Aviva Premiership Round Six (Rugby Championship)

First topic message reminder :

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Team Sheets and tactics due by Saturday (20:00)
Predictions due till Tuesday (23:00)

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Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins
Location - Sandy Park
-Sunny, 15 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Luke

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Sam Harrison
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Loius Deacon	11. Paul Sackey
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Steve Mafi	13. Richard Kahui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Matt Jess
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Ben Moon 17. Neil Clark 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. James Scaysbrook 21. James Lightfoot-Brown 22. Ignacio Mieres 23. Luke Arscott

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, Joubert, Mafi and Deacon all massive jumpers. 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, Mafi, Armitage, Horwill, Joubert 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 Harrison 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 Kahui, Sackey 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 penalties.

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Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Richard Wrigglesworth
02.John Smit	10.Morne Steyn
03.James Johnstone
04.Mauritz Botha	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Hudson Tonga'uhia
06.Tom Croft	13.Jared Payne
07.Chris Robshaw	14.Adam Ashley-Cooper
08.Dave Denton	15.Nick Abendonan

16.Joe Grey 17.Will Collier 18.Mark Lambert 19.Tom Denton 20.Hienrich Brussouw 21.Henry Taylor 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Ollie Lindsey-Hague


Tactics

Quins will look to play a high tempo , territory based game with Wrigglesworth and Steyn putting the ball into the right areas of the field. Solid platform up front to let us get on top at set piece securing our own ball and disrupting the opposition feed. When playing with the ball we will look to get over the gainline and offload to a support runner to punch holes into the opposition line

- Hargreaves and Croft to target Chiefs line out and look to pressure Horwill who has no real life form whilst Hargreaves has been great for Sarries.

- Steyn to drop high balls on Matt Jess with George North chasing to ensure it's a long afternoon for the Chief's winger.

- Aggressive and dynamic at the ruck aim to clear out instead of settling for parity at the ruck and take away the chance for turnover for the opposition.

- run off each other always look to give the option for the offload.

- Tonga'uhia to hit the ball flat and at pace to ensure he get's on the gainline or over and look to tie defenders in.

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Gloucester v Bath
Location - Kingsholm Stadium
-Sunny, 15 Degrees, 10mph Winds

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Gloucester

Manager – prop_lyd

01.Dan Murphy	09.Dimitri Yachvilli
02.Darren Dawiduk	10.Freddie Burns (k)
03.Adam Jones
04.Jim Hamilton	11.JSD
05.Alex Brown	12.Jamie Roberts
06.JVN (c)	13.Henry Trinder
07.Andy Hazell	14.Ian Clark
08.Luke Narraway	15.Jonny May

16.Korree Britton 17.Rupert Harden 18.Tom Heard 19.Akapusi Qera 20.Alasdair Strokosch 21.Dan Robson 22.Mike Tindall 23.Ryan Mills

Tactics

Massive game today and we are all fired up for the local derby in great running rugby conditions. We have made a couple of changes from the shambles at Welsh and also with the injuries recently suffered. Looking for forwards to hold their own ball and to release our dangerous backs. This is the game which decides how our season is going to go and how I feel about leading the Glos side.

*Front row to hold their own and be available in the breakdown to gain us the valuable metres. Good bench coming on with Harden strong at present.
*2nd rows will see Brown controlling our lineout and look to steal some of theirs, Hamilton'll look to wind up the opposition and legally fly into rucks.
*Backrow looking to cause issues at the breakdown with the old heads here all focused on slowing down Bath ball and giving us quick ball, JVN to offer himself with Hamilton as a runner.
*Qera and Narraway will look to bring some abrasiveness and big hits to the game.

*Exciting half back pairing with Yach looking to control the game and the pace of it, Burns to go for corners if nothing is on but to look to release our backs when possible.
*Centres will run straight and Roberts'll look for runners on each shoulder when he breaks through the first tackle. Trinder'll look to weave through and get on the end of Roberts' crashes, Tindall to bring the calm influence.
*Pacy back 3 who all like to run. JSD will control here with his weaving running and Clark and May's sheer pace will see them through the gaps the forwards and centres create, they will always look for work.
*Robson and Mills'll bring on more pace and youthfullness.

*Burns to kick anything in range.
*Defence to be a blitz with Yach sweeping and look to contest at the breakdown when it's on, defending inside out. Strong, exciting runners on show today who'll go looking for gaps and tries.

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. C.Healy	09. M.Classens (c)
02. R.Batty	10. O.Barkley (k)
03. A.Perenise
04. S.Hooper	11. K.Eastmond
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn (lk)
06. S.O'Brien	13. C.Laulala
07. C.Fearns	14. T.Biggs
08. S.Taylor	15. R.Chisholm

16. K.P-Newport 17. C.Tolufua 18. N.Catt 19. R.Caldwell 20. M.Lund 21. C.Cook 22. S.Donald 23. O.Woodburn

TACTICS TBC

General
- 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, look to mix up first receiver between Steyn and Barkley and then look for back row runners on inside shoulder
- Steyn 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.
- Steyn leads the rush defence, with SOB/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. Classens sweeps up behind for counter attacks

Forwards
* Fearns plays as an openside, looking to secure the breakdown
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline.
* At the lineout, Hooper will lead the calls and look to pressurise oppoistion hooker and compete at every throw. Taylor brought in as another jumping option at the base, for quick off the top ball.
* Use ball carriers of Perenise, Attwood, 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
* Barkley to take the ball flat on the gainline, drawing defenders and buying time and space for Steyn. Steyn often used as dummy runner to keep it unpredictable
* Use the inside pass with forward runners of SOB, Attwood, 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 and Healy to clear out and Fearns to secure.
* Eastmond to get free rein in attack, looking to pop up as second receiver. Can interchange with Banahan on the wing

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London Irish v Northampton Saints
Location - Madejski Stadium
-Sunny, 15 Degrees, 10mph Winds

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London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Max Lahiff	09. Joe Simpson
02. James Buckland	10. Brock James
03. Euan Murray
04. Bryn Evans	11. Tom Homer (k)
05. Tom Palmer	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Tom Guest	15. Delon Armitage

16. Rob Herring, 17. Paulica Ion, 18. Leo Halavatau, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Declan Danaher, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Regan King, 23. Alesana Tuilagi

Tactics
- Good win last week. We're bang up for this game against Northampton and will go for the win.

- Be solid at the set piece to create a decent platform to attack from. Quick ball to James if we're stable, Harinordoquy to pick and go if it's messy. Have confidence in our handling to avoid constant scrummaging.

- In the lineout, we'll dominate. So many options. Opt for full lineouts mostly in their half to tie in their pack, leaving more space out wide. Compete for their ball.

- Play in their half initially. Look for territory and target their back three. When the game opens up a bit, we'll go from anyway if it's on.

- 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.

- Big efforts in defence, particularly from Bowden and Rougerie. Pocock to work his socks off getting across and chopping them down before they get momentum.

- 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.

- 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 the Saints tired legs.

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Northampton Saints

Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Stephen Myler
03. Paul Doran-Jones
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. Danny Herriot 19. Christian Day 20. James Craig 21. Martin Roberts 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Jamie Elliot

Key Points

• Hit the lineout hard. Lawes, Manoa and Woods took apart Palmer (with Wentzel in assistance) last week in real life. With no out and out jumpers in the backrow to support him we will look to do the same in this game

• Plenty of real life form throughout the side. There are however question marks over a few of the Irish players particularly in the pack and we will look to gain the ascendary here.

Tactics

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 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 & Myler and force Irish to come at us from deep.

• 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 Irish territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Myler 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.

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Irish momentum before it can get going.

• Lee 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 ball.

• 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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Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers
Location - Salford City Stadium
-Sunny Intervals, 13 Degrees, 12mph Winds

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Sale Sharks

Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Andrew Sheridan	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Nick McLeod
03.Davit Kubriashvilli
04.Yoann Maestri	11.Will Addison
05.Matt Garvey	12.Jonathan Davies
06.James Gaskell	13.Jonathan Joseph
07.Schalk Burger	14.Charlie Amesbury
08.Richie Vernon	15.Rob Miller

Subs 16.Logovoi Mulipola 17.Nathan Charles 18.Henry Thomas 19.Frazer McKenzie 20.Andy Powell 21.Scott Mathie 22.Luther Burrell 23.Dave Seymour

Tactics
-Play a set piece orientated game. We have a strong scrum and lineout and we will use this too our advantage.

-McLeod and Thomas will look to get us in the right areas of the pitch.

Jonathan Davies will target Leicester's 10 and look to put them under pressure while they are defending.

-McLeod will take all points on offer.
-If any of our players are struggling we will replace them as soon as it is apparent. If not we will make subs at the normal times.

We will operate a blitz defence. This will limit their 10's time or mean he is playing very deep.

If will look to put their lineout underpressure by putting a jumper up at 2, as well as where we think the ball is going to cause their hookers to make mistakes.

Addidson and Amesbury will come off their wings and look for work from the offloads of our centres.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Toby Flood
03. Dan Cole
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. James O’Connor
06. Maurie Fa'asalavu	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton(c)	14. Matt Smith
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Rob Kearney

16. Jamie George 17. Martin Castrogiovani 18. Thomas Domingo 19. Ed Slater 20. Luke Wallace 21. Karl Dickson 22. Danny Cipriani 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. Launchbury, Parling and Parisse 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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Saracens v London Welsh
Location - Vicarage Road
-Sunny, 15 Degrees, 10mph Winds

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Saracens

Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Morgan Parra (k.)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Carlos Nieto
04. George Kruis	11. Sam Smith
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Anthony Allen
06. Kelly Brown (c.)	13. Vereniki Goneva
07. Will Fraser	14. Chris Wyles
08. Jackson Wray	15. Alex Goode

16. Jared Saunders 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Sekope Kepu 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Chris York 21. Jordan Burns 22. Jonathan Poff 23. Joel Tomkins

Tactics-
Sub cover- - Goode to 10, Wyles to 15, Goneva or Burns Wing. Bring on our pack subs to keep fresh and knowing this use the forwards a lot to grind early on. If we don't make much ground it doesn't matter, mauling and hard yards will tire their pack and the extra forward sub should give us an edge in the last 20. Burns and Tomkins are great running in a broken field so they can expose tired legs late on.
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The weather for this week is sunny so we will play running rugby. Have the back row hitting breakdowns as a unit- Fraser looking for the ball and the other 2 clearing the man. If ball is too slow, keep it tight in the hands of Wray, Vunipola, Kohn and Kepu. Sent Brits off the pop pass at Nev to shake him up a bit. Good ball will be spread out quickly, with Hodgson standing flat. We have some very exciting backs so get them the ball and let them improvise as this is what the likes of Goneva does best. Goode to be ready to come in as another first or second receiver. If he does this, switch play back inside - ie at second receiver pop inside to Brits or at first send it to the blind side winger so that the defence is wrong-footed. I want the back 3 running ball back off kicks.

In attack in the backs, Allen aim to break through with his lines and Goneva act as a third winger style OC in support. Try and keep the ball alive where possible. Both wingers join the line off their wing on the switch.

Lineouts- use the short lineout to the front lifter then pop inside when near the try line. On opposition ball don't try and spoil the lineout but be ready to immediately swamp the catcher or scrum half and look for a turnover that way. Mix up our options up as much as we can.

Scrum- Get a solid foundation here with our technical front row and use back row moves to test Chudley who is new to this team.

Breakdown- as above. Pick the rucks target for turnovers carefully

Defence- blitz lead by Allen. Fraser to charge Evans and pressurise him, with Brown making Chudley's life hell, forwards to guard rucks at the fringes tightly.

Kicking- We have plenty of kickers so if there is pressure on get more time by passing to the next one. Parra kick at goal. Ransom talented but inexperienced so Parra and Charlie test him with the up and under, well chased.

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London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Rhys Gill	09. Will Chudley
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans (k)
03. Craig Mitchell
04. Paul O'Connell (C)	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Dean Mumm	12. Brad Barritt
06. Tom Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Will Welch	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Nick Easter	15. Ben Ransom

16. Paul James 17. Dave Wilson 18. David Paice 19. Steve Borthwick 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Joel Hodgson 22. Dominic Waldlouck 23. Seb Stegman

Tactics

We look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition 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 opportunity. 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 and Evans, and they know what will be required to get we want from the game - a win. After last weeks god win, we will look to build some momentum for the season.

Tactics

• Gill and Mitchell are solid technicians and will secure our own feed, to provide first phase possession for our backs. Gill will look to put pressure on the Sharks feed. With James and Wilson to come on, our scrummaging should remain a threat throughout the game.
  
  
• POC will look to get a line out dominance over the Saracens jumpers. He will look to use himself at the front of the line, as well as Mumm, Johnson, Easter and Borthwick off the bench to maintain dominance in the area.
  
  
• Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. Collectively we will look to (legally!) slow down Saracen ball as much possible, only committing men to rucks if the turnover is on.
  
  
• The backrow will target the Saracens halfbacks, allowing them no time on the ball. The impetus and control will come through this unit, shutting them down quickly will lead to them rushing and making mistakes.
  
  
• Evans will look to have forward runners of his outside shoulder to puncture the Saracens defensive line and tie in numbers, so we can maintain numbers in our backline to exploit short missing defenders.
  
  
• We will target the relatively new partnership in the Saracens midfield.
  
  
• Chudley coming we will keep the game plan simple; he was a player under my management last season and will know the game plan from his time previously under my coaching. He will allow Evans to control the attack or to look for forwards standing in pods for slow ball.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game.
  
  
• Evans will kick all points, unless POC dictates we have a dominate set piece at the moment in time.

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London Wasps v Worcester Warriors
Location - Adams Park
-Sunny, 14 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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London Wasps

Manager – CF

01. Tim Payne	09. Danny Care
02. Dimitri Swarzeski	10. Shane Geraghty
03.Nicholas Mas
04.George Skivington	11.Tom Varndell
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Thierry Dusautoir	13. Jacque Fourie
07. Julien Salvi	14. Ugo Monye
08.Thomas Waldrom	15. Mark Cueto

16. Boris Stankovich 17. George Chuter 18. Ben Broster 19. James Cannon 20. Micky Young 21. Jimmy Gopperth 22. Joe Ansbro 23. Richard Haughton

Tactics

We are strengthened this week, in the pack with Swarzeski in the side and should be much stronger at the lineout with him in the side. We should be more than competitive at the line out and in the scrum..Early on we will look to get our forwards to carry the ball, while trying to get some quick ball going. if this doesn't work then the backs will get involved and we have some good ball carriers in our side...Geragthy will look to get some kicks in behind the defence to get the runners going after the ball. He will also look for some drop goals on occasions. We don't have a lot of strength in depth however Gopperth can come on for Fourie with Geraghty moving to centre. Chuter will come on after 70 mins for Swarzeski

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Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. George Porter	09. Will Genia
02. Stephen Moore	10. George Ford
03. Tevita Taumoepeau
04. Graham Kitchener	11. David Strettle
05. George Robson	12. Steven Shingler
06. James Haskell	13. Matt Hooper
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Luke Rooney

16. Ed Shervington 17. Louis Padian 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. Gerhard Mostert 20. Jake Abbott 21. Shaun Perry 22. Alex Grove 23. Eerie Claasens

Look to play a strong, basic game with a high work rate and lots of big carries.

Look to our lineout as a source of dominance. If we can establish some control here we will look to exploit this.

Our back row will be key today. We will be expecting big carries, strong work on the ground and big tackling.

Will Genia and George Ford will look to control the tempo of the game. Genia will be looking to make his sniping runs and look to get at the Wasps defence.

All our main players are rested. Morgan, Haskell, Hooper, Strettle, Kitchener, Taumoepeau all sat out last week. Other key players such as Kvesic, Ford and Moore have had rests at other points.

Look to get our back three and Hooper playing fast attacking rugby

Target Geraghty with some big tackles early to shake him up

Swarveski has been in training a week. Will he fit in the team and will the lineout be perfect yet. I don't think they will work well as a unit yet. Target this

Mas and all three back row members have played every game this season, will they feel the effects?

Flux, might be worth looking at lol..

Not supposed to comment on predo's anyway CF, just let them finish up. Any major issues can be took up with the other managers on their page

just pointing it out, because Farrell and Geraghty are two different players, therefore reasoning could be off...

but fine.

Yea no dramas mate

My fault. Simple error mate. Where you have played Farrell recently I was blinkered. And where i have to put your team into the right format i forgot to check when it came to finalising my predos. Look at the time of the post as well I had been up all night at work.

Exeter Chiefs 20-16 Harlequins

More meat in the 2nd row to assist but I still see Chiefs struggling a little at the scrum against a very good Quins unit. Neither side will get a real edge at the lineout. Good form for Chiefs at 7 & 8 and they will get at the breakdown a bit but Quins with a little more quality overall across the backrow and will link play better. More ball carriers in the Chiefs pack. At halfback Harrison is marked down a little being rushed into the side. Not a lot of form for Quins but they suit the kicking game plan. Wilko in sparkling form will get Chiefs moving. Back threes go to Quins with some great quality but they won’t see a lot of ball while Chiefs will be rock solid defensively. Midfield goes to Chiefs with a little more quality in both shirts. Think wet conditions and this game was Quins for the taking but in the dry Chiefs have enough about them to hold of the kicking bombardment and score a few tries.

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Gloucester 18-17 Bath

See Glaws getting an edge at scrum time. Glaws LH/Bath TH side of the scrum will be a bit of mess but see Jones and Dawdiuk ganging up on Healy on the other side. Neither side will dominate the lineout. Decent battle at the breakdown but see Bath getting an edge here with a bit more physicality through the pack. Halfbacks edge to Glaws. See them bringing their backs into play better. Great little battle in the backline with plenty of quality. See Laulala getting some joy in the 13 channel but tight everywhere else. Good game this one. Don’t think there is anything between the sides the only difference being home advantage. At the Rec Bath would have taken this one.

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Sale 20-26 Leicester

Cracking battle at scrum time which I see Sale edging with a very meaty 2nd row on show. Tigers will poach a few balls at the lineout though with a lot of pressure on Gaskell. Form issues over 1 or 2 in this back row battle but Tigers have more quality overall and get an edge at the breakdown for me. Through the backs midfield is tight but Tigers have that bit more quality and form at the moment. Tigers halfbacks is what seals the win here. See them directing the tempo in this one.

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Saracens 21-24 London Welsh

Good battle at the set piece here. Can’t see either side particularly getting on top. Same story in the backrow although Easter will get Welsh over the gain line a bit more. At halfback Chudley being rushed in is marked down. Settled combo for Sarries will see a smoother attack today. Little edge in midfield to Welsh with a quality unit but Sarries have a little more out wide. Mark down for Sarries is a lot of disruption with the introduction of subs and no SH cover while Welsh can really get at the scrum late on. Tight game here. Feel the game is won in the final quarter by the benches.

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Wasps 19-24 Worcester

Name wise Wasps would shade the pack but some good form for Worcester and fatigue taking its toll means Wasps will struggle a little. Halfbacks edge to Worcester. Not sure on Geraghty at 10. Midfield edges to Wasps feel Worcester are weak defensively here but the back three battle is fairly tight. Feel Worcester have targeted this game and will put a big effort in against a some what jaded Wasps side.

no worries fluxy, some over-reaction there on my part.

Exeter 18 - 21 Quins

Gloucester 23 - 22 Bath

Sale 17 - 18 Leicester

Saracens 15 - 11 Welsh

Wasps 26 - 22 Worcester

CF wrote:yet again appears im gonna lose!

You were winning at that point

NB I've updated my predos

I'ma pm you

Gloucester 23 - 24 Bath

Irish 27 - 27 Saints

Sale 29 - 32 Leicester

Saracens 22 - 20 Welsh

Wasps 26 - 24 Worcester


Sorry for no explanations. Games this week the tightest yet.

Exeter 21-19 Quins
Quins have a better front row but love the Exeter second row combo, if only Deacon had form. Also like the Quins back row. Half backs are close, form of Wilkinson might edge it to Exeter. Exeter have better centres but like the Quins back three. At home, Exeter edge it.

Gloucester 28-23 Bath
Prefer the Gloucester front row. Seconds row both pretty even, back row to Glaws. Think the Gloucester half backs will dominate here. Not much throughout the rest of the backs.

Irish 21-23 Saints
Overall Saints have the stronger front five and a better backrow due to Kaino. Prefer the Irish half backs. Strong sets of backs maybe a slight edge to the Saints.

Sale 24-28 Tigers
Not much in the front rows, hard to give it to either side to be honest, maybe Sale. Second row goes to Sale but the back row to Tigers. Tigers defo have better half backs and back three. Centres is close. With the subs and dominance of the backs, Tigers just win.

Sarries 18-20 Welsh
Prefer the Sarries front row but like the Welsh second row. Back rows slightly edge to Welsh. Evans factor is big for Welsh but Parra + Hodgson is possibly a better combination. Centres slightly to Welsh but back three to Sarries. Better bench for Welsh sees them edge it.

Results:

Exeter Chiefs 25-23 Harlequins
Gloucester Rugby 25-21 Bath Rugby
London Irish 23-25 Northampton Saints
Sale Sharks 20-29 Leicester Tigers
Saracens 19-21 London Welsh
London Wasps 22-21 Worcester Warriors

Bonus:

Full: Fluxy, Pooly, Prop, CJ, SJE, CJB
Half: Pull, Luke, CF, Bathite

Some very tight games there. Delighted to take that win myself when I saw the conditions thought Pull had me this week

Uh, going to be hard to climb out of this hole

my first win

Dayum, I'm on a role...

Guess the Glos players don't want me to resign then!

Tough game this week , glad to take a LBP away from Sandy Park.

Our game was really swinging back and forth mate.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Karl Dickson
02. Tom Youngs	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Ed Slater	12. Berrick Barnes(c)
06. Maurie Fa'asalavu	13. Matt Smith
07. Luke Wallace	14. Niall Morris
08. Jaqcue Cronje	15. Danny Cipriani

16. Jamie George 17. Aaron Jarvis 18. Thomas Domingo 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Jones 21. Ben Youngs 22. James O’Connor 23. Jordan Turner-Hall

Need to add these bonuses.

SJE...be lost without him