Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round 21

First topic message reminder :

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

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Newcastle Falcons v Saracens
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 13 mph winds.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best	10. Nick Evans
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Fran Steyn
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Jaque Fourie
07. Richie McCaw(c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Kieran Read	15. James O’Connor

16. William Servat 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Toby Faletau 21. Jonny Arr 22. Toby Flood 23. Brad Barritt

Tactics

Tactics:

Gameplan – Simple rugby, High intensity.......With the game home and in damp conditions we’ll be looking to control the set piece, pack and look to play in the right areas of the pitch. Steyn/Evans will dictate play and will look to clear his lines from our own 22. We’ll look to put pressure on the opposition set piece throughout the game and we think we can get the upperhand in both scrum & lineout.

Defence – We’ll be deploying the rush defence and targeting the Sarries 10/12 channel. McCaw will look to put pressure on Lambie throughout and force him to rush his game.

Set piece – Wet conditions usually means plenty of knock on which means plenty of scrums. We’ve went for a hefty scrummaging unit to really tear into Sarries from the off. PDJ & Barcella will look to get secure a good platform and Franks on at TH early in the second to carry this on.

We’ll look for the take and drive on our own ball with Best/Thorn being the key men here. With 5 good jumpers and Parling pulling the strings we’ll keep things solid on our own throw whilst looking to target Sarries throw all game.

Pack – We’ve went for numerous carrying options in the pack and will look to use short pick and drives and keep things simple. McCaw will lead the assault and will also look to make a bit of a mess of the breakdown. With the poor conditions they’ll be plenty of opportunity to get hands in rucks and force turnover ball which will be used to force Sarries retreating back.

Backs – Massive defensive unit with JOC coming in to the line to add spark. Look to get back 3 into play and target opposite numbers.

Subs – we’ll look to keep the pack refreshed and have named 3 top draw front row options to turn the screw in the second half.

KEY POINTS:

HOME ADVANTAGE - Huge this one, esp at this satge in the season. Sarries have been on the road for 2 weeks so will be jaded. We are unbeaten at home in nearly 2 SEASONS

ENGINE ROOM - Thorn is a huge scrummager and Thorn/Parling give us so much quality around the park. We see a massive advantge here and will look to show this around the field.

BREAKDOWN - Target the breakdown and destroy Sarries tempo.

KICKING OPTIONS - Evans/Steyn axis gives us huge boots that will be vital in the damp conditions

CONFIDENCE - We've just got top spot back and nearly bear the form team in the league away

SUBS - Franks, Servat, Falateu, Flood give us great impact from the bench and abilty to see out a game

BACK 3 - We'll be looking to get our back 3 into the game at every oppertunity and get at opposite numbers. See a big advantage here and Evans is the man to get them involved.

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Adam Jones
04. Rynhardt Elstadt	11. Andrew Trimble
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathon Davies
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Mark Cueto
08. Joe van Niekerk (c)	15. Alex Goode

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Dave Attwood 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Francois Trinh-Duc 23. Rene Ranger

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, We 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.

At the scrum we will look to keep it up and scrummage. On our ball we will look to get a scrum turning legally to take the Falcons back row out of the defensive equation before launching attacks.


Game Specific Tactics

• Carry close to the rucks - The ball will be greasy in damp conditions so we will look to carry close to rucks and suck defenders in playing a tight game to open up space out wide and tire the oppositions defence.
  
  
• Exploit gaps - Lambie to look to run the ball from 10 when it is on with a support runner on his shoulder to keep the attack moving forward.
  
  
• Kick for touch - When employing the kicking game we will look for touch in the corners and contest the lineout deep in Falcons territory. We will not kick direct to their back three.
  

Key Points

• Form/Momentum - Our recent form is exceptional, especially away from home where we have recently faced Sale Sharks and London Irish who are fighting for the play offs, neither of whom managed to beat us. We have massive momentum going into this game.
  
  
• Mental - As Pooly has said, the defeat in last years play off final hurt us, and the boys are using that to focus them going into this game. Coupled with having beaten Falcons twice already this season we are mentally very well prepared for this one. Falcons having lost to us twice this year are maybe less so.
  
  
• Records - Falcons have a fantastic home record, but all records of that nature have to come to an end, and some might say that they are in danger territory now, being long overdue a defeat. We have the tools to inflict that defeat.
  
  
• Impact Bench - Impact players are more and more important in the game and we have them to bring on. The likes Lahiff, JDP, Attwood and Johnson all bring dynamism and massive ball carrying options, and FTD and Ranger can bring a touch of individual magic to the backline off the bench (FTD in the World Cup Final was sensational from the bench.)
  

Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints
Very Light Rain, 9 degrees, 23 mph winds.

Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Driver

01.Wyatt Crockett	09.Haydn Thomas
02.John Smit	10.Ronan O'Gara(K)
03.Werner Kruger
04.Dean Schofield	11.Luke Fitzgerald
05.James Hudson	12.Andrea Masi
06.Declan Danahar	13.George Pisi
07.Shane Jennings	14.Iain Balshaw
08.Nick Easter(C)	15.Damian Traille

16.Lee Mears 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Hoani Tui 19.Juilian Pierre 20.David Wallace 21.Rob Coote 22.Nick McLeod 23.Matt Smith

- Play the percentages and use a combination of a solid set piece and ROG's boot to put us in a position to punish Saints.
- Hudson is the best lineout operator on show and will have a field day securing our own ball and taking Saints ball against the head.
- Thomas and ROG to play what is in front of them.
- Jennings to target the break down and make a mess of it and steal plenty of ball on the deck.

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01.Thomas Domingo09.Mike Phillips
02.Rob Webber 10. Danny Cipriani
03.Carl Hayman
04.Bradley Davies 11. Siti Siviatu
05.Courtney Lawes 12. Jean de Villiers
06.Dan Lydiate 13. Manu Tuilagi
07.Liam Gill 14. Leigh Halfpenny(k)
08.Sergio Parisse(c)15.Ben Foden

16.Chris Whitehead 17. Matt Mullan 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Messam 21. Charlie Davies 22. Matt Giteau 23. Weslie Fofana

Tactics

Overall – Saints continued their impressive recent form by securing another BP win against Leicester Tigers and have now scored 24 tries in just 6 games. We see our main opportunity for victory against a very tough Exeter team is to continue playing attacking rugby and maneuvering their less attack minded team around the park. We will keep the ball in hand, work through phases and stretch Exeter’s defence whenever possible.

Again we will look to get over the gainline with powerful ball runners in both the pack and midfield and look to put Exeter on the backfoot – we will try and up the tempo from the previous week and let Cipriani dictate play from the 10 shirt. Defensively we are build around Lawes and Lydiate in the pack who will look to stop Exeter’s runners from getting over the gainline.

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 (Davies, Lawes, Parisse, de Villiers, Tuilagi and Siviatu) and then going wide to stretch the defence and create space for our backthree.

We see we have an advantage in terms of attacking options and will look to get as much ball going through Cipriani as possible, use de Villiers and Tuilagi to get us over the gainline and then go wide to our backthree.

We will not be afraid to attack from deep as the conditions are perfect for our backline. This is especially if Exeter decide to play a kicking game with O’Gara and kick the ball to our backthree.

Defence - we build our defensive patterns around Dan Lydiate and Courtney Lawes in the pack, two of the best tacklers in world rugby and will aim to use them to stop Exeter runners getting over the gainline, with special attention to Nick Easter. As normal we will play an aggressive defence, putting our opposition under pressure, using Phillips to get at Thomas and trying to get our forwards getting at O’Gara when possible. With de Villiers and Tuilagi in midfield it will be hard for Exeter to run through us.

We feel that if we can stop Exeter forwards getting over the gainline then we can win this game - with Lawes, Davies, Lydiate and Parisse we certainly have the defensive players to do this and put in the big hits that force errors and mistakes to exploit, this is where our backline can also capitalise – attacking from turnovers, knock ons etc.

Set Piece – Exeter have a very good set piece and some strong players in their front five, but due to the conditions being very encouraging for running rugby we feel that the set piece wont be as much of an issue as it would have been in heavy rain, muddy pitches etc.

We’ve opted to start Domingo and will give him 40mins to prove his fitness, will then bring on Mullan for the whole second half. Wanted this option so we have two mobile props playing. We will look to secure steady ball at the scrum, with Parisse controlling possession at the base of the scrum. On Exeter put in we will get Phillips to try and fluster Thomas and put him under a lot of pressure and give bad ball to O’Gara.

Our lineout has three main jumpers, Parisse, Lawes and Davies - we will look to secure good attacking ball on our own throw. Defensively we will look to make sure that we stop any Exeter drives early on and.

Breakdown – We’ve picked Liam Gill specifically for his breakdown work and allowing us to have a genuine no7, who can keep us getting quick ball and maintaining our tempo, which is something Messam would not have done. With quicker pack, we should get to the breakdown quicker and both de Villiers and Tuilagi in midfield we have another two good options there. Will be aggressive in contact area and force Exeter into mistakes.

Key Points
* Great form, 24 tries in just 6 games – will look to make best use of conditions and attack Exeter with a view to scoring tries.
* Will look to play at high tempo, use the ball carriers in the pack to get us over the gainline and then get Cipriani and backthree to attack.
* Exeter do have advantage in front row, but we wont be looking to spend much of the game in the set piece, keeping ball in hand and going through the phases – take the game away from Exeter’s strengths and play to ours.
* Halfpenny's boot is a three-point machine - any penalties and we will go for goal and build up the score.
* Defensively we will play very aggressively, try to stop Exeter getting over the gainline with Lawes, Davies, Parisse and Lydiate in the forwards - whilst de Villiers and Tuilagi will create a brick wall in midfield for Exeter to get through.
* Target Thomas and O’Gara specifically in aggressive defence, try and put them off their game and make them kick to our backthree or take the ball into contact.
* Have three top class players on the bench who can make a huge impact Messam, Giteau and Fofana - will use to up the tempo against Exeter in second half and try and turn the screw if possible in final 20minutes.


Gloucester Rugby v Sale Sharks
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 16 mph winds.

Gloucester team

Manager – mat

01. Wood	09. Will genia
02. Grey	10. Johan goosen
03. Nicola mas
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Charlie sharples
05. Tom palmer	12. Berrick barnes
06. Steven ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. Schalk Burger	14. JSD
08. immanol harinordoqouy	15. Israel Dagg

16. Coonie 17. Darren diawiduik 18. Julian white 19. Richie Grey 20. Saull 21. Dave Lewis 22. Dan Carter 23. Jonny May

Glaws tactics


High tempo carrying game
Win the battle up front first through relentless carrying and winning the collisions
Focus on the lineout as attacking weapon and also to steal ball. We have 5 jumpers and
In hari the best lineout forward on world rugby after bonnaire.
Focus on scrum.
Play at High tempo with genia controlling game and only giving when on.
Goosen to kick any pens which is about 65metre range.
Test sale back 3 out with high ball
Look to really quicken game in 2nd half and create mismatches
Intro our superior bench like carter grey and may
If conditions go really wet Barnes will add extra kicking option

Glaws at home and form team in league

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Ben Spencer
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Stephen Sykes	11. David Strettle
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Adam Thomson	13. Yann David
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Lee Imolek 17. David Paice 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Chris Jones 20. Victor Vito 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Tom Brady

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General Game Plan:

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

At scrum time we will look to contest each and every engagement. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and create extra room for our 8-9-10 axis to work in. While on Gloucester’s feed we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Glaws halfbacks. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hooker we will look to attack from the lineout mixing things up by bringing the ball down into the maul and 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 Gloucester ball carriers before they can get to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown harder. Spencer 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 Gloucester 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.


Harlequins v Leicester Tigers
Very Light Rain, 11 degrees, 11 mph winds.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

After completing phase one of operation play off place by getting a bonus point win at home to London Wasps, Quins now welcome Leicester Tigers to the Stoop knowing that nothing but a win will do against their play-off rivals. There isn’t too many changes to the Quins line up for this week’s game but Schalk Brits, Jerome Thion, Felipe Contepomi and Jonathan Joseph come into the starting XV.

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Rhys Priestland
03. Brian Mujati
04. Jerome Thion	11. Zac Guildford
05. George Skivington	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Carl Fearns	13. George Lowe
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Jonathan Joseph
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Rob Kearney

16. Matthew Rees 17. Matias Aguero 18. Kieran Brookes 19. James Gaskell 20. Phil Dowson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Shontayne Hape

Tactics


Game Plan

Conditions allow good rugby which is what we want to play. Our attacking game will be based upon ball retention, aggressive carrying and quick ball which will allow us to raise the tempo. Our defensive game will be based upon physicality and aggression in the contact and at the breakdown as well as a quick linespeed.

When carrying we will look to win the collisions and keep our legs pumping in contact to get us across the gainline. We will always look to carrying in numbers and looking to offload when it is on. We will always be looking for quick ball and we will then increase the tempo and look to get the ball wider once we have tied in Leicester defenders.

As a side we will be looking to run at different angles off our 9, 10 and 12 and to only look for the offload when it’s on. Discipline across the board is key as it means that we don’t give anything to Leicester easily.

Forwards

It all starts upfront and we are happy that we have a pack which will be a presence around the park as well as being strong in the tight areas and the set piece. The job of the front 5 away from the set piece is too hit rucks to get us the quick ball and to carry in and around 10 and 12. Our back row is going to be everywhere. It will be physical in attack and defence as well as a presence at the breakdown. They will look to do there carrying around 10 and 12 along with Brits.

At the set piece we will look to win the hits at the scrum and then force Leicester backwards. It is vital to us to not give away penalties at the scrum. At the lineout we have 5 good jumpers which will will vary in throwing two. We will often shorten the lineouts between the two 22m lines and give ourselves carriers (Fearns or Heaslip usually) in the backline. On the Leicester lineout we will look to compete heavily and will look to mark their key jumpers.

Backs

We have picked a 9, 10 and 12 combo which we think can really control the game best for us. Dickson will keep us ticking and will control the tempo throughout the game. Priestland will control the direction of our game and will always be looking for the gaps and where the Leicester defence is disorganised. Contepomi at 12 will interchange and come in as first receiver. One move we will use frequently will for Lowe to cut a line back towards the ruck as a dummy runner and Contepomi to receive the ball going behind him and he can then feed on of our back 3. When we get quick ball we will look for Lowe to stay in the wide channels as he is so dangerous in the open spaces.

Defence

As stated in our game plan we are going to be aggressive and look to target the decision makers for Leicester. We expect them to try and play everything off 9 so we will be looking to really slow down the ball and make it messy at the back of the rucks. If we haven’t got the first man there then we will look to have our guy to look to ruck through the middle of the ruck. We will keep our back 3 deep all game with Dickson sweeping up behind as we expect Leicester to do a lot of kicking. We will look to counter attack all loose kicks but we have a very strong kicking backline to return the ball with a bit more on it.

Key Points (game specific)

- Quick ball and quick tempo. That is what we are looking for and we will be patient with our play until we get it.
- We will look to keep the ball for long periods unless there is territory or another advantage to be easily gained by kicking. We have some brilliant kickers in our side.
- Aggression and physicality upfront and across the side. In both attack and defence this is something which can really benefit us throughout the game.
- Look to really make a mess of the Leicester rucks. Stop there 9 from getting any sort of momentum going.

Key Points (Other)

- We have 15 players starting who are all currently fit and most are playing well IRL.
- We have picked players which we think can really execute our game plan. We feel we have a pack which can be dynamic and physical whilst being strong in the tight and across the park. We have a back line which can control the tempo and field position whilst still being exciting across the park.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Vincent Clerc
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Tom Youngs 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Simon Shaw 20. Samu Manoa 21. Chris Cusiter 22. Rob Miller 23. Topsy Ojo

Tactics

We will play a structured game built around tactiacal HB's, the strength in our set piece and flying back three.

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. A front three all in great form, and to look to really get the shove on.

- Strong lineout with Croft, Pape and Horwill as our main jumpers rotating the target. We will relentlessly target the opposition's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Quins' defence.
The likes of Waldrom and Horwill used off the shoulder crashing through the Quins defence.

- Pocock 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 Wilkinson to give the opposition problems in the air.
Lightning back three to really get the chase on.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs, getting the our 11-15 on the ball when we can. Croft to look to get into space and join our backs to cause trouble out wide.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. If isolated all have good kicking games, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.

- Yachvili to kick all penalites.

- Use our powerful bench to see the game out in the last 20 minutes.


Bath Rugby v London Wasps
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 16 mph winds.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. David Skrela
03. Dave Wilson
04. Louis Deacon	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. SOB	14. Olly Woodburn
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Isiah Toeava

16. Jon Golding 17. Joe Ward 18. Davit Kubrashvilli 19. Rob Simmons 20. Tom Guest 21. Chris Cook 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Tom Varndell

Key points:
Look for an edge in the lineout
Try to play some good running rugby using the forwards and creative backs

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Michael Claassens
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Stephen Jones (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Christian Wade
05. Dan Tuohy	12. Dan Bowden
06. Rocky Elsom (c)	13. Jamie Roberts
07. Deon Stegmann	14. Matt Banahan
08. Luke Narraway	15. Mike Brown

16. Andy Titterell 17. Benn Robinson 18. James Slipper 19. Richard Birkett 20. Roger Wilson 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Noah Cato

Tactics
To come...


Worcester Warriors v London Irish
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 17 mph winds.

01. David Flatman 09. Dwayne Peel
02. Richardt Strauss 10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Jim Hamilton 11. Bryan Habana
05. Ollie Kohn 12. Pat McCabe
06. Ryan Jones 13. Regan King
07. Craig Newby (c) 14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan 15. Ollie Morgan


16. Michael Mayhew 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Scott Higginbotham 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Byron Kelleher 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Greig Tonks

Tactics
We come into this match with a fresh side and a must win attitude. We make 2 changes to the side that won there with Jones bringing a bit more grunt and King the added spark rather than the confrontation which Malzieu would have. Confidence is high after our good win against Exeter and we are looking to fully secure our safety and also cause an upset. The squad we have picked is our strongest squad possible and we will be pushing for a good win to secure our safety. This match will be decided by forwards to we have selected a big pack with a back row who are all able to make an aimpact carrying the ball or at the breakdown. In the backs we have certain positions ‘bedded in’ and will use Steyn to kick us territory and McCabe/King to make the dents in the centre. Our bench is full of talent and impact subs and we will use them throughout the match to run at tired legs.

Forwards
*A front row who know each other well and will look to gain the advantage on the hit. Botha will lead from the front here and Budgen will be brought on in the last 20 to scrummage Irish off the park.
*Our 2nd row will look to dominate the lineouts and are quite a heavy partnership as we look to dominate the scrum. Hamilton will keep his head and look to wind up a few characters in the Irish side and impose himself at the breakdown whilst Kohn will look to carry the ball up off 9 to make quick yards.
*Back-row will be key at the breakdown and with Jones and Newby we have 2 players who are more than capable of doing this well. They will look to hit every other ruck each to gain turnover ball or slow down their possession. The other player will be looking to hit 10 constantly to put him off his game. Morgan will pick from some scrums when a gap is possible and he always gets over the gainline when carrying so we have guaranteed forward advantage when he has his hands on the ball.
*The bench will be used wisely with Budgen coming on for the last 20 and Higginbotham and Gorgodze being used as and when to add hard ball carrying and an extra lineout option.

Backs
*Quick ball is key here when we get it (we are expecting a hard slog up front) and Peel will be looking for gaps or forwards running to make the hard yards. Steyn will use his boot when we are under pressure but; if we are in the opposition’s half most of the time we will look to get the ball out to the centres. He will take the points when possible and use drop goals to keep the board ticking.
*McCabe will simply be given the role of playmaker with Malzieu and Habana running lines off of him and through the defence. Malzieu will be sued as a battering ram in the first 20 minutes and we will look to release the wingers off 3rd ball phase to make it quick ball and give them the space required (1st ball will be forwards, 2nd ball will be King/forwards, 3rd ball to the backs).
*Wingers and Morgan are to go looking for work and to stay sturdy in defence. They will all be comfortable under the high ball and have the pace to take the oppostion on the outside shoulder.
*Bench will be used wisely with Kelleher bringing a fast impact game to Heathcote who likes to take the ball on the front foot. Tonks can cover quite a few positions and will be looking to impress having been given this chance.

Defence
*Hard blitz banana defence lead by McCabe who will call it up.
*Peel/Kelleher will look to sweep and snipe any loose ball.
*Newby/Jones to alternate hitting rucks and hitting 10 to stop quick ball and look for the turnover opportunities.
*If we get a turnover we will look to run it, if nothing is on Steyn will pin them back with long distance touch finders.


London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Andrew Hore	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Paul Sackey
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Keegan Daniel	15. Delon Armitage

16. WP Nel 17. James Buckland 18. Duncan Bell 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Luke McAllister 23. Marland Yarde

Tactics

- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game, similar to the recent victories. We will run back loose kicks and not look to give away possession. We will however look to dominate the territory and play in the right areas of the pitch.
- 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 Daniel to pick up and carry or Pienaar to get the ball out to the backs. Castro and Tonga'uhia will look to get us on the front foot and drive Warriors back, looking to win penalties.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Castro, Garvey, Daniel, Steffon, Kaino, SBW in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Worcester 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 Warriors defence. Kaino, Armitage, Garvey, Tonga'uhia etc 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 see this as a must win to stand any chance of making the playoffs. The boys are fired up!

RESULTS

Newcastle Falcons 28 Saracens 21
Exeter Chiefs 19 Northampton Saints 30
Gloucester 34 Sale Sharks 24
Harlequins 25 Leicester Tigers 21
Bath Rugby 33 London Wasps 22
Worcester Warriors 20 London Irish 30

Phew only just got the BP there! Look forward to the rematch next week Driver - hopefully not so much wind!!!

Sorry lads, couldn't get on long enough yesterday to predict

Newcastle Falcons 28 Saracens 21
Tries: Read, O’Connor, Benjamin : Lambie, Trimble, Johnson
Cons: Evans 2 : Parra 3
Pens: Evans 3 :

Exeter Chiefs 19 Northampton Saints 30
Tries: Fitzgerald : Parisse, Foden 2, Fofana
Cons: O’Gara : Halfpenny 2
Pens: O’Gara 4 : Halfpenny 2

Gloucester 34 Sale Sharks 24
Tries: Ferris, Dagg, Genia, May : Cruden 2, Palu
Cons: Goosen 4 : Cruden 3
Pens: Goosen 2 : Cruden

Harlequins 25 Leicester Tigers 21
Tries: Heaslip, Kearney, Lowe : Nacewa, O’Driscoll
Cons: Priestland 2 : Yachvili
Pens: Priestland 2 : Yachvili 3

Bath Rugby 33 London Wasps 22
Tries: North 3, Haskell : Wade
Cons: Skrela 2 : Jones
Pens: Skrela 3 : Jones 5

Worcester Warriors 20 London Irish 30
Tries: Habana, Garvey : D. Armitage, Williams, Daniel, Yarde
Cons: Steyn 2 : Pienaar 2
Pens: Steyn 2 : Pienaar 2

Skysports team of the round

1.Fabian Baracella
2.Andrew Hore
3.Martin Castrogiovani
4.Louis Deacon
5.George Skivington
6.James Haskell
7.Shane Jennings
8.Keegan Daniel

9.Will Genia
10.Aaron Cruden
11.George North
12.Frans Steyn
13.Aurelien Rougerie
14.Andrew Trimble
15.Ben Foden