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Fantasy League Team of the Tournament: Rounds 1 & 2
After far too long, the English Premiership is back once again with the ill behaviour and suffice to say the first couple of weeks did not disappoint. Bristol Bears overcame Bath in their first match back in the Premiership (but were then brought back down to earth by Saracens), Cipriani bested Biggar in the first round of Dan Dan Revolution, and Vereniki Goneva learnt the hard way not to make your dummies too convincing. Leicester Tigers went down the football route of sacking Matt O’Connor after just one match of the season, but were back with a vengeance in Round Two.
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In amongst all the shenanigans, The Scout was hard at work identifying all the movers and shakers of the opening rounds of the Gallagher Premiership. Without further adieu, here is the Fantasy League Team of the Tournament (so far):
- Sami Mavinga (Newcastle)
- Tom Dunn (Bath)
- Ross Harrison (Sale)
- Josh Beaumont (Sale)
- Joe Launchbury (Wasps
- Mark Wilson (Newcastle)
- Sam Simmonds (Exeter)
- Nathan Hughes (Wasps)
- Dan Robson (Wasps)
- George Ford (Leicester)
- Santiago Cordero (Exeter
- Henry Slade (Exeter)
- Ben Tapuai (Harlequins)
- Vereniki Goneva (Newcastle)
- Chris Pennell (Worcester)
It’s been a strong start for last season’s losing finalists Exeter as three Chiefs start in the cumulative XV of the tournament so far, a feat matched only by Wasps. Saracens have three representatives on the bench, whilst both Newcastle and Sale provide two starters and one substitute. This season’s dark horse Gloucester aren’t represented at all in the overall starting team after two rounds, despite three players making the Team of the Week in Round Two.
We’ve already discussed how Santiago Cordero (35.1 points) might be the most exciting player in the Premiership this season, and he’s backed that up by bagging one of the two starting wing berths after an impressive showing early on. Veriniki Goneva isn’t far behind on the other wing (31.6), with both a mile ahead of nearest competitor Jonny May (24.4). With fewer international commitments than other wingers, Cordero could be a good choice to keep the points rolling in season-round.
The front row has been a mixed bag early on. Ross Harrison’s 15.8 points leads, with Sami Mavinga trailing far behind with just 13.5. The hookers were a little more consistent, Tom Dunn’s 30.3 just edging out Jamie George at 30.1. George’s fellow Saracen Owen Farrell (28.0) has to settle for a bench spot behind England partner/rival George Ford (41.8), thanks largely to the latter’s stellar performance against Newcastle in Round Two.
So far, locks have failed to really convert into points, with Josh Beaumont scraping to 20.9 in first place, with Joe Launchbury only reaching 18.5. The back row looks a lot more promising however, with Mark Wilson (38.1), Sam Simmonds (35.5) and Nathan Hughes (27.4) all posting respectable results. Having gone about his business quietly for years, Wilson will be hoping his excellent club form will be enough to push him from the fringes of Eddie Jones’ England squad to the starting XV.
Player of the Tournament:
Ben Tapuai has been on a tear in his first season for Harlequins. The versatile midfielder’s brace on debut helped carry him to the top of the ranks. With Harlequins taking on Bath in Round Three, it remains to be seen whether Tapuai can repeat his barnstorming performances against his former team.
Top Tips:
If you’ve invested in superstars in the front row, you might want to consider selling up and using that cash to reinforce more lucrative positions such as the back row. The high tackle count of players like Simmonds and Wilson can more than make up for their lack of regular tries.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Big difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to comments