Six Nations Fantasy Rugby news: Luke Ebden’s Fantasy team for Round 3

The Six Nations is well underway - Ireland top the table after two rounds, Wales are bringing up the rear, with every other team on one win.

We are back after the first fallow week - Saturday sees Wales host Ireland and Scotland visit Twickenham for the Calcutta Cup - with Sunday seeing the all-continental clash between Italy and France.

In this article, Sports News Blitz writer Luke Ebden reveals his fantasy team for Round 3 and recaps on Round 2 including an update on the mini-league.

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A GUIDE TO FANTASY RUGBY: Six Nations Fantasy Rugby news: What is it and how does it work?

League Update

Every week in my team selection, I will update on the league standings, across all three leagues combined.

Top of the leagues after Round 2 is…Gramps - rising a remarkable 12 places - congratulations!

In second we have Hook, and in the other podium spot is myself - The Real Slim Sladey.

In fourth and fifth respectively we have Dan Banter and My Rugby Team.

Round 2 Recap

I scored 338 points all out in Round 2 - a disappointing return.

The front row did not repeat its Round 1 heroics in my team - Henry Thomas managed a mere three-pointer, with Dave Cherry and Danilo Fischetti only managing 16 and 18 respectively.

My front-row Supersub Dan Sheehan also didn’t make the same impact as Round 1, managing only 10 points, tripled to 30.

I made a late change after my Team Selection last week - changing Grant Gilchrist to Will Rowlands - a decision that luckily only cost me a single point, with the pair scoring nine and eight respectively.

Tadhg Beirne scored 25 points - ever present and ever reliable and was the bright spark in an overall very poor front-five performance.

My back-row was OK, without being amazing. I did miss the Lorenzo Cannone haul - well played if you went for him.

My Taulupe Faletau gamble went reasonably well - he scored 25 points.

Gregory Alldritt scored 27 and remains the highest scorer in the game.

Tom Willis was the highlight of my forwards, an impressive 34 points for his cheap price.

My backline was also subpar.

Antoine Dupont scored a mere 13 points - a second round in a row where he has failed to hit the heights expected of him.

His price tag is becoming harder to justify, though he does face Italy next.

I still stand by my reasoning for picking Tommaso Allan - he unfortunately only walked away with 20 points.

I’ve said many times before that your captain has the ability to make or break your round. Mine certainly broke it this week - Menoncello scoring a poor 8-pointer doubled to 16.

A huge disappointment, especially given I was not short for captaincy options.

His centre partner Huw Jones scored a solid 24. Not amazing, but decent enough.

The French double-up went well, with Damian Penaud and Thomas Ramos scoring 37 and 34 respectively.

However, both were outscored by their back-three partner in real life, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who managed 56 points, well played if he was in your team.

My final player was Monty Ioane, who scored a poor 8 points. I, unfortunately, fell on the wrong side of the 50/50 with Capuozzo.

However once again, I can’t fault my data-driven decision-making, and how I ended up with Ioane - this game is much easier to play with hindsight!

So, a poor week overall, and one I’m looking to move past and improve upon in Round 3, and try and reclaim top spot in the league.

Team Selection

Players change value in Fantasy rugby - and therefore, my squad value is over the base 230 stars budget because I had invested in certain key assets who are now more expensive.

Props

I’ve gone with one change up front, with Henry Thomas (7.6 stars) making way for teammate Nicky Smith (7.3 stars) - who partners the ever-present Danilo Fischetti (12.9 stars).

Fischetti has always served me well in Fantasy rugby and will continue into my team in Round 3.

Fischetti has averaged 22 points per game so far this championship. A very respectable return for his price, and enables me to free up Irish/French spots elsewhere that I need this week to target the weaker fixtures.

A no-brainer to stick with him.

His partner in the front-row for me is a very simple sideways switch - going from the previous cheapest starting prop in the game to the current cheapest.

New Welsh interim head coach Matt Sherratt has rotated his prop pairings.

As a result, Henry Thomas is now on the bench having started the first two rounds, and Leicester loose-head Nicky Smith is promoted to start.

I don’t have high expectations for him, but I am expecting a bit more fight and desire from Wales under Sherratt, especially at home, so hopefully that’ll translate into a respectable score.

Hooker

I hinted at it in my article last week, my hooker for Round 3 is Dan Sheehan (18.2 stars).

I was going to promote him from my Supersub to my starter last week, but he was named on the bench somewhat unexpectedly.

This week, though, in the absence of Ireland captain Caelan Doris (18.7 stars), Sheehan steps up to captain his country.

No doubt the first of many times he’ll captain the men in green. This is now a huge game for Sheehan personally, as well as Ireland on the whole.

Wales is the fixture to target this year, so getting Irish assets in the right place this week is crucial.

I simply couldn't go without last year’s top-scorer, and he already has one try so far this campaign - and he offers so much more on top of try-scoring too.

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Second row

Tadhg Beirne (17.6 stars) remains in my team - as he will for almost certainly the whole championship barring injury.

He is just so good, especially from a Fantasy Rugby perspective.

Beirne is averaging 30 points per round, which for a second row is obscene.

He takes on a disorganised Welsh team this week who look set to go all-out-attack.

Therefore there might be holes for Beirne to exploit, especially at lineout time.

He is joined this week by Ollie Chessum (13.1 stars).

England have brought Chessum into the Starting XV to help boost their lineout.

Chessum is England’s main man in the lineout particularly in defence, and also offers more pace around the park than the big bruiser George Martin (13.2 stars).

If they remain fit, this will likely be my second-row pairing for the remainder of the championship.

I do concede though, I am slightly worried about not owning Thibaud Flament (11.5 stars).

However, I believe there is better value elsewhere in the French team.

Back row

The back row has been a major hub for points so far this championship, so getting the right players is essential.

Very controversially, I’m dropping the highest-scoring player in the game - Gregory Alldritt (19.1 stars) - ahead of one of his easiest fixtures.

It sounds quite silly in writing, doesn’t it?

My logic is, France have named a 7:1 split on the bench, with three of those forwards being back-rowers.

Therefore, Alldritt (and Flament from earlier) are likely to get fewer minutes on the pitch.

Whilst I have no doubt both will score well whilst on the pitch, the reduced minutes put me off a bit, and therefore I have focused my French spots elsewhere.

Thus, Tom Willis (11.3 stars) is the only back-row player I’ve kept from the last round, he’s joined by Jack Conan (13.4 stars) and Tom Curry (15.8 stars).

Willis had an excellent game from a Fantasy perspective, scoring 34 points.

England have long been yearning for a traditional Number 8 to come in and take some pressure off of Ben Earl (20.4 stars), and Willis looks set to be the man in that department.

His Premiership statistics look perfect for Fantasy Rugby points, as I pointed out in Round 2’s article, and as England’s fixtures now get easier, we could see him score some mammoth totals.

I’ve doubled up on England in the back row with teammate Tom Curry.

In Fantasy, it is key to try to predict results, and thus pick players from the teams you think will do well.

This week, I think England will win the Calcutta Cup, and I think the forwards is where this game is won.

Curry has arguably been Player of the Tournament so far and should’ve had at least one MOTM.

He has silenced many critics of his selection, and shown he has the potential to rediscover some of his past form.

He has scored 50 and 34 respectively, without MOTM, in Rounds 1 and 2.

If England are to win this match, he will need another huge game.

I do have the money in the bank spare (2.2 stars) to upgrade him to either Jac Morgan (17 stars) or Tommy Reffell (17.1 stars).

Both are quality players, and it may be a late switch I make (with the former being more likely to come in) to take advantage of a potential new coach bounce.

However, Curry has been so good, that I might go against the grain and leave out Morgan.

Conan completes my back row.

He is a top-tier rugby player, especially off the bench. He would no doubt have been my Supersub if Caelan Doris had been named fit to start this weekend.

That said, he is no slouch from the start either, having started all three Lions Tests’ in 2021.

Ireland will be looking to halt the party in Cardiff and pick up the Triple Crown in doing so.

The back-row battle is a huge one, especially in this game.

With the bench structure Ireland have, Conan looks set to play 80, and I just feel he will be pivotal to any success Ireland have in Cardiff.

Similarly to England, I’m hedging my bets on Ireland here, justifying Conan’s place in my team.

Scrum-half

I rave about Antoine Dupont (19.6 stars) a lot. He massively underperformed last week, as did his team.

I think Alex Mitchell (13.3 stars) is a phenomenal option this week, due to his minutes security, and I had him in my initial draft.

But in the end, I’ve stuck with the French captain.

I go back to that 7:1 split on the bench again, and that is why my French assets are focused on the backs this week.

The ‘1’ in the 7:1 split for France is Maxime Lucu (10.6 stars), a scrum-half. However, as we have seen so often, Dupont will move to fly-half or even the wing to play the full 80.

Going back to what I said earlier, whilst his minutes may be considered by some a risk, the damage he could do during those minutes is scary.

If it is a close game he is guaranteed to play 80 - giving him one more week in my team.

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Fly-half

I’ve gone for Fin Smith (10.7 stars).

He had a great game for England last week, though the slightly questionable MOTM did boost his score.

He even inherited the kicking duties from Marcus Smith (17.3 stars) last week after the Quins 10 had a poor day from the tee - it will be interesting to see if this change sticks.

I don’t think he’ll quite hit the same heights as last week, however, I don’t see a better option, and his budget price allows me to spread funds elsewhere.

Centres

Huw Jones (17.7 stars) is my only Scottish player, and he is joined by Max Llewellyn (10.8 stars).

Jones has been very consistent throughout this tournament. I do think Scotland’s backs have the edge on England’s, and he may find some joy.

Selling him never crossed my mind.

Llewellyn is an intriguing option.

He has scored seven times in the Premiership this year for Gloucester, and his initial exclusion from the squad baffled many.

He finally gets his go, and shall surely be a key cog in the ultra-attacking style Sherratt seems to want to play.

Jamie Osborne (8.7 stars) is a huge differential. He is an out-of-position player, listed as a centre but he starts at 15.

I did really want him, but I’ve decided to go premium with Ireland, and Llewellyn could be a smart investment for the rest of the championship given Wales’s fixtures.

Back three

It’s about as premium as you can get - my back three are Thomas Ramos (19.6 stars), Louis Bielle Biarrey (17.4 stars) and James Lowe (18.3 stars).

Ramos remains in my team, despite being named at 10 for France this weekend.

He is just too good, and too consistent - I regret not captaining him last round.

I do have slight concerns he may be the back substituted for Lucu, with Dupont going to 10.

However, his value during the minute he does get speaks for itself and I have to take the risk on him.

LBB has been on fire this Six Nations, with a pair of braces seeing him have four tries in just two rounds. Italy represents a chance for him to keep the run going.

The Bordeaux speedster is the senior winger this weekend, with youngster Theo Attissogbe (12 stars) on the right wing.

The latter did come into my thoughts and would have allowed for upgrades elsewhere, but sometimes you just have to go for the obvious pick.

I’ve missed his points so far, so hopefully this week I can get some joy from the LBB points machine.

Finally, Lowe makes my team.

He is a superb Fantasy option, though one I tend to often overlook for various reasons.

I couldn’t leave him out against Wales though - his best fixture this campaign by a mile.

He offers many routes to points, notably through his ball-in-hand work off his wing, and his 50:22 threat.

Ireland will surely offer a huge threat on the counter against the attacking Welsh team, and I just see Lowe having a field day.

Captain

It’s a four-way race this weekend for me, but for now, the armband is on James Lowe (18.3 stars).

I’ve mentioned already, that he is just a phenomenal option this week. He is a prolific try scorer, against the weakest side in the competition. Need I say more?

However, others have come into my thoughts.

The most notable is Antoine Dupont (19.6 stars). He is the main French playmaker, and if he plays the full 80 there is almost no way he comes away without points.

And, if he does come off early, it will almost certainly be the same as Round 1, where he’d already scored plenty.

It’s a tough decision between these two.

The other two candidates are Louis Bielle-Biarrey (17.4 stars) and Jack Conan (13.4 stars).

LBB is a shout for very similar reasons to Lowe - prolific try scorer vs weaker team.

However, for me, Italy are a much stronger team than Wales, and Lowe offers more routes to points around the park, especially through his carrying.

Therefore I’m more likely to go Lowe than LBB.

Finally, Conan is a left-field shout.

He will be Ireland’s main ball carrier and is formidable in defence also. His all-action nature makes him a points magnet.

I expect the armband to end on one of the first two, but any of these four could get my armband by 2:15 pm.

Who knows, maybe I’ll even revert to the safe bet of Ramos?

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Supersub

My Supersub for Round 3 is Julian Marchand (13.7 stars).

I didn’t think the options were that great this week in all honesty. I’d have gone Conan if he was on the bench, and none of the Scots appealed to me.

As a result, I’ve sacrificed Alldritt for my fourth French spot to be the Supersub.

I always talk of combinations, and I’ve decided Tom Curry and Julian Marchand are better than Gregory Alldritt and Elliot Daly (12.5 stars).

Bundee Aki (15.3 stars) was my initial choice. But, the appeal of the Irish starters was too much, and Alldritt is the man I’ve cut out.

Maybe it’s crazy, maybe it’s genius.

We’ll find out on Sunday at 5 pm.

Luke Ebden’s Fantasy team for Round 2

Danilo Fischetti, Dan Sheehan, Nicky Smith, Ollie Chessum, Tadhg Beirne, Tom Willis, Tom Curry, Jack Conan, Antoine Dupont, Fin Smith, Louis Bielle-Biarrey, Max Llewellyn, Huw Jones, James Lowe ©, Thomas Ramos, Julian Marchand (Sub).

Team Value: 239.6 stars (2.2 stars in the bank)

Disclaimer: This team is still subject to minor changes.

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