About v2AP Round 5
+7
prop_lyd
Driver
'Arry
dammit_chris
LukeLovesLuka
Sgt_Pooly
SirJohnnyEnglish
11 posters
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AP Round 5
by SirJohnnyEnglish Mon 26 Sep - 10:12
Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints
Sunny, 26 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd
16. Tani Fuga 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Dom Barrow 20. Ben Morgan 21. Jordi Pasqualin 22. Gavin Henson 23. Antielia Tuilagi
Tactics
Forwards
We've picked a big front row to tackle the scrums and take as much ball from there as possible. Looking at our back 3 all are strong runners and Chabal will be looking to pick off of the scrums before feeding Peel into space. Williams and Salvi will look to get to the breakdown 2nd to take the open abll after the tight 5 have cleared the ruck. In the lineouts we have 5 players who are cpaable of jumping and Myall has stolen balls in the premiership this season so his target will be to disrupt the lineouts.
When in possession the tight 5 will keep it there for the first 20mins with the backs taking the ball if space is seen. Drawing in the defence is the aim here and we will protect the ball to prevent the turnovers. When we make it into the opposition 22 then the backs will be released to crash over.
Backs
Not going to see much ball at first and when they do we will target Giteau by sending Chabal and Clarke up his channel. The wingers may not see much ball as we look to kepe it near our pack and use the left and right boots of Robinson and Vesty to kick the ball deep into touch in their half making sure they cannot take the quick lineout and using Myall here. Wingers and Morgan will be asked to come in off their wings to hit the angles again targetting Giteau and, when Tuilagi comes on: Wade. Continuing his appearances we will give Henson the final 20 minutes looking to strat him in the lv cup.
Defence
The ball will not get past their centres with alot of pressure being put on 10-13 to stop the ball going out quick. Peel with hang back with Morgan to stop either wingers get away and clear any kicks. The forwards will seek for turnover ball and to ruffle their youngsters up.
Overall
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris
16. Rob Webber 17. Henry Thomas 18. Bob Baker 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Ryan Kankowski 21. Luke Watson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Willie Mason
Tactics
Tactics
Overview – we have picked a team that is ideal for the conditions and will look to play a high tempo, fast attacking game against a Worcester team we feel could tire as the match progresses. We will look to offload and attack space and allow Giteau to pull the strings in midfield.
Key points
* There are a number of old legs in the Worcester pack and we will really target this by playing a fast, expansive game and try tire Marconnet, Botha, Williams and Chabel, we will run the ball and cause the Worcester team to defend and make tackle after tackle wearing them out phase after phase.
* We’ve picked a team that will look to dominate the breakdown, players 4-8 are all mobile and apt at the dark arts and we have picked a bench that has Launchbury, Kankowski and Watson so we can keep targeting this area.
* Simon Taylor been selected at 8 to provide stability at the base of the scrum, feel he will provide Davies with a good platform to launch the backline.
* Freshened up the pack with Whitehead (great start for Exeter in real life), Clark, Lapandy coming in, and have a bench that can make a real impact – think each player (exception of Baker) is an impact sub.
* Will use Mason to come on at 12 in final 20mins with Giteau switching to 10 and Cipriani replacing Claasens at 15 – the idea being that Mason will target Henson (see BaaBaas game) and bring his offloading game into play, which is why Cips comes on as a backthree of Wade, Siviatu and Cipriani has pace to cause damage to a tired Worcester defence.
* Allow Worcester to target Giteau as the “revolving door” and will ask Giteau to target the ball in the tackle and look to stop Vesty and Clarke from going to ground – he will then be supported by Messam and co, with the view to keeping the Worcester players on their feet, stiffling the attack and then winning the scrum (exactly how the Irish played against the Aussies).
* Take all points on offer, but espcially look to move the ball around the park and take the legs out of Worcester.
Forwards – Set Piece & Breakdown
We have a strong front row, which is needed away from home and see our second row as even. At scrum time we will look to get Simon Taylor anchoring the scrum and putting a big push in to get our scrum moving forwards. We’ve picked Taylor to start for a number of reasons (i) he provides very good control at the back of the scrum to help Charlie Davies through the game and (ii) we saw Chabel was selected and will look to use Taylor to hit Chabel back in the tackle area.
We will look to get a shove on in the scrum and force Chabal into errors at the base of the scrum, Davies has asked to be a pest and niggle at Chabels feet at the base – we want to force the talismatic Frenchman into mistakes.
The conditions mean that we will be able to utilise more than two jumpers as in previous weeks (too windy) – so will look for a varied lineout with Attwood, Clark, Messam, Lapandy and Taylor and try and get quick ball from Clark and Taylor for the backs.
Defensively at the lineout we are going to try something a bit different when we are not defending in our 22 – we will get Davies to stand in the 5 metre channel (as a hooker would do) – and then bring the Whitehead (or Webber) into the lineout itself and move Messam into the midfield to target the Worcester backs head on. We want him to strip ball or hold up Worcester players in the tackle area to force turnover ball, especlally putting pressure on Robinson.
At the breakdown we will look to target this in numbers and force, we feel we have a quicker, fitter team than Worcester and will be able to get to the breakdown first, or in more numbers first. If the turnover is on then we will put numbers in, but if Worcester have secured the ball we will then use the backrow to guard the fringes and stop Peel attacking there.
Backs
We will be playing a quick, expansive and high tempo game – we feel that Worcester have the ideal tactics if it wasn’t so sunny and warm. The team that attacks most will score more tries and get more points. We are going to attack and everything will be controlled by Giteau’s experience at 12.
We will look to move the ball wide, with our wingers changes wings to keep the defence guessing and to get over the gainline Giteau will bring in the runners in the pack and use Lualala and Siviatu after sucking in defenders. Due to the defensive patterns of Worcester we will look to bring Claasens into the game as often as possible on dummy runs, which will cause Worcester to think twice about over committing their defence at our midfield.
Davies has been selected as he offers more of a running game than Commins, and has been asked to keep it simple and rely on his pack for pick up and goes and then get the ball to Beauxis to launch attacks.
When Worcester are playing into the sun we will get Beauxis and Giteau to launch aerial bombardments on Morgan with Christian Wade being asked to put pressure on the catcher with his speed before a second wave of defenders comes in.
Defence
In this game we are going to be using the age old maxim – attack is the best form of defence, and will look to run Worcester ragged and tire them down and make tackles for the 80mins.
The tactics above outline a number of new approaches to our defence (see lineout of bringing Messam into our backline and Davies in 5m channel) and keeping the Worcester backline on their feet in the tackle area and forcing the ref to give Saints the scrum because they have not hit the ground.
Gloucester Rugby v London Irish
Sunny, 26 Degrees, 9mph Winds
Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt
16 Coonie 17 Fourie 18 Harden 19 Hanks 20 Buxton 21 Lamb 22 Hamilton 23 Vainokolo
Tactics
Weather is here and Gloucester will not be looking to play that differently we play a quick tempo game and this will not change however the conditions will suit the quickest backline in the game. 9 to 15 are quicksilver and we will look to do damage.
Set piece
Gloucester will look to dominate we have 3 ball carrying mobile scrummaging lumps with proven engine room behind.
We also have gone for a dynamic front row bench with Fourie, coonie and harden who was instrumental in glaws pushing bath over the line twice in the real AP last week able to come on. Will Irish be able to bring on such dynamic ball carriers in front row.
Lineouts - Gloucester have 5 jumpers And will target Irish and pressure bucklands throw. On our own ball we will drive in our own half and look to suck them In before isolating our backs against them.
In their half we will shorten the lineout to 5 often and
Look to hit AJ with quick ball. He is the star Player in curry cup as he was in super 15 and will look to smash and then offload or create quick ball for the backs.
Backs. Tempo tempo tempo. Lewis will look to let Donald make the decisions by hitting him quick. Donald will hit tuitopu short and then get wingers to run in the hole and look to get the offload.
We will also be looking to get may on the outside break as he can gas any 13.
The bomb will be employed especially when they are staring Into the sun.
Donald will be looking for mismatches all day and as the Game breaks up quick throws and Counter Attacks are on with sharples jsd and gear
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Dean Mumm 20. Joe Worsley 21. Neal De Kock 22. Guy Armitage 23. Juan Martin Hernandez
Tactics
In good conditions, we want to play an attacking, running game. We have the perfect man at 10 for this, Bowden is on superb form and will ignite our backline. Outside him he has another player on superb form in Naqalevuki and we will look to use this 10/12 combo to really attack Gloucester. Naqa will make the hard yards and we will use Tait running off him to gather offloads and be put through gaps. Dupuy and Bowden will play what is infront of them and mix up the attacking plays, with Bowden being the main orchestrator. We will not kick loose ball back to Glos as they have some pace in the backs, we will instead look to run the ball back with intent. If we have to kick from our own 22, we will make sure we go for touch where we have good lineout options, with Kennedy being the main man to disrupt opposition ball and gather our own lineout ball. Garvey offers another good lineout option as well as Daniel who will be used.
We will look to use the scrum and lineout as attacking platforms, and use set moves to break through the Glos line. Naqa will sometimes act as a decoy runner and suck in defenders to allow more space to get Tait and Basson running in to.
We see the breakdown as an area we can get big success. Fourie will be straight in if the ball is there to be won. We will use Garvey, Rush, Nel to clear out and get quick ball as soon as possible. This is where Bowden is at his most dangerous and we want to get as much clean and quick ball to him as possible. We will look to stifle oppostion ball and slow their play down, as there backs will rely on quick ball.
If we sometimes have to settle for slow ball, we have big ball carriers like Rush, Garvey, Nel and Naqalevuki to get us over the gain line. We then have Mumm and Briggs to bring off the bench to provide fresh legs and carrying options.
Dupuy will take all kickable penalties, and go for touch if out of range. Defensively we will get up in Glos face and not let them gain momentum. We have some mobile forwards like Garvey, Kennedy, Daniel, Fourie, Nel who are all great in the loose and will tackle all game long. Tuitopu lacks gametime and form in real life and we will look for Naqa to put pressure on him and disrupt Gloucesters 10/12 axis. If we can disrupt the flow of their game and starve them of good ball, we feel we can claim a good away win.
Exeter Chiefs v Saracens
Sunny, 22 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
16.Ben Kayser 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Juan Orlandi 18.James Hudson 19.Marty Holah 20.Haydn Thomas 21.Steven Myler 22.Ben Blair
ATTACK
Exeter to play aggressive up front rugby in the front 5 working the phases to secure quick ball and rucking past the tackled player and giving TOL quick ball to hit ford on the gain line.
Offensive lineout
We will look to keep Sarries guessing here - mixing it up throwing to Short , Hayes , Skirving and Beattie.
We will use short lines and put our big runners up the midfield using Hayes as banker ball.
DEFENCE
Big blitz defence to rattle sarries running backs with a few big hits early doors questioning the temperament of of the Sarries backs.
King and Grove will look to hit Farrell and 36 knowing they both have aggressive personalities and draw them out of there line give space for Fitzgerald , Arscott to pick lines of them or for King/Grove to simply step the defender.
- Ford to kick early penalties and build a lead.
- TOL to tap and go and and sneak the extra 10 yards and set the tempo.
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
16. George Chuter 17. Alex Waller 18. Phil Swainston 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Tom Homer
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Exeter Chiefs
1. Target the 10-12 channel in attack. Ford is still growing and whilst he does get stuck in, he is physically not there yet in terms of stopping big carriers. He also has King outside him, who is a natural 13 rather than 12 and not a great defender. We will look to put the carriers in our pack, along with Tim Visser coming off his wing, down this channel. Once across the gainline we will look to get quick ball and get our pacier backs through the gaps that this will create.
2. Target the lineout as an attacking platform. When kicking we will kick for touch and look to really attack the Chiefs lineout in their territory. We will contest everything and look to win their ball and attack quickly from it. We will use Elstadt as a front jumper to get up in the face of the hooker and disrupt, and Borthwick to target where the ball is being thrown to. On our throw, Borthwick will call the shots and we will look to play quickly, bringing Tim Visser in on occasions to the first receiver position to punch through the defensive line and recycle quickly.
3. Running Rugby. In great conditions we will look to run the ball at every opportunity. If isolated we will play the percentages and kick for territory, but so long as the player in possession of the ball has support, we will look to hit gaps in the defensive line and offload to support runners, and keep the ball alive as much as possible. Our mobile back row will look to really support the ball carrier and take offloads and drive forward staying on their feet allowing further support runners to get close to be offloaded to again.
4. Control possession. This links in with the running rugby. We will happily go through the phases and keep the ball. If we have it, Exeter can't score tries against us, and we are working on the theory of attack being the best form of defence.
Key Points
1. Right team for the conditions
We have gone for a mobile, but solid team, with strong ball carriers in the pack and pacy, elusive runner sin the backs. This is perfectly suited to the conditions and the tactics that we are going out to use.
2. In game form
We have one three out of four with our only loss coming at Welford Road, where we picked up the LBP. Our form is good, and we are full of confidence going into this game.
Harlequins v Sale Sharks
Sunny, 26 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
16. Matthew Rees 17. Kieran Brookes 18. Aston Croall 19. George Skivington 20. David Seymour 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Gareth Steenson 23. George Lowe
Tactics
In the pack we have picked a good set of forwards who will look to carry hard in the loose as well as work tirelessly at the set piece. We are looking to play a more expansive game than we have in previous weeks but we still want our forwards to be running hard of 10 and 12 to get us the quick ball we require for this quick tempo approach. We will look to carry the ball at pace and in numbers and will look to win the collisions and to offload when we can as this will keep the momentum of our attacks going.
We will look to use short lineouts when we can so that we have backrow options as carriers in the midfield. We are going to look to compete at every Sale lineout so that the pressure is always on their hookers and jumpers.
In the backs we are going to look to use the quick ball we get from the forwards to attack the spaces in the sale defence. Flutey and Joseph will look to pick lines at different angles all day which will hopefully keep the Sale defence honest and won't allow them to drift early. Burns has been picked to play flat and to play the game at pace. We will look to have him kick us into good field position and we will then look to attack at a fast tempo.
In defence we will look to play with a quick line speed and look to target the breakdown. We want to make it as difficult as possible for the Sale scrum half to get quick ball and our game plan here is to amake Sale commit more men to the breakdown than they want to. Our heavy players at prop and lock will look to really hit the rucks hard and Robinson will be looking to get turnover ball as often as he can. When we get turnovers ball we will look to spread the ball wide and use JJ, Roko and our other back 3 players to attack the unorganised Sale defence.
We are unbeaten and going strong and are at home. We have no intention of losing our unbeaten record in this game.
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Werner Kruger 19. Christian Day 20. Kai Horstmann 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Nick Abendanoon
Key Points
Breakdown
With two flankers with expertise at the breakdown today we will look to seriously target the breakdown. With our blitz defence stopping Quins before the gain line we will look to our pack, Todd and Lipman in particular, to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Burns is receiving and put him under serious pressure.
Lineout
We will look to use the lineout as a destructive weapon today. With Quins looking to shorten the line we will look to really disrupt with Sykes and Bekker. Sykes will look to jump at the front while Bekker follows Lund in the line. We want to put Brits under maximum pressure and get our hands on Quins throw in’s. As the pressure starts to build Cruden will kick to the corners where we will really look to attack and take advantage.
Target the 10/12/13 axis
We will target the Quins 10/12/13 axis on both attack and defence. Burns makes his first start of the season for Quins today and Joseph plays his 1st game at 13 putting a lot of pressure on Flutey at 12. On attack we will send our strong carriers down the 10/12 channel looking to get through the defensive line by either breaking the tackle or offloading to support runners. Our pacy runners will attack Josep’s positioning targeting the outside shoulder with decoy runners keeping the spare defenders occupied in order to ensure 1 on 1 match ups. Strettle and Masaga will come in from their wings to really target this. On defence we will rush up in the blitz, with our big tacklers looking to put serious pressure on the Harlequins 10/12/13 forcing mistakes and disjointed play.
Territory
In the final quarter, we will look to the boots of Cruden, Bezy and Barkley and play the game inside Harlequins territory forcing Quins to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the Quins lineout and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Quins into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from late on against tired legs.
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata are both strong scrummagers and will look to get at their man and really disrupt Quins putting the nudge on and providing us with a solid platform all game. 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 Quins forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Quins ball we will look for Sykes to get up in the air at the front of the line and Bekker to follow Lund in the line and disrupt the Quins lineout.
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 Quins boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if we are first to the breakdown or the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Lipman and 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 Quins ball allowing our defensive line more time to set and disrupting the quality of ball Burns is seeing at flyhalf.
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. Masaga will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our midfield looking for the ball on the offload.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Quins 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 Quins territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. We will look to take points away with us on every visit to the Quins 22.
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 Quins momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Quins 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 any 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.
Bath Rugby v Leicester Tigers
Sunny, 24 degrees, 10mph Winds
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16. Matt Thompson 17. Richard Skuse 18. James Currie 19. Tim Swinson 20. Guy Mercer 21. James Grindal 22. Richard Haughton 23. Steven Shingler
Attack
With the lovely conditions we will be looking to play a fast, expansive running game game. Charlie Hodgson will look to pull the strings at 10, being used to these conditions. Byron Kelleher will constantly look to snipe around the fringes, keeping Tigers players on their toes. Anthony Allen is going to look for gaps in midfield while Waldouck will play off his shoulder looking to get outside and use his pace. We want to control possession and get our back three into the game, running at Tigers.
Breakdown
Turnovers will be key as we look to control possession. We will look for fast attacks with Stefon Armitage controlling the breakdown. We will look to put lots of men in the in order to secure turnovers.
Set Pieces
Look to take points if they are on offer. In the lineout both Hoeata and Maestri are good options for the banker ball. We feel that Bruno’s throwing can be erratic and will look to pinch Tigers ball. At scrum time we will look to retain our own ball.
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Wyatt Crockett 17. Tom Youngs 18. Jonny Harris 19. Tom Denton 20. Andy Hazell 21. Scott Mathie 22. Dave Walder 23. Rupeni Caucaunibuca
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game, and looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown. We will look to get the likes of Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Bath's back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Bath midfield, in particular Waldouck, and believe if we target him with a strong defence he will be forced into making mistakes.
- B.James to kick all penalties in range.
- Use our impact players off the bench during the second half - get the likes of Crockett and Caucau into the game as much as possible when they come on as both are suited to our gameplan and the conditions.
FORWARDS:
- We will look to target the set-piece to get us good ball, in particular the lineout. We have three specialists in Brown, Joubert and Jack, and believe we can get real joy in targeting Ward's throws - with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack. Brown, Joubert and Jack will rotate on our ball to keep Bath guessing where our throws will be going.
- Scrum-time we will look to Dermody and Bruno to target Ward and PdP with some powerful scrummaging. Both Hobson and Bruno are 3 inches shorter then the opposite number, so we will look to them to provide a solid base and get underneath their opponents as much as possible. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our big carriers, led by the powerful Joubert, as well as Lund, Poff and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring. 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.
- We are playing with a left and right flanker - we will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Bath can get, and steal as much as we can for our own backs to use.
BACKS:
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. Using B.James, we want to play attacking, running rugby, and will look to our pacey back line to hit the gainline at speed from deep.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for B.James to use. 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.
- B.James comes in this week in place of Walder, and we hope to see a more expansive game. He is tasked with getting our strike runners into the game. He is given license to play what is in front of him - his long range passes and cross field kicks should keep Bath's defensive line guessing. If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, he will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Fritz shifts to 12 inside Yann David, who is a very powerful foil for him and these two both have great pace which we hope to use to hurt Bath. Nacewa is encouraged to come off his wing into midfield as well to keep Bath guessing. Poitrenaud, Ojo, Y.David and Nacewa provide us with explosive pace and this is a weapon we will look to use as much as possible.
- 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 or they are isolated, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
KEY POINTS:
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The hot, dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Jack, Joubert, B.James, Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa, Poitrenaud and Ojo, as well as Caucau and Crockett off the bench.
- Get after the Bath Lineout and scrum, with Brown, Jack and Joubert looking to steal with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack, and Dermody and Bruno getting the shove on come scrum time.
- Target the breakdown - Both Lund and Hazell to do all they can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use.
- If the game is tight, B.James will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- In-game form and confidence - We come off the back of a strong win against Saracens, and have started the season well, with 2 wins, and 2 narrow away defeats. We have scored 13 tries in 4 games, conceding only 6. Bath come off the back of a crushing 14 point loss to Gloucester, and have won just 1 game out of 4, scoring only 7 tries in the process, and conceding 14.
Newcastle Falcons v London Wasps
Sunny, 24 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
15. Joe Duffey 17. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Dan Hipkiss
We welcome Wasps to fortress Kingston off the back off a superb victory away to London Irish. In superb running conditions, we'll be looking to unleash our back 3 and attack Wasps from the off. We're 4 for 4 and full of confidence......we do not lose at home.
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. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch, controlling the tempo and looking for gaps in the Wasps backline. Our main area of dominanace this week is the backrow, halfbacks and back 3. We’ll look for massive carries from our backrow and look to get Pretorious quick ball to attack with. We’ll look to get the ball out wide whenever possible and get at the Wasps back 3.
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 when needed, whilst Juan Smith will marshall the rear of the lineout. Vermeulen will look to alternate middle/back depending on call.
If we target Wentzal and Chisolm we can really put pressure on Wasps throw. We have 5 good quality jumpers whilst Wasps have only 2. Wentzal will be the main man so we’ll look to put pressure on his front and back.
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. Flip & Smith will marshall the rucks, they will look to target any attempted slowing of our own ball and give Pretorious fast ball to feed Evans. Our big Boks will keep an eye on Fourie at the breakdon, as soon as he enters we’ll look to take him out.
ISOLATED RUNNERS –Our pack will look to get the contact area asap and join the tackle thus making a maul. With us in control of the tackle area or ruck as it is now, we’ll look to keep the runner up until the ref awards a scrum in out advantage. This is a system we used to success numerous times last season and deployed by the Irish (recently seen against Austrailia).
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. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the Leciester defence in. We’ll look to draw in the Leicester pack as much as possible to exploit possible one on ones in the backline where we have some serious gas.
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.
With two bruising Irish centres we’ll look to alternate our attacks. Payne will look to hold back and attack the line late with Evans attempting the grubber in behind the Irish centres. We’ll look to use this tactic to our advantage with Maitland/Smith being used also.
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. Benjamin/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:
- WASPS LINEOUT – Wentzal will be their main man….we’ll look to double up on him and keep an eye on Chisolm also.
- WASPS BACK 3 – We’ve swapped Maitland over to the right wing to target Cato who’s very suspect defensively. Evans will look to test out Cato also with the odd bomb whilst also looking to get the ball in behind him.
- DISCIPLINE – We will be on our best behaviour, especially in our own half. We will not look to get hands in the ruck or go off our feet. If Gopperth does not get attempts at goal, we take away much of the Wasps threat.
- OUT OF FORM PLAYERS - Chisolm & Juan Smith have been out similar time in real life
- HALFBACKS FOR CONDITIONS - Pretorious & Evans are supreme on the harder pitches, Pretorious was made for attacking the fringes and Evans is one of the best running flyhalfs about. We think our team is set out better to take advantage of glorious condtions and home advantage will be key
- HOME ADVANTAGE - A massive advantage for us. We do not lose at home and the intimidation that brings to travelling teams cannot be underestimated. We are in form and at home
MAJOR POINT
MOMENTUM – 4 wins from 4 and we have won every game at Kingston in over a year. This is a game for running rugby and we have gas in abundance in the backs.
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
16. Andy Titterell 17. Benn Robinson 18. Charlie Beech 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Steve Mafi 21. Martin Roberts 22. Rory Clegg 23. James Downey
Tactics
After winning our third game in a row last week against the Exeter Chiefs we feel we are building momentum nicely, we head to Newcastle feeling full of confidence. In good running conditions we will look to really take Newcastle head on and show them we mean serious business.
Our game plan is based around using the power we have in our team to set out a platform for our backs to be able to attack from. 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, getting us over the gain line. 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. We will look to recycle the ball efficiently within the pack working Newcastle hard in defence in the early stages.
We have three excellent kicking options in Gopperth, McAlister and Mortlock, any slow ball we have we will look to kick in behind the Newcastle wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and 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. Any turnovers we do make, we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Claassens with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Newcastle defence.
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 Newcastle 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. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence. We will look for Mortlock to stay strong in the contact area and either offload if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Newcastle defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible.
With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Newcastle players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Newcastle defence, hopefully opening them up. When possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence and pierce the gaps we have created. With quick ball and offloading we will look to create and expose mismatches in the midfield. Our mobile and dynamic back row will look to support our ball carriers, taking offloads and powerfully driving forward. We will ensure our ball carriers have plenty of support in each phase, so they we can continue to play an offloading game. Any loose kicks our back three get will be returned with interest.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Newcastle's throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Newcastle by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Newcastle defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to create a platform from the scrum, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep Newcastle going backwards. We will ensure our discipline is exemplary. We will play hard rugby but ensure we play by the rules, if we want to win discipline will be key.
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 Newcastle onto the back foot by winning the forward battle we will be able to unsettle them. We have won our last three games against three very good sides and feel that we are building up momentum, confidence is high and the team is settled, we feel that if we can execute the game plan we have in place we will be able to come away from Newcastle with a momentous victory. .
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Worcester Warriors v Northampton Saints
Sunny, 26 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd
| 01. Sylvain Marconnet | 09. Dwayne Peel |
| 02. Richardt Strauss | 10. Nicky Robinson |
| 03. BJ Botha | |
| 04. Ollie Kohn | 11. Julien Malzieu |
| 05. Kearnen Myall | 12. Sam Vesty (k) |
| 06. Julien Salvi | 13. Jon Clarke |
| 07. Martyn Williams (c) | 14. Marcel Garvey |
| 08. Sebastian Chabal | 15. Olly Morgan |
16. Tani Fuga 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Dom Barrow 20. Ben Morgan 21. Jordi Pasqualin 22. Gavin Henson 23. Antielia Tuilagi
Tactics
Forwards
We've picked a big front row to tackle the scrums and take as much ball from there as possible. Looking at our back 3 all are strong runners and Chabal will be looking to pick off of the scrums before feeding Peel into space. Williams and Salvi will look to get to the breakdown 2nd to take the open abll after the tight 5 have cleared the ruck. In the lineouts we have 5 players who are cpaable of jumping and Myall has stolen balls in the premiership this season so his target will be to disrupt the lineouts.
When in possession the tight 5 will keep it there for the first 20mins with the backs taking the ball if space is seen. Drawing in the defence is the aim here and we will protect the ball to prevent the turnovers. When we make it into the opposition 22 then the backs will be released to crash over.
Backs
Not going to see much ball at first and when they do we will target Giteau by sending Chabal and Clarke up his channel. The wingers may not see much ball as we look to kepe it near our pack and use the left and right boots of Robinson and Vesty to kick the ball deep into touch in their half making sure they cannot take the quick lineout and using Myall here. Wingers and Morgan will be asked to come in off their wings to hit the angles again targetting Giteau and, when Tuilagi comes on: Wade. Continuing his appearances we will give Henson the final 20 minutes looking to strat him in the lv cup.
Defence
The ball will not get past their centres with alot of pressure being put on 10-13 to stop the ball going out quick. Peel with hang back with Morgan to stop either wingers get away and clear any kicks. The forwards will seek for turnover ball and to ruffle their youngsters up.
Overall
- Forward orientated to begin with.
- Use Giteau as their revolving doors.
- Wingers to pick when to run.
- Budgen, Henson and Tuilagi to come on with 20mins to play direct rugby.
- Vesty to take penalties as and when.
- Pressurise their scrum and lineout.
- Enjoy the game, play agressive and WIN!!
- Not to get drawn into Chris' player bashing.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris
| 01. Thomas Domingo | 09. Charlie Davies |
| 02. Chris Whitehead | 10. Lionel Beauxis |
| 03. Carl Hayman | |
| 04. Dave Attwood | 11. Christian Wade |
| 05. Calum Clark | 12. Matt Giteau (c) |
| 06. Liam Messam | 13. Casey Lualala |
| 07. Alexandre Lapandy | 14. Siti Siviatu |
| 08. Simon Taylor | 15. Eerie Claasens |
Tactics
Tactics
Overview – we have picked a team that is ideal for the conditions and will look to play a high tempo, fast attacking game against a Worcester team we feel could tire as the match progresses. We will look to offload and attack space and allow Giteau to pull the strings in midfield.
Key points
* There are a number of old legs in the Worcester pack and we will really target this by playing a fast, expansive game and try tire Marconnet, Botha, Williams and Chabel, we will run the ball and cause the Worcester team to defend and make tackle after tackle wearing them out phase after phase.
* We’ve picked a team that will look to dominate the breakdown, players 4-8 are all mobile and apt at the dark arts and we have picked a bench that has Launchbury, Kankowski and Watson so we can keep targeting this area.
* Simon Taylor been selected at 8 to provide stability at the base of the scrum, feel he will provide Davies with a good platform to launch the backline.
* Freshened up the pack with Whitehead (great start for Exeter in real life), Clark, Lapandy coming in, and have a bench that can make a real impact – think each player (exception of Baker) is an impact sub.
* Will use Mason to come on at 12 in final 20mins with Giteau switching to 10 and Cipriani replacing Claasens at 15 – the idea being that Mason will target Henson (see BaaBaas game) and bring his offloading game into play, which is why Cips comes on as a backthree of Wade, Siviatu and Cipriani has pace to cause damage to a tired Worcester defence.
* Allow Worcester to target Giteau as the “revolving door” and will ask Giteau to target the ball in the tackle and look to stop Vesty and Clarke from going to ground – he will then be supported by Messam and co, with the view to keeping the Worcester players on their feet, stiffling the attack and then winning the scrum (exactly how the Irish played against the Aussies).
* Take all points on offer, but espcially look to move the ball around the park and take the legs out of Worcester.
Forwards – Set Piece & Breakdown
We have a strong front row, which is needed away from home and see our second row as even. At scrum time we will look to get Simon Taylor anchoring the scrum and putting a big push in to get our scrum moving forwards. We’ve picked Taylor to start for a number of reasons (i) he provides very good control at the back of the scrum to help Charlie Davies through the game and (ii) we saw Chabel was selected and will look to use Taylor to hit Chabel back in the tackle area.
We will look to get a shove on in the scrum and force Chabal into errors at the base of the scrum, Davies has asked to be a pest and niggle at Chabels feet at the base – we want to force the talismatic Frenchman into mistakes.
The conditions mean that we will be able to utilise more than two jumpers as in previous weeks (too windy) – so will look for a varied lineout with Attwood, Clark, Messam, Lapandy and Taylor and try and get quick ball from Clark and Taylor for the backs.
Defensively at the lineout we are going to try something a bit different when we are not defending in our 22 – we will get Davies to stand in the 5 metre channel (as a hooker would do) – and then bring the Whitehead (or Webber) into the lineout itself and move Messam into the midfield to target the Worcester backs head on. We want him to strip ball or hold up Worcester players in the tackle area to force turnover ball, especlally putting pressure on Robinson.
At the breakdown we will look to target this in numbers and force, we feel we have a quicker, fitter team than Worcester and will be able to get to the breakdown first, or in more numbers first. If the turnover is on then we will put numbers in, but if Worcester have secured the ball we will then use the backrow to guard the fringes and stop Peel attacking there.
Backs
We will be playing a quick, expansive and high tempo game – we feel that Worcester have the ideal tactics if it wasn’t so sunny and warm. The team that attacks most will score more tries and get more points. We are going to attack and everything will be controlled by Giteau’s experience at 12.
We will look to move the ball wide, with our wingers changes wings to keep the defence guessing and to get over the gainline Giteau will bring in the runners in the pack and use Lualala and Siviatu after sucking in defenders. Due to the defensive patterns of Worcester we will look to bring Claasens into the game as often as possible on dummy runs, which will cause Worcester to think twice about over committing their defence at our midfield.
Davies has been selected as he offers more of a running game than Commins, and has been asked to keep it simple and rely on his pack for pick up and goes and then get the ball to Beauxis to launch attacks.
When Worcester are playing into the sun we will get Beauxis and Giteau to launch aerial bombardments on Morgan with Christian Wade being asked to put pressure on the catcher with his speed before a second wave of defenders comes in.
Defence
In this game we are going to be using the age old maxim – attack is the best form of defence, and will look to run Worcester ragged and tire them down and make tackles for the 80mins.
The tactics above outline a number of new approaches to our defence (see lineout of bringing Messam into our backline and Davies in 5m channel) and keeping the Worcester backline on their feet in the tackle area and forcing the ref to give Saints the scrum because they have not hit the ground.
Gloucester Rugby v London Irish
Sunny, 26 Degrees, 9mph Winds
Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt
| 01. Wood | 09. Lewis |
| 02. Strauss | 10. Donald |
| 03. Johnstone | |
| 04. Schofield | 11. Gear |
| 05. Robson | 12. Tuitopu |
| 06. Deacon | 13. May |
| 07. Saull | 14. Simpson Daniels |
| 08. Johnson | 15. Sharples |
Tactics
Weather is here and Gloucester will not be looking to play that differently we play a quick tempo game and this will not change however the conditions will suit the quickest backline in the game. 9 to 15 are quicksilver and we will look to do damage.
Set piece
Gloucester will look to dominate we have 3 ball carrying mobile scrummaging lumps with proven engine room behind.
We also have gone for a dynamic front row bench with Fourie, coonie and harden who was instrumental in glaws pushing bath over the line twice in the real AP last week able to come on. Will Irish be able to bring on such dynamic ball carriers in front row.
Lineouts - Gloucester have 5 jumpers And will target Irish and pressure bucklands throw. On our own ball we will drive in our own half and look to suck them In before isolating our backs against them.
In their half we will shorten the lineout to 5 often and
Look to hit AJ with quick ball. He is the star Player in curry cup as he was in super 15 and will look to smash and then offload or create quick ball for the backs.
Backs. Tempo tempo tempo. Lewis will look to let Donald make the decisions by hitting him quick. Donald will hit tuitopu short and then get wingers to run in the hole and look to get the offload.
We will also be looking to get may on the outside break as he can gas any 13.
The bomb will be employed especially when they are staring Into the sun.
Donald will be looking for mismatches all day and as the Game breaks up quick throws and Counter Attacks are on with sharples jsd and gear
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Matias Aguero | 09. Julien Dupuy |
| 02. James Buckland | 10. Daniel Bowden |
| 03. WP Nel | |
| 04. Matt Garvey | 11. Paul Sackey |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sireli Naqalevuki |
| 06. Keegan Daniel | 13. Matthew Tait |
| 07. Hendrie Fourie | 14. Bjorn Basson |
| 08. Xavier Rush | 15. Zane Kirchner |
16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Dean Mumm 20. Joe Worsley 21. Neal De Kock 22. Guy Armitage 23. Juan Martin Hernandez
Tactics
In good conditions, we want to play an attacking, running game. We have the perfect man at 10 for this, Bowden is on superb form and will ignite our backline. Outside him he has another player on superb form in Naqalevuki and we will look to use this 10/12 combo to really attack Gloucester. Naqa will make the hard yards and we will use Tait running off him to gather offloads and be put through gaps. Dupuy and Bowden will play what is infront of them and mix up the attacking plays, with Bowden being the main orchestrator. We will not kick loose ball back to Glos as they have some pace in the backs, we will instead look to run the ball back with intent. If we have to kick from our own 22, we will make sure we go for touch where we have good lineout options, with Kennedy being the main man to disrupt opposition ball and gather our own lineout ball. Garvey offers another good lineout option as well as Daniel who will be used.
We will look to use the scrum and lineout as attacking platforms, and use set moves to break through the Glos line. Naqa will sometimes act as a decoy runner and suck in defenders to allow more space to get Tait and Basson running in to.
We see the breakdown as an area we can get big success. Fourie will be straight in if the ball is there to be won. We will use Garvey, Rush, Nel to clear out and get quick ball as soon as possible. This is where Bowden is at his most dangerous and we want to get as much clean and quick ball to him as possible. We will look to stifle oppostion ball and slow their play down, as there backs will rely on quick ball.
If we sometimes have to settle for slow ball, we have big ball carriers like Rush, Garvey, Nel and Naqalevuki to get us over the gain line. We then have Mumm and Briggs to bring off the bench to provide fresh legs and carrying options.
Dupuy will take all kickable penalties, and go for touch if out of range. Defensively we will get up in Glos face and not let them gain momentum. We have some mobile forwards like Garvey, Kennedy, Daniel, Fourie, Nel who are all great in the loose and will tackle all game long. Tuitopu lacks gametime and form in real life and we will look for Naqa to put pressure on him and disrupt Gloucesters 10/12 axis. If we can disrupt the flow of their game and starve them of good ball, we feel we can claim a good away win.
Exeter Chiefs v Saracens
Sunny, 22 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
| 01. Brett Sturgess | 09. Tomas O’Leary |
| 02. Neil Clark | 10. George Ford |
| 03. Hoani Tui | |
| 04. Tommy Hayes | 11. Luke Fitzgerald |
| 05. Peter Short | 12. Regan King |
| 06. Ben Skirving | 13. Alex Grove |
| 07. Carl Fearns | 14. Matt Smith |
| 08. Johnnie Beattie | 15. Luke Arscott |
ATTACK
Exeter to play aggressive up front rugby in the front 5 working the phases to secure quick ball and rucking past the tackled player and giving TOL quick ball to hit ford on the gain line.
Offensive lineout
We will look to keep Sarries guessing here - mixing it up throwing to Short , Hayes , Skirving and Beattie.
We will use short lines and put our big runners up the midfield using Hayes as banker ball.
DEFENCE
Big blitz defence to rattle sarries running backs with a few big hits early doors questioning the temperament of of the Sarries backs.
King and Grove will look to hit Farrell and 36 knowing they both have aggressive personalities and draw them out of there line give space for Fitzgerald , Arscott to pick lines of them or for King/Grove to simply step the defender.
- Ford to kick early penalties and build a lead.
- TOL to tap and go and and sneak the extra 10 yards and set the tempo.
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
| 01. Matt Mullan | 09. Shaun Perry |
| 02. Gary Botha | 10. Iain Humphreys |
| 03. Brok James | |
| 04. Rynhard Elstadt | 11. Rene Ranger |
| 05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Owen Farrell |
| 06. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 13. Henry Trinder |
| 07. George Smith | 14. Tim Visser |
| 08. Rodney So'oialo | 15. Alex Goode |
16. George Chuter 17. Alex Waller 18. Phil Swainston 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Tom Homer
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Exeter Chiefs
1. Target the 10-12 channel in attack. Ford is still growing and whilst he does get stuck in, he is physically not there yet in terms of stopping big carriers. He also has King outside him, who is a natural 13 rather than 12 and not a great defender. We will look to put the carriers in our pack, along with Tim Visser coming off his wing, down this channel. Once across the gainline we will look to get quick ball and get our pacier backs through the gaps that this will create.
2. Target the lineout as an attacking platform. When kicking we will kick for touch and look to really attack the Chiefs lineout in their territory. We will contest everything and look to win their ball and attack quickly from it. We will use Elstadt as a front jumper to get up in the face of the hooker and disrupt, and Borthwick to target where the ball is being thrown to. On our throw, Borthwick will call the shots and we will look to play quickly, bringing Tim Visser in on occasions to the first receiver position to punch through the defensive line and recycle quickly.
3. Running Rugby. In great conditions we will look to run the ball at every opportunity. If isolated we will play the percentages and kick for territory, but so long as the player in possession of the ball has support, we will look to hit gaps in the defensive line and offload to support runners, and keep the ball alive as much as possible. Our mobile back row will look to really support the ball carrier and take offloads and drive forward staying on their feet allowing further support runners to get close to be offloaded to again.
4. Control possession. This links in with the running rugby. We will happily go through the phases and keep the ball. If we have it, Exeter can't score tries against us, and we are working on the theory of attack being the best form of defence.
Key Points
1. Right team for the conditions
We have gone for a mobile, but solid team, with strong ball carriers in the pack and pacy, elusive runner sin the backs. This is perfectly suited to the conditions and the tactics that we are going out to use.
2. In game form
We have one three out of four with our only loss coming at Welford Road, where we picked up the LBP. Our form is good, and we are full of confidence going into this game.
Harlequins v Sale Sharks
Sunny, 26 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
| 01. Ceri Jones | 09. Lee Dickson (c) |
| 02. Schalk Brits | 10. Freddie Burns (k) |
| 03. Brian Mujati | |
| 04. Jerome Thion | 11. Joe Rokocoko |
| 05. Erik Lund | 12. Riki Flutey |
| 06. Phil Dowson | 13. Jonathan Joseph |
| 07. Beau Robinson | 14. Peter Hynes |
| 08. Chris Henry | 15. Luke Morahan |
16. Matthew Rees 17. Kieran Brookes 18. Aston Croall 19. George Skivington 20. David Seymour 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Gareth Steenson 23. George Lowe
Tactics
In the pack we have picked a good set of forwards who will look to carry hard in the loose as well as work tirelessly at the set piece. We are looking to play a more expansive game than we have in previous weeks but we still want our forwards to be running hard of 10 and 12 to get us the quick ball we require for this quick tempo approach. We will look to carry the ball at pace and in numbers and will look to win the collisions and to offload when we can as this will keep the momentum of our attacks going.
We will look to use short lineouts when we can so that we have backrow options as carriers in the midfield. We are going to look to compete at every Sale lineout so that the pressure is always on their hookers and jumpers.
In the backs we are going to look to use the quick ball we get from the forwards to attack the spaces in the sale defence. Flutey and Joseph will look to pick lines at different angles all day which will hopefully keep the Sale defence honest and won't allow them to drift early. Burns has been picked to play flat and to play the game at pace. We will look to have him kick us into good field position and we will then look to attack at a fast tempo.
In defence we will look to play with a quick line speed and look to target the breakdown. We want to make it as difficult as possible for the Sale scrum half to get quick ball and our game plan here is to amake Sale commit more men to the breakdown than they want to. Our heavy players at prop and lock will look to really hit the rucks hard and Robinson will be looking to get turnover ball as often as he can. When we get turnovers ball we will look to spread the ball wide and use JJ, Roko and our other back 3 players to attack the unorganised Sale defence.
We are unbeaten and going strong and are at home. We have no intention of losing our unbeaten record in this game.
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. Matt Todd | 13. Robbie Freuen |
| 07. Michael Lipman | 14. Lelia Masaga |
| 08. Jordan Crane | 15. Luke Rooney |
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Werner Kruger 19. Christian Day 20. Kai Horstmann 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Nick Abendanoon
Key Points
Breakdown
With two flankers with expertise at the breakdown today we will look to seriously target the breakdown. With our blitz defence stopping Quins before the gain line we will look to our pack, Todd and Lipman in particular, to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Burns is receiving and put him under serious pressure.
Lineout
We will look to use the lineout as a destructive weapon today. With Quins looking to shorten the line we will look to really disrupt with Sykes and Bekker. Sykes will look to jump at the front while Bekker follows Lund in the line. We want to put Brits under maximum pressure and get our hands on Quins throw in’s. As the pressure starts to build Cruden will kick to the corners where we will really look to attack and take advantage.
Target the 10/12/13 axis
We will target the Quins 10/12/13 axis on both attack and defence. Burns makes his first start of the season for Quins today and Joseph plays his 1st game at 13 putting a lot of pressure on Flutey at 12. On attack we will send our strong carriers down the 10/12 channel looking to get through the defensive line by either breaking the tackle or offloading to support runners. Our pacy runners will attack Josep’s positioning targeting the outside shoulder with decoy runners keeping the spare defenders occupied in order to ensure 1 on 1 match ups. Strettle and Masaga will come in from their wings to really target this. On defence we will rush up in the blitz, with our big tacklers looking to put serious pressure on the Harlequins 10/12/13 forcing mistakes and disjointed play.
Territory
In the final quarter, we will look to the boots of Cruden, Bezy and Barkley and play the game inside Harlequins territory forcing Quins to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the Quins lineout and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Quins into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from late on against tired legs.
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata are both strong scrummagers and will look to get at their man and really disrupt Quins putting the nudge on and providing us with a solid platform all game. 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 Quins forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Quins ball we will look for Sykes to get up in the air at the front of the line and Bekker to follow Lund in the line and disrupt the Quins lineout.
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 Quins boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if we are first to the breakdown or the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Lipman and 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 Quins ball allowing our defensive line more time to set and disrupting the quality of ball Burns is seeing at flyhalf.
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. Masaga will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our midfield looking for the ball on the offload.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Quins 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 Quins territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. We will look to take points away with us on every visit to the Quins 22.
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 Quins momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Quins 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 any 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.
Bath Rugby v Leicester Tigers
Sunny, 24 degrees, 10mph Winds
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. Jarrad Hoeata | 12. Anthony Allen |
| 06.Tom Guest | 13. Dominic Waldouck |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Gehard Van Der Heever |
| 08. Gareth Delve | 15. Tim Nanai Williams |
16. Matt Thompson 17. Richard Skuse 18. James Currie 19. Tim Swinson 20. Guy Mercer 21. James Grindal 22. Richard Haughton 23. Steven Shingler
Attack
With the lovely conditions we will be looking to play a fast, expansive running game game. Charlie Hodgson will look to pull the strings at 10, being used to these conditions. Byron Kelleher will constantly look to snipe around the fringes, keeping Tigers players on their toes. Anthony Allen is going to look for gaps in midfield while Waldouck will play off his shoulder looking to get outside and use his pace. We want to control possession and get our back three into the game, running at Tigers.
Breakdown
Turnovers will be key as we look to control possession. We will look for fast attacks with Stefon Armitage controlling the breakdown. We will look to put lots of men in the in order to secure turnovers.
Set Pieces
Look to take points if they are on offer. In the lineout both Hoeata and Maestri are good options for the banker ball. We feel that Bruno’s throwing can be erratic and will look to pinch Tigers ball. At scrum time we will look to retain our own ball.
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Clarke Dermody | 09. Micky Young |
| 02. Sebastien Bruno | 10. Brock James (k) |
| 03. Jason Hobson | |
| 04. Chris Jack (c) | 11. Isa Nacewa |
| 05. Alex Brown | 12. Florian Fritz |
| 06. Magnus Lund | 13. Yann David |
| 07. Jonathan Poff | 14. Topsy Ojo |
| 08. Ernst Joubert | 15. Clement Poitrenaud |
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game, and looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown. We will look to get the likes of Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Bath's back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Bath midfield, in particular Waldouck, and believe if we target him with a strong defence he will be forced into making mistakes.
- B.James to kick all penalties in range.
- Use our impact players off the bench during the second half - get the likes of Crockett and Caucau into the game as much as possible when they come on as both are suited to our gameplan and the conditions.
FORWARDS:
- We will look to target the set-piece to get us good ball, in particular the lineout. We have three specialists in Brown, Joubert and Jack, and believe we can get real joy in targeting Ward's throws - with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack. Brown, Joubert and Jack will rotate on our ball to keep Bath guessing where our throws will be going.
- Scrum-time we will look to Dermody and Bruno to target Ward and PdP with some powerful scrummaging. Both Hobson and Bruno are 3 inches shorter then the opposite number, so we will look to them to provide a solid base and get underneath their opponents as much as possible. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our big carriers, led by the powerful Joubert, as well as Lund, Poff and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring. 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.
- We are playing with a left and right flanker - we will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Bath can get, and steal as much as we can for our own backs to use.
BACKS:
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. Using B.James, we want to play attacking, running rugby, and will look to our pacey back line to hit the gainline at speed from deep.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for B.James to use. 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.
- B.James comes in this week in place of Walder, and we hope to see a more expansive game. He is tasked with getting our strike runners into the game. He is given license to play what is in front of him - his long range passes and cross field kicks should keep Bath's defensive line guessing. If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, he will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Fritz shifts to 12 inside Yann David, who is a very powerful foil for him and these two both have great pace which we hope to use to hurt Bath. Nacewa is encouraged to come off his wing into midfield as well to keep Bath guessing. Poitrenaud, Ojo, Y.David and Nacewa provide us with explosive pace and this is a weapon we will look to use as much as possible.
- 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 or they are isolated, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
KEY POINTS:
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The hot, dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Jack, Joubert, B.James, Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa, Poitrenaud and Ojo, as well as Caucau and Crockett off the bench.
- Get after the Bath Lineout and scrum, with Brown, Jack and Joubert looking to steal with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack, and Dermody and Bruno getting the shove on come scrum time.
- Target the breakdown - Both Lund and Hazell to do all they can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use.
- If the game is tight, B.James will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- In-game form and confidence - We come off the back of a strong win against Saracens, and have started the season well, with 2 wins, and 2 narrow away defeats. We have scored 13 tries in 4 games, conceding only 6. Bath come off the back of a crushing 14 point loss to Gloucester, and have won just 1 game out of 4, scoring only 7 tries in the process, and conceding 14.
Newcastle Falcons v London Wasps
Sunny, 24 Degrees, 10mph Winds
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. Miles Benjamin |
| 05. Juandre Kruger | 12. Brad Barritt |
| 06. Juan Smith(c) | 13. Jared Payne |
| 07. Chris Robshaw | 14. Sean Maitland |
| 08. Duane Vermeulen | 15. Ben Smith |
15. Joe Duffey 17. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Dan Hipkiss
We welcome Wasps to fortress Kingston off the back off a superb victory away to London Irish. In superb running conditions, we'll be looking to unleash our back 3 and attack Wasps from the off. We're 4 for 4 and full of confidence......we do not lose at home.
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. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch, controlling the tempo and looking for gaps in the Wasps backline. Our main area of dominanace this week is the backrow, halfbacks and back 3. We’ll look for massive carries from our backrow and look to get Pretorious quick ball to attack with. We’ll look to get the ball out wide whenever possible and get at the Wasps back 3.
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 when needed, whilst Juan Smith will marshall the rear of the lineout. Vermeulen will look to alternate middle/back depending on call.
If we target Wentzal and Chisolm we can really put pressure on Wasps throw. We have 5 good quality jumpers whilst Wasps have only 2. Wentzal will be the main man so we’ll look to put pressure on his front and back.
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. Flip & Smith will marshall the rucks, they will look to target any attempted slowing of our own ball and give Pretorious fast ball to feed Evans. Our big Boks will keep an eye on Fourie at the breakdon, as soon as he enters we’ll look to take him out.
ISOLATED RUNNERS –Our pack will look to get the contact area asap and join the tackle thus making a maul. With us in control of the tackle area or ruck as it is now, we’ll look to keep the runner up until the ref awards a scrum in out advantage. This is a system we used to success numerous times last season and deployed by the Irish (recently seen against Austrailia).
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. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the Leciester defence in. We’ll look to draw in the Leicester pack as much as possible to exploit possible one on ones in the backline where we have some serious gas.
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.
With two bruising Irish centres we’ll look to alternate our attacks. Payne will look to hold back and attack the line late with Evans attempting the grubber in behind the Irish centres. We’ll look to use this tactic to our advantage with Maitland/Smith being used also.
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. Benjamin/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:
- WASPS LINEOUT – Wentzal will be their main man….we’ll look to double up on him and keep an eye on Chisolm also.
- WASPS BACK 3 – We’ve swapped Maitland over to the right wing to target Cato who’s very suspect defensively. Evans will look to test out Cato also with the odd bomb whilst also looking to get the ball in behind him.
- DISCIPLINE – We will be on our best behaviour, especially in our own half. We will not look to get hands in the ruck or go off our feet. If Gopperth does not get attempts at goal, we take away much of the Wasps threat.
- OUT OF FORM PLAYERS - Chisolm & Juan Smith have been out similar time in real life
- HALFBACKS FOR CONDITIONS - Pretorious & Evans are supreme on the harder pitches, Pretorious was made for attacking the fringes and Evans is one of the best running flyhalfs about. We think our team is set out better to take advantage of glorious condtions and home advantage will be key
- HOME ADVANTAGE - A massive advantage for us. We do not lose at home and the intimidation that brings to travelling teams cannot be underestimated. We are in form and at home
MAJOR POINT
MOMENTUM – 4 wins from 4 and we have won every game at Kingston in over a year. This is a game for running rugby and we have gas in abundance in the backs.
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
| 01. Perry Freshwater | 09. Michael Claassens |
| 02. Joe Gray | 10. Jimmy Gopperth |
| 03. Carlos Nieto | |
| 04. Mark Chisholm | 11. Noah Cato |
| 05. Marco Wentzel | 12. Luke McAlister |
| 06. Tom Johnson | 13. Stirling Mortlock (c) |
| 07. Deon Stegmann | 14. Tom Williams |
| 08. Roger Wilson | 15. Mike Brown |
16. Andy Titterell 17. Benn Robinson 18. Charlie Beech 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Steve Mafi 21. Martin Roberts 22. Rory Clegg 23. James Downey
Tactics
After winning our third game in a row last week against the Exeter Chiefs we feel we are building momentum nicely, we head to Newcastle feeling full of confidence. In good running conditions we will look to really take Newcastle head on and show them we mean serious business.
Our game plan is based around using the power we have in our team to set out a platform for our backs to be able to attack from. 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, getting us over the gain line. 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. We will look to recycle the ball efficiently within the pack working Newcastle hard in defence in the early stages.
We have three excellent kicking options in Gopperth, McAlister and Mortlock, any slow ball we have we will look to kick in behind the Newcastle wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and 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. Any turnovers we do make, we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Claassens with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Newcastle defence.
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 Newcastle 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. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence. We will look for Mortlock to stay strong in the contact area and either offload if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Newcastle defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible.
With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Newcastle players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Newcastle defence, hopefully opening them up. When possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence and pierce the gaps we have created. With quick ball and offloading we will look to create and expose mismatches in the midfield. Our mobile and dynamic back row will look to support our ball carriers, taking offloads and powerfully driving forward. We will ensure our ball carriers have plenty of support in each phase, so they we can continue to play an offloading game. Any loose kicks our back three get will be returned with interest.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Newcastle's throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Newcastle by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Newcastle defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to create a platform from the scrum, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep Newcastle going backwards. We will ensure our discipline is exemplary. We will play hard rugby but ensure we play by the rules, if we want to win discipline will be key.
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 Newcastle onto the back foot by winning the forward battle we will be able to unsettle them. We have won our last three games against three very good sides and feel that we are building up momentum, confidence is high and the team is settled, we feel that if we can execute the game plan we have in place we will be able to come away from Newcastle with a momentous victory. .
Last edited by SirJohnnyEnglish on Fri 30 Sep - 9:24; edited 4 times in total
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
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Age : 36
Location : Limerick
Re: AP Round 5
by Sgt_Pooly Mon 26 Sep - 10:18
Is this the heateave Johnny? Better breakout the running rugby!
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
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Join date : 2011-04-19
Age : 40
Location : London
Re: AP Round 5
by dammit_chris Mon 26 Sep - 18:04
At last running rugby to set my backs free! Have been waiting for this 
dammit_chris- Posts : 8685
Join date : 2011-05-03
Re: AP Round 5
by LukeLovesLuka Mon 26 Sep - 19:04
Arry still doing it old school with the Marker. Used to be crap the way you had to mark a page.
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
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Re: AP Round 5
by 'Arry Mon 26 Sep - 19:36
I always mark match pages now just a habit. Really looking forward to my game with Pooly!
'Arry- Posts : 864
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Age : 29
Re: AP Round 5
by Sgt_Pooly Mon 26 Sep - 19:40
Should be a good one mate, good conditions to get the backs involved!
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Re: AP Round 5
by Guest Mon 26 Sep - 19:44
could see coonie at tigh head this week. he has been a revelation there and it may well be his preferred position. He bagged a another try there on the weekend
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 5
by 'Arry Mon 26 Sep - 19:47
Very good conditions mate, also good conditions for dynamic ball carriers such as Tom Johnson 
'Arry- Posts : 864
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Re: AP Round 5
by Driver Mon 26 Sep - 20:44
Exeter Chiefs team for Saracens
Exeter Chiefs welcome last years AP runners up Saracens to Sandy park in what looks to an exciting encounter. Exeter make plenty of changes to the starting team from last week which lost out to high flying London Wasps. Neil Clark , Peter Short , Johnnie Beattie , Alex Grove and Tomas O’Leary all come in for Ben Kayser , James Hudson, Declan Danahar , Adam Powell and Haydn Thomas whilst Hoani Tui is reunited with Neil Clark and Brett Sturgess in the same front row that claimed the championship title. George Ford also gets the nod at 10.
1.Brett Sturgess
2.Neil Clark
3.Hoani Tui
4.Tommy Hayes
5.Peter Short
6.Ben Skirving
7.Carl Fearns
8.Johnnie Beattie
9.Tomas O’Leary
10.George Ford
11.Luke Fitzgerald
12.Regan King
13.Alex Grove
14.Matt Smith
15.Luke Arscott
16.Ben Kayser 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Juan Orlandi 18.James Hudson 19.Marty Holah 20.Haydn Thomas 21.Steven Myler 22.Ben Blair
Exeter Chiefs welcome last years AP runners up Saracens to Sandy park in what looks to an exciting encounter. Exeter make plenty of changes to the starting team from last week which lost out to high flying London Wasps. Neil Clark , Peter Short , Johnnie Beattie , Alex Grove and Tomas O’Leary all come in for Ben Kayser , James Hudson, Declan Danahar , Adam Powell and Haydn Thomas whilst Hoani Tui is reunited with Neil Clark and Brett Sturgess in the same front row that claimed the championship title. George Ford also gets the nod at 10.
1.Brett Sturgess
2.Neil Clark
3.Hoani Tui
4.Tommy Hayes
5.Peter Short
6.Ben Skirving
7.Carl Fearns
8.Johnnie Beattie
9.Tomas O’Leary
10.George Ford
11.Luke Fitzgerald
12.Regan King
13.Alex Grove
14.Matt Smith
15.Luke Arscott
16.Ben Kayser 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Juan Orlandi 18.James Hudson 19.Marty Holah 20.Haydn Thomas 21.Steven Myler 22.Ben Blair
Driver- Posts : 11038
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Re: AP Round 5
by LukeLovesLuka Tue 27 Sep - 10:06
Leicester Tigers have made five changes to the side that beat Saracens last week.
Manager LukeLovesLuka said "we've been rotating a bit over the first few weeks, and today is no different. We've given the back line a bit of a shake up, and hope it gives us some great attacking rugby, and given a couple of the front row a rest.
The two changes in the front row see Clarke (Dermody) and Jason (Hobson) come in to give us some fresh impetous up front.
We've gone for a very exciting back line, with new signings Brock (James) and Topsy (Ojo) coming in, and Yann (David) starting at 13 with Florian (Fritz) moving to 12.
We've been playing this set up in training, and some of the lines being run were fantastic. We're looking in good shape for our visit to the Rec."
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Wyatt Crockett 17. Tom Youngs 18. Jonny Harris 19. Tom Denton 20. Andy Hazell 21. Scott Mathie 22. Dave Walder 23. Rupeni Caucaunibuca
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game, and looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown. We will look to get the likes of Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Bath's back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Bath midfield, in particular Waldouck, and believe if we target him with a strong defence he will be forced into making mistakes.
- B.James to kick all penalties in range.
- Use our impact players off the bench during the second half - get the likes of Crockett and Caucau into the game as much as possible when they come on as both are suited to our gameplan and the conditions.
FORWARDS:
- We will look to target the set-piece to get us good ball, in particular the lineout. We have three specialists in Brown, Joubert and Jack, and believe we can get real joy in targeting Ward's throws - with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack. Brown, Joubert and Jack will rotate on our ball to keep Bath guessing where our throws will be going.
- Scrum-time we will look to Dermody and Bruno to target Ward and PdP with some powerful scrummaging. Both Hobson and Bruno are 3 inches shorter then the opposite number, so we will look to them to provide a solid base and get underneath their opponents as much as possible. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our big carriers, led by the powerful Joubert, as well as Lund, Poff and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring. 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.
- We are playing with a left and right flanker - we will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Bath can get, and steal as much as we can for our own backs to use.
BACKS:
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. Using B.James, we want to play attacking, running rugby, and will look to our pacey back line to hit the gainline at speed from deep.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for B.James to use. 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.
- B.James comes in this week in place of Walder, and we hope to see a more expansive game. He is tasked with getting our strike runners into the game. He is given license to play what is in front of him - his long range passes and cross field kicks should keep Bath's defensive line guessing. If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, he will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Fritz shifts to 12 inside Yann David, who is a very powerful foil for him and these two both have great pace which we hope to use to hurt Bath. Nacewa is encouraged to come off his wing into midfield as well to keep Bath guessing. Poitrenaud, Ojo, Y.David and Nacewa provide us with explosive pace and this is a weapon we will look to use as much as possible.
- 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 or they are isolated, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
KEY POINTS:
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The hot, dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Jack, Joubert, B.James, Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa, Poitrenaud and Ojo, as well as Caucau and Crockett off the bench.
- Get after the Bath Lineout and scrum, with Brown, Jack and Joubert looking to steal with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack, and Dermody and Bruno getting the shove on come scrum time.
- Target the breakdown - Both Lund and Hazell to do all they can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use.
- If the game is tight, B.James will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- In-game form and confidence - We come off the back of a strong win against Saracens, and have started the season well, with 2 wins, and 2 narrow away defeats. We have scored 13 tries in 4 games, conceding only 6. Bath come off the back of a crushing 14 point loss to Gloucester, and have won just 1 game out of 4, scoring only 7 tries in the process, and conceding 14.
Manager LukeLovesLuka said "we've been rotating a bit over the first few weeks, and today is no different. We've given the back line a bit of a shake up, and hope it gives us some great attacking rugby, and given a couple of the front row a rest.
The two changes in the front row see Clarke (Dermody) and Jason (Hobson) come in to give us some fresh impetous up front.
We've gone for a very exciting back line, with new signings Brock (James) and Topsy (Ojo) coming in, and Yann (David) starting at 13 with Florian (Fritz) moving to 12.
We've been playing this set up in training, and some of the lines being run were fantastic. We're looking in good shape for our visit to the Rec."
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Clarke Dermody | 09. Micky Young |
| 02. Sebastien Bruno | 10. Brock James (k) |
| 03. Jason Hobson | |
| 04. Chris Jack (c) | 11. Isa Nacewa |
| 05. Alex Brown | 12. Florian Fritz |
| 06. Magnus Lund | 13. Yann David |
| 07. Jonathan Poff | 14. Topsy Ojo |
| 08. Ernst Joubert | 15. Clement Poitrenaud |
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game, and looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown. We will look to get the likes of Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Bath's back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Bath midfield, in particular Waldouck, and believe if we target him with a strong defence he will be forced into making mistakes.
- B.James to kick all penalties in range.
- Use our impact players off the bench during the second half - get the likes of Crockett and Caucau into the game as much as possible when they come on as both are suited to our gameplan and the conditions.
FORWARDS:
- We will look to target the set-piece to get us good ball, in particular the lineout. We have three specialists in Brown, Joubert and Jack, and believe we can get real joy in targeting Ward's throws - with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack. Brown, Joubert and Jack will rotate on our ball to keep Bath guessing where our throws will be going.
- Scrum-time we will look to Dermody and Bruno to target Ward and PdP with some powerful scrummaging. Both Hobson and Bruno are 3 inches shorter then the opposite number, so we will look to them to provide a solid base and get underneath their opponents as much as possible. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our big carriers, led by the powerful Joubert, as well as Lund, Poff and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring. 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.
- We are playing with a left and right flanker - we will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Bath can get, and steal as much as we can for our own backs to use.
BACKS:
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. Using B.James, we want to play attacking, running rugby, and will look to our pacey back line to hit the gainline at speed from deep.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for B.James to use. 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.
- B.James comes in this week in place of Walder, and we hope to see a more expansive game. He is tasked with getting our strike runners into the game. He is given license to play what is in front of him - his long range passes and cross field kicks should keep Bath's defensive line guessing. If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, he will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Fritz shifts to 12 inside Yann David, who is a very powerful foil for him and these two both have great pace which we hope to use to hurt Bath. Nacewa is encouraged to come off his wing into midfield as well to keep Bath guessing. Poitrenaud, Ojo, Y.David and Nacewa provide us with explosive pace and this is a weapon we will look to use as much as possible.
- 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 or they are isolated, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
KEY POINTS:
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The hot, dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Jack, Joubert, B.James, Fritz, Y.David, Nacewa, Poitrenaud and Ojo, as well as Caucau and Crockett off the bench.
- Get after the Bath Lineout and scrum, with Brown, Jack and Joubert looking to steal with Bath having no real lineout leader in their pack, and Dermody and Bruno getting the shove on come scrum time.
- Target the breakdown - Both Lund and Hazell to do all they can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use.
- If the game is tight, B.James will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- In-game form and confidence - We come off the back of a strong win against Saracens, and have started the season well, with 2 wins, and 2 narrow away defeats. We have scored 13 tries in 4 games, conceding only 6. Bath come off the back of a crushing 14 point loss to Gloucester, and have won just 1 game out of 4, scoring only 7 tries in the process, and conceding 14.
Last edited by LukeLovesLuka on Fri 30 Sep - 9:10; edited 2 times in total
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
Join date : 2011-04-19
Age : 40
Location : London
Re: AP Round 5
by prop_lyd Tue 27 Sep - 12:07
Worcester team should be named tonight and tactics on Wednesday.
prop_lyd- Posts : 10387
Join date : 2011-01-28
Age : 36
Location : Rogerstone, Wales
Re: AP Round 5
by prop_lyd Tue 27 Sep - 19:49
Manager –Prop_Lyd
16. Tani Fuga 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Dom Barrow 20. Ben Morgan 21. Jordi Pasqualin 22. Gavin Henson 23. Antielia Tuilagi
Tactics
Forwards
We've picked a big front row to tackle the scrums and take as much ball from there as possible. Looking at our back 3 all are strong runners and Chabal will be looking to pick off of the scrums before feeding Peel into space. Williams and Salvi will look to get to the breakdown 2nd to take the open abll after the tight 5 have cleared the ruck. In the lineouts we have 5 players who are cpaable of jumping and Myall has stolen balls in the premiership this season so his target will be to disrupt the lineouts.
When in possession the tight 5 will keep it there for the first 20mins with the backs taking the ball if space is seen. Drawing in the defence is the aim here and we will protect the ball to prevent the turnovers. When we make it into the opposition 22 then the backs will be released to crash over.
Backs
Not going to see much ball at first and when they do we will target Giteau by sending Chabal and Clarke up his channel. The wingers may not see much ball as we look to kepe it near our pack and use the left and right boots of Robinson and Vesty to kick the ball deep into touch in their half making sure they cannot take the quick lineout and using Myall here. Wingers and Morgan will be asked to come in off their wings to hit the angles again targetting Giteau and, when Tuilagi comes on: Wade. Continuing his appearances we will give Henson the final 20 minutes looking to strat him in the lv cup.
Defence
The ball will not get past their centres with alot of pressure being put on 10-13 to stop the ball going out quick. Peel with hang back with Morgan to stop either wingers get away and clear any kicks. The forwards will seek for turnover ball and to ruffle their youngsters up.
Overall
| 01. Sylvain Marconnet | 09. Dwayne Peel |
| 02. Richardt Strauss | 10. Nicky Robinson |
| 03. BJ Botha | |
| 04. Ollie Kohn | 11. Julien Malzieu |
| 05. Kearnen Myall | 12. Sam Vesty (k) |
| 06. Julien Salvi | 13. Jon Clarke |
| 07. Martyn Williams (c) | 14. Marcel Garvey |
| 08. Sebastian Chabal | 15. Olly Morgan |
Tactics
Forwards
We've picked a big front row to tackle the scrums and take as much ball from there as possible. Looking at our back 3 all are strong runners and Chabal will be looking to pick off of the scrums before feeding Peel into space. Williams and Salvi will look to get to the breakdown 2nd to take the open abll after the tight 5 have cleared the ruck. In the lineouts we have 5 players who are cpaable of jumping and Myall has stolen balls in the premiership this season so his target will be to disrupt the lineouts.
When in possession the tight 5 will keep it there for the first 20mins with the backs taking the ball if space is seen. Drawing in the defence is the aim here and we will protect the ball to prevent the turnovers. When we make it into the opposition 22 then the backs will be released to crash over.
Backs
Not going to see much ball at first and when they do we will target Giteau by sending Chabal and Clarke up his channel. The wingers may not see much ball as we look to kepe it near our pack and use the left and right boots of Robinson and Vesty to kick the ball deep into touch in their half making sure they cannot take the quick lineout and using Myall here. Wingers and Morgan will be asked to come in off their wings to hit the angles again targetting Giteau and, when Tuilagi comes on: Wade. Continuing his appearances we will give Henson the final 20 minutes looking to strat him in the lv cup.
Defence
The ball will not get past their centres with alot of pressure being put on 10-13 to stop the ball going out quick. Peel with hang back with Morgan to stop either wingers get away and clear any kicks. The forwards will seek for turnover ball and to ruffle their youngsters up.
Overall
- Forward orientated to begin with.
- Use Giteau as their revolving doors.
- Wingers to pick when to run.
- Budgen, Henson and Tuilagi to come on with 20mins to play direct rugby.
- Vesty to take penalties as and when.
- Pressurise their scrum and lineout.
- Enjoy the game, play agressive and WIN!!
- Not to get drawn into Chris' player bashing.
Last edited by prop_lyd on Wed 28 Sep - 20:48; edited 2 times in total
prop_lyd- Posts : 10387
Join date : 2011-01-28
Age : 36
Location : Rogerstone, Wales
Re: AP Round 5
by dammit_chris Wed 28 Sep - 20:24
Manager –Dammit Chris
Northampton Saints team to face Worcester Warriors
Saints make a number of changes to the team that narrowly lost away at Sale last weekend. With the weather conditions primed for running rugby Saints recall Charlie Davies, Alexandre Lapandy, Calum Clark and Chris Whitehead, whilst Eerie Claasens makes his first team debut.
16. Rob Webber 17. Henry Thomas 18. Bob Baker 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Ryan Kankowski 21. Luke Watson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Willie Mason
Tactics
Tactics
Overview – we have picked a team that is ideal for the conditions and will look to play a high tempo, fast attacking game against a Worcester team we feel could tire as the match progresses. We will look to offload and attack space and allow Giteau to pull the strings in midfield.
Key points
* There are a number of old legs in the Worcester pack and we will really target this by playing a fast, expansive game and try tire Marconnet, Botha, Williams and Chabel, we will run the ball and cause the Worcester team to defend and make tackle after tackle wearing them out phase after phase.
* We’ve picked a team that will look to dominate the breakdown, players 4-8 are all mobile and apt at the dark arts and we have picked a bench that has Launchbury, Kankowski and Watson so we can keep targeting this area.
* Simon Taylor been selected at 8 to provide stability at the base of the scrum, feel he will provide Davies with a good platform to launch the backline.
* Freshened up the pack with Whitehead (great start for Exeter in real life), Clark, Lapandy coming in, and have a bench that can make a real impact – think each player (exception of Baker) is an impact sub.
* Will use Mason to come on at 12 in final 20mins with Giteau switching to 10 and Cipriani replacing Claasens at 15 – the idea being that Mason will target Henson (see BaaBaas game) and bring his offloading game into play, which is why Cips comes on as a backthree of Wade, Siviatu and Cipriani has pace to cause damage to a tired Worcester defence.
* Allow Worcester to target Giteau as the “revolving door” and will ask Giteau to target the ball in the tackle and look to stop Vesty and Clarke from going to ground – he will then be supported by Messam and co, with the view to keeping the Worcester players on their feet, stiffling the attack and then winning the scrum (exactly how the Irish played against the Aussies).
* Take all points on offer, but espcially look to move the ball around the park and take the legs out of Worcester.
Forwards – Set Piece & Breakdown
We have a strong front row, which is needed away from home and see our second row as even. At scrum time we will look to get Simon Taylor anchoring the scrum and putting a big push in to get our scrum moving forwards. We’ve picked Taylor to start for a number of reasons (i) he provides very good control at the back of the scrum to help Charlie Davies through the game and (ii) we saw Chabel was selected and will look to use Taylor to hit Chabel back in the tackle area.
We will look to get a shove on in the scrum and force Chabal into errors at the base of the scrum, Davies has asked to be a pest and niggle at Chabels feet at the base – we want to force the talismatic Frenchman into mistakes.
The conditions mean that we will be able to utilise more than two jumpers as in previous weeks (too windy) – so will look for a varied lineout with Attwood, Clark, Messam, Lapandy and Taylor and try and get quick ball from Clark and Taylor for the backs.
Defensively at the lineout we are going to try something a bit different when we are not defending in our 22 – we will get Davies to stand in the 5 metre channel (as a hooker would do) – and then bring the Whitehead (or Webber) into the lineout itself and move Messam into the midfield to target the Worcester backs head on. We want him to strip ball or hold up Worcester players in the tackle area to force turnover ball, especlally putting pressure on Robinson.
At the breakdown we will look to target this in numbers and force, we feel we have a quicker, fitter team than Worcester and will be able to get to the breakdown first, or in more numbers first. If the turnover is on then we will put numbers in, but if Worcester have secured the ball we will then use the backrow to guard the fringes and stop Peel attacking there.
Backs
We will be playing a quick, expansive and high tempo game – we feel that Worcester have the ideal tactics if it wasn’t so sunny and warm. The team that attacks most will score more tries and get more points. We are going to attack and everything will be controlled by Giteau’s experience at 12.
We will look to move the ball wide, with our wingers changes wings to keep the defence guessing and to get over the gainline Giteau will bring in the runners in the pack and use Lualala and Siviatu after sucking in defenders. Due to the defensive patterns of Worcester we will look to bring Claasens into the game as often as possible on dummy runs, which will cause Worcester to think twice about over committing their defence at our midfield.
Davies has been selected as he offers more of a running game than Commins, and has been asked to keep it simple and rely on his pack for pick up and goes and then get the ball to Beauxis to launch attacks.
When Worcester are playing into the sun we will get Beauxis and Giteau to launch aerial bombardments on Morgan with Christian Wade being asked to put pressure on the catcher with his speed before a second wave of defenders comes in.
Defence
In this game we are going to be using the age old maxim – attack is the best form of defence, and will look to run Worcester ragged and tire them down and make tackles for the 80mins.
The tactics above outline a number of new approaches to our defence (see lineout of bringing Messam into our backline and Davies in 5m channel) and keeping the Worcester backline on their feet in the tackle area and forcing the ref to give Saints the scrum because they have not hit the ground.
Northampton Saints team to face Worcester Warriors
Saints make a number of changes to the team that narrowly lost away at Sale last weekend. With the weather conditions primed for running rugby Saints recall Charlie Davies, Alexandre Lapandy, Calum Clark and Chris Whitehead, whilst Eerie Claasens makes his first team debut.
| 01. Thomas Domingo | 09. Charlie Davies |
| 02. Chris Whitehead | 10. Lionel Beauxis |
| 03. Carl Hayman | |
| 04. Dave Attwood | 11. Christian Wade |
| 05. Calum Clark | 12. Matt Giteau (c) |
| 06. Liam Messam | 13. Casey Lualala |
| 07. Alexandre Lapandy | 14. Siti Siviatu |
| 08. Simon Taylor | 15. Eerie Claasens |
Tactics
Tactics
Overview – we have picked a team that is ideal for the conditions and will look to play a high tempo, fast attacking game against a Worcester team we feel could tire as the match progresses. We will look to offload and attack space and allow Giteau to pull the strings in midfield.
Key points
* There are a number of old legs in the Worcester pack and we will really target this by playing a fast, expansive game and try tire Marconnet, Botha, Williams and Chabel, we will run the ball and cause the Worcester team to defend and make tackle after tackle wearing them out phase after phase.
* We’ve picked a team that will look to dominate the breakdown, players 4-8 are all mobile and apt at the dark arts and we have picked a bench that has Launchbury, Kankowski and Watson so we can keep targeting this area.
* Simon Taylor been selected at 8 to provide stability at the base of the scrum, feel he will provide Davies with a good platform to launch the backline.
* Freshened up the pack with Whitehead (great start for Exeter in real life), Clark, Lapandy coming in, and have a bench that can make a real impact – think each player (exception of Baker) is an impact sub.
* Will use Mason to come on at 12 in final 20mins with Giteau switching to 10 and Cipriani replacing Claasens at 15 – the idea being that Mason will target Henson (see BaaBaas game) and bring his offloading game into play, which is why Cips comes on as a backthree of Wade, Siviatu and Cipriani has pace to cause damage to a tired Worcester defence.
* Allow Worcester to target Giteau as the “revolving door” and will ask Giteau to target the ball in the tackle and look to stop Vesty and Clarke from going to ground – he will then be supported by Messam and co, with the view to keeping the Worcester players on their feet, stiffling the attack and then winning the scrum (exactly how the Irish played against the Aussies).
* Take all points on offer, but espcially look to move the ball around the park and take the legs out of Worcester.
Forwards – Set Piece & Breakdown
We have a strong front row, which is needed away from home and see our second row as even. At scrum time we will look to get Simon Taylor anchoring the scrum and putting a big push in to get our scrum moving forwards. We’ve picked Taylor to start for a number of reasons (i) he provides very good control at the back of the scrum to help Charlie Davies through the game and (ii) we saw Chabel was selected and will look to use Taylor to hit Chabel back in the tackle area.
We will look to get a shove on in the scrum and force Chabal into errors at the base of the scrum, Davies has asked to be a pest and niggle at Chabels feet at the base – we want to force the talismatic Frenchman into mistakes.
The conditions mean that we will be able to utilise more than two jumpers as in previous weeks (too windy) – so will look for a varied lineout with Attwood, Clark, Messam, Lapandy and Taylor and try and get quick ball from Clark and Taylor for the backs.
Defensively at the lineout we are going to try something a bit different when we are not defending in our 22 – we will get Davies to stand in the 5 metre channel (as a hooker would do) – and then bring the Whitehead (or Webber) into the lineout itself and move Messam into the midfield to target the Worcester backs head on. We want him to strip ball or hold up Worcester players in the tackle area to force turnover ball, especlally putting pressure on Robinson.
At the breakdown we will look to target this in numbers and force, we feel we have a quicker, fitter team than Worcester and will be able to get to the breakdown first, or in more numbers first. If the turnover is on then we will put numbers in, but if Worcester have secured the ball we will then use the backrow to guard the fringes and stop Peel attacking there.
Backs
We will be playing a quick, expansive and high tempo game – we feel that Worcester have the ideal tactics if it wasn’t so sunny and warm. The team that attacks most will score more tries and get more points. We are going to attack and everything will be controlled by Giteau’s experience at 12.
We will look to move the ball wide, with our wingers changes wings to keep the defence guessing and to get over the gainline Giteau will bring in the runners in the pack and use Lualala and Siviatu after sucking in defenders. Due to the defensive patterns of Worcester we will look to bring Claasens into the game as often as possible on dummy runs, which will cause Worcester to think twice about over committing their defence at our midfield.
Davies has been selected as he offers more of a running game than Commins, and has been asked to keep it simple and rely on his pack for pick up and goes and then get the ball to Beauxis to launch attacks.
When Worcester are playing into the sun we will get Beauxis and Giteau to launch aerial bombardments on Morgan with Christian Wade being asked to put pressure on the catcher with his speed before a second wave of defenders comes in.
Defence
In this game we are going to be using the age old maxim – attack is the best form of defence, and will look to run Worcester ragged and tire them down and make tackles for the 80mins.
The tactics above outline a number of new approaches to our defence (see lineout of bringing Messam into our backline and Davies in 5m channel) and keeping the Worcester backline on their feet in the tackle area and forcing the ref to give Saints the scrum because they have not hit the ground.
Last edited by dammit_chris on Thu 29 Sep - 11:23; edited 1 time in total
dammit_chris- Posts : 8685
Join date : 2011-05-03
Re: AP Round 5
by Guest Wed 28 Sep - 21:08
On phone about to go to Norway so sorry for format
1 wood
2 Strauss
3 Johnstone
4 schofield
5 robson
6 deacon
7 saull
8 A.J
9 Lewis
10 Donald
11 gear
12 tuitopu
13 may
14 jsd
15 sharples
16 coonie
17 Fourie
18 harden
19 hanks
20 buxton
21 lamb
22 Hamilton
23 vainokolo
Tactics
Weather is here and Gloucester will not be looking to play that differently we play a quick tempo game and this
Will not change however the conditions will suit the quickest backline in the game. 9 to 15 are quicksilver and we will look to do damage.
Set piece
Gloucester will look to dominate we have 3 ball carrying mobile scrummaging lumps with proven engine room behind.
We also have gone for a dynamic front row bench with Fourie, coonie and harden who was instrumental in glaws pushing bath over the line twice in the real AP last week able to come on. Will Irish be able to bring on such dynamic ball carriers in front row.
Lineouts - Gloucester have 5 jumpers
And will target Irish and pressure bucklands throw. On our own ball we will drive in our own half and look to suck them
In before isolating our backs against them.
In their half we will shorten the lineout to 5 often and
Look to hit AJ with quick ball. He is the star
Player in curry cup as he was in supern15 and will look to smash and then offload or create quick ball for the backs.
Backs. Tempo tempo tempo. Lewis will look to let Donald make the decisions by hitting him quick. Donald will hit tuitopu short and then get wingers to run in the hole and look to get the offload.
We will also be looking to get may on the outside break as he can gas any 13.
The bomb will be employed especially when they are staring
Into the sun.
Donald will be looking for mismatches all day and as the
Game breaks up quick throws and
Counter
Attacks are on with sharples jsd and gear good luck nick
1 wood
2 Strauss
3 Johnstone
4 schofield
5 robson
6 deacon
7 saull
8 A.J
9 Lewis
10 Donald
11 gear
12 tuitopu
13 may
14 jsd
15 sharples
16 coonie
17 Fourie
18 harden
19 hanks
20 buxton
21 lamb
22 Hamilton
23 vainokolo
Tactics
Weather is here and Gloucester will not be looking to play that differently we play a quick tempo game and this
Will not change however the conditions will suit the quickest backline in the game. 9 to 15 are quicksilver and we will look to do damage.
Set piece
Gloucester will look to dominate we have 3 ball carrying mobile scrummaging lumps with proven engine room behind.
We also have gone for a dynamic front row bench with Fourie, coonie and harden who was instrumental in glaws pushing bath over the line twice in the real AP last week able to come on. Will Irish be able to bring on such dynamic ball carriers in front row.
Lineouts - Gloucester have 5 jumpers
And will target Irish and pressure bucklands throw. On our own ball we will drive in our own half and look to suck them
In before isolating our backs against them.
In their half we will shorten the lineout to 5 often and
Look to hit AJ with quick ball. He is the star
Player in curry cup as he was in supern15 and will look to smash and then offload or create quick ball for the backs.
Backs. Tempo tempo tempo. Lewis will look to let Donald make the decisions by hitting him quick. Donald will hit tuitopu short and then get wingers to run in the hole and look to get the offload.
We will also be looking to get may on the outside break as he can gas any 13.
The bomb will be employed especially when they are staring
Into the sun.
Donald will be looking for mismatches all day and as the
Game breaks up quick throws and
Counter
Attacks are on with sharples jsd and gear good luck nick
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 5
by Ozzy3213 Thu 29 Sep - 9:22
After being rested last week Matt Mullan, Gary Botha, Brok James return in the Saracens front row for this weeks trip to Sandy Park. In the backs Iain Humphreys returns at outside half, with Owen Farrell moving to inside centre and Billy Twelvetrees dropping to the bench. Henry Trinder comes in at outside centre to replace Nevin Spence who is rested, and Alex Goode returns to the starting line up with Tom Homer taking James Shorts place on the bench.
Head coach LDCPete had this to say about his team selection for this week..
"Looking pragmatically at last weeks result you have to be pleased to come away from Welford Road with a point, but in truth we were disappointed and the guys are determined to put things right this week. There has been a real raise in intensity in training this week and that has come from the players as opposed to the coaches, which is very pleasing. We've selected a side this week that is set up to really go and play and make use of the good conditions, and we are confident in the ability of our guys to bounce back get a result this week."
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
16. George Chuter 17. Alex Waller 18. Phil Swainston 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Tom Homer
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Exeter Chiefs
1. Target the 10-12 channel in attack. Ford is still growing and whilst he does get stuck in, he is physically not there yet in terms of stopping big carriers. He also has King outside him, who is a natural 13 rather than 12 and not a great defender. We will look to put the carriers in our pack, along with Tim Visser coming off his wing, down this channel. Once across the gainline we will look to get quick ball and get our pacier backs through the gaps that this will create.
2. Target the lineout as an attacking platform. When kicking we will kick for touch and look to really attack the Chiefs lineout in their territory. We will contest everything and look to win their ball and attack quickly from it. We will use Elstadt as a front jumper to get up in the face of the hooker and disrupt, and Borthwick to target where the ball is being thrown to. On our throw, Borthwick will call the shots and we will look to play quickly, bringing Tim Visser in on occasions to the first receiver position to punch through the defensive line and recycle quickly.
3. Running Rugby. In great conditions we will look to run the ball at every opportunity. If isolated we will play the percentages and kick for territory, but so long as the player in possession of the ball has support, we will look to hit gaps in the defensive line and offload to support runners, and keep the ball alive as much as possible. Our mobile back row will look to really support the ball carrier and take offloads and drive forward staying on their feet allowing further support runners to get close to be offloaded to again.
4. Control possession. This links in with the running rugby. We will happily go through the phases and keep the ball. If we have it, Exeter can't score tries against us, and we are working on the theory of attack being the best form of defence.
Key Points
1. Right team for the conditions
We have gone for a mobile, but solid team, with strong ball carriers in the pack and pacy, elusive runner sin the backs. This is perfectly suited to the conditions and the tactics that we are going out to use.
2. In game form
We have one three out of four with our only loss coming at Welford Road, where we picked up the LBP. Our form is good, and we are full of confidence going into this game.
Best of luck driver.
Head coach LDCPete had this to say about his team selection for this week..
"Looking pragmatically at last weeks result you have to be pleased to come away from Welford Road with a point, but in truth we were disappointed and the guys are determined to put things right this week. There has been a real raise in intensity in training this week and that has come from the players as opposed to the coaches, which is very pleasing. We've selected a side this week that is set up to really go and play and make use of the good conditions, and we are confident in the ability of our guys to bounce back get a result this week."
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
| 01. Matt Mullan | 09. Shaun Perry |
| 02. Gary Botha | 10. Iain Humphreys |
| 03. Brok James | |
| 04. Rynhard Elstadt | 11. Rene Ranger |
| 05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Owen Farrell |
| 06. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 13. Henry Trinder |
| 07. George Smith | 14. Tim Visser |
| 08. Rodney So'oialo | 15. Alex Goode |
16. George Chuter 17. Alex Waller 18. Phil Swainston 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Tom Homer
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Exeter Chiefs
1. Target the 10-12 channel in attack. Ford is still growing and whilst he does get stuck in, he is physically not there yet in terms of stopping big carriers. He also has King outside him, who is a natural 13 rather than 12 and not a great defender. We will look to put the carriers in our pack, along with Tim Visser coming off his wing, down this channel. Once across the gainline we will look to get quick ball and get our pacier backs through the gaps that this will create.
2. Target the lineout as an attacking platform. When kicking we will kick for touch and look to really attack the Chiefs lineout in their territory. We will contest everything and look to win their ball and attack quickly from it. We will use Elstadt as a front jumper to get up in the face of the hooker and disrupt, and Borthwick to target where the ball is being thrown to. On our throw, Borthwick will call the shots and we will look to play quickly, bringing Tim Visser in on occasions to the first receiver position to punch through the defensive line and recycle quickly.
3. Running Rugby. In great conditions we will look to run the ball at every opportunity. If isolated we will play the percentages and kick for territory, but so long as the player in possession of the ball has support, we will look to hit gaps in the defensive line and offload to support runners, and keep the ball alive as much as possible. Our mobile back row will look to really support the ball carrier and take offloads and drive forward staying on their feet allowing further support runners to get close to be offloaded to again.
4. Control possession. This links in with the running rugby. We will happily go through the phases and keep the ball. If we have it, Exeter can't score tries against us, and we are working on the theory of attack being the best form of defence.
Key Points
1. Right team for the conditions
We have gone for a mobile, but solid team, with strong ball carriers in the pack and pacy, elusive runner sin the backs. This is perfectly suited to the conditions and the tactics that we are going out to use.
2. In game form
We have one three out of four with our only loss coming at Welford Road, where we picked up the LBP. Our form is good, and we are full of confidence going into this game.
Best of luck driver.
Ozzy3213- Moderator
- Posts : 18500
Join date : 2011-01-29
Age : 48
Location : Sandhurst
Re: AP Round 5
by 'Arry Thu 29 Sep - 9:51
London Wasps team to face Newcastle Falcons
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. Charlie Beech
19. Stuart Hooper
20. Steve Mafi
21. Martin Roberts
22. Rory Clegg
23. James Downey
Tactics to come...
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. Charlie Beech
19. Stuart Hooper
20. Steve Mafi
21. Martin Roberts
22. Rory Clegg
23. James Downey
Tactics to come...
'Arry- Posts : 864
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 29
Re: AP Round 5
by stnick88 Thu 29 Sep - 10:46
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Dean Mumm 20. Joe Worsley 21. Neal De Kock 22. Guy Armitage 23. Juan Martin Hernandez
Tactics
In good conditions, we want to play an attacking, running game. We have the perfect man at 10 for this, Bowden is on superb form and will ignite our backline. Outside him he has another player on superb form in Naqalevuki and we will look to use this 10/12 combo to really attack Gloucester. Naqa will make the hard yards and we will use Tait running off him to gather offloads and be put through gaps. Dupuy and Bowden will play what is infront of them and mix up the attacking plays, with Bowden being the main orchestrator. We will not kick loose ball back to Glos as they have some pace in the backs, we will instead look to run the ball back with intent. If we have to kick from our own 22, we will make sure we go for touch where we have good lineout options, with Kennedy being the main man to disrupt opposition ball and gather our own lineout ball. Garvey offers another good lineout option as well as Daniel who will be used.
We will look to use the scrum and lineout as attacking platforms, and use set moves to break through the Glos line. Naqa will sometimes act as a decoy runner and suck in defenders to allow more space to get Tait and Basson running in to.
We see the breakdown as an area we can get big success. Fourie will be straight in if the ball is there to be won. We will use Garvey, Rush, Nel to clear out and get quick ball as soon as possible. This is where Bowden is at his most dangerous and we want to get as much clean and quick ball to him as possible. We will look to stifle oppostion ball and slow their play down, as there backs will rely on quick ball.
If we sometimes have to settle for slow ball, we have big ball carriers like Rush, Garvey, Nel and Naqalevuki to get us over the gain line. We then have Mumm and Briggs to bring off the bench to provide fresh legs and carrying options.
Dupuy will take all kickable penalties, and go for touch if out of range. Defensively we will get up in Glos face and not let them gain momentum. We have some mobile forwards like Garvey, Kennedy, Daniel, Fourie, Nel who are all great in the loose and will tackle all game long. Tuitopu lacks gametime and form in real life and we will look for Naqa to put pressure on him and disrupt Gloucesters 10/12 axis. If we can disrupt the flow of their game and starve them of good ball, we feel we can claim a good away win.
good luck matt.
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Matias Aguero | 09. Julien Dupuy |
| 02. James Buckland | 10. Daniel Bowden |
| 03. WP Nel | |
| 04. Matt Garvey | 11. Paul Sackey |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sireli Naqalevuki |
| 06. Keegan Daniel | 13. Matthew Tait |
| 07. Hendrie Fourie | 14. Bjorn Basson |
| 08. Xavier Rush | 15. Zane Kirchner |
16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Dean Mumm 20. Joe Worsley 21. Neal De Kock 22. Guy Armitage 23. Juan Martin Hernandez
Tactics
In good conditions, we want to play an attacking, running game. We have the perfect man at 10 for this, Bowden is on superb form and will ignite our backline. Outside him he has another player on superb form in Naqalevuki and we will look to use this 10/12 combo to really attack Gloucester. Naqa will make the hard yards and we will use Tait running off him to gather offloads and be put through gaps. Dupuy and Bowden will play what is infront of them and mix up the attacking plays, with Bowden being the main orchestrator. We will not kick loose ball back to Glos as they have some pace in the backs, we will instead look to run the ball back with intent. If we have to kick from our own 22, we will make sure we go for touch where we have good lineout options, with Kennedy being the main man to disrupt opposition ball and gather our own lineout ball. Garvey offers another good lineout option as well as Daniel who will be used.
We will look to use the scrum and lineout as attacking platforms, and use set moves to break through the Glos line. Naqa will sometimes act as a decoy runner and suck in defenders to allow more space to get Tait and Basson running in to.
We see the breakdown as an area we can get big success. Fourie will be straight in if the ball is there to be won. We will use Garvey, Rush, Nel to clear out and get quick ball as soon as possible. This is where Bowden is at his most dangerous and we want to get as much clean and quick ball to him as possible. We will look to stifle oppostion ball and slow their play down, as there backs will rely on quick ball.
If we sometimes have to settle for slow ball, we have big ball carriers like Rush, Garvey, Nel and Naqalevuki to get us over the gain line. We then have Mumm and Briggs to bring off the bench to provide fresh legs and carrying options.
Dupuy will take all kickable penalties, and go for touch if out of range. Defensively we will get up in Glos face and not let them gain momentum. We have some mobile forwards like Garvey, Kennedy, Daniel, Fourie, Nel who are all great in the loose and will tackle all game long. Tuitopu lacks gametime and form in real life and we will look for Naqa to put pressure on him and disrupt Gloucesters 10/12 axis. If we can disrupt the flow of their game and starve them of good ball, we feel we can claim a good away win.
good luck matt.
stnick88- Posts : 5345
Join date : 2011-05-10
Re: AP Round 5
by Sgt_Pooly Thu 29 Sep - 11:00
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
15. Joe Duffey 17. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Dan Hipkiss
We welcome Wasps to fortress Kingston off the back off a superb victory away to London Irish. In superb running conditions, we'll be looking to unleash our back 3 and attack Wasps from the off. We're 4 for 4 and full of confidence......we do not lose at home.
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. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch, controlling the tempo and looking for gaps in the Wasps backline. Our main area of dominanace this week is the backrow, halfbacks and back 3. We’ll look for massive carries from our backrow and look to get Pretorious quick ball to attack with. We’ll look to get the ball out wide whenever possible and get at the Wasps back 3.
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 when needed, whilst Juan Smith will marshall the rear of the lineout. Vermeulen will look to alternate middle/back depending on call.
If we target Wentzal and Chisolm we can really put pressure on Wasps throw. We have 5 good quality jumpers whilst Wasps have only 2. Wentzal will be the main man so we’ll look to put pressure on his front and back.
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. Flip & Smith will marshall the rucks, they will look to target any attempted slowing of our own ball and give Pretorious fast ball to feed Evans. Our big Boks will keep an eye on Fourie at the breakdon, as soon as he enters we’ll look to take him out.
ISOLATED RUNNERS –Our pack will look to get the contact area asap and join the tackle thus making a maul. With us in control of the tackle area or ruck as it is now, we’ll look to keep the runner up until the ref awards a scrum in out advantage. This is a system we used to success numerous times last season and deployed by the Irish (recently seen against Austrailia).
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. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the Leciester defence in. We’ll look to draw in the Leicester pack as much as possible to exploit possible one on ones in the backline where we have some serious gas.
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.
With two bruising Irish centres we’ll look to alternate our attacks. Payne will look to hold back and attack the line late with Evans attempting the grubber in behind the Irish centres. We’ll look to use this tactic to our advantage with Maitland/Smith being used also.
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. Benjamin/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:
- WASPS LINEOUT – Wentzal will be their main man….we’ll look to double up on him and keep an eye on Chisolm also.
- WASPS BACK 3 – We’ve swapped Maitland over to the right wing to target Cato who’s very suspect defensively. Evans will look to test out Cato also with the odd bomb whilst also looking to get the ball in behind him.
- DISCIPLINE – We will be on our best behaviour, especially in our own half. We will not look to get hands in the ruck or go off our feet. If Gopperth does not get attempts at goal, we take away much of the Wasps threat.
- OUT OF FORM PLAYERS - Chisolm & Juan Smith have been out similar time in real life
- HALFBACKS FOR CONDITIONS - Pretorious & Evans are supreme on the harder pitches, Pretorious was made for attacking the fringes and Evans is one of the best running flyhalfs about. We think our team is set out better to take advantage of glorious condtions and home advantage will be key
- HOME ADVANTAGE - A massive advantage for us. We do not lose at home and the intimidation that brings to travelling teams cannot be underestimated. We are in form and at home
MAJOR POINT
MOMENTUM – 4 wins from 4 and we have won every game at Kingston in over a year. This is a game for running rugby and we have gas in abundance in the backs.
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. Miles Benjamin |
| 05. Juandre Kruger | 12. Brad Barritt |
| 06. Juan Smith(c) | 13. Jared Payne |
| 07. Chris Robshaw | 14. Sean Maitland |
| 08. Duane Vermeulen | 15. Ben Smith |
15. Joe Duffey 17. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Dan Hipkiss
We welcome Wasps to fortress Kingston off the back off a superb victory away to London Irish. In superb running conditions, we'll be looking to unleash our back 3 and attack Wasps from the off. We're 4 for 4 and full of confidence......we do not lose at home.
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. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch, controlling the tempo and looking for gaps in the Wasps backline. Our main area of dominanace this week is the backrow, halfbacks and back 3. We’ll look for massive carries from our backrow and look to get Pretorious quick ball to attack with. We’ll look to get the ball out wide whenever possible and get at the Wasps back 3.
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 when needed, whilst Juan Smith will marshall the rear of the lineout. Vermeulen will look to alternate middle/back depending on call.
If we target Wentzal and Chisolm we can really put pressure on Wasps throw. We have 5 good quality jumpers whilst Wasps have only 2. Wentzal will be the main man so we’ll look to put pressure on his front and back.
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. Flip & Smith will marshall the rucks, they will look to target any attempted slowing of our own ball and give Pretorious fast ball to feed Evans. Our big Boks will keep an eye on Fourie at the breakdon, as soon as he enters we’ll look to take him out.
ISOLATED RUNNERS –Our pack will look to get the contact area asap and join the tackle thus making a maul. With us in control of the tackle area or ruck as it is now, we’ll look to keep the runner up until the ref awards a scrum in out advantage. This is a system we used to success numerous times last season and deployed by the Irish (recently seen against Austrailia).
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. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the Leciester defence in. We’ll look to draw in the Leicester pack as much as possible to exploit possible one on ones in the backline where we have some serious gas.
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.
With two bruising Irish centres we’ll look to alternate our attacks. Payne will look to hold back and attack the line late with Evans attempting the grubber in behind the Irish centres. We’ll look to use this tactic to our advantage with Maitland/Smith being used also.
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. Benjamin/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:
- WASPS LINEOUT – Wentzal will be their main man….we’ll look to double up on him and keep an eye on Chisolm also.
- WASPS BACK 3 – We’ve swapped Maitland over to the right wing to target Cato who’s very suspect defensively. Evans will look to test out Cato also with the odd bomb whilst also looking to get the ball in behind him.
- DISCIPLINE – We will be on our best behaviour, especially in our own half. We will not look to get hands in the ruck or go off our feet. If Gopperth does not get attempts at goal, we take away much of the Wasps threat.
- OUT OF FORM PLAYERS - Chisolm & Juan Smith have been out similar time in real life
- HALFBACKS FOR CONDITIONS - Pretorious & Evans are supreme on the harder pitches, Pretorious was made for attacking the fringes and Evans is one of the best running flyhalfs about. We think our team is set out better to take advantage of glorious condtions and home advantage will be key
- HOME ADVANTAGE - A massive advantage for us. We do not lose at home and the intimidation that brings to travelling teams cannot be underestimated. We are in form and at home
MAJOR POINT
MOMENTUM – 4 wins from 4 and we have won every game at Kingston in over a year. This is a game for running rugby and we have gas in abundance in the backs.
Last edited by Sgt_Pooly on Thu 29 Sep - 19:25; edited 2 times in total
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 5
by Driver Thu 29 Sep - 11:28
Exeter Tactics for Saracens
ATTACK
Exeter to play aggressive up front rugby in the front 5 working the phases to secure quick ball and rucking past the tackled player and giving TOL quick ball to hit ford on the gain line.
Offensive lineout
We will look to keep Sarries guessing here - mixing it up throwing to Short , Hayes , Skirving and Beattie.
We will use short lines and put our big runners up the midfield using Hayes as banker ball.
DEFENCE
Big blitz defence to rattle sarries running backs with a few big hits early doors questioning the temperament of of the Sarries backs.
King and Grove will look to hit Farrell and 36 knowing they both have aggressive personalities and draw them out of there line give space for Fitzgerald , Arscott to pick lines of them or for King/Grove to simply step the defender.
- Ford to kick early penalties and build a lead.
- TOL to tap and go and and sneak the extra 10 yards and set the tempo.
ATTACK
Exeter to play aggressive up front rugby in the front 5 working the phases to secure quick ball and rucking past the tackled player and giving TOL quick ball to hit ford on the gain line.
Offensive lineout
We will look to keep Sarries guessing here - mixing it up throwing to Short , Hayes , Skirving and Beattie.
We will use short lines and put our big runners up the midfield using Hayes as banker ball.
DEFENCE
Big blitz defence to rattle sarries running backs with a few big hits early doors questioning the temperament of of the Sarries backs.
King and Grove will look to hit Farrell and 36 knowing they both have aggressive personalities and draw them out of there line give space for Fitzgerald , Arscott to pick lines of them or for King/Grove to simply step the defender.
- Ford to kick early penalties and build a lead.
- TOL to tap and go and and sneak the extra 10 yards and set the tempo.
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 5
by Steven_Sharks Thu 29 Sep - 13:25
Quins
1. Ceri Jones
2. Schalk Brits
3. Brian Mujati
4. Jerome Thion
5. Erik Lund
6. Phil Dowson
7. Beau Robinson
8. Chris Henry
9. Lee Dickson (c)
10. Freddie Burns (k)
11. Joe Rokocoko
12. Riki Flutey
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Peter Hynes
15. Luke Morahan
16. Matthew Rees
17. Kieran Brookes
18. Aston Croall
19. George Skivington
20. David Seymour
21. Jano Vermaak
22. Gareth Steenson
23. George Lowe
Tactics
In the pack we have picked a good set of forwards who will look to carry hard in the loose as well as work tirelessly at the set piece. We are looking to play a more expansive game than we have in previous weeks but we still want our forwards to be running hard of 10 and 12 to get us the quick ball we require for this quick tempo approach. We will look to carry the ball at pace and in numbers and will look to win the collisions and to offload when we can as this will keep the momentum of our attacks going.
We will look to use short lineouts when we can so that we have backrow options as carriers in the midfield. We are going to look to compete at every Sale lineout so that the pressure is always on their hookers and jumpers.
In the backs we are going to look to use the quick ball we get from the forwards to attack the spaces in the sale defence. Flutey and Joseph will look to pick lines at different angles all day which will hopefully keep the Sale defence honest and won't allow them to drift early. Burns has been picked to play flat and to play the game at pace. We will look to have him kick us into good field position and we will then look to attack at a fast tempo.
In defence we will look to play with a quick line speed and look to target the breakdown. We want to make it as difficult as possible for the Sale scrum half to get quick ball and our game plan here is to amake Sale commit more men to the breakdown than they want to. Our heavy players at prop and lock will look to really hit the rucks hard and Robinson will be looking to get turnover ball as often as he can. When we get turnovers ball we will look to spread the ball wide and use JJ, Roko and our other back 3 players to attack the unorganised Sale defence.
We are unbeaten and going strong and are at home. We have no intention of losing our unbeaten record in this game.
Only had a short time to do these and sorry there is no template SJE.
1. Ceri Jones
2. Schalk Brits
3. Brian Mujati
4. Jerome Thion
5. Erik Lund
6. Phil Dowson
7. Beau Robinson
8. Chris Henry
9. Lee Dickson (c)
10. Freddie Burns (k)
11. Joe Rokocoko
12. Riki Flutey
13. Jonathan Joseph
14. Peter Hynes
15. Luke Morahan
16. Matthew Rees
17. Kieran Brookes
18. Aston Croall
19. George Skivington
20. David Seymour
21. Jano Vermaak
22. Gareth Steenson
23. George Lowe
Tactics
In the pack we have picked a good set of forwards who will look to carry hard in the loose as well as work tirelessly at the set piece. We are looking to play a more expansive game than we have in previous weeks but we still want our forwards to be running hard of 10 and 12 to get us the quick ball we require for this quick tempo approach. We will look to carry the ball at pace and in numbers and will look to win the collisions and to offload when we can as this will keep the momentum of our attacks going.
We will look to use short lineouts when we can so that we have backrow options as carriers in the midfield. We are going to look to compete at every Sale lineout so that the pressure is always on their hookers and jumpers.
In the backs we are going to look to use the quick ball we get from the forwards to attack the spaces in the sale defence. Flutey and Joseph will look to pick lines at different angles all day which will hopefully keep the Sale defence honest and won't allow them to drift early. Burns has been picked to play flat and to play the game at pace. We will look to have him kick us into good field position and we will then look to attack at a fast tempo.
In defence we will look to play with a quick line speed and look to target the breakdown. We want to make it as difficult as possible for the Sale scrum half to get quick ball and our game plan here is to amake Sale commit more men to the breakdown than they want to. Our heavy players at prop and lock will look to really hit the rucks hard and Robinson will be looking to get turnover ball as often as he can. When we get turnovers ball we will look to spread the ball wide and use JJ, Roko and our other back 3 players to attack the unorganised Sale defence.
We are unbeaten and going strong and are at home. We have no intention of losing our unbeaten record in this game.
Only had a short time to do these and sorry there is no template SJE.
Steven_Sharks- Posts : 7528
Join date : 2011-04-19
Location : Chester/Manchester
Re: AP Round 5
by SirJohnnyEnglish Thu 29 Sep - 14:48
Just as a quick heads up I will be away tomorrow evening and wont be back till saturday night. Treating herself to a night in Galway and a days shopping. Will get results done saturday night/sunday morning 
Predictions close at midday saturday as per normal though for bonuses
Predictions close at midday saturday as per normal though for bonuses
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
Join date : 2011-05-10
Age : 36
Location : Limerick
Re: AP Round 5
by SirJohnnyEnglish Thu 29 Sep - 15:23
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Werner Kruger 19. Christian Day 20. Kai Horstmann 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Nick Abendanoon
Key Points
Breakdown
With two flankers with expertise at the breakdown today we will look to seriously target the breakdown. With our blitz defence stopping Quins before the gain line we will look to our pack, Todd and Lipman in particular, to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Burns is receiving and put him under serious pressure.
Lineout
We will look to use the lineout as a destructive weapon today. With Quins looking to shorten the line we will look to really disrupt with Sykes and Bekker. Sykes will look to jump at the front while Bekker follows Lund in the line. We want to put Brits under maximum pressure and get our hands on Quins throw in’s. As the pressure starts to build Cruden will kick to the corners where we will really look to attack and take advantage.
Target the 10/12/13 axis
We will target the Quins 10/12/13 axis on both attack and defence. Burns makes his first start of the season for Quins today and Joseph plays his 1st game at 13 putting a lot of pressure on Flutey at 12. On attack we will send our strong carriers down the 10/12 channel looking to get through the defensive line by either breaking the tackle or offloading to support runners. Our pacy runners will attack Josep’s positioning targeting the outside shoulder with decoy runners keeping the spare defenders occupied in order to ensure 1 on 1 match ups. Strettle and Masaga will come in from their wings to really target this. On defence we will rush up in the blitz, with our big tacklers looking to put serious pressure on the Harlequins 10/12/13 forcing mistakes and disjointed play.
Territory
In the final quarter, we will look to the boots of Cruden, Bezy and Barkley and play the game inside Harlequins territory forcing Quins to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the Quins lineout and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Quins into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from late on against tired legs.
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata are both strong scrummagers and will look to get at their man and really disrupt Quins putting the nudge on and providing us with a solid platform all game. 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 Quins forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Quins ball we will look for Sykes to get up in the air at the front of the line and Bekker to follow Lund in the line and disrupt the Quins lineout.
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 Quins boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if we are first to the breakdown or the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Lipman and 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 Quins ball allowing our defensive line more time to set and disrupting the quality of ball Burns is seeing at flyhalf.
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. Masaga will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our midfield looking for the ball on the offload.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Quins 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 Quins territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. We will look to take points away with us on every visit to the Quins 22.
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 Quins momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Quins 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 any 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.
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. Matt Todd | 13. Robbie Freuen |
| 07. Michael Lipman | 14. Lelia Masaga |
| 08. Jordan Crane | 15. Luke Rooney |
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Werner Kruger 19. Christian Day 20. Kai Horstmann 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Nick Abendanoon
Key Points
Breakdown
With two flankers with expertise at the breakdown today we will look to seriously target the breakdown. With our blitz defence stopping Quins before the gain line we will look to our pack, Todd and Lipman in particular, to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Burns is receiving and put him under serious pressure.
Lineout
We will look to use the lineout as a destructive weapon today. With Quins looking to shorten the line we will look to really disrupt with Sykes and Bekker. Sykes will look to jump at the front while Bekker follows Lund in the line. We want to put Brits under maximum pressure and get our hands on Quins throw in’s. As the pressure starts to build Cruden will kick to the corners where we will really look to attack and take advantage.
Target the 10/12/13 axis
We will target the Quins 10/12/13 axis on both attack and defence. Burns makes his first start of the season for Quins today and Joseph plays his 1st game at 13 putting a lot of pressure on Flutey at 12. On attack we will send our strong carriers down the 10/12 channel looking to get through the defensive line by either breaking the tackle or offloading to support runners. Our pacy runners will attack Josep’s positioning targeting the outside shoulder with decoy runners keeping the spare defenders occupied in order to ensure 1 on 1 match ups. Strettle and Masaga will come in from their wings to really target this. On defence we will rush up in the blitz, with our big tacklers looking to put serious pressure on the Harlequins 10/12/13 forcing mistakes and disjointed play.
Territory
In the final quarter, we will look to the boots of Cruden, Bezy and Barkley and play the game inside Harlequins territory forcing Quins to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the Quins lineout and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Quins into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from late on against tired legs.
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata are both strong scrummagers and will look to get at their man and really disrupt Quins putting the nudge on and providing us with a solid platform all game. 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 Quins forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Quins ball we will look for Sykes to get up in the air at the front of the line and Bekker to follow Lund in the line and disrupt the Quins lineout.
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 Quins boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if we are first to the breakdown or the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Lipman and 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 Quins ball allowing our defensive line more time to set and disrupting the quality of ball Burns is seeing at flyhalf.
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. Masaga will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our midfield looking for the ball on the offload.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Quins 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 Quins territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. We will look to take points away with us on every visit to the Quins 22.
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 Quins momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Quins 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 any 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.
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
Join date : 2011-05-10
Age : 36
Location : Limerick
Re: AP Round 5
by CJB Thu 29 Sep - 17:29
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16. Matt Thompson 17. Richard Skuse 18. James Currie 19. Tim Swinson 20. Guy Mercer 21. James Grindal 22. Richard Haughton 23. Steven Shingler
Tactics
[/quote]
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. Jarrad Hoeata | 12. Anthony Allen |
| 06.Tom Guest | 13. Dominic Waldouck |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Gehard Van Der Heever |
| 08. Gareth Delve | 15. Tim Nanai Williams |
Tactics
[/quote]
CJB- Posts : 5762
Join date : 2011-04-24
Age : 29
Location : Croydon
Re: AP Round 5
by LukeLovesLuka Thu 29 Sep - 18:16
SJE my tactics are on my work comp, do you mind if I update them at 9am tomorrow?
(Am blaming ITFL...was waiting for him to announce his side
)
(Am blaming ITFL...was waiting for him to announce his side
)
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
Join date : 2011-04-19
Age : 40
Location : London
Re: AP Round 5
by CJB Thu 29 Sep - 18:24
Sorry Luke, blame the new sixth form. Much harder than School
CJB- Posts : 5762
Join date : 2011-04-24
Age : 29
Location : Croydon
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 5
by CJB Thu 29 Sep - 21:06
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16. Matt Thompson 17. Richard Skuse 18. James Currie 19. Tim Swinson 20. Guy Mercer 21. James Grindal 22. Richard Haughton 23. Steven Shingler
Tactics
Attack
With the lovely conditions we will be looking to play a fast, expansive running game game. Charlie Hodgson will look to pull the strings at 10, being used to these conditions. Byron Kelleher will constantly look to snipe around the fringes, keeping Tigers players on their toes. Anthony Allen is going to look for gaps in midfield while Waldouck will play off his shoulder looking to get outside and use his pace. We want to control possession and get our back three into the game, running at Tigers.
Breakdown
Turnovers will be key as we look to control possession. We will look for fast attacks with Stefon Armitage controlling the breakdown. We will look to put lots of men in the in order to secure turnovers.
Set Pieces
Look to take points if they are on offer. In the lineout both Hoeata and Maestri are good options for the banker ball. We feel that Bruno’s throwing can be erratic and will look to pinch Tigers ball. At scrum time we will look to retain our own ball.
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. Jarrad Hoeata | 12. Anthony Allen |
| 06.Tom Guest | 13. Dominic Waldouck |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Gehard Van Der Heever |
| 08. Gareth Delve | 15. Tim Nanai Williams |
Tactics
Attack
With the lovely conditions we will be looking to play a fast, expansive running game game. Charlie Hodgson will look to pull the strings at 10, being used to these conditions. Byron Kelleher will constantly look to snipe around the fringes, keeping Tigers players on their toes. Anthony Allen is going to look for gaps in midfield while Waldouck will play off his shoulder looking to get outside and use his pace. We want to control possession and get our back three into the game, running at Tigers.
Breakdown
Turnovers will be key as we look to control possession. We will look for fast attacks with Stefon Armitage controlling the breakdown. We will look to put lots of men in the in order to secure turnovers.
Set Pieces
Look to take points if they are on offer. In the lineout both Hoeata and Maestri are good options for the banker ball. We feel that Bruno’s throwing can be erratic and will look to pinch Tigers ball. At scrum time we will look to retain our own ball.
CJB- Posts : 5762
Join date : 2011-04-24
Age : 29
Location : Croydon
Re: AP Round 5
by 'Arry Thu 29 Sep - 22:31
After winning our third game in a row last week against the Exeter Chiefs we feel we are building momentum nicely, we head to Newcastle feeling full of confidence. In good running conditions we will look to really take Newcastle head on and show them we mean serious business.
Our game plan is based around using the power we have in our team to set out a platform for our backs to be able to attack from. 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, getting us over the gain line. 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. We will look to recycle the ball efficiently within the pack working Newcastle hard in defence in the early stages.
We have three excellent kicking options in Gopperth, McAlister and Mortlock, any slow ball we have we will look to kick in behind the Newcastle wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and 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. Any turnovers we do make, we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Claassens with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Newcastle defence.
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 Newcastle 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. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence. We will look for Mortlock to stay strong in the contact area and either offload if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Newcastle defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible.
With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Newcastle players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Newcastle defence, hopefully opening them up. When possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence and pierce the gaps we have created. With quick ball and offloading we will look to create and expose mismatches in the midfield. Our mobile and dynamic back row will look to support our ball carriers, taking offloads and powerfully driving forward. We will ensure our ball carriers have plenty of support in each phase, so they we can continue to play an offloading game. Any loose kicks our back three get will be returned with interest.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Newcastle's throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Newcastle by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Newcastle defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to create a platform from the scrum, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep Newcastle going backwards. We will ensure our discipline is exemplary. We will play hard rugby but ensure we play by the rules, if we want to win discipline will be key.
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 Newcastle onto the back foot by winning the forward battle we will be able to unsettle them. We have won our last three games against three very good sides and feel that we are building up momentum, confidence is high and the team is settled, we feel that if we can execute the game plan we have in place we will be able to come away from Newcastle with a momentous victory.
Our game plan is based around using the power we have in our team to set out a platform for our backs to be able to attack from. 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, getting us over the gain line. 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. We will look to recycle the ball efficiently within the pack working Newcastle hard in defence in the early stages.
We have three excellent kicking options in Gopperth, McAlister and Mortlock, any slow ball we have we will look to kick in behind the Newcastle wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and 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. Any turnovers we do make, we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Claassens with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Newcastle defence.
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 Newcastle 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. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence. We will look for Mortlock to stay strong in the contact area and either offload if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Newcastle defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible.
With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Newcastle players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Newcastle defence, hopefully opening them up. When possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Newcastle working off the ball in defence and pierce the gaps we have created. With quick ball and offloading we will look to create and expose mismatches in the midfield. Our mobile and dynamic back row will look to support our ball carriers, taking offloads and powerfully driving forward. We will ensure our ball carriers have plenty of support in each phase, so they we can continue to play an offloading game. Any loose kicks our back three get will be returned with interest.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Newcastle's throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Newcastle by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Newcastle defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to create a platform from the scrum, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep Newcastle going backwards. We will ensure our discipline is exemplary. We will play hard rugby but ensure we play by the rules, if we want to win discipline will be key.
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 Newcastle onto the back foot by winning the forward battle we will be able to unsettle them. We have won our last three games against three very good sides and feel that we are building up momentum, confidence is high and the team is settled, we feel that if we can execute the game plan we have in place we will be able to come away from Newcastle with a momentous victory.
'Arry- Posts : 864
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 29
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 5
by Sgt_Pooly Thu 29 Sep - 22:39
Looking to use Stegmann (5'11") as one of your main jumpers too
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 5
by Sgt_Pooly Thu 29 Sep - 22:50
Lineout options....
Falcons:
Juan Smith 6'5"
Robshaw 6'2"
Vermeulen 6'4"
Wasps:
Stegman 5'11"
TJ 6'2"
Wilson 6'2"
Better lineout options for Falcons?
Falcons:
Juan Smith 6'5"
Robshaw 6'2"
Vermeulen 6'4"
Wasps:
Stegman 5'11"
TJ 6'2"
Wilson 6'2"
Better lineout options for Falcons?
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 5
by 'Arry Thu 29 Sep - 22:54
I said kick in behind your wingers. Gopperth is a fantastic positional kicker as is McAlister.
"On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann."
Never mentioned Stegmann being our main jumper? Also at the lineout if you're focusing so much on Wentzel like you say you will do in your tactics I may as well use other jumpers?
"On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann."
Never mentioned Stegmann being our main jumper? Also at the lineout if you're focusing so much on Wentzel like you say you will do in your tactics I may as well use other jumpers?
'Arry- Posts : 864
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 29
Re: AP Round 5
by 'Arry Thu 29 Sep - 22:56
That's if Lindsay can reach them mate, Wentzel is one of the best at picking off opposition lineouts.
'Arry- Posts : 864
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 29
Re: AP Round 5
by Sgt_Pooly Thu 29 Sep - 23:17
Wentzal is good mate but no real options in backrow imo. None of your backrow are used regularly by their club.
Vermeulen & Smith are some of the best backrow lineout options in world rugby....
Lindsay knows our calls inside out having been with us for best part of a year. Gray is a LOAN player off 4 games for you. Is his heart in Wasps
Vermeulen & Smith are some of the best backrow lineout options in world rugby....
Lindsay knows our calls inside out having been with us for best part of a year. Gray is a LOAN player off 4 games for you. Is his heart in Wasps
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Re: AP Round 5
by SirJohnnyEnglish Fri 30 Sep - 8:42
Once Luke gets his tactics predictions will be open
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Re: AP Round 5
by Steven_Sharks Fri 30 Sep - 13:03
Worcester 25 - 20 Saints
If that is the Worcester side I faced last week then I was lucky to get a draw!!. Feel that Worcester have the advantage in most areas except at prop and maybe at centre. Myall's lineouts will complement Kohn's grunt well in the row.
Gloucester 27 - 25 London Irish
Gloucester have the stronger front 5 with Irish edging the back rows. Robson was unreal in the lineout last week and will really give Kennedy a test. half backs probably just go to Irish but not by much. Outside backs go to Gloucester although I'm a huge Naquelavuki fan. Good conditions allow Sharples, Gear, May et all to run in some tries.
Exeter 19 - 24 Saracens
I prefer the Saracens pack but really like the Exeter back row. Half backs just go to Sarries along with the outside backs. Really like the Exeter bench though and that keeps the last 20 mins tight.
Bath 22 - 23 Leicester
I prefer the Leicester pack but I prefer the Bath half backs. Both sets of outside backs are strong and will have a great battle. Brock James to kick a late penalty to take the points.
Newcastle 25 - 26 Wasps
Game of the week for me. I see a big advantage for Wasps in the front row and think they will do well in the scrum. I see the lineout as pretty even with Lindsey's throwing getting better but still being occassionally wayward. Prefer the Wasps Lock's but prefer the Newcastle back row although Wasps are more than competitive. Half backs are both strong with Claasens better than Pretorius and Evans stronger than Gopperth but both units very strong. Centres go to Wasps with McAllister electric in the top 14 and Mortlock a very strong option outside him. Back 3's go to Newcastle but in the dry conditions I think the Wasps trio would still cause problems. a tight game with Wasps bench helping them cling on to a somewhat shock defeat for Falcons.
If that is the Worcester side I faced last week then I was lucky to get a draw!!. Feel that Worcester have the advantage in most areas except at prop and maybe at centre. Myall's lineouts will complement Kohn's grunt well in the row.
Gloucester 27 - 25 London Irish
Gloucester have the stronger front 5 with Irish edging the back rows. Robson was unreal in the lineout last week and will really give Kennedy a test. half backs probably just go to Irish but not by much. Outside backs go to Gloucester although I'm a huge Naquelavuki fan. Good conditions allow Sharples, Gear, May et all to run in some tries.
Exeter 19 - 24 Saracens
I prefer the Saracens pack but really like the Exeter back row. Half backs just go to Sarries along with the outside backs. Really like the Exeter bench though and that keeps the last 20 mins tight.
Bath 22 - 23 Leicester
I prefer the Leicester pack but I prefer the Bath half backs. Both sets of outside backs are strong and will have a great battle. Brock James to kick a late penalty to take the points.
Newcastle 25 - 26 Wasps
Game of the week for me. I see a big advantage for Wasps in the front row and think they will do well in the scrum. I see the lineout as pretty even with Lindsey's throwing getting better but still being occassionally wayward. Prefer the Wasps Lock's but prefer the Newcastle back row although Wasps are more than competitive. Half backs are both strong with Claasens better than Pretorius and Evans stronger than Gopperth but both units very strong. Centres go to Wasps with McAllister electric in the top 14 and Mortlock a very strong option outside him. Back 3's go to Newcastle but in the dry conditions I think the Wasps trio would still cause problems. a tight game with Wasps bench helping them cling on to a somewhat shock defeat for Falcons.
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Re: AP Round 5
by SirJohnnyEnglish Fri 30 Sep - 14:17
Worcester Warriors 19-17 Northampton Saints
The scrum battle goes to Worcester. Both sides with good scrummaging props but Worcester with a lot more form on their side. Lineout wise both sides will win their own ball. Around the park not an awful lot in it although Worcester will tire that bit more in the front 5. In the back row Saints have more carrying options but Worcester aren’t weak in this department. Worcester with a definite upper hand at the breakdown which Saints have tried to counteract but not overly sure they are capable of emulating the Irish. Advantage Worcester here.
In the halfbacks Worcester have the upper hand. Not a lot between Beaxuis and Robinson but Peel another class to young Davies. In the backs Saints have the extra class in midfield but Worcester the form. Even for me. Back 3s again fairly tight. On the bench Saints maybe just shading for overall quality but both sides have plenty of impact.
Tight game here. Can see the breakdown/ tackle area battle falling Worcester’s way and with more in the pack particularly the scrum battle Prop should see his first win of the season this week.
Gloucester Rugby 23-24 London Irish
Advantage scrum time to Gloucester who will get at the Irish props in this one. Lineout time could see Irish picking a few balls against the throw though. Around the park neither front 5 has an edge. Backrow battle can see Irish getting some joy. AJ the stronger 8 on show but Irish’s flankers are a big step up from their counterparts.
Halfbacks go to Irish. At 10 Donald probably the better flyhalf overall but Bowden in cracking form edges it at the moment while scrum half is a big step up to Irish. In the backs midfield goes to Irish with a stronger combo. Naqs in great form and Tait showed he still has it last week. Back 3 falls to Glaws who have the strongest line up during the world cup. Irish with plenty to offer here as well though. On the bench Glaws have more to offer in the front row but Irish elsewhere.
Good game here. Glaws can get a good advantage in the scrum but Irish will be on top at the lineout and breakdown for me seeing them with more ball. And with Bowden at 10 and the stronger midfield on show they will pick up a good away win here.
Exeter Chiefs 19-22 Saracens
Good battle at the scrum with neither side getting a real advantage. Sarries with an edge at the lineout though. Around the park Sarries with a bit more in the front 5 as well. In the back row both sides fairly similar at 8 but Sarries with a bit more on the flanks.
Have the halfbacks fairly even. At 9 Exeter have the class but Sarries the form while its vice versa at 10. While in the backlines Sarries with a very good back 3 on show that sees them with an upper hand. Midfield battle is fairly even but Farrell more suited to 12 outside Humphs then King is outside Ford. On the benches Exeter have a lot of power to bring on in the front row while Sarries have some great dynamism to bring in elsewhere.
Sarries with an edge in the pack battle here will see some more ball. The targeting of the 10/12 axis will pay dividends for Pete as is side picks up a good away win.
Bath Rugby 21-20 Leicester Tigers
Neither side with an advantage at scrum time. Question marks over both TH’s on show. Lineout time Tigers with the advantage. As Luke correctly points out Bath have no real lineout leader. Bath with more around the park though in the front 5 with that 2nd row offering a lot. Back row battle is interesting. Have it slightly shading to Bath with Armitage in cracking form in France able to compete against the 2 Leicester flankers at the breakdown while Bath have an edge in the carrying game.
Halfbacks shading to Bath just with the combination now settled. In the backs Tigers are a step up though in both the midfield and back 3 with some classy options. On the benches Crockett is the only real impact player on show.
Tigers have more in the backline but Bath a better carrying game in the forwards which levels it up. It’s a very tight game here and as it is Bath pick this one up due to home advantage. Neutral ground would have seen a draw. (If Tigers had gone with a more territorial approach in tactics and really used their advantage at the lineout I would have opted for them)
Newcastle Falcons 26-20 London Wasps
Scrum battle very tight but maybe just edging to Wasps here with some gnarly props. At the lineout both sides have enough options to hold their own ball. Falcons have an advantage around the park tough with some extra class in the 2nd row. Back row battle edging to Falcons but they won’t have it all their own way with a good Wasps line up.
Newcastle are a step up in the halfbacks with a combination that can control the game as well as Wasps but has some serious attacking threat as well. In midfield McAllister in cracking form for Toulouse but Newcastle’s combination in great form as well and will offer a bit more as a unit. Back 3 edges to Newcastle as well with some great attacking threat. Wasps shading it for quality on the bench.
It’s a good even pack battle overall here and the key differences are the halfbacks on show and home advantage for Newcastle. Pretorias and Evans will offer a lot more ball in hand then their Wasps counterparts and this will see Newcastle pick up the win at home.
The scrum battle goes to Worcester. Both sides with good scrummaging props but Worcester with a lot more form on their side. Lineout wise both sides will win their own ball. Around the park not an awful lot in it although Worcester will tire that bit more in the front 5. In the back row Saints have more carrying options but Worcester aren’t weak in this department. Worcester with a definite upper hand at the breakdown which Saints have tried to counteract but not overly sure they are capable of emulating the Irish. Advantage Worcester here.
In the halfbacks Worcester have the upper hand. Not a lot between Beaxuis and Robinson but Peel another class to young Davies. In the backs Saints have the extra class in midfield but Worcester the form. Even for me. Back 3s again fairly tight. On the bench Saints maybe just shading for overall quality but both sides have plenty of impact.
Tight game here. Can see the breakdown/ tackle area battle falling Worcester’s way and with more in the pack particularly the scrum battle Prop should see his first win of the season this week.
Gloucester Rugby 23-24 London Irish
Advantage scrum time to Gloucester who will get at the Irish props in this one. Lineout time could see Irish picking a few balls against the throw though. Around the park neither front 5 has an edge. Backrow battle can see Irish getting some joy. AJ the stronger 8 on show but Irish’s flankers are a big step up from their counterparts.
Halfbacks go to Irish. At 10 Donald probably the better flyhalf overall but Bowden in cracking form edges it at the moment while scrum half is a big step up to Irish. In the backs midfield goes to Irish with a stronger combo. Naqs in great form and Tait showed he still has it last week. Back 3 falls to Glaws who have the strongest line up during the world cup. Irish with plenty to offer here as well though. On the bench Glaws have more to offer in the front row but Irish elsewhere.
Good game here. Glaws can get a good advantage in the scrum but Irish will be on top at the lineout and breakdown for me seeing them with more ball. And with Bowden at 10 and the stronger midfield on show they will pick up a good away win here.
Exeter Chiefs 19-22 Saracens
Good battle at the scrum with neither side getting a real advantage. Sarries with an edge at the lineout though. Around the park Sarries with a bit more in the front 5 as well. In the back row both sides fairly similar at 8 but Sarries with a bit more on the flanks.
Have the halfbacks fairly even. At 9 Exeter have the class but Sarries the form while its vice versa at 10. While in the backlines Sarries with a very good back 3 on show that sees them with an upper hand. Midfield battle is fairly even but Farrell more suited to 12 outside Humphs then King is outside Ford. On the benches Exeter have a lot of power to bring on in the front row while Sarries have some great dynamism to bring in elsewhere.
Sarries with an edge in the pack battle here will see some more ball. The targeting of the 10/12 axis will pay dividends for Pete as is side picks up a good away win.
Bath Rugby 21-20 Leicester Tigers
Neither side with an advantage at scrum time. Question marks over both TH’s on show. Lineout time Tigers with the advantage. As Luke correctly points out Bath have no real lineout leader. Bath with more around the park though in the front 5 with that 2nd row offering a lot. Back row battle is interesting. Have it slightly shading to Bath with Armitage in cracking form in France able to compete against the 2 Leicester flankers at the breakdown while Bath have an edge in the carrying game.
Halfbacks shading to Bath just with the combination now settled. In the backs Tigers are a step up though in both the midfield and back 3 with some classy options. On the benches Crockett is the only real impact player on show.
Tigers have more in the backline but Bath a better carrying game in the forwards which levels it up. It’s a very tight game here and as it is Bath pick this one up due to home advantage. Neutral ground would have seen a draw. (If Tigers had gone with a more territorial approach in tactics and really used their advantage at the lineout I would have opted for them)
Newcastle Falcons 26-20 London Wasps
Scrum battle very tight but maybe just edging to Wasps here with some gnarly props. At the lineout both sides have enough options to hold their own ball. Falcons have an advantage around the park tough with some extra class in the 2nd row. Back row battle edging to Falcons but they won’t have it all their own way with a good Wasps line up.
Newcastle are a step up in the halfbacks with a combination that can control the game as well as Wasps but has some serious attacking threat as well. In midfield McAllister in cracking form for Toulouse but Newcastle’s combination in great form as well and will offer a bit more as a unit. Back 3 edges to Newcastle as well with some great attacking threat. Wasps shading it for quality on the bench.
It’s a good even pack battle overall here and the key differences are the halfbacks on show and home advantage for Newcastle. Pretorias and Evans will offer a lot more ball in hand then their Wasps counterparts and this will see Newcastle pick up the win at home.
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Re: AP Round 5
by dammit_chris Fri 30 Sep - 15:27
Bit surprised that so much has been put on the packs in the first few sets of predictions as the conditions mean that its running rugby, and the game will be won by the teams who go out on the offensive and make most of the sunshine - all my results are based on who I think will go out and score tries, espc if the packs have parity. In sunny conditions how many scrums are there in a game? Hardly any. Lineouts, if kicked long distance are taken quickly to get the ball back in play.
Gloucester Rugby 32 - 30 London Irish
Is an odd pack battle, Gloucester have a strong front five, which would dominate Irish in the wet, but don't really think they have much to offer in running rugby, though with Saull and AJ I think they have two backrowers that will thrive in the conditions.
For me the game is won with Donald at 10 for Glaws, I really rate him and he'll be a great player at home for them, not so sure if he will be the best away from home and in Gear and JSD they offer so much threat and can see them scoring quite a few. I don't think Nac.....is a very good 12, Exeter play him mostly at 13 in matches as his hands arent great - he is up against a very good defender so cant see much joy. May v Tait will e a great battle, better service for May though.
High scorer.
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Quins 25 - 25 Sale
Sorry SJE but I dont watch SA rugby very much so don't know anything about your second row, which makes it hard for me to judge their game style etc. I will try and see more of their games though.
I see this as a draw as Brits is back to his best position and will cause Sale all sorts of trouble, think Quins have advantage in the backrow as I really dont rate Lipman or Crane in these conditions and feel Quins can get more of a platform to launch attacks from.
However, do prefer the attacking options out wide for Sale, Strettle, Fruen, and Masaga - and when Abendandon comes on he'll cause issues. Can see Quins getting points through Brits, whilst Sale will get more joy out wide.
Can't separate.
Exeter Chiefs 27-30 Saracens
Really tough one to call, Exeter have a heck of a lot of on form players picked and if this was a wet and windy day then their pack would win the game, but in sunny weather I am not sure how many Exeter players actually suit a high tempo game.
Driver - the scoreline would probably have been one point difference if you'd gone into a bit more detail with your tactics, if you look at Pete's he's seen the conditions and plans to get quick ball and attack, which over 80mins will work - you've got a very good centre partnership, which will keep you close, but Pete has a few more players better suited to the conditions. Good effort though.
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Bath Rugby 31 - 31 Leicester Tigers
Sorry guys, I just can't call this one - on one hand Bath have a great attaacking team, and their forwards are going to be all over the pitch, offloading and playing quick rugby - but can't help feel that they are lacking a go to guy in the midfield as Hodgson, Allen and Waldouck isn't exactly big.
Leicester to me have the ideal backline, prob best balanced during the WC and they are going to attack for 80mins and can see them getting more line breaks etc, though home advantage and speed of Bath's overall team will see them score lots too.
High score draw.
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Newcastle Falcons 39 - 36 London Wasps
Both teams are going to get 4 tries in this one, I'm not sure about the form of Pooly's pack apart from Robshaw, who I think should perhaps now be given his chance for the Engalnd 7 shirt.
Arry has his tactics spot on with the 10/12 axis and kicking the ball deep, this will put him in good positions to score tries, but I think home advantage and that little extra class will see Newcastle home.
Gloucester Rugby 32 - 30 London Irish
Is an odd pack battle, Gloucester have a strong front five, which would dominate Irish in the wet, but don't really think they have much to offer in running rugby, though with Saull and AJ I think they have two backrowers that will thrive in the conditions.
For me the game is won with Donald at 10 for Glaws, I really rate him and he'll be a great player at home for them, not so sure if he will be the best away from home and in Gear and JSD they offer so much threat and can see them scoring quite a few. I don't think Nac.....is a very good 12, Exeter play him mostly at 13 in matches as his hands arent great - he is up against a very good defender so cant see much joy. May v Tait will e a great battle, better service for May though.
High scorer.
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Quins 25 - 25 Sale
Sorry SJE but I dont watch SA rugby very much so don't know anything about your second row, which makes it hard for me to judge their game style etc. I will try and see more of their games though.
I see this as a draw as Brits is back to his best position and will cause Sale all sorts of trouble, think Quins have advantage in the backrow as I really dont rate Lipman or Crane in these conditions and feel Quins can get more of a platform to launch attacks from.
However, do prefer the attacking options out wide for Sale, Strettle, Fruen, and Masaga - and when Abendandon comes on he'll cause issues. Can see Quins getting points through Brits, whilst Sale will get more joy out wide.
Can't separate.
Exeter Chiefs 27-30 Saracens
Really tough one to call, Exeter have a heck of a lot of on form players picked and if this was a wet and windy day then their pack would win the game, but in sunny weather I am not sure how many Exeter players actually suit a high tempo game.
Driver - the scoreline would probably have been one point difference if you'd gone into a bit more detail with your tactics, if you look at Pete's he's seen the conditions and plans to get quick ball and attack, which over 80mins will work - you've got a very good centre partnership, which will keep you close, but Pete has a few more players better suited to the conditions. Good effort though.
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Bath Rugby 31 - 31 Leicester Tigers
Sorry guys, I just can't call this one - on one hand Bath have a great attaacking team, and their forwards are going to be all over the pitch, offloading and playing quick rugby - but can't help feel that they are lacking a go to guy in the midfield as Hodgson, Allen and Waldouck isn't exactly big.
Leicester to me have the ideal backline, prob best balanced during the WC and they are going to attack for 80mins and can see them getting more line breaks etc, though home advantage and speed of Bath's overall team will see them score lots too.
High score draw.
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Newcastle Falcons 39 - 36 London Wasps
Both teams are going to get 4 tries in this one, I'm not sure about the form of Pooly's pack apart from Robshaw, who I think should perhaps now be given his chance for the Engalnd 7 shirt.
Arry has his tactics spot on with the 10/12 axis and kicking the ball deep, this will put him in good positions to score tries, but I think home advantage and that little extra class will see Newcastle home.
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Re: AP Round 5
by LukeLovesLuka Fri 30 Sep - 15:47
Worcester 19 - 17 Saints
Pretty even come scrum time for me, same again in the lineout with no clear winner. Slight edge to Worcester in the back row, but not enough to dominate. Slight edge to Worcester in the HB's, but Saints take the centres with a combo I like. Maybe Saints edge back three's, but not a lot in it. Two differing tactics, but with home advantage, and that bit more in the back row and HB's, Worcester take a good victory.
Gloucester 32 - 32 Irish
Gloucester take the scrum for me with a stronger unit, but with Kenned, Irish take the lineout. Think Irish edge the back row, both sides offer similar around the park. HB's to Irish, but Gloucester with some quality so not by much. Tough to separate the centres, but Gloucester take the back three. Really tough to call this, Irish slightly on top in key areas, but Gloucester strong at home with dangerous runners. High scoring draw, sorry.
Exeter Chiefs 18 - 23 Saracens
Edge to Sarries scrum time, and sure Tui only signed a few days ago (?) so counts against Exeter further. Tight 2nd row battle with Sarries maybe sneaking it, same story in the back row with Sarries having a bit more quality. Exeter's pack seems better suited to wet days rather than heatwave days. Even HB's - brave to play Ford - not sure he'll get much protection which is a worry. Fairly even beyond there. Sarries' (well rested) pack to lead them to a strong away win for me.
Harlequins 27 - 24 Sale
Give the edge to Quins up front, although see both TH's having joy. Not a lot in the second rows for me, but Quins have better quality in the back row which sets them up well. Sale take the HB's with a top combo, both sets of centres have good form. Prefer Sale's back three. I see Quins forwards on top, but Sale having a more dangerous back line, and so, at home, see Quins having a bit more of the ball and taking a narrow but well fought win.
Newcastle 26 - 24 Wasps
Tight scrum battle, neither side has enough to win it for me, similar story in the second row with two nice units. Tight back row match-ups, with Smith losing rating but Robshaw on form, and Wasps having strong options. Very slight edge to Newcastle in the HB's, but have Wasps taking the edge in the centres. Home side take the back three. Tough to call this one, with not a lot to separate them, but Newcastle's home advantage sneaks it for them.
Pretty even come scrum time for me, same again in the lineout with no clear winner. Slight edge to Worcester in the back row, but not enough to dominate. Slight edge to Worcester in the HB's, but Saints take the centres with a combo I like. Maybe Saints edge back three's, but not a lot in it. Two differing tactics, but with home advantage, and that bit more in the back row and HB's, Worcester take a good victory.
Gloucester 32 - 32 Irish
Gloucester take the scrum for me with a stronger unit, but with Kenned, Irish take the lineout. Think Irish edge the back row, both sides offer similar around the park. HB's to Irish, but Gloucester with some quality so not by much. Tough to separate the centres, but Gloucester take the back three. Really tough to call this, Irish slightly on top in key areas, but Gloucester strong at home with dangerous runners. High scoring draw, sorry.
Exeter Chiefs 18 - 23 Saracens
Edge to Sarries scrum time, and sure Tui only signed a few days ago (?) so counts against Exeter further. Tight 2nd row battle with Sarries maybe sneaking it, same story in the back row with Sarries having a bit more quality. Exeter's pack seems better suited to wet days rather than heatwave days. Even HB's - brave to play Ford - not sure he'll get much protection which is a worry. Fairly even beyond there. Sarries' (well rested
) pack to lead them to a strong away win for me.Harlequins 27 - 24 Sale
Give the edge to Quins up front, although see both TH's having joy. Not a lot in the second rows for me, but Quins have better quality in the back row which sets them up well. Sale take the HB's with a top combo, both sets of centres have good form. Prefer Sale's back three. I see Quins forwards on top, but Sale having a more dangerous back line, and so, at home, see Quins having a bit more of the ball and taking a narrow but well fought win.
Newcastle 26 - 24 Wasps
Tight scrum battle, neither side has enough to win it for me, similar story in the second row with two nice units. Tight back row match-ups, with Smith losing rating but Robshaw on form, and Wasps having strong options. Very slight edge to Newcastle in the HB's, but have Wasps taking the edge in the centres. Home side take the back three. Tough to call this one, with not a lot to separate them, but Newcastle's home advantage sneaks it for them.
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Re: AP Round 5
by stnick88 Fri 30 Sep - 16:06
Worcester v Saints
- Plenty of power and expeirnce for Warriors upfront. Saints solid front 3, prefer Clark at 6 and a tight backrow battle. Think Warriors will control the game well with their half backs and have enough to secure a home win. Classens looks good and Saints will be dangerous. Good exciting game.
34-32
Exeter v Saracens
- Saracens get on the front foot upfront for me, but dont think Perry will provide the best service to the backs. Likewise TOL on poor form and a debut start (i think) for Ford isnt ideal for Exeter. Tight in the backs with some inexperience in Sarries centres. iHumphs control will sneak SArries this game.
22-24
Harlequins v Sale
- Very tight upfront, cant pick a winner althought Brits in open play makes a difference. Think Cruden will control the game better than Burns and get the backs involved well, and Sale have plenty of pace and power to cause damage. Flutey and JJ both on good form is a good WC combo for Quins. Good players in the back 3 for them too. Cant separate.
30-30
Bath v Leicester
- Not the best scrummaging props on show for either side but think Bath edge the locks. Tight backrow battle with Armitage and Joubert standouts. A lot of pace in the backs for both sides that will thrive in these conditions. Prefer Tigers centres but with James still new at the club and Hodgson playing well, Bath edge it.
26-25
Newcastle v Wasps
- Has pooly changed his starting lineup once yet this season?! either way, its a very strong team that keeps winning!! and dont see that changing here. half backs control the game well and get good ball to the backs and with strong forwards securing good ball in the set piece and loose, they get a home win over an impressive Wasps team. Great centre combo with Mac and Mortlock but Falcons have a better back 3 to score tries.
29-25
- Plenty of power and expeirnce for Warriors upfront. Saints solid front 3, prefer Clark at 6 and a tight backrow battle. Think Warriors will control the game well with their half backs and have enough to secure a home win. Classens looks good and Saints will be dangerous. Good exciting game.
34-32
Exeter v Saracens
- Saracens get on the front foot upfront for me, but dont think Perry will provide the best service to the backs. Likewise TOL on poor form and a debut start (i think) for Ford isnt ideal for Exeter. Tight in the backs with some inexperience in Sarries centres. iHumphs control will sneak SArries this game.
22-24
Harlequins v Sale
- Very tight upfront, cant pick a winner althought Brits in open play makes a difference. Think Cruden will control the game better than Burns and get the backs involved well, and Sale have plenty of pace and power to cause damage. Flutey and JJ both on good form is a good WC combo for Quins. Good players in the back 3 for them too. Cant separate.
30-30
Bath v Leicester
- Not the best scrummaging props on show for either side but think Bath edge the locks. Tight backrow battle with Armitage and Joubert standouts. A lot of pace in the backs for both sides that will thrive in these conditions. Prefer Tigers centres but with James still new at the club and Hodgson playing well, Bath edge it.
26-25
Newcastle v Wasps
- Has pooly changed his starting lineup once yet this season?! either way, its a very strong team that keeps winning!! and dont see that changing here. half backs control the game well and get good ball to the backs and with strong forwards securing good ball in the set piece and loose, they get a home win over an impressive Wasps team. Great centre combo with Mac and Mortlock but Falcons have a better back 3 to score tries.
29-25
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Re: AP Round 5
by LukeLovesLuka Fri 30 Sep - 17:22
James and Hoeata signed in same deal 2 weeks ago but only James picked up on...?
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Re: AP Round 5
by Ozzy3213 Fri 30 Sep - 17:33
James in a key decision making position, Hoeata isn't.
Bit poor form questioning peoples predos like that as well in my opinion. Just saying.
Bit poor form questioning peoples predos like that as well in my opinion. Just saying.
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Re: AP Round 5
by LukeLovesLuka Fri 30 Sep - 17:38
I'd say 5 is a key decision maker, particularly the lineout.
I wouldn't want to cause offence/influence by comments. If someone has predo'd then that's it, so better after than before if you know what I mean? Only really commented as it seemed to be the deciding factor, which is tough to take. Not after changes, jut reasoning - like I say, without prejudice.
I wouldn't want to cause offence/influence by comments. If someone has predo'd then that's it, so better after than before if you know what I mean? Only really commented as it seemed to be the deciding factor, which is tough to take. Not after changes, jut reasoning - like I say, without prejudice.
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Re: AP Round 5
by CJB Fri 30 Sep - 20:15
Worcester 24-25 Saints
Glaws 20-21 Irish
Exeter 26-29 Sarries
Quins 35-31 Sale
Wasps 17-19 Falcons
Glaws 20-21 Irish
Exeter 26-29 Sarries
Quins 35-31 Sale
Wasps 17-19 Falcons
CJB- Posts : 5762
Join date : 2011-04-24
Age : 29
Location : Croydon
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