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After six weeks and twelve matches, the 2022 Guinness Six Nations comes down to one final day. Three matches and four chances to win in ASX Sports fantasy rugby.
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France are aiming for the Grand Slam in the final match of the day against England, but with Wales hosting Italy and Ireland facing Scotland before then, there a plenty of opportunities to win great prizes in the single and multi-game contests.
So we are looking at who are the best picks ahead of this weekend:
Team of the Week
Before looking at this weekend, we’ll look back at round four and see who were the best performers. Throughout the Championship, the team facing Italy tends to dominate the team of the week, and Scotland have not bucked the trend.
Wales versus Italy
As has been the theme throughout this Championship, loading up on backs against Italy is a must, as they have been handing out tries to outside backs like they were sweets. The fact that all but one member of the Scottish backline made the team of the week is fairly compelling evidence of this.
Wingers and fullbacks had scored the bulk of the tries against the Azzurri leading up to the Scotland game, but centres Sam Johnson and Chris Harris got three tries between them in Rome on Saturday, meaning it is wise to invest in any Welsh players outside the fly-half. Josh Adams is maybe the most reliable source of dividends, but does come at a price. At fullback, Johnny McNicholl could be a cheaper way to buy a Welsh back three outside of the pricey Adams and Lous Rees-Zammit. Similarly, outside centre Owen Watkins is another cheap option to invest heavily given his performances throughout the Championship.
Following his performance against Scotland, Italy No.8 Toa Halafihi is a relatively cheap option that could be worth investing in. He was the fifth highest scorer in his match, helped by three turnovers and a number of carries.
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Ireland versus Scotland
A player that should be at the top of most people’s list from Ireland (should he play) is hooker Dan Sheehan. The No2 was the second highest scorer of the match against England despite not scoring a try, and made the team of the week. It was his ball carrying that generated so many dividends, with a line break and offload alongside a number of passes. He is not exactly a cheap option, but is still worth investing in. Another pricey option is Tadhg Beirne, but the lock has proven to be a consistent source of dividends throughout the Championship due to his high number of turnovers and Ireland’s solid lineout.
Scotland’s man of the match against Italy, scrum-half Ali Price, looked very sharp in Rome, and with line breaks being a great way to earn dividends, a scrum-half like him could be a handy investment.
France versus England
Though it was not vintage France against Wales on Friday, with a forward, Anthony Jelonch, scoring their only try of the match, it is still smart to own some French backs, particularly as they are playing at the Stade de France. Damian Penaud is always a good choice, but centre Jonathan Danty has proven all Championship that he can earn dividends in a variety of ways, particularly with turnovers. In the pack, Anthony Jelonch put in another great team of the week performance, scoring his second try of the tournament. Hooker Peato Mauvaka also was the third highest scorer against Wales despite only coming on in the second half, so could be worth buying when he comes on.
From England, Marcus Smith is their only player that has been reliable all Championship in terms of picking up dividends, and is the tournament’s leading points scorer this year. Joe Marchant was England’s highest scorer against Ireland, but their backs (excluding Smith) still are a no-go zone given their lack of tries. In the pack, Maro Itoje could be a good choice after his Herculean defensive effort against Ireland, one that he will need to be repeated against Les Bleus.
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Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments