You might think of yourself as a bit of a rugby know-it-all but success in The Irish Times Fantasy Rugby League will elude you unless you do your homework. Take these five tips on board for starters.
Make full use of your transfers
The good thing about Fantasy Rugby, as opposed to Fantasy Football, is that you’ll know how the various teams involved are going to line-out well before kick-off at the weekend.
You can make as many transfers as you want before the first weekend so it’s not much of an issue until Week 2 and beyond but, with 20 transfers to use in total (five per week) and with plenty of notice in terms of team selection there’s no excuse for not making changes if a third of your XV find themselves benched at the drop of a hat.
Momentum, momentum, momentum
Being a relatively short tournament, momentum is huge in the Six Nations and if a player is showing form early on, there’s a good chance he’ll maintain it right throughout the competition; look at Leigh Halfpenny in last season’s Six Nations, for example.
When selecting your team, think about who’s going into the tournament in good form. Will Luke Fitzgerald get a chance to build on his recent good showings for Leinster, for example? What are the chances of Paul O’Connell picking up a few man of the match awards and a few precious bonus points in the process given his immense displays of late?
It’s imperative that you spot the players who are hot in terms of scoring tries or collecting bonus points and spot them quickly lest you be left behind like a prop chasing a winger in a 100-metre sprint.
When picking your forwards, look to the back row
Much like the back seat in the bus, the back row is the cool place to look when selecting your forward pack. A manager is obliged to pick forwards but they don’t have to select them as they would in a rugby team and the players wearing 6-8 are far likelier to collect points than their counterparts in the front row.
Cian Healy and Rory Best are two of the few front rows who should be considered for selection
While exceptions could be made in the case of, say, Cian Healy or Rory Best, who contribute their fair share of tries, back rows are more valuable because they are more likely to contribute tries and assists and are also a better bet to finish out a game and collect three points for a full appearance as opposed to players in the front row, who are replaced in nearly every game.
Far be it from us to diss the members of the front row union, but those behind them in the scrum are a safer bet as far as Fantasy Rugby is concerned.
If the shoe fits…
We’re not sure if it’s the analogy we’re looking for, but it’s a lot shorter than advising you to tailor your selection for the particular games taking place on any given weekend.
For example, if you think Ireland are going to do a number on Scotland in the first game after what happened last year – and we think they will – then it might be advisable to select a few likely Irish try-scorers (maybe those behind the scrum) first time out.
You could make a similar case for France at home to Italy in the second round and for other games later in the competition depending on the form of the various teams in the opening rounds.
Choose a brilliant team name
Let’s face it folks, although the prize money may well be within your grasp, it’s only the lucky few who end up claiming the spoils from the official league itself and the many private leagues that will end up being created.
With that in mind, one way of earning extra kudos is with a cool team name and this is something that hasn’t been explored in Fantasy Rugby circles nearly as much as it has been in Fantasy Football, for example.
‘Schmidt Happens’ ‘Zero Rucks Given’ and ‘Silence of the Pat Lams’ are just some of the examples that have been thrown around the JOE office to date but whatever you do, don’t go with ‘Maul by myself’ because it’s already been taken… by me… so hands off.
If you haven’t yet registered your Fantasy Rugby Team, you can do so on The Irish Times website here and remember, those who do so before 23:59 (Irish Time) on Saturday 25th January will be entered into a draw to win tickets to Ireland v Wales on the Aviva Stadium on February 8.
Of course, you’ll also want to pit your wits against fellow JOE readers and the incredibly cocky members of the JOE editorial team and to do so, simply put the code 51898 into the ‘Enter Private League’ box on The Irish Times website and prepare to be looking up (most probably down) the table at the better-performing JOE members on a weekly basis.
