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🔑 Key information
⏰ The Round 3 deadline is 2pm on Saturday ahead of England v Ireland.
🇫🇷 Fabien Brau-Boirie keeps his place at centre; Pierre-Louis Barassi replaces Noah Nene on the bench. Peato Mauvaka returns to the bench with Charles Ollivon and Mickaël Guillard.
🏴 Ollie Lawrence comes into the centres, with Tommy Freeman moving to the wing. Henry Pollock makes his first start for England alongside Ben Earl and Tom Curry, as Guy Pepper and Sam Underhill drop to the bench. Marcus Smith returns to the bench in place of Fin Smith, and Jack van Poortvliet is preferred to Ben Spencer.
🍀 Jack Crowley starts at 10, Sam Prendergast is out of the matchday 23. Jamison Gibson-Park & Tadhg Beirne return to the starting XV. Jack Conan drops to the bench in a 5-3 bench split that also features Nick Timoney & Ciaran Frawley.
🏴 Duhan Van Der Merwe and Blair Kinghorn start. Tom Jordan drops to the bench with George Horne and Darcy Graham. Matt Fagerson starts at 8 in place of the injured Jack Dempsey.
🏴 Joe Hawkins & Eddie James keep their places at centre, Tomas Francis and Olly Cracknell come into the XV. Ryan Elias and Blair Murray makes it onto the bench, with uncapped Gabriel Hamer-Webb starting on the wing.
⏮️ Here’s our Round 2 Recap for top performers & price changes.
🔮 Round 2 Predictions
To help you see which way these games might go, we’ve checked the Rugby4Cast algorithm.
Premium analysis courtesy of Rugby4Cast. Check here for more insights on Super Rugby, Top14, Pro D2 & more.
💡 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
🏴 England 28 - 22 Ireland 🍀
Both teams with a lot to prove after last week. Ireland could be back in the hunt for the title with a win (if someone can stop France), and England will be looking to get their campaign back on track. R4C has Ireland for a good value bet.
Last year’s result: Ireland 27–22 England
Last years POTM: Jamison Gibson-Park
🏴 Wales 13 - 32 Scotland 🏴
Scotland looked ruthless & clinical against England in Round 2. If they play like that again, they should win. However, Wales are at home will be targeting this fixture as one they can win.
Last year’s result: Scotland 35–29 Wales
Last years POTM: Blair Kinghorn
🇫🇷 France 39 - 15 Italy 🇮🇹
Italy have been very impressive thus far. Will France blow them away like last year, or will we have a proper game on our hands? Let’s see what the first-ever Round 3 with no fallow week before will bring!
Last year’s result: Italy 24–73 France
Last years POTM: Louis Bielle-Biarrey
🙏 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.
Antoine Dupont 🇫🇷 (16.3★) scored 91 points against Italy last year. Shoo-in.
Mathieu Jalibert 🇫🇷 (16.7★) scored 87 points last week. Either you stick with him, or follow the trend of going for Fly-Halves playing against Wales and pick Finn Russell 🏴 (13.4★). Don’t get fancy and go for anyone but these two.
Huw Jones 🏴 (14.6★) bagged two last week and plays the worst defence in the championship under a closed roof.
Tadhg Beirne 🍀 (13.9★) starts in the Back Row in what should be a great contest against England. He’ll get through a lot of work and is likely to go the full 80’ after playing just 28’ last week.
Budget Picks & Differentials
Can’t quite make your salary cap stretch, or just want some differential picks?
Blair Kinghorn 🏴 has the highest xP of the Scottish Back Three, but Duhan Van der Merwe 🏴 (13.4★) & Kyle Steyn 🏴 (11.6★) have xPs of 30.9 and 27.1, and are very solid shouts.
If you’re not going for Ben Earl 🏴 (17★), or want a 2nd English back rower, Henry Pollock 🏴 (13.7★) makes his first England start, and has impressed in both games off the bench this year.
Fabien Brau-Boirie 🇫🇷 (9.7★) was an absolute workhorse last week, carrying 100m and making 20 tackles. If he’s not a must-have, he’s the next best thing.
Marcus Smith 🏴 (12★) returns to the bench after missing out last week in a game that was crying out for him. Could he repeat the magic of his drop goal 2 years ago to sink Ireland again?
If you’ve got space for him in your Back Three, Louis Rees-Zammit 🏴 (13.8★) is always a threat, and at home to Scotland could be the best game to pick him in.
🖥️ The Computer’s Team
Here’s the team with the highest Expected Points (xP) tally.
💰 Team cost: 201.4★
📊 Expected Points (Starters): 422.2 points
©️ Captain: Fabien Brau-Boirie 🇫🇷 (42.2 → 84.4 xP)
🚀 Super Sub: Nick Timoney 🍀 (12.3 → 36.9 xP)
Total xP: 501.3 points
*Super sub’s xP is triple their actual xP.
Verdict: 9/10
A very solid selection!
What do you think of this team?
🏉 The Oval Office’s Round 3 Team
💰 Team cost: 216.3★
📊 Expected Points (Starters): 442.3
Total xP: 482.1 points
With France playing like they are, every team will be missing some big names. The trick is to choose wisely. Two glaring omissions are Fabien Brau-Boirie 🇫🇷 and Théo Attissogbe 🇫🇷, who scored 56 and 49 points last week, but we believe the 4 we’ve picked are must-haves.
We’ve gone for English props up against an Ireland scrum that has struggled massively. Tadhg Beirne 🍀 & Gregor Brown 🏴 are both playing 6, meaning we essentially have 5 Back Rowers.
Blair Kinghorn 🏴 and Ollie Lawrence 🏴 come into the team for their first starts of the competition.
Captain
We’ve gone for Mathieu Jalibert 🇫🇷 (16.7★), with 39.8 xP. He’s the competition’s top fantasy scorer by some distance so far. We’re slightly gambling he’ll play 80, but FOMO is strong with this one.
Alternative captain picks:
Fabien Brau-Boirie 🇫🇷 (9.7★) = 42.2 xP
Louis Bielle-Biarrey 🇫🇷 (17.1★) = 36.2 xP
Thomas Ramos 🇫🇷 (17.7★) = 35.9 xP
Blair Kinghorn 🏴 (13.4★) = 35.5 xP
Théo Attissogbe 🇫🇷 (12.7★) = 34.5 xP
Antoine Dupont 🇫🇷 (16.3★) = 32.5 xP
Duhan Van Der Merwe 🏴 (13.4★) = 30.9 xP
Finn Russell 🏴 (13.4★) = 24.1 xP
Super Sub
It’s George Horne 🏴 (13★), with 12xP
Since we have 4 French on the field already, and Henry Pollock has moved into the Starting XV, we’ve gone for Horne against Wales.
Other options include:
Lenni Nouchi 🇫🇷 (8.5★) = 15.9xP
Charles Ollivon 🇫🇷 (12.9★) = 12.6xP
Nick Timoney🍀 (9.8★) = 12.3xP
Baptiste Serin 🇫🇷 (8.8★) = 12.3xP
George Horne 🏴 (9.1★) = 12xP
Mickaël Guillard 🇫🇷 (12.6★) = 11.2xP
Peato Mauvaka 🇫🇷 (8.5★) = 10.5xP
Jack Conan 🍀 (13.7★) = 10xP
Josh Bayliss 🏴 (9.6★) = 9.7xP
Marcus Smith 🏴 (12★) = 8.5xP
Darcy Graham 🏴 (12.8★) = 8.4xP
Blair Murray 🏴 (10.6★) = 8.1xP
Pierre-Louis Barassi 🇫🇷 (9.6★) = 7.4xP
Guy Pepper 🏴 (11.9★) = 7.2xP
Ronan Kelleher 🍀 (11.1★) = 5.6xP
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🤞 Good luck & see you for a Round 3 Recap early next week.