Our next 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 weekend! By the time you finish this article you should have all the insight you need to score big fantasy points this week.
For the Rugby World Cup FRG will be producing picks on a weekly basis, and 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 it will be made clear where players are unconfirmed, make sure you double check the starting XV’s before you finalise your team.
Potential mismatches Week 2 (27th-3rd October)
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 points hauls. Again there are a number of these matches in Week 2.
Here are the matches in Week 2 and the handicap lines provided by the bookies…
- Argentina to beat Tonga by 29 points
- Ireland to beat Japan by 21 points
- South Africa to beat Namibia by 59 points
- Georgia to beat Uruguay by 18 points
- Wales to beat Australia by 2 points
- Scotland to beat Samoa by 18 points
- France to beat USA by 28 points
- New Zealand to beat Canada by 60 points
- Fiji to beat Georgia by 10 points
- Ireland to beat Russia by 56 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 second week…
The Rugby Magazine
- Gameweek 2 (24th-29th September*) – Blanks: Australia, France, New Zealand, Scotland & Wales – Doubles: Uruguay
- Gameweek 3 (29th September*-5th October**) – Blanks: Japan, Namibia, Tonga & Uruguay – Doubles: None
*On the 29th September, Georgia v Uruguay is considered Gameweek 2 and Australia v Wales is considered Gameweek 3
**On the 5th October, England v Argentina is considered Gameweek 3 and Australia v Uruguay and Japan v Samoa is considered Gameweek 4
Superbru
- Round 2 (26th-30th September) – Blanks: France, New Zealand, Russia & Fiji – Doubles: None
- Round 3 (2nd-6th October) – Blanks: Scotland & Wales – Doubles: France & New Zealand
The Irish Times
- Round 2 (28th September-3rd October) – Blanks: England & Italy – Doubles: Ireland & Georgia
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
- Julian Montoya (Argentina)
- Schalk Brits (South Africa)*
- Tadhg Furlong (Ireland)
- Stuart McInally (Scotland) – TBC
- Vincent Koch (South Africa)
- Dane Coles (New Zealand) – TBC
- Allan Ala’alatoa (Australia)
LOCKS
- Guido Petti (Argentina)
- Iain Henderson (Ireland)
- James Ryan (Ireland)
- Scott Barrett or Brodie Retallick (New Zealand) – TBC
- RG Snyman (South Africa)
BACK ROW
- Kwagga Smith (South Africa)
- Ardie Savea (New Zealand) – TBC
- Gregory Alldritt (France) – TBC
- Pablo Matera (Argentina)
- CJ Stander (Ireland)
- Michael Hooper (Australia)
SCRUM-HALF
- Herschel Jantjies (South Africa)
- Aaron Smith or TJ Perenara (New Zealand) – TBC
- Conor Murray (Ireland)
- Antoine Dupont (France) – TBC
FLY HALF
- Beauden Barrett or Richie Mo’unga (New Zealand) – TBC
- Elton Jantjies (South Africa)
- Finn Russell (Scotland) – TBC
CENTRES
- Matias Moroni (Argentina)*
- Garry Ringrose (Ireland)
- Gael Fickou (France) – TBC
- Samu Kerevi (Australia)
- Sam Johnson (Scotland) – TBC
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa)
- Emiliano Boffelli (Argentina)
- Jacob Stockdale (Ireland)
- Sevu Reece/George Bridge/Rieko Ioane (New Zealand) – TBC – Basically have an NZ winger for the game against Canada – somebody, anybody!
- Liam Williams (Wales)
- Warrick Gelant (South Africa)
- Damien Penaud (France) – TBC
- Stuart Hogg (Scotland) – TBC
* 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)
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This week a huge thank you goes to…
- Terry Gore
- Duncan Keene
Thank you gents!
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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