Alongside the action on the field, the fantasy game will be live, and each round will bring different opportunities for fantasy points to be scored, so today we are looking at a round-by-round view to identify any opportunities to maximise your fantasy returns!
Firstly, a reminder of the scoring tweaks for this year’s game. There have been three scoring updates, all of which were also in place for the 2024 Autumn Nations Series fantasy game. An offload to handis worth 2 points (the player will receive this if their supporting player is able to successfully catch the ball directly). In addition, all the team’s forwards on the pitch will get a point each when they win their own scrum. Finally, a try is now worth 15 points for a forward, while for backs a try remains at 10 points. Elsewhere the scoring remains the same, so if you played last year, you will know what to expect.
On to the matches, and like last year, the competition is shaping up to be closer than ever. In 2024, 10 matches in the tournament were decided by just four points or fewer – no edition of the Championship (going all the way back to the days of the Home Nations Championship) has seen more than seven games decided by such a low margin. We can expect more of the same this season.
Round 1 will kick off on a Friday night this year and there will be huge fantasy interest as France host Wales at the Stade de France. France finished second in 2024, their fifth top-two finish in a row – their longest such run in the Six Nations era – and they will be looking to go one better in 2025. They face a Wales team who will not look back on 2024 fondly. Last year they picked up only their second Wooden Spoon in the Championship. They are now on a twelve-match losing streak and in the Six Nations they have lost each of their last seven matches, their longest ever such run (even including the Five Nations). France players will no doubt be popular fantasy options, and the likes of Thomas Ramos, Damian Penaud, Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Antoine Dupont will be appearing in many fantasy teams for Round 1.
Saturday’s matches kick off with Scotland v Italy at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. This was one of the most enthralling games of the 2024 Championship, with Italy defeating Scotland in a 31-29 thriller. Scotland will be looking to unleash their lethal attack on the Azzurri, and so from a fantasy perspective you can expect Italy’s tackling superstar, Michele Lamaro, to be racking up the points. Lamaro made 103 tackles in the 2024 Guinness Men’s Six Nations this year, the most of any player in the history of the Championship surpassing even Jonny Gray’s tally of 100 from 2018.
Round 1 wraps up with the reigning champions Ireland taking on England at the Aviva Stadium. In 2024, Ireland won the Championship for the sixth time since the formation of the Six Nations, drawing level with France and Wales (6 each) and just one behind England (7) who have won it the most since 2000. Indeed, it was England who dashed Ireland’s hopes of a Grand Slam last year, defeating them in a 23-22 nail-biter. Prior to this, Ireland had recorded a run of 11 straight victories in the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, the joint-longest winning run by any team in the history of the Championship, so Ireland will be out for revenge and will be looking to get their 2025 campaign off to a winning start.
Moving into Round 2, and a weekend of extremely close encounters lies ahead. The action kicks off at the Stadio Olimpico where Italy welcome Wales. For many years Italy have found themselves at the bottom of Championship but in recent years, their form has undergone positive growth. In 2024, after losing their opening two games, Italy went unbeaten for the remainder of the Championship, the first time they have gone three games unbeaten in the competition. This included a Super Saturday win over Wales, their second win over Wales in three years. Nonetheless, Wales will see this as a must-win game, and from a fantasy perspective, individuals such as Jac Morgan, Tommy Reffell and Blair Murray will be worth targeting.
The second Saturday match sees England v France at the Allianz Stadium Twickenham. Last year’s match was a 33-31 thriller won by France on Super Saturday, and another close game lies ahead. In the 2024 Championship, England served up plenty of drama, trailing at half-time in all of their five matches, however, they went on to win three of those matches (no side has ever won as many fixtures in which they trailed at halftime in an edition of the Championship). If England are secure victory, their top fantasy performers from 2024, Ben Earl and Marcus Smith will likely be in the mix and will be a key fantasy selection for Round 2.
Wrapping Round 2 up on Sunday 9th at Scottish Gas Murrayfield is Scotland v Ireland. This sees the meeting of the top two try-scorers from the 2024 Champioship, Dan Sheehan (Ireland) and Duhan van der Merwe, who finished with five apiece. Sheehan is the first man in Championship history to score as many as five tries in an edition of the Championship, while Van der Merwe’s tally was the joint-most by a Scotland player in a campaign, along with the five he scored in 2021. Sheehan has recently recovered from a serious knee injury and is in the wider Ireland squad. The Scotland game may come too soon for his recovery but when fit Sheehan is an essential fantasy pick-up.
Round 3 sees the match up with the biggest discrepancy between current World Rugby rankings, with the current World number 2, Ireland, travelling to the Principality Stadium to take on World number 11, Wales. Players such as James Lowe, Caelan Doris, Bundee Aki, Josh van der Flier and Jack Crowley will feature highly in fantasy teams, but don’t rule out Wales’s king of the breakdown, Tommy Reffell. In the 2024 Championship, Reffell won 11 turnovers, the joint-most by any player in an edition of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations, alongside John Barclay who won 11 turnovers for Scotland in 2011.
Second up on the Saturday is England v Scotland at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. Scotland and England both saw all five of their matches in 2024 decided by single figure margins (only twice previously had a team seen each of their fixtures decided by such a margin in an edition of the Guinness Men’s Six Nations; Scotland in 2010 and Ireland in 2013). Last year Scotland defeated England 30-21, and as has happened on more than one occasion, the architects of their downfall were Duhan van der Merwe, Finn Russell and Huw Jones. Van der Merwe scored a hat trick that day, bringing his tally against England to six tries. It would be a brave person to not back Van der Merwe again for their fantasy team for Round 3.
Round 3 closes with a trans-Alpine clash up on the Sunday with Italy v France at the Stadio Olimpico. This match ended up as a 13-13 draw in 2024, and if it is another close match-up, then you can be sure that the boot of Thomas Ramos will be a deciding factor. Ramos is a fantasy essential, having been the top point scorer for the last two years in a row in the Championship (63 in 2024, 84 in 2023), and is one of the few players worth having in your team from start to finish, regardless of the opposition.
Moving into the penultimate round, which kicks off between last year’s top two teams and the two highest world ranked teams in the Championship, Ireland and France. From a fantasy perspective there will be attacking talent all over the field and the fantasy points will be flowing from all areas, but one player in particular to monitor is Damian Penaud, He may have missed the Autumn Nations Series due to illness, but in the 2024 Six Nations he beat the most defenders of any player overall with 27 defenders beaten. In fact, only two men have beaten more in an edition of the tournament (Duhan van der Merwe – 35 in 2023 & 31 in 2021, Brian O’Driscoll – 30 in 2000). Not only that, but Penaud also made the most line breaks of any player in 2024 (11).
This is followed by Scotland v Wales at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. Wales and Scotland played out a 26-27 thriller in Cardiff last year, which saw Wales almost achieve a stunning comeback having been 27-0 down after 43 minutes. As with last year you can expect a flowing match with plenty of fantasy potential. Round 4 finishes with England v Italy at the Allianz Stadium, and if there is one player you would want to back, it’s Ben Earl. With an average score of 41.8 in the 2024 M6N, Earl made the most carries of any player (73), recorded the second highest number of defenders beaten in the entire tournament (24), and the third highest metres carried (417m). A phenomenal achievement for a forward.
Once again the Championship will wrap up with a ‘Super Saturday’ (15th March): a triple-header of matches. Kicking proceedings off will be title contenders Ireland, travelling to take on Italy at the Stadio Olimpico. With so many unknowns at the start of the day before the other matches begin, Ireland will likely play with an all-out attack approach to secure bonus points and maximise their points for, so from a fantasy perspective you will be well rewarded with players such as James Lowe, Hugo Keenan, Bundee Aki and Jack Crowley.
Second up will be Wales v England at the Principality. Wales will be looking for revenge after last year’s close 16-14 loss to England, and home advantage may just tip the result in the hosts’ favour. The tournament reaches its finale in Paris, where it started, and where France will play just their second home match of the Championship. Scotland are the visitors, in what may well be a closely fought battle, and another one in which the boot of Thomas Ramos may well be decisive.
It all kicks off on the 31st January, so sign up and get your team entered, and keep an eye out on the official Six Nations website for more fantasy insights in the lead-up to the Championship start!
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