Six Nations Fantasy: Six premium players who are worth the price tag
Planet Rugby continues to build up to the opening weekend of rugby’s greatest championship by looking at the Six Nations Fantasy premium players to consider.
The tournament kicks off on Saturday, with Wales hosting Ireland and Scotland clashing with England at Twickenham. The weekend’s action wraps up on Sunday with Italy hosting the defending champions France.
The return of the Six Nations means that the fantasy game returns too, with fans given a budget of 245 stars to build their team on the tournament’s official website.
You will need to select 18 players to complete your squad, and with prices ranging from seven to 20 stars, you will need to choose your premium players carefully, as they can take a big chunk out of your budget.
We have selected six players worth splashing your cash on.
Dan Sheehan – 15 stars
The most expensive front-rower in the game, Sheehan is worth the price tag and some.
Ireland are one of the tournament’s two favourites, and a fixture win will immediately earn Sheehan eight points. Furthermore, the trend of hookers getting on the scoresheet is not stopping anytime soon, with 13% of Test tries in 2022 being scored by them.
Ireland’s lineout produced 11 of their 24 tries in last year’s edition of the tournament, which grew to 58 by the end of the year. A try would earn you 15 points, and Sheehan has been in red hot form, grabbing eight tries in eight appearances in the URC with Leinster.
He will also earn you points for his tackles, averaging over 10 in the URC, and few hookers will earn you as many points as him from carried metres (0.2 per carried metre).
Taulupe Faletau – 17 stars
The Welsh number eight comes at a steep price at 17 stars, the second most expensive back-rower in the game, but he could be worth it.
Renowned for his relentless work rate, Faletau will earn points for carried metres and tackles (one point per tackle). In his three Six Nations appearances last year, he was among Wales‘ top tacklers in all three games averaging over 10 a match.
In the URC this season, he has averaged well over 10 tackles a game, just shy of 10 carries and around 50 metres carried per game.
Gregory Alldritt and Caelan Doris (both 16 stars) provide solid alternatives, but Faletau is well worth the extra star.
Jonathan Sexton – 18 stars
The joint most expensive fly-half in the Six Nations Fantasy, the Ireland captain is worth every star.
Marcus Smith will cost you the same as Sexton, but one big factor in deciding on your premium fly-half is goal-kicking.
The sharpshooters can rack up the points very quickly with a conversion counting two points, a penalty seven and a drop goal seven.
However, Smith is unlikely to be England’s first-choice placekicker with Owen Farrell in the starting line-up, while Sexton is the undisputed first-choice at Ireland.
A try assist can be hugely profitable, too, earning you seven points and a 50-22 warrants 10. Sexton beat Smith in both categories last season with two try assists and one 50-22 compared to Smith’s one and zero.
Josh van der Flier – 18 stars
Signing the 2022 World Rugby Player of the Year understandably comes at a premium, but Van der Flier’s well-rounded game makes him an enticing option.
Last year in the Six Nations, he scored two tries and assisted another, which would earn you 37 points in itself. He is also a massive presence at the breakdown and could be rewarded with seven points per breakdown steal.
He was Ireland’s top tackler in the 2022 Six Nations and was just one shy of Tadhg Beirne for the most carries too.
Last November, he also showed that it’s not just the hookers that can score from the rolling mauls by diving over in the corner against South Africa.
Josh van der Flier's power is unmatched 💥#BKTURC #URC | #CONvLEI @LeinsterRugby pic.twitter.com/T1cDYvESvB
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 14, 2022
Damian Penaud – 18 stars
The joint most expensive outside back with Scotland’s Stuart Hogg, Penaud’s performances last year make him an exciting prospect.
He finished as the joint top scorer with three tries, along with James Lowe (17 stars) and Gabin Villiere (15.8 stars).
Penaud won’t just earn you 15 points every time he grabs a try but will earn you seven points per line break and 0.2 points per carried metre with the ball.
He ranked among the best for France in both those categories, and with a potential big score against Italy on the cards, Penaud is an excellent option.
Antoine Dupont – 20 stars
The most expensive Six Nations Fantasy player, Dupont will cost you two stars more than any other in the game. In fact, the France captain will eat up eight per cent of your budget.
However, if you have watched any of France’s games, it is clear what a threat he is and how central he is to Les Bleus’ success.
The 26-year-old is bound to score you points across the board. During last year’s Six Nations, he averaged around eight tackles a game, making four dominant tackles, scoring two tries and assisting two crossings.
Few, if any, players will provide the same kind of all-round threat that Dupont does, making him a hot favourite to be amongst the most picked players in the tournament.
READ MORE: Wales v Ireland: Six Nations preview as visitors set to prevail in Cardiff arm-wrestle
