Fantasy Super Rugby: Round One Beginner's Guide

David Pocock of the Brumbies could be a cheap source of fantasy points after an injury-riddled 2014 season.

Despite the sun shining outside and a cricket world cup tournament about to begin, Super Rugby is back and ready to enfold you within its warm embrace for another season.

Yes you can watch every game, discuss the key issues with your mates and make predictions on who will win the title, but the ultimate test of your rugby knowledge comes in the form of Fantasy Super Rugby.

The game that lets you select and manage your Dream Team of Super Rugby players is back to supplement your weekly rugby fix.

With the first round of competition upon us, here are a few general tips on managing your team to help increase your chances of a successful season.

1. Trading is essential
While you can make unlimited trades on your initial team entry, you'll only be able to trade up to a maximum of four players after the conclusion of each regular season round. While most of your trades will likely be forced via injury or selection, it's best to strategise as well - keep an eye out for which teams are on a bye week.

In what is a World Cup year, keeping an eye on which international players receive rest will also be crucial.

In a new feature for this game, you can make trades within your team right up until kickoff of the match each player is involved in. So if Dan Carter is injured in a pre-match warm-up, there's still time to trade him out for Colin Slade if you have a spare trade available.

2.Budget, budget, budget
You'll have a fantasy budget of $2 million to select your squad and you may spend that amount as you see fit, with no limit put on the number you can select from each team.

You may want to monitor the latest news fairly carefully, as well as the player stats (published weekly online and in the Stats Centre) to ensure players are on form/not nursing injury etc.

Remember too there are some excellent players who aren't 'big names' that will provide great value for money.

Select your captain carefully as they are worth double points. Your vice captain will take his place if they do not play in the fixture.

3. 2014 statistics
One of the best ways to gauge a player's worth is to look back at how they performed last season.

Where available, we display the average score each player recorded in 2014 beside their name when selecting your squad, so use this information wisely.

Another interesting result of analysing last year's statistics is the make-up of an All-Star squad - made from the best players at each position based on 2014 fantasy performances.

Of the 15 players, six were from NZ franchises, seven were Australia-based and just two hailed from South Africa. Again, act accordingly.

4. Team announcements
Players get injured in training, get cited for on and off field activity or are put on the bench or dropped for a plethora of reasons.

If you get a chance, remember to check final team lists prior to the kickoff of each game to make any last minute changes to your team.

Players confirmed missing in Round 1:

Blues:
Keven Mealamu
George Moala
Patrick Tuipulotu
Blake Gibson
Dan Bowden

Bulls:
Dean Greyling
Akona Ndungane
Marcel van der Merwe
Flip van der Merwe
Adriaan Strauss

Chiefs:
Aaron Cruden
Liam Messam
Brodie Retallick

Crusaders:
Kieran Read
Sam Whitelock
Israel Dagg
Nemani Nadolo
Willi Heinz
Andy Ellis

Force:
Matt Hodgson
Nick Cummins

Hurricanes:
Ma'a Nonu
Jeremy Thrush
Nehe Milner-Skudder
John Schwalger

Rebels:
Shota Horie
Tom Kingston

Reds:
Quade Cooper
Anthony Fainga'a
Greg Holmes
Dave McDuling
Ed Quirk
Beau Robinson
Rob Simmons
Ben Tapuai
James O'Connor
Adam Thomsen

Sharks:
Willem Alberts
Ryan Kankowski
Francois Steyn
JP Pietersen
Ettienne Oosthuizen

Stormers:
Eben Etzebeth
Manuel Carizza
Frans Malherbe
Willy Ambaka
Kobus van Wyk
Siya Kolisi
Jaco Taute