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Super Rugby Fantasy round four: Must-haves and avoids
By Henry Lee
Super Rugby Pacific Fantasy is quickly gaining traction after only three weeks of the 2025 competition, bringing a new dimension for fans of the league.
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Whether you’re winning your mini league with friends, or trailing by a heavy margin, there’s more than enough time to improve on your current overall rank.
As you can change all 15 of your players for each week this season, here are some more “Must haves” and “Avoids” for your team in round four of the competition.
Must-haves
Ardie Savea – Moana Pasifika – Price: $7.5m
The All Blacks loose forward was huge last week for Moana Pasifika against the Highlanders and this weekend against the Hurricanes at North Harbour Stadium should be no different as Savea plays against his old side.
There will not need to be any added motivation for Savea, who will be eager to rip in and prove his worth against his old teammates. Savea has scored two tries this season through three games and will need to perform at his usual high standards if Moana Pasifika want to win their first game of the season.
There are mountains of loose forward options this week, but probably none more busy than what Savea will be at North Harbour Stadium on Saturday night.
Beauden Barrett – Blues – Price: $10m
Beauden Barrett finally gets the nod from Vern Cotter to play at first-five for the Blues this weekend against the Brumbies at Eden Park in Auckland.
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Barrett will take over the goalkicking again from Harry Plummer and will likely be more involved than when he was playing fullback. The fans saw glimpses of the world-class player that Barrett is with ball in hand last weekend, and at first-five against the Brumbies we can expect more runs, more line breaks and more try involvements from the 134-Test All Black.
With Chiefs playmaker Damian McKenzie out with a knee injury for round four of Super Rugby Pacific, Barrett is the best option at the first-five position this week.
Ryan Smith – Reds – Price: $4.5m
Ryan Smith won’t be the most exciting pick this weekend in your round four Fantasy team, but Smith has proved to be one of the more consistent locks in the game so far this season.
Like last week when Tupou Vaa’i (36 points) was on this list, lock is one of the more uninspiring positions to pick for your team, but Smith can give your team some more cap space to spend big in other positions like first five and the back three.
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Smith’s contribution at lineout for the Reds, as well as on the defensive end, makes him a valuable and reliable pick in round four against the Crusaders.
Honourable mentions: Cameron Roigard (HUR), Ricci Riccitelli (BLU).
Avoids
Scott Barrett – Crusaders – Price: $5m
The ship has sailed on Scott Barrett being a fantasy pick for your teams, after a couple of disappointing rounds as one of the highest-owned locks in the game.
The All Blacks captain has been on the tough end of some yellow card decisions on the back of poor team discipline and his gameplay this season for the Crusaders has been underwhelming from a Fantasy perspective. The Sunday afternoon clash against the Reds will likely be a running rugby affair and with the amount of exciting outside backs that the Crusaders have, Rob Penney’s side are destined to use width on Sunday.
With options like Tupou Vaa’i, Ryan Smith and Darcy Swain this weekend, use Barrett in more bruising encounters.
Samisoni Taukei’aho – Chiefs – Price: $7m
This one might be an unpopular opinion due to the slightly favourable matchup for the Chiefs this weekend in Lautoka against the Fijian Drua, but Taukei’aho is still slowly returning from a long-term injury.
The Chiefs hooker will start this weekend in Lautoka, but will likely be subbed quite early on due to minutes being managed, as well as tough conditions to play his first big minutes game since the injury.
Taukei’aho can score well, but there are safer and more reliable options in Ricci Riccitelli who will play larger minutes at home to the Brumbies, due to an inexperienced replacement hooker for the Blues, Nathaniel Pole.
Honourable mentions: Ponepati Loganimasi (FIJ), Tate McDermott (RED).
Note: Highlanders players are unavailable to pick on Super Rugby Fantasy due to their round four bye.
Here are the specific performance scoring categories:
Playing 1-60 minutes: 1 point
Playing 61+ minutes: 2 points
For each try: 15 points
For each try assist: 9 points
For each conversion: 2 points
For each missed conversion: -1 point
For each penalty goal: 3 point
For each missed penalty: -1 point
For each drop goal: 3 point
For each missed drop goal: -1 point
Yellow Card: -5 points
Red Card: -10 points
For each turnover forced: 4 points
For each interception: 5 points
For each lineout won on own throw: 1 point
For each lineout steal on the opponent throw: 5 points
For each lineout error (includes handling error, not straight or lost outright): -2 points
For each tackle made: 1 point
For each tackle missed: -1 point
For each defender beaten: 2 points
For each offload: 2 points
For each line break: 7 points
For each line break assist: 5 points
For every 10 metres gained: 1 point
For each penalty conceded: -1 point
For each error (knock on or forward pass): -1 point
For scrum won outright (awarded to entire front row): 3 points
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