Evening all, it’s good to be back…
If like me you are hugely excited about the kick-off of the Six Nations, then you’ve come to the right place! In this post I’ll be covering all you need to know ahead of the 2023 season kick-off.
In this post you’ll see what games that you can play Fantasy Rugby for the 2023 Six Nations, how to win in your chosen game, when you can expect the team lineups to be announced, where you can listen to great fantasy tips in the podcast world and (most importantly) how to select a great team name, along with many other valuable tips. Read on until the end as well to see how to join the FRG Fantasy leagues.
Let’s get going…
The Games
So first of all, sadly there are only two games live for the Six Nations this year. Neither The Rugby Magazine or Fantasy Rugby Draft will be covering the Six Nations in 2023. I could talk for hours for the reasons for this, but I will spare you dear readers.
The games that are going ahead are The Official Six Nations Fantasy Game and SuperBru.
Let’s dig into both…
The Official Six Nations Fantasy Game
If you’ve played the Official Men’s, Official Women’s Six Nations Fantasy Games or the Autumn Nations Series game (and indeed, the Top14’s La Grande Melee), the format of this game will be familiar.
It’s a salary-cap style game, so you have a budget of 245 stars to build a squad of 18 players. The value of the players goes up and down based on their popularity, so you have the ability to build your squad value throughout the tournament.
The scoring is adjusted compared to last year’s Six Nations. Players are still well rewarded in particular for tries (15 points) and for players on winning teams (“team points” – 8 points for a win ). However there are a few new additions, including assists (worth 7 points) and 50-22’s (worth 10 points). There are also a couple of big new score updates for your forwards including lineout steals (worth 7 points) and interestingly breakdown steals, so bring in your fetchers! However, using the same tactics as last year won’t be as effective, because (and this is big), this year there is no margin of victory team points.
The scoring is defintely skewed towards offensive players, with decent returns on offer for ball carriers and those making line breaks.
You have unlimited transfers between each round so make sure you take advantage of that and field the best possible team you can for each round, no need to plan ahead.
As mention above, a new point-scoring metric in this year’s game is 10 points for every successful 50-22 kick. Don’t expect loads of 50-22’s however, out of the 15 Six Nations games last year, only 8 successful 50-22’s were completed (by Andrew Conway (x2), Henry Slade, Melvyn Jaminet, Tadhg Beirne, Johnny Sexton, Liam Williams and Dan Biggar).
The 50:22 law made its debut in the #GuinnessSixNations
â Jared Wright (@jaredwright17) March 24, 2022
8 were completed in the 15 test matches.
Liam Williams was the first player to successfully nail a 50:22 đŻ
/1 pic.twitter.com/YxQ9fawwB9
The Official Game also lets you include an extra 3 players on your bench. These players will get you half points, so it is well worth saving a bit of your team’s budget for some bench players. Every point counts, and if you are not utilising the three spots on your bench, you are really losing out.
In particular, with triple points available, make sure you use your your supersub well. Ultimately SuperSub is a bit of a lottery. You could luck out if one of the starting XV needs to go off in the early stages of the game, but likewise you could be at the mercy of a coach who decides to leave his backs on the bench for the entire 80 minutes, so you have to play the percentages and consider the risks.
For me the key areas to consider in a SuperSub are…
Will they come on, and will they play a significant period of time – For this we see Props, Hookers and Scrum-Halves tend to come on typically between the 45-60 minute point, so they usually get some good game time. With Locks and Loose Forwards it is not rare to see a starting Lock or Loose Forward play the full 80. That said, Locks and Back Rowers are not typically left on the bench either. Fly Halves are a bit more unpredictable, they could come on early if the game plan is not working but, likewise, sometimes a change is too disruptive and can be left late, and in some cases not at all. Centres and Back 3 is also a bit of a lottery.
History – Take a look at previous games to see if there is any trends in how the team operates their replacements. In some cases, past matches can provide a pretty educated insight into how a team will play their bench.
Options – Is your prospective SuperSub the only option in their position? If a team is playing a 6-2 split on the bench for example, then that is probably a good time to select a utility back as they are far more likely to come on in time to make a decent impact.
Good luck, with triple points on offer, a successful SuperSub pick can propel you to the very top!
Keep an eye on players who are classified in one position but end up playing in another position that may well provide greater returns (think a winger classified as a centre, a loose forward classified as a lock, etc). In previous years, great examples have included Keith Earls (categorised as a Centre but playing on the wing), Elliot Daly (categorised as a Centre but playing at Fullback), Maro Itoje (categorised as a Lock but playing in the Back Row), Damian Penaud (categorised as a Centre but playing on the wing) and Owen Farrell (categorised as a Fly Half but playing as a Centre).
Please note, Mauro Bergamasco playing at scrum half is the “exception that proves the rule”!
Lineups are usually all announced by Friday afternoon, so obviously keep an eye on the lineups and make sure your full squad are all starting.
Also worth noting that while many fantasy games force you to select one kicker to gain points from conversions, penalties, drop goals etc. Not here, so if you can find kickers who play outside of the fly-half position then they are well worth picking up, as they are guaranteed points.
Finally, unlike other games, the Official Game allows you to completely tear up your team for no points penalty in between rounds. This means you can load your team fully optimised for each round. If you need to make 15 changes, then don’t hold back. Just do it!
Lastly, click here to join the FRG League for the Official Six Nations game.
SuperBru
A classic and simple fantasy game, no salary limits, so you can load your team with superstars. You can fill your squad with players, one in each field position plus one reserve for each grouping (So your squad is four outside backs, three centres, two fly-halves, two scrum-halves, four loose forwards, three locks, two hookers, three props), unlike some other fantasy rugby games, you do not get any points for the players on your bench, so choose your starting XV wisely.
You are limited to four players per team, so you can some good coverage on players lining up against perennial whipping boys Italy, however you will also need to choose carefully elsewhere. Once the tournament gets underway, you can make a limited number of transfers each round (a generous six per round).
Like the official game, once the gameweek lock has passed, you cannot change your team, so keep an eye on the lineups and make sure your XV are all starting. Also, keep an eye on players who are classified in one position but end up playing in another position that may well provide greater returns.
If you are a keen SuperBru player, make sure you check out our interview with one of the founders of SuperBru, Hutch, here, and also our interview with a previous Global winner of the Six Nations SuperBru game here.
Lastly, click here to join the FRG League for SuperBru.
Predictor Games
As always, in addition to Fantasy Games, there are also a number of great Predictor Games, first up is FANZO. An app only game, you can download Fanzo from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store.
The Guinness Pint Predictor is a game that FANZO run during the Six Nations. It allows sports fans to predict the scores of all Six Nations matches, and rewards you for getting them right. Predominantly, this is via free pints but there are also much bigger prizes up for grabs – including tickets and signed goodies. It is entering its 5th year, with well over 100,000 players so far.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, simply click the Guinness Pint Predictor button on the app. Then in the play tab youâll then be able to make predictions by picking the winner and margin of victory of each match. The closer your predictions are, the more points youâll get on the leaderboards and the more pints youâll earn.
There is a Fantasy Rugby Geek league that you can join and compete with the rest of the FRG Community, simply download the App and join our league with the code FANTASY.
The ways to win are many!
- Perfect Pint: Winning team and margin of victory exactly right. Free pint to claim immediately
- Great Call: Winning team correctly called and margin of victory within 9 points. Wins a free pint to claim Monday – Friday
- Pint to Gift: Winning team correctly called and margin of victory out by 10+ points. Wins a free pint you can gift to a friend
Due to responsible drinking guidelines any player is capped at winning one of each of these per week
When youâve won a pint it will appear in the prize section of the Pint Predictor, just select the âClaimâ button and a list of all pubs local to your current location will come up – click any with the Guinness tag and hit the claim button again. Then in the pub, just show your digital voucher at the bar when being served, theyâll pour your your guinness and click your app to mark that youâve received it (To share a âGuinness to Giftâ, copy or send the 4 digit code to a friend. They need to click the âClaim A Prizeâ button and enter it to unlock a free pint. They then claim in the usual way).
In addition to the Pint Predictor, on the FANZO App there is also the Guinness Sports Quiz. Every Friday a 10 question quiz is released on the FANZO app where you can win another free pint. Simply beat the quiz (score 200 out of 300 points) to win a pint available that evening. Points are awarded for getting the correct answer and how fast you answer. These pints are only available to claim on the day they won (every Friday).
An addition, as well as providing a fantasy game SuperBru are also providing their tried and tested Predictor game.
Fantasy Team Names
Got your team in place but struggling for a team name? Fear not, check out our guide to the Top 100 fantasy team names here.
Podcasts
With a few days until the tournament you may be looking for some advice in audio form. Look no further than friends of the blog, The Fantasy Rugby Yanks. No matter what, they put out two great quality shows every week.
Keep an eye out for their Fantasy Corner show, which is usually published Thursday or Friday each week.
You can find them on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all the usual podcast spots.
When will the FRG tips will be posted
Finally as always, the FRG Fantasy Tips will be published again prior to each Round. They will be going live once all teams have been announced (usually on the Friday afternoon). Covered in the posts will be pre-match previews, recommended players in all positions, the bookies picks for most likely try-scorers and the FRG under-the-radar pick of the week. You can check out one of last year’s tips posts to get an idea of what to expect.
Lastly, make sure you follow Fantasy Rugby Geek on Twitter and stick notifications on, to ensure you get news as soon as possible.
Come and join the FRG leagues for the 2023 Six Nations!
If you back your Fantasy Rugby skills to lead you to Fantasy Six Nations glory, then click here to join for the Official Six Nations game (and here when the first league fills up as there is a maximum of 100 players allowed in each league) and click here to join for Superbru.
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If you want some more sources to help you finalise your decisions, go to our resources page where youâll find all the Six Nations 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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