About v2AP Round 10
+7
stnick88
Steven_Sharks
dammit_chris
Sgt_Pooly
Ozzy3213
Driver
SirJohnnyEnglish
11 posters
Page 1 of 3
Page 1 of 3 • 1, 2, 3 
AP Round 10
by SirJohnnyEnglish Sun 27 Nov 2011, 8:33 pm
Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Exeter Chiefs v Worcester Warriors
Sunny, 9 Degrees, 15mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
16.Neil Clark 17.Salvator Perugini 18.Dave Wilson 19.James Hudson 20.Declan Danahar 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Colin Slade 23.Adam Thompstone
Tactics
- Play the percentages and use the boot of ROG to put them under the cosh in there own 22 and using a big physical forward pack to really take them on and disrupt any ball.
- Use our big midfield to bash our way up the middle and pull defenders in to create gaps for Toeava , Fitzgerald and Byrne to pick there lines off.
- Phipps and ROG will mainly look to play the percentages but will keep an eye open for any overlaps half gaps our numbers outwide , changing our game plan.
- Our front 5 is packed with ball carrying forwards who will look to run hard at the fringes and tie the defenders up.
- At the breakdown we will target the ball carrier either holding him up in the choke tackle as we have the pack to stop any maul or double tapping the attacker with Jennings/Moody being allowed a stab at the ball
- We will look to scrum and keep the scrum up and John Smit will let the referee know this. On the opposition ball we will focus on a 8 man shove and take the opposition on with Phipps looking to really get stuck into there 8 and 9.
- We will look to move the ball in attack when it is kicked to us to attack any dog legs with our attack minded back 3.
- Blitz defense and really get up into the opposition faces and cut down there thinking time with Phipps sweeping behind for any kicks through.
Key Points
* Use Skirving to pressure the Worcester Lineout and really target the ball on the Worcester throw.
* Disipline will be key , Test Cowens by letting Phipps share some 'freindly' banter about his passing at the scrum
* Steyn must be feeling the pressure , The Bulls are bring Houghard back to play 10 can't have that much faith in him
Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd
16.Chris Fortey 17.Sylvain Marconnet 18.Yann Thomas 19.Danie Russouw 20.Kearnen Myall 21.Dwayne Peel 22.Sam Vesty 23.Greig Tonks
Tactics
Forwards
We have selected a strong pack who will be able to hold any shunt and hopefully look to steal more ball. In the lineouts we have strong jumpers and will look for quick ball to release our backs. Looking a tour back row we can get alot of turnover ball with Newby and Higginbotham snaffling at the ruck and aiming to be the 2nd player into a ruck to go over the ball and either slow it down or looking for turnover ball. Morgan has been playing tremendously in the past few matches and; with Hamilton will look to carry the ball up in midfield to suck in defenders and look for the quick offload.
Backs
We have selected a backline ready for the winter. Steyn will kick for territory making sure it's away from the Exeter back 3 and either reaches touch or gives our chasing pack time to put pressure on Exeter in their own half. Lamont is going to be our battering ram who will take crashball up and release our quick back 3 who have good try-scoring and line breaking records. Cowan will look for quick ball and when it's turnover ball we will look to Lamont to hit it up and then to Steyn to pin them back. We haven't been a try scoring team this season and this will not change much today with Steyn going for every penalty that is in his range and also looking for some cheeky drop goals. If the overlap is there we will take the try but we see winning as more important even if it is with ugly rugby.
Defence
Lead by Lamont and rushing up flat. We will put players on Steyn and Lamont's shoulders to look to steal or slow down their ball and prevent the ball getting to their backs. Cowan will sweep behind with Morgan standing deep to stop ROG's positional play.
Overall
*We have had enough of being called an improving team and want to win and stamp our mark,
*Forwards to slow down as much of their ball and look to take it up 2 phases to suck in their backs,
*Lamont to hit the ball up, or Hamilton/B.Morgan,
Wingers to use their pace,
*Steyn to pin them back kicking with the wind,
*Steyn to take the points when he can,
*To come back from Exeter with at least 4 points.
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
Sunny, 6 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Ben Franks 17. Lee Mears 18. Census Johnstone 19. Alex Brown 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Vincent Clerc
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get our backs into the game as much as possible. We will attack the lineout and the breakdown as and when we can. With the ball in hand we have different options of how we can play - carrying forwards, tactical half-back's, intelligent midfield and elusive runners out wide.
- 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. Horwill to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson. Croft to be our go-to man - but we can and will use any of Horwill, Pape and Easter as well.
- Jenkins to look to really go after Stevens in the scrum, and Cole told to hold his bind and keep his body and back straight in an effort to stop them being done underneath by Domingo. Easter to be in control at the base of the scrum.
- Look to Easter, Horwill, Pocock, Jenkins, Pape, Croft and Moore 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 Saints. Our other forwards will look to ruck past the ball and clear out Saints 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. Yachvili and Wilkinson to manage the tempo of the game, control where the game is to be played and to play the game as they see it.
- 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.
- Fritz comes in to give us great running options in midfield. Both he and BOD are extremely powerful in defence, and won't allow Tuilagi's crash ball through.
- 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 Saints.
- Calm, mature heads at 8, 9 and 10 in Easter, Yachvili and Wilkinson - to make the right calls and control the tempo of the game and where it is being played.
- Confidence issues within the Saints squad:
Domingo, Hartley, Stevens, Davies, Elsom and Giteau are all off the boil completely.
Saints have won 2 games from a possible 9 in the league.
3 loanees brought in (on Thursday) as a sign of panic from the Saints management, 1 of which has staggeringly been named in the team (Qera) and another on the bench (Williams).
Is Welford Road against a Tigers team that hasn't lost at home in 2 years the place to stop the rot? We don't think so. We will start the game at a very high tempo and look to get those Saints heads dropping. Our half backs are great for this sort of unforgiving pressure.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris
16. Rob Webber 17. Matt Mullan 18. Carl Hayman 19. Ali Williams 20. Courtney Lawes 21. Joe Simpson 22. Max Evans 23. Christian Wade
Tactics
Tactics: Overview
The Saints gameplan revolves around winning the territory game and applying pressure on Tigers in key areas where we can force them into mistakes and keep the scorebarod ticking over. We have a strong ball carrying game in the pack and will work through the phases to recycle the ball and allow Beauxis and Giteau time to kick over the Tigers defensive line and keep Tigers going backwards. Wilkinson's kicking was questionable at best and he is still settling into the TIgers team, so this is a key area for us to win and why we selected a midfield that can kick us deep into opposition territory. Halfpenny will offer Foden support at the back to offer a kicking game and keep Tigers well away from the tryline and kicking penalties.
Set PieceWe have rested our front row options very well over the last few weeks with the Amlin Cup with a view to target the AP games and put pressure on players who have not rested since the WC - in a physical league where each game is effectively an international we hope that htis will be picked up on, especially when we can bring on Mullan, Webber and Hayman in the second half to provide a strong scrummaging unit. We have opted for Domingo and Stevens because the conditions allow for more of a running game, where there will be far less knock ons and need for scrums - we also believe that both are very good in hitting rucks and mauls and this advantage over their Tiger counterparts will play to our gameplan. We have Davies and Albacete to add some bulk to the scrum.
At the lineout we have Davies, Albacete and Parisse as our main lineout operators and plan to keep our lineouts simple and effective. With the view to secure slow ball, build through the phases and provide Beauxis and Giteau a platform to kick the ball into Tigers territory and keep our pack going forward. We have a better kciking game than Tigers and we will use this to build forward momentum - it wont be pretty but if used effectively it will be a key weapon.
Defensively at linouts that are outside out 10m line we will move Mike Phillips into the 5m channel, bring Hartley into the lineout as an extra lifting option to help challenge the Tigers throws and place either Qera or Elsom to mark Wilkinson and hammer staight into the Tieers backline to cut off their attacking channels and give us an extra man at the breakdown area. Again combating the threat of Pocock. On Tigers attacking ball we wont look to challenge thw throw, instead we will target the ball carrier or have the extra defender in the backs to punish quick ball. We want to slow Tigers down and stop their gameplan.
BreakdownIn training we have identified Pocock as a major threat - so have picked a pack that can get to breakdown in numbers and faster than their Tigers counterparts - Domingo, Stevens and Parisse are all very mobile and will look to shut off the breakdown and secure our own ball. We will also have Elsom and Qera taking it in turns to specifically target Pocock, pull him off his feet, target the man and play the referee as we look for penalties.
Mike Phillips can add his physicality in this area too, we have picked him because he can be used effectively as another flanker and this is where we have to challenge and force Tigers into commiting more players then they'd like into this area. We also had tactics above to ensure that we have an extra backrower in the backline on Tigers lineout ball, this can create 2 on 1's and allow us to compete at the breakdown before Pocock arrives on scene!
AttackOur attack has two approaches, the first is to put us into scoring opportunities through a kick and chase game and pressurising the Tigers team into mistakes, penalties and errors and to capitalise on these mistakes by giving the ball to our backs. When Tigers defensive line aligns itself to prepare for the kick we will run the ball at the space that this creates, with Giteau running the game and putting Tuilagi, and the back three into space. This will keep Tigers guessing where the ball is going to go and give our key decision makers that extra bit of time to take the right option.
When we secure ball in the Tigers half we will keep hold of the ball through the forwards, working our way through the phases (e.g. Munster v Saints) and not taking any risks, slowly edging forwards. Mike Phillips to control the tempo and direction of the game and we will look to drag Tigers players into the rucks and mauls and get them playing to our strengths. We do not mind slow ball, but when opportunities arise we will use Albacete, Davies, Elsom, Qera and Parisse to add pace into the ball carrying, cross the gainline and secure quick ball for our backs to attack. The more slow ball we have the more Tigers could get impatient and give away penalties and free kicks, which Beauxis will punish them with.
The point it to mix up the attack to keep Tigers defence guessing, changing the tempo to suit our gameplan - slowing things down in the forwards to tie up Pocock and remove his threat at the turnover. We wont depend on quick ball, but instead will keep the ball, go through the phases when we are in Tigers half (whether ball in hand or defensively) and take all points on offer. Every chance we have we will take points, whether it be through Beauxis and Halfpenny penalties or relying on Beauxis to drop into the hole and drop some goals. If he misses we get the ball back from the 22 restart and can start going through the phases again.
DefenceWe will play our usual aggressive defensive system, but a lot of our work will be on a great kick and chase game. Beauxis has one of the biggest boots in Europe and when supported by Giteau and Halfpenny we will look to pile on defensive pressure on Tigers and pressurise them into errors. We will target Wilkinson and put him under pressure and have a man on him straight away because if we stop him playing then the Tigers backline wont function or be able to release their backthree. We also make them attack from deep - with Phillips sweeping behind any attacks and relying on Ashton and Foden's great defensive play to stop any linebreaks.
In the second half we will look to introduce Lawes in the no6 shirt so that he can terrorise the Tigers midfield with huge hits and force them into errors. All about pressure and putting this on Leicester in their own half.
Game Specific Tactics• Learnt lessons from last week and look to dominate the kicking game, recalled Beauxis to achieve this and have Giteau and Halfpenny to support. Can beat an out of sorts Wilkinson at this.
• Control territory and apply pressure – The game is going to be played deeply in the Tigers half as Beauxis plays us into the areas where our aggressive defence can force errors and in the right areas those errors turn into points. Beauxis place kicking will punish all mistakes and penalties.
• Stop the Tigers halfbacks - Phillips will drag Yachvilli into a physical battle, which he does not relish and by doing so we stop the Tigers creative spark as Wilkinson wont offer this. Phillips is on top form and outplayed the Frenchman the last time they met and will enjoy the game again. Wilkinson will be pressurised off Tigers attacking lineouts with either Elsom or Qera marking him out like Betsen did for France 5-6 years ago. Stopping quality ball getting to the Tigers backline is key.
* Stop any flow developing and force Tigers into our game plan - our tactics are all about playing the game that suits us, slowing down phases and generally creating a disjointed game that we can force Tigers into mistakes and play to our strengths e.g. developed a new strategy for the breakdown and Beauxis kicking the ball deep.
• Keep Scoreboard Ticking – Beauxis to kick three points at every single opportunity
Key Points• Tactics have been designed to play to our strengths and stop Leicester playing the game they set out to achieve in their own tactics - they are looking to get the ball to their backs as much as possible, whilst we are happy to do this by kicking it deep into their own half and letting them come at us from deep. We will also keep the ball in our forwards and completely frustrate Tigers by going through phase by phase with slow ball and just completlely stopping Tigers from developing any flow or structure to their gameplan.
• Our kicking game completely changes the Tigers defensive patterns - if we keep kicking deep then their backthree will all need to play deeper, with Giteau at 12 he can take advantage of this by attacking BOD and offloading to Tuilagi or Foden to then create 2on1's with the Tigers defence. Ashton, Halfpenny some of best finsihes in Europe. We have some of the best attacking threats in world rugby at our disposal and Giteau is absolutely key for this.
• Have leaders throughout the team Hartley, Davies, Albacete, Elsom, Parisse, Phillips, Giteau etc and with Webber, Hayman, Williams all having leadership experience we have enough players who know how to win big games away from home.
• Powerful bench that we will use to change the game as and when we need to. Will look to slow down the Tigers attack, make the game broken up and disjointed, punish the Tigers with our better kicking game and win the terrirtory battle.
Saracens v London Irish
Sunny, 6 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
16. George Chuter 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Dave Attwood 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Patric Lambie 23. Mark Cueto
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 Joe van Niekerk 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
N.B - Not a definite tactic to start, but if it looks as if Irish are going to try to throw big carriers down the 13 channel and target Trinder, we have the option of switching him and Ioane on defence, and having the powerful Australian line up inside with Trinder on the wing. If we do this an Irish still attempt to target Trinder in the outside channels by using big ball carrying forwards, we will really target the contact areas there for turnovers and look to strike quickly infield with the Irish forwards having to try to scramble back in on defence.
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Jean Baptiste Poux 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Mouritz Botha 20. David Sisi 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Marland Yarde
Tactics
We travel to Vicarage Road full of confidence with 10 points from our last two games (BP wins over Wasps and Quins). We have picked a team to try and dominate the set piece and territory. We will look to play with ball in hand and not kick away loose ball, but build the phases using big ball carriers and force Sarries to make lots of tackles and commit men in defence before we spread the ball out and get the likes of SBW, Tait, J.P, Basson running.
We are targetting the scrum as an area to exploit. Castro gave Corbs all sorts of problems in real life a few weeks ago and will look to do the same again. With Tonga the other side, we have a powerful scrum that will look to drive Sarries backwards and win us some penalties for JMH to kick.
At the lineout we will have Kennedy calling the shots, supported by Garvey, Kaino and Spies. Kennedy will look to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible. In the opposition 22, we will look to secure the ball at the front and use the power of Castro, Tiny, Spies etc to maul the ball over the try line.
At the breakdown, we will use Kaino, Spies, Garvey etc to clear out the rucks quickly and allow Fourie in to secure good, quick ball and also to try and turnover oppositon ball. Any opposition ball will be counter attacked. We don't want to over commit to a ruck if the turnover is not on, but will try to legally slow down opposition ball. We have instructed Kaino to stop the hard running of Nonu. We have a lot of big tacklers like Kaino, Spies, Garvey, Fourie, SBW to stop Nonu building momentum which is where Saracens build a lot of their attacks off. We will also look to put big hits in on young Trinder and test his defence with SBW especially targetting him. Tait and J.P will track his runs and look to gather offloads, although similar to last week we have instructed SBW only to offload when it is on.
In attack, if our ball is slow, we will use the boots of Pienaar and JMH to kick in behind Sarries wingers as neither have good kicking games. Basson and JP will rush up on them and pressurise them.
Jaque Fourie will come on for Tait early in the 2nd half to bolster our midfield further and give us an extra dimension in attack and shore up our defence. JMH to kick all pens for goal if in range, if not go for touch.
Bath Rugby v Sale Sharks
Sunny Intervals, 7 Degrees, 4mph Winds
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16 Jon Golding 17 Joe Ward 18 Petrus Du Plessis 19 Rob Simmons 20 Sean O’Brien 21 Richard Wigglesworth 22 Francois Steyn 23 Tom Varndell
Tactics
General
We'll look to use our big pack to build a base in order to get our backs into the game. We will play a backs based game. It will be really attacking, running rugby. We will look to be making good runs bringing our running back three into the game.
Set Piece
We have some of the on form scrummagers in the world and will look to use the scrum as a platform. We feel we can really use this to advantage . We feel a big part of our game will be the lineout. Lobbe and Whitelock are our main jumpers while Deacon offers a strong banker ball if needed. Simmons will maintain our dominance from the bench.
Other points
- Generate Quick Ball
- Look to slow Sale ball down with Armitage looking to create turnovers
- Look to get turnovers at the lineout
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Alun Wyn Jones 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Shaun Perry 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Nick Abendanoon
General Game Plan
On attack, we will look to control possession with our strong carrying game. We will look to our big carriers to get over the gain line and where possible offload to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. If running the ball is not on we will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook to put us in the right areas.
On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. Danny Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to run back any loose kicks.
At the breakdown, if the ball looks available we will look to seriously commit numbers to clear the ruck allowing Thomson and Quedragao to come in and secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit 1 or 2 to the breakdown and look to counter ruck legally slowing down Bath ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
We will look to use the set piece as a weapon throughout. We will target the scrum with a technically strong front row looking to get in under and win the scrum battle. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hook we will look to attack from the lineout. We will look to mix things up bringing the ball down into the maul or playing the ball of the top and spreading it through the backs.
Key Points
• In Game Form – We have lost just twice in our last 8 outings being bonus point defeats at Vicarage Road in the league and at Kingsholm in the LDC Pete Cup. We come to the Rec looking to continue our great form and leave with another away win.
•Play the game in the right areas – We will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook and play the game inside Bath territory forcing Bath to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the opposition set piece and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Hodgson into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from.... Care, Sexton and Hook do however have the brains and spark to play from deep when it is really on.
• Target the Bath wingers - We will look to test the Bath wingers out today both aerially and positionally. Sexton and Hook will look to send some high hanging balls to the corners and really test the Bath back 3 none of whom are particularly good under the highball. We will look to execute kick and chases and crossfield kicks into the corners when we see any of these 3 out of position. We have picked a side packed with pace to really get up on the chase. Keith Earls has been lined up against Medard to use his GAA skills (Irish footballing) and beat him to the ball in the air.
London Wasps v Harlequins
Sunny, 6 Degrees, 12mph Winds
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
16. Andy Titterell 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Richard Birkett 20. Roger Wilson 21. Mike Blair 22. Rory Clegg 23. Mike Tindall
Tactics
After losing away from home to a very impressive London Irish side last week we return to Adams Park where we are yet to lose so far this season. We have picked a dynamic, 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 beat Harlequins. 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 Quins onto the back foot by winning the forward battle and collisions we will be able to unsettle them.
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 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 Harlequins down.
We have two excellent kicking options in Gopperth and McAlister who will kick in behind the Harlequins 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, Deon Stegmann with his low centre of gravity will look to compete hard at the breakdown, any turnovers we do make we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Burgess with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Quins 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 such as Polota-Nau, Haskell and Johnson. 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 Harlequins working off the ball in defence. We will look for the in form Roberts to target the lightweight centre partnership of Quins and run hard at them, staying strong in the contact area and either offloading if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners such as McAlister to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Quins players. We will also be sending our big carriers in Quade Cooper’s direction.
So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Quins defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible. We will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Quins 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 Quins 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 Johnson. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Harlequins by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Quins 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 them going backwards. Our back row will look to really get in Coopers 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.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
16. Rob Vickers 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. Nathan Sharpe 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. George Lowe
Tactics
We go to Wasps knowing what a formidable challenge we face against who have been one of the surprise package of the season so far along with ourselves. We know Wasps play a strong game organised around their half back pairing and they use there powerful carriers to punch holes in the midfield and then move to exploit an unorganised defence. We have set our game plan to try and move Wasps out of their comfort zone by putting big
pressure upon their half backs and midfield in defence and by moving the point of our attack around the field.
Game Plan
As usual we want to use our forwards to get us onto the front foot so we can throw the ball wide to our back 3 and we want to look to move the Wasps pack around the field as much as possible. We will look for our forwards to carry away from the breakdown of the shoulders of 10 and 12 far more often than we might usually. We will look to switch the point of attack constantly with Dickson, Cooper, Priestland and Flutey in control of this. We will be looking for our forwards to be running different angles and different depths to keep the Wasps defence guessing. Once we get quick ball we are going to unleash our backline into the game and look to get into spaces out wide where we can isolate the Wasps defenders. We want to maintain a high tempo in attack with players looking to carry the ball at pace and coming at different angles. Cooper is the perfect 10 to control our game and put other men into space and change our point of attack.
We will look to be patient in implementing this game plan but at the same time if we are going know where then we will look to use the cultured boots of Cooper, Priestland, Dickson and Flutey to put us into the right areas of the pitch. As usual we will not kick aimlessly and when kicking we will either clear to touch or kick into spaces. We are also going to look to kick in an attacking sense putting up and unders up and using crossfields and grubber kicks when we feel our attacking shape isn’t there and we are lacking momentum. We are going to look to keep the scoreboard ticking over with penalties to build pressure on Wasps. Our defensive game plan is to disrupt Wasps in every way. We want our pack to challenge every ruck and Set piece as well as having our defensive line coming up at pace.
Forwards
We have picked a big pack which I also consider to be quite mobile and this is important to our game plan as our forwards are going to be asked to carry the ball in wider areas than they might usually. We will look to carry in numbers and aim to win the collision and then keep driving our legs once we have reached contact. When we get the chance we will still look to offload to continue our attacks. We are going to look for our front 5 to carry of 10 and 12 with our back row looking to do the carrying off 12 and 13. We will look for our pack to be really aggressive and front up to Wasps and really try and knock them backwards from the word go. With our game plan of changing the point of attack we need to use 3 men in a ruck so secure quick ball. We are going to look to get Warburton and Louw to dominate the breakdown and secure us penalties and turnovers which we can turn into points.
Set Piece
At the scrum we are going to really look to get the shove on with our experienced and tough front row. We will look for both of our props to try to get underneath there opponent particularly John Afoa who will have the force of Jerome Thion behind him. If we do get a scrum advantage we will look to go up on the Tighthead side so Dowson can pick up and run at Wasps with more space available to him.
At the Lineout we will use 5 man lines inbetween both 22’s with the two props either end and Skivington, Thion and Dowson being the jumpers used inbetween them. This allows us to use Louw and Warburton in the midfield on the first phase if required. When in our own 22 or the opposition 22 we will look to use a full line so as we have the option to use a driving maul to gain us some ground. On the opposition ball we will look to compete with Skivington marking Wentzel to attempt to make Wasps look to other jumpers whom Thion, Louw and Dowson will then look to pressure.
Backs
In the backs we have our key decision makers at 9 10 and 12 and we will run our plays through them. A move we will look to use is for Faainga to cut lines back across the defence so Flutey can swing round and Cooper can pick Flutey out behind Faainga when we want to run wide. Using this we suck in defenders and it gives Flutey the chance to feed the back 3 in a bit more space. We can also give the ball to Faainga to make the hard yards as well as having floating forwards picking lines off Cooper and Flutey. From first phase ball we will look to bring Priestland and the blindside wing into play as runners who can be used to carry or be used as decoys. We will look to have Preistland in the line when we are attacking so we have another creative player involved unlocking the Wasps defence.
Defence
We have some really strong defensive players in this game and we will look for them to marshall our defence. Louw and Faainga will be in charge of our defence during the game and will rearrange our defensive line up if we are weak in a particular area. We will play with a quick line speed particularly looking to put pressure on the Wasps decision makers. We have reinforced our midfield defence with Flutey and Faiinga and I can’t see anybody making any headway through this channel so Wasps will have to re assess their strategy. We will look to try and smash Wasps runners backwards by adapting a low body position. This will give us a target for our forwards to hit to disrupt Wasps ball. We will have our back 3 sitting very deep to capitalise on loose kicks with Dickson sweeping behind the defensive line. In defence Priestland will move to 10 and Cooper will move to 15 as he does with the Reds. When the ball is kicked to Heymans, Cooper and Joseph we have one of the most exciting attacking units you could ask for to run the ball back to wasps with interest.
Subs
We have some great impact players on the bench who will be introduced into the second half. We also have the electric Karl Dickson to bring on if we need to up the tempo anymore as well as very powerful carriers in Marler, Mujati, Fearns and Lowe.
Key Points
• Constantly move the point of attack with both backs and forwards looking to move the point of attack. Cooper is key to this and will run the show for us.
• Move the Wasps pack around by using our forward s to carry in the midfield.
• Build pressure on Wasps in attack and defence. We want our forwards to disrupt wasps at every opportunity.
• Only kick when it gives us an obvious advantage or to clear our lines. Absolutely no loose kicking and when we do kick we chase as a line.
• Use Flutey coming behind Faainga to unleash our back line and Kearney who will join the line.
• Dominate the breakdown will Louw and Warburton looking to get on the ball and legally recover possession.
• Keep a high tempo to our game in attack and defence.
• Be very physical with wasps and play in their faces.
• Use our bench at the right time. Impact players galore.
• Kick the points when we can.
Opposition Specific Tactics
- We don't see a genuine breakdown specialist in the Wasps pack so we are going to really look to get on top in this area.
- Try to kick into the gaps behind the wasps back 3. We think we can gain territory by forcing the Wasps wingers into kicking which we don't see as their strength.
- Really target Charlie Beech if he comes off the bench. Afoa and Mujati will really cause him problems.
- Press onto Gopperth and McAllister and give them as little time as possible.
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Exeter Chiefs v Worcester Warriors
Sunny, 9 Degrees, 15mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
| 01. Andrew Sheridan | 09. Nick Phipps |
| 02. John Smit (c) | 10. Ronan O’Gara |
| 03. Davit Zirkashvilli | |
| 04. Simon Shaw | 11. Luke Fitzgerald |
| 05. Juillian Pierre | 12. Gordan D’Arcy |
| 06. Lewis Moody | 13. Chris Bell |
| 07. Shane Jennings | 14. Isia Toeava |
| 08. Ben Skirving | 15. Lee Byrne |
16.Neil Clark 17.Salvator Perugini 18.Dave Wilson 19.James Hudson 20.Declan Danahar 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Colin Slade 23.Adam Thompstone
Tactics
- Play the percentages and use the boot of ROG to put them under the cosh in there own 22 and using a big physical forward pack to really take them on and disrupt any ball.
- Use our big midfield to bash our way up the middle and pull defenders in to create gaps for Toeava , Fitzgerald and Byrne to pick there lines off.
- Phipps and ROG will mainly look to play the percentages but will keep an eye open for any overlaps half gaps our numbers outwide , changing our game plan.
- Our front 5 is packed with ball carrying forwards who will look to run hard at the fringes and tie the defenders up.
- At the breakdown we will target the ball carrier either holding him up in the choke tackle as we have the pack to stop any maul or double tapping the attacker with Jennings/Moody being allowed a stab at the ball
- We will look to scrum and keep the scrum up and John Smit will let the referee know this. On the opposition ball we will focus on a 8 man shove and take the opposition on with Phipps looking to really get stuck into there 8 and 9.
- We will look to move the ball in attack when it is kicked to us to attack any dog legs with our attack minded back 3.
- Blitz defense and really get up into the opposition faces and cut down there thinking time with Phipps sweeping behind for any kicks through.
Key Points
* Use Skirving to pressure the Worcester Lineout and really target the ball on the Worcester throw.
* Disipline will be key , Test Cowens by letting Phipps share some 'freindly' banter about his passing at the scrum
* Steyn must be feeling the pressure , The Bulls are bring Houghard back to play 10 can't have that much faith in him
Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd
| 01. David Flatman | 09. Jimmy Cowan |
| 02. Richardt Strauss | 10. Morne Steyn (k) |
| 03. BJ Botha | |
| 04. Jim Hamilton | 11. Shane Williams |
| 05. Ollie Kohn | 12. Sean Lamont |
| 06. Craig Newby (c) | 13. Jon Clarke |
| 07. Scott Higginbotham | 14. Bryan Habana |
| 08. Ben Morgan | 15. Ollie Morgan |
16.Chris Fortey 17.Sylvain Marconnet 18.Yann Thomas 19.Danie Russouw 20.Kearnen Myall 21.Dwayne Peel 22.Sam Vesty 23.Greig Tonks
Tactics
Forwards
We have selected a strong pack who will be able to hold any shunt and hopefully look to steal more ball. In the lineouts we have strong jumpers and will look for quick ball to release our backs. Looking a tour back row we can get alot of turnover ball with Newby and Higginbotham snaffling at the ruck and aiming to be the 2nd player into a ruck to go over the ball and either slow it down or looking for turnover ball. Morgan has been playing tremendously in the past few matches and; with Hamilton will look to carry the ball up in midfield to suck in defenders and look for the quick offload.
Backs
We have selected a backline ready for the winter. Steyn will kick for territory making sure it's away from the Exeter back 3 and either reaches touch or gives our chasing pack time to put pressure on Exeter in their own half. Lamont is going to be our battering ram who will take crashball up and release our quick back 3 who have good try-scoring and line breaking records. Cowan will look for quick ball and when it's turnover ball we will look to Lamont to hit it up and then to Steyn to pin them back. We haven't been a try scoring team this season and this will not change much today with Steyn going for every penalty that is in his range and also looking for some cheeky drop goals. If the overlap is there we will take the try but we see winning as more important even if it is with ugly rugby.
Defence
Lead by Lamont and rushing up flat. We will put players on Steyn and Lamont's shoulders to look to steal or slow down their ball and prevent the ball getting to their backs. Cowan will sweep behind with Morgan standing deep to stop ROG's positional play.
Overall
*We have had enough of being called an improving team and want to win and stamp our mark,
*Forwards to slow down as much of their ball and look to take it up 2 phases to suck in their backs,
*Lamont to hit the ball up, or Hamilton/B.Morgan,
Wingers to use their pace,
*Steyn to pin them back kicking with the wind,
*Steyn to take the points when he can,
*To come back from Exeter with at least 4 points.
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
Sunny, 6 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Gethin Jenkins | 09. Dimitri Yachvili (k) |
| 02. Stephen Moore | 10. Jonny Wilkinson |
| 03. Dan Cole | |
| 04. Pascal Pape | 11. Topsy Ojo |
| 05. James Horwill (c) | 12. Florian Fritz |
| 06. Tom Croft | 13. Brian O'Driscoll |
| 07. David Pocock | 14. Cory Jane |
| 08. Nick Easter | 15. Clement Poitrenaud |
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get our backs into the game as much as possible. We will attack the lineout and the breakdown as and when we can. With the ball in hand we have different options of how we can play - carrying forwards, tactical half-back's, intelligent midfield and elusive runners out wide.
- 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. Horwill to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson. Croft to be our go-to man - but we can and will use any of Horwill, Pape and Easter as well.
- Jenkins to look to really go after Stevens in the scrum, and Cole told to hold his bind and keep his body and back straight in an effort to stop them being done underneath by Domingo. Easter to be in control at the base of the scrum.
- Look to Easter, Horwill, Pocock, Jenkins, Pape, Croft and Moore 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 Saints. Our other forwards will look to ruck past the ball and clear out Saints 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. Yachvili and Wilkinson to manage the tempo of the game, control where the game is to be played and to play the game as they see it.
- 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.
- Fritz comes in to give us great running options in midfield. Both he and BOD are extremely powerful in defence, and won't allow Tuilagi's crash ball through.
- 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 Saints.
- Calm, mature heads at 8, 9 and 10 in Easter, Yachvili and Wilkinson - to make the right calls and control the tempo of the game and where it is being played.
- Confidence issues within the Saints squad:
Domingo, Hartley, Stevens, Davies, Elsom and Giteau are all off the boil completely.
Saints have won 2 games from a possible 9 in the league.
3 loanees brought in (on Thursday) as a sign of panic from the Saints management, 1 of which has staggeringly been named in the team (Qera) and another on the bench (Williams).
Is Welford Road against a Tigers team that hasn't lost at home in 2 years the place to stop the rot? We don't think so. We will start the game at a very high tempo and look to get those Saints heads dropping. Our half backs are great for this sort of unforgiving pressure.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris
| 01. Thomas Domingo | 09. Mike Phillips |
| 02. Dylan Hartley | 10. Lionel Beauxis |
| 03. Matt Stevens | |
| 04. Bradley Davies | 11. Leigh Halfpenny |
| 05. Patricio Albacete | 12. Matt Giteau |
| 06. Rocky Elsom | 13. Manu Tuilagi |
| 07. Akapusi Qera | 14. Chris Ashton |
| 08. Sergio Parisse (c) | 15. Ben Foden |
16. Rob Webber 17. Matt Mullan 18. Carl Hayman 19. Ali Williams 20. Courtney Lawes 21. Joe Simpson 22. Max Evans 23. Christian Wade
Tactics
Tactics: Overview
The Saints gameplan revolves around winning the territory game and applying pressure on Tigers in key areas where we can force them into mistakes and keep the scorebarod ticking over. We have a strong ball carrying game in the pack and will work through the phases to recycle the ball and allow Beauxis and Giteau time to kick over the Tigers defensive line and keep Tigers going backwards. Wilkinson's kicking was questionable at best and he is still settling into the TIgers team, so this is a key area for us to win and why we selected a midfield that can kick us deep into opposition territory. Halfpenny will offer Foden support at the back to offer a kicking game and keep Tigers well away from the tryline and kicking penalties.
Set PieceWe have rested our front row options very well over the last few weeks with the Amlin Cup with a view to target the AP games and put pressure on players who have not rested since the WC - in a physical league where each game is effectively an international we hope that htis will be picked up on, especially when we can bring on Mullan, Webber and Hayman in the second half to provide a strong scrummaging unit. We have opted for Domingo and Stevens because the conditions allow for more of a running game, where there will be far less knock ons and need for scrums - we also believe that both are very good in hitting rucks and mauls and this advantage over their Tiger counterparts will play to our gameplan. We have Davies and Albacete to add some bulk to the scrum.
At the lineout we have Davies, Albacete and Parisse as our main lineout operators and plan to keep our lineouts simple and effective. With the view to secure slow ball, build through the phases and provide Beauxis and Giteau a platform to kick the ball into Tigers territory and keep our pack going forward. We have a better kciking game than Tigers and we will use this to build forward momentum - it wont be pretty but if used effectively it will be a key weapon.
Defensively at linouts that are outside out 10m line we will move Mike Phillips into the 5m channel, bring Hartley into the lineout as an extra lifting option to help challenge the Tigers throws and place either Qera or Elsom to mark Wilkinson and hammer staight into the Tieers backline to cut off their attacking channels and give us an extra man at the breakdown area. Again combating the threat of Pocock. On Tigers attacking ball we wont look to challenge thw throw, instead we will target the ball carrier or have the extra defender in the backs to punish quick ball. We want to slow Tigers down and stop their gameplan.
BreakdownIn training we have identified Pocock as a major threat - so have picked a pack that can get to breakdown in numbers and faster than their Tigers counterparts - Domingo, Stevens and Parisse are all very mobile and will look to shut off the breakdown and secure our own ball. We will also have Elsom and Qera taking it in turns to specifically target Pocock, pull him off his feet, target the man and play the referee as we look for penalties.
Mike Phillips can add his physicality in this area too, we have picked him because he can be used effectively as another flanker and this is where we have to challenge and force Tigers into commiting more players then they'd like into this area. We also had tactics above to ensure that we have an extra backrower in the backline on Tigers lineout ball, this can create 2 on 1's and allow us to compete at the breakdown before Pocock arrives on scene!
AttackOur attack has two approaches, the first is to put us into scoring opportunities through a kick and chase game and pressurising the Tigers team into mistakes, penalties and errors and to capitalise on these mistakes by giving the ball to our backs. When Tigers defensive line aligns itself to prepare for the kick we will run the ball at the space that this creates, with Giteau running the game and putting Tuilagi, and the back three into space. This will keep Tigers guessing where the ball is going to go and give our key decision makers that extra bit of time to take the right option.
When we secure ball in the Tigers half we will keep hold of the ball through the forwards, working our way through the phases (e.g. Munster v Saints) and not taking any risks, slowly edging forwards. Mike Phillips to control the tempo and direction of the game and we will look to drag Tigers players into the rucks and mauls and get them playing to our strengths. We do not mind slow ball, but when opportunities arise we will use Albacete, Davies, Elsom, Qera and Parisse to add pace into the ball carrying, cross the gainline and secure quick ball for our backs to attack. The more slow ball we have the more Tigers could get impatient and give away penalties and free kicks, which Beauxis will punish them with.
The point it to mix up the attack to keep Tigers defence guessing, changing the tempo to suit our gameplan - slowing things down in the forwards to tie up Pocock and remove his threat at the turnover. We wont depend on quick ball, but instead will keep the ball, go through the phases when we are in Tigers half (whether ball in hand or defensively) and take all points on offer. Every chance we have we will take points, whether it be through Beauxis and Halfpenny penalties or relying on Beauxis to drop into the hole and drop some goals. If he misses we get the ball back from the 22 restart and can start going through the phases again.
DefenceWe will play our usual aggressive defensive system, but a lot of our work will be on a great kick and chase game. Beauxis has one of the biggest boots in Europe and when supported by Giteau and Halfpenny we will look to pile on defensive pressure on Tigers and pressurise them into errors. We will target Wilkinson and put him under pressure and have a man on him straight away because if we stop him playing then the Tigers backline wont function or be able to release their backthree. We also make them attack from deep - with Phillips sweeping behind any attacks and relying on Ashton and Foden's great defensive play to stop any linebreaks.
In the second half we will look to introduce Lawes in the no6 shirt so that he can terrorise the Tigers midfield with huge hits and force them into errors. All about pressure and putting this on Leicester in their own half.
Game Specific Tactics• Learnt lessons from last week and look to dominate the kicking game, recalled Beauxis to achieve this and have Giteau and Halfpenny to support. Can beat an out of sorts Wilkinson at this.
• Control territory and apply pressure – The game is going to be played deeply in the Tigers half as Beauxis plays us into the areas where our aggressive defence can force errors and in the right areas those errors turn into points. Beauxis place kicking will punish all mistakes and penalties.
• Stop the Tigers halfbacks - Phillips will drag Yachvilli into a physical battle, which he does not relish and by doing so we stop the Tigers creative spark as Wilkinson wont offer this. Phillips is on top form and outplayed the Frenchman the last time they met and will enjoy the game again. Wilkinson will be pressurised off Tigers attacking lineouts with either Elsom or Qera marking him out like Betsen did for France 5-6 years ago. Stopping quality ball getting to the Tigers backline is key.
* Stop any flow developing and force Tigers into our game plan - our tactics are all about playing the game that suits us, slowing down phases and generally creating a disjointed game that we can force Tigers into mistakes and play to our strengths e.g. developed a new strategy for the breakdown and Beauxis kicking the ball deep.
• Keep Scoreboard Ticking – Beauxis to kick three points at every single opportunity
Key Points• Tactics have been designed to play to our strengths and stop Leicester playing the game they set out to achieve in their own tactics - they are looking to get the ball to their backs as much as possible, whilst we are happy to do this by kicking it deep into their own half and letting them come at us from deep. We will also keep the ball in our forwards and completely frustrate Tigers by going through phase by phase with slow ball and just completlely stopping Tigers from developing any flow or structure to their gameplan.
• Our kicking game completely changes the Tigers defensive patterns - if we keep kicking deep then their backthree will all need to play deeper, with Giteau at 12 he can take advantage of this by attacking BOD and offloading to Tuilagi or Foden to then create 2on1's with the Tigers defence. Ashton, Halfpenny some of best finsihes in Europe. We have some of the best attacking threats in world rugby at our disposal and Giteau is absolutely key for this.
• Have leaders throughout the team Hartley, Davies, Albacete, Elsom, Parisse, Phillips, Giteau etc and with Webber, Hayman, Williams all having leadership experience we have enough players who know how to win big games away from home.
• Powerful bench that we will use to change the game as and when we need to. Will look to slow down the Tigers attack, make the game broken up and disjointed, punish the Tigers with our better kicking game and win the terrirtory battle.
Saracens v London Irish
Sunny, 6 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
| 01. Alex Corbisiero | 09. Morgan Parra |
| 02. Bismarck du Plessis | 10. Francois Trinh-Duc |
| 03. Adam Jones | |
| 04. Lionel Nallet | 11. Digby Ioane |
| 05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Ma'a Nonu |
| 06. Thierry Dusautoir | 13. Henry Trinder |
| 07. Tom Wood | 14. Tim Visser |
| 08. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 15. Tom Homer |
16. George Chuter 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Dave Attwood 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Patric Lambie 23. Mark Cueto
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 Joe van Niekerk 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
- Bring Ioane and Visser in off their wings - We will look to get our wingers tracking the ball infield and supporting our big carriers looking for the offload and hitting the gaps created. We are looking at targetting the midfield area as we feel that for all SBW and Tait's attacking prowess, there are defensive weaknesses there with SBW in particular prone to jumping out of the line and leaving gaps that can be exploited.
- Kick for touch in behind the Irish wingers - We are not looking to play a kicking game as a general rule, but there will be occasions when we do need to. When this happens we will be kicking for touch in behind the Irish wingers and getting up quickly to stop the quick throw. We will then look to really contest the lineout and either win the ball or force Irish into kicking, which will either give us the ball infield and another chance to run it back, our a lineout on our throw, which we will look to secure and play again. We will not kick directly to JMH.
- Vary the point of attack and move the Irish pack around - Whilst our pack is not exactly light we consider the Irish pack to be quite a heavy one, and we will look to move them around the park to tire them more quickly. We will do this by varying our point of attack and utilising the pace and power in our backline to keep them having to make tackles, which is far more tiring than playing with ball in hand.
Key Points
- Home Advantage - We have not lost a home AP game since season 1. That is one defeat in nearly 40 matches. Vicarage Road is a fortress for us, and one that will take something special to breach.
- In Game Form - We come into this game off of the back of an away bonus point win at Franklins Gardens, an away win at Biarritz and a home mauling of Benetton Treviso. We are second in the table, and full of confidence for this one.
- Key Players - If you want to win the scrum and lineout battle and have a platform to play from then the hooker is a key man - 2. Bismarck du Plessis. In terms of controlling the game and dictating the tempo, you would look at the 8,9,10 axis - 8. Joe van Niekerk 9. Morgan Parra 10. Francois Trinh-Duc. We have real top quality in these positions which will allow us to control the game.
- Real Life Form/Injuries - None of the players in our starting XV are injured in real life, and all are in good form, with some in absolutely excellent form. Without getting into slating oppostion players, Fourie, Pienaar and Tait are all currently out injured, and I can't really remember when Fourie or Tait last completed 80 minutes. None of these are world class individuals (like Juan Smith) who would hold form for a while due to quality.
- Balance - We have good balance to our selections all across our team. A good blend of experience and youth throughout. A back three with two wingers who provide serious attacking threat, alongside a full back who is solid defensively and kicks well from hand. A midfield featuring the broadsword (Nonu) and the rapier (Trinder). A proven international class half back pairing. We also have 8 full internationals to bring off the bench if required.
N.B - Not a definite tactic to start, but if it looks as if Irish are going to try to throw big carriers down the 13 channel and target Trinder, we have the option of switching him and Ioane on defence, and having the powerful Australian line up inside with Trinder on the wing. If we do this an Irish still attempt to target Trinder in the outside channels by using big ball carrying forwards, we will really target the contact areas there for turnovers and look to strike quickly infield with the Irish forwards having to try to scramble back in on defence.
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Soane Tonga'uhia | 09. Ruan Pienaar |
| 02. James Buckland | 10. Daniel Bowden |
| 03. Martin Castrogiovanni | |
| 04. Matt Garvey | 11. Bjorn Basson |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sonny Bill Williams |
| 06. Jerome Kaino | 13. Matthew Tait |
| 07. Hendrie Fourie | 14. J.P Pieterson |
| 08. Pierre Spies | 15. Juan Martin Hernandez |
16. Jean Baptiste Poux 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Mouritz Botha 20. David Sisi 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Marland Yarde
Tactics
We travel to Vicarage Road full of confidence with 10 points from our last two games (BP wins over Wasps and Quins). We have picked a team to try and dominate the set piece and territory. We will look to play with ball in hand and not kick away loose ball, but build the phases using big ball carriers and force Sarries to make lots of tackles and commit men in defence before we spread the ball out and get the likes of SBW, Tait, J.P, Basson running.
We are targetting the scrum as an area to exploit. Castro gave Corbs all sorts of problems in real life a few weeks ago and will look to do the same again. With Tonga the other side, we have a powerful scrum that will look to drive Sarries backwards and win us some penalties for JMH to kick.
At the lineout we will have Kennedy calling the shots, supported by Garvey, Kaino and Spies. Kennedy will look to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible. In the opposition 22, we will look to secure the ball at the front and use the power of Castro, Tiny, Spies etc to maul the ball over the try line.
At the breakdown, we will use Kaino, Spies, Garvey etc to clear out the rucks quickly and allow Fourie in to secure good, quick ball and also to try and turnover oppositon ball. Any opposition ball will be counter attacked. We don't want to over commit to a ruck if the turnover is not on, but will try to legally slow down opposition ball. We have instructed Kaino to stop the hard running of Nonu. We have a lot of big tacklers like Kaino, Spies, Garvey, Fourie, SBW to stop Nonu building momentum which is where Saracens build a lot of their attacks off. We will also look to put big hits in on young Trinder and test his defence with SBW especially targetting him. Tait and J.P will track his runs and look to gather offloads, although similar to last week we have instructed SBW only to offload when it is on.
In attack, if our ball is slow, we will use the boots of Pienaar and JMH to kick in behind Sarries wingers as neither have good kicking games. Basson and JP will rush up on them and pressurise them.
Jaque Fourie will come on for Tait early in the 2nd half to bolster our midfield further and give us an extra dimension in attack and shore up our defence. JMH to kick all pens for goal if in range, if not go for touch.
Bath Rugby v Sale Sharks
Sunny Intervals, 7 Degrees, 4mph Winds
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
| 01. Cian Healy | 09. Fourie Du Preez |
| 02. Kevin Mealamu | 10. Charlie Hodgson |
| 03. Euan Murray | |
| 04. Louis Deacon | 11. Ugo Monye |
| 05.Sam Whitelock | 12. Anthony Allen |
| 06. Dan Lydiate | 13. Aurelien Rougerie |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Maxime Medard |
| 08. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe | 15. Kurtley Beale |
16 Jon Golding 17 Joe Ward 18 Petrus Du Plessis 19 Rob Simmons 20 Sean O’Brien 21 Richard Wigglesworth 22 Francois Steyn 23 Tom Varndell
Tactics
General
We'll look to use our big pack to build a base in order to get our backs into the game. We will play a backs based game. It will be really attacking, running rugby. We will look to be making good runs bringing our running back three into the game.
Set Piece
We have some of the on form scrummagers in the world and will look to use the scrum as a platform. We feel we can really use this to advantage . We feel a big part of our game will be the lineout. Lobbe and Whitelock are our main jumpers while Deacon offers a strong banker ball if needed. Simmons will maintain our dominance from the bench.
Other points
- Generate Quick Ball
- Look to slow Sale ball down with Armitage looking to create turnovers
- Look to get turnovers at the lineout
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
| 01. Marcos Ayerza | 09. Danny Care |
| 02. David Paice | 10. Johnny Sexton |
| 03. Luc Ducalcon | |
| 04. Romain Millo Chluski | 11. Keith Earls |
| 05. Christian Day | 12. James Hook |
| 06. Adam Thomson | 13. Robbie Freuen |
| 07. Fulgence Quedragao | 14. David Strettle |
| 08. Louis Picamoles | 15. Luke Rooney |
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Alun Wyn Jones 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Shaun Perry 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Nick Abendanoon
General Game Plan
On attack, we will look to control possession with our strong carrying game. We will look to our big carriers to get over the gain line and where possible offload to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. If running the ball is not on we will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook to put us in the right areas.
On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. Danny Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to run back any loose kicks.
At the breakdown, if the ball looks available we will look to seriously commit numbers to clear the ruck allowing Thomson and Quedragao to come in and secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit 1 or 2 to the breakdown and look to counter ruck legally slowing down Bath ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
We will look to use the set piece as a weapon throughout. We will target the scrum with a technically strong front row looking to get in under and win the scrum battle. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hook we will look to attack from the lineout. We will look to mix things up bringing the ball down into the maul or playing the ball of the top and spreading it through the backs.
Key Points
• In Game Form – We have lost just twice in our last 8 outings being bonus point defeats at Vicarage Road in the league and at Kingsholm in the LDC Pete Cup. We come to the Rec looking to continue our great form and leave with another away win.
•Play the game in the right areas – We will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook and play the game inside Bath territory forcing Bath to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the opposition set piece and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Hodgson into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from.... Care, Sexton and Hook do however have the brains and spark to play from deep when it is really on.
• Target the Bath wingers - We will look to test the Bath wingers out today both aerially and positionally. Sexton and Hook will look to send some high hanging balls to the corners and really test the Bath back 3 none of whom are particularly good under the highball. We will look to execute kick and chases and crossfield kicks into the corners when we see any of these 3 out of position. We have picked a side packed with pace to really get up on the chase. Keith Earls has been lined up against Medard to use his GAA skills (Irish footballing) and beat him to the ball in the air.
London Wasps v Harlequins
Sunny, 6 Degrees, 12mph Winds
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
| 01. Perry Freshwater | 09. Luke Burgess |
| 02. Tatafu Polota-Nau | 10. Jimmy Gopperth |
| 03. Carlos Nieto | |
| 04. Mark Chisholm | 11. Lachie Turner |
| 05. Marco Wentzel (c) | 12. Luke McAlister |
| 06. Tom Johnson | 13. Jamie Roberts |
| 07. Deon Stegmann | 14. Tom Williams |
| 08. James Haskell | 15. Mike Brown |
16. Andy Titterell 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Richard Birkett 20. Roger Wilson 21. Mike Blair 22. Rory Clegg 23. Mike Tindall
Tactics
After losing away from home to a very impressive London Irish side last week we return to Adams Park where we are yet to lose so far this season. We have picked a dynamic, 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 beat Harlequins. 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 Quins onto the back foot by winning the forward battle and collisions we will be able to unsettle them.
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 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 Harlequins down.
We have two excellent kicking options in Gopperth and McAlister who will kick in behind the Harlequins 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, Deon Stegmann with his low centre of gravity will look to compete hard at the breakdown, any turnovers we do make we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Burgess with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Quins 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 such as Polota-Nau, Haskell and Johnson. 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 Harlequins working off the ball in defence. We will look for the in form Roberts to target the lightweight centre partnership of Quins and run hard at them, staying strong in the contact area and either offloading if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners such as McAlister to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Quins players. We will also be sending our big carriers in Quade Cooper’s direction.
So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Quins defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible. We will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Quins 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 Quins 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 Johnson. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Harlequins by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Quins 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 them going backwards. Our back row will look to really get in Coopers 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.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
| 01. Tony Woodcock | 09. Lee Dickson |
| 02. Matthew Rees | 10. Quade Cooper |
| 03. John Afoa | |
| 04. Jerome Thion | 11. Cedric Heymans |
| 05. George Skivington | 12. Riki Flutey |
| 06. Francois Louw | 13. Anthony Faainga |
| 07. Sam Warburton (c) | 14. Jonathan Joseph |
| 08. Phil Dowson | 15. Rhys Priestland (k) |
16. Rob Vickers 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. Nathan Sharpe 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. George Lowe
Tactics
We go to Wasps knowing what a formidable challenge we face against who have been one of the surprise package of the season so far along with ourselves. We know Wasps play a strong game organised around their half back pairing and they use there powerful carriers to punch holes in the midfield and then move to exploit an unorganised defence. We have set our game plan to try and move Wasps out of their comfort zone by putting big
pressure upon their half backs and midfield in defence and by moving the point of our attack around the field.
Game Plan
As usual we want to use our forwards to get us onto the front foot so we can throw the ball wide to our back 3 and we want to look to move the Wasps pack around the field as much as possible. We will look for our forwards to carry away from the breakdown of the shoulders of 10 and 12 far more often than we might usually. We will look to switch the point of attack constantly with Dickson, Cooper, Priestland and Flutey in control of this. We will be looking for our forwards to be running different angles and different depths to keep the Wasps defence guessing. Once we get quick ball we are going to unleash our backline into the game and look to get into spaces out wide where we can isolate the Wasps defenders. We want to maintain a high tempo in attack with players looking to carry the ball at pace and coming at different angles. Cooper is the perfect 10 to control our game and put other men into space and change our point of attack.
We will look to be patient in implementing this game plan but at the same time if we are going know where then we will look to use the cultured boots of Cooper, Priestland, Dickson and Flutey to put us into the right areas of the pitch. As usual we will not kick aimlessly and when kicking we will either clear to touch or kick into spaces. We are also going to look to kick in an attacking sense putting up and unders up and using crossfields and grubber kicks when we feel our attacking shape isn’t there and we are lacking momentum. We are going to look to keep the scoreboard ticking over with penalties to build pressure on Wasps. Our defensive game plan is to disrupt Wasps in every way. We want our pack to challenge every ruck and Set piece as well as having our defensive line coming up at pace.
Forwards
We have picked a big pack which I also consider to be quite mobile and this is important to our game plan as our forwards are going to be asked to carry the ball in wider areas than they might usually. We will look to carry in numbers and aim to win the collision and then keep driving our legs once we have reached contact. When we get the chance we will still look to offload to continue our attacks. We are going to look for our front 5 to carry of 10 and 12 with our back row looking to do the carrying off 12 and 13. We will look for our pack to be really aggressive and front up to Wasps and really try and knock them backwards from the word go. With our game plan of changing the point of attack we need to use 3 men in a ruck so secure quick ball. We are going to look to get Warburton and Louw to dominate the breakdown and secure us penalties and turnovers which we can turn into points.
Set Piece
At the scrum we are going to really look to get the shove on with our experienced and tough front row. We will look for both of our props to try to get underneath there opponent particularly John Afoa who will have the force of Jerome Thion behind him. If we do get a scrum advantage we will look to go up on the Tighthead side so Dowson can pick up and run at Wasps with more space available to him.
At the Lineout we will use 5 man lines inbetween both 22’s with the two props either end and Skivington, Thion and Dowson being the jumpers used inbetween them. This allows us to use Louw and Warburton in the midfield on the first phase if required. When in our own 22 or the opposition 22 we will look to use a full line so as we have the option to use a driving maul to gain us some ground. On the opposition ball we will look to compete with Skivington marking Wentzel to attempt to make Wasps look to other jumpers whom Thion, Louw and Dowson will then look to pressure.
Backs
In the backs we have our key decision makers at 9 10 and 12 and we will run our plays through them. A move we will look to use is for Faainga to cut lines back across the defence so Flutey can swing round and Cooper can pick Flutey out behind Faainga when we want to run wide. Using this we suck in defenders and it gives Flutey the chance to feed the back 3 in a bit more space. We can also give the ball to Faainga to make the hard yards as well as having floating forwards picking lines off Cooper and Flutey. From first phase ball we will look to bring Priestland and the blindside wing into play as runners who can be used to carry or be used as decoys. We will look to have Preistland in the line when we are attacking so we have another creative player involved unlocking the Wasps defence.
Defence
We have some really strong defensive players in this game and we will look for them to marshall our defence. Louw and Faainga will be in charge of our defence during the game and will rearrange our defensive line up if we are weak in a particular area. We will play with a quick line speed particularly looking to put pressure on the Wasps decision makers. We have reinforced our midfield defence with Flutey and Faiinga and I can’t see anybody making any headway through this channel so Wasps will have to re assess their strategy. We will look to try and smash Wasps runners backwards by adapting a low body position. This will give us a target for our forwards to hit to disrupt Wasps ball. We will have our back 3 sitting very deep to capitalise on loose kicks with Dickson sweeping behind the defensive line. In defence Priestland will move to 10 and Cooper will move to 15 as he does with the Reds. When the ball is kicked to Heymans, Cooper and Joseph we have one of the most exciting attacking units you could ask for to run the ball back to wasps with interest.
Subs
We have some great impact players on the bench who will be introduced into the second half. We also have the electric Karl Dickson to bring on if we need to up the tempo anymore as well as very powerful carriers in Marler, Mujati, Fearns and Lowe.
Key Points
• Constantly move the point of attack with both backs and forwards looking to move the point of attack. Cooper is key to this and will run the show for us.
• Move the Wasps pack around by using our forward s to carry in the midfield.
• Build pressure on Wasps in attack and defence. We want our forwards to disrupt wasps at every opportunity.
• Only kick when it gives us an obvious advantage or to clear our lines. Absolutely no loose kicking and when we do kick we chase as a line.
• Use Flutey coming behind Faainga to unleash our back line and Kearney who will join the line.
• Dominate the breakdown will Louw and Warburton looking to get on the ball and legally recover possession.
• Keep a high tempo to our game in attack and defence.
• Be very physical with wasps and play in their faces.
• Use our bench at the right time. Impact players galore.
• Kick the points when we can.
Opposition Specific Tactics
- We don't see a genuine breakdown specialist in the Wasps pack so we are going to really look to get on top in this area.
- Try to kick into the gaps behind the wasps back 3. We think we can gain territory by forcing the Wasps wingers into kicking which we don't see as their strength.
- Really target Charlie Beech if he comes off the bench. Afoa and Mujati will really cause him problems.
- Press onto Gopperth and McAllister and give them as little time as possible.
Last edited by SirJohnnyEnglish on Fri 02 Dec 2011, 10:48 am; edited 3 times in total
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
Join date : 2011-05-10
Age : 36
Location : Limerick
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Ozzy3213 Sun 27 Nov 2011, 9:28 pm
Why do you put marker still driver, the thread doesn't move?
Ozzy3213- Moderator
- Posts : 18500
Join date : 2011-01-29
Age : 48
Location : Sandhurst
Re: AP Round 10
by Driver Sun 27 Nov 2011, 9:34 pm
I'm not even sure lol , i just leave the my post section open on my iphone and it's easier just to mark it so it appears in there rather than go into the AP section and look for it. It's all about saving time Pete!
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Sun 27 Nov 2011, 11:18 pm
Some good games this week. Team form starting to play a major in predo's for me. Massive game at Exeter!
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Mon 28 Nov 2011, 9:28 am
Thats nice to hear Pooly. I have been in excellent form of late. World Cup really hit me for 6 with so many players missing.
Are you predicting a win for me at Newcastle??
Are you predicting a win for me at Newcastle??
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Mon 28 Nov 2011, 10:00 am
I think your in cracking form Matt, was a general comment really after seeing Quins stuff Falcons.
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Mon 28 Nov 2011, 10:16 am
Were Falcons that bad or Quins that good??
Think Newcastle are gone. Shame really as we need rugby in the North.
Much rather see a Non Club like Worcester go down
Think Newcastle are gone. Shame really as we need rugby in the North.
Much rather see a Non Club like Worcester go down
Guest- Guest
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
Join date : 2011-05-10
Age : 36
Location : Limerick
Re: AP Round 10
by Driver Mon 28 Nov 2011, 10:53 am
Where did you get the weather update johnny? Just checked my phone and it says it's due to rain cats and dogs and be 7 degrees?
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Mon 28 Nov 2011, 10:56 am
Canny conditions Matt, have to break out our speedsters! Be plenty of hands in pants though, it's always 10 degrees colder at Kingston than the thermometer
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Mon 28 Nov 2011, 10:58 am
Looks like a great game of runnning rugby Pooly.
Makes a massive difference to who i pick. Will have to get my thinking cap on
Makes a massive difference to who i pick. Will have to get my thinking cap on
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:02 am
Should be a good one either way, we don't lose at home often though, about 2 seasons ago now 
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by SirJohnnyEnglish Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:06 am
Taken the forecast from BBC weather Driver
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2649808?day=4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2649808?day=4
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
Join date : 2011-05-10
Age : 36
Location : Limerick
Re: AP Round 10
by Driver Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:09 am
Ok mate no bother
Toeava , Byrne and Fitzgerald should love some running rugby
Toeava , Byrne and Fitzgerald should love some running rugby
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:23 am
Sounds like you are due a loss then Pooly.
it will be like when we knocked you out of the Heino last year!!
My boys are up for it. We are flying up today to acclimatise to the north!!
it will be like when we knocked you out of the Heino last year!!
My boys are up for it. We are flying up today to acclimatise to the north!!
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 10
by Driver Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:25 am
Lucky for Matt it's a sunny day but freckin baltic! Typical north!
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:27 am
Quins knocked me out of Heino QF Matt, I beat you in the AP semi.
Matt, I've lived on/off in the NE for 33 years, I still haven't acclimatised!!
Matt, I've lived on/off in the NE for 33 years, I still haven't acclimatised!!
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:29 am
You are right we had each other in the pool games. i remember now!!!!
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:32 am
It was the generic wins at home in the HC. Looking at your side last week I doubt you'll lose another home game this season.
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by Driver Mon 28 Nov 2011, 11:54 am
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
16.Neil Clark 17.Salvator Perugini 18.Dave Wilson 19.James Hudson 20.Declan Danahar 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Colin Slade 23.Adam Thompstone
Exeter Chiefs have named the team which will take on Worcester Warriors at Sandy Park this weekend , Exeter make 2 changes to the team which featured against Sale Sharks last time out. John Smit rejoins the front row with Nick Phipps taking the 9 jersey with Ben Kayser and Byron Kelleher dropping out the match day 23 with Colin Slade coming in for Steven Myler.
Driver had this to say on the club website ' This is it , this is where Exeter kickstart , Sandy Park will become our fortress and Worcester will be put to the sword this weekend , Nick impressed with ROG in the summer fixtures and in Europe in the last few weeks and has razor sharp service and attacks the fringes really well. He's an exciting player to have in any side and will tie the Worcester pack up'
On the subject of Sandy Park Crowd ' There fantastic the support they bring is second to none , there pressed right up against the pitchside and really get at the opposition'
Manager – Driver
| 01. Andrew Sheridan | 09. Nick Phipps |
| 02. John Smit (c) | 10. Ronan O’Gara |
| 03. Davit Zirkashvilli | |
| 04. Simon Shaw | 11. Luke Fitzgerald |
| 05. Juillian Pierre | 12. Gordan D’Arcy |
| 06. Lewis Moody | 13. Chris Bell |
| 07. Shane Jennings | 14. Isia Toeava |
| 08. Ben Skirving | 15. Lee Byrne |
16.Neil Clark 17.Salvator Perugini 18.Dave Wilson 19.James Hudson 20.Declan Danahar 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Colin Slade 23.Adam Thompstone
Exeter Chiefs have named the team which will take on Worcester Warriors at Sandy Park this weekend , Exeter make 2 changes to the team which featured against Sale Sharks last time out. John Smit rejoins the front row with Nick Phipps taking the 9 jersey with Ben Kayser and Byron Kelleher dropping out the match day 23 with Colin Slade coming in for Steven Myler.
Driver had this to say on the club website ' This is it , this is where Exeter kickstart , Sandy Park will become our fortress and Worcester will be put to the sword this weekend , Nick impressed with ROG in the summer fixtures and in Europe in the last few weeks and has razor sharp service and attacks the fringes really well. He's an exciting player to have in any side and will tie the Worcester pack up'
On the subject of Sandy Park Crowd ' There fantastic the support they bring is second to none , there pressed right up against the pitchside and really get at the opposition'
Last edited by Driver - RIP 606 on Tue 29 Nov 2011, 2:39 pm; edited 1 time in total
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Ozzy3213 Mon 28 Nov 2011, 8:41 pm
Saracens return to fortess Vicarage Road full of confidence after last weekends bonus point win at Franklins Gardens. Head coach Ozzy3213 makes 2 changes to the matchday 23. In the pack Steve Borthwick replaces the retired Victor Matfield in the second row, and in the backs Tim Visser steps up from the bench to swap places with Mark Cueto. On the bench Owen Farrell is replaced by Patric Lambie. Ozzy3213 had this to say...
"The boys are keeping their feet firmly on the ground after last weeks excellent result, but there is no denying that confidence is high, and rightly so given our recent form. We have made minimal changes this week, as the boys are all looking fresh, and the changes that we have made are designed with executing our gameplan against a good London irish side this week."
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
16. George Chuter 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Dave Attwood 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Patric Lambie 23. Mark Cueto
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 Joe van Niekerk 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
N.B - Not a definite tactic to start, but if it looks as if Irish are going to try to throw big carriers down the 13 channel and target Trinder, we have the option of switching him and Ioane on defence, and having the powerful Australian line up inside with Trinder on the wing. If we do this an Irish still attempt to target Trinder in the outside channels by using big ball carrying forwards, we will really target the contact areas there for turnovers and look to strike quickly infield with the Irish forwards having to try to scramble back in on defence.
Good luck to you stnick, should be a good game as always mate.
"The boys are keeping their feet firmly on the ground after last weeks excellent result, but there is no denying that confidence is high, and rightly so given our recent form. We have made minimal changes this week, as the boys are all looking fresh, and the changes that we have made are designed with executing our gameplan against a good London irish side this week."
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
| 01. Alex Corbisiero | 09. Morgan Parra |
| 02. Bismarck du Plessis | 10. Francois Trinh-Duc |
| 03. Adam Jones | |
| 04. Lionel Nallet | 11. Digby Ioane |
| 05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Ma'a Nonu |
| 06. Thierry Dusautoir | 13. Henry Trinder |
| 07. Tom Wood | 14. Tim Visser |
| 08. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 15. Tom Homer |
16. George Chuter 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Dave Attwood 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Patric Lambie 23. Mark Cueto
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 Joe van Niekerk 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
- Bring Ioane and Visser in off their wings - We will look to get our wingers tracking the ball infield and supporting our big carriers looking for the offload and hitting the gaps created. We are looking at targetting the midfield area as we feel that for all SBW and Tait's attacking prowess, there are defensive weaknesses there with SBW in particular prone to jumping out of the line and leaving gaps that can be exploited.
- Kick for touch in behind the Irish wingers - We are not looking to play a kicking game as a general rule, but there will be occasions when we do need to. When this happens we will be kicking for touch in behind the Irish wingers and getting up quickly to stop the quick throw. We will then look to really contest the lineout and either win the ball or force Irish into kicking, which will either give us the ball infield and another chance to run it back, our a lineout on our throw, which we will look to secure and play again. We will not kick directly to JMH.
- Vary the point of attack and move the Irish pack around - Whilst our pack is not exactly light we consider the Irish pack to be quite a heavy one, and we will look to move them around the park to tire them more quickly. We will do this by varying our point of attack and utilising the pace and power in our backline to keep them having to make tackles, which is far more tiring than playing with ball in hand.
Key Points
- Home Advantage - We have not lost a home AP game since season 1. That is one defeat in nearly 40 matches. Vicarage Road is a fortress for us, and one that will take something special to breach.
- In Game Form - We come into this game off of the back of an away bonus point win at Franklins Gardens, an away win at Biarritz and a home mauling of Benetton Treviso. We are second in the table, and full of confidence for this one.
- Key Players - If you want to win the scrum and lineout battle and have a platform to play from then the hooker is a key man - 2. Bismarck du Plessis. In terms of controlling the game and dictating the tempo, you would look at the 8,9,10 axis - 8. Joe van Niekerk 9. Morgan Parra 10. Francois Trinh-Duc. We have real top quality in these positions which will allow us to control the game.
- Real Life Form/Injuries - None of the players in our starting XV are injured in real life, and all are in good form, with some in absolutely excellent form. Without getting into slating oppostion players, Fourie, Pienaar and Tait are all currently out injured, and I can't really remember when Fourie or Tait last completed 80 minutes. None of these are world class individuals (like Juan Smith) who would hold form for a while due to quality.
- Balance - We have good balance to our selections all across our team. A good blend of experience and youth throughout. A back three with two wingers who provide serious attacking threat, alongside a full back who is solid defensively and kicks well from hand. A midfield featuring the broadsword (Nonu) and the rapier (Trinder). A proven international class half back pairing. We also have 8 full internationals to bring off the bench if required.
N.B - Not a definite tactic to start, but if it looks as if Irish are going to try to throw big carriers down the 13 channel and target Trinder, we have the option of switching him and Ioane on defence, and having the powerful Australian line up inside with Trinder on the wing. If we do this an Irish still attempt to target Trinder in the outside channels by using big ball carrying forwards, we will really target the contact areas there for turnovers and look to strike quickly infield with the Irish forwards having to try to scramble back in on defence.
Good luck to you stnick, should be a good game as always mate.
Last edited by Ozzy3213 on Thu 01 Dec 2011, 11:21 am; edited 2 times in total
Ozzy3213- Moderator
- Posts : 18500
Join date : 2011-01-29
Age : 48
Location : Sandhurst
Re: AP Round 10
by dammit_chris Mon 28 Nov 2011, 8:59 pm
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris
"The boys are absolutely gutted after last week, we put in a solid performance but just dropped off a few tackles near the end when we were looking to play catch up against a really well organised Sarries team.
I've made a few changes to the team for the away trip to Leicester, it's great that we can finally give Mike Phillips his first run out of the season after what was an awesome world cup for the lad - we've also opted to recall Lionel Beauxis to give us a very good kicking game, and put Ali Williams and Matt Mullan on the bench."
16. Rob Webber 17. Matt Mullan 18. Carl Hayman 19. Ali Williams 20. Courtney Lawes 21. Joe Simpson 22. Max Evans 23. Christian Wade
Tactics
Tactics: Overview
The Saints gameplan revolves around winning the territory game and applying pressure on Tigers in key areas where we can force them into mistakes and keep the scorebarod ticking over. We have a strong ball carrying game in the pack and will work through the phases to recycle the ball and allow Beauxis and Giteau time to play a balanced kicking game over the Tigers defensive line and keep Tigers going backwards. Wilkinson's kicking was questionable at best during the WC and he is still settling into the TIgers team, so this is a key area for us to win and why we selected a midfield that can kick us deep into opposition territory. Halfpenny will offer Foden support at the back to offer a kicking game and keep Tigers well away from the tryline and kicking penalties. When the Tigers defensive line goes back to field kicks Giteau will take control and we will mix our running and kicking game, with an emphasis on getting the ball to Ashton, Foden, Tuilagi and Halfpenny in space.
Set PieceWe have rested our front row options very well over the last few weeks with the Amlin Cup with a view to target the AP games and put pressure on players who have not rested since the WC - in a physical league where each game is effectively an international we hope that htis will be picked up on, especially when we can bring on Mullan, Webber and Hayman in the second half to provide a strong scrummaging unit. We have opted for Domingo and Stevens because the conditions allow for more of a running game, where there will be far less knock ons and need for scrums - we also believe that both are very good in hitting rucks and mauls and this advantage over their Tiger counterparts will play to our gameplan. We have Davies and Albacete to add some bulk to the scrum.
At the lineout we have Davies, Albacete and Parisse as our main lineout operators and plan to keep our lineouts simple and effective. With the view to secure slow ball, build through the phases and provide Beauxis and Giteau a platform to kick the ball into Tigers territory and keep our pack going forward. We have a better kciking game than Tigers and we will use this to build forward momentum - it wont be pretty but if used effectively it will be a key weapon.
Defensively at linouts that are outside out 10m line we will move Mike Phillips into the 5m channel, bring Hartley into the lineout as an extra lifting option to help challenge the Tigers throws and place either Qera or Elsom to mark Wilkinson and hammer staight into the Tieers backline to cut off their attacking channels and give us an extra man at the breakdown area. Again combating the threat of Pocock. On Tigers attacking ball we wont look to challenge thw throw, instead we will target the ball carrier or have the extra defender in the backs to punish quick ball. We want to slow Tigers down and stop their gameplan.
BreakdownIn training we have identified Pocock as a major threat - so have picked a pack that can get to breakdown in numbers and faster than their Tigers counterparts - Domingo, Stevens and Parisse are all very mobile and will look to shut off the breakdown and secure our own ball. We will also have Elsom and Qera taking it in turns to specifically target Pocock, pull him off his feet, target the man and play the referee as we look for penalties.
Mike Phillips can add his physicality in this area too, we have picked him because he can be used effectively as another flanker and this is where we have to challenge and force Tigers into commiting more players then they'd like into this area. We also had tactics above to ensure that we have an extra backrower in the backline on Tigers lineout ball, this can create 2 on 1's and allow us to compete at the breakdown before Pocock arrives on scene!
AttackOur attack has two approaches, the first is to put us into scoring opportunities through a kick and chase game and pressurising the Tigers team into mistakes, penalties and errors and to capitalise on these mistakes by giving the ball to our backs. When Tigers defensive line aligns itself to prepare for the kick we will run the ball at the space that this creates, with Giteau running the game and putting Tuilagi, and the back three into space. This will keep Tigers guessing where the ball is going to go and give our key decision makers that extra bit of time to take the right option, especially when it creates gaps in the midfield and overlaps out wide.
When we secure ball in the Tigers half we will keep hold of the ball through the forwards, working our way through the phases (e.g. Munster v Saints) and not taking any risks, slowly edging forwards. Mike Phillips to control the tempo and direction of the game and we will look to drag Tigers players into the rucks and mauls and get them playing to our strengths. We do not mind slow ball, but when opportunities arise we will use Albacete, Davies, Elsom, Qera and Parisse to add pace into the ball carrying, cross the gainline and secure quick ball for our backs to attack. The more slow ball we have the more Tigers could get impatient and give away penalties and free kicks, which Beauxis will punish them with.
The point it to mix up the attack to keep Tigers defence guessing, changing the tempo to suit our gameplan - slowing things down in the forwards to tie up Pocock and remove his threat at the turnover. We wont depend on quick ball, but instead will keep the ball, go through the phases when we are in Tigers half (whether ball in hand or defensively) and take all points on offer. Every chance we have we will take points, whether it be through Beauxis and Halfpenny penalties or relying on Beauxis to drop into the hole and drop some goals. If he misses we get the ball back from the 22 restart and can start going through the phases again.
DefenceWe will play our usual aggressive defensive system, but a lot of our work will be on a great kick and chase game. Beauxis has one of the biggest boots in Europe and when supported by Giteau and Halfpenny we will look to pile on defensive pressure on Tigers and pressurise them into errors. We will target Wilkinson and put him under pressure and have a man on him straight away because if we stop him playing then the Tigers backline wont function or be able to release their backthree. We also make them attack from deep - with Phillips sweeping behind any attacks and relying on Ashton and Foden's great defensive play to stop any linebreaks.
In the second half we will look to introduce Lawes in the no6 shirt so that he can terrorise the Tigers midfield with huge hits and force them into errors. All about pressure and putting this on Leicester in their own half.
Game Specific Tactics• Learnt lessons from last week and look to dominate the kicking game, recalled Beauxis to achieve this and have Giteau and Halfpenny to support. Can beat an out of sorts Wilkinson at this.
• Control territory and apply pressure – The game is going to be played deeply in the Tigers half as Beauxis plays us into the areas where our aggressive defence can force errors and in the right areas those errors turn into points. Beauxis place kicking will punish all mistakes and penalties.
• Stop the Tigers halfbacks - Phillips will drag Yachvilli into a physical battle, which he does not relish and by doing so we stop the Tigers creative spark as Wilkinson wont offer this. Phillips is on top form and outplayed the Frenchman the last time they met and will enjoy the game again. Wilkinson will be pressurised off Tigers attacking lineouts with either Elsom or Qera marking him out like Betsen did for France 5-6 years ago. Stopping quality ball getting to the Tigers backline is key.
* Stop any flow developing and force Tigers into our game plan - our tactics are all about playing the game that suits us, slowing down phases and generally creating a disjointed game that we can force Tigers into mistakes and play to our strengths e.g. developed a new strategy for the breakdown and Beauxis kicking the ball deep.
• Keep Scoreboard Ticking – Beauxis to kick three points at every single opportunity.
Key Points• Tactics have been designed to play to our strengths and stop Leicester playing the game they set out to achieve in their own tactics - they are looking to get the ball to their backs as much as possible, whilst we are happy to do this by kicking it deep into their own half and letting them come at us from deep. We will also keep the ball in our forwards and completely frustrate Tigers by going through phase by phase with slow ball and just completlely stopping Tigers from developing any flow or structure to their gameplan.
• Our kicking game completely changes the Tigers defensive patterns - if we keep kicking deep then their backthree will all need to play deeper, with Giteau at 12 he can take advantage of this by attacking BOD and offloading to Tuilagi or Foden to then create 2on1's with the Tigers defence. Ashton, Halfpenny some of best finsihes in Europe. We have some of the best attacking threats in world rugby at our disposal and Giteau is absolutely key for this.
• Have leaders throughout the team Hartley, Davies, Albacete, Elsom, Parisse, Phillips, Giteau etc and with Webber, Hayman, Williams all having leadership experience we have enough players who know how to win big games away from home.
• Powerful bench that we will use to change the game as and when we need to. Will look to slow down the Tigers attack, make the game broken up and disjointed, punish the Tigers with our better kicking game and win the terrirtory battle.
Manager – Dammit Chris
"The boys are absolutely gutted after last week, we put in a solid performance but just dropped off a few tackles near the end when we were looking to play catch up against a really well organised Sarries team.
I've made a few changes to the team for the away trip to Leicester, it's great that we can finally give Mike Phillips his first run out of the season after what was an awesome world cup for the lad - we've also opted to recall Lionel Beauxis to give us a very good kicking game, and put Ali Williams and Matt Mullan on the bench."
| 01. Thomas Domingo | 09. Mike Phillips |
| 02. Dylan Hartley | 10. Lionel Beauxis |
| 03. Matt Stevens | |
| 04. Bradley Davies | 11. Leigh Halfpenny |
| 05. Patricio Albacete | 12. Matt Giteau |
| 06. Rocky Elsom | 13. Manu Tuilagi |
| 07. Akapusi Qera | 14. Chris Ashton |
| 08. Sergio Parisse (c) | 15. Ben Foden |
16. Rob Webber 17. Matt Mullan 18. Carl Hayman 19. Ali Williams 20. Courtney Lawes 21. Joe Simpson 22. Max Evans 23. Christian Wade
Tactics
Tactics: Overview
The Saints gameplan revolves around winning the territory game and applying pressure on Tigers in key areas where we can force them into mistakes and keep the scorebarod ticking over. We have a strong ball carrying game in the pack and will work through the phases to recycle the ball and allow Beauxis and Giteau time to play a balanced kicking game over the Tigers defensive line and keep Tigers going backwards. Wilkinson's kicking was questionable at best during the WC and he is still settling into the TIgers team, so this is a key area for us to win and why we selected a midfield that can kick us deep into opposition territory. Halfpenny will offer Foden support at the back to offer a kicking game and keep Tigers well away from the tryline and kicking penalties. When the Tigers defensive line goes back to field kicks Giteau will take control and we will mix our running and kicking game, with an emphasis on getting the ball to Ashton, Foden, Tuilagi and Halfpenny in space.
Set PieceWe have rested our front row options very well over the last few weeks with the Amlin Cup with a view to target the AP games and put pressure on players who have not rested since the WC - in a physical league where each game is effectively an international we hope that htis will be picked up on, especially when we can bring on Mullan, Webber and Hayman in the second half to provide a strong scrummaging unit. We have opted for Domingo and Stevens because the conditions allow for more of a running game, where there will be far less knock ons and need for scrums - we also believe that both are very good in hitting rucks and mauls and this advantage over their Tiger counterparts will play to our gameplan. We have Davies and Albacete to add some bulk to the scrum.
At the lineout we have Davies, Albacete and Parisse as our main lineout operators and plan to keep our lineouts simple and effective. With the view to secure slow ball, build through the phases and provide Beauxis and Giteau a platform to kick the ball into Tigers territory and keep our pack going forward. We have a better kciking game than Tigers and we will use this to build forward momentum - it wont be pretty but if used effectively it will be a key weapon.
Defensively at linouts that are outside out 10m line we will move Mike Phillips into the 5m channel, bring Hartley into the lineout as an extra lifting option to help challenge the Tigers throws and place either Qera or Elsom to mark Wilkinson and hammer staight into the Tieers backline to cut off their attacking channels and give us an extra man at the breakdown area. Again combating the threat of Pocock. On Tigers attacking ball we wont look to challenge thw throw, instead we will target the ball carrier or have the extra defender in the backs to punish quick ball. We want to slow Tigers down and stop their gameplan.
BreakdownIn training we have identified Pocock as a major threat - so have picked a pack that can get to breakdown in numbers and faster than their Tigers counterparts - Domingo, Stevens and Parisse are all very mobile and will look to shut off the breakdown and secure our own ball. We will also have Elsom and Qera taking it in turns to specifically target Pocock, pull him off his feet, target the man and play the referee as we look for penalties.
Mike Phillips can add his physicality in this area too, we have picked him because he can be used effectively as another flanker and this is where we have to challenge and force Tigers into commiting more players then they'd like into this area. We also had tactics above to ensure that we have an extra backrower in the backline on Tigers lineout ball, this can create 2 on 1's and allow us to compete at the breakdown before Pocock arrives on scene!
AttackOur attack has two approaches, the first is to put us into scoring opportunities through a kick and chase game and pressurising the Tigers team into mistakes, penalties and errors and to capitalise on these mistakes by giving the ball to our backs. When Tigers defensive line aligns itself to prepare for the kick we will run the ball at the space that this creates, with Giteau running the game and putting Tuilagi, and the back three into space. This will keep Tigers guessing where the ball is going to go and give our key decision makers that extra bit of time to take the right option, especially when it creates gaps in the midfield and overlaps out wide.
When we secure ball in the Tigers half we will keep hold of the ball through the forwards, working our way through the phases (e.g. Munster v Saints) and not taking any risks, slowly edging forwards. Mike Phillips to control the tempo and direction of the game and we will look to drag Tigers players into the rucks and mauls and get them playing to our strengths. We do not mind slow ball, but when opportunities arise we will use Albacete, Davies, Elsom, Qera and Parisse to add pace into the ball carrying, cross the gainline and secure quick ball for our backs to attack. The more slow ball we have the more Tigers could get impatient and give away penalties and free kicks, which Beauxis will punish them with.
The point it to mix up the attack to keep Tigers defence guessing, changing the tempo to suit our gameplan - slowing things down in the forwards to tie up Pocock and remove his threat at the turnover. We wont depend on quick ball, but instead will keep the ball, go through the phases when we are in Tigers half (whether ball in hand or defensively) and take all points on offer. Every chance we have we will take points, whether it be through Beauxis and Halfpenny penalties or relying on Beauxis to drop into the hole and drop some goals. If he misses we get the ball back from the 22 restart and can start going through the phases again.
DefenceWe will play our usual aggressive defensive system, but a lot of our work will be on a great kick and chase game. Beauxis has one of the biggest boots in Europe and when supported by Giteau and Halfpenny we will look to pile on defensive pressure on Tigers and pressurise them into errors. We will target Wilkinson and put him under pressure and have a man on him straight away because if we stop him playing then the Tigers backline wont function or be able to release their backthree. We also make them attack from deep - with Phillips sweeping behind any attacks and relying on Ashton and Foden's great defensive play to stop any linebreaks.
In the second half we will look to introduce Lawes in the no6 shirt so that he can terrorise the Tigers midfield with huge hits and force them into errors. All about pressure and putting this on Leicester in their own half.
Game Specific Tactics• Learnt lessons from last week and look to dominate the kicking game, recalled Beauxis to achieve this and have Giteau and Halfpenny to support. Can beat an out of sorts Wilkinson at this.
• Control territory and apply pressure – The game is going to be played deeply in the Tigers half as Beauxis plays us into the areas where our aggressive defence can force errors and in the right areas those errors turn into points. Beauxis place kicking will punish all mistakes and penalties.
• Stop the Tigers halfbacks - Phillips will drag Yachvilli into a physical battle, which he does not relish and by doing so we stop the Tigers creative spark as Wilkinson wont offer this. Phillips is on top form and outplayed the Frenchman the last time they met and will enjoy the game again. Wilkinson will be pressurised off Tigers attacking lineouts with either Elsom or Qera marking him out like Betsen did for France 5-6 years ago. Stopping quality ball getting to the Tigers backline is key.
* Stop any flow developing and force Tigers into our game plan - our tactics are all about playing the game that suits us, slowing down phases and generally creating a disjointed game that we can force Tigers into mistakes and play to our strengths e.g. developed a new strategy for the breakdown and Beauxis kicking the ball deep.
• Keep Scoreboard Ticking – Beauxis to kick three points at every single opportunity.
Key Points• Tactics have been designed to play to our strengths and stop Leicester playing the game they set out to achieve in their own tactics - they are looking to get the ball to their backs as much as possible, whilst we are happy to do this by kicking it deep into their own half and letting them come at us from deep. We will also keep the ball in our forwards and completely frustrate Tigers by going through phase by phase with slow ball and just completlely stopping Tigers from developing any flow or structure to their gameplan.
• Our kicking game completely changes the Tigers defensive patterns - if we keep kicking deep then their backthree will all need to play deeper, with Giteau at 12 he can take advantage of this by attacking BOD and offloading to Tuilagi or Foden to then create 2on1's with the Tigers defence. Ashton, Halfpenny some of best finsihes in Europe. We have some of the best attacking threats in world rugby at our disposal and Giteau is absolutely key for this.
• Have leaders throughout the team Hartley, Davies, Albacete, Elsom, Parisse, Phillips, Giteau etc and with Webber, Hayman, Williams all having leadership experience we have enough players who know how to win big games away from home.
• Powerful bench that we will use to change the game as and when we need to. Will look to slow down the Tigers attack, make the game broken up and disjointed, punish the Tigers with our better kicking game and win the terrirtory battle.
Last edited by dammit_chris on Thu 01 Dec 2011, 10:04 pm; edited 4 times in total
dammit_chris- Posts : 8685
Join date : 2011-05-03
Re: AP Round 10
by Steven_Sharks Mon 28 Nov 2011, 10:57 pm
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
Fresh off of a disappointing home defeat to Newcastle we head to Wasps looking to get our 3rd Away win of the season. We have picked a strong side which has been picked to play a certain way.
16. Rob Vickers 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. Nathan Sharpe 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. George Lowe
Tactics
We go to Wasps knowing what a formidable challenge we face against who have been one of the surprise package of the season so far along with ourselves. We know Wasps play a strong game organised around their half back pairing and they use there powerful carriers to punch holes in the midfield and then move to exploit an unorganised defence. We have set our game plan to try and move Wasps out of their comfort zone by putting big
pressure upon their half backs and midfield in defence and by moving the point of our attack around the field.
Game Plan
As usual we want to use our forwards to get us onto the front foot so we can throw the ball wide to our back 3 and we want to look to move the Wasps pack around the field as much as possible. We will look for our forwards to carry away from the breakdown of the shoulders of 10 and 12 far more often than we might usually. We will look to switch the point of attack constantly with Dickson, Cooper, Priestland and Flutey in control of this. We will be looking for our forwards to be running different angles and different depths to keep the Wasps defence guessing. Once we get quick ball we are going to unleash our backline into the game and look to get into spaces out wide where we can isolate the Wasps defenders. We want to maintain a high tempo in attack with players looking to carry the ball at pace and coming at different angles. Cooper is the perfect 10 to control our game and put other men into space and change our point of attack.
We will look to be patient in implementing this game plan but at the same time if we are going know where then we will look to use the cultured boots of Cooper, Priestland, Dickson and Flutey to put us into the right areas of the pitch. As usual we will not kick aimlessly and when kicking we will either clear to touch or kick into spaces. We are also going to look to kick in an attacking sense putting up and unders up and using crossfields and grubber kicks when we feel our attacking shape isn’t there and we are lacking momentum. We are going to look to keep the scoreboard ticking over with penalties to build pressure on Wasps. Our defensive game plan is to disrupt Wasps in every way. We want our pack to challenge every ruck and Set piece as well as having our defensive line coming up at pace.
Forwards
We have picked a big pack which I also consider to be quite mobile and this is important to our game plan as our forwards are going to be asked to carry the ball in wider areas than they might usually. We will look to carry in numbers and aim to win the collision and then keep driving our legs once we have reached contact. When we get the chance we will still look to offload to continue our attacks. We are going to look for our front 5 to carry of 10 and 12 with our back row looking to do the carrying off 12 and 13. We will look for our pack to be really aggressive and front up to Wasps and really try and knock them backwards from the word go. With our game plan of changing the point of attack we need to use 3 men in a ruck so secure quick ball. We are going to look to get Warburton and Louw to dominate the breakdown and secure us penalties and turnovers which we can turn into points.
Set Piece
At the scrum we are going to really look to get the shove on with our experienced and tough front row. We will look for both of our props to try to get underneath there opponent particularly John Afoa who will have the force of Jerome Thion behind him. If we do get a scrum advantage we will look to go up on the Tighthead side so Dowson can pick up and run at Wasps with more space available to him.
At the Lineout we will use 5 man lines inbetween both 22’s with the two props either end and Skivington, Thion and Dowson being the jumpers used inbetween them. This allows us to use Louw and Warburton in the midfield on the first phase if required. When in our own 22 or the opposition 22 we will look to use a full line so as we have the option to use a driving maul to gain us some ground. On the opposition ball we will look to compete with Skivington marking Wentzel to attempt to make Wasps look to other jumpers whom Thion, Louw and Dowson will then look to pressure.
Backs
In the backs we have our key decision makers at 9 10 and 12 and we will run our plays through them. A move we will look to use is for Faainga to cut lines back across the defence so Flutey can swing round and Cooper can pick Flutey out behind Faainga when we want to run wide. Using this we suck in defenders and it gives Flutey the chance to feed the back 3 in a bit more space. We can also give the ball to Faainga to make the hard yards as well as having floating forwards picking lines off Cooper and Flutey. From first phase ball we will look to bring Priestland and the blindside wing into play as runners who can be used to carry or be used as decoys. We will look to have Preistland in the line when we are attacking so we have another creative player involved unlocking the Wasps defence.
Defence
We have some really strong defensive players in this game and we will look for them to marshall our defence. Louw and Faainga will be in charge of our defence during the game and will rearrange our defensive line up if we are weak in a particular area. We will play with a quick line speed particularly looking to put pressure on the Wasps decision makers. We have reinforced our midfield defence with Flutey and Faiinga and I can’t see anybody making any headway through this channel so Wasps will have to re assess their strategy. We will look to try and smash Wasps runners backwards by adapting a low body position. This will give us a target for our forwards to hit to disrupt Wasps ball. We will have our back 3 sitting very deep to capitalise on loose kicks with Dickson sweeping behind the defensive line. In defence Priestland will move to 10 and Cooper will move to 15 as he does with the Reds. When the ball is kicked to Heymans, Cooper and Joseph we have one of the most exciting attacking units you could ask for to run the ball back to wasps with interest.
Subs
We have some great impact players on the bench who will be introduced into the second half. We also have the electric Karl Dickson to bring on if we need to up the tempo anymore as well as very powerful carriers in Marler, Mujati, Fearns and Lowe.
Key Points
• Constantly move the point of attack with both backs and forwards looking to move the point of attack. Cooper is key to this and will run the show for us.
• Move the Wasps pack around by using our forward s to carry in the midfield.
• Build pressure on Wasps in attack and defence. We want our forwards to disrupt wasps at every opportunity.
• Only kick when it gives us an obvious advantage or to clear our lines. Absolutely no loose kicking and when we do kick we chase as a line.
• Use Flutey coming behind Faainga to unleash our back line and Kearney who will join the line.
• Dominate the breakdown will Louw and Warburton looking to get on the ball and legally recover possession.
• Keep a high tempo to our game in attack and defence.
• Be very physical with wasps and play in their faces.
• Use our bench at the right time. Impact players galore.
• Kick the points when we can.
Opposition Specific Tactics
- We don't see a genuine breakdown specialist in the Wasps pack so we are going to really look to get on top in this area.
- Try to kick into the gaps behind the wasps back 3. We think we can gain territory by forcing the Wasps wingers into kicking which we don't see as their strength.
- Really target Charlie Beech if he comes off the bench. Afoa and Mujati will really cause him problems.
- Press onto Gopperth and McAllister and give them as little time as possible.
Manager – Steven_Sharks
Fresh off of a disappointing home defeat to Newcastle we head to Wasps looking to get our 3rd Away win of the season. We have picked a strong side which has been picked to play a certain way.
| 01. Tony Woodcock | 09. Lee Dickson |
| 02. Matthew Rees | 10. Quade Cooper |
| 03. John Afoa | |
| 04. Jerome Thion | 11. Cedric Heymans |
| 05. George Skivington | 12. Riki Flutey |
| 06. Francois Louw | 13. Anthony Faainga |
| 07. Sam Warburton (c) | 14. Jonathan Joseph |
| 08. Phil Dowson | 15. Rhys Priestland (k) |
16. Rob Vickers 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. Nathan Sharpe 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. George Lowe
Tactics
We go to Wasps knowing what a formidable challenge we face against who have been one of the surprise package of the season so far along with ourselves. We know Wasps play a strong game organised around their half back pairing and they use there powerful carriers to punch holes in the midfield and then move to exploit an unorganised defence. We have set our game plan to try and move Wasps out of their comfort zone by putting big
pressure upon their half backs and midfield in defence and by moving the point of our attack around the field.
Game Plan
As usual we want to use our forwards to get us onto the front foot so we can throw the ball wide to our back 3 and we want to look to move the Wasps pack around the field as much as possible. We will look for our forwards to carry away from the breakdown of the shoulders of 10 and 12 far more often than we might usually. We will look to switch the point of attack constantly with Dickson, Cooper, Priestland and Flutey in control of this. We will be looking for our forwards to be running different angles and different depths to keep the Wasps defence guessing. Once we get quick ball we are going to unleash our backline into the game and look to get into spaces out wide where we can isolate the Wasps defenders. We want to maintain a high tempo in attack with players looking to carry the ball at pace and coming at different angles. Cooper is the perfect 10 to control our game and put other men into space and change our point of attack.
We will look to be patient in implementing this game plan but at the same time if we are going know where then we will look to use the cultured boots of Cooper, Priestland, Dickson and Flutey to put us into the right areas of the pitch. As usual we will not kick aimlessly and when kicking we will either clear to touch or kick into spaces. We are also going to look to kick in an attacking sense putting up and unders up and using crossfields and grubber kicks when we feel our attacking shape isn’t there and we are lacking momentum. We are going to look to keep the scoreboard ticking over with penalties to build pressure on Wasps. Our defensive game plan is to disrupt Wasps in every way. We want our pack to challenge every ruck and Set piece as well as having our defensive line coming up at pace.
Forwards
We have picked a big pack which I also consider to be quite mobile and this is important to our game plan as our forwards are going to be asked to carry the ball in wider areas than they might usually. We will look to carry in numbers and aim to win the collision and then keep driving our legs once we have reached contact. When we get the chance we will still look to offload to continue our attacks. We are going to look for our front 5 to carry of 10 and 12 with our back row looking to do the carrying off 12 and 13. We will look for our pack to be really aggressive and front up to Wasps and really try and knock them backwards from the word go. With our game plan of changing the point of attack we need to use 3 men in a ruck so secure quick ball. We are going to look to get Warburton and Louw to dominate the breakdown and secure us penalties and turnovers which we can turn into points.
Set Piece
At the scrum we are going to really look to get the shove on with our experienced and tough front row. We will look for both of our props to try to get underneath there opponent particularly John Afoa who will have the force of Jerome Thion behind him. If we do get a scrum advantage we will look to go up on the Tighthead side so Dowson can pick up and run at Wasps with more space available to him.
At the Lineout we will use 5 man lines inbetween both 22’s with the two props either end and Skivington, Thion and Dowson being the jumpers used inbetween them. This allows us to use Louw and Warburton in the midfield on the first phase if required. When in our own 22 or the opposition 22 we will look to use a full line so as we have the option to use a driving maul to gain us some ground. On the opposition ball we will look to compete with Skivington marking Wentzel to attempt to make Wasps look to other jumpers whom Thion, Louw and Dowson will then look to pressure.
Backs
In the backs we have our key decision makers at 9 10 and 12 and we will run our plays through them. A move we will look to use is for Faainga to cut lines back across the defence so Flutey can swing round and Cooper can pick Flutey out behind Faainga when we want to run wide. Using this we suck in defenders and it gives Flutey the chance to feed the back 3 in a bit more space. We can also give the ball to Faainga to make the hard yards as well as having floating forwards picking lines off Cooper and Flutey. From first phase ball we will look to bring Priestland and the blindside wing into play as runners who can be used to carry or be used as decoys. We will look to have Preistland in the line when we are attacking so we have another creative player involved unlocking the Wasps defence.
Defence
We have some really strong defensive players in this game and we will look for them to marshall our defence. Louw and Faainga will be in charge of our defence during the game and will rearrange our defensive line up if we are weak in a particular area. We will play with a quick line speed particularly looking to put pressure on the Wasps decision makers. We have reinforced our midfield defence with Flutey and Faiinga and I can’t see anybody making any headway through this channel so Wasps will have to re assess their strategy. We will look to try and smash Wasps runners backwards by adapting a low body position. This will give us a target for our forwards to hit to disrupt Wasps ball. We will have our back 3 sitting very deep to capitalise on loose kicks with Dickson sweeping behind the defensive line. In defence Priestland will move to 10 and Cooper will move to 15 as he does with the Reds. When the ball is kicked to Heymans, Cooper and Joseph we have one of the most exciting attacking units you could ask for to run the ball back to wasps with interest.
Subs
We have some great impact players on the bench who will be introduced into the second half. We also have the electric Karl Dickson to bring on if we need to up the tempo anymore as well as very powerful carriers in Marler, Mujati, Fearns and Lowe.
Key Points
• Constantly move the point of attack with both backs and forwards looking to move the point of attack. Cooper is key to this and will run the show for us.
• Move the Wasps pack around by using our forward s to carry in the midfield.
• Build pressure on Wasps in attack and defence. We want our forwards to disrupt wasps at every opportunity.
• Only kick when it gives us an obvious advantage or to clear our lines. Absolutely no loose kicking and when we do kick we chase as a line.
• Use Flutey coming behind Faainga to unleash our back line and Kearney who will join the line.
• Dominate the breakdown will Louw and Warburton looking to get on the ball and legally recover possession.
• Keep a high tempo to our game in attack and defence.
• Be very physical with wasps and play in their faces.
• Use our bench at the right time. Impact players galore.
• Kick the points when we can.
Opposition Specific Tactics
- We don't see a genuine breakdown specialist in the Wasps pack so we are going to really look to get on top in this area.
- Try to kick into the gaps behind the wasps back 3. We think we can gain territory by forcing the Wasps wingers into kicking which we don't see as their strength.
- Really target Charlie Beech if he comes off the bench. Afoa and Mujati will really cause him problems.
- Press onto Gopperth and McAllister and give them as little time as possible.
Last edited by Steven_Sharks on Wed 30 Nov 2011, 5:30 pm; edited 1 time in total
Steven_Sharks- Posts : 7528
Join date : 2011-04-19
Location : Chester/Manchester
Re: AP Round 10
by stnick88 Tue 29 Nov 2011, 11:12 am
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Jean Baptiste Poux 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Mouritz Botha 20. David Sisi 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Marland Yarde
Tactics
We travel to Vicarage Road full of confidence with 10 points from our last two games (BP wins over Wasps and Quins). We have picked a team to try and dominate the set piece and territory. We will look to play with ball in hand and not kick away loose ball, but build the phases using big ball carriers and force Sarries to make lots of tackles and commit men in defence before we spread the ball out and get the likes of SBW, Tait, J.P, Basson running.
We are targetting the scrum as an area to exploit. Castro gave Corbs all sorts of problems in real life a few weeks ago and will look to do the same again. With Tonga the other side, we have a powerful scrum that will look to drive Sarries backwards and win us some penalties for JMH to kick.
At the lineout we will have Kennedy calling the shots, supported by Garvey, Kaino and Spies. Kennedy will look to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible. In the opposition 22, we will look to secure the ball at the front and use the power of Castro, Tiny, Spies etc to maul the ball over the try line.
At the breakdown, we will use Kaino, Spies, Garvey etc to clear out the rucks quickly and allow Fourie in to secure good, quick ball and also to try and turnover oppositon ball. Any opposition ball will be counter attacked. We don't want to over commit to a ruck if the turnover is not on, but will try to legally slow down opposition ball. We have instructed Kaino to stop the hard running of Nonu. We have a lot of big tacklers like Kaino, Spies, Garvey, Fourie, SBW to stop Nonu building momentum which is where Saracens build a lot of their attacks off. We will also look to put big hits in on young Trinder and test his defence with SBW especially targetting him. Tait and J.P will track his runs and look to gather offloads, although similar to last week we have instructed SBW only to offload when it is on.
In attack, if our ball is slow, we will use the boots of Pienaar and JMH to kick in behind Sarries wingers as neither have good kicking games. Basson and JP will rush up on them and pressurise them.
Jaque Fourie will come on for Tait early in the 2nd half to bolster our midfield further and give us an extra dimension in attack and shore up our defence. JMH to kick all pens for goal if in range, if not go for touch.
Good luck Pete
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Soane Tonga'uhia | 09. Ruan Pienaar |
| 02. James Buckland | 10. Daniel Bowden |
| 03. Martin Castrogiovanni | |
| 04. Matt Garvey | 11. Bjorn Basson |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sonny Bill Williams |
| 06. Jerome Kaino | 13. Matthew Tait |
| 07. Hendrie Fourie | 14. J.P Pieterson |
| 08. Pierre Spies | 15. Juan Martin Hernandez |
16. Jean Baptiste Poux 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Mouritz Botha 20. David Sisi 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Marland Yarde
Tactics
We travel to Vicarage Road full of confidence with 10 points from our last two games (BP wins over Wasps and Quins). We have picked a team to try and dominate the set piece and territory. We will look to play with ball in hand and not kick away loose ball, but build the phases using big ball carriers and force Sarries to make lots of tackles and commit men in defence before we spread the ball out and get the likes of SBW, Tait, J.P, Basson running.
We are targetting the scrum as an area to exploit. Castro gave Corbs all sorts of problems in real life a few weeks ago and will look to do the same again. With Tonga the other side, we have a powerful scrum that will look to drive Sarries backwards and win us some penalties for JMH to kick.
At the lineout we will have Kennedy calling the shots, supported by Garvey, Kaino and Spies. Kennedy will look to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible. In the opposition 22, we will look to secure the ball at the front and use the power of Castro, Tiny, Spies etc to maul the ball over the try line.
At the breakdown, we will use Kaino, Spies, Garvey etc to clear out the rucks quickly and allow Fourie in to secure good, quick ball and also to try and turnover oppositon ball. Any opposition ball will be counter attacked. We don't want to over commit to a ruck if the turnover is not on, but will try to legally slow down opposition ball. We have instructed Kaino to stop the hard running of Nonu. We have a lot of big tacklers like Kaino, Spies, Garvey, Fourie, SBW to stop Nonu building momentum which is where Saracens build a lot of their attacks off. We will also look to put big hits in on young Trinder and test his defence with SBW especially targetting him. Tait and J.P will track his runs and look to gather offloads, although similar to last week we have instructed SBW only to offload when it is on.
In attack, if our ball is slow, we will use the boots of Pienaar and JMH to kick in behind Sarries wingers as neither have good kicking games. Basson and JP will rush up on them and pressurise them.
Jaque Fourie will come on for Tait early in the 2nd half to bolster our midfield further and give us an extra dimension in attack and shore up our defence. JMH to kick all pens for goal if in range, if not go for touch.
Good luck Pete
Last edited by stnick88 on Thu 01 Dec 2011, 11:24 am; edited 1 time in total
stnick88- Posts : 5345
Join date : 2011-05-10
Re: AP Round 10
by LukeLovesLuka Tue 29 Nov 2011, 12:28 pm
Leicester Tigers have made 5 changes this week as they entertain Northampton Saints at fortress Welford Road.
Dan Cole, Tom Croft and Nick Easter all come into the pack at the expense of Cencus Johnston, Nathan Hines and Thomas Waldrom, whilst ex-Toulouse pair Florian Fritz and Clement Poitrenaud come into the backs with Tom Biggs and Billy Twelvetrees missing out.
Manager LukeLovesLuka said "i've made a few changes this week, as per normal. We always look to freshen a few things up and we bring in 5 leading Internationals into the team for the game against Saints.
Dan (Cole) has recovered from injury, and it'll be great to see him back in the Tigers shirt. Clement (Poitrenaud) has also recovered from his knock and starts his first game since our win over Harlequins.
Leicester vs Northampton is always a favourite for the fans, and we're expecting a sell out 24,00 at Welford Road. The weather looks good and we can't wait to get out there."
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Ben Franks 17. Lee Mears 18. Census Johnstone 19. Alex Brown 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Vincent Clerc
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get our backs into the game as much as possible. We will attack the lineout and the breakdown as and when we can. With the ball in hand we have different options of how we can play - carrying forwards, tactical half-back's, intelligent midfield and elusive runners out wide.
- 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. Horwill to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson. Croft to be our go-to man - but we can and will use any of Horwill, Pape and Easter as well.
- Jenkins to look to really go after Stevens in the scrum, and Cole told to hold his bind and keep his body and back straight in an effort to stop them being done underneath by Domingo. Easter to be in control at the base of the scrum.
- Look to Easter, Horwill, Pocock, Jenkins, Pape, Croft and Moore 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 Saints. Our other forwards will look to ruck past the ball and clear out Saints 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. Yachvili and Wilkinson to manage the tempo of the game, control where the game is to be played and to play the game as they see it.
- 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.
- Fritz comes in to give us great running options in midfield. Both he and BOD are extremely powerful in defence, and won't allow Tuilagi's crash ball through.
- 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 Saints.
- Calm, mature heads at 8, 9 and 10 in Easter, Yachvili and Wilkinson - to make the right calls and control the tempo of the game and where it is being played.
- Confidence issues within the Saints squad:
Domingo, Hartley, Stevens, Davies, Elsom and Giteau are all off the boil completely.
Saints have won 2 games from a possible 9 in the league.
3 loanees brought in (on Thursday) as a sign of panic from the Saints management, 1 of which has staggeringly been named in the team (Qera) and another on the bench (Williams).
Is Welford Road against a Tigers team that hasn't lost at home in 2 years the place to stop the rot? We don't think so. We will start the game at a very high tempo and look to get those Saints heads dropping. Our half backs are great for this sort of unforgiving pressure.
Dan Cole, Tom Croft and Nick Easter all come into the pack at the expense of Cencus Johnston, Nathan Hines and Thomas Waldrom, whilst ex-Toulouse pair Florian Fritz and Clement Poitrenaud come into the backs with Tom Biggs and Billy Twelvetrees missing out.
Manager LukeLovesLuka said "i've made a few changes this week, as per normal. We always look to freshen a few things up and we bring in 5 leading Internationals into the team for the game against Saints.
Dan (Cole) has recovered from injury, and it'll be great to see him back in the Tigers shirt. Clement (Poitrenaud) has also recovered from his knock and starts his first game since our win over Harlequins.
Leicester vs Northampton is always a favourite for the fans, and we're expecting a sell out 24,00 at Welford Road. The weather looks good and we can't wait to get out there."
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Gethin Jenkins | 09. Dimitri Yachvili (k) |
| 02. Stephen Moore | 10. Jonny Wilkinson |
| 03. Dan Cole | |
| 04. Pascal Pape | 11. Topsy Ojo |
| 05. James Horwill (c) | 12. Florian Fritz |
| 06. Tom Croft | 13. Brian O'Driscoll |
| 07. David Pocock | 14. Cory Jane |
| 08. Nick Easter | 15. Clement Poitrenaud |
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get our backs into the game as much as possible. We will attack the lineout and the breakdown as and when we can. With the ball in hand we have different options of how we can play - carrying forwards, tactical half-back's, intelligent midfield and elusive runners out wide.
- 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. Horwill to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson. Croft to be our go-to man - but we can and will use any of Horwill, Pape and Easter as well.
- Jenkins to look to really go after Stevens in the scrum, and Cole told to hold his bind and keep his body and back straight in an effort to stop them being done underneath by Domingo. Easter to be in control at the base of the scrum.
- Look to Easter, Horwill, Pocock, Jenkins, Pape, Croft and Moore 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 Saints. Our other forwards will look to ruck past the ball and clear out Saints 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. Yachvili and Wilkinson to manage the tempo of the game, control where the game is to be played and to play the game as they see it.
- 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.
- Fritz comes in to give us great running options in midfield. Both he and BOD are extremely powerful in defence, and won't allow Tuilagi's crash ball through.
- 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 Saints.
- Calm, mature heads at 8, 9 and 10 in Easter, Yachvili and Wilkinson - to make the right calls and control the tempo of the game and where it is being played.
- Confidence issues within the Saints squad:
Domingo, Hartley, Stevens, Davies, Elsom and Giteau are all off the boil completely.
Saints have won 2 games from a possible 9 in the league.
3 loanees brought in (on Thursday) as a sign of panic from the Saints management, 1 of which has staggeringly been named in the team (Qera) and another on the bench (Williams).
Is Welford Road against a Tigers team that hasn't lost at home in 2 years the place to stop the rot? We don't think so. We will start the game at a very high tempo and look to get those Saints heads dropping. Our half backs are great for this sort of unforgiving pressure.
Last edited by LukeLovesLuka on Wed 30 Nov 2011, 2:15 pm; edited 2 times in total
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
Join date : 2011-04-19
Age : 40
Location : London
Re: AP Round 10
by Driver Tue 29 Nov 2011, 2:45 pm
Exeter Chiefs tactics for Worcester
- Play the percentages and use the boot of ROG to put them under the cosh in there own 22 and using a big physical forward pack to really take them on and disrupt any ball.
- Use our big midfield to bash our way up the middle and pull defenders in to create gaps for Toeava , Fitzgerald and Byrne to pick there lines off.
- Phipps and ROG will mainly look to play the percentages but will keep an eye open for any overlaps half gaps our numbers outwide , changing our game plan.
- Our front 5 is packed with ball carrying forwards who will look to run hard at the fringes and tie the defenders up.
- At the breakdown we will target the ball carrier either holding him up in the choke tackle as we have the pack to stop any maul or double tapping the attacker with Jennings/Moody being allowed a stab at the ball
- We will look to scrum and keep the scrum up and John Smit will let the referee know this. On the opposition ball we will focus on a 8 man shove and take the opposition on with Phipps looking to really get stuck into there 8 and 9.
- We will look to move the ball in attack when it is kicked to us to attack any dog legs with our attack minded back 3.
- Blitz defense and really get up into the opposition faces and cut down there thinking time with Phipps sweeping behind for any kicks through.
Key Points
* Use Skirving to pressure the Worcester Lineout and really target the ball on the Worcester throw.
* Disipline will be key , Test Cowens by letting Phipps share some 'freindly' banter about his passing at the scrum
* Steyn must be feeling the pressure , The Bulls are bring Houghard back to play 10 can't have that much faith in him
- Play the percentages and use the boot of ROG to put them under the cosh in there own 22 and using a big physical forward pack to really take them on and disrupt any ball.
- Use our big midfield to bash our way up the middle and pull defenders in to create gaps for Toeava , Fitzgerald and Byrne to pick there lines off.
- Phipps and ROG will mainly look to play the percentages but will keep an eye open for any overlaps half gaps our numbers outwide , changing our game plan.
- Our front 5 is packed with ball carrying forwards who will look to run hard at the fringes and tie the defenders up.
- At the breakdown we will target the ball carrier either holding him up in the choke tackle as we have the pack to stop any maul or double tapping the attacker with Jennings/Moody being allowed a stab at the ball
- We will look to scrum and keep the scrum up and John Smit will let the referee know this. On the opposition ball we will focus on a 8 man shove and take the opposition on with Phipps looking to really get stuck into there 8 and 9.
- We will look to move the ball in attack when it is kicked to us to attack any dog legs with our attack minded back 3.
- Blitz defense and really get up into the opposition faces and cut down there thinking time with Phipps sweeping behind for any kicks through.
Key Points
* Use Skirving to pressure the Worcester Lineout and really target the ball on the Worcester throw.
* Disipline will be key , Test Cowens by letting Phipps share some 'freindly' banter about his passing at the scrum
* Steyn must be feeling the pressure , The Bulls are bring Houghard back to play 10 can't have that much faith in him
Last edited by Driver - RIP 606 on Wed 30 Nov 2011, 7:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by prop_lyd Tue 29 Nov 2011, 3:28 pm
| 01. David Flatman | 09. Jimmy Cowan |
| 02. Richardt Strauss | 10. Morne Steyn (k) |
| 03. BJ Botha | |
| 04. Jim Hamilton | 11. Shane Williams |
| 05. Ollie Kohn | 12. Sean Lamont |
| 06. Craig Newby (c) | 13. Jon Clarke |
| 07. Scott Higginbotham | 14. Bryan Habana |
| 08. Ben Morgan | 15. Ollie Morgan |
16.Chris Fortey 17.Sylvain Marconnet 18.Yann Thomas 19.Danie Russouw 20.Kearnen Myall 21.Dwayne Peel 22.Sam Vesty 23.Greig Tonks
Tactics
Forwards
We have selected a strong pack who will be able to hold any shunt and hopefully look to steal more ball. In the lineouts we have strong jumpers and will look for quick ball to release our backs. Looking a tour back row we can get alot of turnover ball with Newby and Higginbotham snaffling at the ruck and aiming to be the 2nd player into a ruck to go over the ball and either slow it down or looking for turnover ball. Morgan has been playing tremendously in the past few matches and; with Hamilton will look to carry the ball up in midfield to suck in defenders and look for the quick offload.
Backs
We have selected a backline ready for the winter. Steyn will kick for territory making sure it's away from the Exeter back 3 and either reaches touch or gives our chasing pack time to put pressure on Exeter in their own half. Lamont is going to be our battering ram who will take crashball up and release our quick back 3 who have good try-scoring and line breaking records. Cowan will look for quick ball and when it's turnover ball we will look to Lamont to hit it up and then to Steyn to pin them back. We haven't been a try scoring team this season and this will not change much today with Steyn going for every penalty that is in his range and also looking for some cheeky drop goals. If the overlap is there we will take the try but we see winning as more important even if it is with ugly rugby.
Defence
Lead by Lamont and rushing up flat. We will put players on Steyn and Lamont's shoulders to look to steal or slow down their ball and prevent the ball getting to their backs. Cowan will sweep behind with Morgan standing deep to stop ROG's positional play.
Overall
*We have had enough of being called an improving team and want to win and stamp our mark,
*Forwards to slow down as much of their ball and look to take it up 2 phases to suck in their backs,
*Lamont to hit the ball up, or Hamilton/B.Morgan,
Wingers to use their pace,
*Steyn to pin them back kicking with the wind,
*Steyn to take the points when he can,
*To come back from Exeter with at least 4 points.
Good Luck (but not too much) Driver
on the loser.
prop_lyd- Posts : 10387
Join date : 2011-01-28
Age : 36
Location : Rogerstone, Wales
Re: AP Round 10
by 'Arry Spurs Wed 30 Nov 2011, 1:55 pm
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
16. Andy Titterell 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Richard Birkett 20. Roger Wilson 21. Mike Blair 22. Rory Clegg 23. Mike Tindall
Tactics
After losing away from home to a very impressive London Irish side last week we return to Adams Park where we are yet to lose so far this season. We have picked a dynamic, 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 beat Harlequins. 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 Quins onto the back foot by winning the forward battle and collisions we will be able to unsettle them.
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 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 Harlequins down.
We have two excellent kicking options in Gopperth and McAlister who will kick in behind the Harlequins 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, Deon Stegmann with his low centre of gravity will look to compete hard at the breakdown, any turnovers we do make we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Burgess with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Quins 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 such as Polota-Nau, Haskell and Johnson. 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 Harlequins working off the ball in defence. We will look for the in form Roberts to target the lightweight centre partnership of Quins and run hard at them, staying strong in the contact area and either offloading if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners such as McAlister to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Quins players. We will also be sending our big carriers in Quade Cooper’s direction.
So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Quins defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible. We will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Quins 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 Quins 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 Johnson. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Harlequins by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Quins 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 them going backwards. Our back row will look to really get in Coopers 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.
Manager – ‘Arry
| 01. Perry Freshwater | 09. Luke Burgess |
| 02. Tatafu Polota-Nau | 10. Jimmy Gopperth |
| 03. Carlos Nieto | |
| 04. Mark Chisholm | 11. Lachie Turner |
| 05. Marco Wentzel (c) | 12. Luke McAlister |
| 06. Tom Johnson | 13. Jamie Roberts |
| 07. Deon Stegmann | 14. Tom Williams |
| 08. James Haskell | 15. Mike Brown |
16. Andy Titterell 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Richard Birkett 20. Roger Wilson 21. Mike Blair 22. Rory Clegg 23. Mike Tindall
Tactics
After losing away from home to a very impressive London Irish side last week we return to Adams Park where we are yet to lose so far this season. We have picked a dynamic, 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 beat Harlequins. 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 Quins onto the back foot by winning the forward battle and collisions we will be able to unsettle them.
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 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 Harlequins down.
We have two excellent kicking options in Gopperth and McAlister who will kick in behind the Harlequins 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, Deon Stegmann with his low centre of gravity will look to compete hard at the breakdown, any turnovers we do make we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Burgess with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Quins 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 such as Polota-Nau, Haskell and Johnson. 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 Harlequins working off the ball in defence. We will look for the in form Roberts to target the lightweight centre partnership of Quins and run hard at them, staying strong in the contact area and either offloading if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks. With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners such as McAlister to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Quins players. We will also be sending our big carriers in Quade Cooper’s direction.
So long as our ball carriers have the support, we will look to pierce gaps in the Quins defensive line and offload to supporting players, keeping the ball alive as much as possible. We will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Quins 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 Quins 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 Johnson. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Harlequins by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Quins 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 them going backwards. Our back row will look to really get in Coopers 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.
Last edited by 'Arry Spurs on Thu 01 Dec 2011, 4:47 pm; edited 1 time in total
'Arry Spurs- Posts : 1051
Join date : 2011-11-02
Re: AP Round 10
by Driver Wed 30 Nov 2011, 7:14 pm
Few questions and points for you Mr.Prop
In the lineouts we have strong jumpers - Who?
Looking a tour back row we can get alot of turnover ball with Newby and Higginbotham snaffling at the ruck and aiming to be the 2nd player into a ruck to go over the ball and either slow it down or looking for turnover ball - If were going to call Newby and Higgenbottom turnover flankers we might aswell start talking about how good Dave Flatman's goal kicking is.
Steyn will kick for territory making sure it's away from the Exeter back 3 and either reaches touch or gives our chasing pack time - going to kick the ball to 3 players who in the past 3 years have 2 grand slams , a few 3Ns and a Rugby World cup winner. Not to mention have all played rugby at 15 at a high standard and are great counter attackers and will enjoy running at the space which your back line has left after only your pack has chased it.
Cowan will look for quick ball - Will be when he see's Phipps service.
I'll have John Smiths smooth
In the lineouts we have strong jumpers - Who?
Looking a tour back row we can get alot of turnover ball with Newby and Higginbotham snaffling at the ruck and aiming to be the 2nd player into a ruck to go over the ball and either slow it down or looking for turnover ball - If were going to call Newby and Higgenbottom turnover flankers we might aswell start talking about how good Dave Flatman's goal kicking is.
Steyn will kick for territory making sure it's away from the Exeter back 3 and either reaches touch or gives our chasing pack time - going to kick the ball to 3 players who in the past 3 years have 2 grand slams , a few 3Ns and a Rugby World cup winner. Not to mention have all played rugby at 15 at a high standard and are great counter attackers and will enjoy running at the space which your back line has left after only your pack has chased it.
Cowan will look for quick ball - Will be when he see's Phipps service.
I'll have John Smiths smooth
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Thu 01 Dec 2011, 10:37 am
On a phone as have been all week so will post my team so pooly can see it. If i get chance i will format,
May also have to get tactics in by 8 am tomorrow if thats ok. Things are manic at work
1 Steenkamp
2 Dawadiuk
3. Mas
4. Bakkies
5. Palmer
6 Bonnaire
7 Burger
8 Hari
9 Genia
10 Carter
11 Sharples
12 Barnes
13 Kahui
14 JSD
15 May
16 Wood
17 Gray
18 White
19 Robson
20 Ferris
21 Alberts
22 Lewis
22 Dagg
May also have to get tactics in by 8 am tomorrow if thats ok. Things are manic at work
1 Steenkamp
2 Dawadiuk
3. Mas
4. Bakkies
5. Palmer
6 Bonnaire
7 Burger
8 Hari
9 Genia
10 Carter
11 Sharples
12 Barnes
13 Kahui
14 JSD
15 May
16 Wood
17 Gray
18 White
19 Robson
20 Ferris
21 Alberts
22 Lewis
22 Dagg
Guest- Guest
Ozzy3213- Moderator
- Posts : 18500
Join date : 2011-01-29
Age : 48
Location : Sandhurst
Re: AP Round 10
by dammit_chris Thu 01 Dec 2011, 2:11 pm
Dito Pete's last comment!
Trying a few different things to target Pocock at teh breakdown this week, hopefully it will have some effect! Especially as Yachvilli and Wilko are going to have to really earn their money this week!
Trying a few different things to target Pocock at teh breakdown this week, hopefully it will have some effect! Especially as Yachvilli and Wilko are going to have to really earn their money this week!
dammit_chris- Posts : 8685
Join date : 2011-05-03
Re: AP Round 10
by LukeLovesLuka Thu 01 Dec 2011, 2:20 pm
Suprised you've gone with a kicking game Chris.
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
Join date : 2011-04-19
Age : 40
Location : London
Re: AP Round 10
by dammit_chris Thu 01 Dec 2011, 2:41 pm
Best way of pushing your backthree back and that gives Giteau chance to attack your backbline ball in hand and we will have our midfield plus Ashton/Halfpenny with Foden so potential 5-3 in our favour initially in attack.
Wanted to control tempo of the game and stop any flow from your team in the process! Massively targeting Yach and Wilko too.
Wanted to control tempo of the game and stop any flow from your team in the process! Massively targeting Yach and Wilko too.
dammit_chris- Posts : 8685
Join date : 2011-05-03
Re: AP Round 10
by LukeLovesLuka Thu 01 Dec 2011, 2:46 pm
Ok mate 
Jane and Poitreanud are licking their lips
Trying to control the tempo of the game against Yach and Wilko is a bold move.
Best of luck
Jane and Poitreanud are licking their lips
Trying to control the tempo of the game against Yach and Wilko is a bold move.
Best of luck
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
Join date : 2011-04-19
Age : 40
Location : London
Re: AP Round 10
by CJB Thu 01 Dec 2011, 3:41 pm
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16 Jon Golding 17 Joe Ward 18 Petrus Du Plessis 19 Rob Simmons 20 Sean O’Brien 21 Richard Wigglesworth 22 Francois Steyn 23 Tom Varndell
Manager – inthefastlane
| 01. Cian Healy | 09. Fourie Du Preez |
| 02. Kevin Mealamu | 10. Charlie Hodgson |
| 03. Euan Murray | |
| 04. Louis Deacon | 11. Ugo Monye |
| 05.Sam Whitelock | 12. Anthony Allen |
| 06. Dan Lydiate | 13. Aurelien Rougerie |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Maxime Medard |
| 08. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe | 15. Kurtley Beale |
CJB- Posts : 5762
Join date : 2011-04-24
Age : 30
Location : Croydon
Re: AP Round 10
by dammit_chris Thu 01 Dec 2011, 7:13 pm
Phillips has done that to yachvilli each time I've seen them play and when did wilko last have a decent game (or kick a penalty) in a big game? Phillips certainly gives me a massive boost and we will be looking to play the game in Tigers half and play attacking rugby from there.
Will be an interesting game as tried to get my tactics to spoil yours
Will be an interesting game as tried to get my tactics to spoil yours
dammit_chris- Posts : 8685
Join date : 2011-05-03
Re: AP Round 10
by dammit_chris Thu 01 Dec 2011, 10:06 pm
Guys just wanted to make sure that you see that Saints arent just playing a kicking game - its a balanced game where we will look to pin the Tigers backthree deep to field kicks, but when they do this it gives Giteau a chance to run the ball and make the most of overlaps and runners etc and get the ball to the Saints back three!
dammit_chris- Posts : 8685
Join date : 2011-05-03
Re: AP Round 10
by SirJohnnyEnglish Thu 01 Dec 2011, 10:40 pm
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Alun Wyn Jones 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Shaun Perry 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Nick Abendanoon
General Game Plan
On attack, we will look to control possession with our strong carrying game. We will look to our big carriers to get over the gain line and where possible offload to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. If running the ball is not on we will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook to put us in the right areas.
On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. Danny Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to run back any loose kicks.
At the breakdown, if the ball looks available we will look to seriously commit numbers to clear the ruck allowing Thomson and Quedragao to come in and secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit 1 or 2 to the breakdown and look to counter ruck legally slowing down Bath ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
We will look to use the set piece as a weapon throughout. We will target the scrum with a technically strong front row looking to get in under and win the scrum battle. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hook we will look to attack from the lineout. We will look to mix things up bringing the ball down into the maul or playing the ball of the top and spreading it through the backs.
Key Points
• In Game Form – We have lost just twice in our last 8 outings being bonus point defeats at Vicarage Road in the league and at Kingsholm in the LDC Pete Cup. We come to the Rec looking to continue our great form and leave with another away win.
•Play the game in the right areas – We will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook and play the game inside Bath territory forcing Bath to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the opposition set piece and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Hodgson into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from.... Care, Sexton and Hook do however have the brains and spark to play from deep when it is really on.
• Target the Bath wingers - We will look to test the Bath wingers out today both aerially and positionally. Sexton and Hook will look to send some high hanging balls to the corners and really test the Bath back 3 none of whom are particularly good under the highball. We will look to execute kick and chases and crossfield kicks into the corners when we see any of these 3 out of position. We have picked a side packed with pace to really get up on the chase. Keith Earls has been lined up against Medard to use his GAA skills (Irish footballing) and beat him to the ball in the air.
Manager – SJE
| 01. Marcos Ayerza | 09. Danny Care |
| 02. David Paice | 10. Johnny Sexton |
| 03. Luc Ducalcon | |
| 04. Romain Millo Chluski | 11. Keith Earls |
| 05. Christian Day | 12. James Hook |
| 06. Adam Thomson | 13. Robbie Freuen |
| 07. Fulgence Quedragao | 14. David Strettle |
| 08. Louis Picamoles | 15. Luke Rooney |
16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Alun Wyn Jones 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Shaun Perry 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Nick Abendanoon
General Game Plan
On attack, we will look to control possession with our strong carrying game. We will look to our big carriers to get over the gain line and where possible offload to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. If running the ball is not on we will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook to put us in the right areas.
On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. Danny Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to run back any loose kicks.
At the breakdown, if the ball looks available we will look to seriously commit numbers to clear the ruck allowing Thomson and Quedragao to come in and secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit 1 or 2 to the breakdown and look to counter ruck legally slowing down Bath ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
We will look to use the set piece as a weapon throughout. We will target the scrum with a technically strong front row looking to get in under and win the scrum battle. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hook we will look to attack from the lineout. We will look to mix things up bringing the ball down into the maul or playing the ball of the top and spreading it through the backs.
Key Points
• In Game Form – We have lost just twice in our last 8 outings being bonus point defeats at Vicarage Road in the league and at Kingsholm in the LDC Pete Cup. We come to the Rec looking to continue our great form and leave with another away win.
•Play the game in the right areas – We will look to the boots of Sexton and Hook and play the game inside Bath territory forcing Bath to play from deep. We will look to our pack to disrupt the opposition set piece and our backrow in particular to attack the breakdown. We will harass Hodgson into making mistakes, giving us fantastic attacking platforms to work from.... Care, Sexton and Hook do however have the brains and spark to play from deep when it is really on.
• Target the Bath wingers - We will look to test the Bath wingers out today both aerially and positionally. Sexton and Hook will look to send some high hanging balls to the corners and really test the Bath back 3 none of whom are particularly good under the highball. We will look to execute kick and chases and crossfield kicks into the corners when we see any of these 3 out of position. We have picked a side packed with pace to really get up on the chase. Keith Earls has been lined up against Medard to use his GAA skills (Irish footballing) and beat him to the ball in the air.
SirJohnnyEnglish- Posts : 8536
Join date : 2011-05-10
Age : 36
Location : Limerick
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Thu 01 Dec 2011, 10:42 pm
Glaws tactics
On phone so may post in bits. On train and reception poor on an iPhone it becomes non existent
We
Travel to falcons in great form and will be treating the champions and leaders with respect but fully expecting a win.
Aim is to keep ball control tempo and game and be clinical.
We have picked a team to control the game and put in an error free performance.
We have gone for a monster front five with a massively in form quick intelligent backrow. We have picked 2 of the French backrow that outplayed the kiwi backrow in the final with the aim of dominating the lineout and keeping the ball in open play and going forward.
This will be a tight affair so experience and control in key positions such as 8,9,10,12 is the key. We aim to let the decision makers make the decisions
On phone so may post in bits. On train and reception poor on an iPhone it becomes non existent
We
Travel to falcons in great form and will be treating the champions and leaders with respect but fully expecting a win.
Aim is to keep ball control tempo and game and be clinical.
We have picked a team to control the game and put in an error free performance.
We have gone for a monster front five with a massively in form quick intelligent backrow. We have picked 2 of the French backrow that outplayed the kiwi backrow in the final with the aim of dominating the lineout and keeping the ball in open play and going forward.
This will be a tight affair so experience and control in key positions such as 8,9,10,12 is the key. We aim to let the decision makers make the decisions
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Thu 01 Dec 2011, 11:08 pm
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Heinrich Brussow 21. Jonny Arr 22. Toby Flood 23. Dan Hipkiss
Tactics
General play - It's all about a high tempo and controlling the ball. Gloucester do not travel to Kingson well and we'll look to hit them at 100mph!!! If 3 point is on we'll look to take it and until we have a clear lead. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch. Our main aim this week will be getting control in the forwards and getting good ball for our extra quality back 3 to attack Gloucester with. With Youngs and Evans at halfback pulling the strings with good ball we feel we can really get at Gloucester. Evans will look to test out May early on with a few Gary Owens with him playing his forst game at FB for Gloucester (Possibly).
We'll be looking to get the ball to the backs, especially the back 3 and really exploit Gloucester out wide. We'll also be looking to ruthlessly target the breakdown and attack with turnover ball, Youngs will look to sweep behind when Gloucester are in possesion waiting for our trio to get hands on ball. As soon as Richie gets a sniff, Youngs will look to come into play and attack Glocester through thir central channel with disorganised defence.
Forwards
Set Piece
We'll be looking to use the set piece as a platform to set up attacks. Our tactics during each game may change if we spot a weakness in the oppposition set piece during the 80mins. This is the role of the team captain.
Scrum - We'll be looking to set a platform and use the scrum to get fast ball to out 9/10 axis. Servat, PDJ and Barcella are excellent technical scrummagers who will give us a sound foundation and look to get at their opposite numbers from the off. If a weakness is seen we’ll look to keep the push on and drive the opposition back, taking scrum options at pens if totally on top. If not we’ll be using the scrum as restart and getting the ball in and out so we can attack the opposition 9/10 axis. We think we may get an edge in this week with Barcella and Servat looking to target Gloucester's inexperienced hooker throughout the game.
Lineout
Securing lineout ball will be key. Parling will look to lead the line and use Thorn as banker ball from the front and Read, McCaw & Robshaw as a strong options at the middle and back. We shall look to get target opposition ball throughout the game. We'll look to get POC on early in the second to continue getting quick ball for the set piece.
Target Breakdown & Rucks
We'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on. McCaw will look to slow opposion ball down whilst looking for the turnover whilst Robshaw and Read are also excellent on the deck so will look to do this all game. We will be attacking on turnover ball throughout the game and really looking to target Gloucester here with them having no real quality on the deck.
Huge carrying
We have huge carrying options in the pack and we'll look to use them throughout the game to wear the opposition down and give us a point of attack. We'll look to mix this up with Read coming off the scrum and Barcella, Robshaw, Servat, Parling, Thorn, McCaw giving us numerous options in tight and loose. We’ll look to vary the angles of attack with Evans using the reverse ball now and again with Read, Thorn, McCaw and Robshaw coming in. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the opposition defence in. We'll be playing a possesion based game so commitment in the rucks will be key. We'll look to isolate JSD against strong runners with his defence being suspect.
Backs
Halfbacks
With a solid platform Youngs will look to snipe around and find gaps in the opposion defense, especially at 2/3rd phase attacks when defenses start to fray. Evans will play his natural game and come into the line flat. He’ll look to mix the play up with varying passes and look to hit behind the back 3 if on. Youngs will sweep up behind a blitz defense with Barritt leading the line. Youngs will look to deploy the box kick and leave it hanging to test the opposition back 3, especially May with him playing his first game at FB for Gloucester in a brand new back 3.
Backline
We have numerous running options and will look to mix things up in the backline. Barritt gives Evans go to ball if needed and we'll look to get JOC in as second receiver to give us a different focal point. AAC will look to come off the shoulder of attacks and inject pace and power into the midfield. Bowe will look to run angles off the backline and finish off moves in opposition 22. Bowe will look for work in the midfield and will look for calls off Evans to change the angle of attack and try and play on the possible confusion in the new Gloucester back 3.
SUBS - As required in the second. POC, Franks, Brussow and Flood on early in the second to really turn the screw. Others as required. Flood may come on at 12 depending on how game is turning out and if another kicking option is required in midfield.
Points to target against opposition
BREAKDOWN - This area will be were the game is won and lost. Richie will look to play rucks and marshall the backrow. With no fetcher or player offering opposition on the deck we'll look to dominate here, either by slowing down attacking ball or gaining turnover ball to attack with.
To continue our domination at the breakdown we'll look to get Brussow on early in the second half for Robshaw and move McCaw to BS. With McCaw & Brussow working in tandom we feel we can dismantle Gloucester at the breakdown.
ATTACK WITH TURNOVER BALL - Youngs will look to sweep behind the first line of defence and look for calls from McCaw when turnover ball is on. With this made, we'll look to get Youngs into the game asap and attack the disorganised Gloucester defence. This could be a huge area for us in the game with JOC and Bowe looking to support him.
FRONT ROW - We think Dawadiuk is a little out of his depth making his first AP start. Kingston v the champions is not the place to settle in and find your feet. Servat will look to hit him hard in the scrum and we will look to put intense pressure on his throw. Gloucester have some good backrow jumpers but if their hooker falls to pieces (As seen for Bath last week) they'll suffer to find a good platform. We also feel Dawadiuk could be a weakness in the scrum so will target him throughout.
GLOUCESTER BACK 3 - I think this is the first outing for the Gloucester all English back 3. Good prem players but we fell if we get good ball out wide we can exploit them, especially JSD's defence and May's positionong at FB. We also don't think Glocuester have much kicking ability past their 10/12 channel (although very good so we'll look to field any kicks we do make away from this channel) and this could be a problem for their back 3.
HOME ADVANTAGE
We are the champions and have won every game at home for over a season and a half. This must have a HUGE effect on teams travelling to Kingston. We are in the fantastic form having won at the couldron that is the Stoop last week. If momentum is measured we are at the peak and Gloucester would need to dominate set piece and breakdown to stand a chance of getting anything from this game.
GOOD RUGBY CONDITIONS
With a hard pitch and good running conditions we see Gloucester have only went for 2 backs on the pitch. We think this may hinder room for change if things arn't going well.
Good luck Matt
Manager – Sgt Pooly
| 01. Fabien Barcella | 09. Ben Youngs |
| 02. William Servat | 10. Nick Evans |
| 03. Paul Doran-Jones | |
| 04. Brad Thorn | 11. James O’Connor |
| 05. Geoff Parling | 12. Brad Barritt |
| 06. Chris Robshaw | 13. Conrad Smith |
| 07. Richie McCaw(c) | 14. Tommy Bowe |
| 08. Kieran Read | 15. Adam Ashley-Cooper |
16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Heinrich Brussow 21. Jonny Arr 22. Toby Flood 23. Dan Hipkiss
Tactics
General play - It's all about a high tempo and controlling the ball. Gloucester do not travel to Kingson well and we'll look to hit them at 100mph!!! If 3 point is on we'll look to take it and until we have a clear lead. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch. Our main aim this week will be getting control in the forwards and getting good ball for our extra quality back 3 to attack Gloucester with. With Youngs and Evans at halfback pulling the strings with good ball we feel we can really get at Gloucester. Evans will look to test out May early on with a few Gary Owens with him playing his forst game at FB for Gloucester (Possibly).
We'll be looking to get the ball to the backs, especially the back 3 and really exploit Gloucester out wide. We'll also be looking to ruthlessly target the breakdown and attack with turnover ball, Youngs will look to sweep behind when Gloucester are in possesion waiting for our trio to get hands on ball. As soon as Richie gets a sniff, Youngs will look to come into play and attack Glocester through thir central channel with disorganised defence.
Forwards
Set Piece
We'll be looking to use the set piece as a platform to set up attacks. Our tactics during each game may change if we spot a weakness in the oppposition set piece during the 80mins. This is the role of the team captain.
Scrum - We'll be looking to set a platform and use the scrum to get fast ball to out 9/10 axis. Servat, PDJ and Barcella are excellent technical scrummagers who will give us a sound foundation and look to get at their opposite numbers from the off. If a weakness is seen we’ll look to keep the push on and drive the opposition back, taking scrum options at pens if totally on top. If not we’ll be using the scrum as restart and getting the ball in and out so we can attack the opposition 9/10 axis. We think we may get an edge in this week with Barcella and Servat looking to target Gloucester's inexperienced hooker throughout the game.
Lineout
Securing lineout ball will be key. Parling will look to lead the line and use Thorn as banker ball from the front and Read, McCaw & Robshaw as a strong options at the middle and back. We shall look to get target opposition ball throughout the game. We'll look to get POC on early in the second to continue getting quick ball for the set piece.
Target Breakdown & Rucks
We'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on. McCaw will look to slow opposion ball down whilst looking for the turnover whilst Robshaw and Read are also excellent on the deck so will look to do this all game. We will be attacking on turnover ball throughout the game and really looking to target Gloucester here with them having no real quality on the deck.
Huge carrying
We have huge carrying options in the pack and we'll look to use them throughout the game to wear the opposition down and give us a point of attack. We'll look to mix this up with Read coming off the scrum and Barcella, Robshaw, Servat, Parling, Thorn, McCaw giving us numerous options in tight and loose. We’ll look to vary the angles of attack with Evans using the reverse ball now and again with Read, Thorn, McCaw and Robshaw coming in. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the opposition defence in. We'll be playing a possesion based game so commitment in the rucks will be key. We'll look to isolate JSD against strong runners with his defence being suspect.
Backs
Halfbacks
With a solid platform Youngs will look to snipe around and find gaps in the opposion defense, especially at 2/3rd phase attacks when defenses start to fray. Evans will play his natural game and come into the line flat. He’ll look to mix the play up with varying passes and look to hit behind the back 3 if on. Youngs will sweep up behind a blitz defense with Barritt leading the line. Youngs will look to deploy the box kick and leave it hanging to test the opposition back 3, especially May with him playing his first game at FB for Gloucester in a brand new back 3.
Backline
We have numerous running options and will look to mix things up in the backline. Barritt gives Evans go to ball if needed and we'll look to get JOC in as second receiver to give us a different focal point. AAC will look to come off the shoulder of attacks and inject pace and power into the midfield. Bowe will look to run angles off the backline and finish off moves in opposition 22. Bowe will look for work in the midfield and will look for calls off Evans to change the angle of attack and try and play on the possible confusion in the new Gloucester back 3.
SUBS - As required in the second. POC, Franks, Brussow and Flood on early in the second to really turn the screw. Others as required. Flood may come on at 12 depending on how game is turning out and if another kicking option is required in midfield.
Points to target against opposition
BREAKDOWN - This area will be were the game is won and lost. Richie will look to play rucks and marshall the backrow. With no fetcher or player offering opposition on the deck we'll look to dominate here, either by slowing down attacking ball or gaining turnover ball to attack with.
To continue our domination at the breakdown we'll look to get Brussow on early in the second half for Robshaw and move McCaw to BS. With McCaw & Brussow working in tandom we feel we can dismantle Gloucester at the breakdown.
ATTACK WITH TURNOVER BALL - Youngs will look to sweep behind the first line of defence and look for calls from McCaw when turnover ball is on. With this made, we'll look to get Youngs into the game asap and attack the disorganised Gloucester defence. This could be a huge area for us in the game with JOC and Bowe looking to support him.
FRONT ROW - We think Dawadiuk is a little out of his depth making his first AP start. Kingston v the champions is not the place to settle in and find your feet. Servat will look to hit him hard in the scrum and we will look to put intense pressure on his throw. Gloucester have some good backrow jumpers but if their hooker falls to pieces (As seen for Bath last week) they'll suffer to find a good platform. We also feel Dawadiuk could be a weakness in the scrum so will target him throughout.
GLOUCESTER BACK 3 - I think this is the first outing for the Gloucester all English back 3. Good prem players but we fell if we get good ball out wide we can exploit them, especially JSD's defence and May's positionong at FB. We also don't think Glocuester have much kicking ability past their 10/12 channel (although very good so we'll look to field any kicks we do make away from this channel) and this could be a problem for their back 3.
HOME ADVANTAGE
We are the champions and have won every game at home for over a season and a half. This must have a HUGE effect on teams travelling to Kingston. We are in the fantastic form having won at the couldron that is the Stoop last week. If momentum is measured we are at the peak and Gloucester would need to dominate set piece and breakdown to stand a chance of getting anything from this game.
GOOD RUGBY CONDITIONS
With a hard pitch and good running conditions we see Gloucester have only went for 2 backs on the pitch. We think this may hinder room for change if things arn't going well.
Good luck Matt
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Thu 01 Dec 2011, 11:09 pm
Time for bed now...bloody knackered! Mine & IED training in the pouring rain is seriously no fun.
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Ozzy3213- Moderator
- Posts : 18500
Join date : 2011-01-29
Age : 48
Location : Sandhurst
Re: AP Round 10
by CJB Thu 01 Dec 2011, 11:17 pm
Tactics
General
We'll look to use our big pack to build a base in order to get our backs into the game. We will play a backs based game. It will be really attacking, running rugby. We will look to be making good runs bringing our running back three into the game.
Set Piece
We have some of the on form scrummagers in the world and will look to use the scrum as a platform. We feel we can really use this to advantage . We feel a big part of our game will be the lineout. Lobbe and Whitelock are our main jumpers while Deacon offers a strong banker ball if needed. Simmons will maintain our dominance from the bench.
Other points
- Generate Quick Ball
- Look to slow Sale ball down with Armitage looking to create turnovers
- Look to get turnovers at the lineout
General
We'll look to use our big pack to build a base in order to get our backs into the game. We will play a backs based game. It will be really attacking, running rugby. We will look to be making good runs bringing our running back three into the game.
Set Piece
We have some of the on form scrummagers in the world and will look to use the scrum as a platform. We feel we can really use this to advantage . We feel a big part of our game will be the lineout. Lobbe and Whitelock are our main jumpers while Deacon offers a strong banker ball if needed. Simmons will maintain our dominance from the bench.
Other points
- Generate Quick Ball
- Look to slow Sale ball down with Armitage looking to create turnovers
- Look to get turnovers at the lineout
CJB- Posts : 5762
Join date : 2011-04-24
Age : 30
Location : Croydon
Re: AP Round 10
by Sgt_Pooly Thu 01 Dec 2011, 11:21 pm
Pretty good that one Pete lol
I'm now fluent in Afghan...apparently never smile at an Afgan or pass wind in his presence as it'll upset him. Tip of the day
I'm now fluent in Afghan...apparently never smile at an Afgan or pass wind in his presence as it'll upset him. Tip of the day
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: AP Round 10
by Guest Fri 02 Dec 2011, 8:28 am
Glos tactics
Forwards
we are looking to turn the set pieces in to a war that we believe we will win.
Steenkamp and Mas had great world cups and are up against pdj and Barcella. There is a gap in class there. Dawiduik excelled down in Toulouse against Gary Botha and Servat so should have no worries particularly as we expect mas and guthro to be easily on top against there opposite numbers
Lineout
This is where we see our biggest advantage. Probably the 2 best lineout operators In the world are hari and bonnaire and we are looking to decimate a falcons lineout led by Parling. Lineout is a primary source of good attacking ball so to be without it is crippling.
General.
We are aiming to keep ball in hand and carry close to the ruck and take ball on our own terms. The aim is to keep possession and actually play a slow paced game that is all about carrying hence the 6-2 split. We will use our bench to keep this pressure on.
Backs
Genia will look to Marshall the forwards and keep them moving ruck to ruck and release to carter when it looks like its ready.
Carter will be looking to kick often and turn Newcastle forcing the
To kick back giving us the lineout or for them to try and counter.
He will also be looking to hit forwards off his shoulder and change the point of attack constantly.
As we are playing a kicking and possession game we are expecting to get some loose kicks that our lightning back 3 can counter.
On phone so tactics limited
Key points
1. Lineout superiority
2. 8,9,10,12 is far superior in key matches this wins games and allows you to control the game
3. No genuine 7???? Burger has played there for years and is a known menace at breakdown.
4 Many more kicking options if Evans kicking out of hand is off who can kick for newcastle
5 game changing bench
Forwards
we are looking to turn the set pieces in to a war that we believe we will win.
Steenkamp and Mas had great world cups and are up against pdj and Barcella. There is a gap in class there. Dawiduik excelled down in Toulouse against Gary Botha and Servat so should have no worries particularly as we expect mas and guthro to be easily on top against there opposite numbers
Lineout
This is where we see our biggest advantage. Probably the 2 best lineout operators In the world are hari and bonnaire and we are looking to decimate a falcons lineout led by Parling. Lineout is a primary source of good attacking ball so to be without it is crippling.
General.
We are aiming to keep ball in hand and carry close to the ruck and take ball on our own terms. The aim is to keep possession and actually play a slow paced game that is all about carrying hence the 6-2 split. We will use our bench to keep this pressure on.
Backs
Genia will look to Marshall the forwards and keep them moving ruck to ruck and release to carter when it looks like its ready.
Carter will be looking to kick often and turn Newcastle forcing the
To kick back giving us the lineout or for them to try and counter.
He will also be looking to hit forwards off his shoulder and change the point of attack constantly.
As we are playing a kicking and possession game we are expecting to get some loose kicks that our lightning back 3 can counter.
On phone so tactics limited
Key points
1. Lineout superiority
2. 8,9,10,12 is far superior in key matches this wins games and allows you to control the game
3. No genuine 7???? Burger has played there for years and is a known menace at breakdown.
4 Many more kicking options if Evans kicking out of hand is off who can kick for newcastle
5 game changing bench
Guest- Guest
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: AP Round 10
by LukeLovesLuka Fri 02 Dec 2011, 9:16 am
dammit_chris wrote:Guys just wanted to make sure that you see that Saints arent just playing a kicking game
Chris. These are YOUR quotes:
dammit_chris wrote:
Game Specific Tactics• Learnt lessons from last week and look to dominate the kicking game, recalled Beauxis to achieve this and have Giteau and Halfpenny to support. Can beat an out of sorts Wilkinson at this.
Key Points• Tactics have been designed to play to our strengths and stop Leicester playing the game they set out to achieve in their own tactics - they are looking to get the ball to their backs as much as possible, whilst we are happy to do this by kicking it deep into their own half and letting them come at us from deep.
• Our kicking game completely changes the Tigers defensive patterns - if we keep kicking deep then their backthree will all need to play deeper
LukeLovesLuka- Posts : 5865
Join date : 2011-04-19
Age : 40
Location : London
Page 1 of 3 • 1, 2, 3
Similar topics» Ortiz vs Lopez / Soto vs Matthysse - Scorecard and Review -Round By Round (Will contain spoilers).
» The Covid-19 Culture Cup - Round Eight - Thing that has annoyed you most irrationally in lockdown - Final Round
» Chavez-Martinez round by round spoilers thread
» Mayweather v Maidana: Your Round By Round Scorecards With Poll
» Challenge Cup Games and the Results continued round by round
» The Covid-19 Culture Cup - Round Eight - Thing that has annoyed you most irrationally in lockdown - Final Round
» Chavez-Martinez round by round spoilers thread
» Mayweather v Maidana: Your Round By Round Scorecards With Poll
» Challenge Cup Games and the Results continued round by round
Page 1 of 3
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum