THE DARK DAYS are over and spring is upon us, this means that the Six Nations championship is about to start.
My inbox and tweet-stream has been filling up with invitations to join various Fantasy Six Nations and predictor games.
My desk was getting covered in Post-Its that had details of each one, so though it might be useful to put a guide together to the various games, how they work and prizes on offer. These are the games that I am aware of, so if you spot any other let me know in the comments and I’ll add them.
SportGuru.co.uk has a Fantasy Six Nations prediction game. SportGuru is the leader in the field of rugby prediction games you are probably familiar with their Heineken Cup, Aviva Premiership, Amlin Cup and Magners League games.
Nice and simple, predict the score of each match and the winning margin and you gain points the closer you are to that margin.
Prizes: The winner of every SportGuru tournament will receive a shiny new trophy, engraved with your SportGuru username and the tournament name and date.
There are also prizes on offer in some of the pools; TheRugbyBlog’s pool has a pair of the latest Puma boots on offer and RugbyDump’s pool has Canterbury shirts & Multipower Nutrients Hamper up for grabs.
I have a twitter/Blog pool setup here, all welcome to join!
Guinness have a Fantasy Six Nations game in which you have a budget of €90million and have to pick your dream team.
You are allowed to make three substitutions every week as long as you stay within budget, with no maximum number of transfers. You can only pick a maximum of six players from one nation, you must choose a captain who scores double points.
Scoring points: points awarded for full appearances (two), partial appearances (one), win bonus (three), losing penalty (minus three). There is a complex table of points awarded for try’s, assists and kicks.
Forwards are awarded more point than backs, and finally missed kicks are penalised: details here.
Prizes: The highest scoring manager at the end of the competition will win a trip to New Zealand. Weekly prizes of an Irish rugby jersey.
L’Oreal/RTE have a Fantasy game with no budgets, you pick 15 players from a maximum of four from each country.
Each week you are allowed five subs but there is a limit of total changes; 15 over the five rounds.
Scoring Points: Points awarded for full appearances (three), partial appearances (two), sub appearance (one), win bonus (one), points awarded for tries (five), assists (three), penalty kick (one), man-of-the-match (five), yellow card (minus one) and red card (minus two).
Prizes: The overall winner will receive match tickets to ALL of Ireland’s Six Nations championship 2012 games including flights and accommodation to Ireland’s away fixtures! 3 Runners up get a L’Oreal Hamper.
@exilerugby has set up a pool here, pin is 4046. All welcome!
IrishTimes.com have a Fantasy Six Nations game, no budgets, pick 15 players, max of three from each country.
Each week you are allowed a maximum of five subs but there is a limit of total subs which is 20 over the five rounds. You also need to designate a kicker who is the only player who scores points for penalties and conversions (1pt each).
Scoring Points: Points awarded for full appearances (three), partial appearances (two), sub appearance (one), points awarded for tries (five), assists (three), penalty kick (one), man-of-the-match (five), yellow card (minus one) and red card (minus two).
Prizes: The overall winner will receive €3,000 cash, second €2,000, third €1,000. Weekly prizes of tickets to gigs and festivals.
ESPNscrum Fantasy Rugby 2011, Again similar to the Irish Times game, no budgets, pick 15 players, max of four from each country. Unlimited subs each week but limited to total max of 15 subs over the five rounds.
Scoring Points: Points awarded for full appearances (three), partial appearances (two), sub appearance (one), points awarded for ties (five), assists (three), penalty kick (one), man-of-the-match (five), yellow card (minus one) and red card (minus two).
Prizes: The overall game winner will receive a full HD TV Sports Package, including a 12-month subscription to SKY HD + ESPN and a 32 inch HD ready TV along with a pair of tickets to the 2011 Aviva Premiership Final.
The two runners-up will receive a pair of tickets to the 2011 Aviva Premiership Final each. TotalRugby.ie have a pool on ESPN with prizes, pin is 711.
