Aviva Premiership - Round Two (Rugby Championship)

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Team Sheets and tactics due by Saturday (20:00)
Predictions due till Wednesday (20:00)

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Bath vs London Wasps
Location - The Rec
Sunny, 23 Degrees, 7mph Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. C.Healy	09. M.Classens (c)
02. L.Mears	10. J.Hook
03. A.Perenise
04. J.Muller	11. O.Woodburn
05. D.Attwood	12. M.Banahan
06. S.O'Brien	13. C.Laulala
07. M.Lund	14. T.Biggs
08. C.Fearns	15. R.Chisholm

16. K.P-Newport 17. C.Tolufua 18. N.Catt 19. R.Caldwell 20. S.Taylor 21. C.Cook 22. S.Donald 23. K.Eastmond

TACTICS TBC

General
- XX
- We want to make sure that we play rugby in the opposition half and force handling errors, where we can attack the scrum. Use the physicality of our pack to our advantage, keeping the ball tight in the middle section of the pitch to retain possession and build a platform to attack from. In our third clear to touch and challenge for the ball at lineout.
- With slow ball, use Banahan on the switch off Hook to tie up and fix defenders, looking to get Laulala and Hook half a yard
- Hook to ensure we play sensible rugby in the right areas, kicking long for touch in our 22, using the up and under in the centre of the pitch and delicate grubbers in behind centres to chase and force kickable penalties.
- Banahan leads the rush defence, with Louw/Fearns flying up to cramp 10 for time and space and ensuring he takes the ball deep behind the gainline and starving their outside backs of ball.

Forwards
* XX
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline. O'Brien to lead pack from base of scrum making hard yards and setting up the ruck for Louw and Fearns to clear out. SOB to mark opposite 8 in defence to prevent charges from base of scrum
* At the lineout, Muller will lead the calls and look to pressurise oppoistion hooker and compete at every throw
* Louw is a breakdown specialist and will look to stay on his feet at the ruck and slow opposition ball down. Fearns and Lund to guard to the fringes of the ruck
* Use ball carriers of Franks, Louw, Tolufua, O'Brien, Fearns to make hard yards up the pitch and draw defenders into the ruck area, looking to create space around the fringes for Laulala to exploit

Backs
* Chisholm given free rein in attack, looking to come into the line either side of Laulala. Laulala to look for the half gap with power and offload (only if on), with the pace of Biggs and Woodburn on their shoulder to make the break
* Hook to take the ball flat on the gainline, drawing defenders and buying time and space for Banahan. Banahan often used as dummy runner to keep it unpredictable
* Use the inside pass with forward runners of SOB, Louw, Fearns to keep the inside shoulder honest and force the 10 to make tackles.
* Get Laulala on the ball early on and encourage a very pacy back three to run off his shoulder. Only offload if it is on, otherwise, crash it up and use SOB, Fearns, Caldwell to clear out and Louw to secure.
* Eastmond to come on for last 30 mins in a free role, acting as 2nd receiver, popping up wherever to use his pace, step and get more experience

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London Wasps

Manager – GeordieFalcon

01.Boris Stankovich	09.Danny Care
02. Andy Titterell.	10.Jimmy Gopperth
03.Nicholas Mas
04.Matt Garvey	11.Jonathan Joseph
05. George Skivington	12. Luke McAlister
06.Thierry Dusautoir	13.Billy Twelvetrees
07.Julien Salvi	14. Ugo Monye
08.Thomas Waldrum	15. Mike Brown

16. Tom Varndell 17. Billy Vunipola 18.Micky Young 19. Morne Steyn 20. Tim Payne 21. Marco Wentzel 22. Ben Broster 23. Chris Brooker
Tactics

Looking to play a high impact, high physicality) quick release game from the forwards...utilising a very strong set of backs.,....

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Harlequins v London Welsh
Location - Twickenham Stoop
Sunny, 25 Degrees, 7mph Winds

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Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Corbisero	09.Luke Burguss
02.Joe Grey	10.Owen Farrell (K)
03.James Johnstone
04.Mouritz Botha	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Wesley Fofana
06.Chris Robshaw(c)	13.Jared Payne
07.Heinrich Brussouw	14.James Short
08.Craig Newby	15.Nick Abendanon

16.John Smith 17.Mark Lambert 18.Chris Budgen 19.Tom Denton 20.Will Skinner 21.Richard Wrigglesworth 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Hudson Tonga'uhia


In fine rugby playing conditions Quins will look to play the game at a high tempo shift the ball wide and keeping a high intensity through out. We have gone for a physical front 5 to allow us to gain a solid attacking platform to allow our backs to come into the game. A powerful scrummaging front row will really see us attack the Welsh front row and look to separate the tighthead from the rest of his front row with Smit focusing his hit more on the 3 and test his patience. Robshaw will look to get around the field linking play up , offloading and hitting rucks whilst Newby will play his strengths and get through plenty of graft in the tight and carry from the base with Brussouw targetting the breakdown to steal ball. North , Short and Bendy to come into the line and look for the ball in gaps and counter any kicks with interest.


Farrell to use his wide range of kicking skills to stretch the Wasps defense and put the ball in behind the wingers with plenty of pressure from a on rushing Quins chase

Blitz defense putting pressure on the Welsh back line using line speed and keeping disciplined with our penalty count , Burguss to sweep behind and cover any kicks through and line breaks

Hargreaves to put pressure on the Welsh lineout with jumpers throughout our pack from 4-8.

Impact players on the bench , Wrigglesworth will let us play the game in there half whilst Tonga will make plenty of head way at 12 or 13.

MOMENTUM - We had a good win last week and aim to build on it again this week , our side is confident and ready for battle.

KEY POINTS

• Balance in Welsh back row should see us win the battle on the deck with ease with no specialist OS in the Welsh pack.
  
  
• Target Wilson in the scrum , Corbs will know him inside out and will look to take him to the cleaners early doors
  
  
• Fofana will look to hit Henson early doors and rattle him in the midfield and put plenty of runners into the 12 channel and look for the offload.

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London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Paul James	09. Paul Hodgson
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans (k)
03. David Wilson
04. Paul O'Connell (C)	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Gavin Henson
06. Steve Mafi	13. Dominic Waldlouck
07. Jamie Gibson	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Nick Easter	15. Hugo Southwell

16. Rhys Gill 17. Phil Swainston 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Jonathon Mills 20. Chris Hala'ufia 21. Joel Hodgson 22. Brad Barritt 23. Ben Ransom

We look to impose ourselves from the off and let the oppisition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every oppurtunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, and Evans knows when to attack and when we need to clear the lines. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. We have brilliant leaders all other the pitch in POC, Easter, Hodgson and Evans, and they know what will be required to get we want from the game - a win. Nothing will be left in the changing room from our boys, they want to put the rest of the league on high alert with a strong display of effective and efficient attacking rugby from the set pieces.

Tactics

• James and Wilson are solid technicians and will secure our own feed, to provide first phase possesion for our backs. James will look to put pressure on the Tigers feed.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, O'Connell will lead the lineout and use Mafi as a banker ball at the front of the line with POC jumping in the middle. If winning own ball POC will look to cut the lineout to five, to allow Easter to get a chance to run at the defence in open field.
  
  
• Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. Collectively we will look to (legally!) slow down Tigers' ball as much possible, only committing men to rucks if the turnover is on.
  
  
• Evans will look to angle runners either side of Fofana to get in behind him, as he prone to rushing up from 12.
  
  
• Off any first phase possesion, there will be a strike runner to get over the gainline to provide quick ball whilst the opposition defence is still organising itself.
  
  
• Evans will direct traffic and marshall the attacking forces, looking for the runs of Henson off his shoulder or to allow Wald to release our dangerous roaming back three.
  
  
• Evans will kick all points, unless POC dictates we have a dominate set piece at the moment in time.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game, and to bed in Barritt

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Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors
Location - Welford Road
Sunny, 24 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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Leicester Tigers

Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Bismark du Plessis	10. Toby Flood
03. Dan Cole
04. Richie Gray	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. James O’Connor
06. Maurie Fa'asalavu	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton(c)	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Rob Kearney

16. Tom Youngs 17. Martin Castrogiovani 18. Luke Cowen-Dickie 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Tom Croft 21. Karl Dickson 22. George Ford 23. Jordan Turner-Hall

Tactics

We will base our game around high tempo, high intensity rugby. We’ll look to use the set piece as a foundation to work from and turn the screw on the opposition if a weakness is seen. We’ll look for big carries from our pack to give us go forward ball which Youngs thrives upon.

We’ll look to target the lineout throughout with 5 top draw options. Croft, Parling and Gray will look to mark the front, middle and back and put intense pressure on throughout the game.

Flood/JOC will dictate tempo and look to get Manu running angles to either punch holes in the opposition midfield or draw the decoy and allow our back 3 into the game.

When the 3 is on in front of the posts we’ll take and the captain will make the call on set piece if an advantage is seen.



- Turn screw in set piece if weakness seen
- High intensity & keep the ball alive
- Youngs to attack the gaps and allow Flood time to hit the line
- Manu to be used as crash and decoy with back 3 coming into the line
- Target lineout with world class operators
- Warburton/Fasa to marshal breakdown and slow/turnover opp ball

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Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Joe Marler	09. Shaun Perry
02. Ed Shervington	10. Joe Carlisle
03. Tevita Taumoepeau
04. Gerhard Mostert	11. David Strettle
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Steven Shingler
06. James Haskell	13. Matt Hopper
07. Andy Saull	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Andy Goode

16. Will Radburn 17. George Porter 18. James Currie 19. George Robson 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Jonny Arr 22. Luke Rooney 23. Ernie Claasens

We are going to play a territory based game. We have plenty of kickers in the backrow; Perry, Carlisle, Shingler and Goode all have big boots and will be looking to get the ball behind any Tigers defenders. Either we will use a kick chase, led by Haskell or we will look to hit the ball out of touch.

We are looking to really hit the breakdown hard with Haskell and Saull trying to slow the Leicester ball down

If we can get the ball in the Tigers half we will look to use our carries such as Morgan, Marler and Haskell to run at the defence. They will look to pierce holes in the Tigers defence for our backs to exploits.

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London Irish v Gloucester
Location - Madeski Stadium
Sunny, 24 Degrees, 7mph Winds

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London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Joe Simpson
02. James Buckland	10. Brock James
03. Euan Murray
04. Tom Palmer	11. Tom Homer (k)
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Delon Armitage

16. Rob Herring, 17. Max Lahiff, 18. Leo Halavatau, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Regan King, 23. Alesana Tuilagi

Tactics
- Use the set piece as a weapon to dictate the game. We have big players on the bench to ensure we keep the dominate for the full game.

- Look to really gain confidence and stability at scrum time. Quick ball to James if we're stable, Harinordoquy to pick and go if it's messy

- In the lineout, we'll dominate. Opt for full lineouts in their half to tie in their pack and try to initiate a rolling maul to give the backs more time. Compete for their ball.

- Target the breakdown for possible turnovers, with Pocock staying strong on his feet. When they arise, lets use them to our advantage. If the back three are sparse, look to kick for territory. If there are mis-matches, lets have a go.

- Be disciplined at the breakdown, with a guard and bodyguard at every breakdown to stop those easy yards around the fringes. No excuses here.

- Simpson to keep the tempo high, getting the ball quickly away from the breakdown and releasing the backs. The back three to be hungry and look to get involved.

- Use the piston system Irish have developed so well. Big runners off James to give us real go forward, inside and outside runs.

- For slow ball, look to get outside their guards and bodyguards to suck in more and more forwards at each breakdown. This will give more time to the backs.

- Key emphasis on defence in midfield, looking for the big tackles in there is the opportunity. Rush up fast and close down their space, forcing errors and playing into our set piece advantage

- Homer to go for points at every opportunity.We can have a pop from anywhere in their half. Make them scared to give away penalties in their half, thus giving us more time at the breakdown.

- Bench is full of impact players to keep the intensity high and have a run at Gloucester's tired legs.

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Gloucester

Manager – prop_lyd

01. Nick Wood ©	09. Dimitri Yachvilli
02. Darren Dawiduk	10. Freddie Burns
03. Adam Jones
04. Tom Savage	11. Johnny May
05. Alex Brown	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Alisdair Strokosch	13. Henry Trinder
07. Akapusi Qera	14. Charlie Sharples
08. JVN	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Scott Lawson 17. Dan Murphy/TBA 18. Sean Knight 19. Phil Burgess 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dan Robson 22. EFS 23. Ryan Mills



Tactics

We are aiming to hit the ground running this season with a new and exciting brand of confrontational forwards with pace and flair in the backs. Wood will lead the side from the front. Our game will want to get the ball to a set of backs who can make a lot of inroads. And our back row will get a lot of turnover ball.



Forwards

*Experienced front row who will look to dominate the set piece and Jones will be the anchor,

*2^nd rows will look to control the lineout and Savage can act as another back-rower at the breakdown,

*Backrow are breakdown specialists with Strokosch and Qera both terrorising here and JVN providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more go forward with Narraway.



Backs

* Yachvilli to marshall and Burns to release Roberts when possible, he will go for goal when in range,

* Roberts to make inroads then offload to Trinder who will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for JVN to break through the defence,

* Exciting backs here who will link well and look to constantly run at and through the Saints defence,

* A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball, on the bench we have flair in Robson, EFS and Mills



Defence

*Yachvilli to lead this,

*Strokosch/Qera to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up,

*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece.

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Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs
Location - Franklin Gardens
Sunny, 24 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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Northampton Saints

Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Chris Ashton
05. Samu Manoa	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood	14. Vasily Artemiev
08. Roger Wilson	15. Ben Foden

16. Steven Kitshoff 17. Richardt Strauss 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. James Craig 20. Phil Dowson 21. Martin Roberts 22. Stephen Myler 23. Scott Armstrong

Game Plan

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Attack

• We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball.

• Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload to keep the ball moving and get us further over the gain line.

• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload.

• If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Dickson & Sexton and force Chiefs to come at us from deep.

Set Piece

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much more room as possible to attack from.

• In Exeter territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs.

• In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

Defense

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Chiefs momentum before it can get going.

• Dickson will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose kicks.

Breakdown

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with Wood looking to get his hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

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Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Luke

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Loius Deacon	11. Paul Sackey
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Tom Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Richard Kahui
08. Richard Baxter	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Ben Moon 17. Neil Clark 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Gonzalo Camacho

Tactics

We will play a structured game built around our massive ball carriers, the strength of our set piece and getting our lightning backline into space.

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Look to really get the shove on.

- Use Wilkinson's boot to attack our strong lineout with Horwill, Deacon and Johnson. We will relentlessly target the opposition's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down the opposition defence. We will use our big carriers consistently to tire down the opposition.
The likes of Afoa, Baxter, Armitage, Horwill, Johnson and Naqelevuki used off the shoulder crashing through the opposition defence.

- Armitage is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

- Box kicks from Peel and up and unders from Wilkinson to give the opposition problems in the air.
Lightning back line to really get the chase on.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs, getting the likes of Lowe, Kahui and Nacewa on the ball when we can.

- 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.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.

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Sale Shark vs Saracens
Location - Salford City Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 22 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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Sale Sharks

Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Logovoi Mulipola	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Nick McLeod (k)
03.Davit Kubriashvili
04.Yoann Maestri	11.Mark Cueto
05.Dean Schofield	12.Sam Tuitupou
06.Schalk Burger	13.Jonothan Davies
07.Dave Seymour (C)	14.Tom Brady
08.Richie Vernon	15.Rob Miller

Subs
16.Andrew Sheridan 17.Marc Jones 18.Henry Thomas 19.James Gaskell 20.Andy Powell 21.Scott Mathie 22.Jaque Fourie 23.Cameron Shepherd

Tactics
Welcoming Sarries to the first competitive game at our new ground, we will look to play a high intesitty game, with a pack with big ball carriers, a half back partnership who can contorl territory and outside backs who have the perfect combination of strong direct runners and players who can make things happen.

Attack
We will look to use Tuitupou and Davies to carry the ball, however sometimes they will be used as dummies and the back 3 will be given licence to utilise the space created by the centres hoding the Sarries defence.

Pack is full of ball carriers, who will tire the Sarries defence such as Maestri, Mulipola, Schofield and Burger.

Defence - A blitz defence will be used.
Set piece - We will look to target their tighthead at scrum time.
Use range of jumpers. On their ball offer them front of lineout without challenge.
All kicks within range will be taken.

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Saracens

Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Morgan Parra (k.)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Sekope Kepu
04. George Kruis	11. Vereneki Goneva
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Anthony Allen
06. Kelly Brown (c.)	13. Chris Wyles
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Leigh Halfpenny
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Alex Goode

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Jackson Wray 21. Ben Spencer 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Joel Tomkins

Tactics

Target the breakdown with the back row working as a unit- Poff goes for the ball and Brown and Joubert clear. Ryan and Brits to guard the fringes when possible (or Brown if he is free) and be ready to make some carries on attack. The overall game plan is to get the ball out the the back three as quickly as possible off quick ball, so as usual Parra will keep it tight (or kick if appropriate) when it's slow then when the service is good, get the ball straight to Hodgson and we will spin it through the backs. We will use Wyles in the Antipodean method as almost an extra winger and he will switch with Goneva occasionally when on that side of the field to mix it up on attack. Goode to join the line when possible and I would like Joubert and Kepu and Brits occasinally running at Cruden- he is a good defender but small so let's make him (or Burger) tackle all day. If you give Cruden space he will use it, so the defence will be blitz led by Allen. Look out for offloads

- Attack, as above, but also utilising our strong carries in the pack with some driving mauls and pick and drives when it is slow.

- Don't be afraid to go blindside

- Setpiece- same pack as last week gelled and dealt with Irish well, so we will look to pressurise Sale in the scrum and get Joubert running blind today, where he will be supported by Parra and Brown.

-Breakdown- act as a group, and use the likes of Ryan and Kruis too as we have a good rucking pack

-Defence- blitz with Poff looking for Cruden. Aforementioned players to guard ruck fringes.

-back 3- Mix up running and kicking as all 3 are capable fullbacks and we have better kickers there than Sale. Keep them guessing

-Subs- bring on Matthews and Vunipola at 60. If we are ahead, let some players on to get them used to playing as a team. If we are behind, let Geraghty go full out in attack in the last 20.

Marker ,

Flux i'll do the page if you want. I'm free all day Sunday to update.

Game 1: Sunny, 23 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Game 2: Sunny, 25 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Game 3: Sunny, 24 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Game 4: Sunny, 24 Degrees, 7mph Winds
Game 5: Sunny, 24 Degrees, 8mph Winds
Game 6: Sunny Intervals, 22 Degrees, 8mph Winds

Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Morgan Parra (k.)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Sekope Kepu
04. George Kruis	11. Vereneki Goneva
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Anthony Allen
06. Kelly Brown (c.)	13. Chris Wyles
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Leigh Halfpenny
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Alex Goode

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Jackson Wray 21. Ben Spencer 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Joel Tomkins

Tactics

Target the breakdown with the back row working as a unit- Poff goes for the ball and Brown and Joubert clear. Ryan and Brits to guard the fringes when possible (or Brown if he is free) and be ready to make some carries on attack. The overall game plan is to get the ball out the the back three as quickly as possible off quick ball, so as usual Parra will keep it tight (or kick if appropriate) when it's slow then when the service is good, get the ball straight to Hodgson and we will spin it through the backs. We will use Wyles in the Antipodean method as almost an extra winger and he will switch with Goneva occasionally when on that side of the field to mix it up on attack. Goode to join the line when possible and I would like Joubert and Kepu and Brits occasinally running at Cruden- he is a good defender but small so let's make him (or Burger) tackle all day. If you give Cruden space he will use it, so the defence will be blitz led by Allen. Look out for offloads

- Attack, as above, but also utilising our strong carries in the pack with some driving mauls and pick and drives when it is slow.

- Don't be afraid to go blindside

- Setpiece- same pack as last week gelled and dealt with Irish well, so we will look to pressurise Sale in the scrum and get Joubert running blind today, where he will be supported by Parra and Brown.

-Breakdown- act as a group, and use the likes of Ryan and Kruis too as we have a good rucking pack

-Defence- blitz with Poff looking for Cruden. Aforementioned players to guard ruck fringes.

-back 3- Mix up running and kicking as all 3 are capable fullbacks and we have better kickers there than Sale. Keep them guessing

-Subs- bring on Matthews and Vunipola at 60. If we are ahead, let some players on to get them used to playing as a team. If we are behind, let Geraghty go full out in attack in the last 20.

Kepu not in Aus squad CJ???

Nope, out injured

Adam Ashley-Cooper, Kurtley Beale, Digby Ioane, Dominic Shipperley, Nick Cummins, Rob Horne, Ben Tapuai, Anthony Fainga’a, Mike Harris, Pat McCabe, Berrick Barnes, Quade Cooper, Nick Phipps, Will Genia (captain), Scott Higginbotham, Radike Samo, Michael Hooper, Liam Gill, Dave Dennis, Rob Simmons, Nathan Sharpe, Kane Douglas, Caderyn Neville, Sitaleki Timani, Ben Alexander, Paddy Ryan, James Slipper, Benn Robinson, Saia Fainga’a, Stephen Moore, Tatafu Polota-Nau.

Lucky you!

Lads be aware it is your responsibility to name a side that is eligible. I'd hope we all keep an eye out as I don't really want to give the opposition a 30-0 win because of a stupid mistake.

Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Corbisero	09.Luke Burguss
02.Joe Grey	10.Owen Farrell (K)
03.James Johnstone
04.Mouritz Botha	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Wesley Fofana
06.Chris Robshaw(c)	13.Jared Payne
07.Heinrich Brussouw	14.James Short
08.Craig Newby	15.Nick Abendanon

16.John Smith 17.Mark Lambert 18.Chris Budgen 19.Tom Denton 20.Will Skinner 21.Richard Wrigglesworth 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Hudson Tonga'uhia


In fine rugby playing conditions Quins will look to play the game at a high tempo shift the ball wide and keeping a high intensity through out. We have gone for a physical front 5 to allow us to gain a solid attacking platform to allow our backs to come into the game. A powerful scrummaging front row will really see us attack the Welsh front row and look to separate the tighthead from the rest of his front row with Smit focusing his hit more on the 3 and test his patience. Robshaw will look to get around the field linking play up , offloading and hitting rucks whilst Newby will play his strengths and get through plenty of graft in the tight and carry from the base with Brussouw targetting the breakdown to steal ball. North , Short and Bendy to come into the line and look for the ball in gaps and counter any kicks with interest.


Farrell to use his wide range of kicking skills to stretch the Wasps defense and put the ball in behind the wingers with plenty of pressure from a on rushing Quins chase

Blitz defense putting pressure on the Welsh back line using line speed and keeping disciplined with our penalty count , Burguss to sweep behind and cover any kicks through and line breaks

Hargreaves to put pressure on the Welsh lineout with jumpers throughout our pack from 4-8.

Impact players on the bench , Wrigglesworth will let us play the game in there half whilst Tonga will make plenty of head way at 12 or 13.

MOMENTUM - We had a good win last week and aim to build on it again this week , our side is confident and ready for battle.

KEY POINTS

• Balance in Welsh back row should see us win the battle on the deck with ease with no specialist OS in the Welsh pack.
  
  
• Target Wilson in the scrum , Corbs will know him inside out and will look to take him to the cleaners early doors
  
  
• Fofana will look to hit Henson early doors and rattle him in the midfield and put plenty of runners into the 12 channel and look for the offload.

Is unavailability based on touring squad or matchday 22?

South Africa team:
Zane Kirchner, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers (c), Frans Steyn, Francois Hougaard, Morné Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Tendai Mtawarira, Adriaan Strauss, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Juandre Kruger, Marcell Coetzee, Willem Alberts, Duane Vermeulen

Replacements: Tiaan Liebenberg, Pat Cilliers, Flip van der Merwe, Francois Louw, Johan Goosen, Pat Lambie, Lwazi Mvovo

It's matchday squad. But those guys that have trained with them are available. Just I would markdown slightly for having to journey halfway across the globe.

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Chris Ashton
05. Samu Manoa	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood	14. Vasily Artemiev
08. Roger Wilson	15. Ben Foden

16. Steven Kitshoff 17. Richardt Strauss 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. James Craig 20. Phil Dowson 21. Martin Roberts 22. Stephen Myler 23. Scott Armstrong

Game Plan

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Attack

• We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball.

• Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload to keep the ball moving and get us further over the gain line.

• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload.

• If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Dickson & Sexton and force Chiefs to come at us from deep.

Set Piece

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much more room as possible to attack from.

• In Exeter territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs.

• In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

Defense

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Chiefs momentum before it can get going.

• Dickson will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose kicks.

Breakdown

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with Wood looking to get his hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Luke

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Loius Deacon	11. Paul Sackey
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Tom Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Richard Kahui
08. Richard Baxter	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Ben Moon 17. Neil Clark 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Gonzalo Camacho

Tactics

We will play a structured game built around our massive ball carriers, the strength of our set piece and getting our lightning backline into space.

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Look to really get the shove on.

- Use Wilkinson's boot to attack our strong lineout with Horwill, Deacon and Johnson. We will relentlessly target the opposition's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down the opposition defence. We will use our big carriers consistently to tire down the opposition.
The likes of Afoa, Baxter, Armitage, Horwill, Johnson and Naqelevuki used off the shoulder crashing through the opposition defence.

- Armitage is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

- Box kicks from Peel and up and unders from Wilkinson to give the opposition problems in the air.
Lightning back line to really get the chase on.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs, getting the likes of Lowe, Kahui and Nacewa on the ball when we can.

- 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.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.

London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Paul James	09. Paul Hodgson
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans (k)
03. David Wilson
04. Paul O'Connell (C)	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Gavin Henson
06. Steve Mafi	13. Dominic Waldlouck
07. Jamie Gibson	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Nick Easter	15. Hugo Southwell

16. Rhys Gill 17. Phil Swainston 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Jonathon Mills 20. Chris Hala'ufia 21. Joel Hodgson 22. Brad Barritt 23. Ben Ransom

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Bismark du Plessis	10. Toby Flood
03. Dan Cole
04. Richie Gray	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. James O’Connor
06. Maurie Fa'asalavu	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton(c)	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Rob Kearney

16. Tom Youngs 17. Martin Castrogiovani 18. Luke Cowen-Dickie 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Tom Croft 21. Karl Dickson 22. George Ford 23. Jordan Turner-Hall

Tactics

We will base our game around high tempo, high intensity rugby. We’ll look to use the set piece as a foundation to work from and turn the screw on the opposition if a weakness is seen. We’ll look for big carries from our pack to give us go forward ball which Youngs thrives upon.

We’ll look to target the lineout throughout with 5 top draw options. Croft, Parling and Gray will look to mark the front, middle and back and put intense pressure on throughout the game.

Flood/JOC will dictate tempo and look to get Manu running angles to either punch holes in the opposition midfield or draw the decoy and allow our back 3 into the game.

When the 3 is on in front of the posts we’ll take and the captain will make the call on set piece if an advantage is seen.



- Turn screw in set piece if weakness seen
- High intensity & keep the ball alive
- Youngs to attack the gaps and allow Flood time to hit the line
- Manu to be used as crash and decoy with back 3 coming into the line
- Target lineout with world class operators
- Warburton/Fasa to marshal breakdown and slow/turnover opp ball

Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Joe Marler	09. Shaun Perry
02. Ed Shervington	10. Joe Carlisle
03. Tevita Taumoepeau
04. Gerhard Mostert	11. David Strettle
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Steven Shingler
06. James Haskell	13. Matt Hopper
07. Andy Saull	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Andy Goode

16. Will Radburn 17. George Porter 18. James Currie 19. George Robson 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Jonny Arr 22. Luke Rooney 23. Ernie Claasens

We are going to play a territory based game. We have plenty of kickers in the backrow; Perry, Carlisle, Shingler and Goode all have big boots and will be looking to get the ball behind any Tigers defenders. Either we will use a kick chase, led by Haskell or we will look to hit the ball out of touch.

We are looking to really hit the breakdown hard with Haskell and Saull trying to slow the Leicester ball down

If we can get the ball in the Tigers half we will look to use our carries such as Morgan, Marler and Haskell to run at the defence. They will look to pierce holes in the Tigers defence for our backs to exploits.

Guys just a heads up. But I won't update the page until the early hours of the morning again. So if you edit your teams past eight I wont add them in.

Sale Sharks
Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Logovoi Mulipola	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Nick McLeod (k)
03.Davit Kubriashvili
04.Yoann Maestri	11.Mark Cueto
05.Dean Schofield	12.Sam Tuitupou
06.Schalk Burger	13.Jonothan Davies
07.Dave Seymour (C)	14.Tom Brady
08.Richie Vernon	15.Rob Miller

Subs
16.Andrew Sheridan 17.Marc Jones 18.Henry Thomas 19.James Gaskell 20.Andy Powell 21.Scott Mathie 22.Jaque Fourie 23.Cameron Shepherd

Tactics
Welcoming Sarries to the first competitive game at our new ground, we will look to play a high intesitty game, with a pack with big ball carriers, a half back partnership who can contorl territory and outside backs who have the perfect combination of strong direct runners and players who can make things happen.

Attack
We will look to use Tuitupou and Davies to carry the ball, however sometimes they will be used as dummies and the back 3 will be given licence to utilise the space created by the centres hoding the Sarries defence.

Pack is full of ball carriers, who will tire the Sarries defence such as Maestri, Mulipola, Schofield and Burger.

Defence - A blitz defence will be used.
Set piece - We will look to target their tighthead at scrum time.
Use range of jumpers. On their ball offer them front of lineout without challenge.
All kicks within range will be taken.

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London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Joe Simpson
02. James Buckland	10. Brock James
03. Euan Murray
04. Tom Palmer	11. Tom Homer (k)
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Delon Armitage

16. Rob Herring, 17. Max Lahiff, 18. Leo Halavatau, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Regan King, 23. Alesana Tuilagi

Tactics
- Use the set piece as a weapon to dictate the game. We have big players on the bench to ensure we keep the dominate for the full game.

- Look to really gain confidence and stability at scrum time. Quick ball to James if we're stable, Harinordoquy to pick and go if it's messy

- In the lineout, we'll dominate. Opt for full lineouts in their half to tie in their pack and try to initiate a rolling maul to give the backs more time. Compete for their ball.

- Target the breakdown for possible turnovers, with Pocock staying strong on his feet. When they arise, lets use them to our advantage. If the back three are sparse, look to kick for territory. If there are mis-matches, lets have a go.

- Be disciplined at the breakdown, with a guard and bodyguard at every breakdown to stop those easy yards around the fringes. No excuses here.

- Simpson to keep the tempo high, getting the ball quickly away from the breakdown and releasing the backs. The back three to be hungry and look to get involved.

- Use the piston system Irish have developed so well. Big runners off James to give us real go forward, inside and outside runs.

- For slow ball, look to get outside their guards and bodyguards to suck in more and more forwards at each breakdown. This will give more time to the backs.

- Key emphasis on defence in midfield, looking for the big tackles in there is the opportunity. Rush up fast and close down their space, forcing errors and playing into our set piece advantage

- Homer to go for points at every opportunity.We can have a pop from anywhere in their half. Make them scared to give away penalties in their half, thus giving us more time at the breakdown.

- Bench is full of impact players to keep the intensity high and have a run at Gloucester's tired legs.

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Sorry it's taken a while, but Predos are open!

If it is alright with Pooly, because of my tardiness we shall keep predos open until Wednesday 8:00pm?

Bath Rugby 29-18 London Wasps

No game plan from Wasps is a mark down. (Where is GF? Haven’t seen him around)

See an edge at scrum time to Wasps with two strong scrummagers anchoring it down. Lineout wise both sides should be able to hold their own ball. Better carrying options for Bath through the front 5. In the back row more of a carrying game to Bath but the Wasps flankers will frustrate throughout. Halfbacks as a combo go to Bath. Gopperth not the man for dry running conditions. Back 3 goes to Wasps with a bit more class but both sides have dangerous runners. Midfield on names is fairly even but a much better balance to Bath and see Wasps struggling to get over the gainline in this game with a lot of pressure on Garvey & Waldrom especially without any game plan in place. Bath to pick up a comfortable win at home.

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We will keep the deadline for Tuesday Flux. Most people predict Tuesday anyway very rarely see predictions on Sunday so no one should be affected.

Cheers for lifting the Wasps side

Harlequins 20-15 London Welsh

Good battle at scrum time here with two very good front rows on show.
See Welsh causing a few problems at the lineout though it’s a real area of strength for them in this one. In the backrow more of a carrying game to Welsh but Quins will make the break down a real scrap and can see them really disrupting Welsh. Halfbacks fairly even in this one. Not sure on balance for either combo. Think the flyhalfs would work better with the opposition scrumhalfs. Back 3s edge to Quins with a bit more quality there but Ojo starting the season well for Welsh. In midfield the 13s are fairly even but Henson can’t be rated and will struggle against Fofanna. Nice tactic of Fluxys though with the angled runs and they will get some joy in behind Fofanna. Welsh will struggle for a bit of go forward through midfield. Decent game here but see Welsh having to fight for their own ball at every single breakdown and as such struggling on attack in this one.

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Leicester Tigers 32-20 Worcester Warriors

See the Tigers front 5 really getting at the set piece in this one particularly the lineout which doesn’t bode well for the Worcester game plan. Back row battle edges to Tigers. Haskell the main man at BS but more quality at 7 & 8 for Tigers. Worcester well balanced though and won’t allow Tigers to dominate here. More quality through the back line for Tigers. Defensive issues over the Worcester midfield for me and can see Tuilagi causing real havoc.

London Irish 16-15 Gloucester Rugby

Good battle at the scrum but can see Gloucester getting the edge here with more meat in the 2nd row. Both sides will hold their own ball at the lineout but the Irish lineout is more of an attacking weapon. In the backrow Kaino hard to rate but more quality for Irish at 7 & 8. Tactics needed to curtail Pocock somewhat at the breakdown for me so see him getting some joy in this one. Halfbacks fairly even. Same as the Quins-Welsh game think the flyhalfs would work better with the opposition scrumhalfs but the combo does still work for me. Midfield fairly even again but see Roberts getting a bit of joy running at the 10-12 axis. Would be a bigger advantage if targeted more. Back 3 goes to Irish. Sharples & Morgan struggling for form a bit. Not sure on the back options for Gloucester at flyhalf. Very tight game between two decent sides. Deciding factor for me is home advantage but see this being a low scoring affair.

Argh! I wrote the whole set of predictions then my computer crashed!

SirJ, quick question, do you mean your unsure as to my back up fh overall in my whole squad or just on the bench as I do have Lambie in my squad

Sale Shark 20-20 Saracens

Can see Sale getting at the scrum here particularly with the 2nd rows on show. Saracens will get at the lineout just as much though. Carrying wise the Sale front 5 will make those hard yards though. In the backrow Burger hard to rate not a lot of form to go on. Brown started back well but needs a few more games. Even overall. Sarries with a bit more quality at halfback. Not sure how Saracens will target Cruden though when he’s not playing In the backs see the pace of Sarries causing a few problems but Sale aren’t no slouches and have a lot more of a carrying threat through midfield. Think Sarries are lacking big carrying options a bit through the side. Both game plans will work to an extent. I see Sale holding on to more of the ball but Sarries will break the line more. I’m going to opt out and call it a draw sorry guys.

Just in this match day squad Prop mate. Not sure Mills would do the job at 10.

Harsh CJ!! Especially if they were as detailed as last week!

Ok cheers fella! I'm just happy Murphy seems to be getting a bit more consistent in front row. Think I know the positions to improve on now come foregins...

SirJohnnyEnglish wrote:Sale Shark 20-20 Saracens

Can see Sale getting at the scrum here particularly with the 2nd rows on show. Saracens will get at the lineout just as much though. Carrying wise the Sale front 5 will make those hard yards though. In the backrow Burger hard to rate not a lot of form to go on. Brown started back well but needs a few more games. Even overall. Sarries with a bit more quality at halfback. Not sure how Saracens will target Cruden though when he’s not playing In the backs see the pace of Sarries causing a few problems but Sale aren’t no slouches and have a lot more of a carrying threat through midfield. Think Sarries are lacking big carrying options a bit through the side. Both game plans will work to an extent. I see Sale holding on to more of the ball but Sarries will break the line more. I’m going to opt out and call it a draw sorry guys.

Whoops.

Mine will be on this evening, I'm going to do them in word and copy straight in

Bath- Wasps

FR - + Bath- a little more in the scrum at LH and equal elsewhere, Healey a monster in the loose on current form
SR – evens- both have a good balance with an enforcer with potential but not necessarily form and an athletic jumper who can help in the loose
BR- edge (barest edge) to wasps- Dus better than the also very good SOB at pretty much everything (he is IMO the best 6 in the world, including Kaino) and Waldrum’s form makes him close to Fearns.
HB- edge to Bath- not a fan of Hook but he will do well in this game plan. Not sure Gopperth will get his line moving. Care better than Claassens for me but not by enough.
CE- ++ Bath. Wasps pairing individually very good but I do not see 36 working well at 13 and can see him exposed by Laulala who is on great form and very canny. Banahan, another player I don’t usually rate, is being used very well at the moment by Bath at 12 in a similar manner to this game plan so Bath’s centre pairing look far better than they did a month ago!
B3- edge Wasps- Joseph not on top form, but Monye was rampaging this week (against admittedly poor opposition) and Brown is scoring tries for fun and his defence looked good again. Bath look good and I really rate Chisholm but Brown is the more complete FB for now.

Scrm- Bath have too much in the front row
Lineout- Edge to Wasps with Dus at the back
Breakdown- Edge to Bath- all 3 back rowers play 7 sometimes and can outwork Dus and Salvi
Kick- Edge to Wasps, with 2 centres with good kicking games as well as a prolific kicker at 10. No kicking game outside the shaky Hook for Bath!

Attack- Bath- plan works to their strengths and I can see the centres having a field day against 36 at 13.
Defend- Bath- good plan again, no real weaknesses in defence. Maybe Chisholm could be exposed but he has the pace to cover for it.

Overall score Bath 31 – Wasps- 23

Tries- Banahan x2, Chisholm, Biggs, Eastmond/// Monye, Brown
Conversions- Hook x 3, Donald/// Gopperth x 2
Penalties – Hook /// Gopperth, McAlister
DG /// Care
Scrm
Lineout
Breakdown
Kick

Attack
Defeend

Overall score

Tries-
Conversions
Penalties
DG

Quins- Welsh

FR- Edge to Quins- more experienced at the top level across the front row, JJ is a beast and James will struggle to contain him
SR- Edge to Welsh- 2 good enforcers there but without losing any lineout ability and POC is class in the loose and breakdown too
BR- + Quins- Mafi and Gibson look a little lightweight vs an International calibre pairing on the flanks. Quins backrow nicely balanced. Welsh will offer tons in the loose (great carriers) but may struggle in contact.
HB- + Welsh- Farrell good at 10 (though maybe not suited to these tactics) but facing Nev, whom I love. Nev is on great form too and would boss almost every other FH on the game. Too experienced for Farrell. Burgess has an edge as an individual threat on Hodgson (Care-esque) but not enough to counteract the 2nd/maybe now 3rd best FH in the world. Why are Kiwis the only ones who can develop 10s atm?
CE- Edge to Quins- can’t judge Henson yet. Fofana and Payne weak in defence but tasty in attack. Given how little rugby Gavin has played so far and the silliness of Waldouck this weekend, I think they’d cause Welsh troubles.
B3- Evens- North the best on show, but welsh a very well balanced B3. I think Southwell is underrated

Scrm- Quins front row take it despite the bulk behind the Welsh one
Lineout- Welsh dominate. Good thrower plus 5 very good jumpers- hard to deal with
Breakdown- Quins dominate- Robshaw and Brussow just too good, even with the rest of the Welsh pack chipping in.
Kick- Welsh- They have Nev. I may be biased.

Love both benches btw. Welsh plan should be to send forwards and wingers at the 12-13 gap to expose them. Quins should send people/Burgess/North at the fringes of rucks to test Mafi and Gibson.

Attack- advantage Quins- if Farrell can mobilise his backs, they are very tasty and should get good ball. The plan is a Quins plan to, which I like. Welsh hard to measure until Henson plays in the AP. Sorry.
Defend- Evens- both have weaknesses (Quins at 12, Welsh in tight) but otherwise steady enough

Overall score - Quins 28 Welsh 23

Tries- Burgess, Newby, North /// Mafi x2
Conversions Farrell x2 /// Evansx2
Penalties Farrell x2, Heathcote/// Evans
DG /// Evans x2

Tigers- Wuss
FR- ++ Tigers- I’m a fan of Marler and Wuss’ front row is fine but Tigers are something else with equally proficient options on the bench
SR- + Tigers- Parling and Kitchener close overall for me but Richie Gray makes the difference
BR- Edge to Tigers- by surprisingly little. Warbs form hard to assess and he didn’t have the best summer. Haskell playing as well as he ever has. Saull injured and hard to assess. Parisse good but relies on others to do grunt work (like Faletau, would work well with Warbs) and Morgan looks in form. Tigers’ better balanced though, Maurie is a monster.
HB- ++ Tigers- again, if Genia nad Carter were here it’d be different. But Youngs and Flood are a great pair.
CE- + Tigers. I like Hopper and Shingler and think that in attack they would make a formidable duo. In defence, less so. Tuilagi has found form again and being fed by JOC (who is injured I know, but has the class to partially counteract that) they will cause problems for Hopper and Shingler. Lots of pace in these backlines!
B3- ++ Tigers- Goode at 15 seems silly- surely Carlisle at 15 and Goode at 10, or Rooney at 15 would make more sense? I appreciate the kicking game being played but with a backline that isn’t that defensively strong for the Tigers, I’d have tried to run it more down the middle, make some gaps and move around the point of contact. Kicking to Wade, Kearney and Benjamin is a dangerous game. Strettle injured and not at his best and Wade is going to get a lot of ball and we all know he can use it. With Wuss, I’d also target Wade on defence- Garvey is a big lad, I think Wade would miss some tackles

Scrm- Tigers all the way. This will undoubtedly be a regular phrase in this area this season.
Lineout- Tigers- good options across the pack
Breakdown- Wuss, just. Haskell and Saull can outdo Warbs and Mo at the breakdown, even though Cole etc will mediate the extent of this with their contributions.
Kick- Tigers- Wuss have a good kicking game, but Tigers edge it with Kearney, Flood and JOC

Attack- ++ Tigers- that backline is so good in attack and Wade is tasty. The Wuss idea of kick-chasing doesn’t work for me, though sending the forwards at JOC does.
Defend- Evens. Both very strong packs and tight fringes, both less strong backlines in defence. The trouble in defence with both backlines is that I can’t really see defensive marshals there to lead them. Wuss will look better with Carter back, obviously.

Overall score- Tigers 37 – Wuss 25

Tries- Wade x3, Tuilagi, Youngs/// Morgan, Garvey
Conversions Flood x2, O’Connor/// Goode x2
Penalties Flood, Ford /// Goode x3
DG

Irish- Glaws
FR- Slight edge to Glaws- Jenkins is behind Sheridan at Toulon and I think Jones is a better player than Murray. Close at 2.
SR- Edge to Irish- Palmer didn’t have a great return for Wasps, but I see him working well alongside Kennedy, very nice balance.
BR- + Irish. Good carrying at Glaws, but I’d take a Japan-based Kaino over Stroks (can do more, more destructive), an injured and far less invincible than last year Pocock over Qera (though this is closer atm) and Hari over JVN. When (and I don’t doubt they will) Irish’s backrow get back to proper play in real life, they will take a lot of stopping.
HB- Edge to Glaws- Simpson and James can get a backline moving but I really like the combo of Yachvilli and Burns and I think Yachvilli’s canniness will get the best out of Burns’ talent.
CE - + Glaws. Rougerie has not been on great form for a while. Neither has Roberts. But a non-on-form Roberts can batter Bowden and shutter him defensively whilst I doubt Rougerie will do the same to Trinder.
B3- Evens- Glaws more nimble and Irish more powerful, little to separate these.

Scrm- Edge to Glaws based pretty much on Jones doing a number on his Welsh teammate.
Lineout- easily Irish’s IMO
Breakdown- Irish- just. Pocock is by far better than the Glaws flankers at the breakdown, but in a recurring theme, there is only one of him and all of Glaws’ backrow are reasonably handy and I don’t see many other floor-ninjas playing in the Irish pack, certainly not more than in the rest of Glaws’ pack. Except maybe Palmer
Kick- Irish- Glaws have Yachvili helping out but LI have good kickers out wide too and Brock is an excellent kicker out of hand.

Attack- just Glaws- I think the simple model of quickly from Ford to Roberts on a flat backline into contact to draw in the defence then spread to the pacey backs from 11/13-15 will be very effective. Irish will make plenty of yards too
Defend- Evens
Irish more on the bench

Overall score Irish 16 – Gloucester 16

Tries- Guest /// Van Niekirk, Sharples
Conversions Homer ///
Penalties Homer, James x2/// Ford x2
DG

Saints- Chiefs

FR- edge to Saints- Hartley back on form makes a big difference. Hope it lasts for England.
SR- Edge to Chiefs- good locks for both, Chiefs get it on extra bulk, at least until I see how Lawes does with an uninjured spell.
BR- Edge to Chiefs. Is Roger Wilson the Newcastle number 8? He’s talented but Ferris, beast that he is, is still coming back from injury step by step (as he always is, still a force) and Wood definitely is. The Chiefs options are solid and look like a good combo.
HB – Evens- Pee;> Dickson, Sexton > Wilko. Hard to call. Maybe the tiniest teeniest micro-edge to Saints.
CE- + Saints. Naqi and Lowe are fine, good players, but SBW still has his AB form going for him and Pisi will love running off him.
B3- Evens- hard to judge Kahui. Sackey is a decent player, Nacewa very good. Foden at the moment at a similar level, getting back to his game luckily. Don’t know the Russian fella. Ashton looking on form again.

Scrm- Evens, Saints front row countered by Exeter bulkier locks.
Lineout- Edge to Saints- Wood edges this, he is an excellent lineout option.
Breakdown- Chiefs- Armitage and Baxter get this until I see Wood play.
Kick- Edge to Chiefs, thanks to Peel and Johnny.

Attack- Saints- Ashton running off SBW and Sexton and Pisi in space = nice. Chiefs a little less sparkle.
Defend- Evens- both very secure defences.

Overall score Saints 20- Chiefs 16

Tries- Ashton x2 /// Lowe
Conversions Sexton x 2/// Wilkinon
Penalties Sexton x2 /// Wilkinson, Humphries
DG /// Wilkinson

Bath 20-16 Wasps
Not tactics hinder Wasps here. Strong pack battle with Bath edging it bar at 8 where Waldrom is in very good form. Gopperth may struggle and Care may have to take on more than he wants to, Bath have a steady hb pairing. More excitement in Wasps outside backs but they won't get enough ball with Bath dominating the breakdown.

Quins 24-20 Welsh
Big shame Henson's injured already here Fluxy. Front row is even with both lh's dominating. 2nd rows go to Welsh but they will struggle in the backrow with Quins exceptional here. Prefer the Quins outside backs but Welsh aren't pushovers here and will run them close especially when running behind Fofana. Think this will be a close game but Quins will edge it.

Tigers 30-20 Worcester
Worcester won't get any joy at the set piece here and their backrow will have their work cut out against a very very good Tigers pack. Outside backs shows how much quality Tigers have over some of these teams and Worcester badly need the RC to be over!


Saints 17-18 Chiefs

Strong scrummaging pack from both here but think Hartley will just edge Webber. Not sure about Lawes playing due to being injured for so lon irl, so 2nd rows go to Chiefs, Going to give the back row as even and the same at breakdown. 9-10 to Chiefs but Sexton won't let them run away with it here. Centres and outside backs even here but SBW may make a few more breakthroughs, it's the boot of Wilkinson and Peel's experience which will win this.

Sales 18-16 Sarries

Front row to Sale, 2nd row to Sarries here and can see the back row fairly even. Think Vunipola should really have started with the form he is in. Brits will gain the advantage over Botha in the open field though. Very good controlling hb's for Sarries. Centres go to Sharks and they have some finishing power outwide which is just enough to edge the very good Sarries back three who will make many inroads. Personally, CJ, start Vunipola and you would have won.

Wilson was Saints first choice 8 for the last 3 years CJ. Signed for Ulster during the summer

Who is the Wilson I'm thinking of?

Also, just seen Will Genia is injured for 6 months. Australia have been really unlucky with injuries. Artemyev has been at Saints awhile too, right? Watched the highlights from the weekend and his and Foden's set up for Day's try looked nice

Think you're thinking of Brett Wilson CJ, I believe he's at Nottingham.

Not sure yet on the russian winger for Saints (can't spell the name!) Simply because if you watch the highlights he really should have backed himself to finish at least one of the trys himself.

Yeah Artemyev signed up last year. Had a great first half of the season but faded in the 2nd half. Looks a decent player hoping he kicks on this season.

prop_lyd wrote:Think you're thinking of Brett Wilson CJ, I believe he's at Nottingham.

Not sure yet on the russian winger for Saints (can't spell the name!) Simply because if you watch the highlights he really should have backed himself to finish at least one of the trys himself.

Agree, looks like he stepped in every time!

Bath 15 - 13 London Wasps

I will have to mark down Wasps a bit because of the lack of tactics. However despite that, it is still a good game, up front both teams are equal, Bath edging lineouts and physicality, but Wasps edging scrums and breakdown nous. Collectively I think Wasps have a little more in the backrow. But in the halfbacks I think that with Bath getting front foot ball, Claasens will give Hook some good ball. And this will allow Hook to bring on the Bath backline. Wasps backline has a great backthree and a good kicking ability, but I think a reshape will make them much more dangerous. In the end I think Bath will have just enough to win it at home.

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Leicester Tiger 32 - 19 Worcester Warriors

Warriors tactics are set up well IMO. Just unfortunately lack the quality to keep up withe dominant Tigers team. In the tight Malrer is a man alone, up against a solid Tigers unit. Lineout wise they will lose out again but not so badly. Physically Warriors will even the battle with a number of good carriers. Out wide tigers will gain a strangle hold over Warriors. The inclusion of Shingler will stunt some play, but the conclusion of the game is over late on anyway. If Warriors had a bit more in either the Lineout or Scrum time their tactics would've been more successful.

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London Irish 24 - 25 Gloucester

A cheeky front five battle between two good teams. Glos will edge it with a bit more around the park, lead by Wood and Savage. The irish backrow will even out that contest, but the glos unit are no slouches and will fight to the man. Glos halfbacks will control pace brilliantly and be able to unleash their dangerous, albeit slightly out of form backline. Irish have a solid backline that will get some chances to attack as well. I like the centre combination they possess. The separating factor will be the boot of yach, as he will keep the scoreboard ticking and put a last penatly between the posts late on.

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Northampton Saints 23 - 24 Exeter Chiefs

A great between two good teams. IMO the packs are very even. Upfront Chiefs can hold the scrum on their own ball, but Saints will get a nudge on their ball. Chiefs will dominate the lineout battle, but physically both teams are up for the contest. Out wide, both backlines thrive off their sources of possession. And with some dangerous backlines, the only way that I can separate either team is through the boot. And the form that Wilkinson is in, he will nick a hard fought win for the Chiefs.

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Sale Sharks 18 - 15 Saracens

Up front, quite even. I'm not quite keen on Mullipola at LH, Sheridan would've been a good, as he has played well for Toulon recently as has Kubs. There is a strong carrying element throughout the Sale pack. But the Sarries will match them just. Lineout will see sharks just edge it. Around the park Poff and Brown will be a pain in the a***. Out wide, Sarries have a more rounded and accomplished backline, which with ball in hand will score tries. Sale unfortuntaley suffer due to call ups, but are still reliable. With the powerful Sale bench impacting heavily, in the end a penatly try will win this for Sale at home in their new stadium.

Still quite a few predictions to come in, shall we keep them open til tomorrow?

Mine will be in tomorrow morning - sure they are being kept open till tomorrow.

Bath 22-18 Wasps

Lack of tactics hinders Wasps....guess GF isn't gettong on board??

Quins 28-24 Welsh
Irish 32-29 Gloucester
Saints 23-22 Exeter (real close one)
Sale 19-21 Sarries

Bath 25 Wasps 19
Quins 32 Welsh 24
Leicester 35 Worcester 23
Irish 24 Glaws 22
Saints 26 Exeter 23

Mine will be in in the morning. Still suffering here!