Super Saturday is almost upon us, meaning time is running out for you to make any last-minute tweaks to your Fantasy Rugby team ahead of Round 5 of the Guinness Six Nations.
Across all three games, players will be keen to put on a show, which in turn will earn our Fantasy Players valuable points in whatever league they are in.
Wales’ players have been of great value in this Championship, as have France’s, making the clash between the two sides so tantalising, not least because of the Welsh being on the brink of a Grand Slam.
Ireland and England have managed to recover from slow starts, with players from both teams starting to build form, while expect several of Scotland’s players to stand out against Italy.
Ahead of what is sure to be an epic day of action, here is who you can expect to feature strongly, so you can make those tight selection calls.
Scotland v Italy
It all starts at BT Murrayfield, where Scotland will want to make it third time lucky on home soil, following defeats in Edinburgh against Wales and Ireland, against an Italy side chasing their first win in this year’s Championship.
Scotland managed to haul themselves back level from being 24-10 down against the Irish last week, only for Johnny Sexton to snatch a 27-24 victory for the visitors with a late penalty.
It was, however, another impressive afternoon for Scotland flanker Hamish Watson, who earned 58.9 points during another tigerish display in the back row.
Watson is available for 16.2 stars and has been of great value throughout the 2021 Guinness Six Nations, although be aware that there is a change in position for another popular Scottish pick.
Stuart Hogg (17.7 stars) plays at fly-half in place of the injured Finn Russell, as part of seven changes from the loss against Ireland, including a return for prop Zander Fagerson, a snip at 11.4 stars, while lock Sam Skinner is another bargain at 7.7 stars.
Italy found Grand Slam-chasing Wales a bit too hot to handle last week and coach Franco Smith has made four changes, including a first start for centre Federico Mori.
Available for just 8.4 stars, Mori was a handful off the bench for the Italians against England in Round 2, when he earned 21.62 points, and has made 98 metres in his three replacement appearances.
Their try scorer against Wales, Monty Ioane, is good value at 12.7 stars, having gained 365 metres, while captain Luca Bigi (8.9 stars) is their top tackler, with 53 made so far.
Ireland v England
Both England and Ireland will want to end up-and-down campaigns on a high when they clash at the Aviva Stadium and there are some prolific points-earners in either camp.
Ireland’s win against Scotland was their second victory in a row, with try scorer – and breakdown nuisance – Tadhg Beirne once again outstanding in earning 61 points.
Not surprisingly, his value has soared over the past month and he’s now available for 15.8 stars, while this is your last chance to pick CJ Stander (17.4 stars), with the No.8 preparing to make his Guinness Six Nations farewell this weekend.
Of the six players brought into the side, Conor Murray represents a bargain at 11.5 stars, while there is a return for 2018 Player of the Championship Jacob Stockdale (13.7 stars).
England ended France’s Grand Slam hopes with a 23-20 win at Twickenham that rewarded a much-improved performance from Eddie Jones’ men.
Their match winner, Maro Itoje, earned 46.6 points from the game and the man who has made 36 tackles and forced four turnovers is yours for 14.1 stars.
Anthony Watson has scored four tries in his last three matches, with his popularity among Fantasy Rugby players pushing his value up to 16.8 stars.
The one change to the side that defeated the French sees Elliot Daly (16.3 stars) coming in at outside centre, having previously made 366 metres from full-back.
France v Wales
We end with the day’s main event and all eyes will be on the Stade de France to see if Wales can seal their second Grand Slam in three years against a France team still with title aspirations of their own.
France’s own Grand Slam dreams went up in smoke at Twickenham last week, but you can expect a reaction from a talented group of players who have been among the best Fantasy performers.
Not least scrum-half Antoine Dupont, who was so impressive in defeat against England, earning 33.9 points in the process to take his tally up to 174.9 from just three matches.
Having lost a pulsating clash to such narrow margins, coach Fabien Galthié has kept faith with the same starting line-up, which includes line-out king Charles Ollivon (15.1 stars), who has won 16 of his team’s throws.
It was a canter for Wales as they made it four wins out of four with a 48-7 victory at Italy and there were several standout fantasy performers for them in Rome.
That included Player of the Week Louis Rees-Zammit (17.2 stars), who continued his breakthrough Championship by earning a staggering 105.6 points by scoring a try, making 157 metres with the ball and making five tackles.
His fellow winger Josh Adams (16.9) and hooker Ken Owens (15.9 stars) were also high earners and they again feature in a team that shows just one change from last week.
That sees Adam Beard, a bargain at 10.9 stars, return to the side in the second row, where he will, of course, partner captain Alun Wyn Jones (15.4 stars), who has made a huge 53 tackles.
