About v2AP Round 14
+7
LukeLovesLuka
Driver
Steven_Sharks
dammit_chris
stnick88
Ozzy3213
SirJohnnyEnglish
11 posters
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AP Round 14
by SirJohnnyEnglish Mon 06 Feb 2012, 1:13 pm
First topic message reminder :
Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors
White Cloud, 6 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Jerome Schuster 17. Agustin Creevy 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Olly Barkley 23. Sam Smith
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 boot of Cruden 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 Worcester 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 disrupt. 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.
Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd
16. Chris Fortey 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Kearnen Myall 20. Sebastian Chabal 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Sam Vesty 23. Shane Williams
Tactics
Forwards
Winning our ball is key here and we have a front 5 who will secure ball for us to allow the backs space and time. We will look to target their lineout with some effective lineouts jumpers and stealer's in our starting line up. In the back 3 we have players who are able to win turnover ball, both will be told to play as 6.5's as we expect the match to get quite messy and be quite negative rugby. Our 2nd rows will look to impose themselves on the opposition and cause a fiesty atmosphere. Budgen, when he comes on rarely gets beaten by opposition (see Saints last year) and Fortey is experienced enough to hold up Porter who will only learn in these situations. Gorgodze and Higginbotham will look to make ground whenever they the ball and be stood off 12-13 quite alot.
Backs
Negative rugby here, kicking for touch and putting pressure on the opposition. Steyn will look to make touch and not kick it down their throats. When the ball goes to McCabe we will look to drag it back into the 9-10 channel before quick ball to release our pacy and dangerous backline. Steyn will be controlling the backs and Kelleher will give quick service and will look to snipe when any space appears. King will do his unpredictable running and look to offload to a back rower or winger. We have a backline who are comfortable under the high ball but we won't look for a kicking duel when we know we can gain an upper hand in the lineouts. Our bench will add pace and experience to the backline.
Defence
Hard and fast blitz defence with our back 3 hanging back a bit to prevent any kick throughs. The back row will look to be at least 2nd to each ruck to look to slow ball down or turn it over. If we win turnover in our half we will kick for touch, if we win in their half we will look to spin it out wide.
Overall
*Look to dominate the lineouts,
*Drag them down to a scrappy match,
*Steyn to kick for corners,
*3 points is key and we won't leave their half without that or 7 points so a drop goal is allowed!
*Kelleher to give quick ball,
*Backs to run hard at the opponents and seek for offloads to release back 3,
*We may end up playing scrappy, negative rugby but that's what wins matches for us.
Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers
Light Rain, 6 Degrees, 11mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – driver - RIP 606
16. Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19. Simon Shaw 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Josh Matavista 23.Matt Smith
- Keep the ball in the tight and grind Tigers down using the boots of Slade , Tindall and Pisi to ping Them in there half.
- Use our scrummaging front row to keep the scrum up and driving on when it's Tiger's feed.
- Cowen to dictate the tempo and test the Bath line with snipes , service and high hanging box kicks.
- Cowen and Slade will play what is in front of them and use what they have outside them with Tindall making the headway in the backs and Fitz, Arty and Balshaw running into the wide channels to move the Tigers defence around the pitch
- Slade to tick the board over with penalties and drop goals when in the opposition half.
- Big physical players in our pack will see plenty of big hits to put the pressure on the Tigers runners early doors.
- Have Tindall running the short line off Slades shoulder to test Jauzion.
KEY POINTS
• TO ELIMINATE POCOCK AT THE BREAKDOWN WE WILL LOOK TO DROP BEFORE THE COTACT ALLOWING A RUCK TO BE FORMED WITHOUT A DEFENDER BEING INVOLVED ALLOWING QUICK BALL AND RULING OUT A TURNOVER
• PRESSURE THE 9/10 AXIS IN CLASSENS FIRST EVER GAME FOR TIGERS AND LOOK TO HIT WILKINSON HARD AND LATE AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE MILLER OR TWELVETREES INTO STAND OFF
• TARGET JENKINS/SHERIDAN/MEARS/MOORE/FRANKS WITH NONE OF THEM RECOGNISED SCRUMMAGERS BESIDES SHERIDAN WHO IS LACKING REAL LIFE FORM. AND NO OUT AND OUT TIGHT HEAD ON THE BENCH SHOULD MAKE IT A LONG DAY AT THE SCRUM FOR LEICESTER
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Clarke Dermody 17. Lee Mears 18. Ben Franks 19. Samu Manoa 20. Magnus Lund 21. Jordan Crane 22. Neil de Kock 23. Billy Twelvetrees
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. We will look to our forwards to carry through the middle, and then strike out wide when the time is right.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Claasens sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.
- Wilkinson to kick all penalites within range.
- Look to use our bench to win the game in the last 30 mins. New front row to come on at 50 mins to impact the game, and Manoa and Crane to come on at 50/60 mins to strengthen our carrying.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Claasens and Wilkinson. A.Brown to be our banker ball, supported by Horwill and Hines. We will relentlessly target Valey's throws.
- At the scrum all three front rowers to go flat out for 50 mins and then bring new front row on. Moore and Johnston to look look to really get after Crockett and Valey.
- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. Led by Waldrom, and supported by Horwill, Pocock, Hines, Jenkins, Moore and Johnston, we want our carriers running straight lines and not taking risks with the offload with the wet ball.
- Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Exeter. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.
BACKS:
- Wilkinson is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our massive carrying pack and lineout ability to put pressure on Exeter, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call
- 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.
- We have selected Jauzion and Fritz to give us creativity in midfield, and to keep us solid in defence.
- Our back three are told to play the each kick as they see it. When deep in our own half, with the weather as it is, we will not be silly with trying to counter too often. Both Jane and Miller are well drilled full backs, and both have good boots to get us good territory. But if a kick from Exeter is loose or short, and if it is on, we will not be afraid to run the ball back.
KEY POINTS:
- Form and Momentum - 15 wins in 17 games. Progressed in all cup competitions and 3rd in the league. Our confidence is sky high. Exeter have one victory in the league all season - look to get their heads down early.
- A massive carrying pack that should tire Exeter down to allow our pacey back line room to cause damage with their pace.
- Get after a slow and ageing back five in Exeter's pack, and with a 6/2 split bench with powerful carriers to impact the game as it progresses.
- Target the breakdown - Pocock to do all he can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use - Exeter have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here.
- Get after Slade and after Tindall - Pocock and co to really get in the face of Slade and see if he is up for a cold wet game - and our defence to rush Tindall who we expect to be a crash ball option.
- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints
White Cloud, 3 Degrees, 9mph Winds
Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt
16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Williams 20 Fasivalu 21 Lewis 22 Donald 23 JSD
Tactics
Glaws put out a strong side for the visit of saints,. Ali Williams fresh from his loan to Saints comes on to the bench for us
We have as ever gone for a pack packed with dynamism and ball carriers and will look to get front foot ball to launch our stellar backline which must be the best in the league during the 6 nations.
Set Piece.
AS ever glos have a strong front 5 and monster backrow wth Saull providing the glue between backs and Forwards and linking play.
We will look to get a nudge on and launch alberts off the back to get hard yards before releasing the backs.
Lineout
Bakkies Robson SAull and Burger are great lineout forawards and we will look to secure our own ball and steal theirs.
We will look to go Drive a lot until we have won the collisions and look to hit burger and Alberts off the back of the driving maul to create quick quick ball.
Genia and Carter will call the shots and the forwards job is to provide the platform,
We will look to play close to the ruck first half with Steenkamp, bakkies, Burger, Alberts etc getting over gain line and either off loading or setting back quick ball then the backs come into play.
Backs
Carter and Genia are the 2 best half backs in world rugby and will set the pace and control the game.
genia will look to use the ball when necessary or attack at the fringes by hitting runners and then picking and going himself where he is so so dangerous.
Carter will only get the ball when he is ready and will look to play as necessary, he will clear the ball in our own 22 and take any penalties in range but outside these areas he will play what is on.
you do not have a backline like we have and not look to attack.
Carter will try the high ball where necessary and try thr kick in behind for territory but primarily he is looking to attack.
him and barnes will interchange when necessary and will look to hit Kahui up the middle and also create one on ones out wide where our Back 3 are proven attackers of the highest order.
A back 3 of May, Dagg and Gear is quicksilver and an attacking dream they will look to counter any looseball take quick throws and generally raise the tempo.
This should put pressure on the saints kicking game. as a loose kick in deadly.
Defensively we will be looking to employ a blitz defence with Genia sweeping. we figure we can cough up ball from saints and with our backline turnover b all will be deadly.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris
Subs: 16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Alexander Lapandry 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jamie Elliott 23. Matt Hopper
Tactics
Saints pick a young team that is playing with confidence after a recent bout of good form that has seen them make the QF of the Amlin Cup and the SF of the LV Cup. Will look to target the setpiece and frustrate Gloucester by disrupting the tempo of the game and pushing pressure on the Gloucester team with an aggressive defence and hard running game!
High tempo start
We will look to blitz Gloucester at the start of the game and play at a really high tempo because a lot of the Gloucester team havent been playing week in week out - our team has and has been building some momentum, so we expect a fast tempo game from the start can give us the upper hand in the opening quarter and take advantage of any rustiness.
Simpson and Giteau to control the speed of the game - with Simpson looking to attack the fringes, which will give our backline a bit more time on the ball.
Structured/Welsh Approach
When Gloucester look to be getting into the swing of the game we will adopt to a much more structured approach, that is based around a big tackling back row (Kanowski, Clark and Messam all fantastic tacklers) that knocks Gloucester ball carriers back in the tackle and a solid defence in the midfield with de Villiers and Tuilagi aiming to stop their counterparts.
Same structured approach the Welsh took against Ireland - strong backrow presence with two strong running midfielders, a play making 10 and some great finishers in the backthree.
With Clark, Lawes, Messam, Kankowski in the pack and de Villiers and Tuilagi in the backs we have got a lot of players capable of slowing down and frustrating Gloucesters attack - we know that they will throw the ball around, but we've selected these big hitting players to put doubts in Gloucester backs mind as a 50-50 ball could see them smashed.
Set Piece
Very strong lineout to compete with 4 jumpers of Gloucester - Lawes, Messam, Clark, Albacete will all work well. Will challenge the Gloucester lineout where Saints can get the advantage. Will look to generate quick ball from the lineout and attack at pace.
Saints will really look to target the Gloucester scrum and get a push on - we have got some very good scrummagers in the front row and can bring on Thomas and Domingo in the second half - during the 6Nations we feel we can attack Gloucester here.
Defence/breakdown
Will look to play an aggressive blitz defence with Simpson sweeping behind - we will look to put pressure on the Gloucester half back pair and stop opposition getting over the gainline in the midfield.
We will look for big hits and force handling errors and turnovers.
We will compete for the ball at the breakdown, even if it is just to slow the Gloucester ball down and stop any momentum building.
Key Points
* Continuity - take advantage early on and try and get some early scores
* Play similar approach to Wales
* Big tacklers to cause problems for Gloucester - tough defence to break down and speed to attack with any handling errors.
* Disrupt Gloucester tempo and slow down the pace
* Young team, not afraid to go out and play and in good form, so confidence is high.
* Don't need the big names to cause problems and will look to win.
Harlequins v London Irish
Sunny, 3 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
16. Chris Brooker 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. George Skivington 20. Carl Fearns 21. Jamie Gibson 22. Tomas O'Leary 23. Felipe Contepomi
Tactics
Game plan
We are going to look to play a game based upon building pressure on London Irish and will do this by retaining the ball whenever we are outside our 22. We can do this using the strong carriers which we have in our team and we want our carriers to by dynamic in there running. Conditions allow us to play some running rugby and we will look to take the ball to Irish with a quick tempo and strong running. In defence we are looking to be aggressive and disruptive and will look to disrupt the London Irish patterns and we will always be looking for the turnover or to at least slow the Irish ball down and affect its quality.
General Tactics
Retain the ball as often as possible and use our carriers to punch holes and get us over the gain line. We are looking to move the point of attack with Cooper and Burns looking to be at first receiver either side of a ruck and they will both be looking to stand flat and put others into space. Key to our game is our strong ball carriers such as Brits, Afoa, Thion, Sharpe, Henry and Louw as well our centres and we will look to get these guys involved whenever possible. We will look to be getting quick ball and when this happens we will be looking for the ball to go into wider channels and let JJ and Guildford run at the Irish defence.
When our carriers get the ball we are looking for them to carry the ball hard and aim to win collisions and look for the offload to support which will be on their shoulder. We want our players to carry in numbers as we then are able to keep the attack flowing with offloads or quick ball.
Set Piece
We are going to look for Woodcock to really get after the WP Nel and send him backwards with Afoa looking to get underneath Soane on the other side. At the lineout we have 4 very good options and will look to shorten the line when we can with Sharpe in control of our lineout.
Defence
We will switch Cooper and Burns in defence and this allows Quade to gather up any loose kicks and run at the broken field as he does so well for the Reds. Faainga and Louw are in charge of our defensive game. We are aware of the power coming from the Irish midfield and have picked Faainga and Louw deliberately for their defensive abilities. We know that no one will get through Ant and George on a regular basis. In our back row we have 3 tackling machines playing who will chop down the Irish carriers and in Brits and Afoa we have two front row players who play more like backrowers. Look for all our back row to make a nuisance of the Irish breakdown and turnover the ball and at the very least slow it down.
Key Points
- Keep the ball in hand when not in our 22. Look to build phases with strong carriers playing of off Dickson, Cooper and Burns. Look for our 3 playmakers to move the point of attack and look for gaps and disorganization in Irish defence. Dickson always looking to attack the fringes as when it comes to sniping he is up there with the best around.
- Look for quick ball and when we get it we look to go a little wider using Lowe and our wingers in the wider channels.
- Aggressive in attack and defence with the aim of winning collisions in contact. In attack we want to look for offloads and in defence we will look to prevent them.
- Back row to look to dominate the breakdown and therefore control the speed of our ball and theres. Our 3 backrowers are very comfortable with the art of the breakdown and turnover ball.
-Get to Pienaar and we go a long way to stopping Irish. Try and make his day a misery and not give him a 2nd to think.
- We have what we consider to be a very strong bench with everyone on their either an international player or an England Saxon. We will get a real boost as these players are introduced as fresh legs in the 2nd half.
- We have a lot of players in very good real life form.
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Darren Fearn 19. Kieren Lowe 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Warren Fury 22. Matthew Tait 23. Juan Martin Hernandez
Tactics
- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Tonga'uhia, Nel, Garvey, Kaino, Spies, Steffon, SBW in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Quins on the backfoot. We will look for quick ball for Pienaar to use and create opportunities with.
- Kennedy will be our main lineout target and we willl look for quick ball off the top on most occasions, if not use Garvey at the front to create a maul.
- We will look to get in the face of Quade Cooper, hit him hard and not give him any time. We will not kick looes ball to him, but use Armitage, JP, Basson to run the ball back and gain yards.
- We willl look to dominate possession and tire the Quins defence. Tonga'uhia, Spies, Kaino, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and Bowden to play what is infront of them and put SBW and co into gaps and space. Our wingers will come inside and along with Fourie, look to gather the offloads from SBW, which he will only do when it is on.
- At the breakdown, we will look to use our powerful flankers and the breakdown skills of Steffon to secure quick ball and slow down opposition ball. Any turnover ball will be counter attacked.
- We will target the Quins back 3 and look to get our wingers one on one with them, especially Burns.
- Pienaar will kick all pens for goal in range. If not we will go for touch and use the lineout as a platform to attack.
- We have some good in form players and fancy our chances, and see this as a good opportunity to get an away win.
Bath Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
White Cloud, 3 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16. Dave Wilson 17. Joe Ward 18. Euan Murray 19. Tim Swinson 20. Will Skinner 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. EFS 23. Olly Woodburn
Tactics
Psychological
11 wins in 13 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence.
Overall
Our game plan is based on simple rugby. We will be looking for lots of big carries. We will look to use the set piece as a platform and release our back three.
Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Kubrashvilli will be looking to get a strong hit and drive through the front row. Lobbe will control it at the back. If we are dominant in the scrum we will look to take it as penalty option to really use our advantage. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock, Lobbe and Haskell all capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball. Look to put pressure on their lineout with Chris Schofield being the only primary caller.
Kicking
If we feel we are establishing dominance in the lineout we will look to put the ball out of touch. For penalties Kurtley Beale will look to take ones in his range. If he is struggling Skrela can take over kicking duties.
Ball in Hand
With the ball in hand we will be looking for big carries to get over the gain line. Our team is full of players capable of making big gains and we will look to use this to our advantage in these conditions. We will be looking to constantly make carries and get up and make another one. Lobbe, Whitelock, Haskell etc will be given the ball as much as possible.
Wigglesworth will be looking to provide Skrela with quick ball and he will either look to get the ball to a carrier or look to spread the ball to one of our back three. Our back three will look to be adventurous running at the Newcastle defence.
Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Newcaslte decision makers. Our defense will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.
We will be looking to isolate runners and force a turnover by getting bodies into the breakdown and use Robinson’s skill in the ground.
Replacements
Up front we have picked subs who we feel can really continue our dominance. Euan Murray is only on the bench due to his exertions in the Six Nations last week. Dave Wilson is also a good scrummager to bring on late and we feel near the end of the game we will still be dominant in the scrum. In the backs, FDP can come on a calm the ship offering quality and steady leadership. EFS will be a terror over the last 20 minutes while we feel Woodburn can also cause damage late on.
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
16. Nathan Morris 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Nick Evans
Tactics
General – High intensity and infuriate Bath at the breakdown. Plenty of kicking options in backline to mix game up if needed.
Scrum – use scrum as restart as look for quick ball for Read to pop up and feed Pretorious, if weakness seen in opposition we will look to exploit
Lineout – quick ball off the top using Schofield as primary caller, also look to use Read at the tail and McCaw, Thorn to offer front ball.
Breakdown – Our big game plan….look to dominate breakdown with all backrow options excellent in this area. Look to slow/turnover opposition at every possible opportunity. McCaw to play more 6 role but will play breakdown as he see’s fit. Thorn to give us massive clearing out option around the park.
Backline – Steyn as go to ball and second kicking option. Look to punch holes in opposition defence and free up Conrad to bring the runners into play. JOC to step into midfield with Steyn used as decoy and JOC to hit the line fast at angles to cause opposition defensive line issues. Steyn to take pens around the halfway mark.
Franks to come after halftime to increase pressure in set piece and give us added work rate around the park. Evans at around 60mins to see out game
London Wasps v Saracens
Sunny, 2 Degrees, 8mph Winds
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Tom Johnson 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Noah Cato
Tactics
We have picked a gritty, dynamic and physical forward pack which will hopefully get us over the gain line and onto the front foot. 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 Saracens. We will look to target the breakdown and the back row battle and ensure we get quick, clean ball to attack with.
We will look to our dynamic forwards to get us onto the front foot by attacking in groups with some grunt and powerful carrying, getting us over the gain line. Hopefully our carriers will suck in Saracens defenders, so we can spread the ball out wide to make use of the space on offer. We will start as we mean to go on with a high intensity, hitting the collision area hard and driving our players over the gain line.
In attack we will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Banahan running plenty of hard lines into midfield targeting Trinder. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Saracens defence and target the outside shoulder. Banahan will be our crash ball option, we will look for him to come at speed and carry hard into the Saracens defence, we will support him and look to drive him over the gain line and get quick ball to keep the momentum in our attacks. At the breakdown we will come from low to high in clearing out Saracens players to ensure Burgess has clean ball.
We will look to get our offloading game going to keep the point of attack changing and Saracens working in defence. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Saracens wingers and keep them pinned back in their own half where we can pressurize them. We will hopefully be able to build attacks from the scrum and earn some penalties for Myler to make use of. We will look to the scrum to provide us with a platform to build attacks from and keep Saracens on the back foot.
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
16. Gary Botha 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Nevin Spence 23. James Short
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
Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors
White Cloud, 6 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
| 01. Marcos Ayerza | 09. Danny Care |
| 02. David Paice | 10. Aaron Cruden |
| 03. Luc Ducalcon | |
| 04. Romain Millo Chluski | 11. Lelia Masaga |
| 05. Andries Bekker | 12. Yann David |
| 06. Adam Thomson | 13. Robbie Freuen |
| 07. Fulgence Quedragao | 14. Tom Brady |
| 08. Wycliffe Palu | 15. Nick Abendanoon |
16. Jerome Schuster 17. Agustin Creevy 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Olly Barkley 23. Sam Smith
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 boot of Cruden 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 Worcester 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 disrupt. 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.
Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd
| 01. David Flatman | 09. Byron Kelleher |
| 02. Michael Mayhew | 10. Morne Steyn (k) |
| 03. BJ Botha | |
| 04. Danie Russouw | 11. Bryan Habana |
| 05. Ollie Kohn | 12. Pat McCabe |
| 06. Scott Higginbotham | 13. Regan King |
| 07. Craig Newby (c) | 14. Marcel Garvey |
| 08. Mamuka Gorgodze | 15. Ollie Morgan |
16. Chris Fortey 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Kearnen Myall 20. Sebastian Chabal 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Sam Vesty 23. Shane Williams
Tactics
Forwards
Winning our ball is key here and we have a front 5 who will secure ball for us to allow the backs space and time. We will look to target their lineout with some effective lineouts jumpers and stealer's in our starting line up. In the back 3 we have players who are able to win turnover ball, both will be told to play as 6.5's as we expect the match to get quite messy and be quite negative rugby. Our 2nd rows will look to impose themselves on the opposition and cause a fiesty atmosphere. Budgen, when he comes on rarely gets beaten by opposition (see Saints last year) and Fortey is experienced enough to hold up Porter who will only learn in these situations. Gorgodze and Higginbotham will look to make ground whenever they the ball and be stood off 12-13 quite alot.
Backs
Negative rugby here, kicking for touch and putting pressure on the opposition. Steyn will look to make touch and not kick it down their throats. When the ball goes to McCabe we will look to drag it back into the 9-10 channel before quick ball to release our pacy and dangerous backline. Steyn will be controlling the backs and Kelleher will give quick service and will look to snipe when any space appears. King will do his unpredictable running and look to offload to a back rower or winger. We have a backline who are comfortable under the high ball but we won't look for a kicking duel when we know we can gain an upper hand in the lineouts. Our bench will add pace and experience to the backline.
Defence
Hard and fast blitz defence with our back 3 hanging back a bit to prevent any kick throughs. The back row will look to be at least 2nd to each ruck to look to slow ball down or turn it over. If we win turnover in our half we will kick for touch, if we win in their half we will look to spin it out wide.
Overall
*Look to dominate the lineouts,
*Drag them down to a scrappy match,
*Steyn to kick for corners,
*3 points is key and we won't leave their half without that or 7 points so a drop goal is allowed!
*Kelleher to give quick ball,
*Backs to run hard at the opponents and seek for offloads to release back 3,
*We may end up playing scrappy, negative rugby but that's what wins matches for us.
Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers
Light Rain, 6 Degrees, 11mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – driver - RIP 606
| 01. Wyatt Crockett | 09. Jimmy Cowen |
| 02. Damian Valey | 10. Colin Slade (k) |
| 03. Davit Zirkashvilli | |
| 04. Julian Pierre | 11. Luke Fitzgerald |
| 05. James Hudson | 12. Mike Tindall |
| 06. Ben Skirving | 13. George Pisi |
| 07. Lewis Moody | 14. Vasily Artemyev |
| 08. Nick Easter (c) | 15. Iain Balshaw |
16. Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19. Simon Shaw 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Josh Matavista 23.Matt Smith
- Keep the ball in the tight and grind Tigers down using the boots of Slade , Tindall and Pisi to ping Them in there half.
- Use our scrummaging front row to keep the scrum up and driving on when it's Tiger's feed.
- Cowen to dictate the tempo and test the Bath line with snipes , service and high hanging box kicks.
- Cowen and Slade will play what is in front of them and use what they have outside them with Tindall making the headway in the backs and Fitz, Arty and Balshaw running into the wide channels to move the Tigers defence around the pitch
- Slade to tick the board over with penalties and drop goals when in the opposition half.
- Big physical players in our pack will see plenty of big hits to put the pressure on the Tigers runners early doors.
- Have Tindall running the short line off Slades shoulder to test Jauzion.
KEY POINTS
• TO ELIMINATE POCOCK AT THE BREAKDOWN WE WILL LOOK TO DROP BEFORE THE COTACT ALLOWING A RUCK TO BE FORMED WITHOUT A DEFENDER BEING INVOLVED ALLOWING QUICK BALL AND RULING OUT A TURNOVER
• PRESSURE THE 9/10 AXIS IN CLASSENS FIRST EVER GAME FOR TIGERS AND LOOK TO HIT WILKINSON HARD AND LATE AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE MILLER OR TWELVETREES INTO STAND OFF
• TARGET JENKINS/SHERIDAN/MEARS/MOORE/FRANKS WITH NONE OF THEM RECOGNISED SCRUMMAGERS BESIDES SHERIDAN WHO IS LACKING REAL LIFE FORM. AND NO OUT AND OUT TIGHT HEAD ON THE BENCH SHOULD MAKE IT A LONG DAY AT THE SCRUM FOR LEICESTER
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Andrew Sheridan | 09. Michael Claassens |
| 02. Stephen Moore | 10. Jonny Wilkinson (k) |
| 03. Cencus Johnston | |
| 04. James Horwill (c) | 11. Topsy Ojo |
| 05. Alex Brown | 12. Yannick Jauzion |
| 06. Nathan Hines | 13. Florian Fritz |
| 07. David Pocock | 14. Cory Jane |
| 08. Thomas Waldrom | 15. Rob Miller |
16. Clarke Dermody 17. Lee Mears 18. Ben Franks 19. Samu Manoa 20. Magnus Lund 21. Jordan Crane 22. Neil de Kock 23. Billy Twelvetrees
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. We will look to our forwards to carry through the middle, and then strike out wide when the time is right.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Claasens sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.
- Wilkinson to kick all penalites within range.
- Look to use our bench to win the game in the last 30 mins. New front row to come on at 50 mins to impact the game, and Manoa and Crane to come on at 50/60 mins to strengthen our carrying.
FORWARDS:
- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Claasens and Wilkinson. A.Brown to be our banker ball, supported by Horwill and Hines. We will relentlessly target Valey's throws.
- At the scrum all three front rowers to go flat out for 50 mins and then bring new front row on. Moore and Johnston to look look to really get after Crockett and Valey.
- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. Led by Waldrom, and supported by Horwill, Pocock, Hines, Jenkins, Moore and Johnston, we want our carriers running straight lines and not taking risks with the offload with the wet ball.
- Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Exeter. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.
BACKS:
- Wilkinson is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our massive carrying pack and lineout ability to put pressure on Exeter, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call
- 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.
- We have selected Jauzion and Fritz to give us creativity in midfield, and to keep us solid in defence.
- Our back three are told to play the each kick as they see it. When deep in our own half, with the weather as it is, we will not be silly with trying to counter too often. Both Jane and Miller are well drilled full backs, and both have good boots to get us good territory. But if a kick from Exeter is loose or short, and if it is on, we will not be afraid to run the ball back.
KEY POINTS:
- Form and Momentum - 15 wins in 17 games. Progressed in all cup competitions and 3rd in the league. Our confidence is sky high. Exeter have one victory in the league all season - look to get their heads down early.
- A massive carrying pack that should tire Exeter down to allow our pacey back line room to cause damage with their pace.
- Get after a slow and ageing back five in Exeter's pack, and with a 6/2 split bench with powerful carriers to impact the game as it progresses.
- Target the breakdown - Pocock to do all he can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use - Exeter have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here.
- Get after Slade and after Tindall - Pocock and co to really get in the face of Slade and see if he is up for a cold wet game - and our defence to rush Tindall who we expect to be a crash ball option.
- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.
Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints
White Cloud, 3 Degrees, 9mph Winds
Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt
| 01. Steenkamp | 09. Genia |
| 02. Gray | 10. Carter |
| 03. Harden | |
| 04. Bakkies | 11. Gear |
| 05. Robson | 12. Barnes |
| 06. Burger | 13. Kahui |
| 07. Saull | 14. May |
| 08. Alberts | 15. Dagg |
16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Williams 20 Fasivalu 21 Lewis 22 Donald 23 JSD
Tactics
Glaws put out a strong side for the visit of saints,. Ali Williams fresh from his loan to Saints comes on to the bench for us
We have as ever gone for a pack packed with dynamism and ball carriers and will look to get front foot ball to launch our stellar backline which must be the best in the league during the 6 nations.
Set Piece.
AS ever glos have a strong front 5 and monster backrow wth Saull providing the glue between backs and Forwards and linking play.
We will look to get a nudge on and launch alberts off the back to get hard yards before releasing the backs.
Lineout
Bakkies Robson SAull and Burger are great lineout forawards and we will look to secure our own ball and steal theirs.
We will look to go Drive a lot until we have won the collisions and look to hit burger and Alberts off the back of the driving maul to create quick quick ball.
Genia and Carter will call the shots and the forwards job is to provide the platform,
We will look to play close to the ruck first half with Steenkamp, bakkies, Burger, Alberts etc getting over gain line and either off loading or setting back quick ball then the backs come into play.
Backs
Carter and Genia are the 2 best half backs in world rugby and will set the pace and control the game.
genia will look to use the ball when necessary or attack at the fringes by hitting runners and then picking and going himself where he is so so dangerous.
Carter will only get the ball when he is ready and will look to play as necessary, he will clear the ball in our own 22 and take any penalties in range but outside these areas he will play what is on.
you do not have a backline like we have and not look to attack.
Carter will try the high ball where necessary and try thr kick in behind for territory but primarily he is looking to attack.
him and barnes will interchange when necessary and will look to hit Kahui up the middle and also create one on ones out wide where our Back 3 are proven attackers of the highest order.
A back 3 of May, Dagg and Gear is quicksilver and an attacking dream they will look to counter any looseball take quick throws and generally raise the tempo.
This should put pressure on the saints kicking game. as a loose kick in deadly.
Defensively we will be looking to employ a blitz defence with Genia sweeping. we figure we can cough up ball from saints and with our backline turnover b all will be deadly.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris
| 01. Matt Mullen | 09. Joe Simpson |
| 02. Chris Whitehead | 10. Matt Giteau (c) (k) |
| 03. Carl Hayman | |
| 04. Courtney Lawes | 11. Siti Siviatu |
| 05. Patricio Albacete | 12. Jean de Villiers |
| 06. Liam Messam | 13. Manu Tuilagi |
| 07. Calum Clark | 14. Elliot Daly |
| 08. Ryan Kankowski | 15. Danny Cipriani |
Subs: 16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Alexander Lapandry 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jamie Elliott 23. Matt Hopper
Tactics
Saints pick a young team that is playing with confidence after a recent bout of good form that has seen them make the QF of the Amlin Cup and the SF of the LV Cup. Will look to target the setpiece and frustrate Gloucester by disrupting the tempo of the game and pushing pressure on the Gloucester team with an aggressive defence and hard running game!
High tempo start
We will look to blitz Gloucester at the start of the game and play at a really high tempo because a lot of the Gloucester team havent been playing week in week out - our team has and has been building some momentum, so we expect a fast tempo game from the start can give us the upper hand in the opening quarter and take advantage of any rustiness.
Simpson and Giteau to control the speed of the game - with Simpson looking to attack the fringes, which will give our backline a bit more time on the ball.
Structured/Welsh Approach
When Gloucester look to be getting into the swing of the game we will adopt to a much more structured approach, that is based around a big tackling back row (Kanowski, Clark and Messam all fantastic tacklers) that knocks Gloucester ball carriers back in the tackle and a solid defence in the midfield with de Villiers and Tuilagi aiming to stop their counterparts.
Same structured approach the Welsh took against Ireland - strong backrow presence with two strong running midfielders, a play making 10 and some great finishers in the backthree.
With Clark, Lawes, Messam, Kankowski in the pack and de Villiers and Tuilagi in the backs we have got a lot of players capable of slowing down and frustrating Gloucesters attack - we know that they will throw the ball around, but we've selected these big hitting players to put doubts in Gloucester backs mind as a 50-50 ball could see them smashed.
Set Piece
Very strong lineout to compete with 4 jumpers of Gloucester - Lawes, Messam, Clark, Albacete will all work well. Will challenge the Gloucester lineout where Saints can get the advantage. Will look to generate quick ball from the lineout and attack at pace.
Saints will really look to target the Gloucester scrum and get a push on - we have got some very good scrummagers in the front row and can bring on Thomas and Domingo in the second half - during the 6Nations we feel we can attack Gloucester here.
Defence/breakdown
Will look to play an aggressive blitz defence with Simpson sweeping behind - we will look to put pressure on the Gloucester half back pair and stop opposition getting over the gainline in the midfield.
We will look for big hits and force handling errors and turnovers.
We will compete for the ball at the breakdown, even if it is just to slow the Gloucester ball down and stop any momentum building.
Key Points
* Continuity - take advantage early on and try and get some early scores
* Play similar approach to Wales
* Big tacklers to cause problems for Gloucester - tough defence to break down and speed to attack with any handling errors.
* Disrupt Gloucester tempo and slow down the pace
* Young team, not afraid to go out and play and in good form, so confidence is high.
* Don't need the big names to cause problems and will look to win.
Harlequins v London Irish
Sunny, 3 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
| 01. Tony Woodcock | 09. Karl Dickson |
| 02. Schalk Brits (c) | 10. Quade Cooper |
| 03. John Afoa | |
| 04. Jerome Thion | 11. Zac Guildford |
| 05. Nathan Sharpe | 12. Anthony Faainga |
| 06. Francois Louw | 13. George Lowe |
| 07. David Seymour | 14. Jonathan Joseph |
| 08. Chris Henry | 15. Freddie Burns (k) |
16. Chris Brooker 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. George Skivington 20. Carl Fearns 21. Jamie Gibson 22. Tomas O'Leary 23. Felipe Contepomi
Tactics
Game plan
We are going to look to play a game based upon building pressure on London Irish and will do this by retaining the ball whenever we are outside our 22. We can do this using the strong carriers which we have in our team and we want our carriers to by dynamic in there running. Conditions allow us to play some running rugby and we will look to take the ball to Irish with a quick tempo and strong running. In defence we are looking to be aggressive and disruptive and will look to disrupt the London Irish patterns and we will always be looking for the turnover or to at least slow the Irish ball down and affect its quality.
General Tactics
Retain the ball as often as possible and use our carriers to punch holes and get us over the gain line. We are looking to move the point of attack with Cooper and Burns looking to be at first receiver either side of a ruck and they will both be looking to stand flat and put others into space. Key to our game is our strong ball carriers such as Brits, Afoa, Thion, Sharpe, Henry and Louw as well our centres and we will look to get these guys involved whenever possible. We will look to be getting quick ball and when this happens we will be looking for the ball to go into wider channels and let JJ and Guildford run at the Irish defence.
When our carriers get the ball we are looking for them to carry the ball hard and aim to win collisions and look for the offload to support which will be on their shoulder. We want our players to carry in numbers as we then are able to keep the attack flowing with offloads or quick ball.
Set Piece
We are going to look for Woodcock to really get after the WP Nel and send him backwards with Afoa looking to get underneath Soane on the other side. At the lineout we have 4 very good options and will look to shorten the line when we can with Sharpe in control of our lineout.
Defence
We will switch Cooper and Burns in defence and this allows Quade to gather up any loose kicks and run at the broken field as he does so well for the Reds. Faainga and Louw are in charge of our defensive game. We are aware of the power coming from the Irish midfield and have picked Faainga and Louw deliberately for their defensive abilities. We know that no one will get through Ant and George on a regular basis. In our back row we have 3 tackling machines playing who will chop down the Irish carriers and in Brits and Afoa we have two front row players who play more like backrowers. Look for all our back row to make a nuisance of the Irish breakdown and turnover the ball and at the very least slow it down.
Key Points
- Keep the ball in hand when not in our 22. Look to build phases with strong carriers playing of off Dickson, Cooper and Burns. Look for our 3 playmakers to move the point of attack and look for gaps and disorganization in Irish defence. Dickson always looking to attack the fringes as when it comes to sniping he is up there with the best around.
- Look for quick ball and when we get it we look to go a little wider using Lowe and our wingers in the wider channels.
- Aggressive in attack and defence with the aim of winning collisions in contact. In attack we want to look for offloads and in defence we will look to prevent them.
- Back row to look to dominate the breakdown and therefore control the speed of our ball and theres. Our 3 backrowers are very comfortable with the art of the breakdown and turnover ball.
-Get to Pienaar and we go a long way to stopping Irish. Try and make his day a misery and not give him a 2nd to think.
- We have what we consider to be a very strong bench with everyone on their either an international player or an England Saxon. We will get a real boost as these players are introduced as fresh legs in the 2nd half.
- We have a lot of players in very good real life form.
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Soane Tonga'uhia | 09. Ruan Pienaar |
| 02. James Buckland | 10. Daniel Bowden |
| 03. WP Nel | |
| 04. Matt Garvey | 11. Bjorn Basson |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sonny Bill Williams |
| 06. Jerome Kaino | 13. Jaque Fourie |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. J.P Pieterson |
| 08. Pierre Spies | 15. Delon Armitage |
16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Darren Fearn 19. Kieren Lowe 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Warren Fury 22. Matthew Tait 23. Juan Martin Hernandez
Tactics
- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Tonga'uhia, Nel, Garvey, Kaino, Spies, Steffon, SBW in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Quins on the backfoot. We will look for quick ball for Pienaar to use and create opportunities with.
- Kennedy will be our main lineout target and we willl look for quick ball off the top on most occasions, if not use Garvey at the front to create a maul.
- We will look to get in the face of Quade Cooper, hit him hard and not give him any time. We will not kick looes ball to him, but use Armitage, JP, Basson to run the ball back and gain yards.
- We willl look to dominate possession and tire the Quins defence. Tonga'uhia, Spies, Kaino, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and Bowden to play what is infront of them and put SBW and co into gaps and space. Our wingers will come inside and along with Fourie, look to gather the offloads from SBW, which he will only do when it is on.
- At the breakdown, we will look to use our powerful flankers and the breakdown skills of Steffon to secure quick ball and slow down opposition ball. Any turnover ball will be counter attacked.
- We will target the Quins back 3 and look to get our wingers one on one with them, especially Burns.
- Pienaar will kick all pens for goal in range. If not we will go for touch and use the lineout as a platform to attack.
- We have some good in form players and fancy our chances, and see this as a good opportunity to get an away win.
Bath Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
White Cloud, 3 Degrees, 10mph Winds
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
| 01. Jon Golding | 09.Richard Wigglesworth |
| 02. Kevin Mealamu | 10. David Skrela |
| 03. Davit Kubrashvilli | |
| 04. Louis Deacon | 11. Tom Varndell |
| 05.Sam Whitelock | 12. Anthony Allen |
| 06. James Haskell | 13. David Marty |
| 07. Beau Robinson | 14.Isiah Toeava |
| 08. JMF Lobbe | 15. Kurtley Beale |
Tactics
Psychological
11 wins in 13 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence.
Overall
Our game plan is based on simple rugby. We will be looking for lots of big carries. We will look to use the set piece as a platform and release our back three.
Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Kubrashvilli will be looking to get a strong hit and drive through the front row. Lobbe will control it at the back. If we are dominant in the scrum we will look to take it as penalty option to really use our advantage. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock, Lobbe and Haskell all capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball. Look to put pressure on their lineout with Chris Schofield being the only primary caller.
Kicking
If we feel we are establishing dominance in the lineout we will look to put the ball out of touch. For penalties Kurtley Beale will look to take ones in his range. If he is struggling Skrela can take over kicking duties.
Ball in Hand
With the ball in hand we will be looking for big carries to get over the gain line. Our team is full of players capable of making big gains and we will look to use this to our advantage in these conditions. We will be looking to constantly make carries and get up and make another one. Lobbe, Whitelock, Haskell etc will be given the ball as much as possible.
Wigglesworth will be looking to provide Skrela with quick ball and he will either look to get the ball to a carrier or look to spread the ball to one of our back three. Our back three will look to be adventurous running at the Newcastle defence.
Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Newcaslte decision makers. Our defense will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.
We will be looking to isolate runners and force a turnover by getting bodies into the breakdown and use Robinson’s skill in the ground.
Replacements
Up front we have picked subs who we feel can really continue our dominance. Euan Murray is only on the bench due to his exertions in the Six Nations last week. Dave Wilson is also a good scrummager to bring on late and we feel near the end of the game we will still be dominant in the scrum. In the backs, FDP can come on a calm the ship offering quality and steady leadership. EFS will be a terror over the last 20 minutes while we feel Woodburn can also cause damage late on.
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
| 01. Fabien Barcella | 09. Sarel Pretorious |
| 02. Tom Lindsay | 10. Toby Flood |
| 03. Paul Doran-Jones | |
| 04. Brad Thorn | 11. Miles Benjamin |
| 05. Chris Schofield | 12. Fran Steyn |
| 06. Richie McCaw(c) | 13. Conrad Smith |
| 07. Heinrich Brussow | 14. James O’Connor |
| 08. Kieran Read | 15. Adam Ashley-Cooper |
16. Nathan Morris 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Nick Evans
Tactics
General – High intensity and infuriate Bath at the breakdown. Plenty of kicking options in backline to mix game up if needed.
Scrum – use scrum as restart as look for quick ball for Read to pop up and feed Pretorious, if weakness seen in opposition we will look to exploit
Lineout – quick ball off the top using Schofield as primary caller, also look to use Read at the tail and McCaw, Thorn to offer front ball.
Breakdown – Our big game plan….look to dominate breakdown with all backrow options excellent in this area. Look to slow/turnover opposition at every possible opportunity. McCaw to play more 6 role but will play breakdown as he see’s fit. Thorn to give us massive clearing out option around the park.
Backline – Steyn as go to ball and second kicking option. Look to punch holes in opposition defence and free up Conrad to bring the runners into play. JOC to step into midfield with Steyn used as decoy and JOC to hit the line fast at angles to cause opposition defensive line issues. Steyn to take pens around the halfway mark.
Franks to come after halftime to increase pressure in set piece and give us added work rate around the park. Evans at around 60mins to see out game
London Wasps v Saracens
Sunny, 2 Degrees, 8mph Winds
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
| 01. Perry Freshwater | 09. Luke Burgess |
| 02. Tatafu Polota-Nau | 10. Steven Myler (k) |
| 03. Carlos Nieto | |
| 04. Steve Mafi | 11. Christian Wade |
| 05. Marco Wentzel (c) | 12. Luke McAlister |
| 06. Rocky Elsom | 13. Matt Banahan |
| 07. Jacques Burger | 14. Ugo Monye |
| 08. Roger Wilson | 15. Geordan Murphy |
16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Tom Johnson 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Noah Cato
Tactics
We have picked a gritty, dynamic and physical forward pack which will hopefully get us over the gain line and onto the front foot. 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 Saracens. We will look to target the breakdown and the back row battle and ensure we get quick, clean ball to attack with.
We will look to our dynamic forwards to get us onto the front foot by attacking in groups with some grunt and powerful carrying, getting us over the gain line. Hopefully our carriers will suck in Saracens defenders, so we can spread the ball out wide to make use of the space on offer. We will start as we mean to go on with a high intensity, hitting the collision area hard and driving our players over the gain line.
In attack we will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Banahan running plenty of hard lines into midfield targeting Trinder. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Saracens defence and target the outside shoulder. Banahan will be our crash ball option, we will look for him to come at speed and carry hard into the Saracens defence, we will support him and look to drive him over the gain line and get quick ball to keep the momentum in our attacks. At the breakdown we will come from low to high in clearing out Saracens players to ensure Burgess has clean ball.
We will look to get our offloading game going to keep the point of attack changing and Saracens working in defence. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Saracens wingers and keep them pinned back in their own half where we can pressurize them. We will hopefully be able to build attacks from the scrum and earn some penalties for Myler to make use of. We will look to the scrum to provide us with a platform to build attacks from and keep Saracens on the back foot.
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
| 01. Tendai Mtwarira | 09. Francois Hougaard |
| 02. Bismarck du Plessis | 10. Patric Lambie |
| 03. Jannie du Plessis | |
| 04. Dave Attwood | 11. Digby Ioane |
| 05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Ma'a Nonu |
| 06. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 13. Henry Trinder |
| 07. Tom Wood | 14. Mark Cueto |
| 08. Raphael Lakafia | 15. Alex Goode |
16. Gary Botha 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Nevin Spence 23. James Short
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
- Target Christian Wade with kicking game - Lambie to drop bombs on Wade and really test him under the ball, with our wide men getting up quickly to put him under lots of pressure.
- Attack the fringes - Hougaard will be looking to snipe and/or us big carriers close to the ruck on early phases to tie in defenders and create space out wide.
- Ioane to track inside - Look to get Ioane coming in and attacking Banahan's lack of mobility in the 13 channel.
Key Points
- Form - We are in great form in this game whereas Wasps come in off the back of a loss last week and also a loss before that in the Amlin Cup.
- Experience of winning trophies - We are getting to the business end of things now, and in 3 seasons so far we have shown that mentally we are tough and can get the job done at this time. Wasps have not.
- Proven units in key areas - International quality decision makers at 8,9,10.
- Ball carriers in the pack - In good conditions there will not be many scrums and we've selected two props who carry well rather than being pure scrummagers as this suits the conditions.
Last edited by SirJohnnyEnglish on Fri 10 Feb 2012, 9:43 am; edited 1 time in total
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Re: AP Round 14
by Ozzy3213 Sat 11 Feb 2012, 8:21 pm
That's a good LBP for you Driver, you are now only one win from getting off the bottom.
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Re: AP Round 14
by Sgt_Pooly Sat 11 Feb 2012, 8:31 pm
Very little between bottom and top during 6N & 4N really
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Re: AP Round 14
by 'Arry Spurs Sun 12 Feb 2012, 10:37 am
Sorry for not predicting, have had a manic couple of days. Sorry guys, wont happen again
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Re: AP Round 14
by Ozzy3213 Mon 13 Feb 2012, 10:03 am
Sale Sharks 28 Worcester Warriors 18
Tries: Palu, Brady, Smith
Conversions: Cruden (2)
Penalties: Cruden (3)
Tries: Habana, Newby
Conversions: Steyn
Penalties: Steyn (2)
Exeter Chiefs 14 Leicester Tigers 21
Tries: Easter
Conversions:
Penalties: Slade (3)
Tries: Jane, Waldrom, Ojo
Conversions: Wilkinson (3)
Penalties:
Gloucester 35 Northampton Saints 21
Tries: Gray, May (2), Alberts, Dagg
Conversions: Carter (5)
Penalties:
Tries: Daly (2), Clark
Conversions: Giteau (3)
Penalties:
Harlequins 24 London Irish 23
Tries: Joseph, Brits, Marler
Conversions: Burns (3)
Penalties: Burns
Tries: S.Armitage, Basson
Conversions: Pienaar (2)
Penalties: Pienaar (3)
Bath Rugby 27 Newcastle Falcons 26
Tries: Beale (2), Haskell
Conversions: Skrela (3)
Penalties: Skrela (2)
Tries: Read, Steyn
Conversions: Flood (2)
Penalties: Flood (4)
London Wasps 22 Saracens 26
Tries: Monye
Conversions: Myler
Penalties: Myler (5)
Tries: Ioane (2)
Conversions: Lambie (2)
Penalties: Lambie (4)
Tries: Palu, Brady, Smith
Conversions: Cruden (2)
Penalties: Cruden (3)
Tries: Habana, Newby
Conversions: Steyn
Penalties: Steyn (2)
Exeter Chiefs 14 Leicester Tigers 21
Tries: Easter
Conversions:
Penalties: Slade (3)
Tries: Jane, Waldrom, Ojo
Conversions: Wilkinson (3)
Penalties:
Gloucester 35 Northampton Saints 21
Tries: Gray, May (2), Alberts, Dagg
Conversions: Carter (5)
Penalties:
Tries: Daly (2), Clark
Conversions: Giteau (3)
Penalties:
Harlequins 24 London Irish 23
Tries: Joseph, Brits, Marler
Conversions: Burns (3)
Penalties: Burns
Tries: S.Armitage, Basson
Conversions: Pienaar (2)
Penalties: Pienaar (3)
Bath Rugby 27 Newcastle Falcons 26
Tries: Beale (2), Haskell
Conversions: Skrela (3)
Penalties: Skrela (2)
Tries: Read, Steyn
Conversions: Flood (2)
Penalties: Flood (4)
London Wasps 22 Saracens 26
Tries: Monye
Conversions: Myler
Penalties: Myler (5)
Tries: Ioane (2)
Conversions: Lambie (2)
Penalties: Lambie (4)
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Re: AP Round 14
by SirJohnnyEnglish Thu 23 Feb 2012, 2:06 pm
Full bonus ITFL, Matt, Steve, Luke, Nick, Pooly, Chris and SJE
Half bonus Driver and Pete
Half bonus Driver and Pete
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Page 2 of 2 • 1, 2
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