After its second week off, it’s full steam ahead in the Six Nations with the final two rounds on consecutive weekends. If you’re playing our Six Nations Fantasy Rugby Game or if you’re just interested in the stats, have a read of who we think would make a good pick for your fantasy team ahead of this weekend’s games.
Round 3 Top Scorers
Leigh Halfpenny‘s metronomic boot saw him top the scoring charts in the last round, with 21 points. He narrowly beat out Scotland centre Mark Bennett, whose interception try saw him gain plenty of points (19) not only for the try itself, but also for all the metres he ate up on his way to the line. Robbie Henshaw (18) and Brice Dulin (18) were also try scorers who were near the top of the scoring charts.
The highest scoring forward in round three was, for the second week in a row, England’s Billy Vunipola – his rampaging runs were enough in a losing cause to get him 15.5 points. He was narrowly followed by two Italians, Josh Furno (14.5) and Sergio Parisse (13.5) as the Azzurri pack pulverised the Scots.
In the front five, there were strong performances in winning cause from both Dan Cole and Alun-Wyn Jones, scoring 11 and 11.5 points respectively – both very respectable figures for tight forwards, especially considering neither of them crossed the whitewash.
Here is the team of round 3 (excluding kicker’s points):
| Position | Player | Country | Points | Picked by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prop | D Cole | England | 11 | 16% |
| Hooker | G Guirado | France | 8.5 | 8% |
| Prop | R Slimani | France | 8.5 | 3% |
| Lock | J Furno | Italy | 14.5 | 8% |
| Lock | A-W Jones | Wales | 11.5 | 24% |
| Loose Forward | B Vunipola | England | 15.5 | 23% |
| Loose Forward | S Parisse | Italy | 13.5 | 58% |
| Loose Forward | D Chouly | France | 11 | 5% |
| Scrum-half | C Murray | Ireland | 7 | 28% |
| Fly-half | D Biggar | Wales | 13 | 16% |
| Centre | R Henshaw | Ireland | 18 | 19% |
| Centre | M Bennett | Scotland | 19 | 2% |
| Outside back | B Dulin | France | 18 | 1% |
| Outside back | A Goode | England | 17.5 | 2% |
| Outside back | L McLean | Italy | 16.5 | 4% |
Who should you pick in round 4?
Starting with the forwards, I would heavily recommend stacking your deck with Englishmen up front. The English pack boasts a huge number of top-scoring players so far, and, an off day against Ireland aside, that has been replicated on the pitch. Dan Cole and Joe Marler are nailed on to start as props, and both get through plenty of work in the loose as well as exerting dominance at the set piece.
They play Scotland this weekend at Twickenham, where home support will be a boost. The Scots have been hugely let down by their pack so far, and it could well be another hatchet job this weekend. Quite a lot of people “make up the numbers” with Scots in the front five (as you’re only allowed four players per team in your squad), but I’d suggest trying to avoid that this time – especially when the Scottish backs are vastly outplaying their forwards.
Choosing your kicker is always an important decision, as they will likely be one of your top scorers. Leigh Halfpenny is a good option as he is monotonously accurate, and Wales’ game with Ireland is likely to be a tight one – it could well be decided by the boot. With that in mind, Johnny Sexton is another good option.
Elsewhere in the backs, Stuart Hogg is in good form both on the pitch and in the fantasy rankings despite his team’s travails. Jonathan Joseph may have been suffocated against Ireland, but he is still the highest scoring non-kicker and will hope to have more room to exploit against Scotland.
Good luck with your picks this weekend!
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images