Fantasy Rugby: Time for a strategy in difficult round

It's best to take a wait-and-see approach with Dan Carter. Picture / Getty Images

One of the most difficult rounds of the year awaits as Dream Team Fantasy Super Rugby resumes tonight in Dunedin.

With just three rounds to play, a long list of injured players and South African teams absent from play, many fantasy managers will struggle to field a full squad this weekend, so your strategy should be all about damage limitation.

The first major factor to take into account is the absence of South African franchises. Couple this with the likelihood that just one team from the Republic, the Sharks, is likely to progress to the finals and one can seriously contemplate dropping all other South African players from your squad for the rest of the season.

That's right, the finals are nearly upon us and all of a sudden we have to take this looming lotto machine into account.

High-scoring players from teams that are out of the finals equation have less value over the coming weeks as you try to manoeuvre your squad into the best possible position for the finals.

When the finals begin you will have slightly more transfers allocated to you but fewer players to choose from - so, if you've loaded your team with Cheetahs, Reds or Blues players, then it's in your best interests to slowly ween them out of your squad over the coming three rounds.

To add to this conundrum, a string of major injuries have been announced over the past two weeks.

Bulls back-rower and fantasy star Jacques du Plessis is out for the season after breaking his jaw as is teammate Flip van der Merwe, Brumbies prop Stephen Moore and Reds halfback Will Genia.

Crusaders pair Richie McCaw and Israel Dagg will be sidelined for the near future, Brumbies lock Sam Carter is out for at least one round while Brumbies five-eighth Matt Toomua is out for two weeks.

Also out for the Crusaders is giant winger Nemani Nadolo who will turn out for Fiji this weekend.

Two players likely to receive reduced playing time are Chiefs stars Tim Nanai-Williams and Tawera Kerr-Barlow who have been named on the bench for their franchise.

Take a wait-and-see approach with returning players Dan Carter, Robbie Fruean, Francis Saili and Jackson Willison, while Kieran Read is not worth owning while the concussion cloud hangs over his head.

If you happen to have the luxury of exploiting matchups this weekend, look to Chiefs players Ben Tameifuna ($4,100,000), Liam Messam ($6,730,000) and Gareth Anscombe ($9,010,000).

Also with juicy match-ups are Rebels fullback Jason Woodward ($8,650,000), front rowers Corey Flynn ($4,130,000) and James Slipper ($3,860,000) and Force back rower Matt Hodgson ($4,610,000).

Get the latest fantasy advice from Dr Stats Thursdays at 6pm on Radio Sport with D'Arcy Waldegrave.

Top pick
Jason Woodward, Rebels

Value pick
Matt Hodgson, Force

On the bench
Nemani Nadolo, Crusaders (international duty)
Jacques du Plessis, Bulls (out for season)
Richie McCaw, Crusaders (out 4 weeks)
Stephen Moore, Brumbies (out 2 weeks)
Matt Toomua, Brumbies (out 2 weeks)
Sam Carter, Brumbies (out 1-2 weeks)
Tim Nanai-Williams, Chiefs (benched)
Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Chiefs (benched)
Will Genia, Reds (out for season)
Flip van der Merwe, Bulls (out for season)
Israel Dagg, Crusaders (out 1-2 weeks)