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Season 2- Episode 2- Fantasy Rugby World Cup Preview
28 Plays6 years ago
What could be more fun than talking about the Rugby World Cup? Oh wait! I know, talking about Fantasy Rugby World Cup. We have a special episode here where your favorite American Rugby hammerheads talk about all things Fantasy Rugby on The Rugby Magazine website. We pick out our favorite diamond's in the rough, some big stars that are just names and not so much fantasy assets, as well as give you our start our sit recommendations for each matchup from Friday to Monday this coming week. Find us on twitter to get your last minute advice and to talk strategy.
Follow us on Twitter: Jarrod- jdyke8man & Ben- admrablsnackbar
Email fantasyrugbypodcast@gmail.com with questions, feedback or just to say what's up.
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Transcript
Fantasy Rugby World Cup Preview
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey, everybody. Welcome back. It is the Fantasy Rugby Games. My name is Jared Dyke. I'm Ben Glazard. We are here to do a fantasy preview of the Rugby World Cup, mostly concerning the Rugby Magazine. Our friends over at the Rugby Magazine have been very kind to us, as we said, on our finale last year. So we are definitely going to be helping them out as much as we can. Absolutely. I don't know why you would pick another site for a fantasy rugby. They're good. They did well by us, for sure. Yeah.
00:00:37
Speaker
And we talked about this on the last one. I am definitely going to be looking forward to being able to tell both with this and then when we get into premiership and super rugby, rugby mag stuff, who's starting and who's not just by looking at my team because it'll highlight it. And I'm like, yes, that's what I needed so badly because
00:00:55
Speaker
No more going you were doing the I was doing a spreadsheet Yeah, the Twitter and then putting them in this which which which was easy after the first one was hard to set up Yeah But then they picked the you know similar 23 and maybe you have a couple of guys at the bottom you can pull up But yeah, it's yeah, it's it's a lot of work that I'm glad I don't have to do anymore, right? Oh
00:01:16
Speaker
Yeah, and there'll be a few things that help me out with my stats and all that stuff from that upgrade. So yeah, if you're looking to give yourself a little bit easier time when you play fancy right, we definitely consider the upgrades. They have three different levels, so it'll fit your budget. I promise you it'll be worth it if you're really into this stuff. And well, if you're listening to us, then you're at least somewhat into it.
00:01:41
Speaker
or you're out of your mind, which is also a possibility, but you know. Or you're gonna be into it. You're trying to learn from people. Yeah, exactly. So yeah, check them out. Wanna crack open something here? Yeah. Don't have to ask me twice. This one's Canadian. Allegedly. Allegedly.
New Logo and Fantasy League Invitation
00:02:13
Speaker
Yeah, everybody make sure you're subscribed to us on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify. Download us and check out that pretty new logo that we got. It is quite sexy. Yes. It's a, I mean, it's a rugby ball with a budgie on. Why not? Why not?
00:02:33
Speaker
It's absolutely going to be hot. That's going to be some hot stuff right there. So no news and notes to really get into. No, nothing new from our last pod to this one. Yeah. Although possibly some sort of swirling around of Sonny Bill might be hurt.
00:02:52
Speaker
That's that's you know per normal. I mean yeah, he's usually bad. He's right a lot right so I mean they'll play him off the bench in The South Africa match and then they really don't need to use him again till the corner file probably exactly so Rest up. He'll be alright. Yeah, okay So that'd be interesting make sure everybody make sure
00:03:13
Speaker
You go on to the rugby mag site and sign up for fantasy and make sure you register for our league. Yeah, we have a good number actually. Bring it. Let me see if I can check how many we have here real quick and try to consume too much time with it. We have one, two, three, four,
00:03:38
Speaker
We have 14. Nice. Nice. Yeah. So thanks everybody that's signed up so far and we're open for more. So please sign yourselves up. All that good stuff. So yeah, this will be a designed fantasy episode. We won't have designed fantasy episodes, but obviously our episodes will have plenty of fantasy insight from here out.
00:04:04
Speaker
But today is going to be really about trying to help you build your team and also who to who to lean on come week one, which will start Friday. Hmm hmm. Hooray.
Critique of NBC Sports Rugby Coverage
00:04:14
Speaker
Yay. Really early Friday for us. Yeah, very early. I'll wake up and I'll be I'll be I'll I will be just getting to work, but I will probably pop it on. Might pop it on before I before I head off to work. Yeah. Yeah. Which I still have to buy the package because I'm not looking forward to that. No, I know it. Sorry. Well, we'll we'll make it happen. Yeah, it's happening.
00:04:35
Speaker
Just a little, as much as we love all these other organizations, a little bit of a fuck you to NBC Sports. Yeah. Well, as I stated, somebody was talking about the price of it and I was like, listen, the day it's on cable TV here in the States, I'm going to drink a lot of fucking whiskey. Oh, yeah. Let's put it that way. Oh, yeah. OK, so there you go.
First-Round Draft Pick Debate
00:04:56
Speaker
So we had a fun Twitter question posed by our friend Malcolm.
00:04:58
Speaker
We'll make it happen.
00:05:04
Speaker
I answered it so I'll give my answers first and then we'll do the big reveal because you didn't answer it because you were you were a funny person and try and tease the pod. Hell yeah. Make sure people listen they want to find out. This is what you find out right here. This is where you find out.
00:05:19
Speaker
So I was brave and answered it right then and there. Somebody took my first answer for the premiership and they said Thacker, which is obviously. So the question was, if the rugby mag were to do a draft format, who would be your first round pick using rugby mag scoring?
00:05:39
Speaker
You're first over if you have the first pick in the draft first pick of anybody, who would you make it? Somebody said Thacker and I was like, oh, okay, this could be fun. But then I was like, damn it, I can't say Thacker now. Yeah. So it was three different formats, World Cup, Premiership and Super Rugby. So for World Cup, I said Cobus Reinach because he was obviously on fire in the Premiership. And then if he plays against
00:06:05
Speaker
the lesser in the lesser games, ooh, in the lesser games.
00:06:12
Speaker
then he'll probably light it up pretty good. So I said, Thomas Raunak for the World Cup. For premiership, since he's not on the plane, I said Rory Hutchinson. Who's gonna, again, he's tearing up trees for Saints. He's scoring points at a pretty damn good clip. So he'll be a huge asset to them having not gotten on that plane to Japan for the start of the premiership season. And then super ugly.
00:06:36
Speaker
The one guy who, I mean, we talked about guys that were left home last episode, but the one guy that, for me, for New Zealand, why the fuck you left Nanai Lamape at home? I have no idea. Like, I don't love Jack Goodhue, and I don't think he's that bad.
00:06:53
Speaker
But that's who I would've said nah to, you know? That's really who I would've said nah to. He's not bad, but Lomape is just such a- Lomape, like Goodhue in space is amazing, but I'm not sure he's gonna be the one that can do all the things that Lomape can do. As far as putting
World Cup Fantasy Team Strategy
00:07:14
Speaker
himself into space, creating a whole- He makes a whole. Yeah. So that's-
00:07:19
Speaker
Those were those are my answers. Kobus Reinach, Roy Hutchinson, Nana El Amape. So the big reveal. What did you pick out? So I want to go through my my approach to this, especially for the World Cup, because I think that you have to take into consideration that the who will play in these games. So what I'm looking at is.
00:07:41
Speaker
teams that and I'm assuming that this that this this pool would go all the way through to the finals and it would just be how many points you got and so my
00:07:54
Speaker
My criteria would be I want a team that's going to go past the quarterfinals. I want a team that's going to be playing competitive games throughout, and is going to need to put up points to make sure that they get the point differential needed to advance and whatnot, and win their bracket or come in second if they have to. So what I'm looking at, I narrowed down the teams to England, New Zealand, Wales, South Africa. And I'm looking at France and Ireland too, because even though we didn't pick them in our last pod,
00:08:25
Speaker
They could still get there. They could still get there. It could happen. So from England, I'm looking at guys like Itoji, Mei, Tulagi, Ford, Courtney Laws, who are going to be getting significant playing time. And they're in a pool where they're going to they're not really going to be able to rest because that point differential is going to come into play likely. Right.
00:08:45
Speaker
Um, New Zealand, it's hard between Barrett and Molonga. Um, there's there's value there. Um, and Sevilla, as we talked about last pod, also, um, good value there. He's got to play a lot. Then with Wales, I'm looking at Dan Bigger, Alan Jones, Gareth Davies. Alan is going to be running that line out. Yeah, he's going to be playing significant minutes. I think he's going to be one of these guys like you fucking take me out. I fucking dare you. I want you to try. Right.
Top Picks for Premiership and Super Rugby
00:09:11
Speaker
I want you to try.
00:09:12
Speaker
And then with South Africa, it's kind of hard because it depends on who they're going to play. They can kind of have a little bit of a walk. They've got they've got they could easily rotate their squad and not drop a thing. And I think my theory is that Quaggett Smith's going to end up getting significant playing time. So he would be if I was looking for anybody out of South Africa, I'd be looking at him. Yeah.
00:09:33
Speaker
Um, and then with france i'd be looking for uh, the hamina Yeah, hopefully he doesn't throw one of those garbage glasses again. And then uh ireland, you know, ian henderson, rob carney, uh, peter mowney, oh mani, sorry, and uh and connor murray, um Those connor murray's not bad, right? So all those are good options. Um, if this league includes the knockout rounds Yeah, then i'm going with a toji
00:10:00
Speaker
Maro, it's if it doesn't then i'm gonna go with george ford Okay, my attacking. Yeah. Okay. Um, because I think he's gonna he's gonna gain a lot of meters And um foot and set up a bunch of a bunch of tries I think believe he was either he was top five in the premiership for trm last last year or so, right? So so that that's where i'm going i'm going i'm sticking with with the england Because in that pool of death they're gonna have to be putting up points. So they're gonna be playing those guys um, yeah, so that i'm going with uh
00:10:29
Speaker
I think I'd probably lean forward. Okay, but again because I can fill a couple rules for you like your kicker, right? So yeah, what about what about Prem?
00:10:39
Speaker
Premiership. So, again, the criteria are, you know, didn't go to Japan and will score a ton of points. Yes. So in the top five or seven, whatever I got here, Thacker, Ben Morgan, Ed Slater, Will Rollins, Jack Yandall, because again, without Cowan Dickey, he's going to get significant points early. Absolutely. Alex Goode and Danny Cipriani.
00:11:02
Speaker
Um, and ultimately i'm going i'm going with factor because one goes with factor in that situation. Yes I and I cannot blame you for that whatsoever. No, um, those hooker lineup points are huge, man And uh, super rugby is it's different because you don't have to worry about Competition this time you did a little bit less last time because a lot of the new zealand players were getting arrested for the world cup Yeah, per steve hansen and even razi arrestress was having uh, was having his thumb into south africa a little bit, too, right? um
00:11:30
Speaker
But ultimately, with all those guys I'd be looking at, while I'd be looking at Richie Moonga and Damien McKenzie, which are both kind of injury risks. Especially Mac, obviously. Especially Mac, but Moonga doesn't seem to play a full slate terribly often. So ultimately, I'm going in a different direction. I'm gonna go with Malcolm Marks.
00:11:52
Speaker
Yes, that's a good shot. I like that. I like that. A lot of, a lot of line out points, a lot of tries coming off of the line up malls. And he creates his own sometimes too. So that's the good thing. He's not, uh, he's not far from, um, my boy, Dan Coles, but yeah, he definitely is.
00:12:10
Speaker
And he's a huge part of that lion's team, too. He really is. When he doesn't play, it's noticeable. It really is. So that's a big difference there for them. Yeah, I like the Michael Marks pick. It wasn't one in my brain, but I like it for sure.
00:12:26
Speaker
So we did, and then we did, we had this asked before and I think it's worth approaching it again because while with the rugby mag, and let's go over some of the rugby mag rules for the World Cup competition, you can pick a maximum
Selecting Tier Two Country Players
00:12:43
Speaker
of three players per country, you can have a maximum of 35.
00:12:47
Speaker
So in theory, you could pick like the big nine or ten nations and get most of your roster from those. But, you know, do you really want to? Because you know there's going to be a point where some of these guys don't play like some of these guys aren't going to play more than two games. Right. And that's not going to do you a whole lot of good. No.
00:13:05
Speaker
Now which guys those are, I have no idea, right off the top of my head at least. So you gotta consider that. So you do need some tier two diamonds in the rough. And when we do starter sit later, we'll talk about it. We'll definitely get into some of them because there's some countries that you gotta kinda know about.
00:13:24
Speaker
Anyway, and I, you know, one of the names that we brought up last pod was Joe Tvete from the US. If he had, if he had, if somebody, somebody added the total of the game against Scotland when the US beat Scotland last, was it last summer, two summers ago? Two, yeah, last summer, I think. Yeah, so somebody had those points up and they said he would have got 51. I was like, damn, that's pretty good.
00:13:52
Speaker
So, I like that. So that was a name to throw out there, for sure. Takalua from Tonga, big time. That's another one.
00:14:07
Speaker
it's he's you need a scrum half obviously right and you know there's a lot of scrum halves out there but do you really there's certain countries that you might not want to burn one of those three spots on a scrum half so if you can find another one from a tier two country then you'll be ecstatic right and we'll get that in big names to avoid right too right oh yeah absolutely so yeah there's there's a lot of countries that you're just not going to want to yeah have their guys because
00:14:34
Speaker
Whatever, you know, their pool is weak. So they might they might sit, you know, you might get like two games. So they just don't even play. Yeah. I would I would consider from our neighbors to the north guy like our drone. Mm hmm. He's got he's probably going to play eight for Canada. Right. He's bet. He's obviously more productive than you saw when he played eight for the Chiefs. How productive he was there.
00:14:55
Speaker
And even so with with the second tier guys, especially for a team like like Canada, I'd be looking I'd definitely be looking towards the forwards because it's guys are going to be making tackles a lot of a lot of tackles. So tackles count tackles count. You want you want that. You know, you might not see a lot of meters made or tries from our job, but he'll he'll make tackles.
00:15:17
Speaker
and he'll get his runs, he'll get his opportunities. It just depends, you know, for those that would be looking at tackles and line outs. A tackle is one point. So if you do a Mark Wilson like he did against Italy and get 26 tackles, that's 26 points right there, baby. That's a quick ad right there.
00:15:36
Speaker
So yeah, keep that in mind, especially for some of these guys, you'll see some of the big boys that are making a lot of tackles, forwards and centers, I would anticipate on those, the lesser known nations, for sure. So that's, those are the guys that come to mind, obviously, you know, yeah, I mean, Nakarawa is going to be on, everybody's tricking.
00:15:57
Speaker
So I had a couple of guys like that. So I'd look at Samoa with the Bristol voice, with their Jack Lamb, Chris Vuey, 2CPC, and Fiji, Nakarawa, Ratunu Araiawa. I think I butchered that, sorry. Mata, and then, you know, Goneva, Matawalu, and Matawesi.
00:16:20
Speaker
Yeah, and then it really because you got to you have to At least if he's not on your roster just out of sense of mentality. There's something wrong with you and that's that's michael leech Yeah, you gotta I love that man. He's gonna he This is gonna there's a couple of guys that are in this tournament that You know, they're gonna like that like we talked about alan wind jones like mm-hmm. Yeah, take me out I fucking dare you like he's probably one of them too, right?
00:16:47
Speaker
that are that are going to basically be saying that like i am this is my last go at this and or in leech's case where he's he probably he might do another one but it's it's it's a reach but this is his last in his prime
00:17:02
Speaker
Uh, you know, go at a world cup. So I think he's going to get significant playing time and going to do very well with it. Yeah, I do too. I think he's
Avoiding Overrated Players
00:17:13
Speaker
a, I think he's a definitive guy that you need to put at the top of your list for tier two country. For sure. Um, not only that, he's just an awesome person. Right. I mean, cause you want to, yeah, there's everything good about that. Um,
00:17:28
Speaker
So with the diamonds in the rough, there's guys that are super shiny objects.
00:17:35
Speaker
But that's all they are, shiny. There's nothing else to them. There's really nothing else to them. There's a lot of that in tier one, too. No, that's what I'm thinking. Tier one, for sure. There's a lot of tier one shiny objects. Oh, yeah. For me, the big one that came to mind definitively was Manu Tuolangi. He is a monster, but he just
00:17:59
Speaker
For whatever reason, he finds ways to not really let loose sometimes. He did okay in the Six Nations, but like... He did okay in Six Nations, but his play against Ireland, and just overall this summer, was otherworldly. Like he's definitely, he hit another level there. If he can maintain that, then he's worth keeping an eye on.
00:18:20
Speaker
Not wrong. He looks like he's lost a little bit of weight. Probably helps. He looks like he's more mobile. So instead of, instead of being that battleground where I'm going to run until someone tackles me, it's I'm going to run and then try to evade tacklers. And if he can maintain that, if he can maintain that, then then he could be one to.
00:18:40
Speaker
Wanted to be looking at again. We can't you can't expect that it was more, you know a handful of not even a handful of matches Yeah, it's he's gonna play two maybe three games. Yeah, that's that's the other thing Yeah, and that's the other thing and you know He he has he has one match every once in a while where you're like, god damn it I wish I had him on my team and then he suckers you in that one match right and that's my concern with him So that's me so I would I there's other options too. So I agree. I would I would probably avoid him
00:19:10
Speaker
I'm going to give you three just on Ireland first. That's Johnny Sexton, Keith Earls, and Jacob Stockdale. I agree. Earls was never on my radar. Sexton, I'd say, is definitely a shiny object that you would be tempted to take, but also probably can afford to avoid.
00:19:30
Speaker
Yeah, Stockdale's it's hard. It's a hard. It's just a different like he was in the Champions Cup at the club level. They use him differently. They use him better than they do with the national at the on the national team. So so that's why I see Stockdale as a shiny object at this level. He could he could be great. He would be great, but they don't use him, right? Yeah.
00:19:48
Speaker
Um, not wrong. And then from the rest of the world, um, the three that I would avoid would be Owen Farrell, Fafte Clark. Yeah. T.J. Parinara. Yeah, I see. And he could be, T.J.'s probably a little bit of a 50-50. He's gonna be expensive too. Well, but there's a salary. Right. Oh, okay. So salary. Oh, okay. Yeah. All right. So if you were, if you'd be right, if there was a salary involved, there isn't. So.
00:20:16
Speaker
He might be worth it with having around just in case but I I just I don't know how much he's gonna play and there's other guys who you could He's definitely playing at least two games, right but beyond that. Yeah, I mean He'll be a reserve, but I don't think right. Well, it'll probably always be the reserve But how many minutes is he gonna get? Yeah versus versus that? I
00:20:40
Speaker
I just, I would, I'm hesitant. I wouldn't have him. I'm not going to have him on my team. No, and that's, and there's a lot of quality scrum halves out there to play that will play that you can between for me, I'm going to carry three, three scrum halves on my team. So between the three of those, I should be able to find a starter every week. Right. So that should, that's okay.
00:20:59
Speaker
As long as you know of a guy that can start you probably three games and then at least you have one that can carry you through the knockout stage, then you're probably in an okay shape there. Yeah, I don't disagree with that.
00:21:18
Speaker
And I hate to say, I hate to say this about the guy. I think the beast is a trap. Oh, he's an absolute trap. Oh, no, he's a trap. He's a, I think he's a wicked trap. He's not a South African player. One of three on the beast is probably not in your best interest. Right. It's just not, he doesn't, it's the same thing. There's a bunch of guys that are out there that are like this where
00:21:43
Speaker
For a rugby club, they do incredibly valuable things. But for a fantasy rugby team, they don't do shit. They won't do anything. And it's not unlike NFL fantasy. You have players in NFL fantasy that, yeah, you know the name and you're just like, yeah, I got this guy on my team. And everybody goes, why? He doesn't know a fucking thing. Right. But he's a good big name. Yeah, that's great. Big name. Yeah.
00:22:07
Speaker
It's the points you need, not the name. The name doesn't get you any points. No, it does not. That doesn't
Rugby World Cup Start/Sit Advice
00:22:12
Speaker
add up on the scoreboard. Sorry, guys. The Beast's rucks are very, very valuable. To his club. Yeah, to the club, but not so much to you and the scrums. There's no longer that dynamic runner that it used to be. No.
00:22:24
Speaker
So that's definitely a big one for us. And I would anticipate running away from him in this one. So with that, let's do a little starter set.
00:22:49
Speaker
So for me, what I did was I'm not gonna get cute and try and tell you too many guys know. Let's just put it this way. If I don't say a guy's name, start with caution. Start with caution. If I tell you yes, then you're probably okay to start them. But if I tell you no, then if I don't say the name, just be cautious. I'm not telling you to pine them, but I'm telling you that they might not be as much there as you thought.
00:23:15
Speaker
And I'm I did it where I picked one or two guys to To start or sit. Yeah, so I'll give you from in the game and for each team Yeah, so I'll give you one one from one team to have on your line or in your lineup and one guy to Probably store on the bench or or just not have a team. Yeah, so we'll kick it off with the with the opener Japan and Russia
00:23:38
Speaker
This is actually fun for me because I do a little research on Russia For Japan and keep in mind is that if these guys play? Okay, if we say if you're saying yes, we are recording this prior to the lineups way before that. Just remember that. Okay, so mafia
00:23:57
Speaker
Go moyaki ola go to naka. Yes, henrik tui. Yes Shigeno. Yes. I know those that's multiple scrum halves already. Just play whatever scrum half plays that's yeah, okay find this guy that play him Find the scrum half. Where is he? Where is he? Michael leech as we talked about? Yes, Nakamura. Yes, you a hulu He had a couple of really good games for the Sun wolves even though they didn't play him often enough if he plays definitely start him you tomorrow Who's probably gonna play play 10 for them?
00:24:23
Speaker
Yes, I think this is going to be a wash for Japan. Yeah. So, you know, you want to you want to back that with some with some guys that are going to definitely do the damage from them. For Russia, here's a couple of guys had to really dig a little bit. There's one name that you'll probably recognize Andrei Ostrokov, who plays for sale.
00:24:41
Speaker
Second rower, he might play back row for Russia. If you are desperate for a second rower, that's probably not a bad idea. Lineouts. Lineouts all day. Yep. Simply Kevic, the last time Russia was in the World Cup, I think he had a couple tries for them. That could be one that you kind of pull the rabbit out of the hat for right there.
00:25:04
Speaker
Vasilya Teremyev, he actually did have a stint with the Saints once upon a time after their last World Cup, which was in 2011. Did well, scored a couple tries for Russia in the World Cup, scored some tries for the Saints. So again, if you need a rabbit out of the hat and you need a winger that's tier two, this might be the way to go. And what was the other one? Ostrushka.
00:25:28
Speaker
Again, another guy that scored for them when they were last in the World Cup. Whether or not he plays, I don't know. But again, if you're looking for desperation and for whatever reason, you are desperate to start a Russian player, those are the guys that I would keep in mind. But again, if you can avoid most of Russia, maybe that's the best play overall.
00:25:49
Speaker
best wishes for those who start a russian this tournament i commend you for your bravery but that's about all i can commend you for again look for the guys who are the jumpers look for the guys who are their their leading tacklers yeah that's a big one and that's and we'll get into that in a couple other teams here
00:26:04
Speaker
So I had Australia versus Fiji, which is a little bit easier to research on my end than that. So for Australia, my start is Nick White, as we were talking about. As Nick White goes, so goes Australia. And he'll get plenty of opportunity. And I can't imagine that he would not be starting.
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah, to lead off the World Cup, probably not. And my sit for Australia would be Kurt Lee Beale. Yeah, we know you're not a fan of him. I'm not a fan of him at 15. I don't think he'll be, and I actually don't think he'll be playing 15 in this game. I think they'll go with Haley Petty. Yeah, probably. Most likely. But I'm just not, I'm down on Kurt Lee Beale as an international 15. Not sure why they're going with it.
00:26:57
Speaker
They are would um again check I get it letting the pressure get to him a little bit there, right? Uh, what about like michael hooper? Um, see that's the so the thing about if you're a hooper fan No, I I would I actually I would sit michael hooper in this game Yeah for a couple of reasons and the biggest reason um should should sound very familiar if you've been listening to me for the past three minutes Is he's not going to get many tackles? Uh
00:27:24
Speaker
Yeah. Because Fiji don't take tackles. They don't. They offload it. They pop it out. They don't go to ground. Yeah, they're away paying the ass for that. This is a week to avoid guys who are big, big tacklers. Hooper will still probably get his carries and get his meters. I don't know if he'll get his tries, but he's going to miss out on his tackles. So that's where I'm at with Hooper this week. All right. Fair enough. For Fiji, starting either Nakarawa or Amata,
00:27:53
Speaker
Uh-huh. Yes, please. All yes. And I'm sitting, GoNava.
00:27:58
Speaker
Yeah. And, you know, he was he was a real disappointment for Newcastle this year, especially if you picked him up in the premiership. He was expensive in the premiership. Yes, he was. Which has a salary one. And that's that was not good. No. So I just I don't know how much he's going to produce against Australia. Yeah. Yeah, we'll see. I'm sure there'll be one guy that they have at the top of their list and keep him bottled up.
00:28:24
Speaker
So France and Argentina, a lot of names in this one that you can probably rock depending on whether or not they play. Dupont, Ettoria, Saron, Penno. Gregory Aldra is a big one. I would definitely keep on your team either way. He's going to do some damage for Francis here. Gerardo, if you need a hooker, that's probably your best option for them. Our friend Jefferson Poirot with the rainbow laces. He does have a good game now and again. Louis Picamole.
00:28:54
Speaker
Come on. Yeah, he's he's eligible all over the all over the pack. So that that doesn't provide value maxi madar Intimac if he starts definitely I'm gonna put a I'm gonna put a big no on Vamahina though, cuz he just scares the shit out of me Yeah, I understand if you want to play him, but he just scares me to death. I
00:29:15
Speaker
He was in a similar mold to Kobe for Toulouse in the champions cup and obviously in top 14. So I would put that in there along with Ramos and the newly eligible Vakatawa who did a lot of great things for Rossing. So I would, if any of those guys start, go ahead, do it. Like I said, there's only one hard no and then that's Bama Hina. He scares the daylights out of me.
00:29:41
Speaker
For Argentina a bit overrated and maybe he should have been in my Big players to avoid Gus creepy. Yeah, he scares me a little bit. Well, how much is he gonna play? Probably two games. Yeah, probably two games
00:29:55
Speaker
They're gonna they're gonna play him sparingly and and even when he does play Is he gonna like a is he gonna start and be how long is he gonna go, right? And if you have a hooker the the the key the one one one key here, especially for the front row I'm pretty sure I don't know what the that changes but when you play over 60 minutes It's for everybody. Yeah, okay, it's for everybody that that's that's a big mark to hit and I'm not sure we do it Yeah, I don't think creepy is gonna be playing 60, right? I don't think we get that bonus
00:30:24
Speaker
Yeah, so reconsider that. Delgi, Bofeli, both yes. Our buddy, Juan Figuero, Figuero. No, don't play him, don't be tempted. Orlando, yes. Nicholas Sanchez, if that's your fly half, yep, go ahead. Paulo Matera, yes. Hard yes on him. Ramiro Moyano, Carreras, Sisino. If he ends up being the backup in this or the starter,
00:30:52
Speaker
I don't think you'll be the starting hooker, but even if he's the backup and you're trying to just look for somebody to play, if you have Santiago Sesino in your team, you're probably screwing up either way. Lasana, yes, go for it. For New Zealand versus South Africa, this is gonna be a pretty deep conversation here. Yeah. For New Zealand, there's two guys where I'm looking to start and probably
00:31:20
Speaker
get significant time on my roster throughout the competition. And one of them should be, actually both of them, none of them, neither of them should be a surprise. And that's Dane Coles and Artie Sevilla. Hookers are sneaky points getters for that line out throws. That's why Thacker is so valuable.
00:31:40
Speaker
And Kohl's too is maybe one of the most dangerous hookers in the loose. In the loose, yeah, absolutely. And he will carve you up too. And Sevilla, that goes without saying. He's going to get carries, he's going to get meters, and he's going to get tackles. And he gets turnovers. And he gets turnovers. He basically does it all. He's got all the categories. He ticks all the boxes. So yeah.
00:32:01
Speaker
And my sit is Kieran Reed. Because just as we were talking about before, he doesn't do the things that get you fantasy points. He does amazing things that you need from your club. But he doesn't get the carry so much. He doesn't get the meters. He tackles, yes. But without all that other stuff, I'm not sure that he's worth. Right. Unless he's doing a Mark Wilson making 26 tackles a game, it's really tough to start him. Right.
00:32:29
Speaker
And then for South Africa, um, again, this, none of these should be a surprise if you've been listening to, uh, either, either so far this pod or the previous pod where we previewed the world cup. Um, but I'm, I'm, I'm starting, uh, Malcolm marks and nice and the back three, I'm looking at, at all three of the, the South Africa's back three players. Um,
00:32:52
Speaker
I'm like, well, whoever's starting, I'm looking at, I'm looking at their whoever, whoever's starting in their back three. All right, well, Quagga Smith will probably get involved in that somehow. And he's pretty good, must've checked. And then, then I'm sitting from South Africa, I'm sitting there starting nine.
00:33:08
Speaker
And that's, again, that that tactical thought towards they probably might not play 60 minutes. You might, you know, let's say they start FAF. Why wouldn't it like 50, 55 minutes? Why wouldn't they bring in Cobus? Cobus Reinact. I mean, when you or maybe even if that's your backup, if that's your backup nine. Right. Holy shit.
00:33:24
Speaker
Yeah, like why wouldn't you yeah, you know you have a you have a luxury at that point right luxury for the coach not for us exactly so So that's this you're getting kind of into it, you know in fantasy football We have running back by committee and you kind of have to hang tough guys and you're like, oh he's not gonna get all the carry someone else will same thing that's that's what the uh, the south african nine situation is that they could go with any of them
00:33:47
Speaker
And in any combination they could split them halves they could do whatever the hell they want to do and not lose a little bit of Form for sure. So When you're at their mercy, I I would say I would hang back on the South Africa starting nine probably all tournament unless they're playing a shag team in which case you if you have Herschel Jackie, maybe Yeah, that's a good one. I would I would definitely easy guy I would store on the roster. He didn't like I said, I'll carry three nines. Yeah, maybe one of them
00:34:17
Speaker
For sure Yeah, and moving on to the most entertaining game of the pool of this pool stage not Italy in Namibia Oh Barnburners. Yeah Why are we even giving people advice on this one? So if you have
00:34:40
Speaker
If you paid attention to the Six Nations TRM last time, Stane was actually one of the best scorers in the whole thing, let alone for Italy, so roll him out there if he's in there. Callum Braley, Gloucester Scrumhalf, yep, play him. Frederico Ruzza played very well. Jaden Hayward, Kiwi, eligible via citizenship. I'd play him against Namibia. This is not against any of the other barriers. You think Jake's gonna play?
00:35:07
Speaker
I would I would play Jake. Yeah, I would definitely play if he plays I would play absolutely It's just a question of it. Will he play right? It's not even a yeah, would you play? Oh, yeah, I play him if If Geraldini is starting I'd play him I wouldn't start I wouldn't start Parisi. He's gonna be a shiny object. Yeah, you know the shiny object that Probably isn't worse. Oh, then they're not gonna play Parisi and they might play he might be like the last five ten minutes Yeah together. So yeah, so again, you know just
00:35:34
Speaker
Don't don't bank on him. Don't put him in your starting lineup thinking that he's gonna play cuz remember what you the the laps probably won't be released at least that last one Wales and Georgia po won't be released until After this after the deadlines to write over for TRM. So keep that in mind. Yeah Lunar Gio Dini again to Baldy their scrum half if he plays. Yep, and Tommaso Allen
00:35:58
Speaker
Tomato tomato tomato tomato tomato tomato. Yeah tomato tomato So play that Eugene and she's from Namibia. Yeah, I know. Yeah, she's she's a new And these are based on guys that either did well for Namibia last woke up with tackles or scores So those are the those are the two keys that I was looking for in terms of my research with Namibia You know that one of these guys is probably gonna turn into a diamond in the rough I just don't know which one
00:36:25
Speaker
So yeah, Eugene Yanchis, that's another one, Johan Drysall or Dysall, whatever, however you pronounce it, I'd go with him as well, Johan Trump, they were like five Johans on the team, I'm not joking. Peter Jan van Leel, would be another one for Namibia, go ahead if you need a Namibian to roll out there, and Torsten van Jarsveld.
00:36:46
Speaker
Those are the guys that either had a hand in their last World Cup with tackles or with scoring So those are the guys that I was looking for. They're starting fly half from last World Cup I don't believe came back. So that was the one guy was really looking for and he's not there. So I'm gonna turn over So yeah, they turn over there. But yeah, I mean listen, this is
00:37:04
Speaker
If you need to help, that's where you're probably finding it for Namibia. And this is probably not a bad game to play somebody from that because the likelihood of their production actually being relevant is fairly high. Yeah, it's not a terrible option. On to angry people who you can barely understand. Georgia. No, no, Ireland, Scotland. Oh, also that.
00:37:27
Speaker
Yes, also that. Usually they're hard to understand necessarily when they're angry, but when they're drunk. Yeah. Or both. Or both. So for Ireland, again, I'm looking purely at tackles here, I'm thinking. And I'm thinking, for me, I'm starting, oh, Mowney, because
00:37:48
Speaker
Fuck, he's going to make a shit ton of tackles. Yes, he is. And I think, you know, we're talking about who's going to run that line out. I think because you don't have a Devin Toner, he might actually be. And I know he was six to die, but they're going to they're they're not going to use height to win line out. They're going to use, you know, deception and put up anybody. So I think Omani might actually get line out jumps and and and and win some there. And they'll spread out who's actually.
00:38:17
Speaker
And Ian Henderson would be a good one too. Again, same thing, tackles. And he's actually one that'll pull one over so often. He's decent and loose too. He's extremely dangerous from five meters out. He's shown that time and time again. So that's definitely one to keep on your radar. And my set is
00:38:38
Speaker
No surprise. Johnny Sexton. Johnny Sexton. If you need to kick her, that's my one, maybe pull him back into the lineup. But I would not be banking on him. Don't bank on a lot of that. Yeah. OK. And for Scotland, I would start Stuart Hogg. Because again, Sexton's going to be kicking a lot. Hogg, you'll be back there chasing them down. And really, all their back three, I think, for Scotland. Easy meters to gain right there. Yeah.
00:39:07
Speaker
and my sit for for scotland is going to be uh an interesting one i think you're not you might be surprised but uh himish watson uh the mish yeah um because his value is much more on the attacking end um he's much more of a fucking dynamo runner and and he's in making meters and ireland is the
00:39:27
Speaker
Not the kind of team that he's going to be able to run loose on. Yeah, right. He's not going to be breaking their tackles because they're going to be doubling him and tripling him and and that's what they do. Yeah. And stopping his feet, which is really what what what kills him. Right. So I get him going. He's tough to stop. Right. Like he's somebody I would have on the team, but not not this week. I would not for this match. Fair enough. Yeah, that's not fun. OK, so now there's a lot of guys for this one, England Tonga.
00:39:54
Speaker
There's a lot of guys for this one I would play if they start, but what I've done basically is gone over England's probably their best lineup in my estimation and kind of flipped it and said, you know what? I'm going to go with the guys that probably aren't going to start in this game and I'll pick out the best guys out of that.
00:40:20
Speaker
do to do. Come on. Come back here. Laws. Yes. Okay. Absolutely. Jonathan. He's a beast. And he's a beast in fantasy. Jonathan Joseph Lewis. Love them. Yes. Absolutely. Okay. Luke Cowan Dickey. Yep. Mark Wilson. We know he's a machine. Pierce Francis is very productive as we as we know. Rory McConaughey. Yep. If he plays Willie Hines. Yes. Now there's other there's other names that are on England's team.
00:40:48
Speaker
that i would say yes my start for england is you didn't even name it is uh kakana siga if he plays yeah i think he's going to be playing yeah you're probably right and i think he's going to be getting the ball a lot a lot and they see they like to feature him when he's in that area or when he when he when he's on the field and and especially in that attacking 22 that's the area i was thinking um they like to get in that ball and and just have him
00:41:13
Speaker
Yep power over the opposite wing and absolutely and put it over right and then for Tonga I would do I would Cooper Vuna I consider but don't like jump on it Kurt Morath is probably gonna play ten for them again I wouldn't I wouldn't jump on it but uh, but if you're if you need a ten and you don't want it to be one of the other one of the other countries and
00:41:37
Speaker
That's probably not that might not be the worst option Sam lousy Missed the miss the entire super ugly season unfortunately with a with a really rough injury, but he should be good Sally Pia tau the Bristol man. Yep, see only Callum a phony. He was my even in here She was here and he was very good. Yeah, he's very pretty productive. So I would anticipate him being pretty productive here Assuming he starts Tani takalua. That's definitely rolls my start definitely rolls in there Steve off. He's pretty good. Last I last I checked so go ahead and do that
00:42:07
Speaker
Toulouse of Vayanu, he missed a lot of the season for Lester, so we'll see how productive he is, but he's on the ASI, like the gray area for me, but that's pretty much that. And then we got Wales.
00:42:23
Speaker
Oh, well, I still had I wanted to get my sits in for them. OK, which is for England. I would go. I would not put Launchbury on that field. I think he'll be playing in this game. Yeah, he's probably he's he's not that valuable fancy wise. No, and he gets a lot of tackles. Right. But I don't think against Tonga they're going to tackle a bunch. They're going to be holding the ball a lot. And so Launchbury is going to be rucking, not tackling. And that's not really valuable. And for Tonga, I would sit whoever's at Hooker.
00:42:48
Speaker
Because, as we said, the hookers are incredibly valuable for the line out. England's line out is pretty OK. Pretty good. Pretty OK. Yeah. I think they're going to get a bunch of steals. And that does not bode well for your hooker getting fantasy points. Nope, not at all.
00:43:08
Speaker
I was I supposed to do Wales, Georgia, or were you? You were. Okay. Shit. My fault. My fault. I can run through the list here and tell you who's probably good and who's not.
00:43:20
Speaker
If Hadley Parks plays 10, who's going to play 10 for them if it's not bigger? Is it Patchill or is it Hadley Parks? Either one I'd play them. Whoever starts at Scrumhalf, definitely play them for Wales against Georgia. Whoever starts at Hooker.
00:43:38
Speaker
Yeah, it probably won't be Ken Owens. There'll probably be, is it D? D. Actually, I'm not certain about that, because D has been starting for them in their summer matches. They're not great. And they've been going all right, but Owens hasn't been starting, as far as I can tell. So maybe not yet.
00:43:58
Speaker
So I think Owens might be there on their reserves for big games. So for this one, Owens might be the starter. Rich Carr, our boy, I'd start him. Yeah, I'd start him for sure. He looks like he's going to be productive. And he'll make his tackles because you know they're going to be
00:44:17
Speaker
They don't have anywhere else to go, but in those big forwards. Those big boys. And then Naveedee's probably going to, I would anticipate Naveedee playing a good chunk in this game. So I would definitely play him too as well. So those are the ones I'd play. Everybody else is kind of loosely in or out. I don't know. Maybe Corey Hill, if he plays or Adam Beard, those are probably one of the other two second rows I would play. And if Alan Win Jones plays.
00:44:40
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, yeah, he plays. If he's in, you're starting him. But then again, you watch out for him playing, but not finished. He might come out at halftime. Yeah, he might. So you're not going to get that 60-minute bonus for him. Depending on the score in there.
00:44:55
Speaker
So obviously for George, it's going to be kind of a crapshoot. Yeah. My Mooka Gugoza, if you have to start a tier two guy and you need a second row, loose forward type of guy, he's a good shout. He's probably going to play eight for them. All right. So that's probably where I would go with that. They had...
00:45:20
Speaker
It was another one that they had that I was trying that I was trying to think of too They have they do have a couple other guys that are probably worth I'm gonna butcher this guy's name, but what's a Constantine? Micah like a big out sad z fuck. I can't fucking pronounce his name. Yep Big lock plays for Montpellier, right Again, I'm thinking purely about the lineouts on that. Yep. There you go. That's a good one. I like that. I like that show
00:45:45
Speaker
There's like five guys named Georgie on this team. It's ridiculous. Right. Georgie and your whole team turns around and it's like, what? There's one more that I was trying to think of and I can't seem to find them on my list. Maybe I deleted them by accident.
00:46:01
Speaker
Maybe he's not there. Goji Ashvili, I thought he was going, but maybe not. Either way, yeah. I'm sure these big Georgian props are probably gonna be big ball carriers if I know how Georgia likes to play. And then, yeah, Georgian forwards in general are probably gonna have to make a shitload of tackles. So if you have a Georgian forward that's gonna start in this game,
00:46:21
Speaker
Not a bad idea. They'll probably get 10-12 tackles easily without blanking because that's just what's going to happen. Because the teams will be looking to make them make tackles and then speed around their backs. And then shift the ball, yeah. So those would be the guys I would keep an eye out for them. So yeah, the two that we highlighted, the second row and the eight man for them. And then, yeah, if you really need their 10, I don't even know who the hell is going to play 10 for them honestly.
00:46:45
Speaker
Um, i'm not sure I wouldn't I wouldn't expect them to get many points kicking No, I would I would look for their centers more than yeah That might be a good more than their tens because their centers are gonna be you have to make tackle They're gonna have to make tackles. So it's gonna be the risk of do they actually make them and if you think they can
00:47:00
Speaker
I mean, Graham Rountree is the one that's in charge of the defense there. So if history shows anything, he's a hard ass and I'm sure he's going to demand a lot out of these guys.
00:47:17
Speaker
And he's I'd say his defense is probably going to be nothing to sneeze at. No, no, they're going to put up centers are going to be right. They're going to put a front. And that's why I go with those those locks lose forward centers as as the tackle machines. Right. So is that
00:47:35
Speaker
So my pick of the week, as we'll call it, called it the green light last year. I think I'm just going to call it the pick of the week. Basically the guy that I would captain in this in this variation, assuming he starts.
00:47:51
Speaker
would be the man known as Courtney Laws. You can't get wrong with him. That's who I would captain if he starts. And he's the perfect guy to be playing in a match like this. He even may get time at Flanker, depending on if they want to just go big on him.
00:48:10
Speaker
Yeah. And I wish they might do because Tonga, you know, there's there's other teams there. They're strong in attack. They're kind of they're not they're not the physical type. So, yeah, he's there. Yeah, they're they're going to he can run some people over and still play six and be all right. Yeah. Yes, he can. And then my my start of the week. I think it's pretty clear that I'm favoring my my hookers here.
00:48:39
Speaker
Think it would either be because or marks. Okay, I think those guys are gonna both it's gonna be they're gonna put on a show Yeah, and and I think that's gonna show up fantasy wise. Yep For me the the sit in this one and I love him. I let me just start by saying this. I love this guy. I am I
00:49:00
Speaker
my heart bleeds for him every time I see the man have to as he goes through all his last this last that as he's going through the end of his career. I love him but you got a pine roary pest. Yeah you do. I love him and I don't I just with with the line out questions that are coming through Ireland right now
00:49:20
Speaker
I don't trust how good that's gonna go and he doesn't get done in a lot of other areas besides that so struggle in betting against him But if you're not really betting against him because you're just not starting him. Yeah, I think that that's probably smart I wouldn't bet I wouldn't bet on him at this point. Yeah As you said, it's a shame to say have all the respect of the world for him He hasn't looked his best this the last couple of weeks. I see what you did there. Thank you
00:49:43
Speaker
I was very subtle about it. And my sit for the entire week would be, I think I'd go with Geneva. Yeah, he's the guy you want on your team.
00:50:03
Speaker
Just not this round. Not this round. Yeah. And I had a hard time calling him for a sit last year, but it made sense in the end. You know teams are going to target him. It helps that they have some other very talented players on that team.
00:50:18
Speaker
Really in the backs like the guys that you're gonna be targeting or he's definitely near the top of the list, right? And in terms of if you're Australia and really outside of currently Beal, I actually do like Australia's back three Plus they're then they're centers. So I just don't know how much room there's gonna be for Gunova. Yeah, like Yeah, I just don't see him having the kind of impact that you would want from from him probably not and I mean I like their I like their center combination and we talked about James O'Connor last pot
00:50:48
Speaker
Right. I think he provides something different from those center combination for that center combination because you know, the two centers got current Johnny and the capo. I was sorry. I was the mall gathering. Why am I? Why am I spacing on these guys names? This is bad. This is why we're not professionals.
00:51:20
Speaker
Yeah, um Man this uh karevi good god karevi and and um and Karanjani they're both they're both similar similar styles And they're in their in their play and in their running. So james o'conner just provides that extra
00:51:41
Speaker
Shift and build us too from center right better off there. Yes. Oh, I would love to talk about right as 12 Yes, yes start him all day. Yeah, I just I don't think he's got the speed and and the agility He's not running around anybody. He's not running like past anybody. No, not unfortunately So I just don't see how that's a 15. No, I'm very grumpy about this. Yeah, I'm not grumpy about my weight. No Yeah, I'm grumpy about it
00:52:09
Speaker
Um, yeah, so yeah, Nikki, you kind of a, probably not a great, great start for Fiji this week. Um, a lot, a lot of players for Fiji probably will be, but probably not him. Um, so yeah, uh, we did, we did our pick them already. So we don't need to do that. Nope. Um,
00:52:25
Speaker
So yeah, email questions in about start sits, all that stuff. Well, we'll give you the best shout that we possibly can. We will be available on the Twitters for questions you guys have. If the pod isn't active, obviously this will be our pod before the last pod before the competition starts.
00:52:42
Speaker
If you have questions, if you have advice you want, and you want to ask us, you're that desperate. We're here to help.
00:52:58
Speaker
want to just get it out on the Twitterverse so the whole universe can see how awesome we are and how right we are about all of our ideas. And that is why I like putting it out there and like having the conversation about some of this stuff in Twitter as opposed to email because more people will see it
00:53:15
Speaker
you know, depending on who's following who and, you know, all it takes is like two people to like one of those tweets. And then, you know, a lot of people end up seeing it. So they go. Yeah, you're helping not just yourself, but others. It's very unselfish. Yes, be unselfish. That's what we encourage around here. So until next time, make sure you make sure you sign up for our league, the fancy rugby on the rugby mag.
00:53:36
Speaker
Get yourself an upgrade. Trust me, it's going to do you a lot of favors, I promise. And we will be back next week after probably after all the matches have been played for round one. So enjoy the opening of the World Cup. We're just as excited as everybody else, even though the US isn't playing in this first goal round, but that's okay.
00:53:53
Speaker
We'll be ready for it come next Thursday. More preparations in order for us. Yeah, for sure. But other than that, thank you very much for listening, guys. We're happy to be back, like we said on the last pod. And it's going to be a fun year for us, and we're looking forward to it. Have a good one, guys. Later.