AP Round 1

Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon

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London Irish 23-27 Harlequins

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Tries: Daniel, Basson
Penalties: Dupuy (3)
Conversitions: Dupuy (2)

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Tries: Marler, Henry, Morahan
Penalties: Steenson (2)
Conversitions: Steenson (3)

Leicester Tigers 31-18 Exeter Chiefs

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Tries: Poitrenaud (2), Waldrom, Fritz
Penalties: Walder (3), Miller (1)
Conversitions: Walder

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Tries:
Penalties: Myler (4)
Conversitions:
Drop Goals: Myler (2)

Saracens 27-19 London Wasps

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Tries: Spence, Visser, Narraway
Penalties: Humphries (1), Goode (1)
Conversitions: Goode (3)

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Tries: Wilson
Penalties: Gopperth (4)
Conversitions: Gopperth

Newcastle Falcons 39-23 Bath Rugby

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Tries: Evans, Maitland (2), Vermulean, Ojo
Penalties: Evans (2)
Conversitions: Evans (4)

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Tries: Beatie, Allen
Penalties: James (2), Hodgson (2)
Conversitions: James (2)

Northampton Saints 32-29 Gloucester Rugby

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Tries: Messam, Geraghty, Siviatu (2)
Penalties: Giteau (2)
Conversitions: Giteau (3)

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Tries: Gear, Coonie, Johnson
Penalties: Donald (4)
Conversitions: Donald

Worcester Warriors 18-30 Sale Sharks

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Tries: Chabal, Malzieu
Penalties: Robinson (2)
Conversitions: Robinson

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Tries: Cruden, Crane, Masaga, Freuen
Penalties: Cruden (2)
Conversitions: Cruden (2)

Conditions to come later

Let the fun and games begin!

Are the London Games at Twickenham yeah??

Didnt even think of that Steve

They never have been in this game previously as it means two teams miss out on home advantage and with some people predicting heavily in favour of home teams it was deemed to be unfair to take it home advantage away.

Thats more then fair enough. I will be assuming home advantage in my predictions anyway

And it's here at last WOO HOO!

Leicester Tigers name 30 man squad to face Exeter:

Forwards:
Sebastian Bruno, Alex Brown, Jordan Crane, Wyatt Crockett, Tom Denton, Clarke Dermody, Jonny Harris, Jarrad Hoeata, Chris Jack, Ernst Joubert, Magnus Lund, Dan Murphy, Johnathan Poff, Faan Rautenbach, Matt Thompson, Thomas Waldrom, Tom Youngs

Backs:
Charlie Amesbury, Tom Biggs, Rupeni Caucaunibuca, Yannick Jauzion, Florian Fritz, Scott Mathie, Rob Miller, Tim Molenaar, Isa Nacewa, Clement Poitrenaud, Mark van Gisbergen, Dave Walder, Micky Young


Sebastian Bruno, Wyatt Crockett, Jarrad Hoeata, Ernst Joubert, Yannick Jauzion and Isa Nacewa are all due to make their competitive debuts for the Tigers, although the Leicester shirt won't feel like a new one with a combined total of 41 games over the summer for these new players

Exeter Chiefs release squad for Tigers game

Forwards; James Hudson (c) , Ben Kayser , Neil Clark , Tom Mercy , Efion Lewis-Roberts , Juan Orlandi , Mark Lambert , Brett Sturgess , George Skivington , Tommy Hayes , Declan Danahar , Ben Skirving , Carl Fearns , Gareth Delve;

Backs; Tomas O'Leary , Chris Pilgrim , Steven Myler , Josh Matavista , Dan Hipkiss , Alex Grove , Regan King , Adam Powell , Sam Hill , Iain Balshaw , Adam Thomstone , Matt Smith , Luke Arscott.

Exeter name a strong side who have all played a lot of rugby together over the past 2 months. The side is captained by Irishman David Wallace who was released by the Ireland Squad due to family matters , however the main talking point is the inclusion of acadamy centre Sam Hill who has just returned from England U18s victorious tour of Australia and is pushing for a place on the field.

Driver, Wallace was named in Ireland's WC squad so can't play till they have been knocked out...?

Been sent home injured mate , it's the same rules as 6N with regards to injuries. I'm going to put some clarification up later

Saracens name their side for the season opener against London Wasps at Vicarage Road. The starting line up contains 8 full internationals with another 2 on the bench, along with some talented youngsters with a point to prove. Head coach LDCPete had this to say…

"We've had a pretty low key pre season and used the time to reflect on the disappointments of last season and work out how to improve and avoid falling just short this time around. The lads are straining at the leash to get the season started and there are a number of guys looking to cement themsleves into shirts prior to the players on World Cup duty returning. We are full of confidence in the group of players that we have and are looking to get the season off to a good start as we have done in the past. I am sure that Wasps will arrive determined to win as well and it should be a good tough opening encounter to the season."

Saracens
Manager – LDCPete

01. Matt Mullan	09. Paul Hodgson
02. Gary Botha	10. Iain Humphreys
03. Brok Harris
04. Rynhard Elstadt	11. Rene Ranger
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Joe van Niekerk (c)	13. Nevin Spence
07. George Smith	14. Tim Visser
08. Luke Narraway	15. Alex Goode

16. George Chuter 17. Alex Waller 18. Phil Swainston 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Rodney So'oialo 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Owen Farrell 23. Tom Homer

Tactics

Our generic tactics centre around 5 key areas.

1. Win the set piece battle.
In the front row of our scrum we have selected players who are compact at 5'11", 5'11" and 6'. They will look to provide a solid base and get underneath their opponents whilst also looking to get short binds giving a more stable grip on their opponent allowing us to control the movement of the scrum. If we get an early nudge on our own put in we will look to take advantage by getting a slight wheel on to take the Wasps flankers out of play before launching an attack off the back. If we don't get a nudge we will look to get the ball in and out quickly and get a big runner across the gainline close to the scrum and get support to the breakdown area quickly to recycle and go again. On Wasps ball we will really attack the scrum looking to force them into errors abnd frustrate them into conceding penalties or kicking the ball to us.

Steve Borthwick will run the lineout and we will mix it up between playing quickly off the top and getting the ball into midfield and securing possession and keeping it tight and using the maul to suck defenders in. On Wasps throw, we will use Elstadt as an athletic front jumper to try to disrupt the throw and cause mistakes. If Wasps are looking to take quick ball of the top to go wide with we will get up and really contest and try to disrupt the quality of ball. If they are looking to secure it and play tight, we will not contest as much but will look to hit hard as soon as the catcher lands in order to knock him back and not allow any forward momentum.

2. Dominate the breakdown.
We will look to be dynamic and accurate at the tackle area. On our own ball we will look to get a minimum of two players there quickly. Our first man to arrive will not go to challenge for the ball unless it is virtually out and he has the opportunity to take it and carry on forward immediately. He will instead target the opposition 'fetcher' and clear him out ensuring that he cannot get his hands on the ball. Our second man there will then secure the ball which should be cleaner and able to be recycled quicker as no oposition player will have his hands on it grappling for it.

On opposition ball if we arrive at the breakdown with superior numbers we will immediately counter ruck. We won't go for slowing down the ball, we will go in to create immediate possession. If we do not get there quickly enough in sufficient numbers and the breakdown has been won by the opposition, we won't commit numbers to the contest but will stand off maintaining a strong defensive line, immediately getting ready for the approaching attack.

We will only contest for the turnover if the opportunity presents itself, and we will be efficient and intelligent at picking our moments. You can’t “fetch” at every breakdown, you have to read the situation and then effect the best option.

3. Apply pressure by keeping the scoreboard ticking over.
All kickable penalties will be taken. Humphreys will be our first choice kicker, with Goode and Twelvetrees as back up options, in particular Twelvetrees for long range attempts (or Homer once he comes off the bench).

4. Be solid defensively and pressurize Wasps into conceding possession.
We will play a blitz defence with real focus on line speed and coming up as a unit to stop Wasps before the gainline and not allow any momentum to build for them whatsoever. Paul Hodgson will act as a defensive sweeper behind the line for us. If we do not allow them any forward momentum at the gainline they will have to resort to kicking the ball back to us.

5. Play what is in front of us in attack.
We will look to play a high intensity running game using our big carriers to get across the gainline and offload in or just before the tackle to suport runners hitting the gaps. In Rene Ranger we have a player who can make things happen with moments of magic, and in attack we will look to get him coming off of his wing and trying things in the right areas of the pitch. If running the ball is not on we will utilise the kicking games of Humphreys, Twelvetrees, Spence and Goode, putting the ball in behind the Wasps wingers and getting our own wingers up quickly to pressurise them.


Game specific tactics vs. London Wasps

1. Target Carlos Nieto - We will really work Nieto hard in the tight and loose, looking to isolate him with runners and force him into making lts of tackles, and put in as many big hits as possible to really tire him. The reason for this is that Wasps have no replacement specialist tighthead in their squad and we believe that if we can tire Nieto we can really dominate the scrum in the final quarter.
2. Our pacy players to attack the Wasps midfield targetting the outside shoulders of both Downey and Mortlock with decoy runners keeping the spare defenders occupied in order to ensure 1 on 1 match ups. The likes of Visser and Ranger to come off of their wings at times to effect this tactic.


Key Points

1. History
Since this game began, Saracens have not lost on the opening day of season, drawing away to Harlequins in season one, and then beating London Irish in each of the past two seasons. We always hit the ground running and are strong starters to the season. We have also met Wasps 8 times in the past 3 seasons and have a record of 5 wins and 3 draws against them. Mentally we have the edge over them as we know that we can win against them where they cannot say the same about us.

2. Home Advantage
Over the past 3 seasons we have played 42 home matches in the Premiership and Heineken Cup. Our record is P42 W 38 D3 L1 with our only defeat coming in season 1. Vicarage Road is a fortress where teams need to be at their very best to storm it. I would question whether Wasps are able to do so.

3. Player Selection (to suit tactics/conditions)
We have selected our side to provide what we believe is the right skill set for the task in hand. Squat, mobile front row to enable us to effect the tactics that we want to at the scrum, whilst also getting around the park and doing their work in the loose. Balanced back row with good carrying options, and a half back pairing with a controlling 9 and an attacking 10. Two solid defenders with good all round games in midfield and variety in the skill sets of our back three. We see this as vital to the success of being able to play what is front of us. We have plenty of pace throughout and the ability to shift the ball around with all players possessing good hands. We also have a good balance of experience (Botha, Borthwick, JvN. Smith, Narraway, Hodgson etc) and younger players with enthusiasm and a point to prove (Elstadt, Twelvetrees, Spence, Ranger, Goode).

Harlequins Squad. Team and tactics to be announced on Thursday or when Nick puts his tactics in. (For Home games I will attempt to put up earlier than my opponent but for away games I won't be submitting until the home team have. Reason being last season I tended to put my team in early and opposition could edit tactics to go against mine so had this advantage as well as Home advantage)

Forwards : Matthew Rees, Rob Vickers, Joe Marler, Ceri Jones, Brian Mujati, Kieran Brookes, Jerome Thion, Tom Donnelly, Erik Lund, James Gaskell, Phil Dowson, Jamie Gibson, Chris Henry, Schalk Brits, David Seymour.

Backs : Lee Dickson (c), Byron Kellaher, Jano Vermaak, Freddie Burns, Gareth Steenson, Riki Flutey, Matt Carraro, George Lowe, Jonathan Joseph, Joe Rococoko, Luke Morahan, Peter Hynes, Ben Blair.

Brits in the back row Steve big call there!

Serious tactics there Pete!

That's taken me all summer Pooly ;-)

Next weeks tactics consists of 3 lines lol

New loanees Andy Hazell and Yann David come straight into the squad for this week's game against Exeter, replacing Jordan Crane and Tim Molenaar.

Revised Tigers 30 man squad:

Forwards:
Sebastian Bruno, Alex Brown, Wyatt Crockett, Tom Denton, Clarke Dermody, Jonny Harris, Andy Hazell, Jarrad Hoeata, Chris Jack, Ernst Joubert, Magnus Lund, Dan Murphy, Johnathan Poff, Faan Rautenbach, Matt Thompson, Thomas Waldrom, Tom Youngs

Backs:
Charlie Amesbury, Tom Biggs, Rupeni Caucaunibuca, Yann David, Yannick Jauzion, Florian Fritz, Scott Mathie, Rob Miller, Isa Nacewa, Clement Poitrenaud, Mark van Gisbergen, Dave Walder, Micky Young

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09. James Grindal
02. Joe Ward	10. Brock James
03. Petrus Du Plessis
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Richard Haughton
05. Isaac Ross	12. Anthony Allen
06.Beau Robinson	13. Dominick Waldouck
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Gehard Van Der Heever
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Tim Nanai Williams

16. Will Tanner 17. Richard Skuse 18. Kane Newport 19. James Cannon 20. Tom Guest 21. Chris Cook 22. Charlie Hodgson 23. Ugo Monye
Tactics
Will Put these in later

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London Irish team to face Harlequins

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Tonga Lea'toea 09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland 10. Daniel Bowden
03. WP Nel 11. Paul Sackey
04. Dean Mumm 12. Mathieu Bastereaud
05. Mouritz Botha 13. Matthew Tait
06. Keegan Daniel 14. Bjorn Basson
07. Hendrie Fourie 15. Zane Kirchner
08. Xavier Rush

16. Darren Fearn 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Joe Worsley 21. Neal De Kock 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Tane Tui'polotu

Tactics

Confidence is high at Irish after finishing last season so strong and maintaining the core of the squad and adding world class players like Castrogiovanni and Jacques Fourie. Pre-season has gone well and the lads are relishing the chance to start with a win against Quins.

In good conditions, we will look to play an expansive game, especially looking to keep the ball in play and not get bogged down in a set piece game. We will run the ball back with intent when it is kicked to us and if the space is on, we will use the quick taps from penalties in our own half to catch Quins off guard and use our pacey players.
Scrums we will look to get the ball in and out quickly, similarly to the Queensland Reds, but we will provide Rush with the best ball possibly to pick up and drive from, or get good clean ball out to Dupuy to release Bowden, Big Bast and Tait etc.
Our backline is full of runners, with the creative Bowden pulling the strings at ten. We will look to get the ball to our backs as much as possible and get Basson and Kirchner in space.
We are really going to target the breakdown as we see it as an area we can get some joy. Fourie will be our main man to target the turnovers, and we will look to punish Quins and counter attack Quins should any turnovers come our way. We will be sensible about going for the turnovers as we dont want to give away needless penalties. If Quins are looking isolated and the turnover is on, we will go for it. If not, we will commit men to look to slow down Quins ball and stifle any momentum.
We will use our big ball carriers to gain the hard yards, such as Rush, Mumm, Fourie, Nel and Bastereaud. Once the Quins defence is commiting more men to the breakdown we will look to spread the ball and get our runners involved.
At the lineout, we will look to secure our own ball with Botha being the main target but Rush, Daniel and Mumm all providing good options. Early in the 2nd half Kennedy will come on for Botha to provide us even greater options in the lineout and to disrupt opposition ball.
All kickable penalties will be taken by Dupuy to keep the scoreboard ticking over. JMH will be coming on later in the 2nd half to steady the ship, with Bowden switching to 12 and Bast to 13.

London Wasps team to face Saracens

1. Perry Freshwater
2. Joe Gray
3. Carlos Nieto
4. Mark Chisholm
5. Marco Wentzel
6. Tom Johnson
7. Deon Stegmann
8. Roger Wilson

9. Michael Claassens
10. Jimmy Gopperth
11. Noah Cato
12. James Downey
13. Stirling Mortlock (c)
14. Tom Williams
15. Mike Brown

16. Andy Titterell
17. Benn Robinson
18. Charlie Beech
19. Stuart Hooper
20. Billy Vunipola
21. Martin Roberts
22. Rory Clegg
23. Luke McAlister

Tactics to come...

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson (c)
02. Matthew Rees	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Jerome Thion	11. Peter Hynes
05. Erik Lund	12. Riki Flutey
06. James Gaskell	13. George Lowe
07. Phil Dowson	14.Luke Morahan
08. Chris henry	15. Ben Blair

16. Schalk Brits 17. Ceri Jones 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Tom Donnelly 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Freddie Burns 23. Jonathan Joseph


Key Points

• Win collisions and attack in numbers. Look for offloads when possible.
• Play at very fast tempo when Irish defence is disorganised
• Secure our own set piece ball and put huge pressure on London Irish.
• Put pressure on Irish in defence with a quick line speed.
• Give away a minimal amount of penalties.
• Play in the London Irish half
• Allow Dickson to control the pace of our attacks
• We only have 4 new players in our squad. This team knows each other inside out and this continuity will be important for us.

Our game plans this year will all involve building pressure in attack and defence. To build pressure we will be patient in attack and will be exceptionally disciplined. We will not kick aimlessly as this gifts the ball back to the opposition

Tactics

We are going into this game with a plan to use our large forward pack to control the game and then our half backs will look to get us field position or to release our back line. We have chosen a large pack which we feel will excel at the set piece and will be able to continually give us forward momentum.

Our half backs are absolutely critical in this game. Dickson has been picked for his organisational skills and he will control our tempo. Steenson has been picked for his basics. He will kick behind the Irish back three and will pass the ball to his willing forward runners or will release his backs. He has pinpoint boot both out of hand and goal kicking and this will be important to us as we are looking to play in the London Irish half of the pitch and build pressure.

When we get the ball in the Irish half we will look to get quick ball and attack the spaces. Our forwards will always be carrying hard and in numbers and will be looking to win the collisions. They will be carrying off 9, 10 and 12 and will be taking the ball at pace. We do not want static carriers as they will not make the gain line. We will really look to take advantage when the London irish defence is disorganised. This disorganisation will come from getting quick ball when we have breached the defensive line so both forwards and backs will be looking to do this. We wil also be looking for players to offload when they break the gain line if it’s possible so we need to have players running good support lines. Flutey and Lowe will do this very well.

Something we are looking to do will be use attacking kicks to our advantage between the two 22m lines. We will look to execute kick and chases and crossfield kicks when we see there is limited cover behind the Irish defensive line. Steenson will also look to kick behind the Irish wingers and he will test the back 3 with the up and unders.

In defence we are going to have a quick line speed and will particularly look to pressure the decision makers at 9, 10 and 12. We are looking to win the collisions in defence and when we have the numbers we will look to have one man take the kegs and the other to knock the man backwards or look to steal the ball. Our back 3 all have excellent kicking games and will look to use there when they receive the ball from irish kicks. We are looking to play in there half as we have stated and we have picked a very solid defensive back 3.

We are going to look to compete at the breakdown but only when we have superior numbers or have the first man there. We will not be giving penalties away easily and will not be infringing and rucks unless we really have to.


At the set piece we are aiming to exert pressure on the Exiles at both scrum and lineout. We have 4 very capable jumpers in Gaskell, Thion, Lund and Dowson and we will compete for every single Irish lineout. We want to build pressure and not give them anything easily. On our own ball we will look to shorten the line and have Dowson and Henry in the midfield running lines. At the scrum we want Mujati to put huge pressure on the Irish loose head and then Marler and Rees will be able to double team the Tighthead. We think we can really move Irish backwards and we have a heavy 2nd row which can help move our scrum forward.

When we get the opportunity we want to take the points on offer. Steenson has a brilliant kicking percentage and he will punish any London Irish indiscretions. Ben Blair will take longer distance kicks.

Our subs will come on when required. We are looking to bring on our impact players 55 to 65 mins. We will only look to bring on our back replacements if we need to open the game up a bit. Burns will come on at 10 if we are behind in the 2nd half but if we are leading or the game is close then Steenson will play the full 80. We will use our forwards replacements between 50 and 70 mins as we need fresh legs. We have players on our bench who can change the game which is vital. In Schalk Brits we feel we have the most explosive player in this league and he will make a massive difference coming off the bench.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Micky Young
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Dave Walder (k)
03. Faan Rautenbach
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Chris Jack (c)	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Thomas Waldrom	13. Florian Fritz
07. Magnus Lund	14. Tom Biggs
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Matt Thompson 18. Jonny Harris 19. Alex Brown 20. Andy Hazell 21. Scott Mathie 22. Rob Miller 23. Rupeni Caucaunibuca


Tactics

TBA when Exeter name their side.

Exeter Chiefs name there side for Tigers game.

Luke Fitzgerald is given a competitive debut on the left wing as Adam Thompstone drops to the bench. James Hudson leads the side from the engine room after David Wallace rejoined the Ireland squad. Last years revelation at prop Brett Sturgess starts over Efion Lewis-Roberts who takes a seat on the bench.

Chiefs boss Driver had this to say 'It's been a great pre-season the boys have worked hard on the training pitch and will be itching to get out there and prove a point that staying up last year wasn't a fluke and we belong with the best in business'

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver

01.Brett Sturgess	09.Tomas O‘Leary
02.Ben Kayser	10.Steven Myler
03.Juan Orlandi
04.James Hudson ©	11.Luke Fitzgerald
05.George Skivington	12.Regan King
06.Ben Skirving	13.Dan Hipkiss
07.Carl Fearns	14.Matt Smith
08.Gareth Delve	15.Luke Arscott

16.Neil Clark 17.Efion Lewis Roberts 18.Tom Mercy 19.Tommy Hayes 20.Declan Danahar 21.Chris Pilgrim 22.Josh Matavista 23.Adam Thompstone

Driver

Eiffion will take up more than one seat on the bench!

Lol meant to put take up bench!

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Boris Stankovich	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Flip van der Merwe	11. Sean Maitland
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Brad Barritt
06. Juan Smith(c)	13. Jared Payne
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Ben Smith

16. Joe Duffey 17. Juan Gomez 18. Grant Shiells 19. Dean Schofield 20. Marty Holah 21. Jonny Arr 22. Joel Hodgson 23. Miles Benjamin


Tactics

General play - It's all about a high tempo and controlling the ball. We are the champions and we do not lose at home. Our team has self belief and attitude running through it's core. We'll be looking to intimidate up front and attack with pace and guile in the backs with Evans being key.

Forwards

Set Piece
We'll be looking to use the set piece as a platform to set up attacks during the summer especially. Our tactics during each game may change if we spot a weakness in the oppposition set piece during the 80mins. This is the role of the team captain and why we have numerous world class captains throughout the squad.

Scrum - We'll be looking to set a platform and use the scrum to get get fast ball to our 9/10 axis. PDJ and Stankovich are excellent technical scrummagers who will give us a sound foundation. Lindsay is an excellent scrummaging hooker who helps give our front row serious bulk.

Lineout - Lindsay has had a few up and down games in the past with his throwing but he's never had a target in a poor Wasps set piece. We've brought in some world class operators to secure our own ball and target opposition throw. Vermeulen and Smith give us massive options in the back row. If a weakness is seen in the opposition throw we'll look to hit some corners and test their lineout out.

Target Breakdown & Rucks
Fast ball is key during the summer months and we'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on. With a huge back 5 we'll be look to get round the park and hits rucks hard, forcing the opposition back and giving us the chance of a takeover.

Huge carrying
We have huge carrying options in the pack and we'll look to use them throughout the game to wear the opposition down and give us a point of attack. We'll look to mix this up with Vermeulen coming off the scrum and Juan Smith, Robshaw, Lindsay, Vermeulen, Kruger giving us numerous options in tight and loose.

Backs

Halfbacks

Halfbacks win you games on the hard pitches and in Pretorious/Evans we have two of the best about. With a solid platform Sarel will look to snipe around and find gaps in the opposion defense, especially at 2/3rd phase attacks when defenses start to fray. Pretorious gives us a massive threat and will look to mix his game up throughgout the game. Evans will play his natural game and come into the line flat.

Backline balance

We have numerous running options and the option to mix things up in the backline. Barritt gives Evans go to ball if needed and an is a great decoy option with players coming in at 3rd reciever, something we'll look to mix up. We'll also look to get Ben Smith in as second receiver to give us a different focal point in attack and he'll provide us with a tricky runner/stepper in midfield. Payne will look to come off the shoulder of attacks (similar to Conrad) and inject pace into the midfield. He'll look to alternate at FB with Smith. Ojo/Maitland give us pace and power on the flanks and we'll look to bring to bring them into the game whenever possible.

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01. Coonie	09. Dave Lewis
02.Adrian Strauss	10. Steven Donald (k)
03. Julian White
04. George Robson	11. Hosea Gear
05. James Hanks (c)	12. Tuitopu
06. Deacon	13. Molenaar
07. Andy Saull	14. JSD
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Charlie Sharples

16. Nick Wood 17. Deon Fourie18. James Johnstone 19. Pete Buxton 20. Gareth Evans 21. Ryan Lamb 22. Hamilton 23 Matt Carraro Carraro

Worcester name their first squad mixing youth and experience and hoping to start this season with a bang.

1. George Porter 9. Dwayne Peel
2. Richardt Strauss 10. Nicky Robinson (k)
3. Sylvain Marconnet 11. Jack Cuthbert
4. Ollie Kohn 12. Julien Malzieu
5. Peter Short 13. Jon Clarke
6. Kearnen Myall 14. Josh Drauniniu
7. Martyn Williams (c) 15. Ollie Morgan
8. Sebastian Chabal

16. Korree Britton 17. Chris Budgen 18. BJ Botha 19. Ben Gulliver 20. Ben Morgan 21. Jordi Pasqualin 22. Sam Vesty 23. Gavin Henson

Tactics

Forwards
We have picked a strong and heavy pack to put pressure on the Sale scrum. This is where we will target turnovers with Chabal picking from the back when we steal scrums. At the lineouts we have Kohn, Myall and Williams to jump (Williams not used too often) and when defending Short will be our front jumper and our enforcer looking to intimidate the Sharks.
After an hour we will look to turn the game into a forwards match with our experienced props coming on to target a tiring pack. Both Chabal and Morgan will look to make as much ground as possible with Williams causing havoc at the breakdown as he does so well. Myall and Chabal will run off of Robinson, Malzieu and Clarke.

Backs
We have a 9/10 who have played together quite a bit before and a 8/9 who know each other well. Robinson will use the first hour to use his tactical kicking prowess (lv cup final) and keep Warriors on the front foot continuously. Malzieu and Clarke are both strong runners and will look to hit gaps and offload to our back 3 who will be hunting for the ball at every opportunity. Our wingers both have good form coming into the match and can run both round and through most players. Ollie Morgan will be sure under the high ball and send his testing up'n'unders at Sale with both him and one of the centres chasing up.

Defence
A rush defence when in the Sale half to aim to get the mistake. When defending in our half we will look to go up quickly as a banana with one of our backrow standing inbetween Malzieu and Clarke to hit any offloads.

Overall
Kicking game at first.
Forwards game towards the end.
Subs used as an when, Henson to add the spark for the final 10 minutes.
Robinson to kick for goal and when 12 points clear we go for tries more often.
To turn Sixways into the fortress it should be.

Good Luck SirJ

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Micky Young
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Dave Walder (k)
03. Faan Rautenbach
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Chris Jack (c)	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Thomas Waldrom	13. Florian Fritz
07. Magnus Lund	14. Tom Biggs
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Matt Thompson 18. Jonny Harris 19. Alex Brown 20. Andy Hazell 21. Scott Mathie 22. Rob Miller 23. Rupeni Caucaunibuca


Tactics

GENERAL:

- We will look to play at a very high tempo and look to unsettle the opposition right from the first whistle. Our pack will play with real intensity and look to get us onto the front foot to attack. We want to put our monster pack to good use - 6 of the pack at 6ft 3" or more, and an average weight of 17 ½ st - we will be physical and relentless up front.

- We will target the set-piece all game, in particular the lineout. With Joubert and Jack as our go-to men, along with Hoeata and also Alex Brown to come on, we see a huge advantage here. Our front row will look to get the squeeze on come scrum-time. Both Crockett and Rautenbach are both tall props, so they are told to hold their bind and keep their body and back straight in an effort to stop them being done underneath. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.

- All three of our back row, as well as the likes of Crockett and Hoeata, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring, and we will look to drive on through tackles as much as possible to get over the gain line. Waldrom is given license to carry and run as much as possible, and Lund is our tackling machine, and his defence will be crucial. Lund and co are tasked with getting after an out of sorts TOL and also Myler.

- With the ball in hand we want to attack together in groups so as not to become isolated, and if it is on we will look to offload in or just before the tackle. All players are to act as support runners when they can.

- At the breakdown we will aim to recycle our own ball as quickly as possible by getting forwards there early and rucking past the ball to free it up for Young. We will look to Lund in particular to steal opposition ball with his qualities at the breakdown, and then look to set up quick counter attacks from there.

- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for our backs. Working in tandem with Joubert and co, we want him to fire passes as quickly as he can to stop the opposition getting set defensively.

- Walder is tasked with kicking us into position and bringing our dangerous back line into play. With Jauzion outside him he has experience and class to rely upon, and we will use Jauzion as our guide. With Luke Fitzgerald having only signed on Tuesday, and being uncertain over high balls, Walder and Young are tasked with aiming high kicks at him early on, and if he is struggling then continuing throughout the game.

- Jauzion and Fritz have played over 30 Heineken Cup games together in the centre for Toulouse and are asked to play their natural games, and use their experience and proven partnership to be the foundation of our back line.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. The weather is perfect for running rugby, and we hope to see some great breaks. All have good boots to rely on if it isn't on, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.

- We want to play a subtle mix of attacking, running rugby from quick ball, and forward play marshalled by Walder's boot.

- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any kicks.

- Walder to kick all penalties in range.

KEY POINTS:

- Home Advantage - 17 wins and 1 draw in all competitions at home last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.

- Very experienced side with an average age of thirty - 11 full internationals starting with 261 caps between them.

- Monster pack (6 of the pack at 6ft 3" or more, and an average weight of 17 ½ st) to give a platform for our backs to use.

- Lund and co are tasked with getting after an out of sorts TOL and also Myler.

- Look to play a subtle mix of attacking, running rugby from quick ball, and powerful forward play marshalled by Walder and Young.

- Sunny, dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Waldrom, Crockett, Joubert, Jauzion, Fritz, Nacewa and Poitrenaud.

- With Luke Fitzgerald having only signed on Tuesday, and being uncertain over high balls, Walder and Young are tasked with aiming high kicks at him.

- The Exeter backline has played very little games together. Luke Fitzgerald has played 0 games at 11, King has played 4 games at 12 with 4 different partners (only once with Hipkiss at 13), Hipkiss has played 1 game at 13 and Matt Smith has played 1 game at 14. We will look for Jauzion to open up the opposition backline with his passing, and use the pace of Fritz, Nacewa, Biggs and Poitrenaud to trouble them.

Glaws TActics

SET PIECE-

We see ourselves as having a set piece consisting of in form dynamic players. We see saints as having a few big names who have either been injured or have not performed for a while so will be looking to target the set piece mercillesly

SCRUM

We see this as a huge advantage for Gloucester. We have gone for 2 players in Coonie and Strauss and have anchored them with Julian White. White is there to play 30 -40 miniutes and to take the sting out of Domingo who has not played for nearly a year and who must be missing in form. Coonie and strauss will hammer after Hayman who after being 2nd choice at toulon for a while is on the downward track. We aim to really hammer the saints front row to disrupt ball and so to bring on the saints bench forwards.

We have Wood, Fourie and Johnstone on our bench all proven performers and very dynamic. saints have 2 tight heads and a hooker all of whom have played very little if any at this top level. This is a Key advantage for us

LINEOUT

We have 5 jumpers and one of the most accurate hookers in world rugby. This will allow us to vary our play and keep saints guessing. Attwood is not the greatest lineout exponent which is one of the reasons he benched for glaws last year. We will vary our play and will look to drive lots of the first half ball to tire out the saints pack and to allow us to launch people like Aj and Coonie off the back of them to target davies and Giteau and to really put us on the front foot. We will also look to go off the top as we start to gain more possesion and to free up our backs.

Target Breakdown & Rucks
Fast ball is key during the summer months and we'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on.

We have a seriously mobile pack and Coonie and Strauss are like flankers. Indeed coonie was near the top of the steals list for the cheetahs. We see this mobility as the key to continuity and for generating quick ball. Saull who is an out and out 7 will be looking to link the play and keep the high tempo which we are looking to play at.

to play at a high tempo you need mobility and you also need huge carriers. Gloucester have this in abundance and Coonie, Strauss, Deacon, Aj and RObson etc will look to keep saints on the back foot with their carrying and offloading. the carrying continues when glaws bench is dispersed with Wood, fourie, Johnston, Buxton and Gareth Evans come on. look out for GAreth Evans this year he is a seriously mobile.

Our backrow will also be looking to target Charlie Davies heavily. he has had very little game time at the top level and SAull, Aj and Deacon are serious players who will look to scrag and disrupt his game.

BACKS

HALF BACKS

The key to playing at tempo comes from the half backs and Lewis and Donald has a better balance to it for me. Lewis is a proven performer and a great organiser of a team and will look to take it on when necessary and to provide Donald the ball to create. on the rare times we have bad ball Donald is great at taking in to contact on account of how big he is. Donald will play flat to the line and look to get our centres over the gain line and then look to hit wide off the second phase.

BACK PLAY GENERALLY

Donald will also be looking to target Wade and Cipriani as we see this as a crucial failing in the back 3. Neither fancy the high ball and we will be looking to use the bomb on them with our super quick backs chasing we see this as a hugely profitable way of gaining territory and points.

Off first phase ball off the top Donald will be keen to send Tuitopu or Molenaar into the Giteau Geraghty channel. They are both small men and not the greatest defenders and so we will be looking to either bust the tackle or to get through and offload to the players going through. molenaar showed last year he has a great step and feet once through a gap. once in behind the SAints midfield all of our players would feel confident with beating either cips or wade with Davies covering back.

Our back 3 is probably the best you will see from any team over the WC and we will look to use them as much as possible. Gear will be used coming off his wing or in midfield and JSD will pop up at first or second receiver as he does in real life with massive threat.

We will look to take quick throw ins and really keep the tempo high. Sharples will be looking to pick lines off the big runner and target the offloads so he can use his searing pace which has seen him rise thru the england ranks

Should be a great game. best of British Chris

Luke will get mine in this afternoon

London Wasps tactics

Our game plan is based around using the power we have in our team. We will look to use the set piece as a platform for attacks. Our front row is a very good scrummaging unit and we will target Saracens here and look to get a real nudge on when it comes to the scrum, hopefully we will be able to build attacks from there and earn some penalties for Gopperth to make use of. Our pack will be physical and relentless up front, we will play with controlled aggression.

Early on we will look to our forwards to get us onto the front foot by attacking in groups with some grunt and powerful carrying. We will start as we mean to go on with a high intensity, hitting the collision area hard and driving our players over the gain line. Our forwards will recycle the ball quickly and efficiently early on looking to really show Sarries that we mean business. In the early stages of the game, any slow ball we have Gopperth will look to kick in behind the Sarries wingers where we will look to pressurise them into making mistakes in their own half.

We will look to hit the rucks hard and compete when we can, Stegmann is our out and out fetcher and with his low centre of gravity he along with Johnson will be our main competitor at the breakdown area. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball and come from low to high to present Claassens with clean, quick ball. We will look to compete at the breakdown if we have the numbers there, however if the ball is clearly there’s we will not commit numbers to the ruck, instead we will look to organize our defence ready to deal with the next Sarries carrier.

Gopperth will look to bring in our strike runners in Downey and Mortlock. We will target the Saracens midfield and look for our big runners to also target the fly half channel. We will be targeting the outside shoulder of the Saracens players. We will support our runners and look to keep them on their feet driving them over the gain line, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. With the ball in hand we will also look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Sarries defence, and hopefully open them up. As the game goes on and we are hopefully on the front foot we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Saracens working off the ball in defence.

At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Sarries throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will mix it up by using Chisholm, Wentzel, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Saracens by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Sarries defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. Hopefully with gaps in front of him Mike Brown will be able to join the attack line and pierce the holes made with some good clever running lines.

Our back row will look to rush Humphries into rash decisions by getting really up close and personal. Hopefully we can prevent Sarries from setting out a solid base by disrupting the quality of ball they get and from there we will be able to pressurise Humphries. Gopperth will kick all kickable penalties in the first half to keep the score board ticking over. We will look to get the ball out wide to our wingers when we can, from turnovers we will attempt to shift the ball out wide and make use of the gaps and space available. As the game goes on we will use our offloading to keep changing the points of attack.

Best of luck Pete.

Reading Matt's 'critique' of his side made me laugh.

What made you laugh Luke??

In terms of actual tactics, not bigging up your players and slating the opposition's, it reads:

"We will vary our play and will look to drive lots of the first half ball to tire out the saints pack and to allow us to launch people like Aj and Coonie off the back of them to target davies and Giteau and to really put us on the front foot. We will also look to go off the top as we start to gain more possesion and to free up our backs.

Our backrow will also be looking to target Charlie Davies heavily.

Fast ball is key during the summer months and we'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on.

Donald will play flat to the line and look to get our centres over the gain line and then look to hit wide off the second phase.

Donald will also be looking to target Wade and Cipriani

Off first phase ball off the top Donald will be keen to send Tuitopu or Molenaar into the Giteau Geraghty channel.

Gear will be used coming off his wing or in midfield and JSD will pop up at first or second receiver

We will look to take quick throw ins and really keep the tempo high"

What do you mean i am confused??

Nothing wrong with those for me. Nothing derisory just explaining what his players will do to and where they will target.

Not saying so and so is rubbish and we will look to target him. Just saying we will look to target him.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Neemia Tialata
04. Stephen Sykes	11. David Strettle
05. Andries Bekker	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Neil Best	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Todd	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Jordan Crane	15. Luke Rooney

16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Werner Kruger 19. Christian Day 20. Kai Horstman 21.Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Nick Abendanoon

Tactics

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obviously you have to target players its what happens in real life. I have not slagged anyone.

Look at super 15 everyone targetted Cips for his lack of tackling until he got dropped.

Same as people try and get at cooper and hence ioane stands at ten on defence. people target people and try and create mismatches

Exeter have gone for a grizzled pack who will aim to build through the phases and keep possession of the ball aswell as causing plenty of problems for the opposition. We’ve gone for a strong set piece over mobility as TOL and Myler will look to put is in the right areas of the pitch in a attempt to unlease our backs coming from deep onto the ball and spreading it .

Exeter have gone for 3 lineout operators to suit our game plan of playing in the right areas to use our pace outwide, We will vary our throw aiming for quick ball to hit up the midfield mixing it between a short lineout and long lineout.

From the line out we will look to use Luke FitzgeraldMatt Smith coming off there wings picking lines off our centres or on Mylers inside.

Fearns will look to make a nusence of him self on the deck with Delve puching holes round the park and Skirving running the set piece.

Myler has a calm head and will flourish having a playmaker outside him and a big ball carrier on his shoulders as back up options. We will look to run the ball inside there half but keeping it real remembering to leave the oppositions 22 with points every time.

KEY POINTS

- Fitz is solid under the highball and is playing in the most ‘simple’ position on the rugby pitch and should have no problems.

- If TOL has no form because he has been left at home then I hate to think how poorly Jauzion and Fritz must have been playing to be left at home.

- King will look to play simple rugby and will have no problems with a hard running Hipkiss outside him.

- NEW COMBOS - In many sports a quality player (Regan King) makes there partner look solid off the first game and with task of playing what is in front of us it should be pretty simple rugby.
TBA

- We went to Welford Road and took a 34-19 drubbing last year and we will be out for revenge which should give us extra motivation to win this game.

- We stayed up last year and now we want to prove that we are a top 8 club and there is no better place to do it than Welford road.

- We finished last season strongly and will look to carry it over into this season!

- from the kick off we will play at 110mph smashing rucks , making every tackle count and taking tigers on up front and winning the collision.

Tactics

Setpiece:

At the scrum we will be look to turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata will look to get in under their man and really disrupt Worcester on their own feed. On our own ball, we will look to get the push on before breaking away from the back. At the lineout, we will look to Bekker to be our talisman. He will call the line and will have Sykes at the front and Best and Todd from the backrow to support him as jumpers to mix things up. We will look to mix it up and either play off the top giving quick ball to ours backs to attack with or taking it down and looking to our pack to form a maul, sucking in the Worcester forwards keeping things tight. On opposition ball we will look for Bekker to follow Ollie Kohn in the line and get up in challenge, while Sykes will follow Myall to really disrupt the Worcester lineout.

Breakdown:

We have a very mobile and quick pack to really target the breakdown. We will look to our forwards to get numbers to the breakdown quickly and clear out the opposition boys providing us with fast ball all game long. We will adopt the same approach on defence and will look to clear the ruck leaving Todd to secure us turnover ball. If the turnover isn’t coming we will at least slow down Worcester ball and disrupt their service allowing our defensive line more time to set.

General Attacking Play:

When on the attack, we will look to use our big carriers to hit the gain line while looking for the offload in or just before the tackle to support runners thus keeping our forward momentum going. Strettle will specifically look to come infield and track the runs of Freuen, making himself available for the offload from the big man. We will look to change the point of attack constantly keeping Worcester on the back foot. Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the opposition back row up. Cruden has been instructed to play heads up rugby and if overlaps or gaps appear he will look to make best use of them (see him in the ITM cup for best examples of this!!). Rooney will look to come up from fullback from time to time and offer an extra ball carrying threat while looking to create these overlaps out wide.

Cruden will look to kick for goal when in opposition territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. Danny Care will look for the quick tap though, when the opposition defence is slow to organize.

General Defensive Play

In defence we will be using a blitz defence and will look to get up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line so we can hit the breakdown hard. Danny Care will act as a sweeper and look to cover any kicks in behind the line. We will look to stop them gaining any momentum at the gainline forcing Worcester to kick. Our wingers will look to sit deeper on defence then the rest of the line ready for these kicks and we will look to the different running styles of our back three to run any loose kicks back with serious interest.

---

Key Points

Real Life Form

We can look to likes of Schuster, Paice, Sykes, Bekker, Todd, Crane (Only just received his knee injury of the back of a strong Churchill cup campaign and a great season for Tigers were he was once again one of the highest for metres gained in the league) Cruden, JTH, Freuen and Masaga all of whom had strong seasons last year or are still going strong now in their domestic seasons.

Scrum

With Porter’s lack of experience at Premiership standard rugby we feel we can rile him and get at the link between him and Strauss at hooker. Tialata will look to break this link and put pressure on the Worcester scrum allowing Schuster to get on the font foot against Marconnet on the other side.

Lineout

With Andries Bekker leading the line for us today and Sykes assiting we feel we can really get at the Worcester lineout. We will look to mark out Worcester’s only real jumping options, Myall and Kohn, and really put pressure on Strauss’s throw.

10-12-13

Ball in hand we will look to attack down the channels between 10-12 and 12-13. Malzieu has not played a lot of rugby at 12 for Worcester and we feel we can definitely get at him positionally with some strong pacy carriers especially in midfield. We will also look to Freuen to run on the outside of the Worcester 13 negating their extra backrower in midfield and allowing the offloads to Strettle!

Keep the score board ticking

With Aaron Cruden at 10 (3rd most accurate kicker of the Super 15 and in sublime form throughout the ITM) we have a kicker who can bang in goals from all over the pitch. Worcester will have to take special care at the breakdown not to give away penalties inside their own half. However with Nicky Robinson’s inconsistent goal kicking making this is less of a worry for Todd and Co.

On defence

We will be playing our usual blitz defence but with our back 3 sitting back deeper (as per the end of last season) prepared for Robinson’s kicks. They will look to run the ball back with some serious intent.

Debut

Jordan Crane makes his debut for us today after signing this week. As such we will only be looking for him to play a simple strong ball carrying game at 8 similar to what he has done at

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Best of luck Prop

Those the ones you spent all summer on mate?

Yeah driver mate. Cut my main tactics down in word count as I think the length of them put people of last year but have actually added a bit of depth to them if you can believe it

Pooly??

SJE

Where did you get the S15 kicking stats?

It looks a lot! Lol

I wonder if we should bring a limit in, I got carried away a little too.

Heard them on skysports mate

It was either Steyn or Lambie top with Cruden behind. They were the only 3 to finish other the 80% mark over the entire super 15