6 Nations
6 Nations Fantasy Rugby; What You Need to Know
A guide on who to look out for, how to get the most points, and much more
The 6 Nations kicks off on Friday night, but before then you might want to set up your fantasy rugby team for what is set to be another belter of a campaign.
The rest of the week be like…
Wednesday – ?
Thursday – ?
Friday – ?
Saturday – ?
Sunday – ?#GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/fJi7gKLaUv
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) January 30, 2019
Things are a little different this year in terms of the scoring and it has made for a more interesting system. Here’s a short run through.
Firstly, and most importantly, you are given a budget of 240 stars to spend on your perfect 18-man squad. With players ranging from nine to sixteen stars in value.
In terms of the scoring, there are team points awarded to players with a home win worth 12 points, while an away win will bag a player 18 points. The margin of a victory or loss will give you +/- 0.5 points respectively.
The individual marks have been improved from last season, with tackles being doubled and now counting as one point per tackle. For every defender beaten a player will receive two points.
The most noticeable marks are for a try, with a forward being awarded 18 points for touching down, while a back will gain you 15. A man of the match performance by a player will get you 15 points too.
The things to avoid are players that are prone to receiving yellow or red cards as they will see you lose five or eight points respectively.
There are a few other ways to gain points such as a kick from the tee counting as three points be it from a penalty or conversion. Have a look at the other ways to gain points if you are interested.
Before going through players be sure to remember that you can only have a maximum of four players from any nation.
So, who leads the lines in terms of players? Price wise, last years grand slam winners, Ireland, have four players costing 16 stars (Rory Best, Conor Murray, Johnny Sexton, Jacob Stockdale), with Wales’ George North the only other player to cost the same.
When picking your team, it is vital to remember that you are looking for a balance between who is good defensively, with an eye towards who is good going forward.
Who would make your fantasy team? This is the most selected back-three so far!
? Stockdale on 43% of teams
? Hogg on 50% of teams
? North on 28% of teamsPick yours now – https://t.co/WleK2Lohtj pic.twitter.com/NwMnHCrFyX
— Guinness Six Nations (@SixNationsRugby) January 29, 2019
You must select a captain each week, it is advised to pick a player that is a first-team regular as they receive an extra 20 points and their score gets doubled.
The likes of Sexton, Stockdale, Owen Farrell, Stuart Hogg and so on are likely to get the most game time and score plenty of points. So, it may be worthwhile investing some stars in a reliable captain.
Some players that might be worth while taking a punt on would be Italy’s Tomasso Allan, Scotland’s Peter Horne, or England’s Joe Cokanasiga. All of which are 11 stars and are in with a shout of starting most games.
The top players cost the most and are who you want in your team but, there are some bargains to be had. Especially when it comes to the bench with a “super sub” now available.
This is a player that you select on your three-man bench who, if they come on, will have their score tripled.
When looking for players here it is hard to look by Irish and Munster duo, Tadhg Beirne and Joey Carbery. With huge competition for places in the Irish starting 15 it will be hard for either to play the full 80 minutes but are likely to come off the bench.
Beirne will cost you 11 stars, with Carbery a deal at only 10.
Outside of the Irish, Uini Atonio of France, a powerhouse, is worth 10 stars, while Wales’ Jake Ball and England’s Brad Shields only cost nine.
Going into week one, check out who is playing who and keep an eye out for team announcements as the deadline to change your team isn’t until the first game kicks off at 20 00 on Friday.
One other tip would be to select players that may not be a No 10 but kick as they will gain more points.
So, that’s it. As if you needed anything else to look forward to before Friday, here’s something else.
The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is delighted to announce the return of the ‘A’ Interprovincial Men’s Championship which will kick off next month.
The times and dates of the opening three rounds of the Championship before Christmas have been confirmed, with a similar points-scoring system as used in the URC. A Championship winner will be declared after the final round of matches in May and the IRFU will be commissioning a legacy trophy to mark the 150th anniversary celebrations.
Welcoming the news, IRFU Performance Director David Humphreys commented:
“We’re delighted to kick-start the Men’s ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship which will provide a host of players with a further means of developing in a meaningful competition. With the success of the Emerging Ireland Tours, coupled with the return of an ‘A’ international against England next year, it is vital that we continue to provide players at provincial and Club levels with opportunities to impress outside of the traditional URC and EPCR fixture windows.
“Discussions have been ongoing for some time to provide players with meaningful games and all four provinces are unanimously supportive of this competition. It is also great to see provinces taking matches around their local Clubs.
“It is anticipated that as the competition progresses over the coming seasons these fixtures won’t clash with Energia All-Ireland League fixtures for the most part, thus potentially also offering players from the Club game with an opportunity to impress.
“This competition will form another important part of the representative pathway from Energia AIL to URC levels for Academy players upwards over the coming seasons.”
The dates for the post-Christmas fixtures will be confirmed in due course. Ticket details will be confirmed via the respective provinces.
IRFU 150 Interprovincial ‘A’ Championship Fixtures:
Saturday, 16th November:
Connacht Eagles v Leinster ‘A’ (Creggs RFC, 1pm)
Friday, 22nd November:
Ulster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ballymacaran Park, 3pm), Leinster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (Lakelands, 5pm)
Friday, 29th November:
Munster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (New Ormond Park, 3pm)
Friday, 20th December:
Ulster ‘A’ v Munster ‘A’ (tbc, 3pm)
Saturday, 21st December:
Leinster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (Ollie Campbell Park, 2pm)
Weekend of 28/29 December:
Connacht Eagles v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc), Munster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 9/10 May:
Connacht Eagles v Munster ‘A’ (tbc), Leinster ‘A’ v Ulster ‘A’ (tbc)
Weekend of 16/17 May:
Munster ‘A’ v Connacht Eagles (tbc), Ulster ‘A’ v Leinster ‘A’ (tbc)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
The Emerging Ireland team to face the Cheetahs in the final game of the three-match series in Bloemfontein on Wednesday evening (kick off 6pm Irish time, 7pm local time) has been named.
Leinster’s James Culhane will lead the team and he forms a new back-row alongside Harry Sheridan and Sean Edogbo, who makes his first start of the tour having come on as a replacement in the 29-24 win over Western Force on Sunday afternoon. Former Ireland Under-20 captain Evan O’Connell locks down with Darragh Murray, who featured in the opening 36-24 victory over the Pumas, with Alex Usanov named in the front row alongside hooker Stephen Smyth and Jack Aungier.
Darragh Murray of Emerging Ireland scores his sides second try – Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Steve Haag Sports/Darren Stewart
In the backline, Sam Prendergast starts his third game of the tour at out-half and he will be partnered by Cormac Foley, who featured as a second half replacements against the Australian Super Rugby side last time out. Connacht’s Hugh Gavin forms a midfield partnership with Hugh Cooney, with Ulster’s Zac Ward named in an exciting back tree alongside the returning Ben O’Connor at full-back and Andrew Osborne who moves to the right wing.
Munster loosehead prop George Hadden, who was called up to the squad last weekend, is set to make his first appearance after being named on the bench alongside Conor O’Tighearnaigh and Alex Soroka who started Sunday’s win. Hadden’s provincial team-mate Danny Sheahan provides cover once more at hooker, while Scott Wilson and Charlie Tector are also named on the bench for the Toyota Stadium clash alongside out-half Jack Murphy.
Looking ahead to the game, Emerging Ireland Head Coach Simon Easterby said: “When we set out at the beginning of our pre-camp in Dublin, we knew about the challenge of facing three sides in a week and we knew that every player in the group would have the opportunity to play his part. To a man each player has given his all so far and we are aiming to finish off the series with another positive performance on Wednesday.
The Cheetahs are a fiercely proud and strong side and it should be a lively game with a vocal home support behind them. It has been a fruitful past few weeks to date and we have learned a lot. While our performances haven’t been perfect, the players have embraced the challenge and played some brilliant rugby at times. The action has come thick and fast and we know that we have to be clinical in our execution. We will need to go up another level on Wednesday to get the performance we want and hopefully finish the tour on a high.”
Wednesday’s game will be broadcast once more on IrishRugby+ – click here.
Emerging Ireland (v The Cheetahs, Wednesday, October 9, 7pm local time, 6pm Irish time)
15: Ben O’Connor (UCC RFC/Munster)
14: Andrew Osborne (Naas RFC/Leinster)
13: Hugh Cooney (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
12: Hugh Gavin (Galwegians RFC/Connacht)
11: Zac Ward (Ballynahinch RFC/Ulster/Ireland Sevens)
10: Sam Prendergast (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
9: Cormac Foley (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
1: Alex Usanov (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
2: Stephen Smyth (Old Wesley RFC/Leinster)
3: Jack Aungier (Clontarf FC/Connacht)
4: Evan O’Connell (Young Munster RFC/Munster)
5: Darragh Murray (Buccaneers RFC/Connacht)
6: Harry Sheridan (Dublin University FC/Ulster)
7: Sean Edogbo (UCC RFC/Munster)
8: James Culhane (UCD RFC/Leinster) (captain)
Replacements:
16: Danny Sheahan (Cork Constitution FC/Munster)
17: George Hadden (Garryowen FC/Munster)
18: Scott Wilson (Queen’s University Belfast RFC/Ulster)
19: Conor O’Tighearnaigh (UCD RFC/Leinster)
20: Alex Soroka (Clontarf FC/Leinster)
21: Matthew Devine (Corinthians RFC/Connacht)
22: Jack Murphy (Clontarf FC/Ulster)
23: Charlie Tector (Lansdowne FC/Leinster)
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Following Emerging Ireland’s 29-24 victory over Western Force in Bloemfontein on Sunday three players, Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Sean O’Brien (Munster) and Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster) will return to their provinces.
The trio will leave South Africa on Monday afternoon and will be available for selection for their respective URC fixtures this weekend.
The squad will visit Heidedal Township this afternoon and will conclude the three-match series on Wednesday evening against The Cheetahs (kick off 7pm local, 6pm Irish time). That match will be live on irishrugby+
Watch the full match back here on irishrugby+
Check out the highlights from the win against Western Force below.
Images & Content from Irish Rugby & Images © Inpho Photography
Jordan signs for Bristol Bears
IRFU Announces Return Of ‘A’ Interprovincial Championship
