Beginners Guide
New to fantasy rugby? This guide will help you get started and build a winning team.
How to Play Fantasy Draft Rugby
(If you've played fantasy sports before, especially US sports or any of the old draft rugby versions, you won't need this explainer).
...if you haven't played before, welcome!
Fantasy Draft Rugby is a game where you become the manager of your own fantasy rugby team. It's a great way to get into following club rugby, learn the players & teams, and have some fun with a bunch of friends (or future friends) while doing so.
At a very high level:
- You join a fantasy league with at least 6 active managers, colleagues, or strangers.
- You pick real rugby players from real teams to join your fantasy squad.
- Their actual performance in real-life matches each week earn points for your fantasy team.
- You go up against a different fantasy squad from your league each week, competing for league position.
- Place high enough in the league and you'll enter the playoffs...I think you get it from here.
Free Play and DraftXV Pro
You can play the core draft game for free. DraftXV Pro is one optional monthly subscription that adds cross-league matchup views, ownership and trend insights, projected points, live matchup details, and keeper settings.
Web and Android purchases use Stripe; iOS purchases use Apple in-app purchase. Open the Pro page in the app to see your regional price, current status, access-until date, and the right place to manage your subscription.
Roles and titles: who's who?
Real Players
These are actual professional rugby players... the ones playing each week in real-life matches.
Fantasy Players
These are the same real players, but in the Draft XV app. In here we track their real life stats and award them fantasy points based on how well they do (5 points for a try, 0.1 points for each metre gained, etc).
Fantasy Managers
You. You pick a squad of fantasy players, choose who to play, who to bench, and trade your players with other managers in your league.
Fantasy Team/Squad
This is your squad of fantasy players that you've drafted. Each week, you choose which players start and which are bench cover. Bench points normally do not count, but an eligible automatic substitution can replace a non-appearing starter.
Fantasy League
This is your competition, usually made up of 6–12 people (friends or strangers), all managing their own fantasy teams. You compete against each other across the season. Importantly, there is only 1 of each fantasy player in your league - so if you picked Finn Russell, no one else in your league can have him in their team. If someone else owns him, you can't have him in your team (unless you trade for him).
Fantasy Draft
This is arguably the most fun part of the whole thing. Everyone in your league starts with just a team name and a dream. To build your squad, you each take turns picking one player at a time. If someone else takes the player you want before you, tough.
If that all sounds simple enough, or you just want to get going, great! There's more detail below, and resources in the app and on our socials to help you with draft strategy.
Step 1: Join or Create a League
Your league will ideally have 6–12 active managers. URC leagues can be configured for 6–12 teams and Premiership leagues for 6–10 teams. A draft cannot be created until at least 6 active managers have joined and the selected player pool can support every 18-player squad. The person who sets up the league (the "commissioner" or "admin") can invite people with a link or email to join. Once there are at least 6 active managers and enough eligible players for every squad, you can get going!
You can:
- Start a league with your mates or colleagues and rinse each other incessantly every time one of your players does literally anything.
- Or join a public league with open spots and be extremely fair and respectful in its private in-app chat. Only current league members can read or post there.
Each league has its own draft and season, and you'll only play against other teams in your league. If an odd number of managers leaves someone without an opponent, that manager plays League Average for the round.
When choosing your settings, you'll need to choose the league size, and which real life league you want to play - either URC or English Prem.
Step 2: Draft Your Team
This is one of the best parts of the game. Everyone in your league takes turns picking players in a live snake draft, with the order reversing after each standard round.
Once someone else in your league picks a player, no one else can pick them.
At the end of the draft, there should be a bunch of players left over who you can add to your team through the season if your players get injured or transferred out of the league.
Draft strategy is one of the most important things to get right (if you care about winning).
- Do you go for real life studs and internationals who are great to watch?
- Do you geek out on stats and build a balanced fantasy squad of club rugby stalwarts?
- Do you just pick players you like in real life?
We have resources to help you choose players before and during the draft. The draft itself does not force a position-balanced squad, so check your own position coverage before each pick. You choose a valid weekly lineup after the draft.
Your private watchlist is used first if your pick timer expires, then DraftXV chooses the highest-ranked eligible player. The final valid pick activates the league automatically; the commissioner's Complete Draft control is only there to retry a stuck finalization.
Step 3: Play Weekly Matchups
Each round of real life games, your fantasy team goes head-to-head with another manager's team in your league.
Your players earn points based on real match stats:
- Tries, tackles, turnovers, kicks, meters run - it all counts.
- The better they perform, the more points you get.
Your opponent's players will get the same for their players. At the end of the round of games, whichever of you or your weekly opponent's fantasy team has more points wins the matchup. In an odd league, League Average fills the unmatched side and scores the mean of the real managers that round.
Whoever scores more that week wins the matchup. See our points scoring system for how many points are awarded for each metric.
Your league position is based on weekly result points: 1 for a win, 0.5 for a draw, and 0 for a loss. Total fantasy points scored is the next tie-breaker, not the primary table score. This means draft strategy is important - you can in theory have the highest scoring team in the league over the season, but still lose every matchup. And trust me, it happens more than you think.
Step 4: Manage Your Team
Injuries happen. Players hit form. Players get rotated or international callups. Young, exciting players break into First XVs. So managing your team through the season is critical.
Each week, you can:
Change your lineup
Set your starters in the Team tab using your league's 12 starting positions and order every reserve in one Bench list. Changes save as soon as you complete them. A player locks when that player's real fixture kicks off; players whose fixtures have not started can still be moved. Bench scores remain visible, while the scoring and automatic-substitution rules decide which scores ultimately count for the gameweek.
Drop and pick up players
If one of your players gets injured and won't be able to play for several weeks or more, you can keep him on your bench - or you can cut your losses and drop him. Eligible free agents can be added immediately while free agency is open; waiver players wait for the exact deadline shown in your league. League waiver rank decides a contested claim, and only a contested winner moves to the back of the ranking. You can also rage drop players for being rubbish, which is always fun.
Trade with other managers
If someone else has a player you really want, you can trade for them. Ownership, roster capacity, player locks, membership, and any commissioner approval are checked again when a trade is accepted. If you have no scrum half (and there's no one good on waivers), you might consider giving up a centre or a wing to that wing-needy manager in your league who has 7 scrum halves.
Smart moves can win you the week - and the whole league.
Step 5: Climb the League Table
Every win helps you move up the table. At the end of the season, the top teams face off in playoffs - and one manager takes the crown.
When the season ends, commissioners can renew the league into the new season instead of starting from scratch. DraftXV Pro commissioners can create keeper leagues, where managers can declare selected players at renewal. A first-season keeper league still drafts normally, but a renewed league with declared keepers currently stops before draft creation until retained-pick support is complete.
I know sweet F. A. about rugby.
That's cool.
We've built this game for everyone... whether you know every player and every club's history, or just like watching the big games on weekends (or have been forced into doing this by your mate/partner/colleague).
The rankings will give you a good idea of who to pick and you'll end up with at least an ok team (usually).
We'll give you tips, show you player stats, and even suggest good moves.
To be honest, playing fantasy is one of the best ways to learn a sport, because you'll find yourself attached to the players on your fantasy team, rooting against your opponent's players, and generally getting a better understanding of club rugby.
You don't need to know anything about the rules of rugby, or rugby tactics. But it does make it more fun.
Quick Recap
If, like a Squidge video, that was too much information all at once, here's a TLDR:
| What You Do | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Join a League | Compete with friends or other users |
| Draft Players | Pick real rugby players for your fantasy team |
| Score Points | Your players' real-life performances = your fantasy points |
| Win Matchups | Face off against one other fantasy team in your league each week |
| Manage Your Team | Trade players with other managers, set your lineup, try and win |
Ready to get started?
Create a league or join an existing one - and let the games begin.
Ready to Start Your Fantasy Rugby Journey?
Join DraftXV today and put your new knowledge into practice.