About v2AP Round 8
+7
CJB
prop_lyd
stnick88
LukeLovesLuka
Steven_Sharks
Sgt_Pooly
Driver
11 posters
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AP Round 8
by Driver Sun Oct 30, 2011 10:13 pm
First topic message reminder :
Leicester Tigers v London Irish
Sunny , 14 degrees , 10mph wind
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Wyatt Crockett 17. Lee Mears 18. Jonny Harris 19. Chris Jack 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Rob Miller
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get our backs into the game as much as possible by attacking the lineout and the breakdown. We will look to get our back three on the ball causing Irish problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Yachvili sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.
- Early on Yachvili to kick all penalites within range, but we won't necessarily go for the 3 points as the game progresses. BOD to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.
- Get after JMH and Pienaar as much as we can. Irish have one HB as cover on the bench, and a few big hits could leave them short of options.
- Look to use our bench to win the game in the last 30 mins. Waldrom to come on at 50 mins to impact the game with his carrying, along with Crockett. Jack to strengthen our pack and set piece, Young to inject pace around the fringes and Brock James to come on if we need a spark in the back line.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson. A.Brown to call the lineout - Hines and Croft alternating at the front, Brown in the middle and Joubert at the rear. We will relentlessly target Buckland's throws.
- At the scrum Bruno to look to give Buckland a schooling. Jenkins and Johnston picked to provide stability up against Castro and Tonga. Tonga in particular is used to playing props shorter and lighter and using his power to bulldoze through them, but Johnston is the same height and actually heavier than him. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Look to Joubert, Pocock, Croft, Jenkins, Hines and Johnston to give us real go-forward with their carrying. 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.
- Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Irish. Our other forwards will look to ruck past the ball and clear out Irish players enabling us to effect turnovers. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.
BACKS:
- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili pulling the strings. We will look to go through the phases and dominate possession, move Irish around with our half back's tactical kicking, and unleash our pacey back three as and when we can.
- If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Twelvetrees can act as our second receiver, and can hit the gain line hard to make yards. BOD to play his natural game, be the leader in our midfield, and look to get our back three into the game.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. The weather is good 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:
- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at home since the start of last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson.
- Target the breakdown - Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Irish.
- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Likes of Waldrom, Crockett, Jack and B.James to come on. Powerful front row that is both solid in the set-piece and with ball carrying in Crockett and Mears. Jack to strengthen our pack and set piece, and Waldrom to provide huge carrying impact. Young to inject pace around the fringes, B.James if we need a spark, and Miller who is in dazzling form.
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Duncan Bell 17. Neil Briggs 18. WP Nel 19. Matt Garvey 20. Joe Worsley 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Matthew Tait 23. Sonny Bill Williams
London Irish welcome back Samoan's George Stowers and Sailosi Tagicakibau to the starting line up, whilst top try scorer Bjorn Basson returns in place of J.P Pieterson. Mouritz Botha is picked ahead of Dean Mumm in the 2nd row and Sireli Naqalevuki deservedly keeps his place at inside centre, with Sonny Bill Williams having to settle for a place on the bench. Juan Martin Hernandez makes his second start of the season at fly half, with Ruan Pienaar reverting to his usual position of scrum half.
Tactics
We want to get as much ball to our backs as possible as we feel we have the pace and power to really hurt the Tigers. We may be away from home, but we fear no-one and have a backline full of dangerous runners that can hurt any defence.
Upfront we have selected a powerful set of forwards to dominate in the loose as well as the setpiece.
We will ruthlessly target the setpiece and can see a lot of joy here. Tonga'uhia and Castro will go after their opponents at scrum time and look to win as many as penalties as possible for JMH to kick. Castro will really look to pressure Jenkins and drive him back.
At lineout time, Kennedy will be our main go to man, with Botha, Spies and Stowers also providing options. Kennedy will disrupt as much opposition ball as possible on Bruno's throw.
Both scrum and lineout will be used as platforms to attack off. We want to get as much ball as possible to the backs and get Naqa and Fourie involved as much as possible.
In the loose, we will look to overpower the Tigers. We feel they lack some grunt and ball carrying power, and we have picked three brutes in the backrow to over power them. Stowers, Botha, Tonga, Castro and Spies will hit the rucks hard and look to dominate this area and not let Pocock have free reign. We will get Fourie in at the breakdowns to secure quick ball and legally slow down any opposition ball. We will look for our big ball carriers to make the hard yards around the fringes and suck in Tigers defence before spreading the ball to the backs to exploit gaps.
Wilko has struggled to get a backline going recently and we will play a rush defence to get up in the faces of the Tigers and disrupt their momentum.
Naqalevuki will look to give 12T a schooling and use his power and pace to run at him and test his defence. We will have support runners like Fourie or Tagicakibau off him to collect offloads and create overlaps.
We will not kick aimless ball away to the Tigers back 3, but look to Delon and Tagi to run the ball back as both are strong runners who make a lot of metres. We will ensure we dont give away penalties here and get sufficient players in at the breakdown to secure our own ball.
Sonny Bill to come on at 55 mins to create more problems for the Tigers defence. JMH to kick all pens for goal.
To sum up, we want to dominate upfront where we feel we have superior power in the loose, and a stronger set piece, to dominate ball and territory and allow our backs to run riot.
Good luck Luke.
Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester Rugby
Heavy rain , 15 degrees , 12mph wind
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
16.Neil Clark 17.Salvator Perugini18.Tom Mercy 19.Peter Short 20.Ben Skirving 21.Nick Phipps 22.George Pisi 23.Steven Myler
Tactics
- Play the percentages with a monster front 5 and using our back line to ping Gloucester in there own 22 for 80 minutes.
- We will look to scrum down at every opportunity and really attack Gloucester and out plenty of pressure on them with Smit and Zirka really scrimmaging on Joe Grey with Sheridan looking to get in at White and cause the old man problems.
- D’Arcy and Powell are both direct hard runners and will give us plenty of head way up the middle.
- Defence is all about line speed and getting on the back foot which is key for our use of Moody and Jennings. In what will be a forward orientated game the breakdown will be key and having Moody and Jennings in our back row will play the breakdown into our hands.
- we will commit as little to the ruck as possible and flood the field with numbers forcing gloucester into a forward battle/
- Lineouts will be snappy with the man straight up and down ,
- we will peel from the centre off the drive at the lineout and set a seperate maul to force the glaws pack to retreat onside to try and stop a maul going forward. (We will use this particular in the opposition 22)
- We will go back to basics and take the big runners round the legs whilst allowing the supporting defender to go for the ball.
- Kelleher to tie the back row up with snipes and short pops at the fringes to take pressure off ROG.
- ROG to drop goals and kick most penalties. Always leave they half with points
Game specific tactics
[list]Kicking game - Fitzgerald , Arscott and Byrne most notablely are all solid under the high ball and best suited to these conditions. Horsea Gear and Sinbad are both flakey under the high ball and will be taking bombs all afternoon.
Richard Kahui - Kahui spent the entire RWC on the wing , will he be able to adjust to centre again in one game.
Carter in a territory battle is no where near as much use as ROG in these types of games and conditions.
Rupert Harden will eventually replace White and will not have an easy afternoon first coming up against Andrew Sheridan and then Salvator Perugini - who won’t take prisoners at scrum time.
Tactical points of advantage
TBA
TBA
TBA
Gloucester
Manager – ‘Mat
16. Nick Wood17. Adriaan Strauss 18. Rupert Harden 19. Richie Gray 20. Andy Saull 21. Dave Lewis 22. Berrick barnes 23. May
Tactics
Gloucester travel to Exeter Buoyed after beating an exceptionally strong SArries side. It is going to be wet and miserable at Sandy Park and Gloucester have the team to win and win well.
SCRUM
Obviously in conditions like this you need a rock solid set piece and ball carriers galore to keep the ball and work your way into conditions to allow the half backs to control the game and dictate play.
Glaws have gone with a monster line up that is also mobile.
in the SCrums we will be looking to win our own ball clean and get a wheel on to allow either Alberts to pick up and go or for Genia to get the ball away quickly to carter to kick for territory or launch runners at the gainline.
On Exeter ball we will be looking to disrupt their put in and drive them back either creating bad ball for them or taking against the head. WE have 2 huge scrummagers in Steenkamp and White. and a huge powerful back 5 that will not let up the pressure. White is on to play 40-50 minutes and to really hurt the Sheridan who has played a couple of games in a year and who must be struggling a little.
Lineout
As ever we are chock full of Jumpers and will be looking to secure our own ball and drive to suck in leicester and tire them before launching runners off the back of the Maul. in Conditions like these there will be a lot of front ball and bakkies is the king of this. We will then look to hit off the top a bit more as the game progresses and put big runners like Kahui and Hape over the gain line into people like Powell.
On their ball we will try and exploit their lack of jumpers and put pressure on the ball. if they win it they win scrappy ball. we will look to flood through and pressure Kelleher and in turn ROg.
Forwards General
We will be looking to keep the ball and force Exeter to commit men to tackling and into the rucks and mauls. The aim is to win the collisions and territory and dictate our game on to them. It will be forward dominated due to the rain and we feel we have a lot more up front. We are packed with ball carriers in Steenkamp, Gray, BAkkies, palmer, Ferris, Alberts and Burger. this will allow us to keep the ball and wear out the exeter pack.
We feel exeter lack the ball carriers we do and will be easier to defend against. there only carrier in the backrow is beattie who has been struggling for a long time. We aim to smash every maul and actually send numbers into rucks to counter ruck and give them poor quality ball. Everything is slower in the wet and we aim to grind them down and exploit their lack of dynamic carriers in the pack. we will keep ball all day and then release only good ball to the backs when they want it.
We are also aiming to use our bench. Strauss, Wood, Grey, harden will all come on and are in excellent form in real life. bench options are strongly in glaws favour.
BACKS
The backs will be looking to use what ball they get in a constructive way.
We have the 2 best half backs in world rugby and they will dictate tempo and when the ball is used. Carter is very used to the Wet as he plays for Canterbury where it is bloody miserable half the year and will be looking to dominate Ogara in both kicking and obviously in running.
first half we will be playing a territry based game with forwards keeping the ball and then releasing the ball allowing Carter to either kick for touch, high ball or push in behind them for our back 3 to chase. in our 22 Dagg will often receive the ball as he demonstrated in the WC he has one of the biggest clearance kicks in world rugby and will be used.
the other options carter will look to use will be to hit Hape and Kahui to target powell or to tie in Darcy and to recycle ball to attack again.
As we start to get in the ascendency we will look to use Gear coming up through channels and also look to move it wide if its on. you do not have a back 3 like JSD, Gear and Dagg and not try and use it.
We will look to employ the cross kick if on with Gear having a physical mismatch against either fitz or Arscot
Defence
We will use Genia to sweep but will also be looking to blitz when necessary. Kelleher is getting a bit long in the tooth and if we can disrupt ball it makes sense to blitz and pressure O'gara who is not a natural at moving the ball.
Must also take issue with Gear and JSD being flakey under the high ball. JSD in particular is immense under the high ball and i am sure prop will also say you never see him drop a high ball. if he was flakey then AP teams would target him on this. They dont which shows you how good he is under it,
Key Points
1 more form players throughout the team
2 more ball carriers all over the park and this is what helps keep ball in the rain
3 World class half backs that are the best in the world at dictating a game and can play any style.
4 Dynamic bench capable of blowing away the game. Also have the option of Barnes to come on add to the kicking options from centre to dominate territory game.
London Wasps v Northampton Saints
Light rain , 14 degrees , 9mph wind
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
16. Andy Titterell 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Steve Mafi 20. Tom Johnson 21. Mike Blair 22. Rory Clegg 23. Noah Cato
Tactics
Tactics
After winning our last four games in all competitions we are feeling very high on confidence and feel that we go into this clash with Northampton Saints with plenty of momentum. We have picked a gritty, powerful and physical forward pack which will work very hard at rucks and winning us set piece ball at scrum time and lineout. We feel that if we can assert ourselves physically and win the forward battle, providing our backs with a solid platform we will be able to come have a good chance of claiming a hard fought victory. We have plenty of players who are bang in form and we are unbeaten at home which is a big positive.
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. 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 taking the ball through plenty of phases to wear the Saints down.
We have two excellent kicking options in Gopperth and McAlister we will look to kick in behind the Northampton Saints wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and pressurize them into making mistakes in their own half. We will look to hit the rucks hard and compete when we can, any turnovers we do make we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. We will look to make a nuisance of ourselves at the breakdown and spoil the quality of the Saints ball with good counter rucking. 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 Saints defence.
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 and in form James Haskell. Gopperth will look to bring in our strike runners in McAlister and Roberts. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Saints working off the ball in defence. We will look for the in form Roberts to run plenty of good lines and 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 Saints 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 Saints players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Saints defence and put Giteau off his game, hopefully opening them up. When possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep the Saints 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. We have plenty of pace in our back three and will look to use them when we can.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on the Saints 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, Haskell and Wilson. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of the Saints by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Saints defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to really target the set piece and create a platform, we feel that we can gain an advantage here, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep the Saints going backwards. Our back row will look to really get in Giteau’s face and put him off of his game. We will ensure our discipline is exemplary. We will play hard rugby but ensure we play by the rules, discipline will be key. We feel that if our forwards can get us onto the front foot we have the half backs who will keep their cool and manage our game.
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 Northampton onto the back foot by winning the forward battle we will be able to unsettle them. We want to continue our winning ways and feel that if we can play at a high tempo and push the Saints onto the back foot we will be able to do this. Our gritty forwards will set the tone with huge carrying and from there we will look to get our offloading game going and bring our strike runners into the game. We have plenty of impact to call upon from the bench to continue our high levels of intensity and power.
[hr /]
Northampton Saints Team:
Manager – dammit chris
16. Rob Webber 17. Zak Taulafo 18. Bob Baker 19. Dave Attwood 20. Simon Taylor 21. Liam Messam 22.Leigh Halfpenny 23. Manu Tuilagi
We've picked a team that is perfect for the conditions, it is light rain, which will allow us to still throw the ball around in the backline and score tries, but it is essential that we have a pack that will compete with Wasps and get our backline the ball. We've gone for a 6-2 split on the bench so we can put a lot of pressure on Wasps throughout the 80 minutes. We believe that if we can keep the scoreboard close with Wasps at the 60 minute mark our subs bench will win the game and our advantage is that we have far more match winners in the backline to score a try that could be vital in a close game.
Key points
* This game is all about territory and possession – we will kick the ball deep and play the game in Wasps’ half. Putting pressure on them when we are in their 22 and forcing mistakes, penalties and disrupting the games flow. If we play the game in Wasps half we remove Gopperth’s kicking threat and put a lot of pressure on McAlister to get his team going forward.
* Strong set piece, more than capable of holding its own and as subs come into play we've got 6 forwards to bring on, 3 full internationals and two Saxons - will make our pack stronger as the game players out.
* We bring in two fresh players to our backrow, this is an area that we will be looking to target and have opted for an out and out 7 this week in Lapandry to target the breakdown. We can also bring Messam into the mix as an impact sub.
* We will look to put Wasps under a lot of pressure throughout the 80minutes, constantly hassling, and trying to force mistakes. Special attention will be on Gopperth who is largely a kicking fly half and we will ensure that our backrow gives him a few big hits early on. There is a big gulf in class between Gopperth and Giteau, so Saints need to make the most of this.
* We've learnt our lessons from last week and have brought Max Evans in at 13 to give Giteau more support in controlling a game - he is a better reader of the game than Tuilagi and gives us a good kicking option out wide.
* We are going to be more adventurous than Wasps, and will still go out looking to give our back three ball and take advantage in the difference between the back threes.
Forwards – Set Piece & Breakdown
We have picked a team that will look to take Wasps on at the set piece and have picked a poweful scrummaging unit to take them on up front. Albacete and Lawes add a lot of power to the scrum and if any of the pack is tiring or we see that Wasps are struggling we will turn the screw by freshening up with Webber, Taulafo, Attwood, Taylor and Messam.
We've reduced our lineout options this week, with Lawes, Albacete and Parisse our jumpers, and will look to keep the calls simple in the first half to just ensure we obtain the ball and start going through the phases. We will look to put Wentzle under pressure and force Thompson's throwing into mistakes, this is an area we feel we have the advantage in because although Hartley didn’t have the best WC, his lineout throwing was incredibly accurate.
Defensively at the lineout we are we will get Simpson to stand in the 5 metre channel (as a hooker would do) – and then bring Hartley into the lineout itself and move Elsom into the midfield to target Gopperth and put him under pressure. This allows Giteau to move on to McAlister and de Villiers to Roberts – we want to put the Wasps backs to ground as quickly as possible and then compete for the breakdown. We don’t want Roberts running – this approach should see us have an extra man at first contact, which will either help us put Roberts down or give us an instant advantage at the breakdown.
Our pack will look to go through the phases and has a focus on sercuring a lot of possession to slow the game down and frustrate the home team. It wont be pretty and we will look to gain forward momentum as much as possible, and after a few phases we will get Giteau ball and ask him to kick towards the corners, keeping the ball along the floor and towards the touchline - at worst the ball puts the Wasps back three under pressure.
The breakdown is going to be much more evenly contested than last week as we recall Lapandry, who is an out and out openside. Burger is a tackling machine but is not as dangerous as either Robshaw or Brussow as we found last week. The battle will be even there but then we've got the added experience of Elsom and Parisse who swing the battle towards our favour. We will get Lapandry to go looking for turnovers and do the work on the groun and then use the power of Elsom, Parisse and Lawes to clear the rucks and win us penalties.
Backs
Our aim is to get the backline into areas it can score tries - a lot of the work will be done through the forwards and also through Jean de Villiers and Siti Siviatu taking the ball back in towards McAlister and Gopperth. Giteau will look to put the ball into Wasps 22 as much as possible and with Siviatu, Ashton, Evans and Foden chasing kicks the Wasps backthree is going to be under a lot of pressure. Our game will be about putting Wasps under pressure from the first minute and not giving them any time to dwell on the ball and force them into mistakes.
This game is all about possession and territory and getting the other team to make mistakes - if Wasps make an error then we've got a backline that will punish them. McAlister is the Wasps play maker, but other than that they are quite predictable in how they will play - Gopperth is a kicking 10 and Roberts is a dangerman if you dont make your first time tackles. Our backs will play a rush defence to put Gopperth and McAlister off their game and give them as little time to play the ball as possible - Simpson will sweep behind to bring down any Wasps players who get over the gainline and we will keep a forward out of rucks and mauls to bring Roberts down at first contact.
We will look to bring Evans into the game and use him as a player that we can launch the backthree from - he is a very intelligent player and will look to suck Roberts out of the line and feed Ashton and Foden as much as possible. There is very little pace in the Wasps backline (compared to Saints) and this is something that we have to exploit.
Simpson thrives in these conditions, and has been asked to not make as many attempted breaks this week and instead concentrate on getting the forwards going through the phases and supplying quick ball to Giteau. He's still a threat and Wasps will have to pay special attention to him around the fringes, this will give Giteau more time on the ball, as if say Wasps backrow doesnt target Simpson then he'll be through the gaps and under the posts. This extra time for Giteau will let him dictate the game and play a very intelligent kicking game.
Giteau to kick penalties and look for dropgoals - we want that scoreboard to tick over and slowly dishearten the home team. To continue this goal we will get Giteau to kick us into position and get Saints winning the territory battle. If we keep Wasps out of kicking range and playing in their own half then we have a good chance of winning.
Defence
Defensively we will look to play an aggressive game that sees us get up quickly into the tackle area and put Wasps under a lot of pressure. We want Gopperth to be forced into a kicking game, Claasens doesnt have the threat around the fringes (as say Simpson) so our backrow can concentrate on gunning down Gopperth he'll either have to kick or shovel on s+it to McAlister.
We set out how we will defend lineouts above - this will see Elsom target Gopperth, Giteau onto McAlister and then de Villiers to Roberts. Gives us an extra man to wrap up defenders and try and take out the threat of Roberts in these situations. We will always try and bring a backrow forward or Lawes into the backline in defence at rucks and mauls so we can line Roberts up and take him to ground straight away.
Our main defensive weapon will be Giteau's boot, which will look to keep pushing Wasps back into their 22 - if they kick it back then our backthree will attack when its on and the Wasps backthree dont have that same danger.
Saracens v Sale Sharks
Light rain , 15 degrees , 9mph wind
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
16. George Chuter 17. Matt Mullan 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Steve Borthwick 20. George Smith 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Francois Trinh-Duc 23. Tim Visser
Tactics
Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.
In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. If the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.
In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.
At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.
We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and Victor Matfield in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.
Game Specific Tactics
Key Points
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Fulgence Quedragao 21. Shaun Perry 22. James Hook 23. Nick Abendanoon
Key Points
Playing Away
To win away from home you need to win the pack battle. We have picked a very physical but mobile tight 5 and a back row with extra expertise at the breakdown to really get on top here. We have selected two powerful, but equally strong technically, props to target the Sarries scrum especially JDP at tighthead. We have picked an athletic back 5 in the pack all of whom offer jumping options in the lineout and will look to disrupt the Saracens lineout with a new lineout leader making his debut today.
We will look to our pack to get us on top and win the lion’s share of possession with which we have trust in our back line led by Johnny Sexton(whom has got over his blip with the world cup balls straight away kicking 23 points in last weekend’s win for Leinster) to use and put the points on the board and pick us up another massive win.
Breakdown
With an out and out openside and a blindside with expertise at the breakdown (Picamoles isn’t too shabby at turning the ball over either!) we will look to seriously target the breakdown today. With our blitz defence stopping Saracens before the gain line we will look to our pack, Thomson and Todd 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 Houghard is receiving at scrumhalf and disrupt Sarries attacking play.
Scrum
Schuster is a fantastic scrum technician and with the help of Paice at hooker, will look to attack JDP at the scrum. He will look to get the nudge on and draw penalties from the Sarries tighthead. This makes Ducalcon’s job at tighthead of getting at the Beast easier. When truly on top here we will look to take the scrum at freekicks and penalties looking to draw the sin bin…
Lineout
We will look to use the lineout as a destructive weapon and really target the Sarries throw today. Victor Matfield, the only Sarries player with experience of calling a lineout, makes his debut today for Sarries after signing while away with the Boks over the summer. With such little time together the Sarries lineout will not have been able to develop anything complicated. We expect Matfield to keep it simple and call a lot of ball to himself. Andries Bekker will look to mark Matfield out in the line and get up in the air in front of him and get his hands on Saracens ball. Millo Chluski will jump at the front to stop any short balls. As the pressure starts to build Sexton will kick to the corners where we will really look to attack and take advantage.
Target the Sarries Midfield
Ball in hand we will look to target the Sarries midfield. We will target the outside shoulder of Owen Farrell with our pacier runners looking to exploit his lack of pace as shown by Trinder recently. (Strettle and Earls will come in from their wings to really target this.) As Davies starts to come in to cover his midfield partner we will look to ship the ball out further and make use of the space he is leaving.
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Ducalcon are both strong technical scrummagers and will look to get at their man and really disrupt Saracens 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 Millo Chluski, 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 Sarries forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Saracens ball we will look for Millo Chluski to get up in the air at the front of the line and Bekker to follow Matfield in the line and disrupt the Saracens lineout. If we really start to get on top of the lineout we will look to Sexton to kick for the corners a few times and really put the pressure on.
Breakdown
We have a very mobile and quick pack to really target the breakdown. On our own ball we will look to our forwards to get numbers to the breakdown quickly rucking past the ball and clearing out the Saracens 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 Thomson and Todd to secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit lighter numbers to the breakdown but look to seriously counter ruck slowing down and messing up Saracens ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
General Attacking Play
We will look to play a strong carrying game using our big carriers to hit the gain line offloading in or just before the tackle (when it's on) to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. Earls will look to come in field at different times running lines of our midfield looking for the ball on the offload to get in behind the defensive line. If running the ball is not on we will look to Sexton to kick in behind the Sarries back 3 but particularly down Digby Ioane’s wing.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Saracens back row to the breakdown and leaving the midfield exposed. Sexton 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.
Sexton will look to kick for goal when in Saracens territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. Danny Care though will look for the quick tap when the Saracens defence is slow to organise.
General Defensive Play
In defence we will be using a blitz defence and will look to get up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any Saracens momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Saracens 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 as always 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 Harlequins
Heavy rain , 12 degrees , 7mph wind
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16 Jon Golding 17 Kevin Mealamu 18 Davit Kubrashvilli 19 Sam Whitelock 20 Dan Lydiate 21 Richard Wigglesworth 22 Dominic Waldouck 23 Maxime Medard
Tactics
Set Piece
We have some of the on form scrummagers in the world and will look to use the scrum as a platform. Kubrashvilli will come on at half time to maintain dominance in the scrum. Simmons will be looking for line out ball.
Breakdown
We will be looking to slow the ball down for Quins and get turnovers if possible. We will be putting bodies into the breakdown with Armitage our go to man to get the turnovers.
Control
FDP and Hodgson will look to keep the tempo going throughout the game. FDP will look for spaces in the opposition backline and space in behind the back 3 for the grubber etc. He will look to put Quins back into their own 22. Hodgson will look to keep us playing in the right areas and bring our backline into play when it's on.
Carries
Our game plan will be to have lots of big carries. Sean O’Brien will lead the carries. All our big carriers will be looking to get over the gain line making as many yards as possible. We will look to concentrate Irish defence centrally before releasing our wingers.
Kicking
Francois Steyn will be our main kicker. He will look to take on penalties in front of halfway as this is easily within his range. He will look for drop goals if there isn’t a lot on.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
16. Schalk Brits 17. Kieran Brookes 18. John Afoa 19. George Skivington 20. Phil Dowson 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Freddie Burns 23. George Lowe
Tactics
General Tactics
Visiting Bath is never easy and such conditions will require us to adopt a very specific game plan. The Heavy rain and wind has led us to picking a team picked with players who can manage our game correctly and have us playing in the right position on the field. Dickson and Contepomi will look to play the game in the Bath half and then we will look to force errors in the Bath game. We have picked a backline with 6 very capable kickers and will look to kick into the spaces or to find touch. We see this game becoming a battle of territory as much as possession and whilst we won’t look to kick aimlessly we do think that a clever kicking game will be hugely beneficial. We feel we have the kickers to turn round the Bath wingers around, who we feel are vulnerable to a good kicking game and this is an area we will look to exert pressure. We will also look to set up high bombs and cross field kicks (particularly to Rob Kearney’s wing). We will really look to not concede penalties as this will allow bath to relieve the pressure put upon them. We will look to take the points every time we get the opportunity as we expect this game to be very tight and it could be a few kicks which decide where the points end up.
Attacking Tactics
Our forwards will look to front up to the Bath pack and look to be very physical with them. In both attack and defence we are going to look to win collisions and knock Bath backwards. This won’t be easy with some of their players but with sound body position we will be able to do this. When we have possession of the ball we are looking for patient attacking play. We will look for crash ball carriers of 9, 10 and 12 and we want our players to carry in numbers and at pace. Our players will be looking to run different lines each time to keep the Bath defence guessing. Our forwards will look to play a high intensity game, and I stress that this does not mean rushed. We will be patient waiting for gaps but when we have ball in hand we will look to be aggressive, pump the legs and keeping driving after we hit contact. If offloads are on we will look for them but they will be far less frequent than they usually are in our attacking play. We will look to commit as many as we need to into rucks but with a good technique 3 or 4 should be enough each time.
Our backs, when they look to run the ball will be told to target to 2 channels. We will look to send players down Charlie Hodgson’s channel to test out his defence and we will look to isolate Anthony Allen at 13, who normally a sound defender in his usual position of 12 ,we feel could be caught out in a new role. We will look to have players attacking both his inside and outside shoulders throughout the game. Our centres will look to be cutting lines of Contepomi all game and the blind side winger will come of his wing to look for work. We will still look to create gaps out wide as we do have a good finishers playing and we will still look to score tries when they are on.
Defensive Tactics
In defence we will look to be aggressive in contact and will look to keep our tackles low. We have picked Seymour so as he can look to disrupt Bath rucks and we will look to compete at Bath rucks whenever possible. We will look to the do this legally and either by being the first man/men there to the ruck and looking to isolate the attacker or by getting a good body position and trying to ruck Bath of the ball. We will be looking to put a maximum of 4 men into Bath rucks. We will employ a blitz defence as we feel if we pressure the Bath centres then there distribution could let them down.
We will always look to have the fullback and the blindside winger deep and ready for the kick and will often have all 3 back three players playing deep and ready for the kick. We have deliberately picked 3 players very capable of playing 15 so as we are prepared for any aerial bombardment and as we are very aware of the kicking qualities of FDP, Hodgson and Steyn so our players will be very aware of this.
Set Piece
At scrum time we will look to win the hit and really pressure the Bath ball. We will look to get our own ball away quickly with either Heaslip picked or Dickson getting the ball out. At the lineout we will look to put big pressure on Rob Simmons. Sharpe will mark him in the line and Thion will mark Cannon and we will look to make them hit the back of the lineout. On our own ball we are looking to shorten the line and use Fearns as a carrying option in midfield.
Leicester Tigers v London Irish
Sunny , 14 degrees , 10mph wind
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Gethin Jenkins | 09. Dimitri Yachvili (k) |
| 02. Sebastian Bruno | 10. Jonny Wilkinson |
| 03. Cencus Johnston | |
| 04. Nathan Hines | 11. Topsy Ojo |
| 05. Alex Brown | 12. Billy Twelvetrees |
| 06. Tom Croft | 13. Brian O'Driscoll (c) |
| 07. David Pocock | 14. Cory Jane |
| 08. Ernst Joubert | 15. Isa Nacewa |
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get our backs into the game as much as possible by attacking the lineout and the breakdown. We will look to get our back three on the ball causing Irish problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Yachvili sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.
- Early on Yachvili to kick all penalites within range, but we won't necessarily go for the 3 points as the game progresses. BOD to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.
- Get after JMH and Pienaar as much as we can. Irish have one HB as cover on the bench, and a few big hits could leave them short of options.
- Look to use our bench to win the game in the last 30 mins. Waldrom to come on at 50 mins to impact the game with his carrying, along with Crockett. Jack to strengthen our pack and set piece, Young to inject pace around the fringes and Brock James to come on if we need a spark in the back line.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson. A.Brown to call the lineout - Hines and Croft alternating at the front, Brown in the middle and Joubert at the rear. We will relentlessly target Buckland's throws.
- At the scrum Bruno to look to give Buckland a schooling. Jenkins and Johnston picked to provide stability up against Castro and Tonga. Tonga in particular is used to playing props shorter and lighter and using his power to bulldoze through them, but Johnston is the same height and actually heavier than him. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Look to Joubert, Pocock, Croft, Jenkins, Hines and Johnston to give us real go-forward with their carrying. 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.
- Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Irish. Our other forwards will look to ruck past the ball and clear out Irish players enabling us to effect turnovers. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.
BACKS:
- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili pulling the strings. We will look to go through the phases and dominate possession, move Irish around with our half back's tactical kicking, and unleash our pacey back three as and when we can.
- If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Twelvetrees can act as our second receiver, and can hit the gain line hard to make yards. BOD to play his natural game, be the leader in our midfield, and look to get our back three into the game.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. The weather is good 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:
- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at home since the start of last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson.
- Target the breakdown - Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Irish.
- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
- Likes of Waldrom, Crockett, Jack and B.James to come on. Powerful front row that is both solid in the set-piece and with ball carrying in Crockett and Mears. Jack to strengthen our pack and set piece, and Waldrom to provide huge carrying impact. Young to inject pace around the fringes, B.James if we need a spark, and Miller who is in dazzling form.
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Soane Tonga'uhia | 09. Ruan Pienaar |
| 02. James Buckland | 10. Juan Martin Hernandez |
| 03. Martin Castrogiovanni | |
| 04. Mouritz Botha | 11. Sailosi Tagicakibau |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sireli Naqalevuki |
| 06. George Stowers | 13. Jacques Fourie |
| 07. Hendrie Fourie | 14. Bjorn Basson |
| 08. Pierre Spies | 15. Delon Armitage |
16. Duncan Bell 17. Neil Briggs 18. WP Nel 19. Matt Garvey 20. Joe Worsley 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Matthew Tait 23. Sonny Bill Williams
London Irish welcome back Samoan's George Stowers and Sailosi Tagicakibau to the starting line up, whilst top try scorer Bjorn Basson returns in place of J.P Pieterson. Mouritz Botha is picked ahead of Dean Mumm in the 2nd row and Sireli Naqalevuki deservedly keeps his place at inside centre, with Sonny Bill Williams having to settle for a place on the bench. Juan Martin Hernandez makes his second start of the season at fly half, with Ruan Pienaar reverting to his usual position of scrum half.
Tactics
We want to get as much ball to our backs as possible as we feel we have the pace and power to really hurt the Tigers. We may be away from home, but we fear no-one and have a backline full of dangerous runners that can hurt any defence.
Upfront we have selected a powerful set of forwards to dominate in the loose as well as the setpiece.
We will ruthlessly target the setpiece and can see a lot of joy here. Tonga'uhia and Castro will go after their opponents at scrum time and look to win as many as penalties as possible for JMH to kick. Castro will really look to pressure Jenkins and drive him back.
At lineout time, Kennedy will be our main go to man, with Botha, Spies and Stowers also providing options. Kennedy will disrupt as much opposition ball as possible on Bruno's throw.
Both scrum and lineout will be used as platforms to attack off. We want to get as much ball as possible to the backs and get Naqa and Fourie involved as much as possible.
In the loose, we will look to overpower the Tigers. We feel they lack some grunt and ball carrying power, and we have picked three brutes in the backrow to over power them. Stowers, Botha, Tonga, Castro and Spies will hit the rucks hard and look to dominate this area and not let Pocock have free reign. We will get Fourie in at the breakdowns to secure quick ball and legally slow down any opposition ball. We will look for our big ball carriers to make the hard yards around the fringes and suck in Tigers defence before spreading the ball to the backs to exploit gaps.
Wilko has struggled to get a backline going recently and we will play a rush defence to get up in the faces of the Tigers and disrupt their momentum.
Naqalevuki will look to give 12T a schooling and use his power and pace to run at him and test his defence. We will have support runners like Fourie or Tagicakibau off him to collect offloads and create overlaps.
We will not kick aimless ball away to the Tigers back 3, but look to Delon and Tagi to run the ball back as both are strong runners who make a lot of metres. We will ensure we dont give away penalties here and get sufficient players in at the breakdown to secure our own ball.
Sonny Bill to come on at 55 mins to create more problems for the Tigers defence. JMH to kick all pens for goal.
To sum up, we want to dominate upfront where we feel we have superior power in the loose, and a stronger set piece, to dominate ball and territory and allow our backs to run riot.
Good luck Luke.
Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester Rugby
Heavy rain , 15 degrees , 12mph wind
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
| 01.Andrew Sheridan | 09.Byron Kelleher |
| 02.John Smit | 10.Ronan O'Gara |
| 03.Davit Zirkashvilli | |
| 04.Simon Shaw | 11.Luke Fitzgerald |
| 05.Juilian Pierre | 12.Gordan D'Arcy |
| 06.Lewis Moody (c) | 13.Adam Powell |
| 07.Shane Jennings | 14.Luke Arscott |
| 08.Johnnie Beattie | 15.Lee Byrne |
16.Neil Clark 17.Salvator Perugini18.Tom Mercy 19.Peter Short 20.Ben Skirving 21.Nick Phipps 22.George Pisi 23.Steven Myler
Tactics
- Play the percentages with a monster front 5 and using our back line to ping Gloucester in there own 22 for 80 minutes.
- We will look to scrum down at every opportunity and really attack Gloucester and out plenty of pressure on them with Smit and Zirka really scrimmaging on Joe Grey with Sheridan looking to get in at White and cause the old man problems.
- D’Arcy and Powell are both direct hard runners and will give us plenty of head way up the middle.
- Defence is all about line speed and getting on the back foot which is key for our use of Moody and Jennings. In what will be a forward orientated game the breakdown will be key and having Moody and Jennings in our back row will play the breakdown into our hands.
- we will commit as little to the ruck as possible and flood the field with numbers forcing gloucester into a forward battle/
- Lineouts will be snappy with the man straight up and down ,
- we will peel from the centre off the drive at the lineout and set a seperate maul to force the glaws pack to retreat onside to try and stop a maul going forward. (We will use this particular in the opposition 22)
- We will go back to basics and take the big runners round the legs whilst allowing the supporting defender to go for the ball.
- Kelleher to tie the back row up with snipes and short pops at the fringes to take pressure off ROG.
- ROG to drop goals and kick most penalties. Always leave they half with points
Game specific tactics
[list]Kicking game - Fitzgerald , Arscott and Byrne most notablely are all solid under the high ball and best suited to these conditions. Horsea Gear and Sinbad are both flakey under the high ball and will be taking bombs all afternoon.
Richard Kahui - Kahui spent the entire RWC on the wing , will he be able to adjust to centre again in one game.
Carter in a territory battle is no where near as much use as ROG in these types of games and conditions.
Rupert Harden will eventually replace White and will not have an easy afternoon first coming up against Andrew Sheridan and then Salvator Perugini - who won’t take prisoners at scrum time.
Tactical points of advantage
TBA
TBA
TBA
Gloucester
Manager – ‘Mat
| 01. Steenkamp | 09. Will Genia |
| 02. Gray | 10. Dan Cartetr |
| 03. Julian White | |
| 04. Bakkies | 11. JSD |
| 05. Tom Palmer (c) | 12. Hape |
| 06. Steven Ferris | 13. Richard Kahui |
| 07. Schalk Burger | 14. Gear |
| 08. Alberts | 15. Israel Dagg |
16. Nick Wood17. Adriaan Strauss 18. Rupert Harden 19. Richie Gray 20. Andy Saull 21. Dave Lewis 22. Berrick barnes 23. May
Tactics
Gloucester travel to Exeter Buoyed after beating an exceptionally strong SArries side. It is going to be wet and miserable at Sandy Park and Gloucester have the team to win and win well.
SCRUM
Obviously in conditions like this you need a rock solid set piece and ball carriers galore to keep the ball and work your way into conditions to allow the half backs to control the game and dictate play.
Glaws have gone with a monster line up that is also mobile.
in the SCrums we will be looking to win our own ball clean and get a wheel on to allow either Alberts to pick up and go or for Genia to get the ball away quickly to carter to kick for territory or launch runners at the gainline.
On Exeter ball we will be looking to disrupt their put in and drive them back either creating bad ball for them or taking against the head. WE have 2 huge scrummagers in Steenkamp and White. and a huge powerful back 5 that will not let up the pressure. White is on to play 40-50 minutes and to really hurt the Sheridan who has played a couple of games in a year and who must be struggling a little.
Lineout
As ever we are chock full of Jumpers and will be looking to secure our own ball and drive to suck in leicester and tire them before launching runners off the back of the Maul. in Conditions like these there will be a lot of front ball and bakkies is the king of this. We will then look to hit off the top a bit more as the game progresses and put big runners like Kahui and Hape over the gain line into people like Powell.
On their ball we will try and exploit their lack of jumpers and put pressure on the ball. if they win it they win scrappy ball. we will look to flood through and pressure Kelleher and in turn ROg.
Forwards General
We will be looking to keep the ball and force Exeter to commit men to tackling and into the rucks and mauls. The aim is to win the collisions and territory and dictate our game on to them. It will be forward dominated due to the rain and we feel we have a lot more up front. We are packed with ball carriers in Steenkamp, Gray, BAkkies, palmer, Ferris, Alberts and Burger. this will allow us to keep the ball and wear out the exeter pack.
We feel exeter lack the ball carriers we do and will be easier to defend against. there only carrier in the backrow is beattie who has been struggling for a long time. We aim to smash every maul and actually send numbers into rucks to counter ruck and give them poor quality ball. Everything is slower in the wet and we aim to grind them down and exploit their lack of dynamic carriers in the pack. we will keep ball all day and then release only good ball to the backs when they want it.
We are also aiming to use our bench. Strauss, Wood, Grey, harden will all come on and are in excellent form in real life. bench options are strongly in glaws favour.
BACKS
The backs will be looking to use what ball they get in a constructive way.
We have the 2 best half backs in world rugby and they will dictate tempo and when the ball is used. Carter is very used to the Wet as he plays for Canterbury where it is bloody miserable half the year and will be looking to dominate Ogara in both kicking and obviously in running.
first half we will be playing a territry based game with forwards keeping the ball and then releasing the ball allowing Carter to either kick for touch, high ball or push in behind them for our back 3 to chase. in our 22 Dagg will often receive the ball as he demonstrated in the WC he has one of the biggest clearance kicks in world rugby and will be used.
the other options carter will look to use will be to hit Hape and Kahui to target powell or to tie in Darcy and to recycle ball to attack again.
As we start to get in the ascendency we will look to use Gear coming up through channels and also look to move it wide if its on. you do not have a back 3 like JSD, Gear and Dagg and not try and use it.
We will look to employ the cross kick if on with Gear having a physical mismatch against either fitz or Arscot
Defence
We will use Genia to sweep but will also be looking to blitz when necessary. Kelleher is getting a bit long in the tooth and if we can disrupt ball it makes sense to blitz and pressure O'gara who is not a natural at moving the ball.
Must also take issue with Gear and JSD being flakey under the high ball. JSD in particular is immense under the high ball and i am sure prop will also say you never see him drop a high ball. if he was flakey then AP teams would target him on this. They dont which shows you how good he is under it,
Key Points
1 more form players throughout the team
2 more ball carriers all over the park and this is what helps keep ball in the rain
3 World class half backs that are the best in the world at dictating a game and can play any style.
4 Dynamic bench capable of blowing away the game. Also have the option of Barnes to come on add to the kicking options from centre to dominate territory game.
London Wasps v Northampton Saints
Light rain , 14 degrees , 9mph wind
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
| 01. Perry Freshwater | 09. Michael Claassens |
| 02. Steve Thompson | 10. Jimmy Gopperth |
| 03. Carlos Nieto | |
| 04. Mark Chisholm | 11. Lachie Turner |
| 05. Marco Wentzel (c) | 12. Luke McAlister |
| 06. James Haskell | 13. Jamie Roberts |
| 07. Jacques Burger | 14. Tom Williams |
| 08. Roger Wilson | 15. Mike Brown |
16. Andy Titterell 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Steve Mafi 20. Tom Johnson 21. Mike Blair 22. Rory Clegg 23. Noah Cato
Tactics
Tactics
After winning our last four games in all competitions we are feeling very high on confidence and feel that we go into this clash with Northampton Saints with plenty of momentum. We have picked a gritty, powerful and physical forward pack which will work very hard at rucks and winning us set piece ball at scrum time and lineout. We feel that if we can assert ourselves physically and win the forward battle, providing our backs with a solid platform we will be able to come have a good chance of claiming a hard fought victory. We have plenty of players who are bang in form and we are unbeaten at home which is a big positive.
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. 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 taking the ball through plenty of phases to wear the Saints down.
We have two excellent kicking options in Gopperth and McAlister we will look to kick in behind the Northampton Saints wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and pressurize them into making mistakes in their own half. We will look to hit the rucks hard and compete when we can, any turnovers we do make we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. We will look to make a nuisance of ourselves at the breakdown and spoil the quality of the Saints ball with good counter rucking. 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 Saints defence.
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 and in form James Haskell. Gopperth will look to bring in our strike runners in McAlister and Roberts. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Saints working off the ball in defence. We will look for the in form Roberts to run plenty of good lines and 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 Saints 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 Saints players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Saints defence and put Giteau off his game, hopefully opening them up. When possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep the Saints 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. We have plenty of pace in our back three and will look to use them when we can.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on the Saints 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, Haskell and Wilson. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of the Saints by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Saints defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to really target the set piece and create a platform, we feel that we can gain an advantage here, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep the Saints going backwards. Our back row will look to really get in Giteau’s face and put him off of his game. We will ensure our discipline is exemplary. We will play hard rugby but ensure we play by the rules, discipline will be key. We feel that if our forwards can get us onto the front foot we have the half backs who will keep their cool and manage our game.
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 Northampton onto the back foot by winning the forward battle we will be able to unsettle them. We want to continue our winning ways and feel that if we can play at a high tempo and push the Saints onto the back foot we will be able to do this. Our gritty forwards will set the tone with huge carrying and from there we will look to get our offloading game going and bring our strike runners into the game. We have plenty of impact to call upon from the bench to continue our high levels of intensity and power.
[hr /]
Northampton Saints Team:
Manager – dammit chris
| 01. Matt Stevens | 09. Joe Simpson |
| 02. Dylan Hartley | 10. Matt Giteau(k) |
| 03. Carl Hayman | |
| 04. Courtney Lawes | 11. Siti Siviatu |
| 05. Patricio Albacete | 12. Jean de Villiers |
| 06. Rocky Elsom | 13. Max Evans |
| 07. Alexandre Lapandry | 14. Chris Ashton |
| 08. Sergio Parisse(c) | 15. Ben Foden |
16. Rob Webber 17. Zak Taulafo 18. Bob Baker 19. Dave Attwood 20. Simon Taylor 21. Liam Messam 22.Leigh Halfpenny 23. Manu Tuilagi
We've picked a team that is perfect for the conditions, it is light rain, which will allow us to still throw the ball around in the backline and score tries, but it is essential that we have a pack that will compete with Wasps and get our backline the ball. We've gone for a 6-2 split on the bench so we can put a lot of pressure on Wasps throughout the 80 minutes. We believe that if we can keep the scoreboard close with Wasps at the 60 minute mark our subs bench will win the game and our advantage is that we have far more match winners in the backline to score a try that could be vital in a close game.
Key points
* This game is all about territory and possession – we will kick the ball deep and play the game in Wasps’ half. Putting pressure on them when we are in their 22 and forcing mistakes, penalties and disrupting the games flow. If we play the game in Wasps half we remove Gopperth’s kicking threat and put a lot of pressure on McAlister to get his team going forward.
* Strong set piece, more than capable of holding its own and as subs come into play we've got 6 forwards to bring on, 3 full internationals and two Saxons - will make our pack stronger as the game players out.
* We bring in two fresh players to our backrow, this is an area that we will be looking to target and have opted for an out and out 7 this week in Lapandry to target the breakdown. We can also bring Messam into the mix as an impact sub.
* We will look to put Wasps under a lot of pressure throughout the 80minutes, constantly hassling, and trying to force mistakes. Special attention will be on Gopperth who is largely a kicking fly half and we will ensure that our backrow gives him a few big hits early on. There is a big gulf in class between Gopperth and Giteau, so Saints need to make the most of this.
* We've learnt our lessons from last week and have brought Max Evans in at 13 to give Giteau more support in controlling a game - he is a better reader of the game than Tuilagi and gives us a good kicking option out wide.
* We are going to be more adventurous than Wasps, and will still go out looking to give our back three ball and take advantage in the difference between the back threes.
Forwards – Set Piece & Breakdown
We have picked a team that will look to take Wasps on at the set piece and have picked a poweful scrummaging unit to take them on up front. Albacete and Lawes add a lot of power to the scrum and if any of the pack is tiring or we see that Wasps are struggling we will turn the screw by freshening up with Webber, Taulafo, Attwood, Taylor and Messam.
We've reduced our lineout options this week, with Lawes, Albacete and Parisse our jumpers, and will look to keep the calls simple in the first half to just ensure we obtain the ball and start going through the phases. We will look to put Wentzle under pressure and force Thompson's throwing into mistakes, this is an area we feel we have the advantage in because although Hartley didn’t have the best WC, his lineout throwing was incredibly accurate.
Defensively at the lineout we are we will get Simpson to stand in the 5 metre channel (as a hooker would do) – and then bring Hartley into the lineout itself and move Elsom into the midfield to target Gopperth and put him under pressure. This allows Giteau to move on to McAlister and de Villiers to Roberts – we want to put the Wasps backs to ground as quickly as possible and then compete for the breakdown. We don’t want Roberts running – this approach should see us have an extra man at first contact, which will either help us put Roberts down or give us an instant advantage at the breakdown.
Our pack will look to go through the phases and has a focus on sercuring a lot of possession to slow the game down and frustrate the home team. It wont be pretty and we will look to gain forward momentum as much as possible, and after a few phases we will get Giteau ball and ask him to kick towards the corners, keeping the ball along the floor and towards the touchline - at worst the ball puts the Wasps back three under pressure.
The breakdown is going to be much more evenly contested than last week as we recall Lapandry, who is an out and out openside. Burger is a tackling machine but is not as dangerous as either Robshaw or Brussow as we found last week. The battle will be even there but then we've got the added experience of Elsom and Parisse who swing the battle towards our favour. We will get Lapandry to go looking for turnovers and do the work on the groun and then use the power of Elsom, Parisse and Lawes to clear the rucks and win us penalties.
Backs
Our aim is to get the backline into areas it can score tries - a lot of the work will be done through the forwards and also through Jean de Villiers and Siti Siviatu taking the ball back in towards McAlister and Gopperth. Giteau will look to put the ball into Wasps 22 as much as possible and with Siviatu, Ashton, Evans and Foden chasing kicks the Wasps backthree is going to be under a lot of pressure. Our game will be about putting Wasps under pressure from the first minute and not giving them any time to dwell on the ball and force them into mistakes.
This game is all about possession and territory and getting the other team to make mistakes - if Wasps make an error then we've got a backline that will punish them. McAlister is the Wasps play maker, but other than that they are quite predictable in how they will play - Gopperth is a kicking 10 and Roberts is a dangerman if you dont make your first time tackles. Our backs will play a rush defence to put Gopperth and McAlister off their game and give them as little time to play the ball as possible - Simpson will sweep behind to bring down any Wasps players who get over the gainline and we will keep a forward out of rucks and mauls to bring Roberts down at first contact.
We will look to bring Evans into the game and use him as a player that we can launch the backthree from - he is a very intelligent player and will look to suck Roberts out of the line and feed Ashton and Foden as much as possible. There is very little pace in the Wasps backline (compared to Saints) and this is something that we have to exploit.
Simpson thrives in these conditions, and has been asked to not make as many attempted breaks this week and instead concentrate on getting the forwards going through the phases and supplying quick ball to Giteau. He's still a threat and Wasps will have to pay special attention to him around the fringes, this will give Giteau more time on the ball, as if say Wasps backrow doesnt target Simpson then he'll be through the gaps and under the posts. This extra time for Giteau will let him dictate the game and play a very intelligent kicking game.
Giteau to kick penalties and look for dropgoals - we want that scoreboard to tick over and slowly dishearten the home team. To continue this goal we will get Giteau to kick us into position and get Saints winning the territory battle. If we keep Wasps out of kicking range and playing in their own half then we have a good chance of winning.
Defence
Defensively we will look to play an aggressive game that sees us get up quickly into the tackle area and put Wasps under a lot of pressure. We want Gopperth to be forced into a kicking game, Claasens doesnt have the threat around the fringes (as say Simpson) so our backrow can concentrate on gunning down Gopperth he'll either have to kick or shovel on s+it to McAlister.
We set out how we will defend lineouts above - this will see Elsom target Gopperth, Giteau onto McAlister and then de Villiers to Roberts. Gives us an extra man to wrap up defenders and try and take out the threat of Roberts in these situations. We will always try and bring a backrow forward or Lawes into the backline in defence at rucks and mauls so we can line Roberts up and take him to ground straight away.
Our main defensive weapon will be Giteau's boot, which will look to keep pushing Wasps back into their 22 - if they kick it back then our backthree will attack when its on and the Wasps backthree dont have that same danger.
Saracens v Sale Sharks
Light rain , 15 degrees , 9mph wind
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
| 01. Tendai Mtwarira | 09. Francois Hougaard |
| 02. Bismarck du Plessis | 10. Patric Lambie |
| 03. Jannie du Plessis | |
| 04. Rynhardt Elstadt | 11. Digby Ioane |
| 05. Victor Matfield (c) | 12. Owen Farrell |
| 06. Alessandro Zanni | 13. Jonathon Davies |
| 07. Tom Wood | 14. Mark Cueto |
| 08. Luke Narraway | 15. Tom Homer |
16. George Chuter 17. Matt Mullan 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Steve Borthwick 20. George Smith 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Francois Trinh-Duc 23. Tim Visser
Tactics
Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.
In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. If the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.
In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.
At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.
We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and Victor Matfield in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.
Game Specific Tactics
- Target the Sale line out - we will really look to get at David Paice and put him off his throw and cause Sale to either have scrappy ball to play with, or turn the ball over to us, from where we will counter attack.
- Force Sale to play from deep - With light rain forecast the pitch will be slippery, and we will use the boots of Lambie, Farrell, and Homer to put us in the right areas of the field. They will look to hit the right angles with kicks and fire low trajectory balls in behind the Sale wingers looking for the ball to skid on and find touch. We will then attack the Sale line out in their territory.
- Target Danny Care - Our back row and scrum half will look to really pressurize Care around the fringes. He likes to make sniping breaks and play at pace, and we will try to slow him at every opportunity. If we can stop their main attacking threat then it will make the rest of our defensive duties much easier.
- Build a lead and apply pressure - We have more than one kicker in our team who can rack up points and is a model of consistency off the tee. We will take every opportunity to build a lead, through penalties, and through drop goals if appropriate, thereby applying pressure to Sale to take risks despite the potentially slippery ball.
Key Points
- Home Advantage. I don't think I need to reiterate our home record again, everyone is aware how strong we are at home.
- Form. Players like Farrell and Homer are in great form in real life, and others like Zanni, Ioane and Davies return off of the back of very good World Cups and with their reputations enhanced.
- Balance. Again we have great balance in our side, with an ability to play more than one way, which will enable us to adapt as the game unfolds.
- The Pack. To win away you have to dominate the pack battle. We have a pack that contains 7 full internationals, and a number of very combative players, who are unlikely to be dominated enough for us to be beaten.
- The Breakdown. The breakdown battle is a key one, and whilst we do not have a traditional 'fetcher', all three of our back row can and have played openside, and are willing and able to do the dirty work on the deck. Coupled with this we have mobile props and locks who will get there quickly and clear out players, along with Bismarck who is a monster at the breakdown, both in terms of clearing players and stealing the ball, which all put together means we have a good balance in this area and are not hampered by the absence of a traditional 'fetcher'.
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
| 01. Jerome Schuster | 09. Danny Care |
| 02. David Paice | 10. Johnny Sexton |
| 03. Luc Ducalcon | |
| 04. Romain Millo-Chluski | 11. David Strettle |
| 05. Andries Bekker | 12. Jordan Turner Hall |
| 06. Adam Thomson | 13. Robbie Freuen |
| 07. Matt Todd | 14. Keith Earls |
| 08. Louis Picamoles | 15. Luke Rooney |
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Fulgence Quedragao 21. Shaun Perry 22. James Hook 23. Nick Abendanoon
Key Points
Playing Away
To win away from home you need to win the pack battle. We have picked a very physical but mobile tight 5 and a back row with extra expertise at the breakdown to really get on top here. We have selected two powerful, but equally strong technically, props to target the Sarries scrum especially JDP at tighthead. We have picked an athletic back 5 in the pack all of whom offer jumping options in the lineout and will look to disrupt the Saracens lineout with a new lineout leader making his debut today.
We will look to our pack to get us on top and win the lion’s share of possession with which we have trust in our back line led by Johnny Sexton(whom has got over his blip with the world cup balls straight away kicking 23 points in last weekend’s win for Leinster) to use and put the points on the board and pick us up another massive win.
Breakdown
With an out and out openside and a blindside with expertise at the breakdown (Picamoles isn’t too shabby at turning the ball over either!) we will look to seriously target the breakdown today. With our blitz defence stopping Saracens before the gain line we will look to our pack, Thomson and Todd 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 Houghard is receiving at scrumhalf and disrupt Sarries attacking play.
Scrum
Schuster is a fantastic scrum technician and with the help of Paice at hooker, will look to attack JDP at the scrum. He will look to get the nudge on and draw penalties from the Sarries tighthead. This makes Ducalcon’s job at tighthead of getting at the Beast easier. When truly on top here we will look to take the scrum at freekicks and penalties looking to draw the sin bin…
Lineout
We will look to use the lineout as a destructive weapon and really target the Sarries throw today. Victor Matfield, the only Sarries player with experience of calling a lineout, makes his debut today for Sarries after signing while away with the Boks over the summer. With such little time together the Sarries lineout will not have been able to develop anything complicated. We expect Matfield to keep it simple and call a lot of ball to himself. Andries Bekker will look to mark Matfield out in the line and get up in the air in front of him and get his hands on Saracens ball. Millo Chluski will jump at the front to stop any short balls. As the pressure starts to build Sexton will kick to the corners where we will really look to attack and take advantage.
Target the Sarries Midfield
Ball in hand we will look to target the Sarries midfield. We will target the outside shoulder of Owen Farrell with our pacier runners looking to exploit his lack of pace as shown by Trinder recently. (Strettle and Earls will come in from their wings to really target this.) As Davies starts to come in to cover his midfield partner we will look to ship the ball out further and make use of the space he is leaving.
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Ducalcon are both strong technical scrummagers and will look to get at their man and really disrupt Saracens 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 Millo Chluski, 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 Sarries forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Saracens ball we will look for Millo Chluski to get up in the air at the front of the line and Bekker to follow Matfield in the line and disrupt the Saracens lineout. If we really start to get on top of the lineout we will look to Sexton to kick for the corners a few times and really put the pressure on.
Breakdown
We have a very mobile and quick pack to really target the breakdown. On our own ball we will look to our forwards to get numbers to the breakdown quickly rucking past the ball and clearing out the Saracens 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 Thomson and Todd to secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit lighter numbers to the breakdown but look to seriously counter ruck slowing down and messing up Saracens ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
General Attacking Play
We will look to play a strong carrying game using our big carriers to hit the gain line offloading in or just before the tackle (when it's on) to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. Earls will look to come in field at different times running lines of our midfield looking for the ball on the offload to get in behind the defensive line. If running the ball is not on we will look to Sexton to kick in behind the Sarries back 3 but particularly down Digby Ioane’s wing.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Saracens back row to the breakdown and leaving the midfield exposed. Sexton 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.
Sexton will look to kick for goal when in Saracens territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. Danny Care though will look for the quick tap when the Saracens defence is slow to organise.
General Defensive Play
In defence we will be using a blitz defence and will look to get up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any Saracens momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Saracens 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 as always 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 Harlequins
Heavy rain , 12 degrees , 7mph wind
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
| 01. Cian Healy | 09. Fourie Du Preez |
| 02. Joe Ward | 10. Charlie Hodgson |
| 03. Euan Murray | |
| 04. James Cannon | 11. Ugo Monye |
| 05. Rob Simmons | 12. EFS |
| 06. Sean O’Brien | 13. Anthony Allen |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Tom Varndell |
| 08. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe | 15. Francois Steyn |
Tactics
Set Piece
We have some of the on form scrummagers in the world and will look to use the scrum as a platform. Kubrashvilli will come on at half time to maintain dominance in the scrum. Simmons will be looking for line out ball.
Breakdown
We will be looking to slow the ball down for Quins and get turnovers if possible. We will be putting bodies into the breakdown with Armitage our go to man to get the turnovers.
Control
FDP and Hodgson will look to keep the tempo going throughout the game. FDP will look for spaces in the opposition backline and space in behind the back 3 for the grubber etc. He will look to put Quins back into their own 22. Hodgson will look to keep us playing in the right areas and bring our backline into play when it's on.
Carries
Our game plan will be to have lots of big carries. Sean O’Brien will lead the carries. All our big carriers will be looking to get over the gain line making as many yards as possible. We will look to concentrate Irish defence centrally before releasing our wingers.
Kicking
Francois Steyn will be our main kicker. He will look to take on penalties in front of halfway as this is easily within his range. He will look for drop goals if there isn’t a lot on.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
| 01. Joe Marler | 09. Lee Dickson (c) |
| 02. Matthew Rees | 10. Felipe Contepomi (k) |
| 03. Brian Mujati | |
| 04. Jerome Thion | 11. Rob Kearney |
| 05. Nathan Sharpe | 12. Riki Flutey |
| 06. Carl Fearns | 13. Gonzalo Canale |
| 07. David Seymour | 14. Cedric Heymans |
| 08. Jamie Heaslip | 15. Rhys Priestland |
16. Schalk Brits 17. Kieran Brookes 18. John Afoa 19. George Skivington 20. Phil Dowson 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Freddie Burns 23. George Lowe
Tactics
General Tactics
Visiting Bath is never easy and such conditions will require us to adopt a very specific game plan. The Heavy rain and wind has led us to picking a team picked with players who can manage our game correctly and have us playing in the right position on the field. Dickson and Contepomi will look to play the game in the Bath half and then we will look to force errors in the Bath game. We have picked a backline with 6 very capable kickers and will look to kick into the spaces or to find touch. We see this game becoming a battle of territory as much as possession and whilst we won’t look to kick aimlessly we do think that a clever kicking game will be hugely beneficial. We feel we have the kickers to turn round the Bath wingers around, who we feel are vulnerable to a good kicking game and this is an area we will look to exert pressure. We will also look to set up high bombs and cross field kicks (particularly to Rob Kearney’s wing). We will really look to not concede penalties as this will allow bath to relieve the pressure put upon them. We will look to take the points every time we get the opportunity as we expect this game to be very tight and it could be a few kicks which decide where the points end up.
Attacking Tactics
Our forwards will look to front up to the Bath pack and look to be very physical with them. In both attack and defence we are going to look to win collisions and knock Bath backwards. This won’t be easy with some of their players but with sound body position we will be able to do this. When we have possession of the ball we are looking for patient attacking play. We will look for crash ball carriers of 9, 10 and 12 and we want our players to carry in numbers and at pace. Our players will be looking to run different lines each time to keep the Bath defence guessing. Our forwards will look to play a high intensity game, and I stress that this does not mean rushed. We will be patient waiting for gaps but when we have ball in hand we will look to be aggressive, pump the legs and keeping driving after we hit contact. If offloads are on we will look for them but they will be far less frequent than they usually are in our attacking play. We will look to commit as many as we need to into rucks but with a good technique 3 or 4 should be enough each time.
Our backs, when they look to run the ball will be told to target to 2 channels. We will look to send players down Charlie Hodgson’s channel to test out his defence and we will look to isolate Anthony Allen at 13, who normally a sound defender in his usual position of 12 ,we feel could be caught out in a new role. We will look to have players attacking both his inside and outside shoulders throughout the game. Our centres will look to be cutting lines of Contepomi all game and the blind side winger will come of his wing to look for work. We will still look to create gaps out wide as we do have a good finishers playing and we will still look to score tries when they are on.
Defensive Tactics
In defence we will look to be aggressive in contact and will look to keep our tackles low. We have picked Seymour so as he can look to disrupt Bath rucks and we will look to compete at Bath rucks whenever possible. We will look to the do this legally and either by being the first man/men there to the ruck and looking to isolate the attacker or by getting a good body position and trying to ruck Bath of the ball. We will be looking to put a maximum of 4 men into Bath rucks. We will employ a blitz defence as we feel if we pressure the Bath centres then there distribution could let them down.
We will always look to have the fullback and the blindside winger deep and ready for the kick and will often have all 3 back three players playing deep and ready for the kick. We have deliberately picked 3 players very capable of playing 15 so as we are prepared for any aerial bombardment and as we are very aware of the kicking qualities of FDP, Hodgson and Steyn so our players will be very aware of this.
Set Piece
At scrum time we will look to win the hit and really pressure the Bath ball. We will look to get our own ball away quickly with either Heaslip picked or Dickson getting the ball out. At the lineout we will look to put big pressure on Rob Simmons. Sharpe will mark him in the line and Thion will mark Cannon and we will look to make them hit the back of the lineout. On our own ball we are looking to shorten the line and use Fearns as a carrying option in midfield.
Last edited by Driver - RIP 606 on Fri Nov 04, 2011 11:05 am; edited 5 times in total
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 33
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 8
by Sgt_Pooly Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:31 pm
Awsome talent Pete. Very pragmatic though, he does basics as good as any but he's more of 10 who has great kicking from hand, go through the phases with a strong pack type 10.
I watch a lot of the Sharks and in CC and S15 and rate him highly. Def SA 10 sooner rather than later
I watch a lot of the Sharks and in CC and S15 and rate him highly. Def SA 10 sooner rather than later
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 8
by Ozzy3213 Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:47 pm
Leicester Tigers 31 London irish 21
Tries: Ojo (3), Croft
Conversions: Yachvilli (4)
Penalties: Yachvilli
Tries: Spies, Tagicakibau, Naqalevuki
Conversions: Pienaar (3)
Exeter Chiefs 16 Gloucester 21
Tries: Beattie
Conversions: O'Gara
Penalties: O'Gara (3)
Tries: Alberts, Gear
Conversions: Carter
Penalties: Carter (3)
London Wasps 27 Northampton Saints 21
Tries: Roberts, Haskell, Brown
Conversions: Gopperth (3)
Penalties: Gopperth (2)
Tries: Elsom, Ashton, Simpson
Conversions: Giteau (3)
Saracens 25 Sale Sharks 20
Tries: Ioane (2), Zanni
Conversions: Homer (2)
Penalties: Homer (2)
Tries: Strettle, Picamoles
Conversions: Sexton (2)
Penalties: Sexton (2)
Bath Rugby 21 Harlequins 22
Tries: Armitage, Steyn
Conversions: Hodgson
Penalties: Hodgson (2), Steyn
Tries: Heaslip
Conversions: Contepomi
Penalties: Contepomi (5)
Newcastle Falcons 31 Worcester Warriors 17
Tries: O'Connor, Youngs, Doran-Jones, Mitchell
Conversions: Evans (4)
Penalties: Evans
Tries: Habana
Penalties: Steyn (4)
Tries: Ojo (3), Croft
Conversions: Yachvilli (4)
Penalties: Yachvilli
Tries: Spies, Tagicakibau, Naqalevuki
Conversions: Pienaar (3)
Exeter Chiefs 16 Gloucester 21
Tries: Beattie
Conversions: O'Gara
Penalties: O'Gara (3)
Tries: Alberts, Gear
Conversions: Carter
Penalties: Carter (3)
London Wasps 27 Northampton Saints 21
Tries: Roberts, Haskell, Brown
Conversions: Gopperth (3)
Penalties: Gopperth (2)
Tries: Elsom, Ashton, Simpson
Conversions: Giteau (3)
Saracens 25 Sale Sharks 20
Tries: Ioane (2), Zanni
Conversions: Homer (2)
Penalties: Homer (2)
Tries: Strettle, Picamoles
Conversions: Sexton (2)
Penalties: Sexton (2)
Bath Rugby 21 Harlequins 22
Tries: Armitage, Steyn
Conversions: Hodgson
Penalties: Hodgson (2), Steyn
Tries: Heaslip
Conversions: Contepomi
Penalties: Contepomi (5)
Newcastle Falcons 31 Worcester Warriors 17
Tries: O'Connor, Youngs, Doran-Jones, Mitchell
Conversions: Evans (4)
Penalties: Evans
Tries: Habana
Penalties: Steyn (4)
Ozzy3213- Moderator
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Age : 48
Location : Sandhurst
Re: AP Round 8
by Ozzy3213 Sat Nov 05, 2011 12:50 pm
Sgt_Pooly wrote:Awsome talent Pete. Very pragmatic though, he does basics as good as any but he's more of 10 who has great kicking from hand, go through the phases with a strong pack type 10.
I watch a lot of the Sharks and in CC and S15 and rate him highly. Def SA 10 sooner rather than later
Fair enough mate, as was said earlier all about opinions.
Ozzy3213- Moderator
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Re: AP Round 8
by Guest Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:01 pm
Lambie is an round 10 like carter can do whatever is required. Don't
Like him at fb. Lambie is class.
Farrell is a 10 for me all day
Like him at fb. Lambie is class.
Farrell is a 10 for me all day
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 8
by Guest Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:05 pm
Johnny will admit I have not seen sexton in
Magners this year but for me was poor at wc which is why he lost his place to o'gara who does not really suit Ireland's play.
Big sexton fan but he looked lost at wc. Will keep an eye out for his Magners performances though
Magners this year but for me was poor at wc which is why he lost his place to o'gara who does not really suit Ireland's play.
Big sexton fan but he looked lost at wc. Will keep an eye out for his Magners performances though
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 8
by SirJohnnyEnglish Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:12 pm
Catch the Munster-Leinster game last night Matt. Was a massive pack tussle really type of game I think you would really appreciate. (Plus Sexton had a stormer!!) 
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
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LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
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Age : 40
Location : London
Re: AP Round 8
by SirJohnnyEnglish Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:17 pm
Cracking Luke man of the match nailed all his kicks and got the side moving well. The man has a fantastic defence as well. To be fair to him his kicking was attrocious at the world cup really strugged with the ball but wasnt the only flyhalf too. But since coming back to Leinster he has been back to his best
Anyone watching the Toulouse-Perpignan game. Perpignan having a cracking start to the game and really running at Toulouse
Anyone watching the Toulouse-Perpignan game. Perpignan having a cracking start to the game and really running at Toulouse
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
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Re: AP Round 8
by Guest Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:31 pm
Fantastic game Jonny. Mas is crucifying Poux and hook looking decent. That Toulouse wing looks rapid. Not seen much of him before
Guest- Guest
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
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Re: AP Round 8
by Ozzy3213 Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:49 pm
Just updated the league table, went to cut and past it and managed to delete the whole thing!!! 
Will do it again later!
Will do it again later!
Ozzy3213- Moderator
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Re: AP Round 8
by dammit_chris Sat Nov 05, 2011 2:48 pm
Anyone going to watch England v Aussies in rugby league?
How many points we going to lose by?
How many points we going to lose by?
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Steven_Sharks- Posts : 7528
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Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
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Re: AP Round 8
by SirJohnnyEnglish Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:24 pm
No bonus for ITFL, half bonus to Driver and full bonus for everyone else 
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