Dream Team on Tour - Quarter Finals - Rugby World Cup

Hello #DreamTeam

So, this week marked the end of our World Cup trips with a trip to the Quarter Finals in Marseille. We began our trip in typical fashion at the ungodly hour of 02:30 on Friday morning to get to Dover for the 06:55 ferry to Calais, well I started at that time, Ni had to leave at midnight to get to us on time to set off. With road trip snacks in hand, the 10-hour drive to Aix-en-Provence, a short drive outside of Marseille, passed uneventfully finally arriving at 20:00 at our campsite, Camping Chantecler where we met with the night porter and sorted out all our arrangements. We found a decent pitch on a hill with a view over the town and got set up and ready for the day ahead. Thank God for Ni though as Chloe and I had packed in a hurry the morning of and neglected to bring torches, mallets etc to set up the site.

First up was the Wales V Argentina game. We got into Marseille early, and after some lunch and a beer we set out to talk to some fans about their predictions for the game. Wales had turned up and there was a sea of red shirts at Vieux Port which promised an excellent atmosphere for the game. If you watched the game on ITV, you would have seen Ni jumping and Cheering with a group of Welsh fans before the game and I think the footage is still there if go back and watch the game on ITVX. The Welsh contingent were confident of a Welsh win, and why wouldn’t they have been, they were undefeated through the pool stages where they had seen off the likes of Australia and Fiji.

Once at the game, the atmosphere was electric. What the Argentinians lacked in numbers, they more than made up for in passion and noise. Argentinian songs rang out from around the stadium, and I don’t think they spent more than half the game in their seats as they jumped and danced, urging their team on. For the Welsh contingent they answered well initially, but quickly quietened as the game went on, for obvious reasons. For my part I was confident of a Welsh win right up until the end…goes to show how much I know. Ni on the other hand, in typical Welsh fashion, was on edge from kick off until the final whistle blew, I suppose if you expect the worst, you can never truly be disappointed. There was one highlight though, as we entered the stadium Ni spotted a Welsh hero in Scott Quinnel and managed to get a quick photo in.

After the game we stuck around in Marseille for a few consolation drinks and to watch the New Zealand V Ireland game. Having returned to what was before a quiet bar just outside the main port area, it was now PACKED. Looks like we’ll be standing for the game, but at least the queue for drinks was quick. What a game, again I was certain Ireland could pull it off, again I was so very wrong! I was gutted for Ireland, if only because I had been hoping for an all northern hemisphere semi-final round, it would appear a slice of humble pie is in order after a southern hemisphere clean sweep for the day! We left Marseille in the early hours of the morning and headed to bed, little did I know the journey was fraught with danger, I somehow managed for fall into a manhole outside the campsite before going to bed. Luckily not hurt beyond a few scrapes and bruises I got ready for bed and slept praying for an England win in their game the next day.

We journeyed into Marseille for lunch at a small restaurant before heading directly to the stadium to chat to some fans. Once again, England had turned up. A sea of white flooded the streets interspersed with the odd Fiji shirt worn by just about every other nation in attendance. Ni had opted for his Lions jersey, not able to bring himself to support England but doing his best to remain as neutral as possible. Our seats were excellent, row 9 on the 22 where what you lose in overview of the game you make up for in proximity to the players themselves and atmosphere. After a tense game, the England win seemed to have released a pressure valve and the stadium burst out into songs and dancing. As disappointing as it was to see the Fijians, who had done so well throughout the tournament, go home it was difficult not to get caught up in the elation. Many didn’t expect England to get this far and now they were on their way to a semi-final and the elation was obvious. It was nice to see the players getting appreciation as they did their lap around the pitch, although I did feel for Owen Farrell. After one fan being genius enough to throw their phone onto the pitch and Faz taking a picture before returning it to them, he was soon inundated with phones littering the pitch as he tried to walk around. To his credit he stopped for about 5 or 6 photos before the security asked people to stop. This time we headed straight back to Aix for the France V South Africa game; we would be setting off on our 10-hour drive back to Calais at about 7 so an early night was in order. I have now created a rod for my own back, during the England V Argentina game I didn’t drink because I was driving that night, and I haven’t had a beer during an England game since which my wife was quick to point out as a lucky charm…that’s a dry Saturday for me then!

The drive back was not as smooth as the drive there. About halfway there the car insisted it needed ad-blue and when we filled it, it didn’t seem to make a difference. We almost couldn’t start the car getting off the ferry (we almost didn’t get on as Chloe insisted on going to the duty free about 30 minutes before the ferry was due to depart and returned with not a minute to spare). Thankfully my wife is much more mechanically minded than me and we were able to get it home by about 22:00. After a quick coffee Ni set off home and so ended our World Cup journey, although my wife has been keeping a suspiciously watchful eye for semi-final tickets.

Rugby World Cup Fantasy Game

This week saw a change in the fantasy game. Not just in the rules which we covered last week but also in the nature of the games. Gone are the blowout games where hat tricks are a regular occurrence and players were racking up triple digit scores. This was knockout Rugby and it showed, at least it certainly did in my scores. I ended the round on 491 points. Admittedly this was below par even for the round, but it is in stark contrast to the 700+ points you could reasonably expect to be scoring in the groups. I had used my defensive king booster in the Quarter Finals on Jac Morgan and captained Penaud. There were a couple of extra points I could have picked up had I backed someone else but overall, there wasn’t much in it. The big hits came from Tagi who scored 2 points after coming off early against England and my English contingent who, despite winning, didn’t rack up particularly impressive scores.

This coming week there is another small change. You can now choose 5 players per team as opposed to the previous 4. Many would argue that these semi-finals present a unique opportunity for mismatches at this stage of the tournament. Perhaps it’s just bling optimism from me but I am not so sure. If however you do think this is the case filling your quota of 5 All Blacks and Springboks would be a smart move with the remainder filled from England and Argentina as you see fit. I personally have chosen based on performance of individual players and their previous performance as opposed to an expected route.

The team I have selected is below;

I’ll also go through my thoughts on who might do well this round.

Props:

1. F. Malherbe: The springbok scrum is notorious, their own confidence in it was highlighted by calling for the scrum from a mark against France. Malherbe is a key part of that dominance.

2. T. Gallo: The top scoring available prop this round, it wouldn’t be crazy to bank on him continuing his point scoring form although it is worth noting the opposition is markedly different.

3. J. Marler: Arguably the most novel try assist in Rugby World Cup history with his header, he is also high on the list of point scorers in his position, He also starts on Saturday so should get more opportunities for points albeit against arguably the sternest of opposition in his position. With only 7.6% of players having selected him as well he could provide a relatively low risk point of difference for your team.

Hooker:

1. J. Montoya: An excellent all-round player and still very cost effective for how good he is.

2. J. George: It’s rare you see a front row player play the full 80, for George this has become quite routine and if the game hangs in the balance I wouldn’t be surprised to see him stay on the pitch till the very end.

Second Row:

1. S. Barratt: Can play back or second row and a very useful player. Expecting a big game from him against Argentina

2. E. Etzebeth: His play speaks for itself, surely there is little doubt now he is the best lock currently playing the game. You do pay for the quality though!

3. M. Kramer: An opportunity to get an extra back row (usually a higher scoring position) into your team, need I say more.

4. M. Itoje: Instrumental in England’s lineout, an area they have enjoyed success so far in the tournament. Potentially off his very best form recently but even on an off day he is still a very good option, and I would expect him to raise his game for the match against South Africa.

Back Row:

1. A. Savea: Has an impressive points haul in every game he plays. He is now the first name on my team sheet irrespective of who the All Blacks are playing.

2. B. Earl: Developing into an incredible test player. He possesses rare pace for someone in his position and that doesn’t seem to detract from his potency in the carry. He is also a threat over the ball and consistently has a very high work rate.

3. J. Martin Gonzales: The Saracens flanker is (along with the above 2) one of the highest available scoring back row players available a good option who doesn’t cost crazy amounts either.

4. C. Lawes: Becoming an increasing threat at the breakdown and mobile around the park as well as being a dominant tackler and potent carrier. He is also a lineout option which means he can score points for you in most situations in the game.

Scrum Half:

1. A. Smith: Consistently excellent, he runs excellent support lines, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him cross the try line on Friday.

2. C. Reinach: A lethal sniping threat and has had some impressive scored so far in the tournament.

Fly Half:

1. O. Farrell (Triple Kicker option): The England captain won man of the match last week for his performance. If you’re using triple kicker this week, he might be a good option as I wouldn’t be surprised to see a drop goal or 2 and a general kicking game plan.

2. D. Willemse: Playing at 15 he offers the opportunity for another back three player in your team although you will miss out on any kicking points unless you select Boffelli in your back three.

Centres:

1. J. Marchant: Try scorer from last week, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him spend time on the wing with Daly roaming inside.

2. D. De Allende: Exactly what you want from an inside centre, powerful and tenacious carrier and powerful in defence.

3. J. Barrett: Powerful carrier, deft hands, and a cannon of a boot to top it off. A key player for the All Blacks and a solid option in anyone’s fantasy team.

Back Three:

1. W. Jordan (Triple Captain): A try scoring machine he has a way of finding himself in the right area of the pitch. He is also a smart player who has impacts beyond just finishing trys and will earn points across the pitch.

2. M. Telea: A return to the team following a disciplinary incident is likely to see him try to make up for any misdemeanours, expecting a big game from him.

3. C. Kolbe: Already a recognised incredible player before the game against France, his conversion charge down is now infamous.

4. E. Boffelli: Offers the opportunity for points from the tee as well as being a potent try scoring threat.

Premiership Rugby

Outside the World Cup, this week saw the return of Premiership Rugby, God I love this year! There is so much to talk about this week, with a series of what could be considered upsets based on last season’s results, the debut of a number of exciting players and the comeback from injury of some truly impressive players.

Let’s start at the beginning, The week kicked off with Leicester Tigers vs Bristol Bears. Leicester won the premiership 2 years ago and were semi-finalist’s last year and went into this match as favourites. The Bears had something to say about that, ultimately winning 25 – 14. Now I hate to be a downer on the occasion, particularly given Bristol is the team Ni supports, but this has to be caveated by two things a. This is the first regular season game under the new coach, Dan Mckellar after pretty much the entire coaching staff was transplanted into the England setup so he will inevitably need some time to bed in, and b. Much of the Leicester starting team is away at the World Cup so I’m comfortable saying we can expect very different results when the likes of Ben Youngs, Freddie Steward, Dan Cole, Julian Montoya, George Martin, Jasper Wiese etc return. That being said Bristol did extremely well, and it was super exciting to see the much heralded Vakatawa debut in the premiership, I can’t wait to see more of what he can do. Harry Thacker as usual had an excellent game and is a try scoring machine, which remained the case in the season opener. The definite star though what Ibitoye who put away two incredible trys for the bears.

Next up was arguably the biggest upset of the weekend. Exeter Chiefs beat reigning champions, Saracens 65 – 10! Incredible stuff and I am fairly confident in saying that not many would have guessed that result (if you did, I’d love to know your lottery numbers). Now again, this should be taken with a pinch of salt as the only team missing more players to England than the tigers is Saracens and some of them in pretty key positions, Captain Owen Farrell for example and 1st and 2nd choice hookers in Jamie George and Theo Dan. They can also look forward to the return of their Argentinian contingent in WC Fantasy favourite Juan Martin Gonzales and Lucio Cinti. Josh Hodge stole the show for Exeter with 2 trys and an incredible performance. We had started to see his promise from late last season and it’s great to see him continue into this one. Henry Slade got an interception so well read he made it look easy for a try and the Chiefs had got the bonus point by 17 minutes into the game, which is mental! We also saw the premiership debut of Tom Willis for Saracens after his return from Bordeaux, who I hope we’ll see much more of in the coming week. In total the game a whopping 13 trys, talk about entertainment!

For the second game on Saturday Bath played the Newcastle Falcons at The Rec where Bath secured the win by 34 points to 26. This was a big one for premiership debuts with Finn Russell coming off the bench for Bath and the return of Alfie Barbeary from injury. Finn had a characteristically good game, and it was great to see Barbeary scoring on his return. Ben Spencer also got a hat trick, effectively sealing the win for Bath. Another really exciting game and Bath have an incredible squad this year and I think they could be ones to watch with the (hopefully not too imminent) return of Ollie Lawrence and Sam Underhill. Newcastle also have some exciting talent to watch both on the field and returning. Jamie Blamire the exciting Hooker back to playing his best position after the departure of Geroge Mcguigan and the electrifying Adam Radwan and Matteo Carreras once he gets back from the WC.

Closing out Saturday we had Gloucester vs Harlequins in the closest of the weekend’s games with Gloucester edging win, 29 – 28. The game saw the return of fan favourite Zach Mercer to the premiership after two years of tearing it up for Montpellier in the French Top 14. The prolific George Mcguigan also scored in the match after moving from Newcastle last season, I expect much more like it from him. Gloucester can look forward to the return of some key talent in the not-so-distant future with Santiago Carreras and Jonny may both returning to the prem after the world cup. Harlequins definitely missed some of their key players in Andre Esterhuizen, Marcus Smith, Jack Walker and Joe Marler. Plenty of change in the Harlequins squad as well with Louis Lynagh returning from injury and Will Joseph after his move from London Irish following their collapse. We also got to see the return of Joe Launchbury to the premiership who I’m excited to see much more of over the season.

In the final game of the weekend Sale Sharks took on Northampton Saints, with sale winning by 5, 20 – 15. Probably my favourite game this weekend, I support Sale with a soft spot for Saints, so it made a great watch! The second place finishers from last year had quite a game and quite a shake up with Raffi Quirke coming back from his injury troubles last season and we also saw Ernst Van Rhyn make his debut following his move from the Stormers. All three Du Preez were on the pitch which was great to see after the injuries at the tail end of last season. I was very happy to see Tom Roebuck at his try scoring best again this weekend, I reckon he is one of the most underrated wingers in the prem and, fingers crossed, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him in an England shirt before too long. Sale can look forward to the return of the likes of Tom Curry, Manu Tuilagi, Bevan Rodd, Agustin Creevy and George Ford who will be instrumental if they are to challenge for the cup again this year not to mention Luke Cowan Dickie, Ben Curry and Telusa Veianu who either have yet to debut or are returning from injury. Northampton though were also quite depleted with captain Ludlam, Lawes, Sam Matavesi and mercurial scrum half Alex Mitchell all returning post world cup. With the combination of Pearson, Lawes and Ludlam, the Saints must have one of the most dangerous back rows in the premiership.

Altogether an excellent weekend of Rugby with sooooo much more to come. If, like me, you want to watch them all you can do so through a mix of TNTsports and PRTV, the premiership’s own broadcaster which is all online and can be found at the link here.

Premiership Fantasy Game

If you just can’t wait for our game and all the prizes that come with it, the official game is a decent game which although slightly different to our concept gives you your fantasy fix. My team for this week can found below. If you, smartly, would rather listen to Ni though please drop us a message on any of our socials and we’ll definitely get back to you.