Calling all JOEs, Fantasy Rugby has arrived

Think you know your rugby? Well then prove it and potentially cash in on your rugby knowledge by pitting yourself against fellow rugby fanatics in The Irish Times Fantasy Rugby League.

The Six Nations is nearly upon us and although that in itself is very exciting, rugby fans can enhance their enjoyment of the tournament by channelling the Declan Kidney inside you and putting together a dream team of 15 players made up from the six competing nations.

Entry to the league won’t cost you a cent and if you’re good enough, your knowledge and ability to make the tough calls will be rewarded through the €9,000 prize pool, with the winner taking home a cool €4,000, €3,000 for the runner-up and a not-too-shabby two grand for whoever claims the bronze medal.

Furthermore, there will be special prizes on offer for the best full-time primary or secondary school students in the schools league. Before anyone gets any notions, this isn’t like pretending to be a student to get in cheap through the turnstiles, thorough checks will be conducted to make sure that there’s no deviousness at hand so unless you’re young enough to wear a school uniform, don’t even go there.

Setting up a team is easy. Simply log onto the Fantasy Rugby League on The Irish Times website and select a 15-man team from the six competing nations (maximum three players from any one team) before 1.30pm on Saturday 2 February, the deadline for the first round of Six Nations matches.

Players will be rewarded for appearances, tries scored, tries assisted, drop goals scored and man of the match awards and deducted for anyone who steps out of line and cops a yellow or red card.

Managers must select a kicker prior to each game and only that player will be rewarded for any penalties or conversions kicked. In other words, don’t go selecting Donncha O’Callaghan as your kicker; it won’t pay off.

If your charges aren’t performing up to scratch early doors, not to worry, managers can make a total of five transfers between every round. That’s 20 in total throughout the competition, so the team that finishes the competition could well be barely recognisable from the team that started it.

We love a bit of competition here at JOE and we’ll be setting up our own private league in the coming days where readers can test themselves against the ‘experts’ in the JOE office – we use the term incredibly loosely – as well as Hard Yards Rugby Podcast regulars Jerry Flannery and Malcolm O’Kelly. More details to follow early next week.

That’s about all you need to know, so get on over to The Irish Times website faster than an RTE camera can flash to Ronan O’Gara after a missed Johnny Sexton kick and let the games begin.