The Rugby Magazine Fantasy Game 2021/22

[Scrumhead]

I think this is the question on everyone’s mind …

Vui has been a stalwart for me for a couple of seasons now, but now he seems like a poor pick. Same for O’Conor.

The trouble is, I guarantee the week I sell them is the week they start their run of form.

They’re also playing Quins next week and as much as I don’t typically like to back the opposition, our defence isn’t the greatest, which might give the Bristol players a better opportunity to score decent points.

[Puja]

Is it too early to sell all my Bristol players?

Piutau owes me a big scoring week at some point - he's been a cap-intensive waste of space so far.

I'd like us to stop the count for this week as well - I'm up to 11th overall and first in the RR league, but solely because I'm the only person to have 6 starters from the Briz vs Bath.

Puja

[switchskier]

I think this is the question on everyone’s mind …

Vui has been a stalwart for me for a couple of seasons now, but now he seems like a poor pick. Same for O’Conor.

The trouble is, I guarantee the week I sell them is the week they start their run of form.

They’re also playing Quins next week and as much as I don’t typically like to back the opposition, our defence isn’t the greatest, which might give the Bristol players a better opportunity to score decent points.

The week that I choose to bench Muir he goes and gets more points than the first two weeks combined. Vui I'll stick with because I think he'll come good and he offers flexibility.

Ribbans appears to be a late withdrawal today if anyone has time to swap him out.

[Scrumhead]

Very low scoring week across the board - top score won’t be much over 400pts compared to 570pts last week.

Also striking how few people have Sale or Exeter players in their squads. I’ve looked at the current top 50 and hardly anyone has anyone starting today.

I have Lonsdale starting. He has been underwhelming so far, but it’s a very tight league so I could sneak into the top 50 (I’m currently 55th) if he has a better than average performance.

[Peej]

I think this is the question on everyone’s mind …

Vui has been a stalwart for me for a couple of seasons now, but now he seems like a poor pick. Same for O’Conor.

The trouble is, I guarantee the week I sell them is the week they start their run of form.

They’re also playing Quins next week and as much as I don’t typically like to back the opposition, our defence isn’t the greatest, which might give the Bristol players a better opportunity to score decent points.

The week that I choose to bench Muir he goes and gets more points than the first two weeks combined. Vui I'll stick with because I think he'll come good and he offers flexibility.

Ribbans appears to be a late withdrawal today if anyone has time to swap him out.

Same with O'Flaherty and Maunder for me, big scores but I had benched them for players that then did next to nothing. A minus score, a zero, a late withdrawal and an empty spot really limited me. Still, I advanced one place up our league!

[Scrumhead]

I’ve somehow ended up climbing from 94th to 49th overall after scoring a very modest 354 this week. Really highlights how bye weeks are going to shake things up.

[Puja]

SSimmonds is back. But the problem is - who on earth has the spare budget and transfers available to sign him?! I know I'm struggling - had to scrimp and budget to get 20 starters out this week, with three grey dots on the bench.

Puja

[Peej]

You're looking at having to sell two players - at least - to sign him. Which will put anyone at a stretch, both in terms of creating other gaps in squads or dropping below the minimum of 28 players in a quad. But since he isn't going to play for England, he could easily play every week.

All irrelevant for me though as there's no way I can afford him. I've done alright this week, with 23 starters. Whether they are going to bring in enough points though remains to be seen! I've had minus scores and 0s every week so far.

[Scrumhead]

SSimmonds is back. But the problem is - who on earth has the spare budget and transfers available to sign him?! I know I'm struggling - had to scrimp and budget to get 20 starters out this week, with three grey dots on the bench.

Puja

So I sold Dombrandt and Vui this week to sign Simmonds and Montoya (yes I know he’s on the bench).

I’m telling myself that Simmonds could have a big performance against Worcester and Montoya could live up to last season’s try scoring cameos, but I very much doubt they’ll make the 102 point haul I would have had if I’d just left my squad as it was …

OTOH, you can’t look at his game on a week to week basis. Before today, Dombrandt had an average of 17 points per game. A 77 point performance wasn’t obviously about to come. Over time, I’m telling myself Simmonds will be the better buy and as Quins have Sale (away) and Saracens up next, I don’t see Dombrandt scoring as highly over the next couple of rounds.

Also, Dombrandt’s performance was truly sensational - his best ever for Quins IMO. He and Smith will surely have given Eddie a serious nudge. I’d hope that puts him in the box seat for England and leaves Simmonds free to rip it up in the league.

[Puja]

Bad week for me, salvaged only by making Genge my captain. Was up and celebrating when Fifita scored a 30m try, beating two defenders, and was furious when it was called back for a forward pass.

Puja

[FKAS]

Bad week for me, salvaged only by making Genge my captain. Was up and celebrating when Fifita scored a 30m try, beating two defenders, and was furious when it was called back for a forward pass.

Puja

At least you hadn't spent a good chunk of cap on Luatua only to have him pull out just before the game and score a nice nil points. I also had Marchant who only managed 16 points as Quins ran riot.

When Care knocked on over the line from the Marchant offload, well I can't repeat the language.

[Dan. Dan. Dan.]

Yep, Care and Marchant were my Quins backs too and they definitely didn't score rout type points!
Finally got to unleash Simmonds as captain having stowed him away the first few weeks, but despite the massive points haul, it wasn't as massive as Dombrandt's, therefore making that early choice between them look a bit pointless.
Ah well...

[Scrumhead]

Bad week for me, salvaged only by making Genge my captain. Was up and celebrating when Fifita scored a 30m try, beating two defenders, and was furious when it was called back for a forward pass.

Puja

At least you hadn't spent a good chunk of cap on Luatua only to have him pull out just before the game and score a nice nil points. I also had Marchant who only managed 16 points as Quins ran riot.

When Care knocked on over the line from the Marchant offload, well I can't repeat the language.

Yeah - I was equally annoyed about that too. Also my enjoyment of Collier’s try was somewhat tempered by the fact that the dummy he sold would have most likely have been a scoring pass to Marchant on the outside if he had actually passed.

Having said that, when you look at Care (15pts) and Marchant’s (16pts) scores, they were low for such a high scoring game but relative to other players in their positions across the round, they weren’t actually too bad.

Yep, Care and Marchant were my Quins backs too and they definitely didn't score rout type points!
Finally got to unleash Simmonds as captain having stowed him away the first few weeks, but despite the massive points haul, it wasn't as massive as Dombrandt's, therefore making that early choice between them look a bit pointless.
Ah well...

Swapping out Dombrandt and Vui for Simmonds and Montoya cost me 30pts I could have had if I’d left my squad unchanged, but I still think it may end up being a wise move.

History in this game suggests Simmonds will score more points more consistently than Dombrandt who tends to have some very good scores interspersed with quite a few just OK ones. Although, with him and Quins in this mood, who knows?

[Dan. Dan. Dan.]

I know I know! Also Tom Willis has been tearing it up in Simmonds' absence so I can't complain too much.
My Brizzle stalwarts though...

[FKAS]

I know I know! Also Tom Willis has been tearing it up in Simmonds' absence so I can't complain too much.
My Brizzle stalwarts though...

Yeah I swapped out Piers O'Conor for Marchant before Friday night. Couldn't keep waiting for POC to do the business.

[Scrumhead]

I know I know! Also Tom Willis has been tearing it up in Simmonds' absence so I can't complain too much.
My Brizzle stalwarts though...

Started the season with several Bristol players … I’ll be down to just one (Piutau) if I can put my transfer plans in to motion this week.

[Peej]

I know I know! Also Tom Willis has been tearing it up in Simmonds' absence so I can't complain too much.
My Brizzle stalwarts though...

Started the season with several Bristol players … I’ll be down to just one (Piutau) if I can put my transfer plans in to motion this week.

Same here. With their bye week coming up too it is definitely time to start shifting some of them on.

[Puja]

Ugh, those team selections, combined with Northampton's bye-week, have kicked my arse. Have taken a 40 point hit on extra transfers out - could've survived with a 20 point hit, but I've learned my lesson from last week's debacle of signing cheap players because they were starting (thanks for your combined 8 points, Dom Morris and Kieran Wilkinson) and instead dropped another transfer to bring in SSimmonds (who will now have a dire week).

Question is, who do I make captain - him or Genge?

Puja

[Shiny]

Its a tough week all round I think with some players being rested. Not that it matters much to my mighty 14th place in our league.

[Peej]

See I never even considered taking the 20 point hit for the long term gain. But I have managed to sell two players and sign 5. We'll see how that works for me. I've got all starters in my starting XV, but bench is a bit wobbly with 4 grey dots.

[Dan. Dan. Dan.]

I think I'm OK!?!?
Finally sold Piers, and can now go back to my philosophy of never trusting anyone called Piers - after one year flouting it. Had to buy a couple of Second Rows and a Hooker, but had the cash.
Cue it being a disastrous week all round...

[FKAS]

Well Care and Green should have done me ok there. Well unless you can lose points for shite box kicks in which case I'm screwed.

Managed to paper over the backline with Saints on the bye week.

[Scrumhead]

Had a decent night as long as the points don’t shift, but with selection dealing me some unfriendly cards, I had to tear up my transfer plans and bring in 2 locks.

I’ll be OK as long as Tigers have a good weekend. Having 5 of them in my starting XV feels a bit much, but I didn’t really have any choice and probably would have picked 4 of them anyway.

[Peej]

Murley getting 0 really didn't help me. 75% of my squad to come but I think that was probably the highest scoring game of the round. Playing catch up!

[Puja]

Murley getting 0 really didn't help me. 75% of my squad to come but I think that was probably the highest scoring game of the round. Playing catch up!

Right there with you on Murley. I've banked decent scores from Quirke, Walker, and Lamb, but the -40 for the transfer is making a big dent. Need Simmonds to come up trumps for me or this week will be a damp squib.

Puja