AP Round 15

Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon

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Newcastle Falcons v London Irish
Sunny, 7 Degrees, 23mph Winds

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. William Servat	10. Nick Evans
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Brad Barritt
06. Kelly Brown	13. Conrad Smith
07. Rich McCaw(c)	14. James O’Connor
08. Kieran Read	15. Adam Ashley-Cooper

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Chris Robshaw 21. Jonny Arr 22.Toby Flood 23. Tommy Bowe

Tactics

Game plan...Fast paced, dynamic rugby. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off. We’ll be aiming to control possession and go through the phases. Evans will look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.

We’ll look to use the wind to our advantage and Evans will look to send up the odd bomb

Set piece:

Control the set piece and use it as a focal point of attacks. We see a slight advantage in the scrum that will be targeted especially in opposition half. We’ll look to get the squeeze on and keep the Irish back row tied into the scrum giving Youngs and Evans more space to work in. Parling will marshal the lineout and look to get fast ball off the top with 5 strong jumpers. Barcella & Servat will look to put the nudge on Nel who can be got in the scrum.

If a weakness is seen in the set piece McCaw will go for the jugular.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the Irish forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on. McCaw will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the Irish carrier. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot. We’ll look to win the collision with big our physical pack and dominate the Irish front 5 in the contact,

Backs:

Basically get the backs into play whenever possible with Evans the spark. Smith will mashall the back 3 and we’ll look to get JOC in as 2nd receiver now and again to mix things up. JOC will go looking for the ball in midfield and AAC will come into the line to give us a direct hard runner. Youngs will eye the gaps and look for the taps to keep us moving.

POINTS:

SCRUM & LINEOUT – Target throughout, if weakness seen go for the jugular
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through Irish
BREAKDOWN – Richie to work his magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball
FORM – We are unbeaten at home in 18 month and are currently top of the pile playing some magic rugby
BACK 3 – Look to get our back 3 into the game as much as possible
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
SBW - We expect the big man to offload so we will look to use this to our advantage as target runners either side of him as well as looking for the steal.
YOUNGS - In real life his club form has been solid playing with a familiar 8/10. The difference for us is he'll get quick clean ball and space to play his natural game. With England he receives slow ball and this stops him been on the front foot. Also England never get any turnover ball to attack with. With McCaw, Read in your team he will.

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London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Butch James
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Paul Sackey
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. Martin Castrogiovanni 17. James Buckland 18. Darren Fearn 19. Kieren Lowe 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Julien Dupuy 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 Falcons 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 willl look to dominate possession and tire the Falcons defence. Tonga'uhia, Spies, Kaino, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and Butch 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.
- 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 will put up a couple of high balls and test the Falcons back 3 with the swirling winds. We will ensure our wingers put a lot of pressure on the receiver and look to force them into mistakes.

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Harlequins v Worcester Warriors
Light Rain, 9 Degrees, 16mph Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Priestland (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Jerome Thion	11. Zac Guildford
05. George Skivington	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Francois Louw	13. George Lowe
07. Sam Warburton (C)	14. Jonathan Joseph
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Rob Kearney

16. Chris Brooker 17. Tony Woodcock 18. Brian Mujati 19. James Gaskell 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Riki Flutey

Tactics

We have picked a mobile side very comfortable with ball in hand which is capable of playing an attractive brand of rugby and scoring some tries. The conditions allow for some nice rugby but the rain will put pay to a barbarian style approach.

Game Plan

Retain the ball and starve Worcester of possession and turn the screw in defence and at the breakdown when we don’t have the ball. Keeping the ball for long periods with tire Worcester and put them under pressure, especially in their own half. With this tactic we will look for our carriers to be dynamic and will look for our decision makers to be switching the point of attack regularly so we are making it difficult for Worcester in defence.

We are ultimately looking for our pack to get quick ball so we can use the ball in wide areas and cause some damage with our runners in the backline. To get this quick ball we will use our strong carriers to punch holes in the Worcester defensive line and give our forwards a target to hit at the ruck and then have Dickson get the ball away quickly.

We will be looking more than we usually do to kick for territory when deep in our own half and with the boots of Priestland, Contepomi and Kearney we feel we have the players to kick behind Worcester and win any ensuing kicking battle. Dickson, Priestland and Contepomi are the men who will control our game.

Forwards

We have chosen a front 5 with hard carriers who are comfortable with ball in hand as well as at the set piece. In the back 5 we have a mobile unit which can cross the gain line. We want to win the collisions across the park in attack and defence to give ourselves momentum or to halt Worcesters.

Aggression in our play is key for us today. At the lineout Thion is in charge and we will look too alternate between our 5 jumpers and look for short lineouts when between the 22m lines. At the scrum we are looking for both of our props to get underneath there opposite man and put the squeeze on.

Backs

We’ve gone for a backline which is comfortable playing with the ball in hand as well as in a kicking battle. As stated we want to keep the ball in hand when in Worcester’s half and will look for Priestland and Contepomi to put our outside backs in to space. Out wide we have to lethal finishers and at 13 we have a guy who can put them into space and attract defenders.

Defence

We want to put pressure on Worcester’s key decision makers and will do this with a quick linespeed. We particularly want to get after their 9 and 10 and give them no time on the ball. Looking to dominate at the breakdown and getting men there first is key to that. A least two or our back 3 will stay deep for the kicks and Dickson will sweep behind.

Key Points

- Retain the ball. When in Worcester’s half we keep the ball and look to up
the tempo, got quick ball, and try to run Worcester ragged.

- Aggression in contact in both attack in defence.

- Control the game with our half back combination.

- Get the ball wide when Worcester are disorganised in defence and we have quick ball.

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. David Flatman	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Danie Russouw	11. Marcel Garvey
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Sam Vesty
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. Regan King
07. Craig Newby (c)	14. Bryan Habana
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Michael Mayhew 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Ben Morgan 21. Byron Kelleher 22. Pat McCabe 23. Greig Tonks

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. 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
We want quick ball and will use our centres and back row to create gaps with powerful, creative running. Steyn will look to make touch and not kick it down their throats. When the ball goes to Vesty 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 Peel 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,
*Use the centres to create the space,
*Steyn and Vesty 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!
*Peel 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.

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Bath Rugby v Gloucester Rugby
Heavy Rain, 9 Degrees, 19moh Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09.Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Euan Murray
04. Louis Deacon	11. George North
05.Sam Whitelock	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Sean O’Brien	13. Anthony Allen
07. Will Skinner	14.Aurelien Rougerie
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Maxime Medard

16. Dave Wilson 17. Joe Ward 18. Jon Golding 19. Rob Simmons 20. James Haskell 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Dominic Waldouck 23. Kurtley Beale
Tactics

Psychological
12 wins in 14 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence. In this run we have won all our home games including a win over league leaders and defending champions Newcastle.

Overall
In this weather we will look to play simple rugby, using the set piece as a platform, with lots of big carries.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Murray, Healy and Mealamu will be looking to get in a big hit first. Lobbe will control it at the back. We will be using the scrum as an option as much as possible as we feel we can really dominate here. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock, Lobbe and SOB all capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball.

Kicking
We will look to put the ball behind the Gloucester back three and put pressure on them in their own 22 with Hodgson and Lobbe leading the chase. We shall only use this sparingly though. Hodgson will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. When FDP comes on he offers another box kicking option which we can use. Beale will take over place kicking duties when he comes on.

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. We have big carrying forwards such as SOB, Lobbe, Whitelock and Healy who we will get to run at Gloucester.

Our backs have been picked with the ability to carry in mind. George North is a winger in a forwards body and we will look to create mismatches for him. Rougerie and Mermoz will also look for big carries. Medard and Allen will try and poach holes in the Gloucester defence. Wigglesworth will look to provide us with quick ball at the breakdown.

Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Gloucester decision makers. Our defense will leave Medardtrailing 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 when we see an opportunity and use Skinner skill in the ground.

Replacements
We have subs who we really feel can impact the game. Our front row subs should be able to come on and maintain the strong footing we have in the scrum. Rob Simmons is a great impact sub and will look to get around the park making tackles and carries. In similar vain James Haskell is a great option to have off the bench. He is another player who can really change the game with his carrying. FDP will look to come on and have a calming influence with his leadership skills. He will look to adapt the way he plays to the situation. Another sub is Kurtley Beale who can change a game in an instant with a bit of magic, we will look to get him running at tired backs.

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Gloucester
Manager – Mat

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09.Will Genia
02. Joe Gray	10. Dan Carter
03. Nicola Mas
04.Bakkies Botha	11. Charlie Sharples
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Steven Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. Schalk Burger	14.JSD
08. Harinordoqouy	15. May

16. Nick Wood17. Jamie George18. Rupert harden 19. Ali Williams 20. Andy Saull 21. Connor Murray 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Israel dagg

Tactics


Psychological- We are the form team in the league and have a better record than bath over the past 14 games. we have won at Sarries away so this ground holds little fear. We also have players bang in form and are not carrying anyone who has been out injured for a while or who is out of position.

Tactics

Scrum we are obviously looking to get on the front foot and looking to launch our backrow at hodgson and co to get quick ball to attack with. mas and steenkamp are destructive props and will be looking to get on toip against healy and Murray. Healy is ever improving but has historically struggled bug time with Mas in particular.

On their ball we will be looking to nudge and disrupt and try and get our back row to pour through and put pressure on wigglesworth who has not played due to injury this year.


Lineout. We see this as one of our key advantages and have jumpers in all the back 5. We will be targetting their throw with Hari, robson, burger, Ferris and Bakkies all being top draw lineout operators.

having the control of the lineout will make our own ball easier and will give us great foundations to attack with. we will look to vary whether we go or the top or drive to keep them honest. in the first half we will be driving a lot more to wear them down and also to set the correct field position to align our attacks from. We will also be looking to pop burger, ferris and hari off the back of these to get them into hodgson and wiggles to create quick ball in behind.

General forward play. As ever gloucester are about control and ball carrying. we have a team full of ball carriers and will really look to keep it in hand and control the ball. we will look to offload when safe and try and get in behind to target hodgson.

We will also be really looking to attack the break down and dominate the collision. we see back row as a big advantage and feel we can really get at skinner who has been bit part at quins. we see this as the area to control the game and to control tempo of the game from. Gloucester are all about controlling games and attaching on our own terms and we see our pack as offering us the chance to do this with our superior breakdown and lineout abilities.


Backs.

Gloucester are going to play a measured attacking game and are all about raising the tempo in the right places and slowing it in others.

The way you control the game is through your back row and half backs.

Genia and Carter are the premium pair in world rugby and will look to exert their influence over the bath half backs.

Genia will be marshalling the forwards and only giving the ball to carter when the time is right. he will also be attacking the fringes when necessary to keep the back row honest and stop them from fringing.

Carter will be looking to exploit the balance of the BAth backline by sending kahui into allen or outside him on the slant to try and isolate his inexperience at 13.

Barnes alongside him gives option for first receiver and another kicking option for us to pin back their back 3

Carter will also be looking to kick quite a lot of ball in behind Rougerie and North. big wingers are famously slow on the turn and with neither having the best kicking game we will be looking to use this as a major source of terrtitory for us to attack with our lineout from. it will also serve the purpose of keeping Bath in the right part of the field and force them to attempt more long range attacks. Obvioulsy kicks in behind are only as good as their chase and we will aim to keep our shape on this with ferris, burger, hari helping out on this also. We also think with north being new to bath their maybe some communication issues with the back 3.

When we can get ball we will look to create mismatches and utilise our serious gas. We have the gloucester back 3 who are used to each other and know how to attack as a unit. MAy sharples and Jsd will look to counter loose kicks and kicks not chased correctly as the game starts to break up. Whilst big wingers are a handful with their power they are also susceptible to quick wings with foot work and may sharples and JSD will look to exploit this particularly against rougerie who has not played wing for a while. great player as he is we hope he is rusty there!!

With DC and Barnes interchainging we have the distribution to hit our dangerous back 3 and kahui to put them through holes.
Bench

We see ourselves as being able to continue or domination with the bench. Harden in particular will fancy having a piece of golding and George and wood will add dynamism when steenkamp and Gray tire.

With Ali Williams coming on we will be able to continue lineout dominance. he can carry on his world cup role as impact sub par excellence

Connor murray and lamb will come on as necessary with Dagg coming on at 50 to help us futher in attack and defence kicking

The bench will aim to take the game further away form bath rather than contain a lead.


Key points

Lineout prowess dominates possesion and territory
Back row unit - played together more than any unit and will look to target skinner
Half backs- control game and tempo in our view a mismatch
Kicking game- Control the game and build pressure
back 3 familiarity
Momentum- we have the longest unbeaten streak in the game and have beaten teams like sarries when they were at full strength

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London Wasps v Exeter Chiefs
Light Rain, 9 Degrees, 17mph Winds

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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. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Luke McAlister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Jamie Roberts
07. Jacques Burger	14. Ugo Monye
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Luke Narraway 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 Exeter. We will look to tire the ageing Exeter pack by making them work hard in defence with our dynamic and relentless carrying all game. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to move Exeter’s pack around the park and wear them out, so we can then attack the space.

In the early stages, 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 Exeter 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. We will look to wear the Exeter pack out and create mismatches in midfield to exploit.

In attack we will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Roberts running plenty of hard lines at the fly half channel in the Exeter defence. We will look to win the collisions and offload to the supporting players if it’s on. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Exeter defence and target the outside shoulder. We will support our carriers and drive them 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 Exeter players to ensure Burgess has clean ball.

We know the conditions will be difficult in this game, so if the offload isn’t on we will look to take the contact and recycle the ball quickly. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Exeter 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 Exeter on the back foot.

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Jimmy Cowen
02. John Smit	10. Ronan O’Gara
03. Davit Zirkashvilli
04. Simon Shaw	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. James Hudson	12. Mike Tindall
06. Lewis Moody	13. George Pisi
07. Shane Jennings	14. Vasily Artemyev
08. Nick Easter ©	15. Lee Byrne

16.Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19.Juilian Pierre 20.Flip Van Der Merwe 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Adam Powell 23.Ben Skirving

FORWARDS

Take Wasps on up front and look to smash there set piece into next week. Using Crockett , Smit, Zirka , Shawsy and Hudson to really take the game to them in the tight. Jennings will look to target the breakdown and either steal ball or make a mess of Wasps chances of clean ball.

Lewis Moody at 6 will look to get at the Wasps 9/10 channel and put pressure on them and limit there time to move the ball and keep the game narrow and turn it into a arm wrestle against a tema we know we can out muscle in the tight phases.

BACKS

Cowen and ROG are controlling half backs who will look to dictate the tempo and put us in the right areas of the pitch with ROG kicking behind the Wasp’s wingers and exploiting the space in behind them and keep them in there 22. ROG/Tindall/Pisi and Byrne will all look to drop bombs on to the Wasps back 3 with Fitzy , Arty and Moody chasing all day to put pressure on the wasps players.

Just because we’ve picked a backline to play for territory doesn’t mean that we won’t be looking to take advantage of any overlaps or holes in the defense with our back line keeping a eye open for these.

DEFENSE

We will stop Wasps momentum with a solid defence line with Tindall and Pisi both solid defenders who will halt the midfield in it's tracks. We will operate a blitz defense to get in the face of the Wasps attack with Cowen sweeping behind.


- ROG to tick the board with drop goals and penalties.

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Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks
Heavy Rain, 9 Degrees, 19mph Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Matt Mullen	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Giteau(c)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Chris Ashton
08. Liam Messam	15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Matt Stevens 19. Alexander Lapandy 20. Ryan Kankowski 21. Mike Phillips 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Tomassi Benvenuti

Tactics:
Saints will look to play a controlled game in the conditions and will look to go through phase after phase where we will look to make the hard yards and keep control of the ball. We have picked Giteau and Halfpenny in the team to have a good kicking game and place Saints in areas of the pitch where our aggressive defence will look to force Sale into making mistakes, losing ball and pressurising turnovers.

Possession & Territory

We will keep hold of the ball, work through the phases and use our powerful runners to get over the gainline in both the forwards and backs. We have selected Fofana and Tuilagi to give us a physical advantage in midfield and will use Siviatu to also run off the shoulder of Giteau to get us an advantage here. We will have a numerical advantage in midfield with the Sale backthree dropping back to receive kicks.
After going through multiple phases Giteau will look to kick the ball to the corners and get lineouts in the Sale 22 – we want to make sure that after going through 6, 8, 10 phases and forcing Sale backwards we then get another boost for our pack by seeing a lineout another 25-30 yards down the pitch.

Aggressive Defence to force mistakes

We have picked a forward pack that is known for its tackling and being able to put runners down fast – Lawes and Lydiate are two of the best tackling forwards in the world. With Clark and Messam in the backrow we have four players who can put in big hits, force turnovers and get Sale to make errors. We will look to be aggressive and force mistakes in key areas – this will also be from midfield with Fofana and Tuilagi able to be incredibly disruptive and will look to put pressure on the Sale midfield.

We will especially look to pressurise Sale in their own 22 – any error there or penalties will be kicked by Halfpenny.

Set Piece & Breakdown

Really solid set piece and will relish the battle in the scrum – especially as we are able to bring on Domingo and Stevens on the second half. We will use this as a platform to get Messam running off the back of scrums and targeting Hook – however Simpson will also look to get quick service to Giteau who will then launch Fofana, Tuilagi or Siviatu into the Sale midfield.

Lineout will be kept extremely simple with Albacete and Lawes are main lineout jumpers, with no risks being taken. We will look to set up mauls and start driving and going through the phases here. Defensively we will attack all Sale ball when they are outside the Saints 22, with a view to disrupting their lineout and giving Care bad ball. When defending in our 22 we will just defend the maul that will come.

We have picked a really competitive backrow, with Lydiate and Clark very good at slowing down ball and causing a nuisance. In these conditions there is less of a need to generate quick ball and we will therefore commit numbers and drive over the ball in the contact area to secure possession and then start going through the phases again.

Key Points:
* Simple game plan for bad conditions, around possession and territory – keeping going forward through the phases and kicks into the corner by Giteau.
* Really physical game to force mistakes in the Sale team – aggressive defence led by Lawes, Messam and Lydiate in the pack, Fofana and Tuilagi in midfield.
* When mistakes are made get Halfpenny to punish any mistake from anywhere within 40metres of the posts.
* Take advantage of more physical midfield – get over the gainline – gives us more chance of scoring tries and will rely on our defence to stop Sale scoring 5points.
* Bring on four international forwards in second half to keep intensity – with Mike Phillips coming on after 50mins to add physicality in second half.

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. David Strettle
05. Alun Wyn Jones	12. James Hook
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Keith Earls
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Luke Rooney

16. Jerome Schuster 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Nick Abendanoon

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General Game Plan:

In these conditions the most important thing is to firstly play the game in the right areas. Sexton and Hook will look to use an intelligent kicking game to put us in Saints territory. When there we will look to win the collisions, using our strong carriers to attack the Saints line in groups, getting us over the gain line and keeping our forward momentum going. We will look to use the offload to support runners only when it is really on so as to retain possession in these conditions.

Care will look to play around the fringes of the ruck tying the Northampton flankers to the breakdown. Sexton will look to attack from fly half and inject pace to the proceedings committing the Saints defence and leaving space in wider channels.

At scrum time we will look to contest each and every engagement. On our own feed we will aim to get a push on and gain as much ground as possible or plenty of penalty opportunities. While on Saints feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Northampton halfbacks. At the lineout we will look to keep things simple and rely on Millo Chluski, AWJ and Thomson to bring the ball down into a maul and use the physicality of our pack to gain ground and suck in the Saints forwards.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the Saints ball carriers before they can get to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown harder. Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers or chips behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to cover any kicks down the touch lines.

With the blitz defence in operation we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it fast and hard. The first two players on the scene will look to ruck past the ball and clear out the Saints players providing quick counter attacking ball to be cleared and used against a disorganised defensive line. If the ball does not look available we not commit to the ruck and look to strengthen the defensive line instead.

---

---

Saracens v Leicester Tigers
Light Rain, 9 Degrees, 17mph Winds

---

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Dave Attwood	11. Digby Ioane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Thierry Dusautoir	13. Henry Trinder
07. Tom Wood	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Joe van Niekerk (c)	15. Alex Goode

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Lionel Nallet 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Patric Lambie 23. Mark Cueto

Tactics

Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.

In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. However, re recognise that the ball will be damp in this game so 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 the outside shoulder of Jauzion - We will look to bring our wingers into midfield as support runners taking short popped offloads and hitting the outside shoulder of Yannick Jauzion as we feel they can beat him for pace and break the gainline here.
  
  
• Target Yachvili at the base of rucks - On Tigers ball we will look for our back row to play right on the limit of the offisde line close to the ruck and get to Yachvili quickly to disrupt his game as Tigers are looking to play off 9.
  
  
• Use big carriers close to the ruck - On early phases we will get the pack carrying close to the ruck to tie defenders in before looking to go wider and bringing our talented backs into play.
  

Key Points

• Form and Momentum - Luke talks about Tigers having form and momentum, yet we have qualified for all of the competitions that they have and sit above them in the league having lost less games. Therefore by definition, if they have form and momentum, then we must have at least the same amount and if not more.
  
  
• Home Advantage - We have lost twice at home in the league in 4 seasons. It is a fortress.
  
  
• Gameplan - Luke has talked about us not having an out and out 7, but both flankers are adept on the deck and BDP is a turnover machine at the breakdown acting like an extra flanker. Tigers have slected two 7's who are not renowned carriers on their flanks yet are going to play a carrying game according to their tactics. For me that doesn't add up.
  

---

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Cencus Johnston
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Alex Brown	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Johnathan Poff	13. Florian Fritz
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Rob Miller

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Lee Mears 18. Ben Franks 19. Samu Manoa 20. Magnus Lund 21. Jordan Crane 22. Michael Claassens 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 Yachvili sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.

- Yachvili 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 Yachvili and Wilkinson. A.Brown to be our banker ball, supported by Horwill.

- 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 Beast in the set piece.

- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. Led by Waldrom, and supported by Horwill, Pocock, Poff, 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 Sarries. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

BACKS:

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. In the conditions we will look to test Sarries' back three with a kicking ame, 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 Sarries is loose or short, and if it is on, we will not be afraid to run the ball back.

KEY POINTS:

- Form and Momentum - 16 wins in 18 games. Progressed in all cup competitions and in the playoff positions in the league. Our confidence is sky high. .

- A massive carrying pack that should tire Sarries down to allow our pacey back line room to cause damage with their pace.

- Target the breakdown - Pocock to do all he can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use - Sarries have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here.

- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

---

Big game Pete

Some really really good games this week. Conditions will be very important I think.

Big game at Wycombe Wasps.

Just looked on BBC and it's set to chuck it down on Friday!

Just looked back over my recent record against Arry's Wasps and we always seem to have quality encounters!

Season 3 week 22 - Exeter 28 London Wasps 28
Season 3 LV round 1 - Exeter 26 London Wasps 23
Season 4 Week 3 - Exeter 20 London Wasps 29
Season 4 LV round 3 - London Wasps 21 Exeter Chiefs 25

Light rain for London. Will make for some good games.

Always a big game between us luke, normally pretty tight, not expecting this one to be any different.

Unlikely to get my team in before Wednesday but suffice to say I won't be resting anyone for this. #respectfortheopposition

This ain't Twitter Pete! You can't be upsetting Leicester players on here just because your playing them! lol

Ah bless them, they're pussycats really them Tiggers

#tiggersfeelingconfident

So all players are available this week I take....even French/Irish ones

They have said they aren't playing France v Ireland this weeked so yes I think so

Sweeeeeeet....

Should be a good one Nick.

which Tiger have you hacked off on Twitter Pete?

Saracens include French and Irish stars Thierry Dusautoir, Morgan Parra, Francois Trinh-Duc, Lionel Nallet and Andrew Trimble in their matchday 23 after their 6 Nations fixture was postponed last weekend. The other changes to the squad include George Chuter who replaces Gary Botha on the bench, and new signing Tom Johnson. Head coach Ozzy 3213 had this to say.

"It's a big game for us this weekend against Leicester Tigers who are hot on our heels in the Premiership. We considered including the likes of Alex Corbisiero, Adam Jones, Jon Davies and Owen Farrell this week, but decided against it as we have enough quality within the squad not to have to risk burning them out at this crucial stage of the season. The French and Irish boys are all really fired up for this one having not played last week, and I am looking forward to seeing what sort of impact Tom Johnson can give us off the bench. I've no doubts that Leicester will come hard at us, and we have to make sure that we front up and impose out game on them, which I know that we are more than capable of doing."

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Dave Attwood	11. Digby Ioane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Thierry Dusautoir	13. Henry Trinder
07. Tom Wood	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Joe van Niekerk (c)	15. Alex Goode

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Lionel Nallet 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Patric Lambie 23. Mark Cueto

Tactics

Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.

In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. However, re recognise that the ball will be damp in this game so 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 the outside shoulder of Jauzion - We will look to bring our wingers into midfield as support runners taking short popped offloads and hitting the outside shoulder of Yannick Jauzion as we feel they can beat him for pace and break the gainline here.
  
  
• Target Yachvili at the base of rucks - On Tigers ball we will look for our back row to play right on the limit of the offisde line close to the ruck and get to Yachvili quickly to disrupt his game as Tigers are looking to play off 9.
  
  
• Use big carriers close to the ruck - On early phases we will get the pack carrying close to the ruck to tie defenders in before looking to go wider and bringing our talented backs into play.
  

Key Points

• Form and Momentum - Luke talks about Tigers having form and momentum, yet we have qualified for all of the competitions that they have and sit above them in the league having lost less games. Therefore by definition, if they have form and momentum, then we must have at least the same amount and if not more.
  
  
• Home Advantage - We have lost twice at home in the league in 4 seasons. It is a fortress.
  
  
• Gameplan - Luke has talked about us not having an out and out 7, but both flankers are adept on the deck and BDP is a turnover machine at the breakdown acting like an extra flanker. Tigers have slected two 7's who are not renowned carriers on their flanks yet are going to play a carrying game according to their tactics. For me that doesn't add up.
  
  

Northampton Saints versus Sale
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Matt Mullen	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Giteau(c)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Chris Ashton
08. Liam Messam	15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Matt Stevens 19. Alexander Lapandy 20. Ryan Kankowski 21. Mike Phillips 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Tomassi Benvenuti

Tactics:
Saints will look to play a controlled game in the conditions and will look to go through phase after phase where we will look to make the hard yards and keep control of the ball. We have picked Giteau and Halfpenny in the team to have a good kicking game and place Saints in areas of the pitch where our aggressive defence will look to force Sale into making mistakes, losing ball and pressurising turnovers.

Possession & Territory

We will keep hold of the ball, work through the phases and use our powerful runners to get over the gainline in both the forwards and backs. We have selected Fofana and Tuilagi to give us a physical advantage in midfield and will use Siviatu to also run off the shoulder of Giteau to get us an advantage here. We will have a numerical advantage in midfield with the Sale backthree dropping back to receive kicks.
After going through multiple phases Giteau will look to kick the ball to the corners and get lineouts in the Sale 22 – we want to make sure that after going through 6, 8, 10 phases and forcing Sale backwards we then get another boost for our pack by seeing a lineout another 25-30 yards down the pitch.

Aggressive Defence to force mistakes

We have picked a forward pack that is known for its tackling and being able to put runners down fast – Lawes and Lydiate are two of the best tackling forwards in the world. With Clark and Messam in the backrow we have four players who can put in big hits, force turnovers and get Sale to make errors. We will look to be aggressive and force mistakes in key areas – this will also be from midfield with Fofana and Tuilagi able to be incredibly disruptive and will look to put pressure on the Sale midfield.

We will especially look to pressurise Sale in their own 22 – any error there or penalties will be kicked by Halfpenny.

Set Piece & Breakdown

Really solid set piece and will relish the battle in the scrum – especially as we are able to bring on Domingo and Stevens on the second half. We will use this as a platform to get Messam running off the back of scrums and targeting Hook – however Simpson will also look to get quick service to Giteau who will then launch Fofana, Tuilagi or Siviatu into the Sale midfield.

Lineout will be kept extremely simple with Albacete and Lawes are main lineout jumpers, with no risks being taken. We will look to set up mauls and start driving and going through the phases here. Defensively we will attack all Sale ball when they are outside the Saints 22, with a view to disrupting their lineout and giving Care bad ball. When defending in our 22 we will just defend the maul that will come.

We have picked a really competitive backrow, with Lydiate and Clark very good at slowing down ball and causing a nuisance. In these conditions there is less of a need to generate quick ball and we will therefore commit numbers and drive over the ball in the contact area to secure possession and then start going through the phases again.

Key Points:
* Simple game plan for bad conditions, around possession and territory – keeping going forward through the phases and kicks into the corner by Giteau.
* Really physical game to force mistakes in the Sale team – aggressive defence led by Lawes, Messam and Lydiate in the pack, Fofana and Tuilagi in midfield.
* When mistakes are made get Halfpenny to punish any mistake from anywhere within 40metres of the posts.
* Take advantage of more physical midfield – get over the gainline – gives us more chance of scoring tries and will rely on our defence to stop Sale scoring 5points.
* Bring on four international forwards in second half to keep intensity – with Mike Phillips coming on after 50mins to add physicality in second half.

Conditions updated

Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. David Flatman	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Danie Russouw	11. Marcel Garvey
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Sam Vesty
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. Regan King
07. Craig Newby (c)	14. Bryan Habana
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Michael Mayhew 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Ben Morgan 21. Byron Kelleher 22. Pat McCabe 23. Greig Tonks

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. 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
We want quick ball and will use our centres and back row to create gaps with powerful, creative running. Steyn will look to make touch and not kick it down their throats. When the ball goes to Vesty 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 Peel 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,
*Use the centres to create the space,
*Steyn and Vesty 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!
*Peel 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.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09.Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Euan Murray
04. Louis Deacon	11. George North
05.Sam Whitelock	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Sean O’Brien	13. Anthony Allen
07. Will Skinner	14.Aurelien Rougerie
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Maxime Medard

16. Dave Wilson 17. Joe Ward 18. Jon Golding 19. Rob Simmons 20. James Haskell 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Dominic Waldouck 23. Kurtley Beale
Tactics

Psychological
12 wins in 14 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence. In this run we have won all our home games including a win over league leaders and defending champions Newcastle.

Overall
In this weather we will look to play simple rugby, using the set piece as a platform, with lots of big carries.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Murray, Healy and Mealamu will be looking to get in a big hit first. Lobbe will control it at the back. We will be using the scrum as an option as much as possible as we feel we can really dominate here. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock, Lobbe and SOB all capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball.

Kicking
We will look to put the ball behind the Gloucester back three and put pressure on them in their own 22 with Hodgson and Lobbe leading the chase. We shall only use this sparingly though. Hodgson will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. When FDP comes on he offers another box kicking option which we can use. Beale will take over place kicking duties when he comes on.

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. We have big carrying forwards such as SOB, Lobbe, Whitelock and Healy who we will get to run at Gloucester.

Our backs have been picked with the ability to carry in mind. George North is a winger in a forwards body and we will look to create mismatches for him. Rougerie and Mermoz will also look for big carries. Medard and Allen will try and poach holes in the Gloucester defence. Wigglesworth will look to provide us with quick ball at the breakdown.

Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Gloucester decision makers. Our defense will leave Medardtrailing 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 when we see an opportunity and use Skinner skill in the ground.

Replacements
We have subs who we really feel can impact the game. Our front row subs should be able to come on and maintain the strong footing we have in the scrum. Rob Simmons is a great impact sub and will look to get around the park making tackles and carries. In similar vain James Haskell is a great option to have off the bench. He is another player who can really change the game with his carrying. FDP will look to come on and have a calming influence with his leadership skills. He will look to adapt the way he plays to the situation. Another sub is Kurtley Beale who can change a game in an instant with a bit of magic, we will look to get him running at tired backs.

Leicester Tigers have named their side to travel to Saracens this week.

Tigers have made just 2 changes from last weeks game, with Dimitri Yachvili and Johnathan Poff coming into the side. 

Tigers travel to Watford in fine form, having won 16 of their last 18 games, and having beaten Exeter away last week. 


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Cencus Johnston
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Alex Brown	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Johnathan Poff	13. Florian Fritz
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Rob Miller

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Lee Mears 18. Ben Franks 19. Samu Manoa 20. Magnus Lund 21. Jordan Crane 22. Michael Claassens 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  Yachvili sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.

- Yachvili 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 Yachvili and Wilkinson. A.Brown to be our banker ball, supported by Horwill.

- 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 Beast in the set piece. 

- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. Led by Waldrom, and supported by Horwill, Pocock, Poff, 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 Sarries. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

BACKS:

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. In the conditions we will look to test Sarries' back three with a kicking ame, 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 Sarries is loose or short, and if it is on, we will not be afraid to run the ball back.

KEY POINTS:

- Form and Momentum - 16 wins in 18 games. Progressed in all cup competitions and in the playoff positions in the league. Our confidence is sky high. .

- A massive carrying pack that should tire Sarries down to allow our pacey back line room to cause damage with their pace.

- Target the breakdown - Pocock to do all he can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use - Sarries have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here.

- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

1.Wyatt Crockett
2.John Smit
3.Davit Zirkashvilli
4.Simon Shaw
5.James Hudson
6.Lewis Moody
7.Shane Jennings
8.Nick Easter ©

9.Jimmy Cowen
10.Ronan O’Gara
11.Luke Fitzgerald
12.Mike Tindall
13.George Pisi
14. Vasily Artemyev
15.Lee Byrne

16.Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19.Juilian Pierre 20.Flip Van Der Merwe 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Adam Powell 23.Ben Skirving

Tactics;

FORWARDS

Take Wasps on up front and look to smash there set piece into next week. Using Crockett , Smit, Zirka , Shawsy and Hudson to really take the game to them in the tight. Jennings will look to target the breakdown and either steal ball or make a mess of Wasps chances of clean ball.

Lewis Moody at 6 will look to get at the Wasps 9/10 channel and put pressure on them and limit there time to move the ball and keep the game narrow and turn it into a arm wrestle against a tema we know we can out muscle in the tight phases.

BACKS

Cowen and ROG are controlling half backs who will look to dictate the tempo and put us in the right areas of the pitch with ROG kicking behind the Wasp’s wingers and exploiting the space in behind them and keep them in there 22. ROG/Tindall/Pisi and Byrne will all look to drop bombs on to the Wasps back 3 with Fitzy , Arty and Moody chasing all day to put pressure on the wasps players.

Just because we’ve picked a backline to play for territory doesn’t mean that we won’t be looking to take advantage of any overlaps or holes in the defense with our back line keeping a eye open for these.

DEFENSE

We will stop Wasps momentum with a solid defence line with Tindall and Pisi both solid defenders who will halt the midfield in it's tracks. We will operate a blitz defense to get in the face of the Wasps attack with Cowen sweeping behind.


- ROG to tick the board with drop goals and penalties.



KEY POINTS

*TBA

*TBA

*TBA

Tactics updated.

Best of luck Luke.


Prop, I have accidentally deleted the team that you PM'd me mate. Are you around and if so can you either past it here or send to me again. Sorry mate.

[quote="Mat"]
Manager – Mat

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09.Will Genia
02. Joe Gray	10. Dan Carter
03. Nicola Mas
04.Bakkies Botha	11. Charlie Sharples
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Steven Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. Schalk Burger	14.JSD
08. Harinordoqouy	15. May

16. Nick Wood17. Jamie George18. Rupert harden 19. Ali Williams 20. Andy Saull 21. Connor Murray 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Israel dagg
[b]Tactics


Tactics

Psychological- We are the form team in the league and have a better record than bath over the past 14 games. we have won at Sarries away so this ground holds little fear. We also have players bang in form and are not carrying anyone who has been out injured for a while or who is out of position.

Tactics

Scrum we are obviously looking to get on the front foot and looking to launch our backrow at hodgson and co to get quick ball to attack with. mas and steenkamp are destructive props and will be looking to get on toip against healy and Murray. Healy is ever improving but has historically struggled bug time with Mas in particular.

On their ball we will be looking to nudge and disrupt and try and get our back row to pour through and put pressure on wigglesworth who has not played due to injury this year.


Lineout. We see this as one of our key advantages and have jumpers in all the back 5. We will be targetting their throw with Hari, robson, burger, Ferris and Bakkies all being top draw lineout operators.

having the control of the lineout will make our own ball easier and will give us great foundations to attack with. we will look to vary whether we go or the top or drive to keep them honest. in the first half we will be driving a lot more to wear them down and also to set the correct field position to align our attacks from. We will also be looking to pop burger, ferris and hari off the back of these to get them into hodgson and wiggles to create quick ball in behind.

General forward play. As ever gloucester are about control and ball carrying. we have a team full of ball carriers and will really look to keep it in hand and control the ball. we will look to offload when safe and try and get in behind to target hodgson.

We will also be really looking to attack the break down and dominate the collision. we see back row as a big advantage and feel we can really get at skinner who has been bit part at quins. we see this as the area to control the game and to control tempo of the game from. Gloucester are all about controlling games and attaching on our own terms and we see our pack as offering us the chance to do this with our superior breakdown and lineout abilities.


Backs.

Gloucester are going to play a measured attacking game and are all about raising the tempo in the right places and slowing it in others.

The way you control the game is through your back row and half backs.

Genia and Carter are the premium pair in world rugby and will look to exert their influence over the bath half backs.

Genia will be marshalling the forwards and only giving the ball to carter when the time is right. he will also be attacking the fringes when necessary to keep the back row honest and stop them from fringing.

Carter will be looking to exploit the balance of the BAth backline by sending kahui into allen or outside him on the slant to try and isolate his inexperience at 13.

Barnes alongside him gives option for first receiver and another kicking option for us to pin back their back 3

Carter will also be looking to kick quite a lot of ball in behind Rougerie and North. big wingers are famously slow on the turn and with neither having the best kicking game we will be looking to use this as a major source of terrtitory for us to attack with our lineout from. it will also serve the purpose of keeping Bath in the right part of the field and force them to attempt more long range attacks. Obvioulsy kicks in behind are only as good as their chase and we will aim to keep our shape on this with ferris, burger, hari helping out on this also. We also think with north being new to bath their maybe some communication issues with the back 3.

When we can get ball we will look to create mismatches and utilise our serious gas. We have the gloucester back 3 who are used to each other and know how to attack as a unit. MAy sharples and Jsd will look to counter loose kicks and kicks not chased correctly as the game starts to break up. Whilst big wingers are a handful with their power they are also susceptible to quick wings with foot work and may sharples and JSD will look to exploit this particularly against rougerie who has not played wing for a while. great player as he is we hope he is rusty there!!

With DC and Barnes interchainging we have the distribution to hit our dangerous back 3 and kahui to put them through holes.
Bench

We see ourselves as being able to continue or domination with the bench. Harden in particular will fancy having a piece of golding and George and wood will add dynamism when steenkamp and Gray tire.

With Ali Williams coming on we will be able to continue lineout dominance. he can carry on his world cup role as impact sub par excellence

Connor murray and lamb will come on as necessary with Dagg coming on at 50 to help us futher in attack and defence kicking

The bench will aim to take the game further away form bath rather than contain a lead.


Key points

Lineout prowess dominates possesion and territory
Back row unit - played together more than any unit and will look to target skinner
Half backs- control game and tempo in our view a mismatch
Kicking game- Control the game and build pressure
back 3 familiarity
Momentum- we have the longest unbeaten streak in the game and have beaten teams like sarries when they were at full strength

good luck ITFL. this will be an epic encounter

Julian White is on a 1 week ban I believe Mat, you'll need another prop on your bench.

Noted pete and changed.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. David Strettle
05. Alun Wyn Jones	12. James Hook
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Keith Earls
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Luke Rooney

16. Jerome Schuster 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Nick Abendanoon

---

General Game Plan:

In these conditions the most important thing is to firstly play the game in the right areas. Sexton and Hook will look to use an intelligent kicking game to put us in Saints territory. When there we will look to win the collisions, using our strong carriers to attack the Saints line in groups, getting us over the gain line and keeping our forward momentum going. We will look to use the offload to support runners only when it is really on so as to retain possession in these conditions.

Care will look to play around the fringes of the ruck tying the Northampton flankers to the breakdown. Sexton will look to attack from fly half and inject pace to the proceedings committing the Saints defence and leaving space in wider channels.

At scrum time we will look to contest each and every engagement. On our own feed we will aim to get a push on and gain as much ground as possible or plenty of penalty opportunities. While on Saints feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Northampton halfbacks. At the lineout we will look to keep things simple and rely on Millo Chluski, AWJ and Thomson to bring the ball down into a maul and use the physicality of our pack to gain ground and suck in the Saints forwards.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the Saints ball carriers before they can get to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown harder. Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers or chips behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to cover any kicks down the touch lines.

With the blitz defence in operation we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it fast and hard. The first two players on the scene will look to ruck past the ball and clear out the Saints players providing quick counter attacking ball to be cleared and used against a disorganised defensive line. If the ball does not look available we not commit to the ruck and look to strengthen the defensive line instead.

---

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Priestland (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Jerome Thion	11. Zac Guildford
05. George Skivington	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Francois Louw	13. George Lowe
07. Sam Warburton (C)	14. Jonathan Joseph
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Rob Kearney

16. Chris Brooker 17. Tony Woodcock 18. Brian Mujati 19. James Gaskell 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Riki Flutey

Tactics

We have picked a mobile side very comfortable with ball in hand which is capable of playing an attractive brand of rugby and scoring some tries. The conditions allow for some nice rugby but the rain will put pay to a barbarian style approach.

Game Plan

Retain the ball and starve Worcester of possession and turn the screw in defence and at the breakdown when we don’t have the ball. Keeping the ball for long periods with tire Worcester and put them under pressure, especially in their own half. With this tactic we will look for our carriers to be dynamic and will look for our decision makers to be switching the point of attack regularly so we are making it difficult for Worcester in defence.

We are ultimately looking for our pack to get quick ball so we can use the ball in wide areas and cause some damage with our runners in the backline. To get this quick ball we will use our strong carriers to punch holes in the Worcester defensive line and give our forwards a target to hit at the ruck and then have Dickson get the ball away quickly.

We will be looking more than we usually do to kick for territory when deep in our own half and with the boots of Priestland, Contepomi and Kearney we feel we have the players to kick behind Worcester and win any ensuing kicking battle. Dickson, Priestland and Contepomi are the men who will control our game.

Forwards

We have chosen a front 5 with hard carriers who are comfortable with ball in hand as well as at the set piece. In the back 5 we have a mobile unit which can cross the gain line. We want to win the collisions across the park in attack and defence to give ourselves momentum or to halt Worcesters.

Aggression in our play is key for us today. At the lineout Thion is in charge and we will look too alternate between our 5 jumpers and look for short lineouts when between the 22m lines. At the scrum we are looking for both of our props to get underneath there opposite man and put the squeeze on.

Backs

We’ve gone for a backline which is comfortable playing with the ball in hand as well as in a kicking battle. As stated we want to keep the ball in hand when in Worcester’s half and will look for Priestland and Contepomi to put our outside backs in to space. Out wide we have to lethal finishers and at 13 we have a guy who can put them into space and attract defenders.

Defence

We want to put pressure on Worcester’s key decision makers and will do this with a quick linespeed. We particularly want to get after their 9 and 10 and give them no time on the ball. Looking to dominate at the breakdown and getting men there first is key to that. A least two or our back 3 will stay deep for the kicks and Dickson will sweep behind.

Key Points

- Retain the ball. When in Worcester’s half we keep the ball and look to up
the tempo, got quick ball, and try to run Worcester ragged.

- Aggression in contact in both attack in defence.

- Control the game with our half back combination.

- Get the ball wide when Worcester are disorganised in defence and we have quick ball.

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. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Luke McAlister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Jamie Roberts
07. Jacques Burger	14. Ugo Monye
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Luke Narraway 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 Exeter. We will look to tire the ageing Exeter pack by making them work hard in defence with our dynamic and relentless carrying all game. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to move Exeter’s pack around the park and wear them out, so we can then attack the space.

In the early stages, 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 Exeter 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. We will look to wear the Exeter pack out and create mismatches in midfield to exploit.

In attack we will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Roberts running plenty of hard lines at the fly half channel in the Exeter defence. We will look to win the collisions and offload to the supporting players if it’s on. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Exeter defence and target the outside shoulder. We will support our carriers and drive them 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 Exeter players to ensure Burgess has clean ball.

We know the conditions will be difficult in this game, so if the offload isn’t on we will look to take the contact and recycle the ball quickly. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Exeter 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 Exeter on the back foot.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Butch James
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Paul Sackey
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. Martin Castrogiovanni 17. James Buckland 18. Darren Fearn 19. Kieren Lowe 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Julien Dupuy 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 Falcons 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 willl look to dominate possession and tire the Falcons defence. Tonga'uhia, Spies, Kaino, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and Butch 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.
- 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 will put up a couple of high balls and test the Falcons back 3 with the swirling winds. We will ensure our wingers put a lot of pressure on the receiver and look to force them into mistakes.
- Target Youngs. He has been off his game for a while now and we will look to pressure him and force him in to providing scrappy service to Evans. His confidence is low and we will look to expose this.

guys havent seen SJE post his team/tactics - so will do my tactics tomorrow morning if that's ok?

Should be Matt...Think at your place you'd get it...hopefully at my place I can edge it...Skinner looks well out of place in them back rows but bringing on Haskell at Half time against a tired team should be good!

Tactics updated, the reason it says it's been edited so many times is it wouldn't update them so I had to keep clicking send!

Just seen SJE has put up his tactics - got them all written up, but at work - ok to post tomorrow morning before 10am guys?

Originally I had saull starting itfl but thought if I was going into a big game I would want burger every time. Still can't believe you don't start Beale. Whilst he is no shakes defensively guy is a super star and makes you reluctant to kick. Bring it on. As a glos fan in real life I hate bath but will move this to a warm dislike as its a fantasy game lol. Best of British to you

Yer I thought that with two big games I wanted Haskell rested for them...woulda been happier with Skinner against Saull.
With Beale I don't think he is brilliant in the wet and once again coming on at half time. Really I think that Beale, Haskell, FDP and Simmons especially coming off the bench could give me a big advantage in the second half, although Dagg off the bench is hardly poor.

good luck as well

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. William Servat	10. Nick Evans
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Brad Barritt
06. Kelly Brown	13. Conrad Smith
07. Rich McCaw(c)	14. James O’Connor
08. Kieran Read	15. Adam Ashley-Cooper

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Chris Robshaw 21. Jonny Arr 22.Toby Flood 23. Tommy Bowe

Tactics

Game plan...Fast paced, dynamic rugby. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off. We’ll be aiming to control possession and go through the phases. Evans will look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.

We’ll look to use the wind to our advantage and Evans will look to send up the odd bomb

Set piece:

Control the set piece and use it as a focal point of attacks. We see a slight advantage in the scrum that will be targeted especially in opposition half. We’ll look to get the squeeze on and keep the Irish back row tied into the scrum giving Youngs and Evans more space to work in. Parling will marshal the lineout and look to get fast ball off the top with 5 strong jumpers. Barcella & Servat will look to put the nudge on Nel who can be got in the scrum.

If a weakness is seen in the set piece McCaw will go for the jugular.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the Irish forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on. McCaw will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the Irish carrier. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot. We’ll look to win the collision with big our physical pack and dominate the Irish front 5 in the contact,

Backs:

Basically get the backs into play whenever possible with Evans the spark. Smith will mashall the back 3 and we’ll look to get JOC in as 2nd receiver now and again to mix things up. JOC will go looking for the ball in midfield and AAC will come into the line to give us a direct hard runner. Youngs will eye the gaps and look for the taps to keep us moving.

POINTS:

SCRUM & LINEOUT – Target throughout, if weakness seen go for the jugular
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through Irish
BREAKDOWN – Richie to work his magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball
FORM – We are unbeaten at home in 18 month and are currently top of the pile playing some magic rugby
BACK 3 – Look to get our back 3 into the game as much as possible
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
SBW - We expect the big man to offload so we will look to use this to our advantage as target runners either side of him as well as looking for the steal.
YOUNGS - In real life his club form has been solid playing with a familiar 8/10. The difference for us is he'll get quick clean ball and space to play his natural game. With England he receives slow ball and this stops him been on the front foot. Also England never get any turnover ball to attack with. With McCaw, Read in your team he will.

Sorry so late Nick

Gonna be some humdingers this week.

Predictions are gonna take some time.

tactics updated

Guys have changed to make my tactics shorter etc, as know I have previously been writing War & Peace in previous attempts.

Could you let me know whether these are better, easier to read etc?

Newcastle 22 - 24 London Irish

I think the scrum will go the way of Irish and the lineout will be even. As a whole the packs a pretty even with perhaps a marginal advantage to Irish with some very powerful carriers and some players in top form. One a piece at half back with Pienaar a great man to control the game for Irish. Midfield battle is a great one with the Irish combo a little stronger. Newcastle have the stronger back three. Breakdown goes to Newcastle with both defences very strong. Really really tough, but I think Pienaar is the big factor here and his form behind a pack getting at the very least parity see's Irish get a win.


Bath 17 - 17 Gloucester

Upfront it is pretty even in both the scrum and the lineout with both front 5's having players who will be present in the loose. Back rows go to Gloucester but Haskell on at half time brings it to a more even level. Half backs go to Gloucester but I like the Wigglesworth/Hodgson combo who will do what you want them to in the conditions and brings the gap between the half backs closer. Centre combo's go to Gloucester but it is close, I like having Barnes as a second kicking/creative option. Bath back 3 is a class ahead in these conditions with May and Medard both potentially a little flakey. Can't call this one sorry.

London Wasps 23 - 20 Exeter Chiefs

Scrum and lineout fairly even, prefer the Wasps backrow which are very physical but Exeter should be alright at the breakdown. As a whole I prefer the Wasps backline as I feel it has a little bit of everything. Good game here but Wasps have a little too much for Exeter.

Northampton Saints 19 - 18 Sale Sharks

Would be a much better game in drier conditions. Scrum goes to Saints marginally and the lineout's are pretty even if not a slight advantage to Saints. Packs fairly even in the loose with Picamoles having a big impact in the loose. Halfbacks go to Sale in the conditions and I see the centres as pretty even. Back 3's go to Northampton though. Really tough call again. The little bit more upfront and home advantage gets Saints the narrowest of wins.

Saracens 26 - 23 Leicester

Scrum is pretty even along with the lineout so don't see much give there. Front 5 goes to leicester in the loose but I prefer the Saracens back row, although Pocock will be okay at the breakdown. Leicester half backs will control the game better but Saracens will be a little better on the the attack. I think Saracens are stronger in the outside backs. Good contest with Saracens getting enough ball to bring in there game changers in the midfield and outwide.

Guys have done my tactics, but not uploaded to main thread yet - if you scroll throug and see my post then you will see my tactics - can someone put them on the main thread though please?

Newcastle 22-21 London Irish
Don't think Pooly's tactics have been put up on main bit yet - I would have gone for Irish to win if the conditions werent sunny, as don't think the Newcastle backline is the most physical and can be got at that way - but weather is perfect for them. They are going to rely a lot of Evans boot as can see Irish scoring more tries, but at home with the influence of McCaw Newcastle will just about win.

Bath 19 - 19 Gloucester
A really interesting game, hard to call as teams are better in different areas - would shade the pack to Gloucester in terms of being better in the heavy rain, would have started Haskell over Skinner as always prefer having bigger lumps in these conditions that can stop mauls and don't necessarily see having an out and out 7 as that helpful. But pack battle is competitive. Now Genia and Carter are streets ahead at halfback, but so many great ball carriers in the Bath backline that really evens up the conditions - Mat's team has a few too many runners in it, but more control with Genia, Carter and Barnes axis. See Medard as a weakness at the back and would have started Beale. Cant split this one, fair result seems the draw.

Quins 25 - 23 Worcester
Would have favoured the Worcester pack if the conditions were heavy rain, but do like the attacking balance of Quins, espc how Priestland and Contepomi could link up. See Quins getting into a good lead, but have a few 6Nations players there and can see them tiring a bit, and the monstrous backrow of Warriors caysing all sorts of trouble - Morgan could have a big impact - just don't think they have the attacking threat of Quins.

London Wasps 16-16 Exeter Chiefs
Really tough game to call, can see Exeter being general pains in the ar se for the whole 80minutes and have got a team that will frustrate Wasps, and always seen Moody as a great player to have in your team when the wet weather comes. Wouldn't have started Roberts at 13 today - after two big internationals think he could be a bit tired and not be as effective as usual (would be different for a less confrontational player). O'Gara and Cowan can get Exeter in key areas to really put pressure on Wasps and will be a really disjointed game, largely both teams cancelling each other out.

Saracens 23-22 Leicester
Really close game - would have given Tigers the win in heavy rain but the conditions suit Sarries players a little bit more, especially the forwards and back row balance, as cant see Poff and Pocock working and would have been tempted with Manoa starting at no6, just so Tigers have an extra ball carrier from the start. I still think Sarries lack a certain spark in the backline who can win a game on their own, so will be close, espc with LLL's tactics.

Quins v Worcester - Warriors have a real workmanlike pack which will grind away and make it hard for Quins. Quins have some good form players like Afoa, Warburton and Louw who have a touch more class, overall its close in the packs. Quins have a controlling half back combo and a lot of gas in the backs, but lack a go to man to smash over the gainline. But the same could be said for Warriors. Peel and Steyn will keep Warriors in touch and kick lots of points won by their forwards but think Quins have too much pace and towards the end will take it.
26-22

Bath v Gloucester - ITFL is right, Skinner does look out of place in a mammoth battle, but Haskell coming on will even things up. Bath have great momentum and will be confident but I think there half backs compared to Gloucesters will slightly hinder them. But they have some great backs in North, Rougerie, Medard and will cause problems for Sharples, JSD and May who are immense attackers but can be got at in defence. Glos have an electric backline but the conditions do not suit them. Rougerie and North can really get at their opponents. In the dry Glos would of had this but think the wet suits bath a bit better. carter to the rescue for glos.
18-18

Wasps v Exeter - Hard to call a nudge for ever scrum, for me Exeter overall sneak the pack with Easter playing so well at 8. The chiefs halfbacks also give them better controll although Burgess is on good form for Wasps. Not convinced by Tindall at 12 but alongside Pisi gives them a powerful combo. Mac and Roberts is different class though. Wasps back 3 is good and Brown on good form. Another tough one to call, swayed by home advantage.
22-21

Northampton v Sale - Alot of dynamism in Saints forwards to match Sale's. Set pieces are even. Sales halfbacks on better form but I like both pairs. That centre match up is immense. Fofana on great form and gets the upper hand on Hook, Freuan v Tuilagi is huge. Backs 3's go to Saints with Halfpenny playing so well. At home, Saints get a vital win.
17-14

Saracens v Leicester - Pocock could get the edge at the breakdown for Leicester, but I think Sarries have enough quality in Dusatoir, JVN and the saffa front row to combat this. Prefer the French combo at half backs and Ioane and Nonu's hard running will test Tigers. Both have good benches but think Sarries is slightly stronger and at Vicarage road they are hard to beat. tigers just come up short.
24-21

Quins 24-22 Worcester

Warriors have a great wet weather side quins have class and bench to win. Steyns kicking keeps it close as does weather.

Quins centres just don't work for me on fOrm. Guildford great full stop but top in wet and gives quins great attacking threat and continuity

Falcons 20-18 Irish
Think Falcons get the slight edge upfront and the lineout will be even. I think Newcastle will get the edge at the breakdown. At the half backs it’s one each with Pienaar and Evans both solid players. Centres go to Irish but back three to Newcastle. Not much in it but home advantage and a stronger bench sees Newcastle home IMO

Quins 19-15 Warriors
Not much in the forwards. Prefer the Quins pack by a bit but think the Warriors will be fresher. Think the backs are similar although I do give these overall to Quins. Think Quins have a better set of subs to close out the game although I can see Ben Morgan experiencing some success coming from the bench.

Wasps 22–23 Exeter
Wasps have a slight edge in the scrum, but the lineout is about equal. Prefer the Exeter back row so all in all the forwards are about equal. I really like the Exeter half backs and think they can put the game in the right areas. Prefer Wasps from 11-15 though. Exeter have subs that I think can win them this close game.

Saints 18–15 Sharks
Very close in the scrum could go either way. Think Sharks will win the lineouts but the Saints have better forwards in the loose. Not much in the forwards. Prefer the Sale half backs but think Saints have a better 11-15. I do think Saints players are better for their tactics. Home advantage and some very good subs edge it to Saints.

Saracens 26–22 Tigers
Edging the forwards to Saracens but its definitely competitive. Both half back combos are excellent but think the better carriers are at Sarrise and for this reason I give them the win

Chaps do we want to Leave predos open as prop and pete away

Just written out predos twice and had them disappear when posting this site has loads of bugs at moment will do short predos now

Newcastle Falcons 20 - 18 London Irish
Very close encounter this one, think the pack battle is very even with a slight edge in the back row to the Falcons. Prefer the London Irish centres, really class combo, but I see the Newcastle back three providing more of a threat. Think the boot of Evans will be vital in this game. Think the Newcastle bench will also play a big part in sealing a very narrow victory.

Harlequins 22 - 19 Worcester Warriors
Two very impressive packs on display, think Worcester will disrupt a lot of the Harlequins play and be a nuisance all game. I prefer the Worcester half backs but the rest of the back line goes to an impressive Harlequins outfit. Plenty of big carriers to get Quins over the gain line and can see Priestland using the exciting runners in the Harlequins back line to good effect. Home advantage and better backline wins this one for Steve.

Rest to come shortly...

Falcons 13-10 Irish
Wind makes a mess of game and accuracy will be an issue. Young gets a lesson from Pienaar. Falcons have enough just to scrape an error strewn game

Wasps 19-19 Exeter
Hard to call wasps better backs exeter shade pack and hb which is enough away to get draw
Saints 19- 15 Sharks
more dynamism and much sharper backs. Sale get an edge at lineout and hb

Saracens 26–22 Tigers
Home advantage and more carriers
Falcons 13-10 Irish
Wind makes a mess of game and accuracy will be an issue. Young gets a lesson from Pienaar. Falcons have enough just to scrape an error strewn game

Wasps 19-19 Exeter
Hard to call wasps better backs exeter shade pack and hb which is enough away to get draw
Saints 19- 15 Sharks
more dynamism and much sharper backs. Sale get an edge at lineout and hb

Saracens 26–22 Tigers
Home advantage and more carriers