Amlin Challenge Cup Semi Final

Exeter Chiefs vs Northampton Saints
Heavy Rain , 13mph wind , 11 degrees

Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Driver

01.Wyatt Crockett	09.Haydn Thomas
02.John Smit (c)	10.Ronan O'Gara
03.Werner Kruger
04.Dean Schofield	11.Rory Lamount
05.Juilian Pierre	12.Damian Traille
06.Flip Van Der Merwe	13.Mike Tindall
07.Shane Jennings	14.Iain Balshaw
08.Nick Easter (c)	15.Lee Byrne

16.Lee Mears 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Hoani Tui 19.James Hudson 20.David Wallace 21.Jimmy Cowen 22.Tom Catterick 23.Matt Smith

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Matt Mullan	09. Mike Phillips
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Leigh Halfpenny(k)
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Matt Stevens 19. Bradley Davies 20. Liam Messam 21. Joe Simpson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Joe Launchbury

Tactics
Overall – After recording an away win against Exeter last weekend and securing another BP, Saints go into this game full of confidence. We will expecting this match to be a tough, physical encounter and have recalled Matt Mullan, Patricio Albacete, Matt Giteau and Weslie Fofana into the starting lineup, and give a debut to Julian Salvi, the form backrow in the AP. With the conditions as they are this extra freshness will most certainly play its part.

Our game will be very much based upon keeping hold of the ball, going through the phases and playing very simple rugby – using Giteau and Halfpenny’s boots to put us into the Exeter half and then using our aggressive defence to force mistakes, errors and get penalties. Every kickable penalty we will take.

Attack – quite simply we will get our ball carriers into the game as much as possible, getting our pack to pick up and drive and keep us going forwards. We will be happy to go through phase after phase and slowly position ourselves into areas where we can come away with points. Matt Giteau will direct play in the backline by getting Fofana and Tuilagi to crash the ball up the middle, particularly targeting the O’Gara/Traile channel.

We don’t want to play in areas where O’Gara’s boot can punish us, so Giteau and Halfpenny will both clear our lines when needed, but will look to specifically target Balshaw with gary owens and an aerial bombardment – with a good chase we can really place Balshaw under extreme pressure and see if we can isolate him and force mistakes – conditions aren’t best suited for him today.


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 stopping Nick Easter getting over the gainline. 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 Fofana and Tuilagi in midfield it will be hard for Exeter to run through us.

Have a very good defence that can put in the big hits that force errors and mistakes to exploit, any errors in our own half by Exeter will see the ball go to Giteau and the ball drilled into the Exeter half. We want Exeter to always be going backwards, whether that be through our ball carrying or kicks.

Foden and Halfpenny two of the best defensive backthree players in the world, comfortable with O'Gara's kicking game - will also get Parisse dropping back to help deal with kicks.

Set Piece – Exeter have a very good set piece and some strong players in their front five, which is why we rested several players last week so they were completely fresh today. We also have a very powerful bench of forwards who can come on and keep up the power in the scrum – we basically want to stay competitive at scrum time, and use Phillips to pressurise Thomas on Exeter ball – with Salvi going directly for O’Gara and make him rush kicks.

Our lineout has three main jumpers, Parisse, Lawes and Albacete - due to the conditions everything is being kept simple, no complex calls and we want to win our own throws and start driving the ball from our own lineouts. Go through the phases and keep hold of the ball.

Breakdown – Julian Salvi gets his debut and this changes our breakdown ability significantly – we will really look to target this area today, feel we have the faster pack to get to the breakdown and will look to win penalties and put a lot of pressure on Exeter here. In midfield we have Fofana and Tuilagi who are both excellent in this area too.

Key Points* Top form, won convincingly away at Exeter last week and will go into the game with far more confidence than Exeter.
* A lot of strong ball carriers to get us over the gainline, make hard yards etc – all very good at keeping hold of the ball.
* Rested a lot of players last week specifically for this game, extra freshness of Mullan, Albacete, Salvi, Giteau and Fofana will be key.*
* 6-2 split in the forwards due to the conditions, all internationals apart from Launchbury who has trained with full England squad and Whitehead who is arguably form hooker in the AP at present – bringing on Domingo, Stevens, Davies and Messam will be a good impact for the pack second half.
* Defensively we will play very aggressively, try to stop Exeter getting over the gainline with Lawes, Albacete, Parisse and Lydiate in the forwards - whilst Fofana and Tuilagi will create a brick wall in midfield for Exeter to get through.
* Halfpenny's boot is a three-point machine - any penalties and we will go for goal and build up the score – as long as we end up with more points than Exeter after 80minutes we wont mind not getting a BP!
* Target O’Gara/Traile channel in the Exeter midfield as a way of getting over the gainline
* Test out Balshaw’s defence with gary owens and see what he’s like in the heavy rain
* Have targeted the Amlin Cup to win and will look to build on recent good form.



London Wasps vs Bath Rugby
Heavy Rain , 15mph wind , 11 degrees

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. Steve Mafi	15. Mike Brown

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


Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
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. Kurtley Beale

16. Jon Golding 17. Joe Ward 18. Euan Murray 19. Rob Simmons 20. Tom Guest 21. Chris Cook 22. Isiah Toeava 23. Tom Varndell

Psychological
A recent win over Wasps will give us a lot of confidence heading into this match that we are prioritising as our most important of the season.

Overall
We will be looking to play attacking running rugby off our set piece superiority.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to play well at scrum time and to have a big impact in the loose as well. We will look to target the scrum as we feel in these conditions there will be a lot of scrums and it is somewhere we can really dominate. Lobbe will to control the scrum at the back. 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 Wasps back three and put pressure on them in their own 22 with Lobbe leading the chase. We will not be looking to kick to their back three but making them turn round in order to keep pressure on. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. Hodgson is another option who can kick the ball and if need be will kick.

Ball in Hand
Our game plan is based around our attacking skills with the ball in hand. With Healy, SOB, Mealamu 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.

Our backs will be looking to get their hands on the ball and make attacking inroads. Wigglesworth will look to control the tempo of the backs. Hodgson is a sensible head while Rougerie and Mermoz can cause big problems outside of him. North and Woodburn are also big runners who will look to get their hand on the ball and cause problems. Beale will look to join attacks late, offering a good running option who can take opposition defenders and ` run through gaps. We will look to target the Sexton-Hook channel which we feel can be taken advantage of defensively.

Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Wasps decision makers. Our defence 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. We have three good props able to come on from the bench and keep the scrum solid. Simmons will come on and look to put in big yards and make his impact felt. Similarly Guest will offer solid running options. Chris Cook is someone who can come on and inject some inventiveness into the game. Toeava and Varndell are good runners who can really change games against tired defenders.

Northampton Saints team versus Exeter
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Matt Mullan	09. Mike Phillips
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Leigh Halfpenny(k)
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Matt Stevens 19. Bradley Davies 20. Liam Messam 21. Joe Simpson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Joe Launchbury

Tactics
Overall – After recording an away win against Exeter last weekend and securing another BP, Saints go into this game full of confidence. We will expecting this match to be a tough, physical encounter and have recalled Matt Mullan, Patricio Albacete, Matt Giteau and Weslie Fofana into the starting lineup, and give a debut to Julian Salvi, the form backrow in the AP. With the conditions as they are this extra freshness will most certainly play its part.

Our game will be very much based upon keeping hold of the ball, going through the phases and playing very simple rugby – using Giteau and Halfpenny’s boots to put us into the Exeter half and then using our aggressive defence to force mistakes, errors and get penalties. Every kickable penalty we will take.

Attack – quite simply we will get our ball carriers into the game as much as possible, getting our pack to pick up and drive and keep us going forwards. We will be happy to go through phase after phase and slowly position ourselves into areas where we can come away with points. Matt Giteau will direct play in the backline by getting Fofana and Tuilagi to crash the ball up the middle, particularly targeting the O’Gara/Traile channel.

We don’t want to play in areas where O’Gara’s boot can punish us, so Giteau and Halfpenny will both clear our lines when needed, but will look to specifically target Balshaw with gary owens and an aerial bombardment – with a good chase we can really place Balshaw under extreme pressure and see if we can isolate him and force mistakes – conditions aren’t best suited for him today.


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 stopping Nick Easter getting over the gainline. 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 Fofana and Tuilagi in midfield it will be hard for Exeter to run through us.

Have a very good defence that can put in the big hits that force errors and mistakes to exploit, any errors in our own half by Exeter will see the ball go to Giteau and the ball drilled into the Exeter half. We want Exeter to always be going backwards, whether that be through our ball carrying or kicks.

Foden and Halfpenny two of the best defensive backthree players in the world, comfortable with O'Gara's kicking game - will also get Parisse dropping back to help deal with kicks.

Set Piece – Exeter have a very good set piece and some strong players in their front five, which is why we rested several players last week so they were completely fresh today. We also have a very powerful bench of forwards who can come on and keep up the power in the scrum – we basically want to stay competitive at scrum time, and use Phillips to pressurise Thomas on Exeter ball – with Salvi going directly for O’Gara and make him rush kicks.

Our lineout has three main jumpers, Parisse, Lawes and Albacete - due to the conditions everything is being kept simple, no complex calls and we want to win our own throws and start driving the ball from our own lineouts. Go through the phases and keep hold of the ball.

Breakdown – Julian Salvi gets his debut and this changes our breakdown ability significantly – we will really look to target this area today, feel we have the faster pack to get to the breakdown and will look to win penalties and put a lot of pressure on Exeter here. In midfield we have Fofana and Tuilagi who are both excellent in this area too.

Key Points* Top form, won convincingly away at Exeter last week and will go into the game with far more confidence than Exeter.
* A lot of strong ball carriers to get us over the gainline, make hard yards etc – all very good at keeping hold of the ball.
* Rested a lot of players last week specifically for this game, extra freshness of Mullan, Albacete, Salvi, Giteau and Fofana will be key.*
* 6-2 split in the forwards due to the conditions, all internationals apart from Launchbury who has trained with full England squad and Whitehead who is arguably form hooker in the AP at present – bringing on Domingo, Stevens, Davies and Messam will be a good impact for the pack second half.
* Defensively we will play very aggressively, try to stop Exeter getting over the gainline with Lawes, Albacete, Parisse and Lydiate in the forwards - whilst Fofana and Tuilagi will create a brick wall in midfield for Exeter to get through.
* Halfpenny's boot is a three-point machine - any penalties and we will go for goal and build up the score – as long as we end up with more points than Exeter after 80minutes we wont mind not getting a BP!
* Target O’Gara/Traile channel in the Exeter midfield as a way of getting over the gainline
* Test out Balshaw’s defence with gary owens and see what he’s like in the heavy rain
* Have targeted the Amlin Cup to win and will look to build on recent good form.

Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Driver

01.Wyatt Crockett	09.Haydn Thomas
02.John Smit (c)	10.Ronan O'Gara
03.Werner Kruger
04.Dean Schofield	11.Rory Lamount
05.Juilian Pierre	12.Damian Traille
06.Flip Van Der Merwe	13.Mike Tindall
07.Shane Jennings	14.Iain Balshaw
08.Nick Easter (c)	15.Lee Byrne

16.Lee Mears 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Hoani Tui 19.James Hudson 20.David Wallace 21.Jimmy Cowen 22.Tom Catterick 23.Matt Smith

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
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. Kurtley Beale

16. Jon Golding 17. Joe Ward 18. Euan Murray 19. Rob Simmons 20. Tom Guest 21. Chris Cook 22. Isiah Toeava 23. Tom Varndell

Psychological
A recent win over Wasps will give us a lot of confidence heading into this match that we are prioritising as our most important of the season.

Overall
We will be looking to play attacking running rugby off our set piece superiority.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to play well at scrum time and to have a big impact in the loose as well. We will look to target the scrum as we feel in these conditions there will be a lot of scrums and it is somewhere we can really dominate. Lobbe will to control the scrum at the back. 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 Wasps back three and put pressure on them in their own 22 with Lobbe leading the chase. We will not be looking to kick to their back three but making them turn round in order to keep pressure on. Beale will be our main kicker looking to take on anything in range. Hodgson is another option who can kick the ball and if need be will kick.

Ball in Hand
Our game plan is based around our attacking skills with the ball in hand. With Healy, SOB, Mealamu 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.

Our backs will be looking to get their hands on the ball and make attacking inroads. Wigglesworth will look to control the tempo of the backs. Hodgson is a sensible head while Rougerie and Mermoz can cause big problems outside of him. North and Woodburn are also big runners who will look to get their hand on the ball and cause problems. Beale will look to join attacks late, offering a good running option who can take opposition defenders and ` run through gaps. We will look to target the Sexton-Hook channel which we feel can be taken advantage of defensively.

Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Wasps decision makers. Our defence 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. We have three good props able to come on from the bench and keep the scrum solid. Simmons will come on and look to put in big yards and make his impact felt. Similarly Guest will offer solid running options. Chris Cook is someone who can come on and inject some inventiveness into the game. Toeava and Varndell are good runners who can really change games against tired defenders.

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. Steve Mafi	15. Mike Brown

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

Driver/Arry/ITFL, are you putting in tactics or going without this week?

Without mate , I think the way my team is set out should give people the general idea of how were going to play.

Predictions are open

Exeter Chiefs 15-22 Northampton Saints

Can't see a major advantage either way set piece wise but Saints look stronger around the park both ball in hand and defensively. With the backline selections (and Saint tactics) it looks like we are set for a kicking dual here but when they get in the right areas Saints have a seriously powerful midfield to exploit and have enough to seal a final spot.


Wasps 17-19 Bath

Good scrum battle here but Bath have an edge in the back 5 of the pack and can get great momentum in these conditions. Backs overall are fairly even with Bath having the better back 3. Not key in these conditions though. Think Bath can get more of a platform from the pack in these conditions and get the win.

Wasps 17-18 Bath titanic struggle bath has
More ball
Carriers and they will eventually win. Great centre battle. Can't see mafi at 8

Exeter 16-17 saints I see this as closer than sje. Exeter have a brutish pack made for the rain and can see them leading most of the way. Just think that extra class and bench will see saints through. Think van de merwe at 6 will struggle against a class backrow from saints

Exeter Chiefs 16 Northampton Saints 21

Chiefs have a nuggety pack, but Saints aren't short of grafters and a bit of dog in theirs either, and the only area in the game that I can see Exeter getting on top is the lineout really. It's a solid Chiefs side that will be tough to break down but doesn't look likely to threaten majorly in attack, whereas Saints have quality throughout and in the end will just be too strong.


London Wasp 20 Bath Rugby 19

First point for me is that lack of tactics hurt Wasps here as in terms of personnel it is pretty even between the two teams. Having said that, ITFL if you are going to cut and paste your tactics from last week then you need to make sure you check them as you are not playing Sale this week so not sure how you will be targetting the Sexton-Hook channel, nor how you will utilise Skinner's skill at the breakdown when he is not in your team. For me the scrum is Wasps, the lineout is Bath's and the breakdown is anyones. Both back lines have tries in them. I am finding it hard to separate the teams and as it is a knockout game I can't go for a draw, so am having to nitpick to find a winner. Going into fine detail, the question arises of where is Bath's back up 10 if anything happens to Hodgson? Wigglesworth or Beale I presume, neither of whom are really 10's, whereas Wasps have this covered with the option of Bowden or Ford off the bench. I know that is going to the extreme of finding fault, but I have had to in order to find a winner between two evenly matched sides.

Exeter Chiefs 20 - 28 Northampton Saints

Exeter will be combative upfront but not dominant and backs go to Saints by a million miles. No tactics count against sides hugely in my book, we shouldn't be guessing or assuming how sides play. Saints backline looks deadly and with a little more upfront they will be a big power next season.

Wasps 17 - 21 Bath

I prefer Bath up front here and think they will do well and get onto the front foot regularly and release the backs. Backlines are pretty even with a slight advantage to Bath but with the better ball to play with and tactics (however off the ball they might be you can still get something about how they will play)

London Wasps 15 - 16 Bath Rugby
Sorry Arry but I've always put a lot of emphasis on tactics in a game and I didn't see you have any. In saying that I think that ITFL has made an error in trying to play attacking running rugby and in the conditions that is going to result in lots of mistakes, which the Wasps team are more than capable of taking advantage of.

Mafi at no8 was also contributing factor, he's a top player but in these conditions you are going to need a no8 who can controlat the base of the scrum and I don;t think Mafi will.

Would probably have given Arry the win if he'd put tactics in, espec with home advantage.

Chiefs 15-18 Saints

Exeter will hold them upfront in the front row but prefer the Saints back three. Also feel that Saints centres will be a bit more creative.

Wasps 16-20 Bath

This will be won by the pack and I prefer Bath's backrow here to do this. Feel the attacking rugby may not work and Jones + Hodgson will slug this out with pinning the other team back.

Sorry guys, forgot again was at college till late.

Chiefs 17 - 20 Northampton Saints

Wasps 12 Bath 18

wasps 15-19 bath
chiefs 20-26 saints

Just Luke, Pooly and ITFL to predict on this one then.

Exeter 17-21 Saints
Wasps 18-20 Bath

Too very close game which would have been tougher but let down by tactics

Exeter 16-22 Saints
Exeter needs tactics to have a chance here. Edge the forwards to Saints since I think they offer more in the loose although Exeter offer more in the set piece, especially in the rain. Half backs one each but Saints by a bigger margin. Think from 11-15 Saints offer more and also have quality to come off the bench

Exeter 17 - 23 Saints

Wasps 15 - 19 Bath

RESULTS

Exeter Chiefs 17 Northampton Saints 32

London Wasps 17 Bath Rugby 28



Congratulations to Chris and ITFL for making the final.