HC Round 4

Gloucester vs Munster

Gloucester

01. N.Wood	09. D.Yachvilli
02. R.Best	10. F.Burns (k)
03. A.Jones
04. S.Whitelock	11. C.Sharples
05. J.Hamilton	12. J.Roberts
06. A.Qera	13. H.Trinder
07. S.Cane	14. JSD
08. JVN (c)	15. P.Lambie

16. Korree Britton 17. Shaun Knight 18. Dan Murphy 19. Tom Savage 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dan Robson 22. Mike Tindall 23. Johnny May

Tactics
Home advantage and we will use this and the Shed to get into Munster's heads,
Strong set of forwards ready for a battle,
Exciting backs with Burns and Lambie to play off the cuff but keep scoreboard ticking over,

Munster

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Conor Murray
02. Mike Sherry	10. Ian Keatley
03. BJ Botha
04. Donncha O'Callaghan	11. Simon Zebo
05. Paul O'Connell	12. James Downey
06. Donnacha Ryan	13. Casey Laulala
07. Sean Dougall	14. Doug Howlett (c)
08. Peter O'Mahoney	15. Kieth Earls

16. Damien Varley 17. Marcus Horan 18. Stephen Archer 19. Billy Holland 20. Paddy Butler 21. Duncan Williams 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Felix Jones

Benneton Treviso vs Northampton Saints

Benetton Treviso

01. Michele Rizzo	09. Tobias Botes
02. Leonardo Ghiraldini	10. Kristopher Burton
03. Lorenzo Cittadini
04. Antonio Pavanello (c)	11. Tomasso Iannone
05. Francesco Minto	12. Alberto Sgarbi
06. Manoa Vosawai	13. Tomasso Benvenuti
07. Alessandro Zanni	14. Giiulio Toniolatti
08. Robert Barbieri	15. Luke McLean

16. Enrico Ceccato 17. Alberto de Marchi 18. Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet 19. Valerio Bernabo 20. Simone Favaro 21. Marco Filippucci 22. Fabio Semenzato 23. Andrea Pratichetti

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Lee Dickson
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Stephen Myler
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Samu Manoa	11. Vasily Artemiev
05. Christian Day	12. James Downey
06. Phil Dowson	13. JP Pieterson
07. Calum Clark	14. Jamie Elliot
08. Roger Wilson	15. Greig Tonks

16. Alex Waller 17. Mike Haywood 18. Brian Mujati 19. Mark Sorenson 20. Tom Wood 21. Aaron Smith 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Scott Armstrong

Tactics

We will look to control territory and apply pressure on the opposition in the key areas of the field looking to force mistakes. When in possession in the right areas, we will look to play a strong carrying game, attacking in groups so as to win the collisions and get over the gain line. 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. We will kick all penalties in Treviso territory at goal and take the drop goal option whenever it’s available.

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and take full advantage drawing penalties from Treviso.

• We want to keep things simple and use Day, Clark & Dowson as banker ball at the lineout. We will look to bring the ball down into the maul and use the physicality of our pack to drive us into the right areas.

• 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.

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

• The back 3 will sit deep to cover any kicks down the line and 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 it with Dowson & Clark 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.

Biarritz Olympique v Leicester Tigers

Biarritz Olympique

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Yann Lesgourgues
02. Benoit August	10. Jean-Pascal Barraque
03. Francisco Gomez Kodela
04. Erik Lund	11. Aled Brew
05. Pelu Taele	12. Damien Traille (c)
06. Magnus Lund	13. Seremaia Borotu
07. Wenceslas Lauret	14. Takudza Ngwenya
08. Raphael Lakafia	15. Ian Balshaw

16. Arnaud Heguy 17. Thomas Synaeghel 18. Eugène Van Staden 19. Thibault Dubarry 20. Benoit Guyot 21. Julien Peyrelongue 22. Marcelo Bosch 23. Benoît Baby

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Digby Ioane
05. Richie Gray	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willam Alberts	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Jamie George 17. Dan Cole 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Richie Gray 20. Maurie Fa’saivalu 21. Karl Dickson 22. James O’Connor 23. Mile Benjamin

Ulster Rugby v Bath Rugby

Ulster Rugby

01. Tom Court	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Paddy Jackson
03. John Afoa
04. Johann Muller (c)	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Dan Tuohy	12. Paddy Wallace
06. Iain Henderson	13. Darren Cave
07. Chris Henry	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Nick Williams	15. Jared Payne

16. Rob Herring 17. Callum Black 18. Adam Macklin 19. Lewis Stevenson 20. Mike McComish 21. Paul Marshall 22. Luke Marshall 23. Andrew Trimble

Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. C.Healy	09. M.Classens (c)
02. R.Batty	10. J.Hook (k)
03. O.Franks
04. R.Caldwell	11. K.Eastmond
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn (lk)
06. S.O'Brien	13. E.Daly
07. F.Louw	14. T.Biggs
08. S.Kalamafoni	15. I.Dagg

16. O.Tomascyuk 17. C.Tolufua 18. N.Catt 19. S.Hooper 20. C.Fearns 21. C.Cook 22. O.Barkley 23. O.Woodburn

TACTICS

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 Hook 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 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

- Big impact bench, with the likes of Perenise, Catt, Fearns, Caldwell providing ball carrying options up front. Banahan and Fearns will wreak havoc in the last 20 minutes, as the space opens up. Real advantage over the opposition in terms of bench options

Forwards
* In Louw, we have a world class in form flanker to compete at the breakdown. He looks to stay on his feet and slow opposition ball, stealing the turnovers
* Louw and SOB released to play as out and out flankers, linking play. Kalamafoni provides the physicality off the back of the scrum in defence and attack
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline.
* At the lineout, Muller will lead the calls as in real life and look to pressurise opposition hooker and compete at every throw.
* Use ball carriers of Catt, Attwood, O'Brien, Kalamafoni 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
* Eastmond 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 Cook 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.

London Wasps v Scarlets

London Wasps

01.Tim Payne 09.Danny Care
02.Dimitri Swarzeski 10.Owen Farrell
03.Nicolas Mas 11.Ugo Monye
04.Marco Wenztel 12.Maxmime Mermoz
05.George Skivington 13.Billy Twelvetrees
06.Thiery Dusatoir (c) 14.Tom Varndell
07.Juliven Salvi 15.Mike Brown
08.Thomas Waldrom

REPLACEMENTS: 16.Chuter 17.Stankovich 18.Castex 19.Cannon 20.Young 21.Geraghty 22.Cheeseman 23.Haughton

Scarlets

01. Phil John	09. Tavis Knoyle
02. Matthew Rees	10. Aled Thomas
03. Samson lee
04. George Earle	11. Andrew Fenby
05. Johan Snyman	12. Scott Williams
06. Aaron Shingler	13. Gareth Maule
07. Josh Turnbull	14. George North
08. Rob McCusker (c)	15. Liam Williams

16. Ken Owens 17. Shaun Hopkins 18. Deacon Manu 19. Tomas Vallejos 20. Jon Edwards 21. Gareth Davies 22. Rhys Jones 23. Morgan Stoddart

Toulon v London Irish

Toulon

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Frederic Michalak
02. Mickael Ivaldi	10. Jonny Wilkinson (c)
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Bakkie Botha	11. David Smith
05. Jocelino Suta	12. Matt Giteau
06. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Vincent Martin
08. Chris Masoe	15. Delon Armitage

16. Jean-Charles Orioli 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Carl Hayman 19. Pierrick Gunther 20. Nick Kennedy 21.Luke Rooney 22. Nicolas Durand 23. Maxime Mermoz

London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Joe Simpson
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Quade Cooper
03. Euan Murray
04. Tom Palmer	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Liam Messam	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Tom Homer (k)
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Delon Armitage

16. James Buckland, 17. Leo Halavatau, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Brock James, 23. Regan King

Tactics
- Play in their half all day - there are few sides that can score against us from 60+ metres so it limits their threat straight away.

- Set a decent platform to attack from and gain some confidence. Quick ball to Quade if we're stable, Harinordoquy to pick and go if it's messy.

- In the lineout, we have plenty of options. Opt for full lineouts mostly in their half to tie in their pack, leaving more space out wide. Compete for their ball.

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

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

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

- 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 Toulon's tired legs.

01. N.Wood	09. D.Yachvilli
02. R.Best	10. F.Burns (k)
03. A.Jones
04. S.Whitelock	11. C.Sharples
05. J.Hamilton	12. J.Roberts
06. A.Qera	13. H.Trinder
07. S.Cane	14. JSD
08. JVN (c)	15. P.Lambie

16. Korree Britton 17. Shaun Knight 18. Dan Murphy 19. Tom Savage 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dan Robson 22. Mike Tindall 23. Johnny May

Tactics
Home advantage and we will use this and the Shed to get into Munster's heads,
Strong set of forwards ready for a battle,
Exciting backs with Burns and Lambie to play off the cuff but keep scoreboard ticking over,
We want 5 points and we want to cement our spot for the knockout stages,
With good form we will hit the ground running when we get back to the League,
Hard workrate today to play attractive rugby.

Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. C.Healy	09. M.Classens (c)
02. R.Batty	10. J.Hook (k)
03. O.Franks
04. J.Muller	11. K.Eastmond
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn (lk)
06. S.O'Brien	13. E.Daly
07. F.Louw	14. T.Bowe
08. S.Kalamafoni	15. I.Dagg

16. O.Tomascyuk 17. C.Tolufua 18. N.Catt 19. R.Caldwell 20. C.Fearns 21. C.Cook 22. O.Barkley 23. T.Biggs

TACTICS

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 Hook 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 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

- Big impact bench, with the likes of Perenise, Catt, Fearns, Caldwell providing ball carrying options up front. Banahan and Fearns will wreak havoc in the last 20 minutes, as the space opens up. Real advantage over the opposition in terms of bench options

Forwards
* In Louw, we have a world class in form flanker to compete at the breakdown. He looks to stay on his feet and slow opposition ball, stealing the turnovers
* Louw and SOB released to play as out and out flankers, linking play. Kalamafoni provides the physicality off the back of the scrum in defence and attack
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline.
* At the lineout, Muller will lead the calls as in real life and look to pressurise opposition hooker and compete at every throw.
* Use ball carriers of Catt, Attwood, O'Brien, Kalamafoni 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
* Eastmond 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 Cook 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.

Just bump this back up.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Digby Ioane
05. Richie Gray	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willam Alberts	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Jamie George 17. Dan Cole 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Richie Gray 20. Maurie Fa’saivalu 21. Karl Dickson 22. James O’Connor 23. Mile Benjamin

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Lee Dickson
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Stephen Myler
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Samu Manoa	11. Vasily Artemiev
05. Christian Day	12. James Downey
06. Phil Dowson	13. JP Pieterson
07. Calum Clark	14. Jamie Elliot
08. Roger Wilson	15. Greig Tonks

16. Alex Waller 17. Mike Haywood 18. Brian Mujati 19. Mark Sorenson 20. Tom Wood 21. Aaron Smith 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Scott Armstrong

Tactics

We will look to control territory and apply pressure on the opposition in the key areas of the field looking to force mistakes. When in possession in the right areas, we will look to play a strong carrying game, attacking in groups so as to win the collisions and get over the gain line. 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. We will kick all penalties in Treviso territory at goal and take the drop goal option whenever it’s available.

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and take full advantage drawing penalties from Treviso.

• We want to keep things simple and use Day, Clark & Dowson as banker ball at the lineout. We will look to bring the ball down into the maul and use the physicality of our pack to drive us into the right areas.

• 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.

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

• The back 3 will sit deep to cover any kicks down the line and 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 it with Dowson & Clark 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.

WASPS

01.Tim Payne 09.Danny Care
02.Dimitri Swarzeski 10.Owen Farrell
03.Nicolas Mas 11.Ugo Monye
04.Marco Wenztel 12.Maxmime Mermoz
05.George Skivington 13.Billy Twelvetrees
06.Thiery Dusatoir (c) 14.Tom Varndell
07.Juliven Salvi 15.Mike Brown
08.Thomas Waldrom

REPLACEMENTS: 16.Chuter 17.Stankovich 18.Castex 19.Cannon 20.Young 21.Geraghty 22.Cheeseman 23.Haughton

London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Joe Simpson
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Quade Cooper
03. Euan Murray
04. Tom Palmer	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Liam Messam	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Tom Homer (k)
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Delon Armitage

16. James Buckland, 17. Leo Halavatau, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Brock James, 23. Regan King

Tactics
- Play in their half all day - there are few sides that can score against us from 60+ metres so it limits their threat straight away.

- Set a decent platform to attack from and gain some confidence. Quick ball to Quade if we're stable, Harinordoquy to pick and go if it's messy.

- In the lineout, we have plenty of options. Opt for full lineouts mostly in their half to tie in their pack, leaving more space out wide. Compete for their ball.

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

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

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

- 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 Toulon's tired legs.

---

Gloucester 24-15 Munster
Good pack battle with Glaws getting the better of the scrum battle and stronger carriers in the backrow. Not much between the backs 11-15 as units but Glaws with more at halfback. Burns and Yach to bring them to a good win.

Biarritz Olympique 18-31 Leicester Tigers
Bit of an all star pack from Tigers and they will dominate this game. Should be plenty of room for Barnes to put Tuilagi through in this one.

Ulster Rugby 18-17 Bath Rugby
Good set piece battle in this one. Ulster shading the lineout battle but else where the front 5s are fairly even. Plenty of carrying in both backrows but Bath with a little more at the breakdown. Halfbacks as combos are fairly even perharps shading to Bath. Midfields as units even but more threat outwide from Ulster. Ulster bit more solid at scrum time when the benches come in and Paul Marshall is a game changer. Good game but Ulster have enough to squek a narrow home win.

London Wasps 35-12 Scarlets
Wasps will annihilate Scarlets at the set piece for me and this sets the tone for victory. Fatigue may become a problem as the season wears on at Wasps though with a lack of rotating.

Toulon 17-14 London Irish
Not a lot in it between the scrums but Irish will get the better of the lineout. Toulon’s 2nd row offer a lot more around the park though. Cracking backrow battle and neither side gets on top. Not much between the backs 11-15 but Toulon stronger at halfback. Decent benches for both sides. Little bit more at halfbacks and at home seals the win for Toulon.

Treviso 10-32 Saints
Saints pack dominates.

Biarritz15-30 Tigers
Backrow would have a field day, Tigers just too strong.

Ulster 16-15 Bath
Ulster win this at 2 and 9. Bath get a very good lbp here.

Wasps 32-12 Scarlets
Wasps back 5 will dominate in the forwards.

Toulon 22-20 Irish
Prefer Toulon at halfback and in centres, Irish run them close.

Gloucester vs Munster

Gloucester 18- 16 Munster
Gloucester considerably better in the pack, scrum and breakdown for me, though Munster win the lineout and this makes them dangerous. Much better HBs at Glaws able to play fast or slow and even centres. Gloucester edge the back 3 too, plus they have the better bench and Home advantage. I can see Munster making it hard for them but can't see beyond a Glaws win - EDIT win margin severely reduced due to rule breach


Benneton Treviso vs Northampton Saints

Treviso 9- 32 Northampton

Well done to Treviso for testing Tigers in RL and their grittiness at home means they won't be pushovers, but Saints have pretty good tactics and are better in every single unit and will win easily. EDIT Saints just make the regs

Biarritz Olympique 12 v 22 Leicester Tigers

Biarritz are on a downward slope but are harder to play at home. Nevertheless, Tigers are much better in the pack in every way and will dominate the breakdown and scrum. Similarly the combo of Youngs Flood is better than Biarritz' and though things are closer outwide and I still doubt the Tigers' backline's defence, they can pour tries on Biarritz and have ridiculous strength on the bench too. EDIT: win margin severely reduced due to rule breach

Ulster Rugby v Bath Rugby

Ulster 22 - Bath 21

I can see elements of the Real Life Ulster- Saints here. Bath were unlucky to marginally lose in Bath and the defeat, I think, would fuel them like the demolition Saints received fueled them. Ulster struggled to deal with the backlash and couldn't play with their usually decisiveness and I see the same happening here, overruling home advantage. Bath should win in the scrum, just, lose the lineout and win the breakdown. But it's the ball carrying in the backrow that Ulster will struggle with. Ulster are better at 9/10 but with SOB in his face I can see Jackson flaking (we've seen that exact situation, I think). Little to separate the back 3 but Bath edge the centres and the combo of Hook/Steyn will do the damage and make sure rugby is played in Ulster's 22 and Bath will nip the win. Be careful to change names in tactics though Bathite as Laulala isn't playing! EDIT: Bath just end up break rules result is overturned

London Wasps v Scarlets

Wasps 30 - 18 Scarlets
Real front 5 and scrum advantage to Wasps (when has that ever been said?!). Scarlets back row is unheralded but good but outclassed by Wasps' back row esp with Dus there. Farrell/Care is an odd combo but better thsn Scarlets can put out. Farrell has shown he can boss a game but also blunt his side's attack but having Varndell and Ugo run onto his grubbers could be lethal. Knoyle will be owned by Care atm. Lucky North is facing Ugo and Fenby Varndell- the other way round Wasps would struggle but like this the Scarlets wingers can be nullified. Williams very good but Brown better still in every feasible regard, and the Wasps centres are odd but I could see them switching up 12 and 13. Overall, easy for Wasps EDIT: Wasps are fine, score stands

Toulon vs London Irish

Toulon 24- 16 Irish
Very even scrum and lineout and actually breakdown too. Slight edge to Toulon in the pack, with regard to carrying and grunt-work. Clear advantage to Toulon at 9/10, esp defensively and in terms of kicking. Slight advantage to Toulon in the outbacks too. Irish will make it hard but Toulon definitely win this, though I'm surprised that I prefer Irish's bench marginally. EDIT: Irish breach rules and lose by more

Gloucester 20 Munster 12
Benneton Treviso 10 Northampton Saints 25
Biarritz Olympique 9 Leicester Tigers 20
Ulster Rugby 21 Bath Rugby 17
London Wasps 30 Scarlets 7
Toulon 22 London Irish 22

Gloucester 30-16 Munster

Gloucester have a good pack control and will get enough of an edge in the scrum and around the park to give a solid platfrom. Gloucester also a total step up in the halfbacks and backs to give them a good solid win.

Treviso 15-18 Saints

Decent pack from Saints and they'll do enough to set a platform. Bit of a step up in the backs but again not by loads. Just enough for Saints to come away with a win.

Ulster 24-19 Bath

Ulster get a bit of an edge in the front 5 with a lock advantge and front row just shading as a unit with Batty a bit out of his depth. Bath a bit stronger on the flanks with SOB starting to play well but Ulster no mugs and better at 8. Good centre battle, Steyn the standout but Ulster perhaps a stronger unit and much stronger on the wings, especially Bowe against Eastmond. Ulster playing really and Bath don't have enough to get the win.

Wasps 29-18 Scarlets

Wasps have a good edge through the team and Scarlets not the best in the pack. Decent win for Wasps who are coming into some good form.

Toulon 23-23 Irish

Great pack battle, some huge names and can see both really competing. Irish are one of the few teams in our league who can live with Toulon up front. Backs are again really tight, Toulon step up at halfback but Irish backs are strong and will compete. Irish push them all the way but Toulon a very hard place to win.

Glos 24 - 13 Munster
Glos win the front row by quite a fair bit, with Best making a huge difference. Second rows are about the same, maybe even edged to Glos, with both players in great form. Not much in the back rows, but Glos still have enough.

Glos half backs will have some real joy here and their outside backs are good enough as well

Treviso 9 - 26 Saints
Saints better across the pitch, with only 2,7 and 13 really that competitive for the Italians

Biarritz 15 - 16 Tigers
Some big names on show, but some missing form. Tigers have enough to edge this one at a very difficult away trip

Wasps 19 - 10 Scarlets
Wasps will dominate up front and their half backs will pull the strings nicely. Think Wasps centres are the wrong way round, but they are better in every department and having Brown back at FB is huge for them.

Toulon 22 - 18 Irish
Can't see much in the front 5s, but Toulon are going to cause some real damage in the back row, with some huge form players. The form advantage continues at 9 10 12, with Toulon having real joy here and using the ball very very well. Irish are a top top side, but Toulon have too much in the key areas of 6-12 and are in very good form, whereas the same can't be said of Irish. Sorry Pull, you're up against a great side here

Can someone clarify the rules on duplicate players? Last week I was allowed to play Bowe and Muller by Pooly, this week they've been removed from my team sheet! I notice that Gethin Jenkins, Delon Armitage and Maxime Mermoz are down twice for example

As far as I was aware they should not play against there actual club side if they are named in the match day 23

Gloucester 22 - 19 Munster

Munster not quite full strentgh, but Glos are will take this, but the win won't be as big as it should be!

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Treviso 15 - 44 Northampton Saints

Academic this game, a strong Saints team even away from home will win this with a BP in the bag as well.

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Biarritz Olympique 23 - 27 Leicester Tigers

BO again not quite the force they once were, Tigers are strong. But again winning margin should be much bigger from the complacent tiggers.

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Ulster Rugby 21 - 20 Bath Rugby

Ulster at home and in such brilliant form is a tough one, even with this well equipped Bath side. But the boot of Pienaar and the leadership of Muller will pull them through.

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London Wasps 32 - 15 Scarlets

Great win at home for the Wasps, their pack is much stronger - although hints of tiring legs towards the end of the game. Just too much for the Scarlets.

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Toulon 24 - 15 London Irish
For me too much power from the Toulon pack, Irish strong at the set piece but too much effort trying to stop the strong runners at Quade and Simpson. This dominance allows time and space for Wilkinson to run the backline.

Gloucester vs Munster: 24-7

Treviso vs Saints: 15-44

Biarrtiz vs Tigers: 23-27

Ulster vs Bath: 10-20

Toulon vs Irish: 30-9

Gloucester 24-12 Munster
Treviso 11-32 Saints
Biarritz 18-22 Tigers
Ulster 29-21 Bath
Wasps 32-19 Scarlets
Toulon 26-23 Irish

Gloucester 20 - 15 Munster

Benneton Treviso 11 - 19 Saints

Biarritz 9 - 18 Leicester

Ulster 21 - 20 Bath

Wasps 33 - 18 Scarlets

Toulon 22 - 20 Irish

Predo's closed

Full: SJE, Prop, CJ, Driver, Pooly, Bathite, Flux, CJB, CF, Luke

MARK

Results:

Gloucester Rugby 27-14 Munster Rugby
Benetton Treviso 12-35 Northampton Saints
Biarritz Olympique 16-28 Leicester Tigers
Ulster Rugby 24-19 Bath Rugby
London Wasps 35-14 Scarlets
Toulon 27-19 London Irish