The excitement is building towards this year’s Six Nations, and it’s time to start thinking about your Fantasy Rugby squad – here is the Ultimate Fantasy Rugby guide for 2017.

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The Superbru Fantasy Rugby game is pretty simple, but has a more sophisticated scoring system than ESPN and the official Six Nations games, and it’s worth understanding 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 a much fairer reflection of the contribution made by each position.

Outside Backs still tend to be the highest-scoring players, with lots of metres gained 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 fly-half, 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.

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.

Stuart Hogg loves to run the ball back, as opposed to just hoofing it like some of his fellow full-backs, and consistently beats defenders and scores very well. Mike Brown is another running full-back, and almost always beats at least one defender, so can accrue some good points even if he doesn’t score too many tries.

Leigh Halfpenny is less likely to run, but he offers an attractive option as a goal kicker, particularly in Round 1 against Italy – and it also means you could pick a non-kicking fly-half, such as George Ford at 10.

Of the wingers, George North is always a popular pick, but hasn’t been on top form – if he scores well and you don’t have him, everyone else will likely get a jump on you. It might be worth getting him in for their game against Wales, just in case, but it’s still tempting to overlook the Welshman.

Virimi Vakatawa is a prime pick here – the Fijian-born 7s specialist is a deadly finisher on the wing for France, and offers great captain potential for your fantasy team, depending on France’s opposition. Others to consider in this bracket are Anthony Watson, Simon Zebo, Tommy Seymour and Liam Williams. Steer clear of the Italian backs.

Pick a fly-half

Only your designated kicker will earn kicking points, and that is often the fly-half and the key consideration in this selection. Owen Farrell is listed in this category and is likely to be the best bet – England have been scoring plenty of points under Eddie Jones, and Farrell’s kicking is rarely off target. He also tends to play at 12 for England, and may find more space to run in the wider channels, which adds to his appeal.

Jonny Sexton is another strong pick, he’s usually a high-scorer in the fantasy game, and Ireland will be real title contenders this year.

The only caveat is that it’s usually worth checking which team is playing Italy, and if you expect them to score plenty of tries, you may wish to select a kicker from that team and use a transfer every week to mix it up.

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. Big ball carriers can often be very high-scorers, and you won’t want to be limited in your choice.

Billy Vunipola is usually the go-to pick here, but will sadly be absent. CJ Stander is another strong candidate, as is Louis Picamoles of France – both love to carry the ball and can make plenty of metres during a game. Sergio Parisse is always a popular pick in any Fantasy Rugby game, and will almost certainly win Man of the Match in the event of an Italy victory, and is useful bench fodder.

Nathan Hughes could be a great selection here – he isn’t that well known yet, and his deputising for Vunipola in the Autumn suggested that England won’t lose much in terms of ball-carrying and involvement from their Number 8. Other names to consider are Sean O’Brien, James Haskell and Taulupe Faletau.

Choose your Centres

Occasionally the centre position throws up a name playing out of position – Elliot Daly and Wesley Fofana have fallen into this category in the past, and certainly worth considering if selected on the wing for their respective countries.

Rob Henshaw for Ireland is a good pick in midfield, making a lot of carries, beating defenders and tackling anything that comes his way, and Mark Bennett for Scotland is a similar contender.

Jonathan Joseph for England hit some form in the Autumn, and has plenty of try-scoring potential, whilst Jamie Roberts seems to be a magnet for Man of the Match awards, regardless of the impact he has had on a game. He’ll also be a popular pick as a famous name, and worth considering for that reason alone.

Pick a Scrum-half

This is a tricky position to select, and there’s a lot of luck involved – a scrum-half can easily score a brace of tries, or he could pass and kick all day and not trouble the fantasy scorers too much.

Ben Youngs of England isn’t shy of a show-and-go, and that eye for a gap can be lucrative. Similarly Conor Murray for Ireland and Gareth Davies or Rhys Webb for Wales, depending on selection. Greig Laidlaw offers a kicking option at 9, and he’s also likely to play the full 80 minutes, but isn’t the most threatening player in the tournament.

You need two scrum-halves in your squad, and this is a good position to use up a selection from Italy, who can sit on your bench for the whole tournament.

Select Locks

In the Superbru fantasy rugby game, locks can score points for line out steals, as well as tackles made, scrums won and everything else, and these can be a reasonably fruitful source of points.

Maro Itoje is a must in your engine room. He is a phenomenal player and could take the tournament by storm, he’ll win at least one Man of the Match award and moreover, there’s a chance he’ll play in the back row, so it’s definitely worth saving one of your England spots for him.

Jonny Gray of Scotland is another great pick here – a tackling machine, strong ball-carrier and line out nuisance. His brother Richie tends to be the more popular selection, but Jonny is the better pick. Alun Wyn Jones is worth considering as the Welsh captain, as are Iain Henderson and Devin Toner of Ireland.

Pick up 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. Guilhem Guirado was the standout player for France last year, bagging himself a couple of tries and making plenty of yards with ball in hand.

Rory Best is the other good option, and both of these players captain their teams and so are less likely to be replaced on 50 minutes.

I would steer clear of Dylan Hartley though, another hooker and captain, as penalties conceded will cost you points, and although his disciplinary record for England has been pretty good, his reputation means that he’s more likely to be carded during a game.

Props

The team limits are fairly generous in Superbru (six), but even so, you might be limited by the time you get to the lowest-scoring category. Tadhg Furlong, WP Nel, Rabah Slimani, and Kyle Sinckler could be good options here, if selected to start.

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.

Here is the current draft of my squad – what do you think?

BACKS

FORWARDS

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Follow Hutch on Twitter: @Hutch_James

Photos by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images