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🔑 Key information
⏰ The Round 2 deadline is 2pm on Saturday ahead of Ireland v Italy.
🇫🇷 France ring the changes as Émilien Gailleton & Fabien Brau-Boirie start at centre; Noah Nene makes the bench. Peato Mauvaka drops out of the 23, as does Nicolas Depoortere, who is out for at least one week.
🏴 Fin Smith to Marcus Smith is the only personnel change to England’s matchday 23. Feyi-Waboso is out of the tournament, but Ollie Lawrence returns to training.
🍀 James Lowe, James Ryan, Robert Baloucoune & Craig Casey start. Jamison Gibson-Park, Tadhg Beirne & Tadhg Furlong are on the bench. Uncapped back row Row Byrn Ward is called up to the squad.
🇮🇹 The injured Ignacio Brex is replaced by Leandro Marin at 12, Tomasso Menoncello moves to 13. Ange Capuozzo joins up with the squad.
🏴 Ewan Ashman drops out of the matchday 23, with Dave Cherry coming onto the bench. Jamie Ritchie returns, but still no Blair Kinghorn.
🏴 Joe Hawkins, Rhys Carre, Tomas Francis and Olly Cracknell come into the XV. Ryan Elias and Jarrod Evans come into the 23.
⏮️ Here’s our Round 1 Recap for top performers & price changes.
💡 Check out everything you need to know about the game from Fantasy Rugby Geek.
🔮 Round 2 Predictions
To help you see which way these games might go, we’ve checked the Rugby4Cast algorithm.
💡 Predictions tell you which teams might be scoring points with the ball (tries, assists, metres made), but also without the ball (tackles, breakdown steals).
Predicted results
🍀 Ireland 38 - 16 Italy 🇮🇹
A Dan Sheehan hat-trick was needed for Ireland to beat Italy in Rome last year. Quesada has been ‘dreaming’ of a win in Dublin, but Ireland will be looking to bounce back quickly after last week.
Last year’s result: Italy 17–22 Ireland
Last years POTM: Dan Sheehan
🏴 Scotland 16 - 21 England 🏴
Scots and English will both be fearing the worst. Scotland’s recent record against England is very good, especially at home, but it should go England’s way this time. Any Scots out there think this one’s worth an emotional hedge with these odds & recent record? 👆
Last year’s result: England 16–15 Scotland
Last years POTM: Marcus Smith
🏴 Wales 14 - 38 France 🇫🇷
Title favourites visit wooden spoon contender. Could be uglier than the algorithm predicts. Go large on French players this round.
Last year’s result: France 43 - 0 Wales
Last years POTM: Grégory Alldritt
🙏 Must-haves & Budget Picks
Must-haves
Louis Bielle-Biarrey 🇫🇷 (16.3★) & Thomas Ramos 🇫🇷 (17.1★) and have 38 and 35.3 xP (expected points) against Wales this weekend — the most of any backs. Don’t overthink it.
At Fly-Half, it’s either Mathieu Jalibert 🇫🇷 (14★) or George Ford 🏴 (14.4★) for us. Although Jalibert edges it on expected points (34.5 vs 31.1 xP), we like Ford’s drop goal threat.
The obvious choice at Scrum-Half is Antoine Dupont 🇫🇷 (15.5★). We can’t be sure how many minutes he’ll get: it’s possible he moves to 10 if Jalibert comes off, but it’s more likely to be Ramos that moves there. Craig Casey 🍀 (9★) is an option, but Dupont can do enough damage in 40 minutes to repay your faith…
Ben Earl 🏴 (16.2★) banked 50 points last week (100 captained). As we suggested, he did move to 12 in the latter stages of the game against Wales. Never a guarantee, but probably the most likely England back rower to play 80’.
Dan Sheehan 🍀 (15.9★), hat-trick hero in the same fixture last year seems to be the pick of the front-rowers this week. A must!
Budget Picks & Differentials
Can’t quite make your salary cap stretch, or just want some differential picks?
Jamie Osbourne 🍀 (9.8★) at home to Italy seems to be the best value pick for an Irish player in your back line.
Any of the new inclusions to the French team are great options for your 3rd or 4th French pick: Émilien Gailleton 🇫🇷 (7.8★), Fabien Brau-Boirie 🇫🇷 (6.9★), or take a punt on Noah Nene (7.9★) as a super sub.
Tom Roebuck 🏴 (9.6★) is a good aerial threat and scored on his late inclusion to the matchday 23.
Jamie Ritchie 🏴 (10.8★) will get through a lot of defensive work against England, and should score a decent number of points.
🖥️ The Oval Office’s Round 2 xP Team
Here’s what the computer says the best team to pick for Round 2 is, based on Expected Points (xP).
💰 Team cost: 194.7★
©️ Captain: Louis Bielle-Biarrey 🇫🇷 (76 xP)
🚀 Super Sub: Nick Timoney 🍀 (68.1 xP)
Total xP: 504 points
*Super sub’s xP is triple their actual xP.
Verdict: 8/10
No Thomas Ramos 🇫🇷 (17.1★), which seems like a mistake… Premium picks Dan Sheehan 🍀 (15.9★) & Tommaso Menoncello 🇮🇹 (14.6★) make the cut.
What do you think of this team?
🏉 The Oval Office’s Round 2 Team
Team value: 209.3★
Captain
We’ve gone for Louis Bielle-Biarrey 🇫🇷 (16.3★), like everyone else.
Alternative captain picks: Thomas Ramos 🇫🇷 (17.1★), George Ford 🏴 (14.4★).
Super Sub
It’s Henry Pollock 🏴 (13★).
We feel a bit hard done by after last week, so we’ve gone with him again. We’ve decided to keep all 4 French in our backs, wary of the rotation on 49 minutes last week that could repeat itself, despite good hauls for Guillard and Ollivon.
Other options include:
Nick Timoney🍀 (9.8★) = 22.7xP
Lenni Nouchi 🇫🇷 (7.9★) = 20.7xP
Baptiste Serin 🇫🇷 (8.3★) = 16.5xP
Tom Curry 🏴 (13.6★) = 10.2xP
Tadhg Beirne 🍀 (13.8★) = 8.9xP
Ronan Kelleher 🍀 (11.1★) = 7.5xP
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🤞 Good luck & see you for a Round 2 Recap early next week.