Welcome to Day 2 of FRG’s Fantasy Rugby World Cup Diary! This will be a daily post during the World Cup in which I will be previewing the upcoming games, looking back at the previous matches and sharing the progress, trials and tribulations of all my teams across the 4 games live for the World Cup. In case you missed my original Diary post outlining my strategy for all four games, have a read here. Throughout the tournament I will provide a warts and all insight in to how I’m selecting my sides, who I’m selecting and how I’m getting on…
Match Day 2 Review
Under the roof of the Sapporo Dome, Fiji sadly came unstuck after a valiant first half performance. Both Australia and Fiji had some standout performances including Marika Koroibete (1 try, a massive 128m carried, 2 offloads, 4 clean breaks and 5 defenders beaten), Samu Kerevi (1 try, 73m carried, 2 clean breaks, 10 defenders beaten), Michael Hooper (1 try, 64m carried and 9 defenders beaten), Silatolu Latu (2 tries from driving mauls) and Waisea Nayacalevu (a try and 71m carried). Owners of Peceli Yatu will be left ruing what might have been after he was taken off with a head injury after 26 minutes. In those 26 minutes he was wrecking ball with a try, 81m carried, 2 clean breaks and 3 defenders beaten. Everyone will be hoping he is back soon.
An incredible game in Tokyo saw France and Argentina in epic battle. The definition of a game of two halves with France only just holding after an immense second half fightback. In terms of standout fantasy performances, the Rugby Magazine legend, Guido Petti Pagadizabal, put in an epic shift from the second row with a try, 51m carried, 4 defenders beaten and 8 lineouts won. Elsewhere, pre-tournament tips Antoine Dupont and Damian Penaud both impressed, and should hopefully go on to have great tournaments.
In Yokohama there was a top class showcase between two of the best teams in the world in New Zealand and South Africa. A classy All Blacks performance saw them win 23-13 and there were some great performances across the field, including Cheslin Kolbe, Anton Lienart-Brown and Pieter-Steph Du Toit, but the star of the show was Scott Barrett, racking up 40 points in The Rugby Magazine.
Match Day 3 Preview
First up tomorrow is Italy v Namibia. Conor O’Shea disappointed many by leaving two of Italy’s most exciting talents in Jake Polledri and Matteo Minozzi on the bench. It looks like Italy are taking the opportunity against weaker opposition to ease some of their players in. Despite this, there is still plenty of class in the Italian side to comfortably deal with Namibia and I’m expecting Mattia Bellini, Braam Steyn, Luca Bigi and Tommaso Allan to shine.
Next there is the celtic clash of Scotland v Ireland. When they met in the Six Nations earlier this year at Murrayfield, Ireland came away with a 9 point margin win. This should be a close match, and from a fantasy perspective a lot of fantasy managers will be hoping that many people’s tips for top tryscorer, Jacob Stockdale, can get off to a good start. Elsewhere the elusive Jordan Larmour should entertain and Conor Murray and CJ Stander should also score well. On the Scottish side, Stuart Hogg rarely fails to deliver, Greig Laidlaw should register a few off the boot, Hamish Watson should rack up some metres from the back row, and Jonny Gray will inevitably be leading the way in tackles.
Finally, England take the field for the first time against Tonga, in a match that many are expecting to be straightforward. England have attacking talent all over the park, and if you don’t have 1-2 of Jonny May, Anthony Watson, Manu Tuilagi, Owen Farrell, Billy Vunipola, Elliot Daly, Kyle Sinckler and Jamie George, you should probably be a bit nervous.
FRG’s Teams
The Rugby Magazine – Points: 260 – Ranking: 708
Today was a good day, Guido Petti, you are my hero, as always. A massive 53 points from the Argentina superstar. Also a very good 30 from Samu Kerevi. Some slightly below-average scores also from Marx, Ala’alatoa and Nakarawa. Either way, a positive day with only a handful of players playing.
Tomorrow will be a big day for my team, with appearances for Furlong, Steyn, Itoje, Farrell (K) and May, with bench appearances from Bigi, McInally, Stockdale and Murray. Pleased to see my Wales and Georgia players named so no changes needed.
SuperBru – Points: 89.0 – Ranking: TBC
A pretty average day with none of my Fijian contigent getting on the scoresheet, fingers crossed they all get named to play Uruguay in a few days to take advantage of the double gameweek. Elsewhere it was also a relatively quiet day for Allan Ala’alatoa at prop. I’m hoping for more tomorrow with Jonny May, Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje, Braam Steyn and Tiziano Pasquali all playing.
The Daily Telegraph – Points: 143 – Ranking: 2403
A mixed bag today, which included a great score from Samu Kerevi but some less impressive scores from Marx, Savea, Nakarawa and Ala’alatoa. An exciting day tomorrow with appearances from Furlong, Itoje, Steyn, Farrell, Watson and Bellini. I’ll also be making my first subs, Himeno out for Vunipola and Matsushima out for May. I’ll also be making my first captain switch with the armband moving to Jonny May.
The Irish Times – Points: 132 – Ranking: 1966
Another average day. Had some middling scores from Nakarawa (21), Marx (11), Savea (15), Reece (23) and Tuisova (19), with a very disappointing 3 from Semi Radradra. Hoping for a bit better tomorrow with Furlong, Steyn, Farrell and captain Jonny May.
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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