The Ultimate Guide to Fantasy Rugby World Cup 2019

It's time to start fine-tuning your Fantasy Rugby World Cup squad, and here is everything you need to know to win your pool, and come second against me in my 'The Rugby Blog' fantasy league.

Feel free to click here and join my Fantasy League before you read any further!

The Superbru Fantasy Rugby game is simple to play, but with a sophisticated scoring system that it’s important to understand before picking a squad.

As well as points for tries and kicks, players are rewarded for other aspects of their contribution to the game, such as metres gained, defenders beaten, tackles made, and scrums and lineouts won for the forwards. There are full details of the scoring system here, but it's designed to be a fair reflection of the contribution made by each position.

Outside Backs still tend to be the highest-scoring players, with lots of metres gained, defenders beaten and the potential for tries, whilst the Back Row players can also contribute significant points thanks to the various forwards-only rewards, as well as tackles made and ball-carrying.

Those are the two categories to start with, along with your kicker, when selecting a squad, and obviously all the usual considerations for building a fantasy team still apply - which players are most likely to start, and which teams have the weakest opposition in the early rounds.

The other consideration is the fixtures, with some teams playing twice in certain rounds and others having a bye, but the importance of this can be overstated by some people. The All Blacks play twice in Round 3 for instance, but with one match on the Wednesday and another on Sunday, they will almost certainly make 15 changes to the starting lineup reducing the chances of your players featuring in two matches.



With that in mind, I think it's better to concentrate on teams that are facing weaker opposition as you build your squad. I'm looking at England as one of the stronger teams with a relatively easy start to the tournament, Ireland with a fairly benign group and South Africa after they've played New Zealand in Round 1. I'm avoiding the All Blacks early on because they play the Springboks in Round 1 and have a bye in Round 2.

Here's my step-by-step guide to building your fantasy squad.

1. Select your Outside Backs

Given the rewards for metres gained and defenders beaten, full-backs can often rack up points when returning kicks, and it’s worth looking at the key candidates ahead of the wingers for that reason. They are usually the best bet to make captain as well, which earns you double points, and making the right decision can be crucial.

Jonny May is one of the first names on England's team sheet, and I think they'll be at full-strength for their opening match before resting some key players against the USA. May or Joe Cokanasiga could bag a hat-full of tries against the Tongans, and I'll be keeping a close eye on Eddie Jones' selection before the Round 1 deadline on Friday.

Liam Williams should feature at full-back for Wales, up against Georgia on Monday, and he's usually reliable for plenty of running metres and the odd try too.

Stuart Hogg is Fantasy Rugby royalty, often running the ball rather than kicking it too often, he consistently beats defenders and scores very well. He'll be a popular choice among the masses, and after Ireland, Scotland have some relatively kind fixtures.

Semi Radradra might be worth a punt in Round 1, as he should feature against Australia, which could be an open high-scoring affair, and he might just make another appearance against Russia. I might also gamble on Tim Nanai-Williams of Samoa, with Super Rugby pedigree and kind opening fixture against Russia's second-string team. Put the captain's armband on him if you're feeling particularly brave!

2. Pick a kicker

Only your designated kicker will earn kicking points, and this is a critical selection that can make or break your team.



Owen Farrell is the obvious man for Round 1, with England up against Tonga and I predict that Farrell will be the most reliable point-scorer in the opening couple of rounds. Handre Pollard is another strong pick, and I'll likely bench him in Round 1 before handing him the kicking duties in Round 2 for the Boks' match against Namibia.

There's a chance that Beauden Barrett will play at full-back for the All Blacks, which could yield more points in open play than most fly-halves, but his kicking can be erratic and Richie Mo'unga might take kicking duties anyway.

3. Select your back row

A strong back row can often make the difference - most people will select all their backs first, and then hit the team limits whilst selecting the forwards, but big ball carriers can often be very high-scorers, and you won’t want to be limited in your choice.

Billy Vunipola is a shoo-in for me in Round 1, and possibly even a captaincy shout as England should be steamrolling Tonga on Sunday. It means I'll likely have to forgo Manu in the centres to keep to the 3-player limit per country, but hopefully the gamble will pay off. CJ Stander is usually a go-to fantasy rugby pick and he'll no doubt be popular, but he's looked a little off the pace and I'm overlooking him this time.

Ardie Savea is worth considering for Round 1, despite the All Blacks' difficult fixture, and I'll certainly be including him if selected against teams like Canada and Namibia. If selected, Isa Naisarani will take on a lot of the ball-carrying duties for Australia, and I suspect he'll outscore the more popular David Pocock and Michael Hooper, who are renowned for causing havoc at the breakdown but not necessarily with ball in hand.

Italy have a nice fixture against Namibia, and whilst plenty of people will pick Sergio Parisse, I'd favour Jake Polledri over his captain and he could be a great pick if you fancy Italy's chances against Namibia and Canada.

4. Fill out your backline

We'll need to wait for confirmation of the lineups before committing to our centres and scrum-halves, but names to look out for in midfield include Manu Tuilagi, Kurtley Beale (particularly if he plays full-back), Garry Ringrose of Ireland, Jonathan Davies for Wales against Georgia and look out for France who normally play at least one centre on the wing.

At scrum-half, Gareth Davies loves scoring tries in World Cups, whilst players like Faf de Klerk and Will Genia will often look for a run rather than simply passing every time. I'll be selecting Faf for the bench to come into the line up when South Africa play Namibia.

5. Select Locks

Leone Nakarawa feels like a strong pick for Round 1 with a chance that he plays twice. He's a key player for Fiji and should get his hands on the ball. I'm steering clear of Alun Wyn Jones, currently the most popular lock in the game - he's a fine leader and excellent communicator, but you don't get points for whingeing at the ref and getting him on your side.

I like James Ryan of Ireland and Brodie Retallick will certainly feature in my squad once he's passed fit and the fixtures ease a little, but generally I'll be looking at players from teams that have an easy fixture where I haven't used up my full allocation. Also keep an eye out for locks selected in the back row - Arthur Iturria is a candidate for this for France.

6. Pick a Hooker

You can only have one starting hooker, which makes it more interesting than other games where you can just fill your front row with three running hookers. Malcolm Marx is a go-to man here, whilst players like Dane Coles, Guilhem Guirado and Jamie George make plenty of yards with ball in hand.

7. Props

By the time you get to the lowest scoring position group, you'll need to be filling up on players from the least popular teams. Again, look at the fixtures and for players that tend to be ball-carriers for their teams, or who make plenty of tackles. Tadhg Furlong ticks both boxes, whilst Sekope Kepu, Stephen Kitshoff and Kyle Sinckler are all worth considering, and I might take a punt on Campese Ma'afu in Round 1.

So there you have it, the winning formula, with the usual caveats that you need to check the starting lineups, which will all be displayed on Superbru as they are announced. Best of luck with your own team! Who are your must-pick players for the tournament?

Be sure to check out The Rugby Blog throughout the World Cup for regular RWC content (including more fantasy articles!)