About v2AP Round 19
+7
prop_lyd
Driver
Ozzy3213
Sgt_Pooly
Steven_Sharks
stnick88
SirJohnnyEnglish
11 posters
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AP Round 19
by SirJohnnyEnglish Mon 26 Mar 2012, 2:21 pm
First topic message reminder :
Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks
Sunny Intervals, 14 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
16.Tom Lindsay 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Paul O’Connell 20.Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22.Nick Evans 23. Ben Williams
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 keep ball in hand and starve opposition.
Scrum – look to target opposition and get nudge on if weakness seen. Keep ball in and look for drive to get pen.
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. Target opposition ball and contest outside of 22 especially.
Breakdown – Look to ruck past the ball and gain upperhand with strong front 5. Look to control and dominate contact area.
Defence – Look to use the Blitz and get in the face of Cruden early on and force him off his game.
Backline – Look to play the fringes with Youngs sniping around .Flood to play flat and swap first receiver with JOC. Look to tuse Fourie to get over gainline and also as decoy with Bowe coming in at angles. Look to get JOC in space whenever possible.
Points:
Home form – we are unbeaten at home in over 18mnths and in great form
Momentum – Strong wins recently and back to the top of the table
Fresh pack – rested players come in to give us added energy
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Nathan Catt 17. Agustin Creevy 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Alun Wyn Jones 20. Michael Lipman 21. Ben Spencer 22. Olly Barkley 23. Sam Smith
Exeter Chiefs v London Irish
Sunny, 17 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
16.Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Werner Kruger 19.Juilian Pierre 20.Shane Jennings 21.Rob Coote 22.Henry Slade 23.Adam Thompstone
With weather set for running rugby Exeter are out to put on a show for there home support and target the win against London Irish.
We’ve picked a team based around running the ball and it starts with Dickinson and Alexander at the scrum two props who relish the loose play and this will allow us to play at a high tempo and let it flow through the team and really take the game to Irish.
Just because we’re playing a high tempo doesn’t mean we won’t utilise the boots of McLeod and Traille at 10 and 12 with both threading kicks through and kicking behind the Irish wings to gain vital yards in the Irish half.
Luke Fitzgerald will look to pop up from his wing in the first receiver channel and look to use his pace to get away from Hernandez and really attack the line with Thomas tying in the back row by sniping prior to the pass to make him the centre of attention.
Key points of game plan
Retain the ball in the opposition half and look to play a bit and get the crowd going.
Thomas and Mcleod are great thinkers on the pitch and will control the tempo and playing the game the right ways at the right times.
Leave the Irish 22 with points everytime
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Rodrigo Roncero 17. James Buckland 18. Duncan Bell 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Luke McAllister 23. Marland Yarde
London Irish make 4 changes from the impressive win over Leicester Tigers last week. 3 of those come in the front row, with Soane Tonga'uhia, Andrew Hore and WP Nel replacing Roncero, Buckland and Castrogiovanni. The other change sees Paul Sackey replace Bjorn Basson.
'We've freshened up the front row after last weeks tough encounter against the Tigers, and this week have more mobility with Soane, Andrew Hore and WP. Castro has earnt his rest after last weeks performance and we want him fresh for next weeks visit of Saracens. Sandy Park is a tough place to go and Exeter are scrapping for everything. We will have to be on our game and not give away silly penalties or McLeod will punish us. We're looking to make it 4 league wins in a row and are making a big push towards the play off's. That is our goal and we set ourselves a minimum target of reaching the playoff's. We need to win all our remaining games and it starts here at Sandy Park.'
Tactics
- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game, similar to the recent victories over Saints, away at Wasps and against Tigers last week. We will run back loose kicks and not look to give away possession. We want to keep the ball in hand, run at the Chiefs, tire their defence and look for mismatches.
- We use the scrum as a an attacking platform, with two good scrummaging props we will look to turn the screw and win penalties or use Spies to pick up and carry or Pienaar to get the ball out to the backs. Nel has been picked this week for his loose play. He is a strong carrier and hits rucks hard and tackles a lot. This will help us in an expansive game.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Nel, Garvey, Spies, Steffon, SBW in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Exeter 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 Chiefs defence. Spies, Daniel, Armitage, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and JMH 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.
- If any attacks become slow and we are in danger of being turned of making a mistake, we will look for JMH to pop over a drop goal to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
- We have plenty of impact off the bench to keep things fresh and hopefully see out the game.
- We have won 3 league games in a row, morale and confidence is high and we will look to continue our good form in our battle for the playoffs.
Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors
Sunny Intervals, 15 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Tom Youngs 18. Ben Franks 19. Simon Shaw 20. Samu Manoa 21. Chris Cusiter 22. Dave Walder 23. Topsy Ojo
Tactics
We will play a game built around running rugby with an attacking back line, and the strength in our set piece.
- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Scrum specialist Bruno selected alongside two in-form props to look to really get the shove on against Mayhew and Bugden.
- Strong lineout with Croft, Pape and Horwill as our main jumpers rotating the target. We will relentlessly target Mayhew's throws.
- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Worcester's defence.
The likes of Waldrom and Horwill used off the shoulder crashing through the Worcester defence.
- Poff is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.
- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings.
- Look to play attacking running rugby in the backs, getting the our 11-15 on the ball as much as possible. Croft to look to get into space and join our backs to cause trouble out wide.
- Box kicks from Yachili and up and unders from James to give Garvey and Morgan problems in the air.
Lightning back three to really get the chase on.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. Selected 3 players versed in playing full back, as we expect Steyn to kick all day and will be ready to counter his kicks.
- Yachvili to kick penalites. We won't always go for the points if in good position and lineout working well.
- Use our powerful bench to see the game out in the last 20 minutes.
Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop
16.Chris Fortey 17.David Flatman 18.BJ Botha 19.Kearnen Myall 20.Mamuka Gorgodze 21.Byron Kelleher 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Shane Williams
Tactics
Forwards: We have picked a pack and big engine room who won't go backwards. Both will look to get the edge on his side and with Hamilton behind him this should be fairly easy to do. Strauss will look to go for each ball and catch them off guard. We will look to get the edge on the hit and put them under pressure instantly with a pack used to playing with each other. Our back rown can match them at the breakdown and Morgan will always make yards when he picks or carries. Jones and Newby will lead from the front at the tackle area looking for turnovers and to put a lot of pressure on the breakdown. Lineouts will be kept simple and we will put two up to compete. Our bench has impact forwards with Botha, Myall and Gorgodze all able to change a match. We know Budgen can't last 80minutes so; if he's on top at half time we will look to push him out for 50mins!
Backs: Quick ball to Steyn where Peel will provide this he will also look to snipe off 3rd or 4th phase. Steyn will play what's ahead of him, he will look to pin them back in their own half and we will look to release our dangerous backline when the ball is quick. Any slow ball will go to forwards or off the park. McCabe will lead from the front and look to offload to runners. We will bring Habana and Garvey into the match as often as possible to work around tired forwards. Steyn will take 3 points when possible to keep the scores close. We again have game changing subs who will all make an impact and will be used to help close out a match. Our backrow will look to be stood between 10-13 and take the ball up any channel with space.
Defence: Look to have 2 men on 10 stopping the ball being shipped out. We will adopt a blitz drift defence looking to close off any gaps which may appear. Peel will look to sweep and snipe and our backrow will look to be 2nd to the breakdown to force the turnover.
Saracens v Harlequins
Sunny, 15 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
16. George Chuter 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Rene Ranger 23. Tom Homer
Tactics
Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.
In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. However, re recognise that the ball will be damp in this game so if the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.
In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.
At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.
On our own ball at the scrum, we will look for Adam Jones to drop anchor so that we can get it in and out quickly (as the Reds did in Super XV last season) and launch attacking moves off the back of it. On Quins put in we will look to really contest, with Jones looking to get underneath Rees left shoulder and really split him and Stankovic to destabalise their position.
Game Specific Tactics
Key Points
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
16. Chris Brooker 17. Matias Aguero 18. Brian Mujati 19. James Gaskell 20. Phil Dowson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. George Lowe
Tactics
Game Plan
Our game plan is based around ball retention, aggression upfront and a fluid attacking game.
In attack we are looking to keep hold of the ball for long periods and tire out Saracens by playing with a quick tempo. This tempo can be maintained by players getting across the gain line when carrying, looking for the offload and by having honesty at the rucks. By this I mean that we have to commit the right numbers to rucks to get us the quick ball rather than try to get away with the minimal amount. The offload game is key to our fluidity and we have a side which is very comfortable with ball in hand and this is good for our game plan. Aggression up front is something which we always look to provide and I feel we have a really aggressive and nasty front 5 which can get at Saracens upfront.
The conditions suit our game plan today and when the quick ball is there for us and we have committed defenders to the fringes then we want to get the ball into the spaces out wide. We have
Forwards
We are looking for strong aggressive carrying from our forwards to get us over the gain line. Carrying in numbers, at pace and looking to win the collisions is key to us as usual. Drive the legs after the collision key to getting a cross the gainline. We are also looking for our forwards to work hard to get to rucks and get us the quick ball.
At the set piece we want to make a real battle of it. We are very happy with our scrum and think we can put some pressure onto Saracens and certainly win our own ball. We consider the front 5 to be strong scrummagers and we want them to try to exert some pressure here. Lineouts will be cut short when between the two 22 m lines to free up carriers in the midfield.
Backs
We have picked a backline which is comfortable with the ball in hand and we are going to look for them to put those around them into space and look to attack the weak defenders or the inside shoulders of defenders. When we are getting quick ball we want to get the ball into the dangermen outwide. We will also look for Kearney and the wingers to get involved as often as possible when the game breaks up. We will look to have our forwards running in the midfield with our backs looking to play in wider channels.
Defence
In defence we will look to play with a quick line speed and put pressure onto the key Saracens decision makers. We will look to bring aggression in the contact in defence as well as attack and will look to knock isolated Saracens carriers backwards. We will look to slow down Saracens ball at the ruck and try to turn over the ball. We will do this by getting the first man to the ruck and contesting on our feet or by adapting a good body position and then ruck Saracens off the ball.
Key Points
- Commit enough men to the rucks to get the quick ball. Our whole game is based upon quick ball, a quick tempo ,controlled by Lee Dickson and ball retention.
- Look to dominate the breakdown with Warburton and Louw looking to control this.
- Look to offload in or before the contact. Priestland and Flutey all about putting other players into gaps and have both been picked with their ability to do this in mind.
- Look to get the ball into the wide channels as soon as we have tied defenders in. Use our pace outwide.
- Keep our discipline. Don’t give away silly penalties and give Saracens anything easily.
- Look to use Kearney’s ability under the high ball and Priestland’s enormous boot to put up some up and unders. We can use this as an exit strategy should we become static.
- Use our bench right time. Conditions mean that fatigue will be evident for both sides and we will look to introduce our impact players so they have enough time to get involved.
Game Specific Key Points
- Target Lahiff. We see us having the scrum advantage whilst he is on and will look to take advantage of this.
- We feel we have the advantage in the back 3 and we will look to take advantage of this when we get into the wide channels.
- We don’t intend to get into many kicking battles, but if it is required we feel we have the stronger punt kickers on show.
Bath Rugby v Northampton Saints
Sunny, 16 Degrees, 6mph Winds
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16. Dave Wilson 17. Will Tanner 18. Euan Murray 19. Rob Simmons 20. Tom Guest 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Olly Woodburn 23. Isiah Toeava
Tactics
Psychological
15 wins in 18 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence. One of the wins was an away wins over Saints which has given us confidence at home. We also feel we are the more rested team. Halfpenny, Phillips and Manu have played the 4 last weeks, two huge international games included. Mullan, Webber and Sivi have played 3 consecutive games including a cup final. Lapandry has played 4 weeks in a row, with Lawes playing 5 and Albacete the last 7. Will be feeling the effects.
Overall
We will be looking to play entertaining, attacking rugby attacking off our set piece superiority
Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to play well in loose. We are also confident that if need be they can dominate in a scrum. Stevens isn’t a great scrummager let alone on his weaker side so target him while Kubrashvilli will target inexperienced Mullan. 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.
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 will not be give them a chance to counter attack so we shall only use this sparingly though. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. FDP offers another box kicking option which we can use. Anscombe is another option if needs be.
Ball in Hand
Our game plan is based around our attacking skills with the ball in hand. With Healy, SOB, Lobbe etc we have some of the best forwards who can real make inroads with their running. We will look to make sure runners aren’t isolated with good tracking and will offload if there is minimal risk.
FDP will look to control the tempo of the backline. He has 6 explosive runners outside of him and will look to use his experience to make plays. Anscombe is some talent and will be looking to drag defenders away from teammates. Look to get our back 5 into space running at people
Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Saints 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 Skinners 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 Tanner and Wilson. Simmons will come on and look to put in big yards and make his impact felt. Guest we feel can have a positive impact with his running game. Wigglesworth is a good experienced head who can keep us controlled at the end of the game. Wooburn and Toeava we will look to bring on and use their fresh legs to maximum effectiveness with explosive running.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris
16. Chris Whitehead 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Carl Hayman 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Messam 21. Sam Harrison 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Max Evans
Tactics
Overall - Saints are now on a good roll, scoring tries freely and playing with a lot of confidence. Again our game will be based around a pack that controls possession, using our big ball carriers to get us over the gainline and play a fast, high-tempo game where we look to put our backthree into scoring positions. We welcome back Lydiate, Parisse and Fofana into the starting lineup, and will look for Lydiate to stop the Bath backrow getting over the gainline. We will look to score tries, and frustrate Bath.
Attack - we will continue to play our structured game that evolves working through the phases, getting our big ball carriers on the ball and over the gainline (Albacete, Lawes, Parisse, Fofana, Tuilagi and Siviatu) - we will look to use our midfield a lot in the game and get them running at their opposite numbers, we see we have an advantage in the 10, 12, 13 channel and will look to get as much ball going through Giteau, Fofana and Tuilagi as possible - each offers a completely different attacking threat.
We will get runners going off Giteau, Fofana and Tuilagi - each is capable of making a linebreak at any time in the game and we hope to exploit any opportunities to get in behind the bath midfield.
We will not be afraid to attack from deep as the conditions are perfect for our backline and our pack will certainly hold its own. However, Phillips and Giteau will control the game, and ensure that we do not play ourselves into trouble.
Defence - the return of Lydiate makes a huge difference to our defensive play, he was the standout defender in this year's 6Nations and along with Lawes is tasked with stopping Lobbe and O'Brien from getting over the gainline and slowing down Bath ball at source. As normal we will play an aggressive defence, putting our opposition under pressure, using Phillips to get at du Preez and then having a rush defence on the 10-12-13 channel and try and make the most of the Bath 10's inexperience. We feel that if we can stop the Bath backrows getting over the gainline then we can win this game - with Lawes, Albacete, Lydiate and Parisse we certainly have the defensive players to do this.
We also want to make sure that we do not invite Bath to pressurise us in our own half and when we get the ball (espc. in our own 22) we will get Halfpenny to clear lines and get the ball into touch, as we do not want Beale to run into open space, although Fofana, Tuilagi and Halfpenny are all top class tacklers.
We have positioned Siviatu against North so he can test him both offensively and defensively - Siviatu has been in very good form, so will be a good battle between the two.
Set Piece - Again our front three are fresh, and we are able to bring on Domingo, Whitehead and Hayman in the second half to bolster our scrum and will use this to put pressure on Bath. We will use the scrum as an attacking weapon to launch Parisse or get Phillips running at the Bath no10.
Our lineout is boosted with the return of Parisse and we will look to focus on securing good quality ball from parisse, lawes and albacete. On Bath ball we will position Lydiate at the back, so he can stop any attacks from quick ball in what is a dangerous Bath backline.
Breakdown - we've made two changes from last week against Wasps in the backrow, bringing in Lydiate and Parisse to partner Lapandry - we will look to target the breakdown with Lydiate slowing down Bath ball and Lapandry and Parisse targeting turnovers. We are fortunate that Fofana and Tuilagi are also very adept at the breakdown - defensively we are very confident in this area of slowing down ball, but will certainly compete for turnovers when opportunities present themselves.
Key Points
* For the first time this season we are full of confidence, scoring 11 tries in 3 games, winning the LV Trophy and getting a try scoring BP against Wasps last week - we feel we have the defensive capabilities to prevent Bath's dangermen getting over the gainline and the attacking talent in our team to score tries away from home.
* Team is full of leaders and captains (Webber, Albacete, Lydiate, Parisse, Giteau etc) - we have built a team around the same structure of England circa 2000-2003 and see this as very important to win away from home.
* We have a solid pack, which will hold its own, but is also extremely mobile and the conditions are perfect for us - we can then turn the screw in the second half by bringing on three front row forwards who can pressurise Bath in the set piece.
* Halfpenny's boot is a three-point machine - any penalties and we will go for goal and build up the score, forcing Bath to play rugby and look for tries.
* We have our best 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 combination playing together and they will cause Bath a lot of problems.
* Bench has a lot of impact players - Launchbury, Messam, Cipriani and Evans can all change the outcome of a game.
London Wasps v Gloucester Rugby
Sunny, 15 Degrees, 7mph Winds
London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Jared Saunders 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Jackson Wray 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Noah Cato
Tactics
We have picked a gritty, dynamic and physical forward pack with plenty of ball carriers 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 Gloucester. We will look to push Gloucester onto the back foot and keep them there.
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 Gloucester 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 Gloucester pack out and create mismatches in midfield to exploit.
Myler will play flat in attack, we will use Bowden as a second playmaking option, we will look to Roberts to run plenty of hard lines, looking to win collisions to get our offloading game going if it’s on. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Gloucester 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. We will look to create space out wide for our wingers to exploit and make use of.
At the breakdown we will come from low to high in clearing out Gloucester players to ensure Burgess has clean ball. We will look to the kicking game of Myler to put the ball in behind the Gloucester 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. Stegmann with his low centre of gravity will look to (legally) slow down the Gloucester ball. We will look to the scrum to provide us with a platform to build attacks from and keep Gloucester on the back foot. We will use a shortened line out, and launch our dynamic forwards, who are not in the lineout into midfield.
Gloucester
Manager – Mat
16. Nick Wood17. Darren dawiduik 18. Julian White 19. Bakkies Botha 20. Schalk Burger 21. Connor Murray 22. Ryan Lamb 23. JSD
Glaws travel to adams park as the form side in the prem with lots of players who have been rotated through out the year feeling fresh.
The sun is out and we are hear to play some high intensity direct rugby.
Pack
We have gone for a hard scrummaging athletic pack to get around the park and carry the ball in to the heart of the wasps team.
Scrum
Despite the good weather leading to less scrums and slightly devaluing it glos will be targetting the scrum to get a nudge on our own ball to release the back row and to try and disrupt the wasps put in and make them have poor ball.
lineout- We see this as a massive advantage for us. We have 5 lineout options and in Robson Gray and Hari we will look to use the lineout as a great way of attacking off the back. We will be looking to drive the ball and suck them in before launching runners such as ferris and Hari off the back or to go wide with their back row sucked in.
Defensively we will use hari robson and Gray to really pressure the wasps throw and starve them of attacking ball. With Myler at ten they will look to kick a lot and we are hoping that our obvious lineout strength will make them kick in field meaning may, sharples and Gear can counter attack at will. TPN has really struggled with his darts all season so we think our lineout and his throwing will make us own the lineout battle
general forward play
We will be looking to use the sheer amount of carriers in our pack to get us over the gain line and win the physical battle against wasps. With so many talented dynamic carriers we will be looking to use the offload when on. Gray, hari and Ferris are particularly sublime with this and it will help to put us in behind the wasps defence where we will look to get quick ball to release our backs.
Backs.
We will be looking to play off quick ball to try and score tries and enjoy the weather. Genias job will be to get the ball to goosen and let him decide. Goosen is in great form kicking huge goals and launching attack after attack in an excellent attacking side the cheetahs.
In our own 22 he will be looking to clear the ball to touch so we can attack their lineout. He will also try and isolate wade against Gear for the cross field kick and indeed will test out Both wasps wings with the high ball.
Anywhere outside our ten metre line with quick ball Goosen will be looking to attack. berrick barnes inside him offers stability and a second kicking option and creative role. We will be looking to commit roberts in his unfamiliar 13 role and then go wide creating mismatches.
Gear who is in great form will be looking to go one on one against wade.
We will employ an in yourt face defence to try and force wasps to kick. If its in touch we fancy the lineout but if its in field MAy, Sharples and Gear will run it back with interest looking to isolate forwards.
As the game breaks up and the hotter conditions take their toll we will be looking to use quick throw ins and really up the tempo.
We intend to use our bench as required but having a bench that contains names such as Bakkies, Burger, JSD, Murray etc is a huge plus and an advantage we hope can help us secure the BP win.
We are aiming to get in the top 2 so are targetting the BP win.
Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks
Sunny Intervals, 14 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
| 01. Fabien Barcella | 09. Ben Youngs |
| 02. William Servat | 10. Toby Flood |
| 03. Owen Franks | |
| 04. Brad Thorn | 11. Miles Benjamin |
| 05. Geoff Parling | 12. James O’Connor |
| 06. Toby Faletau | 13. Jaques Fourie |
| 07. Chris Robshaw | 14. Tommy Bowe |
| 08. Kieran Read(c) | 15. Ben Smith |
16.Tom Lindsay 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Paul O’Connell 20.Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22.Nick Evans 23. Ben Williams
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 keep ball in hand and starve opposition.
Scrum – look to target opposition and get nudge on if weakness seen. Keep ball in and look for drive to get pen.
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. Target opposition ball and contest outside of 22 especially.
Breakdown – Look to ruck past the ball and gain upperhand with strong front 5. Look to control and dominate contact area.
Defence – Look to use the Blitz and get in the face of Cruden early on and force him off his game.
Backline – Look to play the fringes with Youngs sniping around .Flood to play flat and swap first receiver with JOC. Look to tuse Fourie to get over gainline and also as decoy with Bowe coming in at angles. Look to get JOC in space whenever possible.
Points:
Home form – we are unbeaten at home in over 18mnths and in great form
Momentum – Strong wins recently and back to the top of the table
Fresh pack – rested players come in to give us added energy
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
| 01. Jerome Schuster | 09. Danny Care |
| 02. David Paice | 10. Aaron Cruden |
| 03. Luc Ducalcon | |
| 04. Brodie Retallick | 11. Luke Rooney |
| 05. Stephen Sykes | 12. Jordan Turner Hall |
| 06. Victor Vito | 13. James Hook |
| 07. Peter O'Mahony | 14. Lelia Masaga |
| 08. Wycliffe Palu | 15. Nick Abendanon |
16. Nathan Catt 17. Agustin Creevy 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Alun Wyn Jones 20. Michael Lipman 21. Ben Spencer 22. Olly Barkley 23. Sam Smith
Exeter Chiefs v London Irish
Sunny, 17 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
| 01.Alisdair Dickinson | 09.Haydn Thomas |
| 02.Lee Mears | 10.Nick Mcleod(k) |
| 03.Ben Alexander | |
| 04.Flip Van Der Merwe | 11.Luke Fitzgerald |
| 05.James Hudson (c) | 12.Damian Traille |
| 06.Declan Danahar | 13.George Pisi |
| 07.Juilian Salvi | 14.Matt Smith |
| 08.Johnnie Beattie | 15.Andrea Masi |
16.Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Werner Kruger 19.Juilian Pierre 20.Shane Jennings 21.Rob Coote 22.Henry Slade 23.Adam Thompstone
With weather set for running rugby Exeter are out to put on a show for there home support and target the win against London Irish.
We’ve picked a team based around running the ball and it starts with Dickinson and Alexander at the scrum two props who relish the loose play and this will allow us to play at a high tempo and let it flow through the team and really take the game to Irish.
Just because we’re playing a high tempo doesn’t mean we won’t utilise the boots of McLeod and Traille at 10 and 12 with both threading kicks through and kicking behind the Irish wings to gain vital yards in the Irish half.
Luke Fitzgerald will look to pop up from his wing in the first receiver channel and look to use his pace to get away from Hernandez and really attack the line with Thomas tying in the back row by sniping prior to the pass to make him the centre of attention.
Key points of game plan
Retain the ball in the opposition half and look to play a bit and get the crowd going.
Thomas and Mcleod are great thinkers on the pitch and will control the tempo and playing the game the right ways at the right times.
Leave the Irish 22 with points everytime
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Soane Tonga'uhia | 09. Ruan Pienaar |
| 02. Andrew Hore | 10. Juan Martin Hernandez |
| 03. WP Nel | |
| 04. Matt Garvey | 11. Paul Sackey |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sonny Bill Williams |
| 06. Keegan Daniel | 13. Conrad Smith |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Sailosi Tagicakibau |
| 08. Pierre Spies | 15. Delon Armitage |
16. Rodrigo Roncero 17. James Buckland 18. Duncan Bell 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Luke McAllister 23. Marland Yarde
London Irish make 4 changes from the impressive win over Leicester Tigers last week. 3 of those come in the front row, with Soane Tonga'uhia, Andrew Hore and WP Nel replacing Roncero, Buckland and Castrogiovanni. The other change sees Paul Sackey replace Bjorn Basson.
'We've freshened up the front row after last weeks tough encounter against the Tigers, and this week have more mobility with Soane, Andrew Hore and WP. Castro has earnt his rest after last weeks performance and we want him fresh for next weeks visit of Saracens. Sandy Park is a tough place to go and Exeter are scrapping for everything. We will have to be on our game and not give away silly penalties or McLeod will punish us. We're looking to make it 4 league wins in a row and are making a big push towards the play off's. That is our goal and we set ourselves a minimum target of reaching the playoff's. We need to win all our remaining games and it starts here at Sandy Park.'
Tactics
- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game, similar to the recent victories over Saints, away at Wasps and against Tigers last week. We will run back loose kicks and not look to give away possession. We want to keep the ball in hand, run at the Chiefs, tire their defence and look for mismatches.
- We use the scrum as a an attacking platform, with two good scrummaging props we will look to turn the screw and win penalties or use Spies to pick up and carry or Pienaar to get the ball out to the backs. Nel has been picked this week for his loose play. He is a strong carrier and hits rucks hard and tackles a lot. This will help us in an expansive game.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Nel, Garvey, Spies, Steffon, SBW in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Exeter 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 Chiefs defence. Spies, Daniel, Armitage, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and JMH 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.
- If any attacks become slow and we are in danger of being turned of making a mistake, we will look for JMH to pop over a drop goal to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
- We have plenty of impact off the bench to keep things fresh and hopefully see out the game.
- We have won 3 league games in a row, morale and confidence is high and we will look to continue our good form in our battle for the playoffs.
Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors
Sunny Intervals, 15 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Gethin Jenkins | 09. Dimitri Yachvili (k) |
| 02. Sebastian Bruno | 10. Brock James |
| 03. Dan Cole | |
| 04. Pascal Pape | 11. Isa Nacewa |
| 05. James Horwill (c) | 12. Billy Twelvetrees |
| 06. Tom Croft | 13. Brian O'Driscoll |
| 07. Jonathan Poff | 14. Cory Jane |
| 08. Thomas Waldrom | 15. Rob Miller |
Tactics
We will play a game built around running rugby with an attacking back line, and the strength in our set piece.
- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Scrum specialist Bruno selected alongside two in-form props to look to really get the shove on against Mayhew and Bugden.
- Strong lineout with Croft, Pape and Horwill as our main jumpers rotating the target. We will relentlessly target Mayhew's throws.
- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Worcester's defence.
The likes of Waldrom and Horwill used off the shoulder crashing through the Worcester defence.
- Poff is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.
- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings.
- Look to play attacking running rugby in the backs, getting the our 11-15 on the ball as much as possible. Croft to look to get into space and join our backs to cause trouble out wide.
- Box kicks from Yachili and up and unders from James to give Garvey and Morgan problems in the air.
Lightning back three to really get the chase on.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. Selected 3 players versed in playing full back, as we expect Steyn to kick all day and will be ready to counter his kicks.
- Yachvili to kick penalites. We won't always go for the points if in good position and lineout working well.
- Use our powerful bench to see the game out in the last 20 minutes.
Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop
| 01.Sylvain Marconnet | 09.Dwayne Peel |
| 02.Michael Mayhew | 10.Morne Steyn (k) |
| 03.Chris Budgen | |
| 04.Jim Hamilton | 11.Bryan Habana |
| 05.Dom Barrow | 12.Pat McCabe |
| 06.Ryan Jones | 13.Jon Clarke |
| 07.Craig Newby (c) | 14.Marcel Garvey |
| 08.Ben Morgan | 15.Ollie Morgan |
16.Chris Fortey 17.David Flatman 18.BJ Botha 19.Kearnen Myall 20.Mamuka Gorgodze 21.Byron Kelleher 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Shane Williams
Tactics
Forwards: We have picked a pack and big engine room who won't go backwards. Both will look to get the edge on his side and with Hamilton behind him this should be fairly easy to do. Strauss will look to go for each ball and catch them off guard. We will look to get the edge on the hit and put them under pressure instantly with a pack used to playing with each other. Our back rown can match them at the breakdown and Morgan will always make yards when he picks or carries. Jones and Newby will lead from the front at the tackle area looking for turnovers and to put a lot of pressure on the breakdown. Lineouts will be kept simple and we will put two up to compete. Our bench has impact forwards with Botha, Myall and Gorgodze all able to change a match. We know Budgen can't last 80minutes so; if he's on top at half time we will look to push him out for 50mins!
Backs: Quick ball to Steyn where Peel will provide this he will also look to snipe off 3rd or 4th phase. Steyn will play what's ahead of him, he will look to pin them back in their own half and we will look to release our dangerous backline when the ball is quick. Any slow ball will go to forwards or off the park. McCabe will lead from the front and look to offload to runners. We will bring Habana and Garvey into the match as often as possible to work around tired forwards. Steyn will take 3 points when possible to keep the scores close. We again have game changing subs who will all make an impact and will be used to help close out a match. Our backrow will look to be stood between 10-13 and take the ball up any channel with space.
Defence: Look to have 2 men on 10 stopping the ball being shipped out. We will adopt a blitz drift defence looking to close off any gaps which may appear. Peel will look to sweep and snipe and our backrow will look to be 2nd to the breakdown to force the turnover.
Saracens v Harlequins
Sunny, 15 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213
| 01. Max Lahiff | 09. Morgan Parra |
| 02. Bismarck du Plessis | 10. Francois Trinh-Duc |
| 03. Adam Jones | |
| 04. Dave Attwood | 11. Tim Visser |
| 05. Lionel Nallet | 12. Ma'a Nonu |
| 06. Thierry Dusautoir | 13. Jonathon Davies |
| 07. Tom Wood | 14. James Short |
| 08. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 15. Alex Goode |
16. George Chuter 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Rene Ranger 23. Tom Homer
Tactics
Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.
In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. However, re recognise that the ball will be damp in this game so if the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.
In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.
At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.
On our own ball at the scrum, we will look for Adam Jones to drop anchor so that we can get it in and out quickly (as the Reds did in Super XV last season) and launch attacking moves off the back of it. On Quins put in we will look to really contest, with Jones looking to get underneath Rees left shoulder and really split him and Stankovic to destabalise their position.
Game Specific Tactics
- Go through the phases - We will not be kicking the ball today unless we really have to. We will control possesion and starve Quins of any ball. If we need to kick, it will be to touch.
- Target the gainline - We will look to carry straight and hard and really attack the gainline to get over it. We will particularly target the 10-12-13 channels with big carriers.
- Target Quins lineout - We will look to really pressure Rees throwing to secure turnovers.
Key Points
- Home advantage - Our record at home over 4 seasons is second to none. Just 2 defeats in Premiership and Heineken Cup matches. Vicarage Road is a fortress.
- World Class players - We have a number of genuinely world class players who can rightly claim to arguably be the bes tin the world in thier position. That is a massive lift for the entire team. We also include 5 players who featured int eh World Cup final.
- Gameplan - Conditions are are good, and both teams are looking to run the ball rather than kicking. The net result of this will be less scrums, so we have picked a ball carrying loosehead to suit the conditions and gameplan, safe in the knowledge that we have the best scrummaging tighthead in the world on current form on the other side to anchor the scrum.
- Advantages - Steve has highlighted that he feels that Quins have the advantage in the back 3 and will look to exploit this. I disagree on current form, but in any case you need to earn the right to go wide, and I would argue that we have a definite advantage in midfield, where Quins will struggle to earn that right to try to unleash their strike runners.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
| 01. Boris Stankovich | 09. Lee Dickson |
| 02. Matthew Rees | 10. Rhys Priestland (k) |
| 03. John Afoa | |
| 04. Jerome Thion | 11. Zac Guildford |
| 05. George Skivington | 12. Riki Flutey |
| 06. Francois Louw | 13. Jonathan Joseph |
| 07. Sam Warburton (c) | 14. Joe Rokocoko |
| 08. Jamie Heaslip | 15. Rob Kearney |
16. Chris Brooker 17. Matias Aguero 18. Brian Mujati 19. James Gaskell 20. Phil Dowson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. George Lowe
Tactics
Game Plan
Our game plan is based around ball retention, aggression upfront and a fluid attacking game.
In attack we are looking to keep hold of the ball for long periods and tire out Saracens by playing with a quick tempo. This tempo can be maintained by players getting across the gain line when carrying, looking for the offload and by having honesty at the rucks. By this I mean that we have to commit the right numbers to rucks to get us the quick ball rather than try to get away with the minimal amount. The offload game is key to our fluidity and we have a side which is very comfortable with ball in hand and this is good for our game plan. Aggression up front is something which we always look to provide and I feel we have a really aggressive and nasty front 5 which can get at Saracens upfront.
The conditions suit our game plan today and when the quick ball is there for us and we have committed defenders to the fringes then we want to get the ball into the spaces out wide. We have
Forwards
We are looking for strong aggressive carrying from our forwards to get us over the gain line. Carrying in numbers, at pace and looking to win the collisions is key to us as usual. Drive the legs after the collision key to getting a cross the gainline. We are also looking for our forwards to work hard to get to rucks and get us the quick ball.
At the set piece we want to make a real battle of it. We are very happy with our scrum and think we can put some pressure onto Saracens and certainly win our own ball. We consider the front 5 to be strong scrummagers and we want them to try to exert some pressure here. Lineouts will be cut short when between the two 22 m lines to free up carriers in the midfield.
Backs
We have picked a backline which is comfortable with the ball in hand and we are going to look for them to put those around them into space and look to attack the weak defenders or the inside shoulders of defenders. When we are getting quick ball we want to get the ball into the dangermen outwide. We will also look for Kearney and the wingers to get involved as often as possible when the game breaks up. We will look to have our forwards running in the midfield with our backs looking to play in wider channels.
Defence
In defence we will look to play with a quick line speed and put pressure onto the key Saracens decision makers. We will look to bring aggression in the contact in defence as well as attack and will look to knock isolated Saracens carriers backwards. We will look to slow down Saracens ball at the ruck and try to turn over the ball. We will do this by getting the first man to the ruck and contesting on our feet or by adapting a good body position and then ruck Saracens off the ball.
Key Points
- Commit enough men to the rucks to get the quick ball. Our whole game is based upon quick ball, a quick tempo ,controlled by Lee Dickson and ball retention.
- Look to dominate the breakdown with Warburton and Louw looking to control this.
- Look to offload in or before the contact. Priestland and Flutey all about putting other players into gaps and have both been picked with their ability to do this in mind.
- Look to get the ball into the wide channels as soon as we have tied defenders in. Use our pace outwide.
- Keep our discipline. Don’t give away silly penalties and give Saracens anything easily.
- Look to use Kearney’s ability under the high ball and Priestland’s enormous boot to put up some up and unders. We can use this as an exit strategy should we become static.
- Use our bench right time. Conditions mean that fatigue will be evident for both sides and we will look to introduce our impact players so they have enough time to get involved.
Game Specific Key Points
- Target Lahiff. We see us having the scrum advantage whilst he is on and will look to take advantage of this.
- We feel we have the advantage in the back 3 and we will look to take advantage of this when we get into the wide channels.
- We don’t intend to get into many kicking battles, but if it is required we feel we have the stronger punt kickers on show.
Bath Rugby v Northampton Saints
Sunny, 16 Degrees, 6mph Winds
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
| 01. Jon Golding | 09. Fourie du Preez |
| 02. Joe Ward | 10. Gareth Anscombe |
| 03. Davit Kubrashvilli | |
| 04. Louis Deacon | 11. George North |
| 05.Sam Whitelock | 12. Maxime Mermoz |
| 06. Sean O’Brien | 13. Aurelien Rougerie |
| 07. Will Skinner | 14. Tom Varndell |
| 08. JMF Lobbe | 15. Kurtley Beale |
Tactics
Psychological
15 wins in 18 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence. One of the wins was an away wins over Saints which has given us confidence at home. We also feel we are the more rested team. Halfpenny, Phillips and Manu have played the 4 last weeks, two huge international games included. Mullan, Webber and Sivi have played 3 consecutive games including a cup final. Lapandry has played 4 weeks in a row, with Lawes playing 5 and Albacete the last 7. Will be feeling the effects.
Overall
We will be looking to play entertaining, attacking rugby attacking off our set piece superiority
Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to play well in loose. We are also confident that if need be they can dominate in a scrum. Stevens isn’t a great scrummager let alone on his weaker side so target him while Kubrashvilli will target inexperienced Mullan. 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.
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 will not be give them a chance to counter attack so we shall only use this sparingly though. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. FDP offers another box kicking option which we can use. Anscombe is another option if needs be.
Ball in Hand
Our game plan is based around our attacking skills with the ball in hand. With Healy, SOB, Lobbe etc we have some of the best forwards who can real make inroads with their running. We will look to make sure runners aren’t isolated with good tracking and will offload if there is minimal risk.
FDP will look to control the tempo of the backline. He has 6 explosive runners outside of him and will look to use his experience to make plays. Anscombe is some talent and will be looking to drag defenders away from teammates. Look to get our back 5 into space running at people
Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Saints 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 Skinners 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 Tanner and Wilson. Simmons will come on and look to put in big yards and make his impact felt. Guest we feel can have a positive impact with his running game. Wigglesworth is a good experienced head who can keep us controlled at the end of the game. Wooburn and Toeava we will look to bring on and use their fresh legs to maximum effectiveness with explosive running.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris
| 01. Matt Mullan | 09. Mike Phillips |
| 02. Rob Webber | 10. Matt Giteau (c) |
| 03. Matt Stevens | |
| 04. Courtney Lawes | 11. Elliot Daly |
| 05.Patricio Albacete | 12. Weslie Fofana |
| 06. Dan Lydiate | 13. Manu Tuilagi |
| 07. Alexander Lapandry | 14. Siti Siviatu |
| 08. Sergio Parisse | 15. Leigh Halfpenny(k) |
16. Chris Whitehead 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Carl Hayman 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Messam 21. Sam Harrison 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Max Evans
Tactics
Overall - Saints are now on a good roll, scoring tries freely and playing with a lot of confidence. Again our game will be based around a pack that controls possession, using our big ball carriers to get us over the gainline and play a fast, high-tempo game where we look to put our backthree into scoring positions. We welcome back Lydiate, Parisse and Fofana into the starting lineup, and will look for Lydiate to stop the Bath backrow getting over the gainline. We will look to score tries, and frustrate Bath.
Attack - we will continue to play our structured game that evolves working through the phases, getting our big ball carriers on the ball and over the gainline (Albacete, Lawes, Parisse, Fofana, Tuilagi and Siviatu) - we will look to use our midfield a lot in the game and get them running at their opposite numbers, we see we have an advantage in the 10, 12, 13 channel and will look to get as much ball going through Giteau, Fofana and Tuilagi as possible - each offers a completely different attacking threat.
We will get runners going off Giteau, Fofana and Tuilagi - each is capable of making a linebreak at any time in the game and we hope to exploit any opportunities to get in behind the bath midfield.
We will not be afraid to attack from deep as the conditions are perfect for our backline and our pack will certainly hold its own. However, Phillips and Giteau will control the game, and ensure that we do not play ourselves into trouble.
Defence - the return of Lydiate makes a huge difference to our defensive play, he was the standout defender in this year's 6Nations and along with Lawes is tasked with stopping Lobbe and O'Brien from getting over the gainline and slowing down Bath ball at source. As normal we will play an aggressive defence, putting our opposition under pressure, using Phillips to get at du Preez and then having a rush defence on the 10-12-13 channel and try and make the most of the Bath 10's inexperience. We feel that if we can stop the Bath backrows getting over the gainline then we can win this game - with Lawes, Albacete, Lydiate and Parisse we certainly have the defensive players to do this.
We also want to make sure that we do not invite Bath to pressurise us in our own half and when we get the ball (espc. in our own 22) we will get Halfpenny to clear lines and get the ball into touch, as we do not want Beale to run into open space, although Fofana, Tuilagi and Halfpenny are all top class tacklers.
We have positioned Siviatu against North so he can test him both offensively and defensively - Siviatu has been in very good form, so will be a good battle between the two.
Set Piece - Again our front three are fresh, and we are able to bring on Domingo, Whitehead and Hayman in the second half to bolster our scrum and will use this to put pressure on Bath. We will use the scrum as an attacking weapon to launch Parisse or get Phillips running at the Bath no10.
Our lineout is boosted with the return of Parisse and we will look to focus on securing good quality ball from parisse, lawes and albacete. On Bath ball we will position Lydiate at the back, so he can stop any attacks from quick ball in what is a dangerous Bath backline.
Breakdown - we've made two changes from last week against Wasps in the backrow, bringing in Lydiate and Parisse to partner Lapandry - we will look to target the breakdown with Lydiate slowing down Bath ball and Lapandry and Parisse targeting turnovers. We are fortunate that Fofana and Tuilagi are also very adept at the breakdown - defensively we are very confident in this area of slowing down ball, but will certainly compete for turnovers when opportunities present themselves.
Key Points
* For the first time this season we are full of confidence, scoring 11 tries in 3 games, winning the LV Trophy and getting a try scoring BP against Wasps last week - we feel we have the defensive capabilities to prevent Bath's dangermen getting over the gainline and the attacking talent in our team to score tries away from home.
* Team is full of leaders and captains (Webber, Albacete, Lydiate, Parisse, Giteau etc) - we have built a team around the same structure of England circa 2000-2003 and see this as very important to win away from home.
* We have a solid pack, which will hold its own, but is also extremely mobile and the conditions are perfect for us - we can then turn the screw in the second half by bringing on three front row forwards who can pressurise Bath in the set piece.
* Halfpenny's boot is a three-point machine - any penalties and we will go for goal and build up the score, forcing Bath to play rugby and look for tries.
* We have our best 8, 9, 10, 12, 13 combination playing together and they will cause Bath a lot of problems.
* Bench has a lot of impact players - Launchbury, Messam, Cipriani and Evans can all change the outcome of a game.
London Wasps v Gloucester Rugby
Sunny, 15 Degrees, 7mph 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. Dan Tuohy | 12. Dan Bowden |
| 06. Rocky Elsom (c) | 13. Jamie Roberts |
| 07. Deon Stegmann | 14. Takudzwa Ngwenya |
| 08. Luke Narraway | 15. Mike Brown |
16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Jared Saunders 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Jackson Wray 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Noah Cato
Tactics
We have picked a gritty, dynamic and physical forward pack with plenty of ball carriers 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 Gloucester. We will look to push Gloucester onto the back foot and keep them there.
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 Gloucester 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 Gloucester pack out and create mismatches in midfield to exploit.
Myler will play flat in attack, we will use Bowden as a second playmaking option, we will look to Roberts to run plenty of hard lines, looking to win collisions to get our offloading game going if it’s on. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Gloucester 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. We will look to create space out wide for our wingers to exploit and make use of.
At the breakdown we will come from low to high in clearing out Gloucester players to ensure Burgess has clean ball. We will look to the kicking game of Myler to put the ball in behind the Gloucester 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. Stegmann with his low centre of gravity will look to (legally) slow down the Gloucester ball. We will look to the scrum to provide us with a platform to build attacks from and keep Gloucester on the back foot. We will use a shortened line out, and launch our dynamic forwards, who are not in the lineout into midfield.
Gloucester
Manager – Mat
| 01. Guthro Steenkamp | 09. Will Genia |
| 02. Joe Grey | 10.Johan Goosen |
| 03. Nicola Mas | |
| 04. Richie Grey | 11. Charlie Sharples |
| 05.George Robson | 12. Berrick Barnes |
| 06. Stephen Ferris | 13. Richard Kahui |
| 07. Andy Saull | 14. Hosea Gear |
| 08. Immanol Harinordoqouy | 15. Johnny May |
16. Nick Wood17. Darren dawiduik 18. Julian White 19. Bakkies Botha 20. Schalk Burger 21. Connor Murray 22. Ryan Lamb 23. JSD
Glaws travel to adams park as the form side in the prem with lots of players who have been rotated through out the year feeling fresh.
The sun is out and we are hear to play some high intensity direct rugby.
Pack
We have gone for a hard scrummaging athletic pack to get around the park and carry the ball in to the heart of the wasps team.
Scrum
Despite the good weather leading to less scrums and slightly devaluing it glos will be targetting the scrum to get a nudge on our own ball to release the back row and to try and disrupt the wasps put in and make them have poor ball.
lineout- We see this as a massive advantage for us. We have 5 lineout options and in Robson Gray and Hari we will look to use the lineout as a great way of attacking off the back. We will be looking to drive the ball and suck them in before launching runners such as ferris and Hari off the back or to go wide with their back row sucked in.
Defensively we will use hari robson and Gray to really pressure the wasps throw and starve them of attacking ball. With Myler at ten they will look to kick a lot and we are hoping that our obvious lineout strength will make them kick in field meaning may, sharples and Gear can counter attack at will. TPN has really struggled with his darts all season so we think our lineout and his throwing will make us own the lineout battle
general forward play
We will be looking to use the sheer amount of carriers in our pack to get us over the gain line and win the physical battle against wasps. With so many talented dynamic carriers we will be looking to use the offload when on. Gray, hari and Ferris are particularly sublime with this and it will help to put us in behind the wasps defence where we will look to get quick ball to release our backs.
Backs.
We will be looking to play off quick ball to try and score tries and enjoy the weather. Genias job will be to get the ball to goosen and let him decide. Goosen is in great form kicking huge goals and launching attack after attack in an excellent attacking side the cheetahs.
In our own 22 he will be looking to clear the ball to touch so we can attack their lineout. He will also try and isolate wade against Gear for the cross field kick and indeed will test out Both wasps wings with the high ball.
Anywhere outside our ten metre line with quick ball Goosen will be looking to attack. berrick barnes inside him offers stability and a second kicking option and creative role. We will be looking to commit roberts in his unfamiliar 13 role and then go wide creating mismatches.
Gear who is in great form will be looking to go one on one against wade.
We will employ an in yourt face defence to try and force wasps to kick. If its in touch we fancy the lineout but if its in field MAy, Sharples and Gear will run it back with interest looking to isolate forwards.
As the game breaks up and the hotter conditions take their toll we will be looking to use quick throw ins and really up the tempo.
We intend to use our bench as required but having a bench that contains names such as Bakkies, Burger, JSD, Murray etc is a huge plus and an advantage we hope can help us secure the BP win.
We are aiming to get in the top 2 so are targetting the BP win.
Last edited by SirJohnnyEnglish on Fri 30 Mar 2012, 9:31 am; edited 1 time in total
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Re: AP Round 19
by Ozzy3213 Sat 31 Mar 2012, 1:10 pm
Have been out all morning, will get results done shortly.
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Re: AP Round 19
by Ozzy3213 Sat 31 Mar 2012, 1:59 pm
Results
Newcastle Falcons 35 Sale Sharks 21
Exeter Chiefs 23 London Irish 31
Leicester Tigers 36 Worcester Warriors 23
Saracens 27 Harlequins 22
Bath Rugby 25 Northampton Saints 32
London Wasps 23 Gloucester 35
SJE, are you in a position to do scorers for me please mate?
Newcastle Falcons 35 Sale Sharks 21
Exeter Chiefs 23 London Irish 31
Leicester Tigers 36 Worcester Warriors 23
Saracens 27 Harlequins 22
Bath Rugby 25 Northampton Saints 32
London Wasps 23 Gloucester 35
SJE, are you in a position to do scorers for me please mate?
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Re: AP Round 19
by dammit_chris Sat 31 Mar 2012, 6:37 pm
when the new scoring system comes in next season, will definitely be a lot more losing BP's - Driver, definitely thought you'd get one!
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Re: AP Round 19
by prop_lyd Sat 31 Mar 2012, 8:54 pm
Another smashing!!! With practically strongest squad! Oh well, hopefully next year.
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Re: AP Round 19
by SirJohnnyEnglish Mon 02 Apr 2012, 1:56 pm
Newcastle Falcons 35-21 Sale Sharks
Tries: Bowe (2), Read, Benjamin. Franks
Conversations: Flood (4), Evans
Penalties:
Tries: O’Mahony, Masaga
Conversations: Cruden
Penalties: Cruden (3)
Exeter Chiefs 23-31 London Irish
Tries: Pisi, Thomas
Conversations: McLeod (2)
Penalties: McLeod (3)
Tries: Smith, Nel. Daniel, Tonga
Conversations: Pienaar
Penalties: Pienaar (3)
Leicester Tigers 36-23 Worcester Warriors
Tries: Croft, Jenkins, Nacewa (2), Ojo
Conversations: Yachvili (4)
Penalties: Yachvili
Tries: Peel, Morgan
Conversations: Steyn (2)
Penalties: Steyn (3)
Saracens 27-22 Harlequins
Tries: Wood, Lahiff, Johnson
Conversations: Parra (3)
Penalties: Parra (2)
Tries: Joseph
Conversations: Priestland
Penalties: Priestland (5)
Bath Rugby 25-32 Northampton Saints
Tries: North (2), O’Brien
Conversations: Beale (2)
Penalties: Beale (2)
Tries: Fofanna, Webber, Daly, Messam
Conversations: Halfpenny (3)
Penalties: Halfpenny (2)
London Wasps 23-35 Gloucester Rugby
Tries: Narraway, Wade,
Conversations: Myler (2)
Penalties: Myler (3)
Tries: Genia, Ferris, Grey, Sharples, May
Conversations: Goosen (5)
Penalties:
Tries: Bowe (2), Read, Benjamin. Franks
Conversations: Flood (4), Evans
Penalties:
Tries: O’Mahony, Masaga
Conversations: Cruden
Penalties: Cruden (3)
Exeter Chiefs 23-31 London Irish
Tries: Pisi, Thomas
Conversations: McLeod (2)
Penalties: McLeod (3)
Tries: Smith, Nel. Daniel, Tonga
Conversations: Pienaar
Penalties: Pienaar (3)
Leicester Tigers 36-23 Worcester Warriors
Tries: Croft, Jenkins, Nacewa (2), Ojo
Conversations: Yachvili (4)
Penalties: Yachvili
Tries: Peel, Morgan
Conversations: Steyn (2)
Penalties: Steyn (3)
Saracens 27-22 Harlequins
Tries: Wood, Lahiff, Johnson
Conversations: Parra (3)
Penalties: Parra (2)
Tries: Joseph
Conversations: Priestland
Penalties: Priestland (5)
Bath Rugby 25-32 Northampton Saints
Tries: North (2), O’Brien
Conversations: Beale (2)
Penalties: Beale (2)
Tries: Fofanna, Webber, Daly, Messam
Conversations: Halfpenny (3)
Penalties: Halfpenny (2)
London Wasps 23-35 Gloucester Rugby
Tries: Narraway, Wade,
Conversations: Myler (2)
Penalties: Myler (3)
Tries: Genia, Ferris, Grey, Sharples, May
Conversations: Goosen (5)
Penalties:
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Ozzy3213- Moderator
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Age : 36
Location : Limerick
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