Into Week 3 and 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 3 (4th-10th 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. Unsurprisingly there are a number of these matches in Week 3.
Here are the matches in Week 3 and the handicap lines provided by the bookies…
- South Africa to beat Italy by 26 points
- Australia to beat Uruguay by 52 points
- England to beat Argentina by 14 points
- Japan to beat Samoa by 18 points
- New Zealand to beat Namibia by 70 points
- France to beat Tonga by 26 points
- South Africa to beat Canada by 57 points
- Argentina to beat USA by 22 points
- Scotland to beat Russia by 43 points
- Wales to beat Fiji by 17 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 3 (29th September*-5th October**) – Blanks: Japan, Namibia, Tonga & Uruguay – Doubles: None
- Gameweek 4 (5th October**-9th October) – Blanks: England, Georgia, Ireland & Italy – 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 3 (2nd-6th October) – Blanks: Scotland & Wales – Doubles: France & New Zealand
- Round 4 (8th-13th October) – Blanks: None – Doubles: Scotland, USA, Wales & Canada
The Irish Times
- Round 3 (4th-9th October) – Blanks: Ireland & Georgia – Doubles: Argentina & South Africa
Expected to go well
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.
FRONT ROW
- Jamie George (England)
- Bongi Mbonambi (South Africa)
- Folau Fainga’a (Australia)
- Kyle Sinckler (England)
- Allan Ala’alatoa (Australia)
LOCKS
- Lood De Jager (South Africa)
- Maro Itoje (England)
- Adam Coleman (Australia)
- Brodie Retallick (New Zealand)
BACK ROW
- Duane Vermeulen (South Africa)
- Michael Hooper (Australia)
- Kizuki Himeno (Japan)
- Billy Vunipola (England)
- Ardie Savea (New Zealand)
SCRUM-HALF
- Faf De Klerk (South Africa)
- Nic White (Australia)
- Aaron Smith (New Zealand)
FLY HALF
- Handre Pollard (South Africa)
- Matt Toomua (Australia)*
CENTRES
- Tevita Kuridrani (Australia)
- Manu Tuilagi (England)
- Sofiane Guitone (France)
- Lukhanyo Am (South Africa)
- Sam Johnson (Scotland) – TBC
OUTSIDE BACKS
- Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa)
- Kotaro Matsushima (Japan)
- Sevu Reece/Ben Smith/George Bridge (New Zealand) – Again, depending on who gets picked, you must have NZ coverage against Namibia
- Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa)
- Jordan Petaia (Australia)
- Stuart Hogg (Scotland) – TBC
- Dane Haylett-Petty (Australia)
- Damian Penaud (France)
* 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)
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
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.
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!
If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Rugby World Cup 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 Fantasy Rugby Geek Trucker Hat will be on offer for the winner of the league. To join, Sign up to the game here & go to Leaderboards > Public Leagues and join “Fantasy Rugby Geek”. Good luck!