Heineken Cup Round Three

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Pool One

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Castres Olympique vs Gloucester
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 8 mph winds.
Castres Olympique
Manager – xxx

01. Anton Peikrishvili	09. Thierry Lacrampe
02. Brice Mach	10. Pierre Bernard
03. Karena Wihongi
04. Scott Murray	11. Marc Andreu
05. Joe Tekori	12. Pierre-Manuel Garcia
06. Jannie Bornman	13. Paul Bonnefond
07. Yannick Caballero	14. Max Evans
08. Chris Masoe	15. Florian Denos

16. Mathieu Bonello 17. Michael Coetzee 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Matthias Rolland 20. Rodrigo Capo Ortega 21. Romain Teulet 22. Remi Tales 23. Pierre-Gilles Lakafia

Tactics

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Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis
02. Adrian Strauss	10. Steven Donald
03. Julian White
04. Richie Grey	11. Zac Guildford
05. George Robson(c)	12. Sam Tuitopu
06. Steven Ferris	13. Rob Horne
07. Julien Bonnaire	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Willem Alberts	15. Israel Dagg

16. Gurthro Steenkamp 17.Joe Gray 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Ryan Lamb 22. Jonny May 23.Will Genia


Tactics

We are targetting the bonus point against a castre side missing lots of its best players when we use the team sheet from last game it means that they play their away side at home.

This means most castre players missing. Anyhow.

We will win the battle up front and then play some quick rugby with our inventive backline. Expect to
Dominate. Lineout and scrum although they have some ferocious props on bench

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Scarlets vs. Munster

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Pool Two

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Racing Metro vs Sale Sharks
Light Rain, 11 degrees, 15 mph winds.
Racing Metro
Manager – xxx

01. Mikaele Tuugahala	09. Mathieu Loree
02. Benjamin Noiret	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. Johan Coetzee
04. Karim Ghezal	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Lionel Nallet	12. Guilliaume Bousses
06. Johnny Leo'o	13. Henry Chavancy
07. Bernard Le Roux	14. Julien Saubade
08. Sebastien Chabal	15. Jonathan Wisniewski

16. Thomas Bianchin 17. Eddy Ben Arous 18. Juan Pablo Orlandi 19. Jone Qovu Nailiko 20. Sebastien Descons 21.Virimi Vakatawa 22. Antoine Battut 23. Remy Vaquin

Tactics

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Stephen Sykes	11. Sam Smith
05. Alun Wyn Jones	12. Olly Barkley
06. Victor Vito	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Keith Earls
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Luke Rooney

16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Adam Thomson 21. Shaun Perry 22. James Hook 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 Barkley 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 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 Metro 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 under and dominate the scrum. 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

• Momentum - Metro are 2 losses for 2 and already face a battle for play off places in the Top 14 this year after losing comprehensivly to Stade Francais last week scoring only a solitary penalty (with a side pretty similar to this one). With the french tendancy to give up on the Heino and favour the league after poor group starts we will look to hit hard and fast and make the Metro heads drop early on.

• With Metro's last apperance in the Heino showing up some serious defensive frailities against Edinburgh we have picked a pack full of ball carrying power but also with serious mobility and footballing skills to get at the Metro defence and create space for our dangerous backs in wider areas to attack from

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Cardiff Blues vs. Edinburgh

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Pool Three

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Leicester Tigers vs Leinster
Sunny, 5 degrees, 18 mph winds.
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Ben Franks	09. Micky Young
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Brock James
03. Dan Cole
04. Dan Vickerman	11. Alesana Tuilagi
05. Alex Brown	12. Billy Twelvetrees (k)
06. Nathan Hines	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. John Barclay	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Rob Miller

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Tom Youngs 18. Faan Rautenbach 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Chris Cusiter 22. Dave Walder 23. Tom Biggs

Tactics

- Gameplan is built around our powerful setpiece, intelligent midfield and flying back three. We will use the scrum and lineout as weapons.

- Attack the lineout as much as we can using the tactical kicking of B.James and Twelvetrees. A.Brown to lead, supported by Joubert, Vickerman and Hines.

- Call for scrums when we can if we are getting the advantage we expect to. Joubert to control from the base.

- Look to Joubert, Hines, Barclay, Vickerman, Bruno and Franks to give us real go-forward with their carrying.

- Use Tuilagi off the shoulder of the half back's crashing down the 10 channel.

- Barclay is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Leinster.

- B.James is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our lineout ability to put pressure on Leinster, so a kicking game will be employed, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call.

- Twelvetrees can act as our second reciever, and BOD to play his natural game, be the leader in our midfield, and look to get our back three into the game.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. 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.

- Early on Twelvetrees to kick all penalites within range, but we won't necessarily go for the 3 points as the game progresses. O'Driscoll to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.

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Leinster
Manager – xxx

01. Heinke van der Merwe	09. Eoin Reddan
02. Sean Cronin	10. Jonathan Sexton
03. Mike Ross
04. Leo Cullen	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. Devin Toner	12. Gordon D'Arcy
06. Kevin McLaughlin	13. Eoin O'Malley
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Fionn Carr
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Rob Kearney

16. Richardt Strauss 17. Cian Healy 18. Nathan White 19. Rhys Ruddock 20. Shane Jennings 21. Isaac Boss 22. Ian Madigan 23.Fergus McFadden

Tactics

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Glasgow vs. Montpellier

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Pool Four

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ASM Clermont Auvergne vs. Newcastle Falcons
Light Rain, 11 degrees, 15 mph winds.
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Manager – xxx

01. Vincent Debaty	09. Morgan Parra
02. Ti'I Paulo	10. Brock James
03. Daniel Kotze
04. Lori Jacquet	11. Julein Malzieu
05. Nathan Hines	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Gerhard Vosloo	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Julien Bardy	14. Seru Nakaitaci
08. Julien Bonnaire	15. Lee Byrne

16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Clement Ric 18. David Zirakashvili 19. Jason White 20. Alexandre Audebert 21.Ludovic Radosavljevic 22. Gonzalo Canale 23. Jean-Marcel Buttin

Tactics

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Boris Stankovich	09. Jonny Arr
02. Andrew Hore	10. Toby Flood
03. Ben Alexander
04. Dean Schofield	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Juan Smith	13. Dan Hipkiss
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Sean Maitland
08. Kelly Brown	15. Ben Smith

1. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Chris York 21. Sarel Pretorious 22. James O'Connor 23. Tom Arscott

Tactics

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Ulster Rugby vs. Aironi

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Pool Five

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Saracens vs Ospreys
Sunny, 5 degrees, 17 mph winds.
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Francois Hougaard
02. George Chuter	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Dave Attwood	11. Rene Ranger
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jonathon Davies
06. Alessandro Zanni	13. Seilala Mapusua
07. George Smith	14. Tim Visser
08. Luke Narraway(c)	15. Alex Goode

16. Gary Botha 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Raphael Lakafia 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Owen Farrell 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.

Key Points

• Home Advantage - We have never lost a home HC match in this game, and have not lost a home AP game since season 1. That is one defeat in nearly 50 matches. Vicarage Road is a fortress for us, and one that will take something special to breach.
  
  
• Tempo - We want to play an up tempo attacking game and Francois Hougaard is selected at 9 to ensure that we play at pace.
  
  
• Form - We are in great form in this game, and against the Ospreys side that only managed a draw against Treviso in Round 2.
  

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Ospreys
Manager – xxx

01. Duncan Jones	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Dan Bigger
03. Aaron Jarvis
04. Ryan Jones	11. Shane Williams
05. Ian Evans	12. Ashley Beck
06. George Stowers	13. Andrew Bishop
07. Justin Tupuric	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Jonathan Thomas	15. Richard Fussell

16. Mefin Davies 17. Ryan Bevington 18. Cai Griffiths 19. Ian Gough 20. Joe Bearman 21. Rhys Webb 22. Matthew Morgan 23. Thomas Issacs

Tactics

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Benetton Treviso vs. Biarritz Olympique

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Pool Six

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Connact vs London Irish
Sunny, 6 degrees, 19 mph winds.
Connacht
Manager – xxx

01. Brett Wilkinson	09. Paul O'Donohoe
02. Adrian Flavin	10. Miah Nikora
03. Rodney Ah You
04. Michael Swift	11. Brian Tuohy
05. Dave Gannon	12. David McSharry
06. Mike McCarthy	13. Eoin Griffin
07. John Muldoon	14. Tiernan O'Halloran
08. George Maoupu	15. Gavin Duffy

16. Ethienne Reynecke 17. Ronan Loughney 18. Dylan Rogers 19. Thomas Anderson 20. Ray Ofisa Treviranus 21. Frank Murphy 22. Niall O'Connor 23. Henry Fa'afili

Tactics

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London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Paul Sackey
05. Mouritz Botha	12. Butch James
06. George Stowers	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Keegan Daniel	14. J.P Pieterson
08. Xavier Rush	15. Delon Armitage

16. Soane Tonga'uhia 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Jacques Botes 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Guy Armitage 23. Matthew Tait

Tactics

We are coming here for a bonus point win. We have class throughout and will look to dominate upfront and kick ourselves in to a lead before going for the four tries. We will look to overpower Connact, with both a strong scrum as a good attacking platform, and in the loose where we have strong, athletic players like Nel, Garvey, Botha, Daniel, Stowers and Bastereaud in the backs to wreak havoc.

Our back 3 has plenty of pace so given space will cause damaged. We will look to suck Connacht defenders in using Bastereaud as both a carrier and decoy runner to provide space for the likes of JP Pieterson and Armitage.

Hernandez to kick all pens for goal, if out of range go for touch and look to maul over for the try.

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Harlequins vs Toulouse
Sunny, 6 degrees, 15 mph winds.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Karl Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Priestland (K)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Jerome Thion	11. Jonathan Joseph
05. Nathan Sharpe	12. Riki Flutey
06. Francois Louw	13. George Lowe
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Cedric Heymans
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Vickers 17. Ceri Jones 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Skivington 20. Carl Fearns 21. Tomas O'Leary 22. Quade Cooper 23. Freddie Burns

Tactics

Use our pack to get us quick ball and then release our backs. We will look for our forwards to carry hard and in numbers with the aim of winning the collisions. We will look to be aggressive with ball in hand as well as looking for offloads when the chance presents itself. We will look for Dickson to snipe and keep the tempo quick and Priestland will look to play his usual game of managing the percentages. He knows as well as anyone when to run or to kick for territory and we will trust his judgement.

We are going to look for our pack to play a big game and dominate the set piece, breakdown and in the loose. We feel we can put pressure on Toulouse at the scrum and in particular the lineout where we feel Sharpe can control proceedings. We have Louw and Warburton who we want to control the breakdown and get us turnover ball from which we can launch counter attacks. We also have numerous strong carriers whom can break the gain line.

In the backs we have strong runners in the centres who we want to run straight and direct. We have a quick back 3 who will look to get the ball in their hands as often as possible when we have quick ball. When we are in our own half we will look to attack if its on but have Priestland, Flutey and Kearney who will clear our lines.

In defence we will have a quick line speed and to put pressure on the key decision makers in the Toulouse team.

Key Points

- Toulouse don't travel all that well. We are going to race out of the blocks and get in their faces and make them wish they weren't here.

- We have the form 10 in NH if not the world in Priestland. He will control the tempo of our game and look to put us in the right areas of the pitch.

- We have a formidable back row and we want to dominate the breakdown with Warburton and Louw in particular being at the forefront of our breakdown work.

- We would like a TBP but are aware we need to be in a winning position before we go after this. We will kick the points when they are on offer unless we are dominating at the set piece in which we may look to exploit this advantage.

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Toulouse
Manager – xxx

01. Yohan Montes	09. Luke Burgess
02. William Servat	10. Lionel Beauxis
03. Census Johnston
04. Gregory Lamboley	11. Maxime Medard
05. Yoann Maestri	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Jean Bouilhou	13. Florian Fritz
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Vincent Clerc
08. louis Picamoles	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Gary Botha 17. Jean-Baptiste Poux 18. Johnson Falefa 19. Romain Millo-Chlusky 20. Nicolas Vergallo 21. Yannick Nyanga 22. Luke McAlister 23. Gillian Galan

Tactics

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Tough one for me this week

Leicester Tigers have named their side to play Leinster at Welford Road in the Heineken Cup this week.

Tigers have made a host of changes to the side that beat Northampton Saints last week.

Manager LukeLovesLuka said "Leinster are a very strong side, but are missing one or two, and we will look to take full advanatge. I've named a very strong side - there are quite a few changes from last week - but this side has 10 full Internationals, and a serious amount of experience.

I've given some of the lads a rest - people like Dimitri (Yachvili), Jonny (Wilkinson) and Topsy (Ojo) have played a lot of games of late, and we need to keep them in top shape for a long season.

The players love playing in the Heinken Cup, and the fans love it too - it should be a great atmosphere at Welford Road once again."

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Ben Franks	09. Micky Young
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Brock James
03. Dan Cole
04. Dan Vickerman	11. Alesana Tuilagi
05. Alex Brown	12. Billy Twelvetrees (k)
06. Nathan Hines	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. John Barclay	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Rob Miller

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Tom Youngs 18. Faan Rautenbach 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Chris Cusiter 22. Dave Walder 23. Tom Biggs

Tactics

- Gameplan is built around our powerful setpiece, intelligent midfield and flying back three. We will use the scrum and lineout as weapons.

- Attack the lineout as much as we can using the tactical kicking of B.James and Twelvetrees. A.Brown to lead, supported by Joubert, Vickerman and Hines.

- Call for scrums when we can if we are getting the advantage we expect to. Joubert to control from the base.

- Look to Joubert, Hines, Barclay, Vickerman, Bruno and Franks to give us real go-forward with their carrying.

- Use Tuilagi off the shoulder of the half back's crashing down the 10 channel.

- Barclay is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Leinster.

- B.James is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our lineout ability to put pressure on Leinster, so a kicking game will be employed, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call.

- Twelvetrees can act as our second reciever, and BOD to play his natural game, be the leader in our midfield, and look to get our back three into the game.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. 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.

- Early on Twelvetrees to kick all penalites within range, but we won't necessarily go for the 3 points as the game progresses. O'Driscoll to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Karl Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Priestland (K)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Jerome Thion	11. Jonathan Joseph
05. Nathan Sharpe	12. Riki Flutey
06. Francois Louw	13. George Lowe
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Cedric Heymans
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Vickers 17. Ceri Jones 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Skivington 20. Carl Fearns 21. Tomas O'Leary 22. Quade Cooper 23. Freddie Burns

Tactics

Use our pack to get us quick ball and then release our backs. We will look for our forwards to carry hard and in numbers with the aim of winning the collisions. We will look to be aggressive with ball in hand as well as looking for offloads when the chance presents itself. We will look for Dickson to snipe and keep the tempo quick and Priestland will look to play his usual game of managing the percentages. He knows as well as anyone when to run or to kick for territory and we will trust his judgement.

We are going to look for our pack to play a big game and dominate the set piece, breakdown and in the loose. We feel we can put pressure on Toulouse at the scrum and in particular the lineout where we feel Sharpe can control proceedings. We have Louw and Warburton who we want to control the breakdown and get us turnover ball from which we can launch counter attacks. We also have numerous strong carriers whom can break the gain line.

In the backs we have strong runners in the centres who we want to run straight and direct. We have a quick back 3 who will look to get the ball in their hands as often as possible when we have quick ball. When we are in our own half we will look to attack if its on but have Priestland, Flutey and Kearney who will clear our lines.

In defence we will have a quick line speed and to put pressure on the key decision makers in the Toulouse team.

Key Points

- Toulouse don't travel all that well. We are going to race out of the blocks and get in their faces and make them wish they weren't here.

- We have the form 10 in NH if not the world in Priestland. He will control the tempo of our game and look to put us in the right areas of the pitch.

- We have a formidable back row and we want to dominate the breakdown with Warburton and Louw in particular being at the forefront of our breakdown work.

- We would like a TBP but are aware we need to be in a winning position before we go after this. We will kick the points when they are on offer unless we are dominating at the set piece in which we may look to exploit this advantage.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Paul Sackey
05. Mouritz Botha	12. Butch James
06. George Stowers	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Keegan Daniel	14. J.P Pieterson
08. Xavier Rush	15. Delon Armitage

16. Soane Tonga'uhia 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Jacques Botes 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Guy Armitage 23. Matthew Tait

Tactics

We are coming here for a bonus point win. We have class throughout and will look to dominate upfront and kick ourselves in to a lead before going for the four tries. We will look to overpower Connact, with both a strong scrum as a good attacking platform, and in the loose where we have strong, athletic players like Nel, Garvey, Botha, Daniel, Stowers and Bastereaud in the backs to wreak havoc.

Our back 3 has plenty of pace so given space will cause damaged. We will look to suck Connacht defenders in using Bastereaud as both a carrier and decoy runner to provide space for the likes of JP Pieterson and Armitage.

Hernandez to kick all pens for goal, if out of range go for touch and look to maul over for the try.

After a bruising contest against Gloucester last week, Falcons name a completley different XV to take on Clermont in France. Players will be fresh and keen to force themselves into the first team against a good outfit.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Boris Stankovich	09. Jonny Arr
02. Andrew Hore	10. Toby Flood
03. Ben Alexander
04. Dean Schofield	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Juan Smith	13. Dan Hipkiss
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Sean Maitland
08. Kelly Brown	15. Ben Smith

1. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Chris York 21. Sarel Pretorious 22. James O'Connor 23. Tom Arscott

[i]Manager – Anonmattyt

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis
02. Adrian Strauss	10. Steven Donald
03. Julian White
04. Richie Grey	11. Zac Guildfordl
05. George Robsonl(c)	12. Sam Tuitopu
06. Steven Ferris	13. Rob Horne
07. Bonnaire	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Willem Alberts	15. Israel Dagg

1. Steenkamp 17.Joe Gray 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Ashley Johnson21. Ryan Lamb 22. Johnnie May 23.Will Genia



Stop picking on my team sheet chaps


Tactics

We are targetting the bonus point against a castre side missing lots of its best players when we use the team sheet from last game it means that they play their away side at home.

This means most castre players missing. Anyhow.

We will win the battle up front and then play some quick rugby with our inventive backline. Expect to
Dominate. Lineout and scrum although they have some ferocious props on bench

Matt, that's the best I've ever seen you do!

So close to a full team but ultimately let down by "Bonnaire"

So close!

if your being picky there is an l after robson and guildford which need removing!

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Stephen Sykes	11. Sam Smith
05. Alun Wyn Jones	12. Olly Barkley
06. Victor Vito	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Keith Earls
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Luke Rooney

16. Lee Imolek 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Adam Thomson 21. Shaun Perry 22. James Hook 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 Barkley 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 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 Metro 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 under and dominate the scrum. 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

• Momentum - Metro are 2 losses for 2 and already face a battle for play off places in the Top 14 this year after losing comprehensivly to Stade Francais last week scoring only a solitary penalty (with a side pretty similar to this one). With the french tendancy to give up on the Heino and favour the league after poor group starts we will look to hit hard and fast and make the Metro heads drop early on.

• With Metro's last apperance in the Heino showing up some serious defensive frailities against Edinburgh we have picked a pack full of ball carrying power but also with serious mobility and footballing skills to get at the Metro defence and create space for our dangerous backs in wider areas to attack from

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Racing 6-21 easy win for sale. Too much all over apart from back 3. Obvious what positions johnny is in for in foreigns

Castres 14-22 Gloucester

Gloucester will dominate affairs, see Castres getting edge on in scrum later on but not getting much joy elsewhere from a strong Gloucester second string.

Racing 14-19 Sale

Score wing for a good Sale outfit, pack control will ease the through.

Leicester 35-31 Leinster

Belting game this one. See a major try fest and Leinster pushing Tigers all the way. Wise choice going in strong Luke.

Saracens 26-16 Ospreys

Sarries dominant most areas except back 3, just can't see O's getting enough good ball to really get into this.

Connacht 12-15 Irish

See a scrappy afair but Irish too much quality. Might struggle with own lineout ball but stronger elsewhere.

Harlequins 25-25 Toulouse

That Toulouse squad is incredible and will push Quins till the end, fantastic game

Castres 9 - 27 Gloucester

Even without Carter Gloucester have too much. Don't particularly rate Castres as a good team.

Racing 17-26 Sale

Really good pack and a lot of power will give Sale the platform to win.

Leicester 21 - 12 Leinster

Don't think any of the foreign teams will now challenge the AP teams away from home now. Playing away from home and the game could change.

Saracens 29 - 17 Ospreys

Easy win at home for Pete, pack is too good and I think Ospreys are pretty weak in comparison.

Connacht 3 - 25 Irish

Mismatch - hardly any international experience from the Irish team, whilst Irish are full of powerful runners and big ball carriers and will smash Connacht for 80minutes.

Harlequins 19 - 11 Toulouse

Close game, but look at the Quins backrow and Toulouse will lose and miss out on the BP too. Think Quins have got some cracking in form players right now.

Clermont 19 - 19 Newcastle

Toughest match of the week, going to Clermont away - for me having Stankovich and Arr playing costs Newcastle the win as they are both up against very good opponents. Also have the issue of Flood and Evans changing games quite often and Flood wouldnt have quite settled in just yet. HArd place to go and come away with a draw is still a good result!

Chris, I've had Flood for 3 months. Just wondering when you think he'll be settled?!?!

When you give him a run of starts mate - pretty sure nick evans is your first choice as he's played last 3 AP games.

Erm...ok

Loving your consistency, as always.

Castres 20 - 25 Gloucester

Good win for Gloucester. Would have been a bigger margin at home.

Racing 15 - 22 Sale

Racing aren't a bad little side but Sale have picked the right side to do a efficient job of beating Racing at Home.

Leicester 23 - 21 Leinster

This will be tough for Leicester but they have enough. No weaknesses in either side. Leinster tricky to beat and will be a big test for Luke next week.

Clermont 21 - 22 Newcastle

Just enough for Newcastle in this one. Bit of a second string from Newcastle but I think there is enough for to get the win with a winning feeling running through the squad. A bit of JOC magic gives Newcastle the win.

Saracens 17 - 14 Ospreys

Close game. Big fan of Ospreys scrum half but in most other areas Sarries have the advantage apart from perhaps the back 3. Again the reverse fixture will be a belter.

Connacht 14 - 22 London Irish

Connacht have proved themselves a very useful side in the HC this season and it won't be a walkover for Irish. Should be easier at Home for Irish.

Pooly - really think you should stop commenting on people's predos - think its a bit poor form. I've been losing left, right and centre for last few weeks and I dont question people's predictions.

Steven gave you a win by one point, so different from my prediction by a point - you havent put out your first team, you've gone to Clermont, which is a tough place to go. Arr and Flood have barely played together, Flood has barely started games for you recently, so I think I am justified in having my opinion on that mate.

If you had started Evans or a better no9 then I would have given you a win. - it's only a game at the end of the day...

I really have no issue with result, you could have gave me a 50 point loss.

Should of posted on your page, would never comment in AP game. I should be used to you by now

Castres 16-25 Glaws
Metro 18-20 Sale
Leicester 27-21 Leinster
Clermont 19-20 Falcons
Sarries 29-20 Ospreys
Connacht 13-26 Irish
Quins 22-18 Toulouse

Castres Olympique 13-24 Gloucester
Castres having a good year in the top 14 but Gloucester stronger in most areas should see a good win

Leicester Tigers 20-17 Leinster
Cracking game here. Two evenly matched teams for me overall and with home advantage Tigers should nick a very entertaining affair.

ASM Clermont Auvergne 12-15 Newcastle Falcons
Falcons with enough on show to grab a good away win here.

Saracens 32-21 Ospreys
Sarries stronger throughout the side and take a comfortable win

Connacht 16-23 London Irish
Irish stronger throughout but won’t run away with the game against a resolute Connacht side.

Harlequins 18-16 Toulouse
Great Toulouse side on show. Fairly even pack battle overall. Quins stronger in the half backs but Toulouse take the rest of the backs. Quins take this at home by the skin of their teeth.

Castres 12-30 Gloucester
Glos stronger all over here.

Metro 15-28 Sale
I see Sale's pack giving Metro's a schooling in most areas and taking a win...just.

Leicester 25-20 Leinster
Bruno wins this but taking Cronin back to school and helping the pack dominate.

Clermont 24-26 Falcons
The introduction of JOC and Franks see Falcons sneak this.

Sarries 34-22 Ospreys
Comfortable win here with the centres running riot.

Connacht 18-21 Irish
I would have said take more grunt than flair in the backs to Connacht but Irish just manage to nick it.

Quins 24-18 Toulouse
Massive backrow battle but Priestland to run the show and Toulouse to slip up again away from home.

Leicester 25-20 Leinster
Home advantage and Bruno scrummaging

Clermont 25-26 Falcons
Joc changes the game

Sarries 34-22 Ospreys
Comfortable win here with sarries backs cutting loose

Connacht 18-21 Irish
Irish do just enough against stubborn opponents

Quins 24-20 Toulouse great game and backrow battle quins home advantage and Priestland form take this

Castres 9 - 25 Gloucester

Dominance in all areas from Gloucester.



Racing Metro 19 - 24 Sale

Good game. SJE right to play big names. Good pack battle but think Sale have too much for RM.



Clermont 23 - 24 Newcastle

Away to one of the form teams in Europe not going to be easy. Tough pack battle that is tough to call. Think Newcastle lose out in the HB's, but see FLood having better ball to work with. Just enough to grab a top win.



Saracens 19 - 12 Ospreys

Pretty much a reserve side for Sarries, but they still have too much for Ospreys.



Connact 18 - 26 London Irish

Too much for Irish in pretty much all areas.



Harlequins 23 - 23 Toulouse

Back pattle a great one, with the back row being great viewing. TOulouse look much more dangerous in the backs, but think Quins have just enough in the pack not to lose.

"Don't particularly rate Castres as a good team."

Might be worth editing that comment Chris, they've wiped the floor with Saints today. Robocop hardly missed a kick!

RESULTS (Will do the scorers later)

Castres Olympique 13 Gloucester 32
Racing Metro 15 Sale Sharks 30
Leicester Tigers 32 Leinster 20
ASM Clermont Auvergne 20 Newcastle Falcons 28
Saracens 36 Ospreys 17
Connacht 14 London Irish 30
Harlequins 27 Toulouse 19

SCORERS

Castres Olympique 13 Gloucester 32

Tries: Tekori
Conversions: Bernard
Penalties: Bernard (2)

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Tries: Sharlples, Alberts, Bonnaire, Lewis
Cons: Donald (3)
Penalties: Donald (2)

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Racing Metro 15 Sale Sharks 30


Penalties: Wisniewski (5)

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Tries: Care, Sexton, Vito, Hook
Conversions: Sexton (2)
Penalties: sexton (2)

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Leicester Tigers 32 Leinster 20

Tries: Twelvetrees, Clerc 2, Joubert
Conversions: James (3)
Penalties: James (2)

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Tries: Heaslip, Carr
Conversions: Sexton (2)
Penalties: Sexton (2)

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ASM Clermont Auvergne 20 Newcastle Falcons 28

Tries: Fofana (2)
Conversions: James (2)
Penalties: James (2)

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Tries: Mitchell, O'Connell, O'Connor
Conversions: Flood (2)
Penalties: Flood (3)

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Saracens 36 Ospreys 17

Tries: Zanni, Visser (2), Ranger
Conversions: Lambie (2)
Penalties: Lambie (4)

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Tries: Beck
Penalties: Biggar (4)

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Connacht 14 London Irish 30

Tries: Duffy (2)
Conversions: Nikora (2)

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Tries: Rush, Sackey, Stowrs, D.Armitage
Conversions: Dupuy (2)
Penalties: Dupuy (2)

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Harlequins 27 Toulouse 19

Tries: Marler, Joseph, Heymans
Conversions: Priestland (3)
Penalties: Priestland (2)

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Tries: Medard
Conversions: Beauxis
Penalties: Beauxis (4)

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