How It Works

Private vs Public:

• You can make a league private or public.
• Private leagues will not appear in the public league list.
• Both public and private leagues can be joined via an invite code.
• Public leagues can be discovered by other players in the join league page.
• You can also share it in our Discord server.

League Size:

• URC: Minimum 4, Maximum 12 managers
• Premiership: Minimum 4, Maximum 10 managers (due to a smaller player pool)

Draft Start Timing:

• Drafts can happen before or after the real-life season begins.
• Points only begin accruing from the next full gameweek after your draft completes.

Joining Rules:

• No joining after draft begins
• Orphaned teams must be handled by contacting our support helpdesk.

Admin Options:

• Custom Pick Timer or unlimited time
• Choose Draft Order manually or let it be random

Draft Room Features:

• Auto-pick selects top-ranked available player
• Auto-pick triggers if timer expires or user disconnects
• Admins can pause drafts; system auto-pauses if active picker disconnects
• Admins can select players on behalf of another user if they are not online. Please let your admin know ahead of time if you'd like them to do this.

12 Starters:

• 3 Outside Backs (Wings or Fullbacks)
• 2 Centres
• 1 Fly Half
• 1 Scrum Half
• 1 Hooker
• 1 Prop
• 1 Lock
• 2 Loose Forwards (Flankers or No. 8s)

Trading:

• Trades are allowed at any time outside of the player's gameweek lock.
• No trade approvals or deadlines
• League members can suggest offline forfeits or rules if bad trades/collusion are suspected and we highly advise this.

Waivers:

• This is probably the most complicated part of the game so its worth spending a bit of time understanding this.
• The waiver wire is how we process trades after pick ups have been locked. Picks are locked after a gemeweek and during team announcements. Each manager has a waiver ranking that determines who gets a player if multiple people have tried to pick them.
• Waivers are processed twice a week. The first is at 7pm GMT on a Tuesday and the second is at 3pm GMT on a Friday.
• Picks made after the gameweek ends at 7pm GMT on a Monday or after 12 Noon GMT on a Thursday are added to your waiver list.
• You can change your waiver priority from the Team or Players pages and set the order for which your picks will be prioritised.
• Waivers are processed in order of the waiver list. The first player on the list is the first to be picked.
• If your pick is successful and somebody else tried to pick the same player you will drop to the bottom of the wiaver rankings and everyone else will move up.
• If nobody else goes for the player you picked, you will be awarded the player without changing your waiver ranking.
• Waiver rankings are the inverse of the draft pick order at the start of the season and carry over each weekf from then on.

Head-to-Head Format:

• You play against one opponent each gameweek
• Top 4 teams qualify for a 3-round playoff to crown the champion. There is a 2 round semi-final where the top 2 teams play each other and the winners progress to the final. The semi finals add points from 2 rounds together to determine the winner.

Lineups:

• You can only edit players who haven't played yet in the current round
• Once a player's match has kicked off, they are locked. This means you can't trade or drop them.

Live Scoring:

• Live updates within 2 minutes of real-time
• Final scores are confirmed ~24h post-round (to allow for stat corrections)
• Gameweeks typically are processsed at 7pm GMT on a Monday other than over the festive season when they are processed the day after the final match (at 7pm GMT).

Bench Players:

• Bench players' scores are visible but do not count unless moved into the starting lineup before the lock.

Rounds 16 & 17 - The Semi-Finals

• Semi-final seeding is based on league position:
  • Semi-final A: 1st place vs 4th place
  • Semi-final B: 2nd place vs 3rd place
• The highest combined score across both Semi-Final legs will determine who advances from each matchup to the Grand Final.
• Semi-Final Fixture Dates:
  • URC Round 16: Friday 24th & Saturday 25th April
  • URC Round 17: Friday 8th & Saturday 9th May
  • Prem Round 16: Friday 15th - Sunday 17th May
  • Prem Round 17: Friday 29th - Sunday 31st May

Round 18 - The Grand Final!

• Winner of Semi-final A vs Winner of Semi-final B
• Round 18 (Grand Final) Fixture Dates:
  • URC: Friday 15th & Saturday 16th May
  • Prem: Saturday 6th June

How are winners decided in the semi-finals?

Your team's points across both legs (Round 16 and Round 17) are added together. The team in your matchup with the higher score after Round 17 finishes wins.

What happens if there is a tie on aggregate?

If a playoff matchup ends in a tied score, then the team which finished higher in the league during the regular season will be awarded the win. Be aware this is different to the regular season tie-breaker for league position, which is based on total points scored.

Are lineups locked for both semi-final legs?

No. You can set your lineup each round as normal, so decisions across both weeks are important.

Do regular season points carry into the playoffs?

No. Once playoffs begin, each matchup starts fresh, and only playoff round scores count.

Can I still make transfers during playoffs?

Yes, in fact these are usually crucial as real-life action continues - with injuries, rest & selection decisions happening as normal.

Why are the semi-finals across 2 rounds, while the final is only across 1?

In any given matchup, lots of things can go really wrong in fantasy, even for good managers. Lots of things can go right for bad managers too actually. The aim of the 2 legged-semi final is to increase the likelihood that the two best fantasy managers in the league advance to the final, by reducing the impact of luck in any single gameweek. Obviously we can't guarantee that.

By the time the Grand Final rolls around, we assume the two managers participating in it both deserve to be there, and they both get one final shot at glory!

Why doesn't fantasy run during the real-life playoffs?

Simply because not every real-life rugby player will be involved in the playoffs, and that would be too much chaos for your carefully curated fantasy lineups. You will need to pay attention to team situations in Rounds 16-18 to see whether your fantasy players are involved in a real-life playoff push (will be playing hard), are playing for pride, or have cemented top spot and might (or might not) be rested.

What happens to teams that do not make the fantasy playoffs?

In leagues with 8 or more managers, the bottom 4 teams by league standings compete in the Wooden Spoon playoff. In smaller leagues: this year, their season ends after Round 15. We are working on formats for 4 & 6 person league playoffs for future fantasy seasons.

Why is there a Wooden Spoon / Toilet Bowl playoff?

Bit of fun. But also, the Wooden Spoon playoff keeps all managers engaged through the final rounds of the season, even if they are not competing for the title. Managers who finished bottom of the league table by a mile can still fight until Round 18 to not come last. Similarly managers who finished, for example, 5th or 6th out of 8 in the league phase have to still fight to not come last.

Push & Email Alerts:

• Weekly match summaries
• Injury alerts
• Player availability updates

Helpdesk:

• Bugs or issues? Please send an email to support@draftxv.com.

The game is intuitive and designed to welcome newcomers

• Player recommendations and tips throughout
• Simple UI and draft flow
• Social aspect allows league mates to help each other

Hardcore players will enjoy the strategic layers

• Trades, injuries, form, waivers – it's all there
• However, real-life rugby randomness (injuries, weather, cards) means luck plays a role, and no one is unbeatable