Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Five

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Bath Rugby vs. Sale Sharks
Cloudy, 14 degress, 11mph winds.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Chris Brooker	10. David Skrela
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Stuart Hogg
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock	14. George North
08. Tom Guest	15. Rob Miller

16. Kane Palmer Newport 17. Will Tanner 18. Jon Golding 19. Tom Donnelly 20. Akapusi Qera 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Maxime Medard 23. Michael Harris

Overall: Look to dominate in the scrum and use that as a platform to really bring our backs in who will be looking to run at the defence with bad intentions.

Forwards: We will really look to attack and come out on top of the scrum. We have two of the best props in Europe in Kubrashvilli and Healy and we feel we can really punish the Sale scrum, pushing them backwards. Look for Kubrashvilli to really put pressure on Schuster. With our second row partnership we are looking at Jarrad Hoeata to provide the grunt necessary and offering the banker ball while Graham Kitchener will be trying to retain our lineout something we feel he is very capable of doing.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Guest, Haskell and Healy dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited. Our carrying is somewhere we feel we have a distinct advantage and we will look to target the often suspect defence of James Hook. At the breakdown we will look for David Pocock and James Haskell to win turnover ball or manage to slow down opposition ball by going through opponents. They will both be looking to cause as much trouble as possible.

Backs: We will be looking to play running rugby with the ball in our hands. Using our forwards to create space we will look for quick ball and get the likes of Miller, Hogg and North who are all deadly runners, running at the Sale defences. Wigglesworth will control the tempo of the backs and will look to keep the backs calm and composed. We will look to get Allen + Rougerie involved in the game as much as possible. With Miller + Skrela we have a very good kicking game which we will use if we feel necessary to put the ball behind the Sale back three.

Defence: Look to wrap the defensive line and stop them running in from deep. Look to not let Piccles and other carriers get a head of steam.

Substitutes: We have some really good options on the bench who we feel can really add to the game. Golding and Palmer Newport can come in and help strengthen our front row. Donnelly will look to come on and shore up the lineout. Akapusi Qera is a quality player who can really cause trouble around the park. FDP will look to control our tempo late in the game. Harris is another option who can come on and use his boot effectively to put the ball in good positions. Maxime Medard has a little spark that we can potentially use late.


Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Stephen Sykes	11. Keith Earls
05. Christian Day	12. James Hook
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Lee Imolek 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Dave Attwood 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. Yann David 23. Kyle Eastmond

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Key Points

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Attack The Lineout

• With only Kitchner as a recognised jumper on show we feel we can really get at Bath here with the likes of Sykes, Day, POM & Quedragao attacking Brookers throw.

Attack The Scrum

• We have gone with 2 powerful scrummagers at prop and will look to attack the Bath front 5 at scrum time. 4 of the Bath front 5 have started all 5 league games and they must surely be feeling the effects now. We will look to really turn the screw here as the benches come into play.

Nullifying The Pocock Effect

• We have selected two specialists at the breakdown to compete here today. On offense we will follow the All Black playbook looking to target our runners at Pocock and trap him at the base of the ruck.

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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 off 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 Sexton & Hook and force Bath 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 room as possible to attack from.

• In Bath 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 opposition momentum before it can get going.

• Danny Care will play 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 POM and Quedragao looking to get their 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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Harlequins vs. Saracens
Sunny Intervals, 15 degrees, 9mph winds.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Karl Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Felipe Contepomi (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Jerome Thion	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Taku Ngwenya
08. Nick Easter	15. Luke Morahan

16. Matthew Rees 17. Mako Vunipola 18 Kieran Brookes 19. Steve Borthwick 20. Carl Fearns 21. Lee Dickson 22. Greig Laidlaw 23. Andre Taylor

Tactics

Game Plan

Look to play at a quick tempo by using strong carries, offloads and effective rucking from our players. We are going to look to hold on to possession rather than kick it away. This will tire Saracens and should create gaps for our outside backs to exploit. Get our forwards carrying off 9 and 10 and looking to win the collisions and keep the legs pumping in contact to set a target for our forwards to hit to get us quick ball for Dickson and Contepomi to use.

We will be looking for our big carriers (Easter, Roberts, Botha, Brits, Thion, Marler, Afoa) to punch holes and allow us to go wide where out outside backs and flankers will be looking to cause damage with ball in hand.

Forwards

Pack is absolutely full of carriers and this is part of our plan. With the whole team capable of making yards we expect to be able to play some good attacking rugby. We want our forwards to ruck hard and ruck past the ball. We expect our carriers to carry in numbers, aim to win the collisions and then look to keep legs pumping after contact. We will look for the offload if it is on. At the setpiece we will look to really put the pressure on a scrum time and vary our lineout with Wood, Thion and Botha as key jumpers.

Backs

Look to attack spaces and gaps. Pace to burn outwide and will look for Dickson, Contepomi, Roberts and JJ to create the spaces for Ngwenya, Biggs and Morahan to exploit. Dickson will look to snipe all game and Contepomi will control the tempo of the game and we think the right pair to control the game,

Defence

Quick linespeed and aggression in the tackle. Look to double up when we can with on taking legs and the other looking to get hands on the ball. Warburton to look to control the breakdown with the help of Tom Wood and Schalk Brits.


Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Jean-Marc Doussain
02.George Chuter	10.Francois Trinh-Duc (K)
03.Craig Mitchell
04.Lionel Nallet	11.Tim Visser
05.Ali Williams	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Phil Dowson	13.Chris Bell
07.Ross Rennie	14.Mark Cueto
08.Joe Van Nikirk(c)	15.Rory Lamount

16.John Smit 17.Max Lahiff 18.Phil Swainstone 18.Tim Swinson 19.Luke Narraway 20.Paul Hodgson 21.Paddy Jackson 22.Adam Thompstone

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Leicester Tigers vs. Newcastle Falcons
Cloudy, 14 degrees, 9mph winds.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Tom Youngs 18. Brian Mujati 19. Simon Shaw 20. Tom Croft 21. Michael Claasens 22. Dominic Waldouck 23. Rene Ranger

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game, the strength in our set piece and our huge line breakers.

- Ability to play in different ways - we're not here to kick the ball away. We have the personnel in our side to play a mixture of different styles, and we will play the game as we see it.

- Attack at all scrums - Cole and Sheridan to look to really get the shove on against Tonga and Ric. Jenkins and Mujati to attack Wislon and Waller in the second half too.

- Attack at all lineouts. Our lineout is led by Horwill, using Joubert as our banker ball, Pape, SOB and Scaysbrook as our other options. Croft to join the action in the 2nd half to be our banker ball.

- Use massive line-breakers in the tight to tire down the Newcastle defence. The likes of SOB, Scaysbrook, Joubert, Moore, Pape and Horwill used off the shoulder at pace of 9/10 crashing through the Newcastle defence.

- Scaysbrook is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball. With Scaysbrook, SOB, Cole and Moore, we feel our breakdown play will be crucial today.

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. We want Yach and Wilko to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are. We want 12T and BOD on the ball looking to send our back three into space.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the second half.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Home Advantage
Our home record is sensational, and we always feel we will win games at Welford Road. We feel we have the players to control the game, and in front of our own fans, Welford Road is a fortress.

Freshness in pack
We have brought in Sheridan, Moore and Scaysbrook to give us fresh impetous in the pack. First game of the season for these three and we will look to them to really go hard from the off.

Control at 8, 9, 10
With the have huge amounts of experience we have in these key rolls, we aim to really control the game from the first whistle to the last. Joubert to control the base of the scrum, and in Yach and Wilko to control the tempo of the game and where the game is played on the pitch.


Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Soane Tonga’uiha	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Clement Ric
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Sonny Bill-Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O’Connor

16. Lee Mears 17. Scott Wilson 18. Alex Waller 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Kelly Brown 21. Ben Youngs 22. Ben Williams 23. Tommy Bowe

Tactics

HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES.....GAME CHANGERS IN BACKLINE IN JOC, BURGESS, SBW

Game plan...Fast paced, high intensity, offloading, dynamic rugby. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off. We’ll be aiming to control possession and go through the phases. Flood will play flat and look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.

Set piece:

In the decent conditions look to get the ball in and out for Burgess/Flood to attack with. Look for fast ball off the top of the lineout with Parling making the calls. If weakness seen in either set piece we’ll look to exploit.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. Burgess will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot.

DEFENCE:

Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow out backrow to dominate affairs. Thorn/Tonga/Ric in particular will look to hit the ruck hard and remove attempted turnovers from the equation allowing us to ruck over the ball and control the breakdown. Robshaw will look to target the opposition fly half early on and pressure his kicking. Burgess to sweep in behind the defensive line.

Backs:

Basically get the backs into play whenever possible with Flood & JOC the spark. JOC will come into the line and offer 2nd playmaking option with SBW offering go to ball and decoy. Look to get JOC & Cuthbert into the game whenever possible. Burgess to play on instinct around the fringes and look to get JOC in to release to use his gas through the middle.


POINTS:

LINEOUT - Cut Tigers kicking options out by targeting lineout and dominating with Parling & POC
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through opposition
BREAKDOWN – Brussow/Robshaw to work their magic and Burgess to monitor to attack on turnover ball
BACK 3 - With Yach & Wilko looking to kick we'll look to break on the counter with JOC/Cuthbert running the ball back
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground

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London Welsh vs. Gloucester
Cloudy, 14 degrees, 10mph winds.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. Adam Jones
04. Nathan Hines	11. Christian Wade
05. George Skivington	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Kevin McLaughlin	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir ©	14. Matt Jess
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Louis Ludik

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. David Wilson 19. James Hanks 20. Ofisa Treviranus 21. Charlie Davies 22. Butch James 23. Ross Chisholm

Tactics

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisons in both attack and defence. In order to do this we have picked a very big pack to try to physically dominate this area of the game. We will look to apply pressure to Gloucester by keeping the ball for long periods and wearing them down defensively, and also by maintaining a solid defence and denying them opportunities to get on the score board. Pressure forces mistakes, and we will look to capitalise on any that Gloucester make.

Attacking specifics

• Play off 9. Parra to be key decision maker in the backs.
  
• Big carriers to run hard and staright in midfield off early phase ball, particularly attacking the 10 channel to suck defenders in and create space out wide for Wade, Jess and Ludik.
  
• Carriers to look to hit gaps rather than defenders and keep the ball alive by offloading to support runners. We want to play at pace and force them to scramble in defence and this means ensuring as few rucks as possible by playing the offloading game.
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• All opportunities for points with the boot to be taken by Parra (penalties or drop goals).
  
• If at any time we feel that we are in danger of conceding a turnover then Parra or Farrell will use their boot to kick for touch deep in Gloucester territory.
  

Defensive specifics

• Darren Cave will be defensive captain.
  
• We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further. Parra will sweep in behind.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, otherwise we will legally slow the ball and maintain a solid defensive line to blitz from.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  

Key Points

• Gloucesters key tactics revolve around dominating physically up front, where they will look to win the collisions and dominating the lineout. You can check if you want to, but in the pack every one of our players is heavier than their direct opponent, and will not be dominated physically. We have also brought in Kevin McLaughlin to strengthen our lineout and deny Gloucester dominance there.
  
• Home advantage has to count for a few points surely.
  
• If we can get at Lamb defensively his attacking game is very likely to go awry as well handing us the advantage in the game. We will be targeting this from the outset.
  
• We are solid defensively in midfield with real attacking threat out wide (Jess is the leading scorer in the AP and Wade has 3 in 4 games for Wasps)
  
• We have no traditional fetcher, but with BdP in the side the balance of our pack is good as he is better at the breakdown than most opensides.
  

Gloucester
Manager – Mat

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Ryan Lamb(k)
03. Nicola Mas
04. Julien Pierre	11. James Simpson-Daniel
05. George Robson	12. Matt Scott
06. CJ Stander	13. Richard Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Zac Guildford
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Nick Wood17. Deon Fourie 18 Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. Dan Robson 22. Rob Horne 23. Charlie Sharples


Tactics

We will play heads up rugby and look to play an expansive game based around attacking and scoring tries. However when needed we can keep it tight and will only look to play when we have the right to

ATTACK ALL SCRUMS- We have 2 world class props and the form hooker in the AP backed up by Pierre and Robson it makes a dynamic unit

USE LINEOUT DOMINANCE- we have Pierre, Robson, Hari, CJ and Lapandry which is a frightening line up of lineout forwards. We will use this to win good quality ball whilst also using it to poach theirs or pressure the lineout. Initially we will look to use the rolling maul but as we look to get more expansive we will be using off the top to go wide


USE OUR BIG BALL CARRIERS- Pierre, CJ, Heaslip, Robson, Grey, Steenkamp will all be carrying aggressively and looking to get us on the front foot and win the collisions. this will enable us produce quick ball to go wide and score tries. Genia will also be looking to pick up from any break and get on the shoulders and utilise his abilities to catch packs napping

PUT NUMBERS INTO THE BREAKDOWN- We have a seriously mobile pack and will be looking to send numbers in to slow welsh ball and also too steal some great turnover ball.

Generally attacking wise Genia will be our leader he will be organising the pack and will be making sure Lamb gets high quality ball.

We will employ a blitz defence with Genia sweeping in behind

[b]WE WILL USE OUR IMPACT BENCH- it is packed with quality and will take the game away


KEY POINTS

COHESIVE TEAM- we have been playing together for years and have established settled team
LINEOUT DOMINATION- We have serious options and will look to starve Sarries
PACK MOBILITY
TRY SCORING BACKS and SERIOUS IMPACT BENCH- we are looking to score tries galore and have pace and trickery to burn

CONTROL FROM 8 and 9- they will dictate tempo

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Northampton Saints vs. London Wasps
Cloudy, 14 degrees, 11mph winds.

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Sona Taumalolo	09 Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley	10.Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Joe Launchbury	12. Ashley Beck
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

16. Rob Webber 17. Logovi'i Mulipola 18. Henry Thomas 19. Alun Wyn Jones 20. Dan Lydiate 21. Mike Phillips 22. George Ford 23. Ben Foden

Tactics

Overview - To play a game based on power, speed, pressure and aggression. To use the extra physicality and ball carrying power of our pack to gain an advantage for open play and look to get over the gainline and create gaps for our backline to exploit, aiming to outscore Wasps on the try front and for Halfpenny to nail all his shots at goal. Aggressive defence and will look to target the breakdown for turnover ball to attack with.

Pack/SetPiece

- very strong front row with each starting player on very good form, aim to use the scrum as a platform for attacking and to place Wasps under pressure.

- use Bonnaire's lineout skills to get quick ball and get fast attacks and to match the threat of Wentzel.

- Salvi is a key figure at the breakdown&will have to be at his best to battle Poff. Will be supported by a quick pack with Lawes and Launchbury looking to clear out any Wasps players to free Salvi to target the ball.

- if the ball is there to be won at the breakdown we will put numbers in and get the fast ball to launch attacks from. Use extra physicality to get advantage here.

Attack -

- feel we have a very strong pack that has more physicality and ball carriers than Wasps, so should see more ball to attack with and have the option to go route one with the forwards - will aim to get Taumalolo, Lawes, Launchbury and Parisse on the ball as much as we can early on and set the game up as a really physical confrontation.

- aware that the Wasps backline is good defensively, so Simpson's snipes will play a big role, as well as working through the phases and tyring to suck the Wasps backs out of position. Tuilagi and Siviatu to be used to punch holes and then get the ball to Ashton and Halfpenny.

- mix up the attack and look to attack Wasps at pace where we have an advantage in both pack and backline. Will look to score tries and play an offloading game to create gaps.

Defence -

- aggressive defence that is led by Lawes and Launchbury in the forwards who are there to force Wasps into mistakes and allow us to counter attack.

- will implement a blitz defence, with Tuilagi looking to marshall Pisi and keep the main Wasps playmaker out of the game.

Key points -

- strong pack to play our gameplan and put Wasps under pressure, big ball carriers to get us over the gainline and open up gaps for the backs.

- look to play a more physical game than Wasps are used to, aggressive defence to force mistakes and turnovers.

- strong bench to come on in the final 30minutes

- great form in real life - Hartley, Launchbury, Bonnaire, Parisse, Giteau, Tuilagi and all back three.


London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Ben Daley	09. Mike Blair
02. Sean Cronin	10. Stephen Jones (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Steve Mafi	13. George Pisi
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Tom Varndell
08. Ben Mowen	15. Mike Brown

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. Shaun Knight 19. Dan Tuohy 20. Dewald Potgieter 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Rhys Preistland 23. Jamie Elliott

Tactics
We will look to play at a high tempo with pace and intensity. Our forwards will look to carry hard, attacking gaps in the Northampton Saints defensive line, getting us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We will ensure our carriers have plenty of support to offload to, so we can continue our attacks.

We will look to recycle the ball quickly by getting good numbers to the breakdown, with the first few players rucking past the ball to clear out the Saints players, allowing Blair to get quick, clean ball for us to get out wide and attack the space on offer. We will look to create mismatches in midfield and will target the outside shoulder of the Saints players.

Line speed and aggression is key for us in defence, we will try and prevent Saints from having time on the ball by having quick line speed and tackling their carriers before they reach the gain line, knocking them back and forcing them into mistakes, where we can exert pressure and try and get turnovers.

Stephen Jones will look to kick in behind the Saints wingers and put us deep into their territory where we will look to really pressurize and go after their lineout. Wentzel will be our main go to man, we will also look to use Mafi and Mowen at the tail of the lineout where we can launch attacks from and get our big centers running at Matt Giteau, whom our back row will look to be in the face of all game.

With the ball in hand, we will look to win the collisions and get our offloading game going. Barritt will look to take the contact and give us line breaking options with Pisi running good outside lines, we will attack gaps and half gaps in the Saints defensive line. We will use Banahan as another crash ball option, coming in off his wing, looking to suck in Saints defenders before spreading the ball and making use of the space.

At the scrum, on our own ball, we will look to turn the scrum legally to erase the Saints back row from helping out in defence before starting our own attacks. We will look to control possession and be patient, recycling the ball through several phases with Blair and Jones controlling our play. We aim to move the ball around, changing the point of attack to tire out the Saints pack.

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Worcester Warriors vs. London Irish
Cloudy, 14 degrees, 8mph winds.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd

01. Paul James	09. Eion Reddan
02. Gary Botha	10. Tom Heathcote
03. BJ Botha
04. Jim Hamilton (c)	11. Sean Maitland
05. Luke Charteris	12. Olly Barkley (k)
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Matt Hopper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. James Short
08. Ben Morgan	15. Rob Cook

16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18 Chris Budgen 19. Ollie Kohn 20. Ryan Jones 21. Kerr Barlow 22. Julien Malzieu 23. Ollie Morgan
Tactics

Forwards

We have picked a strong front row who will look to edge up on the tightheads side to allow Morgan more time to pick from the base of the scrum.

A strong 2^nd row who will target the lineout and we will utilise the lineout as out main weapon of attack providing both quick ball and allow us to maul with a very heavy and efficient pack.

Back row again is strong and we will look to counter act the breakdown as well as picking up and keeping the game tight which is why we have picked the pack we have. Morgan and Gorgodze will look to run off of 12-13 to create the gaps for the wingers.


Backs

Both Heathcote and Barkley are there to clear our lines and put us down into opposition territory. This is where we will use our lineout force. However; Heathcote is an exciting runner and he will stand deep at times to create the space for our outside backs to hit the gaps.

Barkley will look for quick offloads to wingers or back row who will target the 9-10 channel to bring the ball back into our forwards. This should create overlaps and suck in the defence before quick ball out wide.

We have a very experienced back 3 who can all interchange if needs be. They will look to run as much ball as possible but not get isolated so we can keep to our gameplan.

After 30 minutes, if we are getting joy off 1^st phase ball we will continue to use it but; for the first 30minutes it will be the forwards ball unless something is on.

Barkley will take all kicks at goal he is confident in.


Defence

We will use a banana defence. People have picked up on our 10-12 defence so we will make sure we have one of our stronger pack members on their shoulders to assist in the tackle and look for quick turnover ball. Any turnovers will be punted off the pitch in the oppositions half unless a massive gap is obvious.

We will look to not commit too many at the breakdown so we can defend strongly from inside out and stop any gaps. If we see an available turnover we will take it but no silly penalties. Pressure will be put on their scrum half to use the ball quickly and put 10 under pressure.


Overall

Forward orientated play with experienced players. Backs to get us into good positions and only throw the ball about when it’s on, other than that our pack and strong pack bench will be controlling the game and rolling us towards the opposition’s tryline.

We are very fired up for this match and have a strong set of leaders in the squad who will look to get us the win and rattle the opposition. It’s time to make people take notice of the Warriors.


London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Sireli Naqalevuki
06. Keegan Daniel	13. Max Evans
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Matt Stevens 17. Motu Ma'tu 18. Grant Shiells 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sailosi Tagicakibau

London Irish have made two changes from last weeks impressive bonus point win over Bath, with hooker Tom Lindsay replacing James Buckland who drops out of the match day squad, and JP Pieterson coming in on the wing for Sailosi Tagicakibau. Youngster and Irish's top try scorer this season Marland Yarde keeps his place in the side and stnick believes on this form he is knocking on Stuart Lancasters door.

'Consistency is key, and we want to pick up where we left off last week. We played superbly and I want to see those levels of intensity for 80 minutes against a big, tough Warriors side. We have scored a lot of points this season and our pace is troubling teams. Marland has stood out for me in the backline, his workrate is superb and when he gets going he is not only a hard man to catch but a hard man to stop. If he keeps banging in the tries I'm sure he will feature for the Saxons and possibly even England before too long.'

Tactics

- Target the set piece, we will look to turn the screw at scrum time with two big scrummaging props. Any pens won will be kicked by Evans for goal if in range.
- Muller is our main go to guy at the lineout. He will also try to disrupt opposition ball. Spies, Garvey and Daniel are our other options to keep Worcester guessing. We will look for quick ball off the top to get the ball to Evans to release our quick backline.
- We are looking to attack and run all game long. Evans will manage from 10 and look to put our runners in gaps and get us in the right areas of the pitch. The forwards will make the hard yards and create as much space as possible to get the backs in.
- If for any reason our attacking play isnt working, we have Geraghty and Tagicakibau on the bench who can change the game and give us a different option in attack.
- With Armitage on such good form, we will look to target the breakdown and seek turnovers. We will look to get to the rucks fast, drive back any opposition and allow Armitage to go for the turnover. We will be careful about this though and not look to give away easy penalties.
- JP Pieterson will come off his wing and look to work off Naqa's shoulder. Naqa is very good at breaking through the first tackle and is a good offloader, so JP will look to track his runs and take any offloads.
- We will look to target Worcesters defence. The 10,12,13 channel is a new combo and we will look to get Naqa, Spies running at Barkley and Hopper and creating space.

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Wont ve able to predict pete had manic time after falcons last night. And had to rush to rugby

Bath 26-26 Sale

Tight pack battle, little form issues for one or two but good contest. Sale edge halfbacks but Bath better backs on show. Sale push close but Bath hold for draw.

Harlequins 27-23 Saracens

Sarries lack of game plan stops them push Quins too much. Good sides on show, Quins are top draw back 3 player from ensuring top 4 spot.

Welsh 21-20 Gloucester

Nothing in set pieces but prefer Gloucester front 5 which is bang in form (good call on McLaughlin with lineout Pete). Most other units really tight although Gloucester wings much stronger. Think Gloucester have little edge but not the 10 to see out tight game, Parra's boot to see out tight tight game.

Saints 9-11 Wasps

Think Wasps will edge set piece and little more in front 5. Backrows tight but more carrying options in Wasps pack see edge, think Saints have very few carrying options. Better quality in Wasps halfbacks, Simpson looked good at 9 but Giteau no form at 10. I like Saints backs and set up but Wasps set out perfectly and very hard to break down. Low scoring win for a resolute Wasps side.

Worcester 24-24 Irish

Another really tight game. Really like both packs, Irish shade backs and Evans form is great. Just see Worcester having the bench to see out draw.

Litterally typing other predo's now....just had to change flat tyre!!

Done!! Sorry last 2 weren't in detail!

Scorers

Bath Rugby 24 (T: North, Miller C: Skrela P: Skrela 4)
Sale Sharks 27 (T: Paice, Care, Abendanon C: Sexton 3 P: Sexton 2)

Harlequins 31 (T: Joseph Roberts 2, Vunipola C: Contepomi 4 P: Contepomi)
Saracens 21 (T: Visser, Thompstone C: Trinh-Duc P: Trinh-Duc 3)

Leicester Tigers 27 (T: Clerc, O'Brien, Nacewa C: Wilkinson 3 P: Wilkinson 2)
Newcastle Falcons 20 (T: O'Connor P: Flood 5)

London Welsh 26 (T:Hines, Farrell, Wade C: Parra P: Parra 3)
Gloucester 19 (T: Simpson-Daniel C: Lamb P: Lamb 4)

Northampton Saints 30 (T: Simpson, Taumalolo, Ashton 2 C: Halfpenny 2 P: Halfpenny 2)
London Wasps 23 (T: Varndell, Mafi C: Jones 2 P: Jones 3)

Worcester Warriors 26 (T: Gorgodze, Short, B.Morgan C: Barkley P: Barkley 3)
London Irish 24 (T: Naqalevuki, Lindsay C: Evans P: Evans 4)

Tigers looking strong, and first wins for me and prop. Will get the table done this eveing as I have it saved at home.

Game on Ozzy!!