As we head into the final round of the Six Nations, we take a look back at the best performers from last weekend and give you some tips on who might be a good pick this week.
Round 4 Top Scorers
One man blew all others out of the water in Round 4, scoring more points than even the kickers, which is some performance. England’s Jack Nowell racked up an incredible 33.5 points, thanks to 185 metres made, eight defenders beaten and four clean break – all of which scored him points in addition to his try. Just 1% of fantasy players have him in their team – great foresight if that was you!
Behind him came a couple of kickers, George Ford and Leigh Halfpenny, the former benefitting from bagging a try also. Surprisingly, France had a number of top fantasy performers, despite taking part in an utterly dire game against Italy. Scott Spedding topped their stats with 18.5 points, while Thierry Dusautoir and Loann Goujon also put in noteworthy performances, scoring 15.5 points apiece.
Amongst the front five, there was a first international try for Yoann Maestri which helped him to a commendable 14 points and makes him the highest scoring lock of the tournament so far. Luke Charteris‘ mind-boggling 31 tackles saw him score 13 points despite making only three metres with ball in hand.
Here is the team of round 4 (excluding kicker’s points):
| Position | Player | Country | Points | Picked by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prop | M Vunipola | England | 8 | 2% |
| Hooker | S Cronin | Ireland | 8.5 | 1% |
| Prop | D Cole | England | 7 | 17% |
| Lock | Y Maestri | France | 14 | 12% |
| Lock | L Charteris | Wales | 13 | 1% |
| Loose Forward | T Dusautoir | France | 15.5 | 52% |
| Loose Forward | L Goujon | France | 15.5 | 0% |
| Loose Forward | B Vunipola | England | 13.5 | 25% |
| Scrum-half | B Youngs | England | 12 | 17% |
| Fly-Half | G Ford | England | 17.5 | 54% |
| Centre | J Joseph | England | 15 | 27% |
| Centre | M Bennett | Scotland | 9 | 4% |
| Outside back | J Nowell | England | 33.5 | 1% |
| Outside back | S Spedding | France | 16 | 8% |
| Outside back | N Nakaitaci | France | 15.5 | 1% |
Who should you pick in round 5?
This could be a real make or break round for your fantasy team. With the title likely to come down to points difference, we should see three open games of rugby, and sides throwing caution to the wind in a bid to score as many tries and points as possible. That said, England will play France last, and will know by that stage what they have to do. If they only need to win by, say, three points, they might tighten things up.
Wales are one side that need to score tries, and they play the leakiest defence of the tournament so far in Italy. Any of their backs will be worth a punt, but Jonathan Davies in the centres is starting to come into some form and would be a good pick. Likewise Liam Williams and George North on the wings can expect to see plenty of ball.
Stuart Hogg of Scotland remains a good pick, and is the top scoring outside back so far in the tournament. He plays Ireland this weekend, who are renowned for their kicking game, so he should have plenty of counter attacking opportunities – a great chance to score points.
After his astonishing round four performance, Jack Nowell has become the second top points scorer in the outside backs, despite playing just two games this tournament. He and Jonathan Joseph looked the most potent attacking weapons in England’s armoury last weekend, and are both good options, while opposite them France’s Noa Nakaitaci will be looking to stretch his legs a bit more after a solid debut.
Up front, England and France boast the top performing fantasy front five players so far, but they do battle this weekend so could cancel each other out. Some Italian tight five forwards might be a good bet, given Wales have lost both of their first choice props – Josh Furno has come into some good form at the back end of this championship, whilst Martin Castrogiovanni is tipped to come back into their starting line-up.
Good luck with your picks on the final weekend!
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images