Welcome to Day 6 of FRG’s Fantasy Rugby World Cup Diary! 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…
Match Day 6 Review
An incredible day, one that included the double whammy of probably the biggest shock likely to happen this year in the magnificent Uruguay defeating Fiji, and then Rassie Erasmus taking Eddie Jones’ lead and trolling the entire world of fantasy rugby managers with his team selection!
Focusing on matters on the pitch, looking at the relatively one-sided stats, you would have thought that Fiji had enjoyed a routine win over Uruguay, but in the only stat that matters, the final score, Uruguay were victorious 30-27. In terms of peak performers, there were high scorers in both sides including Tevita Ratuva, Eroni Mawi, Mesulame Dolokoto, Mosese Voka and Niko Matawalu for Fiji, and Manuel Leindekar, Santiago Arata, Juan Manuel Cat and Manuel Diana for Uruguay. Bravo Los Teros!
Match Day 7 Preview
Looking ahead to Match day 7, there are two games…
First up we have Canada v Italy and what are the odds that we’ll see another shock of a fully fresh and perceived weaker side beating a percieved better side coming off a quick turnaround?! The bookies are expecting Italy to let their class show with a 20 point victory, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on fantasy favourites Jake Polledri and Matteo Minozzi, as well as Tommaso Allan, Michele Campagnaro, Braam Steyn and Giulio Bisegne. On the Canada side, there are few more consistent fantasy scorers than DTH Van Der Merwe, and Tyler Ardron is another trusted and true pick in The Rugby Magazine.
In the second match, Eddie Jones has named a vastly changed England side in what many are expecting to be a comfortable victory over USA. Standout choices for England include Joe Cokanasiga, Jonathan Joseph, Elliot Daly, George Ford, Billy Vunipola and the try machine that is Luke Cowan-Dickie! On the US side, ignore Joe Taufete’e at your peril, mark my words.
FRG’s Teams
The Rugby Magazine – Points: 584 – Ranking: 226
Oh the humanity! Eddie Jones and Rassie Erasmus, you don’t know the pain you have caused! And Uruguay haven’t helped matters either (no hard feelings, they were epic), with Semi Radradra bringing in a very disappointing 12 points (and I was seriously considering getting some Uruguay double gameweek coverage), and Leone Nakarawa getting a respectable 28. With so many England and SA players dropped for Round 2, my plans are in tatters, I won’t bring in any more England players as I have no intention of incurring a points hit, but I can bring in another SA player. Who that is depends on tomorrow’s squad announcements, so I won’t change anything until then. In the meantime I have Luca Bigi, Braam Steyn and the benched Owen Farrell in action. Fortunately I have 6 more players I can bring in without a hit, so I may just about manage to name a full squad.
SuperBru – Points: 214 – Ranking: 7,011
Fortunately the 6 subs should limit the damage of squad rotation, but again I’ll wait until the last minute to make my changes. Today I had Semi Radradra and Leone Nakarawa, neither of whom made an impact from a points perspective.
The Daily Telegraph – Points: 447 – Ranking: 473
More carnage here due to squad rotation, I’ll be making 1 or 2 changes tomorrow for the England game, thinking either Cokanisiga or Daly. Maybe also a couple of South Africans for Saturday (Herschel Jantjies for sure). Pretty stinking scores from Goneva, Radradra and Nakarawa too today. Onwards and upwards.
The Irish Times – Points: 324 – Ranking: 2605
Wow, this was a surprise to see, but in one day I’ve gone up over 2000 positions, and it’s all down to the offload king, Leone Nakarawa! His double gameweek score reached 65, which was very satisfying to see. Two players on tomorrow, Braam Steyn and Owen Farrell off the bench, so I’m not holding my breath for big points, but another 65 would be nice! Will again make my changes once Saturday’s lineups are in to make the most informed decision.
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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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