Fantasy Rugby Review – Week Four

This weekend was all about one man and one man only and even The Irish Times Fantasy Rugby Gods were on Brian O’Driscoll’s side.

Conor Heneghan

This weekend was all about one man and one man only and even The Irish Times Fantasy Rugby League Gods were on Brian O’Driscoll’s side.

O’Driscoll was the highest scorer – with 13 points, fittingly enough – on what was as productive a weekend for Irish rugby in Fantasy Rugby terms as it was on the pitch as a whole host of men boosted their totals with impressive hauls.

If you had Jonathan Sexton as your designated kicker he was good for 15 points after his two tries against the Azzurri, while the likes of Andrew Trimble (8), Cian Healy (7), Jack McGrath (6), Sean Cronin (6) and substitute scrum half Eoin Reddan (7) were also prominent in the standings.

At Twickenham, Courtney Lawes was the standout performer with eight points after a man of the match display and it’s a pity that he didn’t earn extra points for an outrageous assist when Luther Burrell’s try attempt in the corner was prevented by an incredibly brave (and incredibly costly) tackle by Leigh Halfpenny.

As Burrell did score a try, he also scored eight points, one better than scrum-half Danny Care with seven in a game in which the Welsh players struggled for points individually in the same manner as they did collectively against an impressive English rearguard.

At Murrayfield, meanwhile, Scotland may have lost but they had impressive performers in the likes of David Denton (8), Sean Lamont (8) and Tommy Semour (8), with Yoann Huget (8) and Maxime Machenaud (6) the pick of the bunch for Les Bleus.

Jerry vs. Mal

Last time out, there was only the equivalent of a well-struck Jonathan Sexton penalty between our celebrity Fantasy Rugby competitors Malcolm O’Kelly and Jerry Flannery, but despite an impressive 70 points this week, Fla was blown away by the former Ireland second-row, with Mal’s Malitia registering a whopping 82-point total.

Yoann Huget, Brian O’Driscoll, Jonathan Sexton, Danny Care and Cian Healy all performed admirably for Jerry’s men, but even though Mal’s Malitia lacked the presence of BOD, the inclusion of the aforementioned Huget, Sexton and Care, as well Courtney Lawes and David Denton, more than made up for it.

As a result, Mal now holds a comfortable 15-point over Jerry heading into the final week and Jerry will require a massive kick if he is to overtake him following events in Rome, Cardiff and, of course, Paris, this coming weekend.

Good for Jerry then that he knows all about massive kicks in Paris…

The JOE League

Much like the Six Nations table itself, it’s neck and neck at the top of The JOE League standings heading into the final week, so much so that it would be no surprise if a team from outside the top five, never mind those just behind current leaders Coly’s XV, managed by Colin McDonagh, ended up as overall winners.

Colin currently holds a four point lead over Colm Mulkerrin’s El putto madrey in second place, who in turn is only a single point ahead of Fergal Brickley’s charges, Sam’s 15, in third.

Brendan Finan’s Fine Flyers and Barry Deasy’s DC United make up the top five but with twelve teams within ten points of Barry in fifth, it really is anyone’s title. And we wouldn’t want it any other way.