AP Round 2

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

---

Sale Sharks 28 London Irish 21

---

Tries: Strettle (2), Crane
Penalties: Cruden (3)
Conversions: Cruden (2)

---

Tries: Nel, Sackey, Tait
Penalties:
Conversions: Dupuy (3)

Harlequins 29 Northampton Saints 19

---

Tries: Lund, Lowe
Penalties: Steenson (5)
Conversions: Steenson (2)

---

Tries: Geraghty
Penalties: Giteau (4)
Conversions: Giteau

Bath Rugby 21 Saracens 24

---

Tries:
Penalties: Hodgson (7)
Conversions:

---

Tries: van Niekerk, Goode, Elstadt
Penalties: Humphreys
Conversions: Humphreys (3)

Exeter Chiefs 17 Newcastle Falcons 32

---

Tries: Sturgess
Penalties: Myler (4)
Conversions:

---

Tries: Juan Smith, Vermuelen, Pretorious, Duffy
Penalties: Evans (2)
Conversions: Evans (3)

Gloucester 26 Worcester Warriors 20

---

Tries: Hanks, Tuitupou
Penalties: Donald (4)
Conversions: Donald (2)

---

Tries: Peel, Morgan
Penalties: Robinson (2)
Conversions: Robinson (2)

London Wasps 26 Leicester Tigers 24

---

Tries: Nieto, McAlister
Penalties: Gopperth (4)
Conversions: Gopperth (2)

---

Tries: Nacewa, Poitrenaud, Poff
Penalties: Walder
Conversions: Walder (2), Miller

Bring on the Chiefs!!!!

Oh a nice trip to the Stoop...

Oh a nice trip to the Stoop...

You going twice lol

Local derby ! I am in turkey from Thursday and so cannot predict. Sje will
Probably send me for chemical castration and fine
Me 5million

I was thinking more along the lines of 10m

Conditions updated

Pretty windy then SJE!!!

Leicester Tigers name 30 man squad to face Wasps:

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

Off the back of Tigers four try 31 - 18 drubbing of Exteter last week, manager LukeLovesLuka has unsuprisingly made no changes to his squad to travel the short journey south to Adam Park to face Wasps, a team Leicester have a great record against.

Although rumours are circulating that Leicester may make some changes to the starting XV this week despite the performance at Welford Road.

Surely Mat gets deducted 10points? Worcester will name their starting squad early in the week (tonight).

Saracens make 1 change to the matchday 23 for this weeks trip to The Rec. With Haydn Thomas being recalled from his loan spell by Exeter Chiefs, former England scrum half Shaun Perry comes in on loan from Sale Sharks and takes his place on the bench. Within the 23 Owen Farrell and Tom Homer start with Billy Twelvetrees and Tim Visser dropping to the bench. Head coach LDCPete had this to say...

"Conditions for this week look likely to be a very windy at The Rec, which brings it’s own issues to team selection. We have made a couple of changes, specifically to execute the tactics that we feel are right for this particular fixture, and hopefully the players will grasp the opportunity before them. It was a shame that Haydn (Thomas) has had to return to Exeter this week, and we did consider playing England U18 scrum half James Lightfoot-Brown on the bench, but we just felt it was a big ask for him having just returned form a successful tour of Australia. Shaun comes in with a lot of experience and that could be crucial for us in the final quarter of this game."

Saracens
Manager – LDCPete

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

16. George Chuter 17. Alex Waller 18. Phil Swainston 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Rodney So'oialo 21.Shaun Perry 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Tim Visser

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 Bath 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 Bath’s ball we will really attack the scrum looking to force them into errors and 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 Bath’s throw, we will use Elstadt as an athletic front jumper to try to disrupt the throw and cause mistakes. If Bath 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 opposition 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, Homer and Farrell as back up options, in particular Homer for long range attempts.

4. Be solid defensively and pressurize Bath into conceding possession.
We will play a blitz defence with real focus on line speed and coming up as a unit to stop Bath 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 support 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, Farrell, Homer, Spence and Goode, to get us in to the right areas of the field.


Game specific tactics vs. Bath Rugby

1. Target Kelleher and Hodgson. Kelleher only arrived on loan this week and has never played with Hodgson before, likewise Hodgson didn’t start last week so it’s a brand new pairing in a key area. Our back row will look to disrupt them at every opportunity.

2. Test the Bath back three with high hanging balls to the corners. There is not huge amounts of kicking in the S15 and neither van der Heever nor Nanai-Williams are particularly good under the high ball. All of our backs have kicking games and will look to really test them out.

3. Target the 10 channel with big carriers. I know it’s obvious, but Charlie is not a great front on 1 on 1 tackler and if we keep sending runners through we will get gainline success unless Bath try to hide him. If they have to do this mid game having not decided to do it before hand their defensive alignment will be in disarray and there will be gaps for us to exploit.


Key Points

1. Form/Momentum/Confidence
I know it is early season, but we had a decent win in round 1, whereas Bath had a heavy defeat. That must have dented their confidence and we have the momentum and belief going into this game.

2. Pressure
Having lost in round 1 Bath will be feeling the pressure, knowing that a home defeat could be very damaging to their title aspirations. We will be looking to keep the pressure on them taking all kickable penalties and building and then maintaining a lead over them. If we do this they are likely to get desperate and take risks that we can capitalise on.

Also in relation to pressure, there will be a lot on Hodgson, as none of the other Bath backs really have a kicking game, and if he falters they could be all over the place. He has never really produced under pressure and this could be key.

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. Farrell comes into the midfield to bring a controlled kicking game and solid defence, which Homer also brings on the wing, along with solidity under the high ball in windy conditions. iHumph is also very used to these conditions playing at Ravenhill in real life, and will be completely assured out of hand and off the tee.

4. Bench

We have players who can make an impact from bench or change the game in that they are different from what we have on the field. Bath would be replacing like for like particularly in the backs, were Haughton is a similar running threat to the back three players already on field, but lacks a kicking game, and Brock James has proved flaky under pressure before the same as Hodgson. We have Twelvetrees and Visser who can come on and bring great impetus, as can Kitchener and So’oialo.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matias Aguero 09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland 10. Daniel Bowden
03. WP Nel 11. Paul Sackey
04. Dean Mumm 12. Sireli Naqalevuki
05. Nick Kennedy 13. Mathieu Bastereaud
06. Joe Worsley 14. Bjorn Basson
07. Hendrie Fourie 15. Zane Kirchner
08. Xavier Rush

16. Darren Fearn 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Keegan Daniel 21. Neal De Kock 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Matthew Tait

After a disappointing loss to Harlequins, Irish have made 4 tactical changes to the side, with Aguero, Worsley, Naqalevuki and Kennedy coming in to the side.
Aguero has been brought in to add power and stability to the scrum. Kennedy has come in to give us better options in the lineout. Worsley is in for his tackling as Sale have some big ball carriers and Naqalevuki is in for his hard and powerful running and solid defence.
The conditions are not great with very strong winds and we are expecting a quite attritional game where the set piece will be important as well as territory and strong ball carrying. We have a picked a team for these conditions. Aguero comes in which will improve our scrum and we will look to use this as a platform. We want to provide Rush with good clean ball to pick up and drive from or Dupuy to be able to give good ball to Bowden, Naqa and Bast. We have a clear tactic to use the big ball carriers (Naqa, Bast, Rush, Fourie, Nel) and hard runners before going wide. As well as Bowden being first receiver, we will use Dupuy on the wrap around to keep Sale guessing, with Bastereaud often acting as a decoy runner due to him always sucking defenders in.
We will target the breakdown as another area to get some joy from. Each breakdown and ruck is different and we will approach each one as they come, i.e if Sale haven’t got a lot of numbers there and we can sense a turnover, Fourie will doing his best to do so. If not, we will look to slow opposition ball down (legally) and get quick ball from our own rucks.
Territory will be important and at half back we have two good kickers. Dupuy is a very intelligent player who controls a game well and we will use his boot to get us in the right areas of the pitch. Bowden will provide us that spark to get our runners in to space and also use his boot to pin Sale back. In the 2nd half we will bring on JMH for Bast, with Naqa moving to 13 and Bowden to 12. With defences tiring and spaces opening up, we will have more creativity and play with a bit more freedom, whilst also giving us better kicking options for closing out the game. For the majority though we will look to play a fairly tight game, using the ball carriers and gaining territory, with Dupuy kicking any makeable penalties. With the strong winds, we will look to kick for touch if it is out of range and use Kennedy’s lineout skills to secure good ball and use the big ball carriers to bundle over the try line.
In defence, we will be very aggressive and hit the runners hard. Sale have two hard runnings centre’s in JTH and Freuan which is why Worsley has been picked, to stop them making the yards. Fourie and Rush are also big tacklers and we will look to stop Sale getting any momentum. We see this as a key aspect of the game and if we can stop their momentum and strong runners, it could go a long way to winning this game.

Worcester
Manager – Prop_Lyd

01. David Flatman 09. Dwayne Peel
02. Tani Fuga 10. Nicky Robinson
03. Sylvain Marconnet
04. Ollie Kohn 11. Julien Malzieu
05. Kearnen Myall 12. Sam Vesty (k)
06. Richard Thorpe 13. Jon Clarke
07. Julien Salvi 14. Marcel Garvey
08. Sebastian Chabal 15. Olly Morgan


16. Richardt Strauss 17. Chris Budgen 18. BJ Botha 19. Dom Barrow 20. Martyn Williams 21. Jordi Pasqualin 22. Gavin Henson 23. Greig Tonks

Tactics
Forwards

We have picked a pack to get round the pitch quick and contest a lot at the breakdown. In Myall, Thorpe and Salvi we have players who can steal a lot of ball and Chabal's force from the back will enable us to get across the gain line constantly. In the scrums our front row are expereince and large to hold the Glos pack. On the bench we have Budgen and Botha who do not go backwards and Strauss who can act as an extra flanker in the Brits mould. Lineouts we have Kohn, Myall, Thorpe and Chabal who can all jump and we will contest the Glos ball and at the breakdown.

Salvi and Chabal will pick when to run off of 12-13 and Williams will be brought on with 20 mins to go to test a tired breakdown further.

Backs

We will not look to kick at the Glos back 3 but will be kicking them into touch. With Robinson and Vesty we have a left-right combination so will always have the option to kick when possible. Clarke will switch into 12 every so often to hit the ball up and maintain the double kicking option. In our back 3 we have pace and flair and will use Malzieu off of his wing as a battering ram. Morgan will be told to pick his line when possible and Garvey is now back up to prem standard and knows Kingshom well.

Defence

Our defence will be a rushed banana to prevent the ball getting to their wings. Chabal will stand at 10 as an extra defender and look to put a lot of pressure on Donald with a couple of questionable hits at the start. Salvi will follow up for quick turnover. Peel will sweep behind and hit the gaps he sees.

Overall

A kicking game to pin Glos back and challenge all ball in their half. Vesty has started well kicking so will take the penalties and look for any drop goal opportunities. We know Kingsholm is a hard place to win but we have 3 players in our backs who are used to playing there. After 60 minutes we will look to run at tired legs and bring on Henson who always has a moment of magic up his sleeve.

Good Luck Matt

Marker, will post my team tomorrow

Leicester Tigers have named their side to travel to Wasps this week. There are two changes to the 23, with Jonathan Poff and Yann David coming onto the bench, but the starting XV remains the same.

Manager LukeLovesLuka said "I had a few guys who deserved a start this week, Alex (Brown), Jonathan (Poff) and Andy (Hazell) all looked great in training, but this side were magnificent last Friday, and a 4 try to nil team can't be changed in my eyes. Everyone is fit as a fiddle and raring to go again.

We are looking to go to Wasps and get the win. We have beaten them on the last 4 occasions, and we will look to keep that record going. It should be a great game."


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. Dan Murphy 17. Matt Thompson 18. Johhny Harris 19. Alex Brown 20. Johnathan Poff 21. Scott Mathie 22. Rob Miller 23. Yann David

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 an 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, Jack 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. In windy conditions we need our big carriers to step up and give us real penetration.

- 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 the corners and using Jauzion to get our back line moving. He is tasked with looking to get in behind Cato and Williams, but if he has little space, he will pass short and use kicks from Jauzion or Fritz in behind their back line, again into the corners. This should bring their defence up, creating more space. With Jauzion outside him, Walder has experience and class to rely upon, and we will use Jauzion as our guide.

- 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. Jauzion will look to target the out-of-form McAllister, who only signed for Wasps 8 days ago.

- Our back three are expecting a lot of kicks from Gopperth and co, and are told to play the each kick as they see it. When deep in our own half, with the weather as it is, we will not be silly with trying to counter too often. Both Nacewa and Poitrenaud are well drilled full backs, and both have good boots to get us good territory. But if a kick from Wasps is loose or short, and it is on, we will not be afraid to run the ball back.

- We want to play a subtle mix of attacking, fast-paced rugby from quick ball, and powerful forward play marshalled by Walder's boot. We have a big grizzly pack and some lightning fast backs to compliment this style.

- 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:

- In-game form against Wasps:

London Wasps 21 - 27 Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers 25 - 20 London Wasps
London Wasps 22 - 29 Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers 26 - 25 London Wasps

Four victories out of four in the LukeLovesLuka era, and clearly not intimidated by Adams Park.

- Wasps suffered a heavy defeat in round 1 - confidence cannot be high in the camp, especially after Arry's "Same old story for me!" comment.

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

- Jauzion will look to target the out-of-form McAllister, only who signed for Wasps 8 days ago.

- Grizzly pack suited to wet and windy conditions. - 6 of the pack at 6ft 3" or more, and an average weight of 17 ½ st.

- Look to play a subtle mix of attacking, fast-paced rugby from quick ball, and powerful forward play marshalled by Walder an co.

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. Luke Morahan
05. Erik Lund	12. Riki Flutey
06. Phil Dowson	13. George Lowe
07. Beau Robinson	14. Joe Rokocoko
08. Chris Henry	15. Ben Blair

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

Tactics

As with all our games this year we will base our tactics around building pressure and patience in attack.

Key Points

• Forwards will attack in numbers and will aim to cross the gain line and win collisions.
• We will look for our players to offload when we can to keep the momentum in our attacking play.
• Our backs will use there boot to kick behind the Saints back 3. We won’t kick loosely to them.
• Up the tempo when Saints defence is disorganised.
• Use our big runners to run at the Giteau/Geraghty Channel.
• Don’t give away needless penalties
• Kick the points when the opportunity arises.
• Win collisions in both attack and defence
• Switch our game plans depending on the wind. When playing with the wind we will keep the scoreboard ticking over.

In our first Home game of the season we are looking to continue the momentum gained from last week’s huge win at London Irish. We have made two changes with Joe Rokocoko and Beau Robinson coming into our side. Lee Dickson again captain’s the side and will lead from the front. We have picked a side which is capable of playing attractive running rugby whilst also having a strong defence. We have picked Blair and Morahan in the back 3 who both have the positioning and kicking game to deal with the wind when we are playing against it.

General Tactics

Our forwards are going to look to gain some dominance up front in both the set piece and open play and we will do this by maintaining a high intensity in our play. Our pack this week our going out there with the instructions to compete at the breakdown when we have the first man there or we have superior numbers. With Beau Robinson in our side we have a man who is great at securing turnover ball and we feel he will help us to dominate the breakdown. Our Lineout will be shorter when in an attacking position with Dowson and Robinson in the backs. We will compete for every Saints lineout and feel they may be a little short of jumpers. In the scrum we will look to win the engage and Marler will try to get underneath Hayman. Our heavy second row will make it very difficult for Saints to move us backwards and we will try to get a shove on on both attacking and defensive ball.

Our halfbacks will play the same game as last week. Dickson will control our tempo from 9 and will use our forwards to get him quick ball and will remain patient with this. We won’t be looking to attack from anything but quick ball. Our forward will look to run off 9, 10 and 12 and will take the ball at pace so as they can win collisions and break the gain line. We will look for offloads when we make half breaks but won’t try to go for the miracle balls when they aren’t on. We will always look for our forwards to attack in numbers.

Our back line will look to attack the gaps when they get the ball. When we attack gaps we can attract the attention of two defenders and create space out wide for our wingers. Flutey and Lowe will both look to run lines which will cause the Saints midfield problems and draw defenders. They will also run support lines for our forward when they break the gain line.

When playing into the wind we will be change to playing a tighter game and will look to keep the ball for long periods and force Saints into giving away penalties in frustration. We will still be looking to clear our lines in our own 22 but outside we will look to build phases and then up the tempo when the Saints defence is disorganised.

When we have the wind at our backs Steenson will look to kick behind the Northampton back 3. It is important we kick into spaces behind them as if we kick loosely they can punish us. He will however certainly we looking to test them with up and unders in this wind. The wind will have a big impact on this game and I feel that we have the players to work it to our advantage.

In defence we will look to have a quick line speed and be aggressive with our tackling. When we can we will look to double up with one man taking the attackers legs and the other looking to steal the ball if the man is isolated. We will look for our defenders to try and put pressure on the saints decision makers at 10 and 12, we will also look to put massive pressure on Charlie Davies, with Dickson harrying Davies at every scrum. Our back 3 will always be aware of the Saints kicking game and will be staying deep. When they kick to use loosely we will look to kick to space when the wind is behind us or will look to run when they have the wind. We will always kick for touch when inside our 22.

We have a strong bench again and will look to introduce our forwards as and when they are needed. We will bring on Brits between 50 and 60 mins. If we bring on Burns he will come on at 10 if we are behind in the last 20 mins and we will alter our game plans to a faster and more risky game plan to try and win the game.

---

Northampton Saints

Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Charlie Davies (c)
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Giteau (c) (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Dave Attwood	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Simon Taylor	12. Shane Geraghty
06. Liam Messam	13. Casey Lualala
07. Alexander Lapandy	14. Julian Savea
08. Ryan Kankowski	15. Danny Cipriani

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Bob Baker 18. Henry Thomas 19. Calum Clark 20. Luke Watson 21. Liam Gill 22. Willie Mason 23. Christian Wade

Tactics Will do these on Thursday, but playing three players who can kick the ball and some powerful runners in forwards and backs might just give it away...

---

[/quote]

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Neemia Tialata
04. Steven 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

Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata will look to get in under their man and really disrupt Irish looking to force them up to get the nudge on. 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 our entire back row to support him as jumpers to mix things up. Our jumpers will look to either play the ball of the top quickly and look to our backline to move it or bring it down into a maul and make the hard yards through the pack, sucking in the Irish forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On opposition ball we will look for Bekker to follow Kennedy in the line and get up in challenge and really disrupt the Irish lineout. If we really start to get on top of the lineout we will look to Cruden to kick for the corners a few times and really put the pressure on.

Breakdown
We have a very mobile and quick pack to really target the breakdown. On our own ball we will look to our forwards to get numbers to the breakdown quickly rucking past the ball and clearing out the opposition boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Todd to secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit lighter numbers to the breakdown but look to counter ruck slowing down Irish ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.

General Attacking Play
We will look to play a strong carrying game using our big carriers to hit the gain line offloading in or just before the tackle (when it’s on) to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. Both our wingers will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our bigger carriers looking for the ball on the offload. If running the ball is not on we will look to Cruden to kick in behind the Irish wingers.

Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Irish back row to the breakdown. Cruden has been instructed to play heads up rugby and if overlaps or gaps appear he will look to get the ball moving and take advantage. 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 Irish territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. Danny Care though will look for the quick tap when the Irish defence is slow to organise.

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 stopping any Irish momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Irish on the back foot forcing the kick. Danny Care will act as a sweeper and look to cover any chips in behind the line. Our wingers will look to sit deeper on defence then the rest of the line ready for these kicks. Our back three have been instructed to play to their strengths and look for the counter attack, running the ball back with serious pace.

Key Points
• Home Advantage: We are undefeated at Edgeley Park for over a year in this league and will look to keep this great run going!
• We come into this game off the back of a great bonus point win away to new boys Worcester and are fully energised. Irish travel up to us on the back of a home defeat in what was a very important game even this early into the season and this will have taken a lot out of them.
• Based on last season’s Super 15 we see Nel as a real weakness at scrum time and will look to Schuster and Paice to double team him and force penalties out of him. Aguero lined up for the first time since last January this weekend just gone!!! and is seriously lacking form struggling against the Scarlets scrum last week so we will look to Tialata to get at him. We want to truly dominate the scrum today!
• Naqalevuki at 12 makes his competitive debut for Irish today. He hasn’t been involved in Irish’s pre- season preparations for nearly 10 weeks now! He won’t be used to his team mates running lines and will be rusty in his own right anyway. Making it worse for the poor fella he will be shunted to 13 in the2nd half. After spending a half trying to get used to his team mates running lines off 12 he will now have to start again at 13!! We expect disjointed attacking play from Irish.
• In the final 20 minutes we will be doing the opposite to irish. Bezy and Barkley will come in at 9 and 12 and with their kicking games will look to help Cruden pin Irish back in their own territory. If they want to come at us with an expansive game in these windy conditions in the 2nd half they will have to do so from their own half!

---

Gloucester RFC
Manager – Mat Taylor

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis (c)
02. Strauss	10. Steven Donald (c) (k)
03. James Johnstone
04. James Hanks	11. Hosea Gear
05. George Robson	12. Tuitopu
06. Buxton	13. johnny may
07. Andy Saull	14. JSD
08. AJ	15. Charlie Sharples

16. Coonie 17. Deon Fourie 18. Julian White 19. Deacon 20. GAreth Evans 21 Lamb 22. Hamilton 23. Carraro

Will get these done later. flying out on holiday later so not sure if i will get chance to predict. Good luck prop

I have added my tactics to my original post

After an emphatic victory against a strong Bath outfit last week, we head down to Exeter full of confidence and looking for the win. We’ve been training hard all week and we’re especially looking to suit our game to the windy conditions.

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. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Dean Schofield 20. Ben Woods 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Miles Benjamin

London Wasps team to face Leicester Tigers

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. Luke McAlister
13. Stirling Mortlock (c)
14. Tom Williams
15. Mike Brown

16. Andy Titterell
17. Benn Robinson
18. Juan Gomez
19. Stuart Hooper
20. Steve Mafi
21. Martin Roberts
22. Rory Clegg
23. Tom May

Tactics to come....

Has Driver named his team?!?!

Think he named his team on the homepage thread didn't he?

[quote="anonmattyt"]Gloucester RFC
Manager – Mat Taylor

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis (c)
02. Strauss	10. Steven Donald (c) (k)
03. James Johnstone
04. James Hanks	11. Hosea Gear
05. George Robson	12. Tuitopu
06. Buxton	13. johnny may
07. Andy Saull	14. JSD
08. AJ	15. Charlie Sharples

16. Coonie 17. Deon Fourie 18. Julian White 19. Deacon 20. GAreth Evans 21 Lamb 22. Hamilton 23. Carraro


Glaws TActics

SET PIECE-

We see ourselves as having a set piece consisting of in form dynamic players. We see worcester as having a few big heavy pack that will tire.

SCRUM

We see this as a huge advantage for Gloucester. We have gone for 3 players in wood Strauss and Johnstone who are all bang in form and who are very mobile. Wood is there to go at marconnet hard for 40 minutes before Coonie comes on to really take the game up a level

We have coonie, Fourie and white. 2 dynamos and one huge scrummager. white will come on at 55 the other 2 at 40 minutes. white will be aiming to destroy porter worcester have 2 tight heads on the bench so their tactics must be to keep porter on for the whole match and if so this could hurt them

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. Worcester seem to have a big heavy pack with not that many jumpers so this will be targetted 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 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 wood and Strauss are like flankers. 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 wood, 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 coonie, fourie, deacon, 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 peel to disrupt him and put pressure on nicky robinson who thrives on front foot ball heavily.

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 drainiu as we see this as a crucial failing in the back 3. he does not fancy the high ball and we will be looking to use the bomb on him with our super quick backs chasing we see this as a hugely profitable.

Off first phase ball off the top Donald will be keen to send Tuitopu or may into the robinson channel. Robinson is not the greatest defender and if Malzieu is picked he is out of position so we will be looking to either bust the tackle or to get through and offload to the players going through.

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


Generally we will be looking to play at a higher tempo than worcester. worcester have a big heavy side and we will be looking to play rapidly and expose them through mismatches.

Key points

1. mobility- glos have the aility to blow them off the park
2 bench- our bench we believe is much stronger and will have more impact
3 lineout- clear advantage with lots of jumpers to hit.
4 home advantage- glaws do not lose at home.

good luck prop.

Matt: I don't have porter playing, it's flatman

Has Driver left anybody a team/tactics?

If not I take it this is it:

Terblance played full back vs the Lions in 09 for the sharks i think????

Also guys i'm away in tunisia from tomorrow for the week so here is my team and tactics for this week. - Be nice to have some thoughts on them before i go.

1.Brett Sturgess
2.Ben Kayser
3.Juan Orlandi
4.George Skivington
5.James Hudson ©
6.Declan Danahar
7.Carl Fearns
8.Gareth Delve

9.Tomas O’Leary
10.Steven Myler
11.Luke Fitzgerald
12.Regan King
13.Adam Powell
14.Matt Smith
15.Ian Balshaw

16.Neil Clark 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Tom Mercy 19.Tommy Hayes 20.Marty Holah 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Josh Matavista 23.Dan Hipkiss

- Exeter to play at a high tempo looking to be physical at the breakdown and ruck the man away and look for the turnovers that way.

- TOL/Thomas and Myler/Matavista to play what’s in front of them. King will be our play maker and look to create space outwide looping on Powell and and jinking past his opposite number.

- Exeter’s front 5 will look to make a mess of Falcons set piece and put there half backs on the back foot and under pressure.

- We will use short line outs and put big runners on Myler and Kings shoulders’

- Our back 3 have been instructed with Kicking as there last option and will look to attack the dog leg in defence and get over the gainline.

- We’re at home and Sandy park is no easy place to go and play rugby - Steenson in real life admitted kicking at Sandy park is a tough ask of any fly half because the wind is so unpredictable.

SUBS:

ELR for Sturgess 50 mins
Mercy for Orlandi 50 mins
Hayes for Hudson after 65 mins
Holah for Danahar 40 mins (Fearns to 6 Holah to 7)
Matavista for Myler 70 mins

Where is your team prop??. We would target flatman then. either way none of them are much cop

Ah found it!! will salvi even know your calls having arrived yesterday??

Taking no prisoners this week Matt eh!

Salvi arrived Monday and you'll notice that ongoing negotiations have happenned for quite a while so we would have prepped him during the negotiations.

Come on fastlane, what's your team? I want to finalise my masterplan!!!

I have added my tactics to my team post.

LDCPete wrote:Come on fastlane, what's your team? I want to finalise my masterplan!!!

I am a firm believer that teams have be named by Wednesday night, with tactics having to be named by Thursday night.

At least twice last season I had to name team and tactics with no idea who was playing for the opposition.

Ah, I'm just being impatient, sure people have lives away from this game, just want to get my game specific stuff done to give myself the best chance of winning.

NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TACTICS

(Posted on behalf of Chris as he can't get onto the forum in the office)

Tactics

Fresh on the back of our win over European Champions Gloucester, Saints are full of confidence as they travel to the Stoop. They make one change bringing Julian Savea into the starting lineup with Christian Wade dropping to the bench.

We will look to play a forward dominated game, which looks to build through the phases and bring our big ball carriers into the game, especially into the midfield. Three kickers to get the ball into areas we can contain Quins and put pressure onto them.

Key Points

• Forward dominated approach, have a team full of ball carriers and will look to wear Quins down and make them tackle for the 80mins.
• We have effectively picked 3 kicking 10’s into the game in order to win the kicking battle in the windy conditions. We will push Quins into the corners of their 22 and defend aggressively with our powerful backrow.
• Look to exploit and isolate Beau Robinson in the Quins backrow who has only just joined on loan. Will look to pressurise him at every opportunity.
• Have picked three powerful players in the backline (Siviatu, Savea and Lualala) to get us over the gainline and will run off Giteau and Geraghty. Quick ball and can then release the quick backs.
• Put Steenson under pressure, will play Giteau very flat and let him attack Steenson and use Siviatu and Savea to crash through the 10 channel.
• Every chance we have we will try and build on our scoreline – Cipriani, Geraghty and Giteau will all go for drop goals – with Cipriani being able to secure these from 50m out when playing with the wind.
• Play a close tight game, with big runners and then chance tempo through Giteau, Geraghty and Cipriani.



General Tactics - Forwards

We have picked the same pack as that which beat Gloucester last week, and a front row that has some serious power in the scrums. Hayman will look to target Marler and frustrate the temperamental youngster into mistakes and penalties. We will look to get lots of rolling mauls going and work through the phases. Keeping ball is key.

Lineout – the wind will not allow for complex or long lineouts, so will keep this simple by going for safe frontline ball and building phases through off the lineout. We will go for banker ball eitherTaylor, Attwood or Messam.
Messam and Kankowski provide fantastic dynamism and will run off Giteau into the Quins midfield and we will look to generate quick ball from that.

Feel we have a big advantage in the backrow, with Messam, Lapandy and Kankowski, especially as Robinson is new to the Quins team and wont know their calls, moves etc. We will look to single Robinson out at the breakdown and target this area with numbers in a physical and aggressive manner. We will use this to work through the phases, biding time to bring big ball carriers through the midfield.

6-2 split – we want to get dominance in the pack and have picked five forwards on the bench – this is to keep us fresh in what will be a hugely physical contest. Clark, Watson and Gill are all players who work well at the breakdown and can speed up the game when needed.

Subs will be used when needed – will look to keep Domingo and Hayman on for as long as possible.

General Tactics - Backs
Charlie Davies had a great debut last week and will continue to play a nice simple game, helped by an experience pack and playing inside Giteau. Confident that Davies will come through strong as he is protected by internationals.

Giteau will look to control the game and his experience and ability should see a big gulf in class between the 10’s. Giteau will play flat and bring in the big runners to target Steenson – his passing and offloading game could be a big difference.

We have a backline that can completely mix up its game and has three players who can make something out of nothing – we will really look to use our wingers to run off Giteau and Geraghty – this will keep the Quins defenders guessing and have given Giteau and Gerghaty licence to attack gaps that decoy runs will bring.

In defence we will get Lualala to push up on Lowe when Flutey has the ball to close off the pass and force Flutey back inside where he will be met with our backrow. Keeping Flutey quiet is key to our gameplan and we have the defensive pattern to keep his creativity to be as minimal as possible.

When playing into the wind the backs will call on the powerful forwards runners to make hard yards and keep the ball. When we have the wind then Giteau, Gerghty and Cipriani will launch the ball into the air or push the ball into corners.

Subs – we will look to give Willie Mason another 20mins and this will change the dynamics of our backline considerably, and gives us a tough runner to attack the Quins backline. We will also use Wade in the last 10mins to add some speed and pace to the backline. Wade will come on for Savea.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09. Byron Kelleher
02. Joe Ward	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Petrus Du Plessis
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Ugo Monye
05. Isaac Ross	12. Anthony Allen
06. Tom Guest	13.Dominic Waldouck
07.Steffon Armitage	14. Geghard Van Der Heever
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Tim Nanai Williams

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Richard Skuse 18. Aaron Jarvis 19. James Cannon 20. Will Skinner 21. James Grindal 22. Brock James 23. Richard Haughton
Tactics
Playing to the conditions
We will look to really test Saracens back three in the air. Kelleher will look to box kick. Look to put pressure on Sarries with our wingers chasing it down. Charlie Hodgson will also look for opportunities to get the ball in the air. Van Der Heever and Monye with their electric pace will lead the chase. We feel their presence will make the Sarries defenders nervy about a mistake

Set Piece
At the lineout we will look to keep them short with Maestri being used as banker ball. Isaac Ross and Johnnie Beattie give us a good option if this isn’t working. Against the Sarries throw Maestri, Ross and Beattie will look to disrupt their main jumpers. None of our front row is over 6’1 so we feel Sarries will have a hard time getting under them.

Ball in hand
We will look for big strong carries from the likes of Golding, Ross + Beattie. We won’t try to be flashy with offloads in the wind. Allen, Waldouck, Kelleher and Guest will all be looking for the chance to make line breaks. We will look to get the ball to our back three once the defence is sucked in and with their pace we want them to make runs into space

Defence
Looking to put pressure on Saracens with a blitz defence. We will be looking to let Johnnie Beattie and Tom Guest hit lots of tackles and put men into the breakdown while Steffon Armitage will go for turnover ball.

---

Edited my earlier post to include game specific tactics SJE

" There is not huge amounts of kicking in the S15 and neither van der Heever"

You not watched much CC this year Pete? It's like ping pong!!!

Currie Cup maybe, but some of the kicking is dross, and that's not the S15, hence I said S15 and not SH. Real aimless stuff in the the Currie Cup at times. I find the ITM Cup much more watchable.

Anyway, what are you, Bath's knew spokesman or something???

I just like to read through tactics when they're first posted. Was a general comment, not a one about individual players etc.

There is ALOT of aimless kicking in CC, you can see why the SA back play is often so poor as the players have no chance to progress with ball in hand.

After an emphatic victory against a strong Bath outfit last week, we head down to Exeter full of confidence and looking for the win. We’ve been training hard all week and we’re especially looking to suit our game to the windy conditions.

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. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Dean Schofield 20. Ben Woods 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Miles Benjamin


Tactics

General play - It's all about a high tempo and controlling the ball. 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. If 3 point is on we'll look to take it and until we have a clear lead.

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.

Scrum - We'll be looking to set a platform and use the scrum to get get fast ball to out 9/10 axis. PDJ and Stankovich are excellent technical scrummagers who will give us a sound foundation and look to get at their opposite numbers from the off. If a weakness is seen we’ll look to keep the push on and drive the opposition back, taking scrum options at pens if totally on top. If not we’ll be using the scrum as restart and getting the ball in and out so we can attack the opposition 9/10 axis.

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. We’ll look to vary the options at the through with Kruger calling the shots from the middle of the lineout. Flip will look to give us banker ball at the front especially in the poor conditions whilst Juan Smith will marshall the rear of the lineout. Vermeulen will look to alternate middle/back depending on call.

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. Robshaw will look to make a nuisance of himself and slow down opposition ball on the floor.

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. We’ll look to vary the angles of attack with Evans using the reverse ball now and again with Smith and Vermeulen coming in.

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. He’ll look to mix the play up with varying passes and look to hit behind the back 3 if on. Pretorious will sweep up behind a blitz defense with Barritt leading the line.

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 we'll look to get Ben Smith in as second receiver to give us a different focal point. 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.

---

Points to target against opposition

After studying the opposition over a number of weeks we’ll be looking to specifically target these areas:

- Paul Doran-Jones will really look to get at Sturgess from the off and put pressure on the Exeter LH
- We’ll be really looking to overpower the Exeter backrow around the fringes
- Exeter have a very athletic engine room and back 5, we’ll look to use the rolling maul and use our bigger pack to drive us forward. We see this as a very effective weapon especially away from home and will look to use it at various times throughout the game
- Smith & Robshaw will look to target TOL’s delivery throughout the game and put pressure on the Exeter 9/10 axis
- Barritt will look to hunt down King early and put the big hits on the New Zealander, we fell if we can limit his time on the ball we might cut out the creative force in the Exeter backline
- Evans will pepper Balshaw early on and see how his game under the high ball is If successful we’ll look to target Balshaw throughout the game
- Lineout – with the windy conditions we’ll look to use front ball more often than not. Flip gives us a big solid unit to aim at and we’ll look to alternate him with Kruger who is more athletic and can get up faster
- It's a pretty new looking backline for Exeter, we'll look to target defensive combinations early on

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 hopefully 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 efficiently early on. We have three excellent kicking options in Gopperth, McAlister and Mortlock, we will look to kick in behind the Tigers wingers and keep them pinned back 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 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 Tigers carrier.

In the forwards we will look to drive our carriers over the gain line and really look to win the collisions. We have plenty of dynamic carriers including the explosive Tom Johnson. Gopperth will look to bring in our strike runners in McAlister and Mortlock. We will be targeting the outside shoulder of the Tigers players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Tigers defence. 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 Tigers defence, and hopefully open them up. As the game goes on and we are hopefully on the front foot if possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Tigers working off the ball in defence and pierce the gaps we have created.

At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Tigers throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will mainly use Wentzel but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Tigers by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Tigers defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack.

Our back row will look to rush Walder into rash decisions by getting really up close and personal. Hopefully we can prevent Tigers from setting out a solid base by disrupting the quality of ball they get and from there we will be able to pressurise Walder. Gopperth will kick all kickable penalties in the first half to keep the score board ticking over.

We will look to attack in numbers, we have plenty of powerful and dynamic carriers in our pack who will get us over the gain line and set us out a solid platform to build from. We have plenty of grit in our team and feel that if we can push Tigers onto the back foot we will be able to unsettle them especially the contingent of French players they have who I’m sure will not be looking forward to playing in the wet conditions.

"...especially the contingent of French players they have who I’m sure will not be looking forward to playing in the wet conditions."

Hasn't rained in France in 20 years I heard

Think we've both got 3 SH based players bud.

So as all teams and tactics are in are predictions open?

Right, am doing my predictions now as all teams and tactics are in and I have a full day ahead tomorrow, and don’t want to be distracted from the England game on Saturday morning, so here they are...


Sale Sharks 17 London Irish 9

Sale have the home advantage and a slight bit of momentum carried through from round one. Both teams have enough players with decent recent form to offset any players they have without. Tactically both teams have gone for gameplans to suit the not very good conditions, although I am not convinced I have ever really seen Strettle coming off his wing and tracking much so don’t necessarily see that one working for Sale. I can see both midfields cancelling each other out and tries having to come from an individual spark elsewhere, so points from penalties will be at a premium. Penalties most likely come at the set piece and breakdown and I feel that Sale may get some joy at the scrum with Schuster causing Nel lots of problems. At the breakdown I see a fairly even battle, with both 10’s capable of moments of magic for their team. Overall I think there is a little better balance in the backs for Sale, along with some scrum dominance to go on top of home advantage and a bit of momentum, so I have to go for a reasonably comfortable home win.


Harlequins 16 Northampton Saints 16

Home advantage to Quins and both teams carry some momentum in from round one. In realtion to real life form neither team would be massively ahead, and tactically both teams have selected players to do what they want to do. I like that Saints will try to force Flutey back inside by cutting off the passing options outside him. Starting upfront, I don’t see huge dominance either way, however I do see Marler’s short fuse being an issue. He gave a way a lot of penalties in real life last week and earned a ten minute rest. That could be a problem for Quins today as Hayman will test him to the max. Robinson having arrived on loan very recently and thrown into the starting line up is also a potential issue for me as he will not yet be used to his team mates in the back row. At half back Quins will have better game management, but Saints have the best individual player in Giteau. I don’t see a lot in it in the backs or off the bench and this is a tough game to call. Overall I have Saints just ahead, but that is cancelled out by Quins home advantage so I’m really sorry but I am calling this one a draw.


Exeter Chiefs 15 Newcastle Falcons 22

Chiefs have home advantage and Falcons have momentum so those two things pretty much cancel each other out. Both teams have players with decent form, poor form and no form due to injury so no gain to either. Tactically both teams are ok, but Balshaw is a worry for me at 15 in these conditions. Key things for me are TOL is struggling badly and this will cause real problems for Exeter in terms of getting their backs in to the game, and Newcastle just have that little bit more quality in most positions. Again, due to the conditions I don’t see it being a high scorer and the Chiefs will make life difficult, but Newcastle will win reasonably comfortably.


Gloucester 16 Worcester Warriors 15

Home advantage to Gloucester and no momentum yet for either side. I don’t see either pack really getting on top in this one in the set piece, but I do see Gloucester having an edge with their pack in the loose which will see them getting better ball to play with. I do like both sets of backs and the balance is good for Worcester with Vesty at 12 outside Robinson, although Gloucester have some real game breakers in May, Simpson-Daniel and Sharples. Both teams have decent benches and I find myself to surprised at how close I am finding this to call. Donald’s poor recent form counts against Gloucester for me, but I think they will just squeak this with one of their talented backs being the difference between the teams. Had this been at Worcester, I think they may have shaded it for me.


London Wasps 18 Leicester Tigers 16

Home advantage to Wasps and momentum with Tigers cancel each other out. In the windy and slightly wet conditions a lot will come down to the pack battle and I see Wasps with the upper hand in the scrum, and possibly the lineout as well. I don’t see either side getting much advantage at the breakdown, so neither set of backs is going to get hugely better ball than the other. In the backs there is also not much in it, with both sides largely cancelling each other out, although Poitrenaud could well come unstuck under the high ball whereas I see Brown being pretty solid there. A few more penalties at scrum time for Wasps will see them have the edge in this one for me and I have them as narrow winners.

Predictions are indeed open
Page has been updated

Just wanted to get mine out the way before the RWC started as I am engrossed in that now.