Premiership round 5 - week 9

Week 9

Aviva Premiership Round 5

Sale Sharks v London Wasps
Exeter Chiefs v Bath Rugby
Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons
London Irish v Northampton Saints
Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins
Worcester Warriors v Saracens


Post your teams here and Fluxy can add them to the actual page later

Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Joe Marler	09.Danny Care
02.Joe Grey	10.Nick Evans (k)
03.James Johnstone
04.Charlie Matthews	11.Scott Hamilton
05.George Robson	12.Tom Casson
06.Neil Best	13.Jared Payne
07.Matt Kvesic	14.Elliot Daly
08.Nick Easter (c)	15.Greg Goosen

16.Tom Lindsey 17.Kieren Brookes 18.Rob Buchanan 19.George Skivington 20.Chris Robshaw 21.Nic Berry 22.Riki Flutey 23.Danny Cipriani

Tactics

- Typical quins game plan , play at a high tempo and keep the ball moving with plenty of width and off loads.

- Brown to counter any kicks and run them back with interest

- Care and Evans to control the tempo and put us into the right areas of the pitch to put Glaws under the cosh on there try line.

- Lindsey/Robshaw/Flutey on at 50/70/60 for Neil Best/Matt Kvesic/Casson to up the tempo.

- Lindsey to slot in at 6 to make best use of his powerfull runs in the loose and not have to worry about putting the ball in at the lineout and play his natural game.

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Bring on the Falcons!

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Marco Ayerza	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rob Webber	10. Toby Flood
03. Julian White
04. Lewis Deacon	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Craig Newby	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. James O’Connor
08. Thomas Waldroum	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Tom Youngs 17. Martin Castrogiovani 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Ed Slater 20. Jacques Cronje 21. Sam Harrison 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. George Lowe

Tactics

In the windy conditions we'll be looking to play at a high tempo and intensity from the off and move the opposition around the park.

We will look to set a tone in the set piece with our big scrummaging front 5 and will look for the squeeze from the off. Parling will lead the line and we will look to target the opposition's throw with Newby/Parling marshalling the front/middle of the line. We'll use big carries from our pack to draw in the opposition defence with Youngs marshalling and looking for gaps to exploit around the fringes.

Warburton & Newby will target the breakdown with Youngs sniping around and playing flat to the line to allow Barnes & Manu space to run into. JOC will come looking for the ball in midfield and link up with Manu causing problems in the opposition midfield. We'll look to refresh pack around 60mins + and keep up the intensity.

Barnes will act as second playmaker and look to bring our backs into play and exploit Manu’s physicalty with mismatches and also as a decoy to draw the opposition defense.

- Look to use the wind to test out Falcons back 3
- Increase pressure in set piece in 2nd half
- look to get at new combinations in opposition backline

London Wasps
Manager – Stnick88

01. Tim Payne	09. Karl Dickson
02. George Chuter	10. Nicky Robinson
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Matt Garvey	11. Tom Varndell
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Jordan Turner-Hall
06. Tinus Du Plessis	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Julien Salvi	14. Alesana Tuilagi
08. Pedrie Wannenburg	15. Richard Haugton

16. Zak Taulafo 17. Ben Broster 18. Andy Titterell 19. Richard Birkett 20. Michael Lipman 21. Charlie Davies 22. Jimmy Gopperth 23. Mike Brown

Gloucester

Manager – prop_lyd

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis
02. Darren Dawiduk	10. Patrick Lambie (k)
03. Rupert Harden
04. Alex Brown	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Will James	12. EFS
06. Peter Buxton	13. Johnny May
07. Akapusi Qera	14. JSD
08. Luke Narraway (c)	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Scott Lawson 17. Dario Chistolini 18. Adam Jones 19. Jim Hamilton 20. JVN 21. Rory Lawson 22. Tim Taylor 23. Iain Balshaw

Emailed Pooly my team so here's the tactics:

Overall
Fast paced game is going to be played today looking to get points and a morale boosting win. Our pack and backs are very mobile and will look to stretch Quins across the pitch and look for our first win. We have JVN on the bench who is a game changer and a born leader to come on in the 2nd half.

Forwards
*Front row to look to dominate the scrums and hit every other ruck to ensure quick ball,
*Work in pod systems so there are always free players as runners,
*2nd row to look for quick lineout ball and to steal and add pressure onto their throws,
*Backrow to look for turnovers all game and to provide runners in the 10-12 channel,
*Bring on our game changers in Jones, Hamilton and JVN to add brute force to the match and continue the pressure.

Backs
*Lewis to look to provide Lambie with quick ball and Lambie to look to run everything unless in our own 22 where we'll clear for touch,
*EFS to create the gaps and May to blitz through them with support runners,
*Use the back row as decoys and give them the ball now and again to 'spice' things up,
*JSD and Sharples to go hunting with Morgan playing cheeky grubbers to put Quins on back foot,
*Play attractive fast rugby with steady heads ready to come on and slow the game down when we have a substantial lead.

Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. N.Catt	09. M.Classens
02. L.Mears	10. T.Heathcote
03.O.Franks
04. D.Attwood	11. T.Biggs
05. R.Caldwell	12. M.Carraro
06. L.Moody	13. C.Laulala
07. F.Louw	14. O.Woodburn
08. S.Taylor	15. S.Vesty

16. D.Flatman 17. P.Dixon 18. A.Perenise 19. S.Hooper 20. G.Mercer 21. C.Cook 22. M.Banahan 23. I.Dagg

TACTICS
This deep into the season, it is important to rest some players, who have started every game so far and to test squad depth. I've picked a very strong bench, that can have a real impact and is an area of real advantage over our opponents. With Exeter playing a high intensity game, we think that they could make mistakes late in the game, as they tire and having players of the quality of Perenise, Dagg and Banahan to bring will help us to secure wins across the pitch. Banahan comes on after 50mins, replacing Carraro at 12, to give a huge physical attacking threat and to draw defenders across, creating space for Laulala to release the speedsters out wide. Dagg comes on to track Laulala in the second half and can read his offloads off his shoulder.

Looking at Exeter's tactics it seems there is real confusion at the breakdown and conflicting tactics. It is unclear how you can slow ball down and scrag the scrum half without over committing to the ruck. In Moody and Louw, we have 2 specialists at the breakdown, who will look to secure the area on our ball and spoil opposition ball.

BACKS
* Carraro picked at 12, our best defender, so looks to organise the team defensively and nullify the threat of Naqe. Carraro to run hard and straight in attack, setting up a ruck on the gainline, so our big ball carriers of Franks, Louw, Shaw, Fearns can smash through and create space out wide.
* Vesty at 15 for extra kicking option, with him coming into the line at second receiver in attack, to allow a second playmaker and kicking option
* Picked Woodburn and Heathcote to start as both in great form. Heathcote plays the basics very well and is the perfect player for a tough away game, whilst Woodburn is a real try scoring threat and great in the air.
* Heathcote looks play it safe away from home and look for territory. With Woodburn and Biggs, we have 2 great kick chasers and will look to pressurise Exeter wingers, who aren't known for their kicking game. Vesty holds back, waiting for the return kick and building a counter attack with support runners
* Laulala to look for the half gap and offload, with the pace of Biggs and Woodburn on their shoulder to make the break

FORWARDS
* Use ball carriers of Franks, Louw, Attwood, Caldwell to make hard yards up the pitch and draw defenders into the ruck area, looking to create space around the fringes for Carraro and Laulala to exploit
* With the scrummaging strength in the front row and with Flatman and Perenise coming on after 50 mins, we have the opportunity to challenge at scrum time and spoil their ball, forcing their back row and scrum half to work with messy ball. Classens experience here is crucial
* At the lineout, look to challenge for the ball in their half with the number 1 jumper. In our half, look to challenge for the ball at ground level, after the throw. The strength of Caldwell, Attwood and Franks coupled with ball winning of Louw and Moody is a great combo.
* Moody and Louw to pressurise opposition half backs, it is a new combination and inexperienced in this competition. Look to force their decision making, hoping for mistakes, this will continue in the second half, with Mercer replacing Moody

Woops wrong game!

After a brief absence form the club due to personal reasons, head coach Ozzy3213 returns to Sandy Park for the Chiefs encounter with Bath Rugby. He had this to say.

"It's been a difficult time for the players in my absence with no real leadership and uncertainty about the future hanging over everyone. That is now not the case and the players have visibly grown in confidence this week. We are in a poor position at the foot of the table but that does not reflect the quality in the squad, and the players are aware that the onus is on them to improve our position, starting this weekend."

Exeter Chiefs

Head Coach – Ozzy3213

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Craig Mitchell
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Gonzalo Camacho
05. James Hanks	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Tom Johnson	13. Jason Shoemark
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Paul Sackey
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Simon Alcott 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Hoani Tui 19. Tommy Hayes 20. James Phillips 21. Junior Poluleuigaga 22. Gareth Steenson 23. Phil Dollman

Tactics

Our gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game. We will work as units and play a structured game (as the Chiefs and Saracens do in real life). We will put a lot of emphasis on the set piece, and look to use both as a real platform to play from, whilst not allowing our opponents to do the same. We will also look to use our big ball carriers to attack the gainline whilst having support runners on their shoulders to either take the offload or hit the ruck quickly as appropriate.

Specifics

• Attacking
  
  
• Play in the right areas - Cruden to use his boot to ensure we play in the right half of the pitch (kicking for touch and contesting the lineout, not to the Bath back 4).
  
  
• Control Possession - When in the right areas our pack and centres to all carry hard and straight and look to get over the gainline and recycle.
  
  
• Use driving mauls - Support runners to hit the ball carrier in contact and keep him up and drive forward turning it into a maul. Also use driving mauls off of lineouts.
  
  
• Take all points on offer - Cruden to take every kickable penalty at goal.
  
  
  
• Defensive
  
  
• Slow opposition ball down - Look to legally (do not give penalties away) slow the ball at the breakdown by getting our back row over it to deny Bath any momentum.
  
  
• Do not overcommit to rucks - If the ball is not there to be won, do not overcommit but maintain a solid defensive line and control gainline momentum.
  
  
• Blitz Defence - Get up to the gainline quickly as a unit and stop Bath getting any forward momentum. Haydn Thomas to sweep in behind.
  
  
• Target Classens - Back row to play on the limit of the offside line at the ruck and look to really scrag Classens at every opportunity.
  
  
  
• Key Points
  
  
• Home Advantage - Very few teams go to Sandy Park and get a result, however many big names they have in the side (See Leicester Tigers last week in real life).
  
  
• New Head Coach - New head coach in place always sees an upturn in form for players as they get a boost from the fresh start.
  

WorcesterWarriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Matt Mullan	09. Will Genia
02. Alexi Lutui	10. Dan Carter
03. Tevita Taumoepeau
04. James Percival	11. Ugo Monye
05. Gerhard Mostert	12. Ma’a Nonu
06. James Haskell	13. Matt Hopper
07. Maurie Fa'asavalu	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Luke Rooney

16. Ed Shervington 17. Ceri Jones 18. George Porter 19. Ben Gulliver 20. Jake Abbott 21. Jonny Arr 22. Andy Goode 23. Anthony Allen
Tactics

• We have a strong 8-9-10-12 axis and will look to control the game using these positions.

[list][*]We have a team who is rested and we feel our fresh legs can take it to Saracens.[/list

• Will Genia will be looking to snipe around the fringes and will use his running game to pressure Gloucester

• Dan Carter is the best Fly Half in the world and will look to control our game making changes as he sees fit

[list][*]We will look to getting Nonu into the game and creating mismatches so he can run at Sarries defenders list]

• Look to get our dangerous back three involved and into open space so they can cause trouble.

• Our backrow will look to provide some big carries as well

• Nonu to be focus of Attack then use him as dummy with Carter pulling the strings

London Irish
Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Clarke Dermody (c)	09. Joe Simpson
02. William Servat	10. Daniel Bowden (k)
03. Paulică Ion
04. Steve Mafi	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Shontayne Hape
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Regan King
07. David Pocock	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Chris Hala'ufia	15. Delon Armitage (k)

16. James Buckland, 17. Alex Corbisiero, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Tom Palmer, 20. Imanol Harinordoquy, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Steve Shingler, 23 Marlande Yarde

Tactics
Confidence is high at London Irish; we're unbeaten at home and look to keep it that way against the Saints. We'll stick to our normal game plan, using the piston system in attack with Bowden patrolling behind the pack. In defence we'll use the up and out system, forcing them to pass and get isolated at the breakdown.

We have some real firepower on the bench so we'll be looking to get them involved and seal the victory.

- Use the set piece as a platform to build attacks. At scrum time, we have 5 big front row scrummagers at our disposal to compete with the Saints. If it's messy, Hala'ufia to pick and go to set it up.

- Similarly with the lineout, use jumpers Mafi, Kennedy and Pocock. Opt for full lineouts in their half to tie in their pack and go for off-the-top ball to get wide quickly. Harinordoquy and Palmer are options too.

- Target the breakdown for possible turnovers, with Gibson and Pocock staying strong on their feet. When they arise, two quicks balls away and go. Backs, forwards, back yourselves.

- Be disciplined at the breakdown, with a guard and bodyguard at every breakdown to stop those easy yards around the fringes. No excuses here.

- Big runners off Bowden give us real go forward. Look to get outside their guards and bodyguards to suck in more and more forwards at each breakdown. The space will come, and when it does, we go.

- Simpson is back in to give us real tempo and get the ball early to Bowden. He'll control the pack and use big runners to set up a platform to go from.

- Play rugby in their half. Bowden to put us in the right places and alow us to use our lineout weapon.

- Bowden to go for points at every opportunity. With Delon on hand also, we can have a pop from anywhere in their half. Make them scared to give away penalties in their half, thus giving us more time at the breakdown.

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Sale - light showers, 19mph winds, 6'
Exeter - light showers, 17mph winds, 7'
Leicester - Light showers, 16mph winds, 4'
Reading - Light showers, 16mph winds, 8'
Gloucester light showers, 13mph winds, 7'
Worcester - light showers, 13mph winds, 7'

Just doing team and tactics at the moment Pull but arent Kennedy and Shingler inelligible as they have just been swapped in a deal for Servat and Palmer???

SARCENS
Manager –  Luke

01. Matt Stevens	09. Ben Spencer
02. Schalk Brits	10.  Charlie Hodgson
03. Carlos Nieto
04. George Kruis	11. Joe Maddock
05. Steve Borthwick (c)	12. Owen Farrell (k)
06. Jacques Burger	13. Adam Powell
07. Andy Saull	14. James Short
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Alex Goode

16. Rhys Gill 17. Jamie George 18. John Smit 19. Hugh Vyvyan 20. Jackson Wray 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Nils Mordt  23. Brad Barritt

Tactics

We will work as units and play a structured game. We will use the scrum and lineout as weapons.

- Attack the lineout as much as we can using the tactical kicking of Spencer, Hodgson and Farrell. Borthwick to lead, supported by Joubert, Kruis and Saull.

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

- Look to all of our forwards to give us real go-forward with their carrying.

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

- Hodgson is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our lineout and carrying ability to put pressure on the opposition, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. All have good boots to rely on if it isn't on or they are isolated, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.

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

- Use a very powerful bench to tie the game up in the last 20/30 mins.

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Paul Doran Jones	09. Lee Dickson
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Vasily Artemiev
05. Samu Manoa	12. James Downey
06. Calum Clark	13. John Clarke
07. Tom Wood	14. Chris Ashton
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. Alex Waller 17. Brett Sharman 18. Danny Herriot 19. Christian Day 20. Roger Wilson 21. Martin Roberts 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Jamie Elliot

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General Game Plan:

We will use our strong carriers to attack gaps and half gaps in the Irish line, looking to offload in contact to support runners thus changing the point of attack and keeping our forward momentum going. Sexton will look to attack from first receiver and inject pace to the proceedings committing the Irish defence and leaving space in wider channels for our runners to exploit. If running the ball is not on our halfbacks will look to the boot to put us in the right areas.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the Irish ball carriers with the “choke” tackle before they can get to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to turn the ball over. Lee Dickson 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 and counter attack at pace.

With the blitz 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 Pocock and co providing quick counter attacking ball to be used against a disorganised defensive line. If the ball does not look available we will not commit to the ruck and look to strengthen the defensive line instead.

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Key Points:

•Scrum

We will contest every engagement! On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and create extra room for our 8-9-10 axis to work in. On Irish ball we feel we have the edge and want to disrupt the put in as much as possible looking for penalties and freekicks.

•Lineout

With 5 jumpers and minimal challenge on our ball, we want to really use the lineout as an attacking platform like South Africa in recent years. We will use a full compliment and play the ball off the top allowing our halfbacks to get on the ball at pace with room outside.

Irish have thrown Servat and Palmer (Kennedy is ineligible) straight in to the side with 2 days training. Their lineout will be fairly basic and likely to be kept between Servat and Palmer due to their Newcastle link up.

We will look to really disrupt here and will send Lawes up at the front of the lineout while Read marks Palmer in the line out. We want to take full advantage and get our hands on as much Irish ball as possible and wreck their game plan

•Fringe Defence

Around the rucks Tom Wood will look to play on the limits of the offside line, like he does so well, hassling Simpson denying him the opportunity to snipe. We know if we can disrupt him his service to Bowden will go downhill.

•Chris Hala'ufia

We will look to put some big hits in on Hala'ufia early on and make things physical looking to rile him up. We know with his disciplinary record we can force some illegal retaliatory play from him and a trip to the sin bin.

•Target the defence

We will target Regan Kings unfamiliarty with the Irish patterns and take advantage sending runners down his channel. We will also look to take advantage of the Irish "up and out system". Ashton will look to cut lines off our midfield against the drift, completly breaking the defensive line.

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