Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Nine

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Bath Rugby vs. Harlequins
Sunny, 9 degrees, 6mph winds

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Carl Rimmer
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Aurelien Rougerie
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13. David Marty
07. David Pocock	14. Napolioni Nalaga
08. Tom Guest	15. Rob Miller

16. Oliver Tomascyzk 17. Chris Brooker 18. Kane Palma Newport 19. Louis Deacon 20. David Seymour 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. David Skrela 23. Isiah Toeava


Overall: Look to play the conditions throughout with Hodgson running the tempo. Use big runners/carries and go through the phases. Keep things simple in our own half and increase the pressure in opposition half.

Scrum: We will look to be competitive at scrum time with Lobbe controlling it from the back. Lobbe will control the scrum from number eight. Apply pressure and look to get nudge on throughout. Look to play the ref and if not going our way use as a restart.

Lineout: Our second row partnership is where we really feel we can have advantage. With Kitchener and Hoeata backed up by Shields we can really get at the opposition throw. If we see any weakness we will look to slightly alter the game plan, looking for corners in order to put more pressure on the throw.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Guest, Mealamu and Shields 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.

Breakdown: Look to clear hard and fast with Pocock and Shields looking to make a real nuisance of themselves and get their hands on the ball

Backs: We will be looking to use the backs in order to create or go through holes. Smith and Hodgson will look to really get the backs going with a good tempo. Smith will attack fringes and try to keep the defence guessing. Look to get our big runners involved as early as possible with Rougerie, Marty and Nalaga seeing lots of the ball. If conditions improve look to use Hodgson to play running rugby. Miller is also a good runner who will look to use his boot occasionally to pen the Quins defenders back and give us some territory with Lobbe leading the chase.

Defence: Use a blitz defence in order to put pressure on Quins’s key decision makers and prevent them from playing. Richard Wigglesworth to sweep in behind.

Substitutes: Our subs will come on and look to keep a high tempo. Brooker, Tomascyzk and Palmer-Newport will look to come in and help the scrum. Deacon will look to add grit late on whilst Seymour will look to add to breakdown late on. Du Preez has a lot of experience and will look to use it late on to control the tempo. Skrela and Toeava are two great options with experience to have on the bench. If Cooper comes on late we will look to target him with big carries.


Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ben Franks	09. Lee Dickson
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Carl Fearns	13. Anthony Faainga
07. Jamie Gibson	14. Luke Morahan
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Joe Marler 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Jerome Thion 20. Will Welch 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Andre Taylor

Tactics

Use our pack to control the game. We have a pack full of experience and strong carriers and we are aiming to use this to hurt Bath and punch holes before spreading the ball wide to our backs. Use Dickson to control the tempo and direction of our game with Burns deciding when the ball is quick enough to unleash the backs. We will look to use our carriers of 9 and 10 with both Dickson and Burns threatening the gain line and drawing defenders before putting a carrier into space. A little offload before contact or afetr contact will be looked for to keep our attacking momentum.

We will look for our carriers to run at pace and in numbers so they have support to offload to or so we have numbers to ruck quickly and generate quick ball. Our carriers will to look to win the collisions and will keep driving the legs in contact to give us go forward.

We will look to use the quick ball to test Bath's defence wherever it is weakest whether this be around the breakdown, out wide, through the midfield or behind the line with a chip and chase, This is why we have two game managers at 10 and 12 so they can look to see where is best to attack. Kearney and the blindside winger will come looking for the ball in attack to provide us with extra attacking options.

At the set piece we intend to dominate the scrum with a powerful front 5. We also expect to be in control at the lineout with 5 excellent jumpers elad by Steve Borthwick. When we get the chance we might shorten the line so we have Easter and Fearns in the midfield as carrying options.

In defence we will be captained by Fearns and Faainga and we will be looking to have a quick linespeed and to double up in the tackle when we can. In Fearns and Gibson we have two good men to disrupt at the breakdown and we will be looking for the rest of our pack to try and legally slow down the Bath ball.

Off the bench we have men in Dickson, Cooper and Taylor who can come on and change the game if it needs to be changed. We also have strong forwards to come onto continue what we hope to be a game which we can dominate upfront.

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Gloucester vs. Sale Sharks
Sunny, 10 degrees, 8mph winds.

GLOUCESTER RFC

01. Nick Wood 09. Will Genia
02.Joe Grey 10.Johan Goosen
03. Rupert Harden
04. Julien Pierre 11. Hosea Gear
05. George Robson 12. Stephen Donald
06. Steven Ferris 13. Richard Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry 14. JSD
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy 15. Johnny May


16. Tim Payne 17. Deon Fourie 18.Coonie Ousthuizen 19. James Percival 20. Andy Saull 21. Dan Robson 22. Rob Horne 23. Charlie Sharples[/quote]

In perfect conditions for rugby Glaws welcome Sale to fortress Kingsholm

We have picked a side for the conditions and will be looking to score tries with an open brand of rugby

- Target Scrums- We have a strong front row unit backed with internationals all over the pack. We also have a great front row bench to bring on meaning they can go all out for the time they are on.
- Target Lineout- As ever we see this as a huge area of strength. Lineout is vital for securing your own possession and launching attacks but it is also vital for stiflling the opposition. With Hari, Lapandry, Pierre, Ferris and Robson we have the ability to dismantle the Sale lineout.
We will be looking to drive ball early on and then move to more off the top after we have won the right to attack wide.
- Use our ball carriers. We have a team packed with them and will use them to punch holes and get on the front foot to either offload or get quick ball going. .... We see sale as lacking ball carriers throughout there backrow which will make defending either

Target 9,10 channel- Barrett a known weakness in defence and spencer way short at this level. Glos will focus here and look to turn the screw
- breakdown we will target this area and look to turn over ball by getting numbers in to ruin or steal sale ball.
- Mobility- We have a team blessed with mobility all over the pack and will look to utilise this to run the legs of sale and take them to positions they do not want to b e in.
The aim of the game is to create quick ball for Genia so he can dictate the game and get the backs running the ball in for scores.


We have a backline of pure balance of pace and power. we have the ability to punch holes and also the ability to play wide and fast.
- We will aim to raise the tempo in the second half with quick throw ins and countering loose kicks.

We are targetting the bonus point for tries and will be playing open. bench has impact so will be used as necessary.

All kicks at goal in range will be attempted by Goosen with Donald as back up


Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Ben Spencer
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Andries Bekker	12. Francois Steyn
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuan
07. Matt Todd	14. David Strettle
08. Matt Kvesic	15. Nick Abendanon

16. V. Kakovin 17. D. Dawdiuk 18. N. Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Alex Tulou 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Tommy Bell 23. Will Addison

Key Points

• Target the breakdown massively. All three of our backrow are capable of turning over ball and we will look to make a mess of Gloucester ball.

• Real life form stacked through the side at the moment. We may not have the illustrious names of the Gloucester side but all of our lads have had a good year for club or country. Question marks over form for a number of the Glaws side.

• Target the 10-12 axis. Defensive question marks over the Glaws unit positionally and we will look to send Steyn & Freuan down their channel with Eastmond and Abendanon looking for the offload.

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 Spencer, Barrett and Steyn and force Gloucester 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 Gloucester territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Barrett 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 Glaws momentum before it can get going.

• Spencer 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 all 3of the backrow 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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London Irish vs. Newcastle Falcons
Sunny, 10 degrees, 5mph winds

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean-Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Keegan Daniel	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Marland Yarde
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Matt Stevens 17. James Buckland 18. Brok Harris 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Will Fraser 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

Tactics

- Play the game in the right areas. Evans and Mac to dictate this. We can still attack and will still run the ball but also we want to dominate territory. Our 10,12 are on good form and can control the game for us.

- Armitage will look to dominate the breakdown, win us penalties and secure quick ball. With Evans and Mac in attack we have great playmakers who can put people like Bast, Tagi, Yarde and Delon in space. Tagi will come off his wing and look for gaps to be put through.

- Evans to kick all pens for goal, if out of range go for touch. Muller is our main lineout jumper but Garvey and Daniel will also be used to keep Falcons guessing. We will look for quick ball off the top and use Bast as a decoy runner as well as ball carrier to get over the gainline.

- We will target the scrum with two big powerful scrummaging props on our side. We will look to win as many pens as poss to kick points from.

- We have a lot of form players, in key positions like 7, 9, 10, 12. With Steffon at 7 we have the form 7 in the NH and will look to boss the breakdown and control the game at home.


Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. James O’Connor
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Ed Slater	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Colin Slade
08. Jackson Wray	15. Jared Payne

16. Lee Mears 17. Scott Wilson 18. Soane Tonga'uiha 19. Will Carrick Smith 20. Juan Smith 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Ben Williams 23. Henry Slade

Tactics:

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

Defence – We’ll be deploying the rush defence looking to narrow the options for the oposition. Brussow will look to put pressure on Evans throughout and force him to rush his game.

Set piece – Wet conditions usually means plenty of knock on which means plenty of scrums. We’ve went for a hefty scrummaging unit to really tear into Irish from the off. PDJ & Barcella will look to get secure a good platform and attack if a weakness seen. (Anyone who see Barcella at weekend will know he has his scrum mojo back!)

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

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

Backs – Massive backline to help get us over the game line and punch holes in the opposition defence (SBW & Benjamin particular) SBW will look for flat straight simple passes from the halfbacks and get between the Worcester 10/12 combo.

Slade will give us another strong kicking option the backline to keep Irish pinned back and target lineout if weakness seen.

KEY POINTS:

- Great Form
- Attack the scrum, look for Best/Barcella to isolate WP Nel and put pressure on
- Target Lindsay throwing with POC/Slater strong ops, if weakness seen look to hit corners
- Big carriers and look to get SBW running hard and straight off JOC

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Northampton Saints vs. London Welsh
Sunny, 8 degrees, 8mph winds.

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01.Loti Mulipola	09.Joe Simpson
02.Dylan Hartley(c)	10.Danny Cipriani
03.Carl Hayman
04.Courtney Lawes	11.Siti Siviatu
05.Patricio Albacete	12.Matt Giteau
06.Calum Clark	13.Matthew Tait
07.Julian Bonnaire	14.Christian Wade
08.Ashley Johnson	15.Ben Foden

16.Rob Webber 17. Sebastien Taofifenua 18. Henry Thomas 19. Dan Lydiate 20. Alun Wyn Jones 21. Julian Salvi 22. Sam Harrison 23. George Ford

Tactics:
We will look to play a forward dominated game, controlling the tempo and possession by working through the phases and providing good attacking positions for our backline to strike with Cipriani and Giteau pulling the strings. We will look to place London Welsh under pressure with an aggressive defence, force mistakes and attack the breakdown in numbers and really attack this area with Lawes, Albacete, Ashley Johnson and Clark.

We have chosen a 6-2 split on the bench, so that we can bring on the likes of Wyn-Jones, Salvi and Lydiate in the second half and place additional pressure on the visitors.

Pack/SetPiece/Breakdown

- Very strong pack and will look to make the game very physical and forward orientated, going through the phases and sucking in London Welsh defenders, before we decide to go wide to our backline.

- Will target the linoeut as an area to secure quick ball with Bonnaire and Clark both good leaders of this - with Lawes and Albacete involved this is a key area for Saints and we will look for Cipriani and Giteau to put us deep into Welsh territory so we can attack their lineout.

- All international front five and will again look for the scrum as an area to target and secure good attacking ball, with either AJ or Simpson starting attacks and we will aim to place the Welsh scrum under pressure here too.

- big emphasis this week on the breakdown, we will look to attack this area in numbers and force turnovers and dominate - have picked a fast, dynamic pack, which has a lot of power to clear out any players around the fringes (Lawes, AJ, Clark etc).

Attack -

- We are confident our pack can secure more ball than the Welsh team and allow the Saints backline to continue their good try scoring record of late - with Wade, Siviatu and Foden we have some great finishers in the backline and two very creative players in the 10-12 shirts to pick out runs.

- Will get Simpson running with the ball from the base of the scrum, using his pace to get us on the front foot and then spreading the ball wide.

- Foden and Siviatu to put in big shifts as our main backs to get us over the gainline, but we will be using Ashley Johnson through the midfield running off Giteau to cause the Welsh midfield issues.

- Giteau to take all points on offer and keep the scoreboard ticking.


Defence -

- aggressive defence that is led by Lawes in the forwards and we will look to put in a huge defensive effort in the first 20mins to prevent Welsh building any form of momentum.

- will use the kicking game of Cipriani and Giteau to clear our lines, find touch and then place Welsh lineout under pressure.


Key points -

- Really good try scoring form in the league and recent weeks, will look to continue this with the forwards securing a lot of ball for us to attack with.

- Strong set pieces and will use this to set a platform to win the game from.

- Keep hold of the ball through the forwards, look to bring on Wyn-Jones, Lydiate and Salvi in the second half and really target the breakdown area.

- Rested key players in the pack last weekend so Hartley, Hayman, Lawes and Bonnaire all fresh.

- Very good options at 10/12 to mix up the game and cause Welsh defensive problems.


London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Tomas O’Leary
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Butch James
03. Adam Jones
04. Dean Schofield ©	11. Bryan Habana
05. George Skvington	12. Gavin Henson
06. Tom Johnson	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Matt Jess
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Louis Ludik

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Steven Kitschoff 18. Frans Malherbe 19. James Hanks 20. Luke Wallace 21. Charlie Davies 22. Andrew Trimble 23. Tom Homer

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisions 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 Saints 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 Saints make.

Attacking specifics

• Butch James to play what he sees, but in essence we want to control possession and go through the phases.
  
• Target weak links in Saints defence with big ball carriers and look to stay up when taking contact and get a good leg drive on over the gainline with our pack coming in behind.
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• Go through the phases. Maintaining possession and gainline collisions are the two key areas for us this week and where we are focusing in this game.
  

Defensive specifics

• 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. O’Leary will sweep in behind.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, counter rucking and hitting on the break. If it is not on to win the ball, we will send in a couple of players to legally slow it, and get our defensive line set quickly and strongly a la France in the World Cup. We want to control the gainline in defence and attack.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  

Key Points

• Good form, beating Falcons and getting a losing bonus point at Gloucester, but not the sort of form that breeds complacency. We are in a good place, knowing that we can win, but we have to play well to do so.
  
• Settled players in key positions (2, 8, 9,10). We have good continuity in key jerseys, where we have made minimal changes. All are experienced internationals and know how to control a game.
  
• Our focus is on controlling possession and dominating the collisions. Saints have lots of attacking potential in their side but we feel there are defensive weaknesses in their backline and if we can control the ball and dominate possession then we will have a chance of exposing those weaknesses.
  
• 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.
  
• We may not have as many ‘stars’ in the side as some teams, but our players complement each other and work as a unit, and you need some solid citizens in sides to do the grunt work, and we have that in abundance. Not flash, just effective.
  

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London Wasps vs. Leicester Tigers
Sunny, 8 degrees, 5mph winds

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. CJ Van Der Linde	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Huia Edmonds	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Samu Manoa	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Dan Bowden
06. Dewald Potgieter	13. Dan Hipkiss
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. Shaun Knight 19. Dan Tuohy 20. 21. Jonah Holmes 22. 23. Tom Varndell

Tactics
We will look to our forwards to carry hard, attacking gaps in the Tigers defensive line, getting us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We will ensure our carriers have plenty of support, so we can continue our attacks. We will look to attack space and suck in Tigers defenders with some powerful carrying from the likes of Manoa and Vunipola.

We will look to recycle the ball by getting good numbers to the breakdown, with the first few players rucking past the ball to clear out the Tigers players, allowing Thomas to get quick, clean ball for us to attack the space on offer. We will look to ruck aggressively and really look to take the physical battle to Tigers. We will look to create mismatches in midfield and will target the outside shoulder of the Tigers players.

Line speed and aggression is key for us in defence, we will try and prevent Tigers 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.

Myler will look to kick in behind the Tigers wingers and put us deep into their territory where we will look to really pressurize them and look to force them into errors at the set piece and in open play. Thomas will look to snipe around the fringes and get our forwards coming onto the ball and making good yards each time they carry.

Wentzel will be our main go to man at the lineout, we will also look to use Mafi at the tail where we can launch attacks from. With the ball in hand, we will look to punch holes in the Tigers defensive line with our forwards and get the ball to our back three. Bowden will look to act as a second playmaker with Pisi running good outside lines, we will attack gaps and half gaps in the Tigers defensive line. We willl look to Banahan to come in off his wing to give us a crash ball option.

At the scrum, on our own ball, we will look to turn the scrum legally to erase the Tigers 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 Thomas and Myler controlling our play.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Alistair Hargreaves	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Dom Shipperley
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Jared Saunders 17. Jimmy Stevens 18. Jonny Harris 19. Simon Shaw 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Michael Claasens 22. Brock James 23. Rene Ranger

Tactics:

In wet conditions we will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game, the power of our side and the strength in our set piece.

- No overly ambitious passing - In wet conditions we will either look to kick to gain territory or look to keep ball in hand and take it through the middle.

- Attack the scrums consistently - Bruno, Sheridan and Mujati as a unit, with Horwill and Hargreaves' power behind, to look to really get the shove on.

- Attack at all lineouts. Our lineout is led by Horwill; with Joubert, Hargreaves and SOB as our other jumping options.
Some great lineout stealers in our ranks who will pressure every one of Edmonds' throws.

- Gigantic side made up of massive line-breakers, used to tire down the Wasps defence. The likes of SOB, Joubert, Hargreaves, Horwill and Mujati in the forwards, and Monye, Twelvetrees and Shipperley in the backs - all to be used to crash through the Wasps defence.

- Huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Scaysbrook, and the likes of SOB and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could 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 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. Yachvili to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

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

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Weather Conditions
In the rain, our side is at its best. Controlling, tactical HB's, and a massive pack full of carriers. Play to our strengths, and play to the weather, and force Wasps into mistakes for Wilko to take the points.

Form and Momentum
7 wins out of 8 in the league, having already beat Sale, Saracens and London Welsh away from home - we are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence. In stark contrast - Wasps have just 2 of their league games so far this season.

Control at 8, 9, 10
With the have huge amounts of experience we have in these key roles, 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.

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Worcester Warriors vs. Saracens
Sunny, 9 degrees, 8mph winds

Worcester Warriors

01.Beast	09. Kerr Barlow
02.Gary Botha	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03.BJ Botha
04.Jim Hamilton (c)	11. Sean Maitland
05.Leo Cullen	12. Pat McCabe
06.Kearnen Myall	13.Matt Hopper
07. Chris Walker	14.Julien Malzieu
08. Tom Savage	15.Rob Cook

16.Korree Britton 17. Nathan Catt 18. Chris Budgen 19. Ollie Kohn 20. Jerome Kaino 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Olly Barkley 23. James Short

Tactics

This is a massive game and we are looking to get quick ball to our backs who are practically at full strength and have had the rest period's required. We have picked a big front 5 who will look to gain control at the set piece and a backrow who are breakdown specialist's and will look for turnover or slowing down ball.

Forwards
*Front row to concentrate on the scrum and get the upper hand from the hit. We will look to give Savage as much time as possible at the back and the front row are heavy ball carriers who will look to intimidate at the ruck.
*2nd row-lineouts is key today and we have 2 good jumpers who will look for quick ball and to disrupt their ball. Hamilton will look to get under their skin and Cullen will use his experience to ensure we don't go backwards at scrum time,
*Back-row are young players who are full of energy and will want to run all day. They will look for quick ball for us and to slow down/turnover their ball. Savage will offer himself off 12-13 to get over the gain line,
*We have experience and impact on the bench and Kaino will be given 20 minutes to run at tired legs. Budgie will look to maintain our scrum advantage with the youngsters and Kohn will bring another carrying option.

Backs
*Quick ball from Kerr-Barlow and Steyn will play what's in front of him, if it's on he'll give it but if not he'll pin Sarries back deep into touch and we will challenge their lineouts. Steyn will go for goal when the opportunities are there,
*Strong centres with McCabe looking for the offload to a forward runner or to Hopper who will look to get across the gainline before releasing the strong running back 3,
*On the wings we have players of international quality who are proven scorers, Malzieu will bring power and Maitland will bring pace, both will look to come off their wing's for work. Cook has been hitting the line well in real life and will do the same, he will also look to clear our line's if any pressure is put from deep kicks,
*We have further pace on the bench with Short and Barkley can fill in and play a kicking game if the clock needs to be wound down, Peel will look to add experience and look to snipe as will Kerr-Barlow.

Defence
*Banana-blitz defence with McCabe leading this and Kerr-Barlow sweeping,
*If we get turnover ball by committing 2 players at the ruck then we will go for it and play with our heads up,
*Defence inside-out making sure that the pillar's are protected.

Overall
*Look to control the set piece,
*Put pressure by kicking deep and if it's on, use our strong backs to break the line and offload when it's on,
*This is a massive game and we know we have to win this and have picked a strong set of players to do so with a useful impact bench.


Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullan	09.Jean Doussain(k)
02.John Smit	10.Iain Humphreys
03.Ben Tamifuna
04.Bryn Evans	11.Mark Cueto
05.Lionel Nallet	12.Gael Fickou
06.Phil Dowson	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Elliot Daly
08.Joe Van Nikerk (c)	15.Rory Lamont

16.George Chuter 17.Max Lahiff 18.Hoani Tui 19.Tim Swinson 20.Luke Narraway 21.Will Chudley 22.Paddy Jackson 23.Chris Bell


Saracens go into this game motivated and confident after finding there feet with 2 wins out of there last 3 games against London Wasps and Leicester Tigers.

Saracens will look to use the set piece as a platform to play from and know we have the solid lineout and scrum to secure our own clean ball. Smit will look to mix his throw up with Evans , Nallet , Dowson and JVN offering themselves as targets.

JMD and Ihump to play the game what is infront of them and mix there attack up with JMD attacking the fringes and hitting Ihump to spead the ball with big runners in our back line with Fickou taking the ball to the line to attract defenders creating the space.

We will look to use the choke tackle with Nallet , Evans and JVN looking to wrap there man whilst Rennie will target the breakdown.

JVN to clean up any ball at scrum and hit the ball up at Steyn.

KEY POINTS

TARGET THE INEXPERIENCE IN THE WUSS BACK ROW - Walker will make mistakes today , he's starting in a titanic fixture and could be feeling the pressure.

SHORTEN THE LINEOUT AND ALLOW JVN , RENNIE AND NALLET TO CARRY OFF IHUMP

HUMP THE HIGHBALL ON COOK WITH A STRONG CHASE FROM OUT BACK THREE AND RENNIE

TARGET HOPPER WITH A BIG BALL CARRIER AT 13 WITH TRINDER HOLDING HIS RUN TO HIT THE LINE AT MAC 9.

SHIFT TURNOVER BALL AND ATTACK THE DOG LEG

BLITZ DEFENCE WITH JMD SWEEPING AND THE BLINDSIDE WING DROPPING TO COVER ANY KICKS

JMD/Daley to build a lead with long range kicks.

Steyn is a top player. They are lucky to have 2 world class 12s. We don't even have 1 half decent one.

You lose a lot of carriers when the AI's are on prop

Didn't realise Mafi and Pisi couldn't play.

I know Matt, didn't expect to lose Higginbotham or Gorgodze!!

Steven_Sharks wrote:I'm not sure if this is allowed, but I think I must have looked at Arry's named team rather than the side which was altered by Pete in the original post and this chances my predictions and the result.

What is the case with me changing this or does my original stand?

I would rather have what you genuinely think the result is with the team that is playing, otherwise it is unfair on Tigers, so happy for you to amend your prediction.

Still in the office at the moment guys - will try and do predos tomorrow but am playing rugby (or attempting to) so may not get on until quite late if my body doesnt hold up.

Bath Rugby 16-21 Harlequins

Quins front 5 to get an edge at the scrum and see the Harlequins pack getting through more work around the park both at the ruck and carrying wise. This gives Quins the platform for the away win with nothing much between the backs overall.


London Irish 26-21 Newcastle Falcons

Falcons will get an edge at the scrum but Irish have an extra bit of quality in the backrow. As a unit Irish are stronger at halfback while theres not an awful lot between the midfield. Back three shades to Irish slightly with Slade not holding much rating on the wing. Not a lot between the sides but home advantage and bit more control from the halfbacks see Irish through

Gloucester 27-24 Sale
Not much to call between the two front rows, second row from Sale is better for me. Back row edge to Gloucester. Not much overall in Forwards, slightly overall to Sale. Amazing half back combination from Gloucester. Prefer the centres from Sale but back three to Gloucester with a dangerous combo. Better set of subs from Sale but not sure whether the difference in half backs can be overcome.

Irish 22–20 Falcons
Falcons have been lucky in the front row with not many call ups and take the edge. Also have the edge in the second row but the Irish back row is stronger. Think Irish have the better half backs, with Evans a different quality to Evans tbh. Back five maybe slight edge to Newcastle, not sure about Slade at 14 though.

Saints 28–26 Welsh
Prefer the Saints front five overall. Really strong back row from Welsh though, forwards hard to call. Half backs to Welsh but back five go to Saints with a really strong back three. Such a great bench at home is too hard to overcome.

Wasps 20–21 Tigers
Not much in the front fives, probably a slight edge to Wasps but the back row goes to Tigers. Very strong set of backs from Tigers, especially 9-13. For me these are enough to grab a win away.

Warriors 23–21 Sarries
Warriors take the front row with an even second row battle. Sarries get a big win in the back row. Love the Warriors half back combo and see an edge to them over the rest of the backs. Good set of subs consolidate win to Worcester.

Bath Rugby 15 Harlequins 19
Gloucester 25 Sale Sharks 26
London Irish 21 Newcastle Falcons 21
Northampton Saints 25 London Welsh 25
London Wasps 20 Leicester Tigers 22

Northampton Saints 19-21 London Welsh

Little edge to Welsh at the scrum but both line outs should hold their own ball with decent options. Just a bit more to the Welsh flankers gives them the edge in the back row. Not much between the halfbacks at the moment but there’s a bit more in midfield for Welsh. Nothing between the back 3s overall. Feel Welsh will get enough of the pack battle to sneak a massive away win with Saints looking to get into a forwards battle this week.


London Wasps 12-17 Leicester Tigers

Injuries have been kind to Tigers in the pack for the AI’s and they should get more of the scrum and breakdown battle. Bit more quality throughout the backline for Tigers as well. Tigers take the win but tighter then it could have been if Tigers had played to the right conditions.


Worcester Warriors 21-21 Saracens

See the Worcester front 5 winning the set piece battle but Sarries much stronger in the back row. Halfbacks are tight but edge to Sarries as Steyn isn’t overly suited to the Worcester game plan. Good centre battle but Worcester just shade at the moment and they are a bit more dangerous on the wings as well. Bit of a cope out on this game going for the draw but find it hard to call it either way.

Bath 26-23 Quins

Quins edge set piece but not loads in it. Good mobile front rows for both and great carrying engine room for Bath.Bath back 5 have more around the park and step up in quality in the backrow.

Little edge in halfbacks, centres and back 3 for Bath along with home advantage gives them win.

Gloucester 19-19 Bath

Gloucester front 5 steady but Sale have a little more quality and will get nudge on in both set pieces. Hari hard to rate but Gloucester have edge in backrow with Sale a little unbalanced and lightweight.

Genia a step up at 9 despite lacking form but Barrett the better 10. Gloucester midfield a little unbalanced with Kahui lacking form and Donald no 12. Sale could get some joy here with a great pairing. Gear lifts the back 3's but Sale edge 14 & FB in a great contest. Good game Sale have enough in locker to snatch a draw, would win if stronger backrow.

Northampton 22-22 Welsh

See Welsh gettng a big scrum advantage with a solid set piece and Hartley an issue against a good scrummager with his popping up. Saints engine room a class above though and will get edge in lineout with good options. Not much in backrows with good units.

Little bit flakey for Saints 9-13 and could be a real issue with Welsh's hard runners and complete opposite in terms of flair. Saints edge back 3's with better unit. Another tight one I can't seperate, if wet Welsh would win but Saints will run in tries.

Wasps 21-22 Tigers

Tigers will get push on in scrum but with Horwill lacking form can see Wasps edging lineout and engine room. Again not much in backrows with more quality but lack of form for SOB holding Tigers back and evening the battle out.

Tigers have a little more in halfbacks and backs and will get an edge on here depsite Wasps battling with a good unit.

Worcester 18-29 Sarries

Massive battle and great scrum contest with nothing in it. I prefer Worcester engine room but Sarries a complete class above in the backrow and will really dominate here.

Sarries have a bit more in the halfbacks but centres close and Worcester edging back 3. Very tight battle but Sarries just have enough and have kept a steady side coming into form for a sneaky win. Sorry Prop.

Pooly....just wondering: 'sneaky win' is that meant to be 18-19? Sorry to ask fella.

Bet our game would of been a corker in real life Prop.

I know fella! Hope you don't mind me asking pooly about the result bud going to be a good re match down your way too, so long as I get full strength squad!!

prop_lyd wrote:Pooly....just wondering: 'sneaky win' is that meant to be 18-19? Sorry to ask fella.

It is mate sorry lol

Worcester 18-19 Sarries

No worries fella, I'd of done the same.

Virtual cider for Prop!

Cheers Pooly and yeah Driver you can have a too, get it down your neck boyo!!

Gloucester 23 - 21 Sale
Mian issue for me whether Grey is up to this level, but when you look at Mat's 8, 9 and 10 I think he has some great players who can control a game. Sale have a great pack but think they dont quite have same control as glouceter do with key players,

Wasps 20 - 18 Tigers
Like Arry's pack and home advantage wins (sorry am strarting to want to just go lie on the floor somewhere, as was quite a brutal game today!).

Bath 25- 25 Quins
Can't separate - Quins get the advantage up front, but so much power in the BAth backline that I think they can get the hard yards through there. Home advantage salvages a draw.

Worcester 19 - 20 Sarries
Think both teams will largely cancel each other out, but Prop has been hit so hard with int call ups and great time for Sarries to travel there and get a vital win. Mainly around the backrow.

Irsh 25 - 23 - Falcons
Close game, but like Irish backrow and think that is key to this one.

Sorry I did not predict. Left my phone at home as was in a rush to get to kingsholm. Poor game.

Got a feeling we may have drawn here Driver.....not sure though

Can't split us Driver!! And with Ozzy drawing too and Wasps' lbp this is very close at the bottom!!

3 points separating the bottom 4 prop, going to be a good battle this season.

a great set of fixtures next week as well. Nice easy start for Flux with a trip to Falcons.