Aviva Premiership Round 17

Team Sheets and tactics due by 23:59 hours on Thursday
Predictions open at 00:01 hours on Friday. Predictions Close at 12:00 hours on Saturday

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Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins
Cloudy with Sunny Intervals, 10 degrees, 8 mph winds.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Fran Steyn
06. Kelly Brown	13. Jaque Fourie
07. Richie McCaw(c)	14. James O'Connor
08. Kieran Read	15. Adam Ashley-Cooper

16. Marius Tincu 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Guy Mercer 21. Ben Youngs 22. Nick Evans 23. Dan Hipkiss

Tactics

General – High intensity, bully the opposition front 5 and look to unleash backline with pace & power. Keep hold of the ball and go through the phases with huge carrying options. Look to smash through the Quins 10/12 axis and get momentum to unleash JOC, Fourie, AAC on the break. We are unbeaten at home in nearly 2 seasons and have not lost to Quins in the league home and away for 2 season.

Scrum – Look to get nudge on with Barcella & Lindsay targeting the Brits/Afoa axis. If weakness seen we’ll look to dominate here. We’re backed up by two excellent scrummaging locks in Thorn/Parling against two predominant 5’s in Gaskell & Donnelly. Franks & Tincu to come on in the 2nd half to turn the screw.

Engine Room – We feel we have huge advantage here, especially around the park. Quins are giving away nearly 3 stones in the engine room and a lot of physicality. We’ll look to utilise this by hitting rucks hard and cleaning the Quins defence out, also our ruck play should be steady preventing Quins attempting to turn us over.

Lineout – quick ball off the top using Parling as primary caller, also look to use Read at the tail and McCaw, Thorn to offer front ball.

Breakdown – Look to target Warburton and tire him out early on allowing Reda/McCaw to cause havoc. Look to double up on the hit and target the lack of a straight runner in the Quins midfield.

Defence – Look to use the Blitz and get in the face of Priestland early on and force him off his game. With Flutey & JJ outside him, he lacks a go to ball and will try to force things. Steyn/Fourie and McCaw off the scrum will look to put pressure on.

Backline – Steyn as go to ball and second kicking option. Look to get Steyn and Fourie running down the Quins 9/10/12 axis targeting Priestland and Flutey especially. We expect Steyn/Fourie to either break the line or tie in the Quins defence allowing JOC/AAC/Benjamin to come into the line and exploit the gaps. Decoy play will be utilised with Quins setting up for the big carries from our midfield, with JOC especially coming on as 2nd/3rd receiver and using his gas to run at Quins.

Points:

6 Nations Players – We expect them to be jaded and to either not have their mind on the game or tire quickly. Warburton/Dickson/Priestland will be targeted throughout. Maybe one player you could get away with but the spine of Quins side will be jaded and minds elsewhere.

Quick ball – Quins often base their game around quick ball but with their lack of physicality in the front 5 this will be a serious issue as they'll struggle to clear out rucks and provide Dickson a platform.

Quins engine room – Giving away nearly 3 stone and offering little physicality we see Quins scrum & ruck play being effected throughout this game and them struggling to gain a platform to attack with.

Quins midfield – Up against two of the hardest running and strongest defensively players in world rugby we expect an out of form Flutey and youngster JJ to have their hands full. With JOC coming into the line also we feel we’ll get the upper hand here.

Quins bogey team – We have won each Prem game home and away against Quins for 2 seasons now. The return fixture:

Harlequins 24-27 Newcastle Falcons

Subs – With Quins 6N players tiring early we’ll be able to get the nudge on early on and give Evans a platform when he come on early in the second half. Franks to come after halftime to increase pressure in set piece and give us added work rate around the park. Evans at around 60mins to see out game.

Home form – We do not lose at home and haven’t done for 2 years. Home advantage means an awful lot in rugby and we will be looking to win this one.


Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Rhys Priestland (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Donnelly	11. Zac Guildford
05. James Gaskell	12. Riki Flutey
06. Francois Louw	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Joe Rokocoko
08. Phil Dowson	15. Luke Morahan

16. Chris Brooker 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. Nathan Sharpe 20. Luke Wallace 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. George Lowe

Tactics

Game Plan

Keep the ball for long periods and look for quick ball. When we get the quick ball we will really look to up the tempo and go at Newcastle defence at pace. We have Priestland and Flutey who are very capable of putting others into spaces and this will be dangerous with the quick service provided by Dickson. The only way in which we will be frequently kicking the ball away is if we are getting the better of the lineout.

The key to our ball possession game is dynamic carriers. Brits, Afoa, Gaskell, Louw, Dowson and Warburton will hit the ball at pace, in numbers and with the aim of winning the collision and getting over the gain line. If we can get these players getting good momentum from there carriers then we can keep the tempo high and this will cause Newcastle’s defensive line to faulter or they will have to infringe. This is what we want our carriers to be working towards when getting us the quick ball.

We have picked a mobile pack and aren’t looking to get dragged into an arm wrestle up front. We are going to constantly move the point of attack and spread the game as much as possible as this plays to our advantage. To keep the tempo of our play up our side will look to offload when the option is there.

In the backline we will be looking to do everything at speed. When we get the quick ball we want to get our dangermen at 11, 13, 14 and 15 into the game in the wide channels. Each has the ability to beat a man and we will do this at full speed.

In defence we are really looking to target the breakdown with Warburton and Louw key to this. They will look to stay on their feet and turn the ball over, or at least slow it down or get us a penalty. When we haven’t got the first men there we will look for one or two forwards to adopt a low body position and try to ruck Newcastle off the ball with the aim of at least slowing the ball down.

We are going to look to have a very quick line speed in defence and put huge pressure on the Newcastle decision makers at 9, 10 and 12. Particularly pressure Pretorius who can be slow getting the ball away. We will look to keep at least two of the back 3 back ready to clear up a kick with Dickson sweeping behind the defensive line.

Whilst we are looking for a quick tempo towards the game we will still look to kick the points when we get a chance, unless the game situation suggests another option.

Key Points

- This will be Warburton’s 3rd full game in 8 weeks, Priestland’s 5th in 8 weeks, Dowson’s 3rd full game in 8 weeks and Dickson's 3rd full game in 8 weeks. Fatigue not an issue for our 6 nations players.

- Donnelly played at 4 for the Crusaders in week 1. Comfortable playing there and offers another top class lineout option.

- We have some great impact players to come on in the 2nd half. They can really make an impact on the game.

- We have a lot of players playing well. I feel we have much more than Newcastle in terms of players in form.

- Only Steyn and Fourie’s 2nd game together in the centres for Newcastle so we will look to exploit any gaps which might appear in there.

- The Brits factor. We all know what he can do when he gets his hands on the ball and he will always be looking to get his hands on the ball and attack the Newcastle defence.

Game Specfic Points

- Put on big pressure at the set piece. Prefer both our props both at the scrum and in the loose and we want Woodcock and Afoa to really get at Barcella and PDJ at the scrum and Donnelly, Louw, Gaskell , Warbs and Dowson working hard at the lineout. Try and put the pressure on Lindsay’s throw.

- We beat Newcastle in the HC quarter finals last season. We know how to beat them.

- Lack of physicality in the front 5. I don't see the problem to be honest. We might give away size (I haven't looked at the figures) but our players are much more dynamic and will bring this into play at ruck time. Our players use their size with more effect around the field than Newcastle's.

- How our 6N players can be looked at as a weakness is a mystery to me. I've given the game time stats in my key points.

- We don't feel that big Brad Thorn will have a field day as we feel he is more interested in the retirement home he's had his eye on on the Brisbane coast

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Exeter Chiefs v Sale Sharks
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 10 mph winds.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver

01.Alistair Dickinson	09.Jimmy Cowen
02.Damian Varley	10.Colin Slade
03.Ben Alexander
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 (c)	15.Iain Balshaw

16.Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Tom Mercy 19.Flip Van Der Merwe 20.Declan Danahar 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Derrick Houghard 23.Lee Byrne

Tactics

- Chiefs to play a high tempo game moving the ball and bringing our backs into the game and really taking the game to Sale.

- We've gone for mobilty picking Dickinson and Alexander as props who will look to run round and make plenty of carries in the loose as well as being solid at the set piece.

- Shorten the lineout and secure quick ball off the top to hit the likes of Easter , Shawsy and Tindall running hard up the middle.

- Slade to stand a bit flatter than normal and run at Sale and Attack the line from quick ball and unleash our backs.

- Moody to cause havoc in the 9/10 channel and chase there half backs for 80 minutes with Jennings looking to make a mess of the ruck area.

- Blitz defence to deny any sharks momentum or width with Cowen sweeping behind.


Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. Tom Brady
05. Andries Bekker	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Victor Vito	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Jerome Schuster 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Luke Rooney

General Game Plan:

We will use our strong carriers to attack the gaps in the Chiefs line, looking to offload in contact to support runners thus changing the point of attack and keeping our forward momentum going. Care will look to snipe around the fringes and tie the Chiefs backrow to the breakdown area. Cruden will look to attack from fly half and inject pace to the proceedings committing the Chiefs defence and leaving space in wider channels to exploit. If running the ball is not on our halfbacks will look to the boot to put us in the right areas

At scrum time we will look to contest each and 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. While on Exeter feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Chiefs halfbacks. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hooker we will look to attack from the lineout mixing things up by bringing the ball down into the maul and tying up the Chiefs forwards or else playing the ball of the top and injecting serious pace into the play.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the Exeter 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 and counter attack at pace.

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 Chiefs players providing quick counter attacking ball to be cleared and 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:

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Leicester Tigers v Gloucester Rugby
Cloudy, 10 degrees, 8 mph winds.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Ben Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Alesana Tuilagi
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Nathan Hines	13. Florian Fritz
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Rob Miller

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Lee Mears 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Alex Brown 20. Jordan Crane 21. Michael Claassens 22. Dave Walder 23. Topsy Ojo

Tactics

GENERAL:

- We will play a game built around our huge line-breakers, and strength in the set piece. Our HB's our tasked with moving us into the right areas of the pitch, getting our big carriers crashing through Gloucester's defence, and attacking the lineout as a weapon.

- 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.

FORWARDS:

- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili, Wilkinson and Twelvetrees. Horwill, Manoa and Hines to rotate the target. We will relentlessly target Gloucester's throws. A.Brown to keep this pressure up second half.

- At the scrum Franks selected as we look to really get the shove on and target Gloucester scrum. Cencus and Dermody to keep this pressure up second half.

- Pack full of carriers, led by Waldrom, and with Horwill, Manoa, Pocock, Sheridan, Hines and Moore look to get real go-forward with our carrying. With the ball in hand we want to attack together in groups so as not to become isolated.

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

- Use Tuilagi/Manoa/Waldrom off the shoulder of the HB's to crash through the Gloucester defence.

- 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.

- Twelvetrees to be our other kicking option, and a big carrier at 12. Fritz asked to play his natural game, big drives forward aand getting our back three into play as and when he can.

- The back three aren't encouarged to take too many risks. Jane and Miller are extremly well versed in full back play, and we won't take unnecessary risks. If Tuilagi recieves a kick he is told to pass to Miller/Jane to use their bigger boots.


KEY POINTS:

- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at Welford Road in 2 years, having just beaten league leaders Newcastle at home.

- Form and Momentum - we have won 17 of our last 20 games, and are flying right now. Confidence is high right throughout the squad, with competition for places extremely high.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Gloucester's defence.

- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson.


Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Gray	10. Dan Carter
03. Rupert Harden
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Hosea Gear
05. Tom Palmer	12. Berrick barnes
06. Schalk Burger	13. Richard Kahui
07. Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Willem Alberts	15. Israel Dagg

16. Nick Wood 17. Adriaan Strauss 18. Julian White 19. George Robson 20. Aj 21. Dave Lewis 22. Stephen Donald 23. Johnny May


Glaws Travel to Leicester for a tough game. however as the form team in the AP we feel we can win here. we have already won at the home of the leaders sarries so this holds very little fear to us.

Conditions are superb for a game of running rugby so we are keen to target a bonus point win here. there is no rain about so it will suit our high intensity game plan where we intend to move their less athletic pack around the field

SET PIECE
Scrum we are obviously looking to get on the front foot and looking to launch our backrow at the Leicester 10 to get quick ball to attack with. Harden and steenkamp are destructive props and will be looking to get on top. We also have a top replacement front row to bring on to keep up the pressure. If they look to play Sheridan we will see this as a key advantage for us with him not having played for so long and still worries over whether he will come back to actually take his place in Toulon.


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 to Leicester 9.


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 Palmer, Saull, burger, and Bakkies all being top drawer lineout operators. We will be aiming to poach or at least disrupt their ball and see them as having mainly front jumpers in Hines, Horwill and Samoa. there is an art to operating at the back and middle and if they choose to take lots of front ball everyone knows its the worst attacking ball as it allows the ten less time and slower ball.

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, Alberts and co off the back of these to get them in to the Tigers midfield. Saull will be our link betweeen the pack and backs and will be either getting over the ball or looking to get on the shoulder of the bigger runners for continuity.


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 quins backs and create quick ball for our dynamite back 3

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 Tigers here with so many of their stars missing. losing Croft etc is huge for Leicester.. 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. We see a leicester back row containing Hines and Waldrom as lacking pace and as good as pocock is we feel they will struggle here.


Backs.

Gloucester are going to play a High Intensity 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 Leicesters 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 Leicester backlines by sending Kahui up short or on the slider. Gear and Sharples will also be popping up all over the place trying to find holes or running support lines off runners. Leicesters midfield is one maybe lacking balance and form so glaws feel they are susceptible to pace and foot work so barnes and kahui will be looking to exploit this.

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

Carter will be looking to kick in our half and push Leicester back to win territory battle. he will also employ the up and under and generally vary the game.

When we attack we will look to create mismatches and utilise our serious gas. We have a back 3 who have it all and know how to attack as a unit. Gear sharples and Dagg will look to counter loose kicks and kicks not chased correctly as the game starts to break up. they will also look to take quick throw ins and gernerally break up the game to come to the fore attacking wise. these guys have gas to burn and will be looking to use it

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 our domination with the bench. White, Wood and Strauss offer great scrummaging and serious mobility in the case of wood and strauss.

With Robson coming on we will be able to continue lineout dominance. Aj will come on to keep the ball carryoing goiing and May will come on as it breaks up to bring his glittering skills to the fore.

Key points

Glaws form team and have won at sarries already
Lineout domination will allow us control
More form players - See sheridan, Crane etc as major weaknesses
Glaws half backs more suited to playing open game- yach and Wilko more about controlling and playing a slower game.
More athletic pack - use the pace and mobility to tire and move leicester around.
Midfield pairing. see Barnes and kahui as a trump card

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Saracens v Northampton Saints
Cloudy, 10 degrees, 7 mph winds.

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Digby Ioane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Tom Johnson	13. Rene Ranger
07. Tom Wood	14. Tim Visser
08. Joe van Niekerk (c)	15. Alex Goode

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Alex Gray 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Nevin Spence 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, if the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.

In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.

At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.

We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and Joe van Niekerk in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.


Key Points

• Home Advantage - We have lost two home league matches in four seasons. Vicarage Road is a fortress for us.
  
  
• Form/Momentum - We have won 8 on the bounce in all competitions and have all fo the momentum going into this game.
  
  
• Fitness/Fatigue (Physical and Mental) - Saints have selected 7 players in their starting line up who were in 6 Nations action last week and will be again next week. They must be tired, and minds may not be totally focussed on this weeks game.
  
  
• Priorities - We want our Premiership trophy back, and securing a home semi final will be key to this aim. We are very focussed on this game and getting a result, whereas Saints are the only team in the AP with nothing to play for, and Chris has already stated publicly that their priorities are winning the Amlin and LV Cups. I doubt very much that his players will be putting their bodies on the line this week.
  
  
• Bench - Sorry Chris, I feel bad doing it, but I have to point out, 2 tightheads and no loosehead replacement on the bench again!
  

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Giteau
03. Matt Stevens
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Tomasso Benvenuti
07. Calum Clark	14. Max Evans
08. Liam Messam	15. Rory Lamont

16. Mike Haywood 17. Henry Thomas 18. Carl Hayman 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Gill 21. Mike Phillips 22. Matt Hopper 23. Danny Cipriani

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Bath Rugby v Worcester Warriors
Cloudy, 10 degrees, 7 mph winds.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09.Fourie Du Preez
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. Isaia Toeava
05.Sam Whitelock	12. Eliota Fuimanao Sapolu
06. James Haskell	13. Anthony Allen
07. Beau Robinson	14.Tom Varndell
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Dave Wilson 17. Joe Ward 18. Euan Murray 19. Rob Simmons 20. Will Skinner 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Gareth Anscombe 23. George North

Psychological
14 wins in 16 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence.

Overall
We will be looking to make good yards and keep pressure on Worcester forcing them into mistakes. We will use our internationally experienced 8-9-10 axis to control the game.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Golding, Kubrashvilli and Mealamu will be looking to get in a big hit first. Kubrashvilli will look to target Flatman and exert dominance over him throughout the game. 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 and Lobbe capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball. We will really look to take advantage of the scrum and lineout as we feel they are options we have that can change the game.

Kicking
We will look to put the ball behind the Warriors back three and put pressure on them in their own 22 with Lobbe leading the chase. We shall only use this sparingly though. More often we will look to put the ball out of touch in the Warriors 22 and pressure their lineout. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. FDP offers another box kicking option which we can use. Hodgson also has a decent boot which we will use as a secondary option.

Ball in Hand
We will be looking for quick service from FDP getting the ball out to our backs who have been encouraged to play attacking rugby really looking for gaps. We have some good runners and believe that they can each produce moments of magic. We will try not to get runners isolated with good tracking.

The forwards will look to provide some carrying grunt. It has some great carriers and they will really look to make some good yards with the ball. FDP will look to switch up the focal point of the attack with the forwards and backs offering. We will look to target Regan King with our runners.

Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Warriors decision makers. Our defense will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.

We will be looking to isolate runners and force a turnover by getting bodies into the breakdown when we see an opportunity and use Robinson skill in the ground. We feel this is somewhere we can really get an advantage so will look to go for a turnover whenever there is a chance.

Substitutions
We really feel our substitutes can come on and maintain dominance. Euan Murray is well rested and is a destructive scrummager alongside Ward and Wilson. Simmons is a player who can come and make some good carries against a tired defence. Skinner will come on and look to slow down the Warriors ball. Wigglesworth is an international who will look to control the pace of the game in the late stages. Anscombe will look to put pressure on Worceseter late while George North will be looking to play his usual game of running.


Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd

01. David Flatman	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Morne Steyn(k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. Shane Williams
05. Mamuka Gorgodze	12. Pat McCabe
06. Kearnen Myall	13. Regan King
07. Craig Newby (c)	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben McCalman	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Michael Mayhew 17. Chris Budgen 18. George Porter 19. Dom Barrow 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Byron Kelleher 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Sean Lamont

Tactics

We come into this match after a confidence boosting close result against Saracens so have picked a very big pack who we feel will be able to provide us with this, add in the spark in our back line and running rugby is the main aim of the match.

Forwards

*Front row to contest every ball and add pressure on the opposition scrum, we have a replacement front row who will look to turn the screw on tired legs,
*2nd rows to contest all lineout balls and put us in good positions when setting up driving mauls from our lineouts sucking in the defenders,
*Back row to go looking for the ball continuously and seek to be the 2nd person to breakdowns to look for the turnovers,
*We will look for runners off McCabe and King to stretch the opposition's defence,
*McCalman to pick from some scrums to get us over the gain line when required and Higginbotham is a strong carrier and a nusiance to bring on later,
*Use Gorgodze as a battering ram off the 10-12 channel to gain forward momentum off slow ball.

Backs

*Peel to get quick ball and Steyn to make the decision as to whether we pin them back with kicks or look to unleash our back line,
*McCabe to be instrumental in releasing supporting runners and King who will look to make ground continuously or offload to our back 3 all who have pace and can make something out of nothing,
*Garvey and Williams to go hunting for the ball,
*Steyn to take the points if on offer,
*Use all back replacements to bring a bit of experience, youth and brute force.

Defense

*Hard Hitting,
*Blitz Banana,
*Look for turnover ball or to slow them down and gain penalties.

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London Wasps v London Irish
Cloudy, 10 degrees, 6 mph winds.

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Luke Burgess
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Steve Mafi	11. Christian Wade
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Luke McAlister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Jamie Roberts
07. Jacques Burger	14. Ugo Monye
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Luke Narraway 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Matt Banahan

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 London Irish. We will look to push Irish onto the back foot and keep them there. We will look to tire their pack by making them work hard in defence with our dynamic and relentless carrying all game.

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 Irish defenders, so we can spread the ball out wide to our dangerous runners 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 Irish pack out and create mismatches in midfield to exploit.

Myler will play flat in attack and look to use his good passing game to bring our strike runners into the game. We will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Roberts running plenty of hard lines at the fly half channel in the Irish defence. We will look to win the collisions and get our offloading game going if it’s on. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Irish 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 Irish players to ensure Burgess has clean ball. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Irish 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 Irish on the back foot. We will use a shortened line out, and launch our dynamic forwards, who are not in the lineout into midfield.


London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. James Buckland	10. Butch James
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. J.P Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Duncan Bell 17. Neil Briggs 18. WP Nel 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Warren Fury 22. Matthew Tait 23. Juan Martin Hernandez

- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game, similar to last weeks impressive win over Northampton.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Tonga'uhia, Castro, 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 Wasps 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 Wasps 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, especially Tagicakibau, will come inside and along with Smith, 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.

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Are the French and Irish players unavailible?

What are the rules with the Irish/French players? In or out?

Out.

I got you 2 weeks running Chris. LV semi next week.

great minds chris

massive game for me and Arry. could have a huge bearing on getting top 6.

Massive one for Mat and Luke as well, as could have a big bearing on potentially getting a home semi.

Another massive one for Steve, who has had two tough away games in susccession, but also a big one for Pooly as it's always important to get back to winning ways quickly after a defeat.

The only team really with not a lot to play for at this stage is Saints, as they are unlikely now to make the play offs, won't get relegated and their best chance of Heineken Cup qualification ios through the LV or Amlin Cups.

Everyone else really is scrapping for something through the league, which is good for the game at this stage of the season.

Saracens make 6 changes to the matchday 23 that secured a vital away win at Sixways last week, for this weeks visit of Northampton Saints to Vicarage Road. In the starting line up, Graham Kitchener replaces on loan Dave Attwood in the second row, with Rene Ranger replacing Henry Trinder to team up with fellow All Black Ma'a Nonu in the centres.

Head coach Ozzy3213 had this to say.

"This is a massive game for us before we switch competitions for the LV Cup semi final next week. We have been in good form and need to continue momentum by really laying down a marker this week against a Saints side who are better than their league position would suggest. We know that it will be a tough contest and that we will have to be on our game, and I am confident that the players are focused and ready to go out and earn the victory that will consolidate our position at the top of the table."

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Digby Ioane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Tom Johnson	13. Rene Ranger
07. Tom Wood	14. Tim Visser
08. Joe van Niekerk (c)	15. Alex Goode

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Alex Gray 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Nevin Spence 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, if the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.

In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.

At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.

We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and Joe van Niekerk in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.


Key Points (to follow)

• Home Advantage - We have two home league matches in four seasons. Vicarage Road is a fortress for us.
  
  
• Form/Momentum - We have won 8 on the bounce in all competitions and have all fo the momentum going into this game.
  
  
• Fitness/Fatigue (Physical and Mental) - Saints have selected 7 players in their starting line up who were in 6 Nations action last week and will be again next week. They must be tired, and minds may not be totally focussed on this weeks game.
  
  
• Priorities - We want our Premiership trophy back, and securing a home semi final will be key to this aim. We are very focussed on this game and getting a result, whereas Saints are the only team in the AP with nothing to play for, and Chris has already stated publcially that their priorities are winning the Amlin and LV Cups. I doubt very much that his players will be putting their bodies on the line this week.
  
  
• Bench - Sorry Chris, I feel bad doing it, but I have to point out, 2 tightheads and no loosehead replacement on the bench again!
  
  
  

In another Huge game for Quins up at Newcastle, they name a side which will look to take the game to Newcastle from the off with ball in hand and look to hurt them with big carries from all over the pitch. We have just the two uncapped players in our XV and one of those is the current Saxon's captain and the other is perhaps on of the brightest talents to come through in years.

Steven_ Sharks had this to say: 'This is a huge game for both sides and the pressure is on Newcastle to return to the top of the table but we won't be making it easy for them. We will look to put pressure onto everything they do and get the home crowd on their back. We've picked what we consider to be the side to take Newcastle down at the set piece, the breakdown and in the loose and we are here for the win'


Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Rhys Priestland (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Donnelly	11. Zac Guildford
05. James Gaskell	12. Riki Flutey
06. Francois Louw	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Joe Rokocoko
08. Phil Dowson	15. Luke Morahan

16. Chris Brooker 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. Nathan Sharpe 20. Luke Wallace 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. George Lowe

Tactics


Game Plan

Keep the ball for long periods and look for quick ball. When we get the quick ball we will really look to up the tempo and go at Newcastle defence at pace. We have Priestland and Flutey who are very capable of putting others into spaces and this will be dangerous with the quick service provided by Dickson. The only way in which we will be frequently kicking the ball away is if we are getting the better of the lineout.

The key to our ball possession game is dynamic carriers. Brits, Afoa, Gaskell, Louw, Dowson and Warburton will hit the ball at pace, in numbers and with the aim of winning the collision and getting over the gain line. If we can get these players getting good momentum from there carriers then we can keep the tempo high and this will cause Newcastle’s defensive line to faulter or they will have to infringe. This is what we want our carriers to be working towards when getting us the quick ball.

We have picked a mobile pack and aren’t looking to get dragged into an arm wrestle up front. We are going to constantly move the point of attack and spread the game as much as possible as this plays to our advantage. To keep the tempo of our play up our side will look to offload when the option is there.

In the backline we will be looking to do everything at speed. When we get the quick ball we want to get our dangermen at 11, 13, 14 and 15 into the game in the wide channels. Each has the ability to beat a man and we will do this at full speed.

In defence we are really looking to target the breakdown with Warburton and Louw key to this. They will look to stay on their feet and turn the ball over, or at least slow it down or get us a penalty. When we haven’t got the first men there we will look for one or two forwards to adopt a low body position and try to ruck Newcastle off the ball with the aim of at least slowing the ball down.

We are going to look to have a very quick line speed in defence and put huge pressure on the Newcastle decision makers at 9, 10 and 12. Particularly pressure Pretorius who can be slow getting the ball away. We will look to keep at least two of the back 3 back ready to clear up a kick with Dickson sweeping behind the defensive line.

Whilst we are looking for a quick tempo towards the game we will still look to kick the points when we get a chance, unless the game situation suggests another option.

Key Points

- This will be Warburton’s 3rd full game in 8 weeks, Priestland’s 5th in 8 weeks, Dowson’s 3rd full game in 8 weeks and Dickson's 3rd full game in 8 weeks. Fatigue not an issue for our 6 nations players.

- Donnelly played at 4 for the Crusaders in week 1. Comfortable playing there and offers another top class lineout option.

- We have some great impact players to come on in the 2nd half. They can really make an impact on the game.

- We have a lot of players playing well. I feel we have much more than Newcastle in terms of players in form.

- Only Steyn and Fourie’s 2nd game together in the centres for Newcastle so we will look to exploit any gaps which might appear in there.

- The Brits factor. We all know what he can do when he gets his hands on the ball and he will always be looking to get his hands on the ball and attack the Newcastle defence.

Game Specfic Points

- Put on big pressure at the set piece. Prefer both our props both at the scrum and in the loose and we want Woodcock and Afoa to really get at Barcella and PDJ at the scrum and Donnelly, Louw, Gaskell , Warbs and Dowson working hard at the lineout. Try and put the pressure on Lindsay’s throw.

- We beat Newcastle in the HC quarter finals last season. We know how to beat them.

- Lack of physicality in the front 5. I don't see the problem to be honest. We might give away size (I haven't looked at the figures) but our players are much more dynamic and will bring this into play at ruck time. Our players use their size with more effect around the field than Newcastle's.

- How our 6N players can be looked at as a weakness is a mystery to me. I've given the game time stats in my key points.

- We don't feel that big Brad Thorn will have a field day as we feel he is more interested in the retirement home he's had his eye on on the Brisbane coast

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. Tom Brady
05. Andries Bekker	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Victor Vito	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Jerome Schuster 17. Brett Sharman 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Luke Rooney

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General Game Plan:

We will use our strong carriers to attack the gaps in the Chiefs line, looking to offload in contact to support runners thus changing the point of attack and keeping our forward momentum going. Care will look to snipe around the fringes and tie the Chiefs backrow to the breakdown area. Cruden will look to attack from fly half and inject pace to the proceedings committing the Chiefs defence and leaving space in wider channels to exploit. If running the ball is not on our halfbacks will look to the boot to put us in the right areas

At scrum time we will look to contest each and 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. While on Exeter feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Chiefs halfbacks. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hooker we will look to attack from the lineout mixing things up by bringing the ball down into the maul and tying up the Chiefs forwards or else playing the ball of the top and injecting serious pace into the play.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the Exeter 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 and counter attack at pace.

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 Chiefs players providing quick counter attacking ball to be cleared and 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:

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I wont be around for predictions this weekend as I'm away to a family wedding and won't be online

I already have you on my list of not being able to predict this weekend SJE

How are people rating players that have played Ints over the weekend? Backs/forwards etc?

Forwards who've started for their country this weekend I will be marking as a bit fatigued to be honest. Replacements ok, and most backs unless they've had a particularly heavy workload in the 6 Nations so far.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver

01.Alistair Dickinson	09.Jimmy Cowen
02.Damian Varley	10.Colin Slade
03.Ben Alexander
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 (c)	15.Iain Balshaw

16.Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Tom Mercy 19.Flip Van Der Merwe 20.Declan Danahar 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Derrick Houghard 23.Lee Byrne

Tactics

- Chiefs to play a high tempo game moving the ball and bringing our backs into the game and really taking the game to Sale.

- We've gone for mobilty picking Dickinson and Alexander as props who will look to run round and make plenty of carries in the loose as well as being solid at the set piece.

- Shorten the lineout and secure quick ball off the top to hit the likes of Easter , Shawsy and Tindall running hard up the middle.

- Slade to stand a bit flatter than normal and run at Sale and Attack the line from quick ball and unleash our backs.

- Moody to cause havoc in the 9/10 channel and chase there half backs for 80 minutes with Jennings looking to make a mess of the ruck area.

- Blitz defence to deny any sharks momentum or width with Cowen sweeping behind.

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Pete i'll predict Saturday morning fella as i'm up the Falcons on Friday in the mighty north stand with out it's roof!

Might give poor Robshaw a little rest, blokes put in some serious graft for the last 3 weeks

I thought it was Saturday???? Poop

With a disappointing defeat on the road the last week Falcons look to strengthen their front 5 with the inclusion of Fabien Barcella & Geoff Parling. Pooly:

"Leicester is a seriously tough place to travel to and we got a bit of a stuffing for the first time this season to be frank. This is the first time we've been off top spot in over a year and it hurts like hell! We're glad to be back at Kingston Park and I feel a little sorry for the backlash that Quins will get this weekend as the lads are well up for it. I've brought Barcella back in to tighten up the scrum and Geoff Parling has slotted straight back in after his excellent performance last week for England. I wasn't going to include him tbh bust he's chomping at the bit after only one start for England and he just wants to stay match fit for next week.

We think we'll get a bit of an edge in the front 5 with both Donnally & Gaskell not known for their grunt work and Brits more interested in playing full back than hitting a ruck. Looking at the Quins lineup big Brad Thorn is going a field day in the tight.

We'll be really looking to cut the backs loose and looking to get the Boks centres really targetting their opposite numbers, it should be a cracker."



Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Fran Steyn
06. Kelly Brown	13. Jaque Fourie
07. Richie McCaw(c)	14. James O'Connor
08. Kieran Read	15. Adam Ashley-Cooper

16. Marius Tincu 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Guy Mercer 21. Ben Youngs 22. Nick Evans 23. Dan Hipkiss

Tactics

Tactics

General – High intensity, bully the opposition front 5 and look to unleash backline with pace & power. Keep hold of the ball and go through the phases with huge carrying options. Look to smash through the Quins 10/12 axis and get momentum to unleash JOC, Fourie, AAC on the break. We are unbeaten at home in nearly 2 seasons and have not lost to Quins in the league home and away for 2 season.

Scrum – Look to get nudge on with Barcella & Lindsay targeting the Brits/Afoa axis. If weakness seen we’ll look to dominate here. We’re backed up by two excellent scrummaging locks in Thorn/Parling against two predominant 5’s in Gaskell & Donnelly. Franks & Tincu to come on in the 2nd half to turn the screw.

Engine Room – We feel we have huge advantage here, especially around the park. Quins are giving away nearly 3 stones in the engine room and a lot of physicality. We’ll look to utilise this by hitting rucks hard and cleaning the Quins defence out, also our ruck play should be steady preventing Quins attempting to turn us over.

Lineout – quick ball off the top using Parling as primary caller, also look to use Read at the tail and McCaw, Thorn to offer front ball.

Breakdown – Look to target Warburton and tire him out early on allowing Reda/McCaw to cause havoc. Look to double up on the hit and target the lack of a straight runner in the Quins midfield.

Defence – Look to use the Blitz and get in the face of Priestland early on and force him off his game. With Flutey & JJ outside him, he lacks a go to ball and will try to force things. Steyn/Fourie and McCaw off the scrum will look to put pressure on.

Backline – Steyn as go to ball and second kicking option. Look to get Steyn and Fourie running down the Quins 9/10/12 axis targeting Priestland and Flutey especially. We expect Steyn/Fourie to either break the line or tie in the Quins defence allowing JOC/AAC/Benjamin to come into the line and exploit the gaps. Decoy play will be utilised with Quins setting up for the big carries from our midfield, with JOC especially coming on as 2nd/3rd receiver and using his gas to run at Quins.

Points:

6 Nations Players – We expect them to be jaded and to either not have their mind on the game or tire quickly. Warburton/Dickson/Priestland will be targeted throughout. Maybe one player you could get away with but the spine of Quins side will be jaded and minds elsewhere.

Quick ball – Quins often base their game around quick ball but with their lack of physicality in the front 5 this will be a serious issue as they'll struggle to clear out rucks and provide Dickson a platform.

Quins engine room – Giving away nearly 3 stone and offering little physicality we see Quins scrum & ruck play being effected throughout this game and them struggling to gain a platform to attack with.

Quins midfield – Up against two of the hardest running and strongest defensively players in world rugby we expect an out of form Flutey and youngster JJ to have their hands full. With JOC coming into the line also we feel we’ll get the upper hand here.

Quins bogey team – We have won each Prem game home and away against Quins for 2 seasons now. The return fixture:

Harlequins 24-27 Newcastle Falcons

Subs – With Quins 6N players tiring early we’ll be able to get the nudge on early on and give Evans a platform when he come on early in the second half. Franks to come after halftime to increase pressure in set piece and give us added work rate around the park. Evans at around 60mins to see out game.

Home form – We do not lose at home and haven’t done for 2 years. Home advantage means an awful lot in rugby and we will be looking to win this one.

Worcester

01. David Flatman	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Morne Steyn(k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. Shane Williams
05. Mamuka Gorgodze	12. Pat McCabe
06. Kearnen Myall	13. Regan King
07. Craig Newby (c)	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben McCalman	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Michael Mayhew 17. Chris Budgen 18. George Porter 19. Dom Barrow 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Byron Kelleher 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Sean Lamont

Tactics

We come into this match after a confidence boosting close result against Saracens so have picked a very big pack who we feel will be able to provide us with this, add in the spark in our back line and running rugby is the main aim of the match.

Forwards

*Front row to contest every ball and add pressure on the opposition scrum, we have a replacement front row who will look to turn the screw on tired legs,
*2nd rows to contest all lineout balls and put us in good positions when setting up driving mauls from our lineouts sucking in the defenders,
*Back row to go looking for the ball continuously and seek to be the 2nd person to breakdowns to look for the turnovers,
*We will look for runners off McCabe and King to stretch the opposition's defence,
*McCalman to pick from some scrums to get us over the gain line when required and Higginbotham is a strong carrier and a nusiance to bring on later,
*Use Gorgodze as a battering ram off the 10-12 channel to gain forward momentum off slow ball.

Backs

*Peel to get quick ball and Steyn to make the decision as to whether we pin them back with kicks or look to unleash our back line,
*McCabe to be instrumental in releasing supporting runners and King who will look to make ground continuously or offload to our back 3 all who have pace and can make something out of nothing,
*Garvey and Williams to go hunting for the ball,
*Steyn to take the points if on offer,
*Use all back replacements to bring a bit of experience, youth and brute force.

Defense

*Hard Hitting,
*Blitz Banana,
*Look for turnover ball or to slow them down and gain penalties.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09.Fourie Du Preez
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. Isiah Toeava
05.Sam Whitelock	12. Eliota Fuimanao Sapolu
06. James Haskell	13. Anthony Allen
07. Beau Robinson	14.Tom Varndell
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Dave Wilson 17. Joe Ward 18. Euan Murray 19. Rob Simmons 20. Will Skinner 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Gareth Anscombe 23. George North


Psychological
14 wins in 16 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence.

Overall
We will be looking to make good yards and keep pressure on Worcester forcing them into mistakes. We will use our internationally experienced 8-9-10 axis to control the game.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Golding, Kubrashvilli and Mealamu will be looking to get in a big hit first. Kubrashvilli will look to target Flatman and exert dominance over him throughout the game. 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 and Lobbe capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball. We will really look to take advantage of the scrum and lineout as we feel they are options we have that can change the game.

Kicking
We will look to put the ball behind the Warriors back three and put pressure on them in their own 22 with Lobbe leading the chase. We shall only use this sparingly though. More often we will look to put the ball out of touch in the Warriors 22 and pressure their lineout. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. FDP offers another box kicking option which we can use. Hodgson also has a decent boot which we will use as a secondary option.

Ball in Hand
We will be looking for quick service from FDP getting the ball out to our backs who have been encouraged to play attacking rugby really looking for gaps. We have some good runners and believe that they can each produce moments of magic. We will try not to get runners isolated with good tracking.

The forwards will look to provide some carrying grunt. It has some great carriers and they will really look to make some good yards with the ball. FDP will look to switch up the focal point of the attack with the forwards and backs offering. We will look to target Regan King with our runners.

Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Warriors decision makers. Our defense will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.

We will be looking to isolate runners and force a turnover by getting bodies into the breakdown when we see an opportunity and use Robinson skill in the ground. We feel this is somewhere we can really get an advantage so will look to go for a turnover whenever there is a chance.

Substitutions
We really feel our substitutes can come on and maintain dominance. Euan Murray is well rested and is a destructive scrummager alongside Ward and Wilson. Simmons is a player who can come and make some good carries against a tired defence. Skinner will come on and look to slow down the Warriors ball. Wigglesworth is an international who will look to control the pace of the game in the late stages. Anscombe will look to put pressure on Worceseter late while George North will be looking to play his usual game of running.

Leicester Tigers have named their side to play Gloucester at Welford Road.

Tigers make three changes to the side that defeated Newcastle Falcons last week, with Ben Franks, Alesana Tuilagi and Billy Twelvetrees coming into the side - the wet weather clearly causing manager LukeLovesLuka to mix up his team's style of play.

Tigers face Gloucester having carried on their superb run of form last weeek, deferating run away league leaders Newcastle 35 - 22, with tries from Ojo (2), Waldrom, Horwill and Miller.



Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Ben Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Alesana Tuilagi
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Nathan Hines	13. Florian Fritz
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Rob Miller

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Lee Mears 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Alex Brown 20. Jordan Crane 21. Michael Claassens 22. Dave Walder 23. Topsy Ojo

Tactics

GENERAL:

- We will play a game built around our huge line-breakers, and strength in the set piece. Our HB's our tasked with moving us into the right areas of the pitch, getting our big carriers crashing through Gloucester's defence, and attacking the lineout as a weapon.

- 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.

FORWARDS:

- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili, Wilkinson and Twelvetrees. Horwill, Manoa and Hines to rotate the target. We will relentlessly target Gloucester's throws. A.Brown to keep this pressure up second half.

- At the scrum Franks selected as we look to really get the shove on and target Gloucester scrum. Cencus and Dermody to keep this pressure up second half.

- Pack full of carriers, led by Waldrom, and with Horwill, Manoa, Pocock, Sheridan, Hines and Moore look to get real go-forward with our carrying. With the ball in hand we want to attack together in groups so as not to become isolated. We won't take risks with be offload in the wet conditions.

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

- Use Tuilagi/Manoa/Waldrom off the shoulder of the HB's to crash through the Gloucester defence.

- 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.

- Twelvetrees to be our other kicking option, and a big carrier at 12. Fritz asked to play his natural game, big drives forward aand getting our back three into play as and when he can.

- In the rain the back three aren't encouarged to take too many risks. Jane and Miller are extremly well versed in full back play, and we won't take unnecessary rsiks with the wet weather. If Tuilagi recieves a kick he is told to pass to Miller/Jane to use their bigger boots.


KEY POINTS:

- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at Welford Road in 2 years, having just beaten league leaders Newcastle at home.

- Form and Momentum - we have won 17 of our last 20 games, and are flying right now. Confidence is high right throughout the squad, with competition for places extremely high.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Gloucester's defence.

- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Yachvili and Wilkinson.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. James Buckland	10. Butch James
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. J.P Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Duncan Bell 17. Neil Briggs 18. WP Nel 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Warren Fury 22. Matthew Tait 23. Juan Martin Hernandez

- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game, similar to last weeks impressive win over Northampton.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Tonga'uhia, Castro, 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 Wasps 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 Wasps 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, especially Tagicakibau, will come inside and along with Smith, 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.

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Giteau
03. Matt Stevens
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Tomasso Benvenuti
07. Calum Clark	14. Max Evans
08. Liam Messam	15. Rory Lamont

16. Mike Haywood 17. Henry Thomas 18. Carl Hayman 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Gill 21. Mike Phillips 22. Matt Hopper 23. Danny Cipriani

Gloucester

Manager – anonmattyt

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Will Genia
02.Joe Gray	10. Dan Carter
03.Rupert HArden
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Hosea Gear
05. Tom Palmer	12. Berrick barnes
06. Schalk Burger	13. Richard Kahui
07.Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Willem Alberts	15. Israel Dagg

16. Nick Wood 17. Adriaan Strauss 18. Julian White 19. George Robson 20. Aj 21. Dave Lewis 22. Stephen Donald 23. Johnny May[/quote]


Glaws Travel to Leicester for a tough game. however as the form team in the AP we feel we can win here. we have already won at the home of the leaders sarries so this holds very little fear to us.

Conditions are superb for a game of running rugby so we are keen to target a bonus point win here. there is no rain about so it will suit our high intensity game plan where we intend to move their less athletic pack around the field

SET PIECE
Scrum we are obviously looking to get on the front foot and looking to launch our backrow at the Leicester 10 to get quick ball to attack with. Harden and steenkamp are destructive props and will be looking to get on top. We also have a top replacement front row to bring on to keep up the pressure. If they look to play Sheridan we will see this as a key advantage for us with him not having played for so long and still worries over whether he will come back to actually take his place in Toulon.


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 to Leicester 9.


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 Palmer, Saull, burger, and Bakkies all being top drawer lineout operators. We will be aiming to poach or at least disrupt their ball and see them as having mainly front jumpers in Hines, Horwill and Samoa. there is an art to operating at the back and middle and if they choose to take lots of front ball everyone knows its the worst attacking ball as it allows the ten less time and slower ball.

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, Alberts and co off the back of these to get them in to the Tigers midfield. Saull will be our link betweeen the pack and backs and will be either getting over the ball or looking to get on the shoulder of the bigger runners for continuity.


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 quins backs and create quick ball for our dynamite back 3

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 Tigers here with so many of their stars missing. losing Croft etc is huge for Leicester.. 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. We see a leicester back row containing Hines and Waldrom as lacking pace and as good as pocock is we feel they will struggle here.


Backs.

Gloucester are going to play a High Intensity 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 Leicesters 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 Leicester backlines by sending Kahui up short or on the slider. Gear and Sharples will also be popping up all over the place trying to find holes or running support lines off runners. Leicesters midfield is one maybe lacking balance and form so glaws feel they are susceptible to pace and foot work so barnes and kahui will be looking to exploit this.

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

Carter will be looking to kick in our half and push Leicester back to win territory battle. he will also employ the up and under and generally vary the game.

When we attack we will look to create mismatches and utilise our serious gas. We have a back 3 who have it all and know how to attack as a unit. Gear sharples and Dagg will look to counter loose kicks and kicks not chased correctly as the game starts to break up. they will also look to take quick throw ins and gernerally break up the game to come to the fore attacking wise. these guys have gas to burn and will be looking to use it

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 our domination with the bench. White, Wood and Strauss offer great scrummaging and serious mobility in the case of wood and strauss.

With Robson coming on we will be able to continue lineout dominance. Aj will come on to keep the ball carryoing goiing and May will come on as it breaks up to bring his glittering skills to the fore.

Key points

Glaws form team and have won at sarries already
Lineout domination will allow us control
More form players - See sheridan, Crane etc as major weaknesses
Glaws half backs more suited to playing open game- yach and Wilko more about controlling and playing a slower game.
More athletic pack - use the pace and mobility to tire and move leicester around.
Midfield pairing. see Barnes and kahui as a trump card

Best of luck luke. I would pay a lot to watch this game

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Luke Burgess
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Steve Mafi	11. Christian Wade
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Luke McAlister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Jamie Roberts
07. Jacques Burger	14. Ugo Monye
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Luke Narraway 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Matt Banahan

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 London Irish. We will look to push Irish onto the back foot and keep them there. We will look to tire their pack by making them work hard in defence with our dynamic and relentless carrying all game.

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 Irish defenders, so we can spread the ball out wide to our dangerous runners 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 Irish pack out and create mismatches in midfield to exploit.

Myler will play flat in attack and look to use his good passing game to bring our strike runners into the game. We will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Roberts running plenty of hard lines at the fly half channel in the Irish defence. We will look to win the collisions and get our offloading game going if it’s on. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Irish 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 Irish players to ensure Burgess has clean ball. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Irish 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 Irish on the back foot. We will use a shortened line out, and launch our dynamic forwards, who are not in the lineout into midfield.

Yeh good luck matt, would be a hell of a game IRL.

Pete, I have got a bit confused as to the weather - it doesn't change my style if play at all, but any chance you could remove the couple of references to wet weather? Cheers

Response to points that Steve had added since my tactics:

"- We beat Newcastle in the HC quarter finals last season. We know how to beat them."

That was a weakened side as I was concentrating on AP. Not beat us in league for 2 seasons home and away.

"- Lack of physicality in the front 5. I don't see the problem to be honest. We might give away size (I haven't looked at the figures) but our players are much more dynamic and will bring this into play at ruck time"

Who out of Brits, Donnelly, Gaskell will hit rucks? You're 3 men down straight away. To provide quick ball you need to hit rucks hard and fast. Bakkies & Thorn are two of the best in world at this. Donnelly is a lineout lock lacking in physicality and Gaskell is a talent but effective alongside a bruising 4. Donnelly is not this

I just think your plan of providing quick ball to attack with is undermined as you have 3 players in the front 5 who offer little in the ruck area.

Tactics done

Anyone else get the impression that Pooly wants to win this one?!

We always win at home Pete! Especially against Quins

All teams are in, good work, only thing we don't have is tactics from ITFL.

You don't get capped for NZ or South Africa (in the tight 5 especially) or Captain the Saxons without a good rucking technique. Technique more desirable than size with rucking. Vickerman (the best 'rucker' in the world when it comes to clearing out) has nailed the technique down to an art form and it shows.

Can be Bakkies/Shaw size but with the wrong body position you will get smashed by the likes of Shane Williams. Quick ball isn't about having heavy players its about getting the the rucks quickly and in the correct position. That's what we've picked our pack to do.

Almost done Pete

Who mentioned heavy?

Fast ball is reliant on a secure ruck, Donnelly, Gaskell & Brits do not provide this. Thion & Sharpe would have but imo your engine room is massivley underpowered. Thorn is a rucking/carrying machine and provides us with a through and through enforcer. With no Thion you lack this. Donnelly/Gaskell would not work as a partnership as both lack physicallity.

done

Falcons 24-19 Quins
The forwards here seem fairly even however when we look at the half backs I can see Priestland being quite tired and low on confidence after last Saturday. Newcastle have some flyers in their back 3 and can see Flutey having to take on alot of scrappy ball. Home advantage counts as well. Can see the Quins front row gaining some victory here though.

Chiefs 15-15 Sharks
Experience in the pack will help the Chiefs a lot here and can see Shaw imposing himself early on. Not sure whether their tactics of fast rugby will win the match looking at the Sharks back line so can see this match coming to a neutral ending. Home advantage would see the Chiefs in the lead but feel Sharks have just a bit more on their bench to close a game.

Tigers 22-21 Glos
I can only see a Tigers win here. I feel that their 9-10-12 will marshall the match well and put some pressure on Glos to run it back. Up front I feel that Glos will win the back row battle slowing the Quins ball but Wilkinson is happy to play the kicking game with slow ball and think that home advantage will take this match....just. Still not convinced by Hines at 6.

Sarries 20-15 Saints
I know Chris is away so guessing that's why there's no tactics? I won;t count this too heavily against him. I think Lydiate will be ok after last weekend although needs to be careful of another flare up of his injury. Sarries have dominance in the front row but I do like Saints 11-15 which will nullify the Sarries attack. Pack wins this at home.

Wasps 15-16 Irish
SBW vs McAlister is a massive battle and one i'm looking forward to seeing! Unsure of Roberts at 13 though but he will be given enough gaps. Up front I see Irish victory but in the lineouts Wasps will cause them trouble. Half backs go to Irish.

Falcons v Quins - For me Falcons edge the forward battle at home, not by much, but their engine room has more. Also prefer the Falcons backs and think they will get good ball to work with and have so much class throughout.
28-24

Exeter v Sale - Chiefs have a hard workingm gritty front 8 that will make life hard for Sale. Little bit of form will boost the rating of that Sale pack as it has some real quality. Prefer the Sale halfbacks and their backline has a little more spark to it. Pisi on great form but not convinced by Tindall at 12.
16-18

Leicester v Gloucester - Game of the round. two on form teams. Some big names and performers in both packs and it is hard to split. Pocock will dominate Saull but much prefer Burger to Hines. Scrum is even and lineout will be close. The halfbacks and backline for me go to Glos. Carter cant be rated as high as usual but still class and with Genia, Barnes etc Glos will be dangerous.
22-25

Saracens v Saints - Think this will be a real tight game. Lack of form in Saintss front row costs them. Apart from that, packs are close. Prefer Saints 2nd row and think back rows are close. Was impressed with Clarks breakdown work last week v Irish. Back lines are close, both have threats, Nonu and Ranger is a nice combo. At home, Sarries sneak it.
27-25

Bath v Worcester - Bath are on good form and can see that continuing here (unfortunately for me)! Warriors will make life difficult for them but think they are on a roll and have good form players to secure them the win. Peel and Steyn combo is great and will keep warriors close throughout. Little bit more in baths backline and pack to get them a win.
23-20

Newcastle 25 - 19 Harlequins

Slight edge to Quins in the front row, but Newcastle with the advanatge in the 2nd row. Give the advantage to the homeside in the back row with Reav vs Dowson very one sided. No real winner in the HB's, but Newcastle with the stronger centre combo and back three. Newcastle slightly stronger throughout and home advantage means a solid win.



Exeter 20 - 21 Sale

Tight front row battle, no clear winner for me. Similar story in the locks, although slightly prefer the Sale combo. Think the Sale back row has more about it - and Exeter playing a quick game with Easter would be funny to watch . Not a lot in the HB's, slight edge to Sale maybe. Centres are tight to call, with Exeter taking the back three. I think Sale have just about enough to nick this off an experienced Exeter side at the death.



Saracens 23 - 20 Northampton

Both teams with a bit of form issues up front, tough to call the front row therefore. Prefer Saints 2nd row, Lawes with a point to prove. Give the edge to Sarries in the back row - packs are quite even throughout. I would say from 9-15 Sarries have a bit more quality, but Saints have some really dangerous players who could cause the home side problems. Home advantage sees Sarries take this one.



Bath 24 - 20 Worcester

Bath with a bit more about them in the front row for me, although I see BJ getting on top of Flatman. Bit more int he Bath 2nd row too - much prefer Gorgodze in the back row. Similar story in the back row with a slight edge to Bath. Worcester's HB's keep them right in this game, and they are stronger here, and a tight centre battle too. Bath with the back three advantage. Think Bath have enough in the pack, as well as being at home and in form, to take this.



Wasps 26 - 26 Irish

A serious front row battle here. See Castro getting the upper hand which proves vital. Good second row battle here, slight advanatge to Wasps in the lineout. Similar story in the back row, a serious attritional war here with two great units. Prefer Irish HB combo, but Burgess supply Myler with quick ball. Centres are great to watch - worth the entrance fee alone. Similar story in the back threes. Really great game this one - two excellent sides. Struggling to seperate here, sorry.

Predictions, sorry for lack of explanations this week but am mad busy at work today and won't get on before lunchtime tomorrow.

Newcastle Falcons 19 Harlequins 16
Exeter Chiefs 15 Sale Sharks 20
Leicester Tigers 24 Gloucester 24
Bath Rugby 23 Worcester Warriors 21
London Wasps 22 London Irish 24

Will try complement predictions with explanations later

Newcastle 28-23 Quins
Exeter 15-17 Sale
Gloucester 25-24 Tigers
Sarries 26-21 Saints
Wasps 19-24 Irish

Exeter 26 - 24 Sale

Good battle in the packs. Prefer Sale backrow in the loose but Exeter at the breakdown. Exeter would be much stronger with a big carrying 6 along side Jennings or Moody. Backlines are good for an open exciting game. Both 12's will slow the ball down out wide (JTH not needed for e with Freaun the gainline 'guarantee'. prefer a better ball player there). Really good game with Sale just edging it.

Leicester 21 - 23 Gloucester

Scrum goes to Leicester in a big way and the lineout is pretty even. In the loose there is a decent advantage to Gloucester with Hines sticking out like a sore thumb in the backrow. Much more in the backs for Gloucester and I think they will win this game in what is a great win for them.

Saracens 35 - 31 Northampton

Pretty even upfront for me. Much stronger locks for Saints but the set piece and breakdown won't go either way enough to influence the game much. Saracens have the much stronger back line and this takes them away fro Saints.

Bath 22 - 22 Worcester

Pack goes to Bath but not by much. Setpiece again a decent battle with perhaps Worcester having the best of the lineout and Bath the scrum. In the loose Bath have a bit more. Backs go to Worcester, more spark and the better half backs.

Wasps 34 - 33 London Irish

Really interesting battle. Wasps are a really dogged side who are tough to beat. The forwards battle will be intense with no real give either way. Half backs are one a piece. Centres will be a great battle probably just going to wasps who have been playing together longer. Both back 3's electric and will finish most of the chances they get. Game of the Week for me. Narrowest of Margins gives Wasps the win.

Exeter 17-17 Sale

See a real messy affair with Exeter a real tough team to break down. Sale have a slightly stronger pack but don't see too much in the set piece and not much is getting through that Exeter midfield despite Fruens excellent start to the season.

Leicester 21-19 Gloucester

Game of the round. Gloucester lack a little in the front row and I can see Leicester shading set piece ball which would hinder attacking ball with Tigers playing the percentages. Cracking back row battle, Burger would give Hines a right run around but Pocock would dominate breakdown and infuriate Gloucester all game. Think Gloucester have edge in backs with some quality on show but I just think Tigers and home, set piece and breakdown will see Tigers through in a thriller.

Saracens 23-17 Northampton

Big scrum advantage for Sarries with Domingo hard to rate and Stevens not in great scrummaging form. Think Saints make this up somewhat in the engine room with two class acts against a not great Sarries pairing. Not much in backrow but Lydiate would be jaded and not 100%. A bit more form in the backline for Sarries sees them home.

Bath 24-22 Worcester

See Worcester pushing Bath all the way in this one but Bath just have enough at home.

Wasps 21-20 Irish

Great game, centre battle makes me hard! Running out of time but Wasps just have enough in a thriller. Irish coming into serious form but just miss out.

Newcastle 22-20 quins home advantage does it. Strange decisiOn to play Parling when you said he would be too battered to play.
Quins demolish front row but not enough. Finding it hard to rate players playing in Japan. I have not played mils due to it. Thorn to Leinster would make falcons second row so much better. Close game but home advantage wins the day

Saracens 23-20 saints again home advantage wins
It. Great saints engine room. Think sarries have a bit too much out wide

Bath 24-20 worcester. Home advantage and form take this. See bath front row getting on top and in engine room. Gorgidze causes damage and Worcester halfbacks keep them in game