Heineken Cup Quarter Finals

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

---

Weather Forecast for all games is dry and cool, with light winds.

---

---

Gloucester vs. ASM Clermont Auvergne

Gloucester

01. Coonie Ousthuizen	09. Connor Murray
02. Darren Diawiduik	10. Johan Goosen
03. Rupert Harden
04. Bakkies Botha	11. JSD
05. Richie Gray	12. juan de jongh
06. Schalk Burger	13. Rob Horne
07.Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Willem Alberts (c)	15 Israel Dagg

16. Nick Wood 17. Adriaan Strauss 18. Nicola Mas 19. George Robson 20. Julien Bonnaire 21. Will Genia 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Johnny May

Tactics

---

ASM Clermont Auvergne

01. Lionel Faure	09. Morgan Parra
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. David Skrela
03. Clement Ric
04. Julien Pierre	11. Julien Malzieu
05. Nathan Hines	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Gerhard Vosloo	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Julien Bardy	14. Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. Julien Bonnaire	15. Lee Byrne

16. Ti'i Paulo 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Daniel Kotze 19. Jamie Cudmore 20. Alexandre Lapandry 21. Kevin Senio 22. Brock James 23. Regan King

---

---

Leicester Tigers vs. Toulouse

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Brock James
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Simon Shaw	11. Tom Biggs
05. Nathan Hines	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Samu Manoa	13. Florian Fritz
07. Magnus Lund	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Ernst Joubert (c)	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Tom Youngs 18. Ben Franks 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Chris Cusiter 22. Dave Walder 23. Billy Twelvetrees

Tactics

We will play a structured game built around our massive line breakers, the strength in our set piece and our intelligent back line.

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Scrum specialist Bruno selected alongside two huge props to look to really get the shove on.

- Strong lineout with Joubert, Manoa and Hines as our main jumpers rotating the target. We will relentlessly target Toulouse's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Toulouse's defence.
The likes of Manoa and Joubert used off the shoulder crashing through the Toulouse defence.

- Lund 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.

- Box kicks from Yachili and up and unders from James to give Toulouse 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.

- Yachvili to kick all penalites.

---

Toulouse

01. Gurthro Steenkamp	09. Luke Burgess
02. William Servat	10. Lionel Beauxis
03. Jean-Baptiste Poux
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Yves Donguy
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Luke McAllister
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Yann David
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Timoci Matanavou
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Maxime Medard

16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Daan Human 18. Johnston Falefa 19. Gregory Lamboley 20. Jean-Marc Doussain 21. Jean Bouilhou 22. Vincent Clerc 23. Shaun Sowerby

---

---

Sale Sharks vs. London Irish

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Alun Wyn Jones	11. David Strettle
05. Andries Bekker	12. James Hook
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Peter O'Mahony	14. Luke Rooney
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Nathan Catt 17. Brett Sharman 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Christian Day 20. Wycliffe Palu 21. Ben Spencer 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Olly Barkley

---

General Game Plan:

We will use our strong carriers to attack gaps and half gaps in the Irish line, looking to offload in contact to support runners thus changing the point of attack and keeping our forward momentum going. Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown looking for the opportunity to snipe while Sexton will look to play flat at fly half and inject pace to the proceedings thus committing the Irish defence and leaving space in wider channels to exploit. If running the ball is not on we 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 Irish feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Irish halfbacks. With 5 quality 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 using the physicality of our pack 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 Irish 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 Irish 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.

---

Key Points:

•Home Advantage
With a baying home crowd at the hostile Edgeley Park, intimidating both Irish and the ref, Irish will need to be at their very best to win! We have a stellar record here with only a loss to Newcastle in the 2 seasons.

•Lineout
With 5 quality jumpers on show, on our own ball we will look to really use the lineout as an attacking platform similar to South Africa in recent years. We will look to use a full compliment, tying up the Irish forwards, and play the ball off the top allowing our halfbacks to get on the ball at pace with room outside.

•Form
After some troubles earlier in the season with real life injuries etc we have some players in serious form in recent times with the likes of Ayerza, Sexton, AWJ, Bekker, Thomson, Strettle, Picamoles really starring for their respective clubs/countries

---

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. WP Nel
04. Dean Mumm	11. Marland Yarde
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Luke McAllister
06. Keegan Daniel	13. Conrad Smith
07. Hendrie Fourie	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Xavier Rush	15. Delon Armitage

16. Rodrigo Roncero 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Steffon Armitage 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Sonny Bill Williams 23. Anthony Watson

London Irish have made changes to their side from their bonus point win at Exeter for the Quarter Final away to Sale.
James Buckland, Dean Mumm, Hendrie Fourie, Xavier Rush, Julien Dupuy, Marland Yarde and Luke McAllister come in for Andrew Hore, Matt Garvey, Steffon Armitage, Pierre Spies, Ruan Pienaar, Paul Sackey and Sonny Bill Williams.

'We are in a tough position at the moment. We have a good opportunity to make the Premiership playoff's and a chance to make the Heineken Cup Semi Finals. It is not about prioritising, but about using our squad depth. We have rotated well in the last few games and have done so again here. We have a huge game next week against Saracens and I have decided to rest Castro, Steffon, Spies, Matt Garvey and Sonny Bill for that. But in resting them, it gives me the chance to play WP Nel, Dean Mumm, Hendrie Fourie, Xavier and Luke McAllister, who are all top class players. We are on great form, but know we are in for a tough game at Edgeley Park.'

Tactics

- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game. We will run back loose kicks and not look to give away possession. We want to keep the ball in hand, run at the Sharks, 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 Rush to pick up and carry or Dupuy 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, Mumm, Rush, Daniel, Tonga'uhia in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Sale on the backfoot. We will look for quick ball for Dupuy 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 Mumm at the front to create a maul.
- We willl look to dominate possession and tire the Sale defence. Daniel, Tonga'uhia, Fourie, Nel, Rush will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Dupuy and JMH to play what is infront of them and put McAllister and co into gaps and space.
- At the breakdown, we will look to use our powerful flankers and the breakdown skills of Fourie to secure quick ball and slow down opposition ball. Any turnover ball will be counter attacked.
- Dupuy or JMH 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.

---

---

Saracens vs. Newcastle Falcons

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Adam Jones
04. Dave Attwood	11. Tim Visser
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Tom Johnson	13. Henry Trinder
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Joe van Niekerk (c)	15. Tom Homer

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Tom Wood 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Rene Ranger 23. Alex Goode

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.


Game Specific Tactics

• Target Ben Youngs - Back row to look to really get to Youngs around the fringes and put him off his game.
  

Key Points

• Home advantage - Our record at home over 4 seasons is second to none. Just 2 defeats in Premiership and we have never lost a Heineken Cup match at home. Home advantage is even bigger in european competition than domestic games and Vicarage Road is a fortress.
  
• World Class Players - We have at least 4 players in our side who can realistically lay claim to being the best in the world in their position (BDP, Jones, Dusautoir, Nonu) and that breeds confidence through the whole team.
  
• Real Life Form - Players like BDP, Attwood, Kitchener, Johnson, Dusautoir, Lambie, Visser and Homer are in fantastic form in real life
  
• Impact Bench - We have players who can make a real impact int he final quarter in Lahiff, JDP, Elstadt, Wood and Ranger.
  

---

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Boris Stankovic	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Ed Slater	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Ben Williams
06. Kelly Brown	13. Jaques Fourie
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Sean Maitland
08. Toby Faletau	15. Ben Smith

16. William Servat 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Geoff Parling 20.Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22. Miles Benjamin 23. James O’Connor

Tactics

General – High intensity, control possesion and look to hit the corners when on and target oppsotion lineout throw. Use pace & guile in backline and get out wide early. Youngs & Flood to dictate tempo boss game.

Scrum – look to target opposition and get nudge on if weakness seen. Keep ball in and look for drive to get pen. Franks to target Beast all game.

Lineout – quick ball off the top using POC as primary caller, also look to use numerous jumpers. Target BdP throw all game and lack of top quality targets in opposition pack.

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 Lambie early on and force him off his game.

Backline – Look to play the fringes with Youngs sniping around .Flood to play flat. Look to tuse Williams/Fourie to get over gainline and also as decoy with Maitland coming in at angles. Look to get JOC in space whenever possible in the 2nd.

Points:

Lineout - Attack opposition with no Int quality operator in side
Momentum – Strong wins recently and back to the top of the table
Fresh pack – rested players come in to give us added energy

Leicester Tigers have named their team to play Toulouse in the Heineken Cup this week.

Tigers make 12 changes to the side that beat Worcester 36 - 23 last week. Only Sebastian Bruno and half backs Dimitri Yachvili and Brock James reamin as manager LukeLovesLuka makes wholesale changes.

It will be familiar foes for a number of Tigers' players, with Cencus Johnston, Yannick Jauzion, Florian Fritz and Clement Poitrenaud all facing their old club.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Brock James
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Simon Shaw	11. Tom Biggs
05. Nathan Hines	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Samu Manoa	13. Florian Fritz
07. Magnus Lund	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Ernst Joubert (c)	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Tom Youngs 18. Ben Franks 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Chris Cusiter 22. Dave Walder 23. Billy Twelvetrees

Tactics

We will play a structured game built around our massive line breakers, the strength in our set piece and our intelligent back line.

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Scrum specialist Bruno selected alongside two huge props to look to really get the shove on.

- Strong lineout with Joubert, Manoa and Hines as our main jumpers rotating the target. We will relentlessly target Toulouse's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Toulouse's defence.
The likes of Manoa and Joubert used off the shoulder crashing through the Toulouse defence.

- Lund 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.

- Box kicks from Yachili and up and unders from James to give Toulouse 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.

- Yachvili to kick all penalites.

Good games

Mark

Gloucester

01. Coonie Ousthuizen	09. Connor Murray
02. Darren Diawiduik	10. Johan Goosen
03. Rupert Harden
04. Bakkies Botha	11. JSD
05. Richie Gray	12. juan de jongh
06. Schalk Burger	13. Rob Horne
07.Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Willem Alberts (c)	15 Israel Dagg

16. Nick Wood 17. Adriaan Strauss 18. Nicola Mas 19. George Robson 20. Julien Bonnaire 21. Will Genia 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Johnny May

Tactics

Saracens make 7 changes to the starting XV for their Heineken Cup quarter final against Newcastle Falcons.

Head coach Ozzy3213 had this to say…

"We have a strong squad and players are really pushing for starts which makes selection meetings interesting. Newcastle will pose a massive challenge, but we have already beaten them once this season, so we know that if we perform at our best, then we can come away with the win again. The boys are focused and looking forward to welcoming them to Vicarage Road"

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Adam Jones
04. Dave Attwood	11. Tim Visser
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Tom Johnson	13. Henry Trinder
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Joe van Niekerk (c)	15. Tom Homer

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Tom Wood 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Rene Ranger 23. Alex Goode

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.


Game Specific Tactics

• xxx -
  
• xxx -
  
• xxx -
  

Key Points

• Home advantage - Our record at home over 4 seasons is second to none. Just 2 defeats in Premiership and we have never lost a Heineken Cup match at home. Vicarage Road is a fortress.
  
  
• xxx -
  
• xxx -
  
• xxx -
  

Strong team Pete, won't be able to get mine in till tonight as away with Missus.

No worries mate, I'll be up late tonight so will probably update the page at midnight.

Selection tough this week, wanted to rotate more, but with loads of my English injured it restricts you a bit.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Alun Wyn Jones	11. David Strettle
05. Andries Bekker	12. James Hook
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Peter O'Mahony	14. Luke Rooney
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Nathan Catt 17. Brett Sharman 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Christian Day 20. Wycliffe Palu 21. Ben Spencer 22. Aaron Cruden 23. Olly Barkley

---

General Game Plan:

We will use our strong carriers to attack gaps and half gaps in the Irish line, looking to offload in contact to support runners thus changing the point of attack and keeping our forward momentum going. Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown looking for the opportunity to snipe while Sexton will look to play flat at fly half and inject pace to the proceedings thus committing the Irish defence and leaving space in wider channels to exploit. If running the ball is not on we 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 Irish feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Irish halfbacks. With 5 quality 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 using the physicality of our pack 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 Irish 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 Irish 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.

---

Key Points:

•Home Advantage
With a baying home crowd at the hostile Edgeley Park, intimidating both Irish and the ref, Irish will need to be at their very best to win! We have a stellar record here with only a loss to Newcastle in the 2 seasons.

•Lineout
With 5 quality jumpers on show, on our own ball we will look to really use the lineout as an attacking platform similar to South Africa in recent years. We will look to use a full compliment, tying up the Irish forwards, and play the ball off the top allowing our halfbacks to get on the ball at pace with room outside.

•Form
After some troubles earlier in the season with real life injuries etc we have some players in serious form in recent times with the likes of Ayerza, Sexton, AWJ, Bekker, Thomson, Strettle, Picamoles really starring for their respective clubs/countries

---

Im moving house over the weekend so will be struggling for time for predictions this week Pete. If I get some free time tomorrow I'll look to get them in but can't gurantee I'll be on

No worries bud, thanks for letting me know.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. WP Nel
04. Dean Mumm	11. Marland Yarde
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Luke McAllister
06. Keegan Daniel	13. Conrad Smith
07. Hendrie Fourie	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Xavier Rush	15. Delon Armitage

16. Rodrigo Roncero 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Steffon Armitage 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Sonny Bill Williams 23. Anthony Watson

London Irish have made changes to their side from their bonus point win at Exeter for the Quarter Final away to Sale.
James Buckland, Dean Mumm, Hendrie Fourie, Xavier Rush, Julien Dupuy, Marland Yarde and Luke McAllister come in for Andrew Hore, Matt Garvey, Steffon Armitage, Pierre Spies, Ruan Pienaar, Paul Sackey and Sonny Bill Williams.

'We are in a tough position at the moment. We have a good opportunity to make the Premiership playoff's and a chance to make the Heineken Cup Semi Finals. It is not about prioritising, but about using our squad depth. We have rotated well in the last few games and have done so again here. We have a huge game next week against Saracens and I have decided to rest Castro, Steffon, Spies, Matt Garvey and Sonny Bill for that. But in resting them, it gives me the chance to play WP Nel, Dean Mumm, Hendrie Fourie, Xavier and Luke McAllister, who are all top class players. We are on great form, but know we are in for a tough game at Edgeley Park.'

Tactics

- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game. We will run back loose kicks and not look to give away possession. We want to keep the ball in hand, run at the Sharks, 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 Rush to pick up and carry or Dupuy 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, Mumm, Rush, Daniel, Tonga'uhia in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Sale on the backfoot. We will look for quick ball for Dupuy 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 Mumm at the front to create a maul.
- We willl look to dominate possession and tire the Sale defence. Daniel, Tonga'uhia, Fourie, Nel, Rush will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Dupuy and JMH to play what is infront of them and put McAllister and co into gaps and space.
- At the breakdown, we will look to use our powerful flankers and the breakdown skills of Fourie to secure quick ball and slow down opposition ball. Any turnover ball will be counter attacked.
- Dupuy or JMH 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.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Rodrigo Roncero	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Ed Slater	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Ben Williams
06. Kelly Brown	13. Jaques Fourie
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Sean Maitland
08. Toby Faletau	15. Ben Smith

16. William Servat 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Geoff Parling 20.Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22. Miles Benjamin 23. James O’Connor

Tactics

General – High intensity, control possesion and look to hit the corners when on and target oppsotion lineout throw. Use pace & guile in backline and get out wide early. Youngs & Flood to dictate tempo boss game.

Scrum – look to target opposition and get nudge on if weakness seen. Keep ball in and look for drive to get pen. Franks to target Beast all game.

Lineout – quick ball off the top using POC as primary caller, also look to use numerous jumpers. Target BdP throw all game and lack of top quality targets in opposition pack.

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 Lambie early on and force him off his game.

Backline – Look to play the fringes with Youngs sniping around .Flood to play flat. Look to tuse Williams/Fourie to get over gainline and also as decoy with Maitland coming in at angles. Look to get JOC in space whenever possible in the 2nd.

Points:

Lineout - Attack opposition with no Int quality operator in side
Momentum – Strong wins recently and back to the top of the table
Fresh pack – rested players come in to give us added energy

Pooly Roncero is in nicks team
Also ?? Who is right!!

Bugger....

Sorry Pete, can you swap with Boris Stankovich.

Done.

Predos are open

Gloucester 24-22 ASM

Pretty tight game this one settled by Gloucester being strong at home. I can see Gloucester scrum creeking a little but their back 5 helping get a foot hold. ASM probably shade the backline but enough talent on Gloucester bench to sneak it.

Gloucester 27 ASM Clermont Auvergne 22

This game will be won and lost in the pack and the Gloucester one is simply better than the ASM one. ASM haven't been consistent and haven't travelled well this season so I see this being won at a canter.


Leicester Tigers 19 Toulouse 20

I don't see this being a very good game, with neither 10 in great form at present and neither able to get their backline moving, meaning it comes down to a pack battle. Both are grizzled units, but I think the Toulouse one is a bit better and they have more coming off the bench. I can see them doing what Toulouse do and nicking this one.

Sale Sharks 24 London Irish 23

Found this really tough to call. Two good packs, the Sale one marginally better for me. Prefer the Irish outside backs though. I always put more on the pack though, so at home and with a bit stronger 1-8 I have to give the narrowest of wins to the Sharks.

Gloucester 28 - 24 ASM

Upfront goes to Gloucester with what is a strong back 5 of the scrum. Half backs go to Clermont but I think the outside backs go to Gloucester. Not a routine win but Gloucester have enough to dog it out. Goosen would be a weakness in the AP against most full strength sides Matt.

Leicester 26 - 27 Toulouse

Think Toulouse have the stronger side throughout, with a more mobile pack and a backline which will score tries. Tough for Leicester who don't lose often at home but I think Toulouse will do better at the set piece and have the more dangerous men outwide.

Sale 24 - 22 Irish

Upfront its pretty even to be honest, with not much being given either way at scrum or lineout. I prefer the Irish front 5 in the loose but I think the Sale back row is the stronger on show. Half backs go to Sale with the centres going to Irish with both backs 3's being even. Little concerned that Sale dont have a natural outside back on the bench but they still do enough to win here

Saracens 29 - 27 Newcastle

See this as a very even contest. Scrum is pretty even for me with both Tight Heads getting the advantage over the looseheads. Locks go to Newcastle with POC clearly the best on show with not much between the rest. Back row is also pretty even with Saracens just about having the advantage but not by much. Half backs one a piece with Flood being in decent form. Centes go to Saracens although Fourie and Nonu will have a big advantage over their opposite men Trinder is a stronger option that Williams. back 3's for me are pretty even. Really tough to call this one but it probably just goes the way of Saracens.

Leicester 25-25 Toulouse

Just can't split this one. Think Toulouse have edge in pack but possibly not enough in backline to see them home.

Sale 34-30 Irish

See a high scoring game. Sale have a serious pack on show and more form from 1-10. With that platform I just think they'll take this one.

Gloucester 29 - 23 Clermont
Clermont's advantage in the front row is evened up with Gray and Botha playing behind them and the conditions place more emphasis on open play etc, where I think Glaws pack will dominate and setup the platform for their backline. Clermont are going to score tries too, their backline is too good not to, but home advantage will see Glaws home.

Leicester 23 - 21 Toulouse
Going to be a close game - can see the Toulouse pack being pretty dominate in the backrow, but Tigers have a very strong front five and this will get their backline a good platform - backline is very well balanced and home advantage sways it.

Sale 29 - 28 Irish
Massive pack battle here and I can't see one team being able to dominate the other as it is so even. I see the game being won in the midfield and just see Irish suffering a bit by having Hernandez, McAlister and Smith playing together as I think they are all playmakers and need one of the 12 or 13 to be in the Nonu style. They will make breaks with their backthree but it just doesnt quite work for me.

Sarries 33 - 30 Newcastle
Always a hard place to go and play and home advantage does prove a big factor here. Its going to be a high scoring game and it looks like Pooly is placing more emphasis on winning the league instead of the HC - can see Nonu getting a whole lot of joy running through Williams, whose a good player but isnt first choice for Bath in real life and he's going to be waking up with a lot of bruises. Newcastle will still score tries though as quality of backthree is perfect for conditions, but Sarries to strong at home

Sale 29-29 Irish think irish front row can get on top and they just have enough to squeak a last minute draw.

Sarries 28-24 falcons sarries would win by more if they had more potent back 3. Locks to falcons.

Williams would get exposed time and again vs nonu

Leicester 22-21 Toulouse both teams have a loose defensive back 3. Matuvo is probably the worst defensive wing in Europe and is exposed week after week in top 14. Leicester good side and win enough ball to win

Gloucester 37-29 Clermont
Think Clermont will struggle in the forwards battle with the only place they look good being the front row. Both have some sensational player but being at home along with their subs will see Gloucester get a good win here.

Toulouse 23-20 Tigers
Imagine Toulouse forwards with Clermont backs. That'd be some team. Think the forwards will win it for Toulouse here, Tigers have better backs but not by enough to win the game.

Sale 25-22 Irish
I think Sale have too much quality for Irish here. Think they have an advantage in the forwards and the backs are similar. Do like the Irish bench think they have players who can come on and cause problems.

Sarries 28-26 Newcastle
Think the forwards overall go to Sarries although Newcastle do have a good back row which wills secure them some good ball. Prefer half backs and centres of Sarries but Newcastle have better back three and subs.

Gloucester 30-24 Clermont
Gloucester will win the game in the backs and from the impact off the bench.

Tigers 20-21 Toulouse
See Toulouse as dominating upfront here.

Sale 24-22 Irish
Irish could cause issues late on and maybe at back 3 but Sale good at home and overall quality takes it.

Sarries 30-28 Newcastle
Sarries will gain an advantage in the centres here, think Newcastle will get good ball in the back row but Sarries will just edge the pack.

Glocuester 33 - 26 Clermont

Leicester 22 - 23 Toulouse

Sale 23 - 22 Irish

Sarries 28 - 26 Newcastle

Glocuester 35 Clermont 26

Leicester 23 Toulouse 19

Sale 18 irish 15

Sarries 25 Newcastle 25

RESULTS:

Gloucester 38-25 ASM
Leicester Tigers 25-27 Toulouse
Sale Sharks 34-24 London Irish
Saracens 35-27 Newcastle Falcons

Congratulations to Matt, SJE & Pete on reaching the Semi finals

Cheers for doing the results Pooly mate

Scorers

Gloucester 38-25 ASM

Tries: Horne, Gray, Saull, Sharples
Conv: Goosen (3)
Pen: Goosen (4)

Tries: Fofana, Sivivatu
Conv:
Pen: Skrela (5)



Saracens 35-27 Newcastle Falcons

Tries: Attwood, Visser (2), Ranger
Conv: Parra (3)
Pen: Parra (3)

Tries: Smith, Maitland
Conv: Flood
Pen: Flood (5)