These are our weekly tips, we generally try to offer 2-3 good options for each positional slot, also taking into account players who may be playing favourably out of position (i.e. Players categorised as Centre playing in the back 3).

Please note that some these picks have been published before lineups were announced, so some of these picks may not be playing – these players will have TBC beside them. Please double check the starting XV before you commit to your teams. We will update this list when TBC’s are Confirmed.

FRONT ROW

  • Shota Horie (Japan)
  • Kyle Sinckler (England)
  • Allan Alaalatoa (Australia)
  • Dane Coles (New Zealand)
  • Jamie George (England)
  • Guilhem Guirado (France)
  • Steven Kitshoff (South Africa)

LOCKS

  • Leone Nakawara (Fiji)
  • Maro Itoje (England)
  • Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) – TBC
  • Chris Vui (Samoa) – TBC
  • Franco Mostert (South Africa)

BACK ROW

  • Ardie Savea (New Zealand)
  • Kizuki Himeno (Japan)
  • Michael Leitch (Japan)
  • Pablo Matera (Argentina)
  • Billy Vunipola (England)

SCRUM-HALF

  • Gareth Davies (Wales) – TBC
  • Antoine Dupont (France)
  • Faf De Klerk (South Africa)

FLY HALF

  • Yu Tamura (Japan)
  • Tommaso Allan (Italy)
  • Owen Farrell (England)

CENTRES

  • Damian Penaud (France)*
  • Jonathan Davies (Wales) – TBC
  • Samu Kerevi (Australia)
  • Semi Radradra (Fiji)*
  • Manu Tuilagi (England)
  • Alapati Leiua (Samoa) – TBC

OUTSIDE BACKS

  • Kotaro Matsushima (Japan)
  • Mattia Bellini (Italy)
  • Anthony Watson (England)
  • Sevu Reece (New Zealand)
  • Josua Tuisova (Fiji)
  • Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa)
  • George North (Wales) – TBC
  • Jonny May (England)

* Players who are categorised in a different position in some games but are starting in a potentially more favourable position to accumulate fantasy points (i.e. A centre on the wing)


 

Fantasy Rugby Games for Rugby World Cup

 

A summary of the top games that you can play fantasy rugby for the Rugby World Cup…

  • The Rugby Magazine – Stats rich salary cap style game – Check out our review here
  • SuperBru – An old favourite with salary cap fantasy rugby among other games and sports – Check out our review here.
  • The Daily Telegraph – Salary cap game with a £5000 top prize – Check out our review here.
  • The Irish Times – Salary cap game with a €3000 top prize – Check out our review here.
  • PlayOn – Daily Fantasy for Rugby – Sign up today here to receive a free $22 entry with a first-time deposit – Check out a previous review here (Still TBC whether there will be a Rugby World Cup game).

Pre-tournament articles

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

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 Rugby World Cup 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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