Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
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Driver
Steven_Sharks
dammit_chris
prop_lyd
LukeLovesLuka
Sgt_Pooly
Ozzy3213
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Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
First topic message reminder :
Newcastle Falcons vs. Bath Rugby
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 15 mph winds.
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
16.Augustin Creevy 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Tom Croft 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Henry Slade 23. Miles Benjamin
Tactics
HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES.....GAME CHANGERS IN BACKLINE IN CRUDEN, YOUNGS, BOWE, SBW
HOME ADVANTAGE - WON EVERY GAME IN OVER 2 YEARS
In damp conditions will look to control possession and play in play in right areas of pitch. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off with high tempo and physical defence. Cruden will play flat and look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.
Set piece:
In the damp conditions look to get the ball in and out for Youngs/Cruden to attack with. Look for fast ball off the top of the lineout with Kruger making the calls. If weakness seen in either set piece we’ll look to exploit.
Pack & Breakdown:
Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on in conditions. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot.
DEFENCE:
Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow out backrow to dominate affairs. Thorn/Robshaw in particular will look to hit the ruck hard and remove attempted turnovers from the equation allowing us to ruck over the ball and control the breakdown. Robshaw/McCaw will look to target the opposition scrum half early on and pressure his ditribution. Youngs to sweep in behind the defensive line.
Backs:
Basically get the backs into play whenever possible with Cruden the spark. Goode will act as second playmaker and come into the line to mix things up. Look to get Bowe & Cuthbert into the game whenever possible. Youngs to play on instinct around the fringes and look to get SBW in on the draw and release to use his power through the middle.
POINTS:
SCRUM & LINEOUT – Target throughout, if weakness seen go for the jugular
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through opposition
BREAKDOWN – Backrow to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball
FORM – We are in great form in the league with a great away win over Gloucester last week
BACKS – World class running options and finishers, big game players and finishers to see us through at home
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
SBW – For those knocking him for lack of form he last played Int rugby 25 Aug and was arguably the best 12 in world rugby
Bath backline – Look to get big runners down the Bath 10 channel and in between Allen/Hogg
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16. Jon Golding 17. Euan Murray 18. Will Tanner 19. Luke Romano 20. Tom Guest 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Aurelien Rougerie 23. Luther Burrell
Harlequins vs. London Irish
Light Rain, 12 degrees, 14 mph winds.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
16. Rob Buchanan 17. Joe Marler 18. Ben Franks 19. George Kruis 20. Dave Denton 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Tom Biggs
Tactics
Look to control possession and keep the ball in hand, especially in the Irish half. Use big carriers off 9 and 10 to tie in defenders before we send the ball wide. Look for players to carry the ball into contact at pace with the aim of winning the collisions. We will carry in numbers and look for the offload if its on but if not we will look to get quick ruck ball and attack again.
In the forwards we will look to control the set piece and make everything difficult for Irish. We will look to put the pressure on at the scrum and lineout as well as at the breakdown where we want Hooper and Warburton to control things. We need our forwards to do a lot of donkey work and allow our backs the chance to play.
In the backs we want Burns to stand flat and bring others into the game. Roberts will run his usual lines at 12 tieing in defenders and allowing Burns an easy option before sending the ball to JJ and our back 3.
In defence we will enforce a quick linespeed and will look to put a lot of pressure on the key decision makers in the Irish side. Roberts and Warburton will control this.
London Irish
Manager – pullthestrings
16. Deon Fourie 17. Grant Shiells 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Will Fraser 21. Jack Moates 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Anthony Watson
Leicester Tigers vs. Gloucester
Light Rain, 11 degrees, 16 mph winds.
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Tom Youngs 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Simon Shaw 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Frederic Michalak 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Paul Sackey
Tactics:
In wet, windy 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.
- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole andSheridan to look to really get into the opposition. Lots of scrums in wet weather and an area we will look to dominate.
- Attack at all lineouts using Moore's darts. Use Joubert at the front and Parling off the top as our two key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option. Joubert at the front on Gloucester throws putting real pressure on Grey.
- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Gloucester defence. The likes of SOB, Louw, Pape, Moore and Joubert to be used to crash through the 9/10 channel.
- Look to win battle at 7 with Louw vs Lapandry - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Louw, and the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.
- 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.
- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first recievers in Wilko and Beale. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.
- Use boxkicks and up and unders to target Nacewa vs Sharples. Lightning back three to get the chase on, and look to steal the ball or win turnovers with isolated recievers.
- 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 wind and 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 Gloucester into mistakes for Wilko to take the points.
Form and Momentum
Gloucester have not been the same team they were last year, whereas we have 10 wins out of 11 in the league. We are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. Particularly at Welford Road, we feel unbeatable.
Breakdown Advantage
We are placing huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today. With breakdown expert Francois Louw - supported by the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial. Any opportunity that we get, we will look to win turnover ball.
Gloucester
Manager - Mat
16. Tim Payne 17. Adrian Strauss 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. Conor Murray 22. Iain Balshaw 23. Ryan Lamb
Glaws tactics
We have come here today to play a controlling game and to push Leicester around the park. Kicking will play a large part as will keeping the ball through the forwards. Basically they need to get us in to the right positions and then we can look to kick for position or set it up again off backs running the angle. If it is on we will look to play but conditions mean that methodical structured rugby is the key.
Key points
- huge scrummaging unit for glos with 2 huge current international props. Front row are also all good carriers and mobile
- 5 top line out forwards- this will secure our own ball in conditions but also allow us to attack moores throw. Moore has had a poor season and is no longer first choice for country we see our pressure here as key. We will be kicking in behind Leicester lots and he will be expected to throw in under extreme pressure
- lots of ball carrying off back of rucks. We will make sure we have numbers to edge the ball around the park and manipulate field position. We will send numbers in to Rucks to win good quick ball
- drive lots of line out ball to suck life out Leicester and then launch runners off the back.
- see our pack as having more ball carriers. These conditions made for the pack selected
- have a great controlling spine Hari Robson carter Barnes and gear allows us control.
- packed with kickers Robson carter Barnes and dagg all great kickers and in form. Beale is not really made for these conditions and will be targeted heavily.
- blitz defence. Aim to pressure wilko and yach to shovel ball on. Lack of kicking in centres for Leicester allows us to stifle them behind gainline
- we aim to turn this into a territory and possesion game where we think we will
triumph.
- when there is the opportunity we will shift it wide but generally will be disciplined and play the conditions
London Welsh vs. London Wasps
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 17 mph winds.
London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213
16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Adam Jones 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Wallace 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Darren Cave 23. James Simpson-Daniel
Key Points
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 however be looking for gaps rather than contact and looking to offload to support runners. We will look to apply pressure to Wasps 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 Wasps make.
Specifics
London Wasps
Manager – Fluxy
16. Sean Cronin 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Dave Dennis 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Jamie Elliot
Tactics
The Kassam has been a bit of a fortress and we want to make it difficult for Welsh so we will look to win, or keep the scores close through out to keep us in reach of a LBP. 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, therefore Myler will look to keep us penned in the Welsh 22. If Welsh are to score against us they will have to run the ball 80+ metres. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. Slow ball we will look to set up pods and runners off Myler, as this will drag Welsh defenders further apart and produce wholes or mismatches. Welsh have some prominent players at the ruck, so we will look to set and clear rucks quickly and to always have a man on the shoulder. Either to offload quickly or set the before a man can jackal on the ball.
Tactics
Sale Sharks vs. Worcester Warriors
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 15 mph winds.
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Ross Harrison 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Dave Attwood 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison
Key Points
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 Sexton & Steyn and force Worcester to come at us from deep.
Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd
16. Korree Britton 17. Nathan Catt 18. Fraser Balmain 19. Tom Savage 20. Justin Tipuric 21. Kerr Barlow 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Jon Clarke
Tactics
In light rain we have picked a pack who will play up the jumper rugby and a confrontational game before releasing our backs. Our pack is one of the strongest we have fielded all season and this will give us an advantage come scrum time. Strong runners in the backrow will make the holes for our 10-12 link-up who will control the game. Steyn will be looking to stand flatter today to give the ball on the gainline.
Forwards
*Front row to concentrate on the scrum and get the upper hand from the hit. We will look to get the edge on them on their feed to open a clearer route for Morgan and Gorgodze to run at their attack,
*2nd row-lineouts is key today and we have jumpers who will look for quick ball and to disrupt their ball. Hamilton and Kohn will look to get under their skin and Higginbotham is the extra jumper,
*Back-row have international all across and are players who will bring power to the game and be strong carriers over the pitch, we will use both Higgs and Gorgodze to aim to hit every other defensive ruck to look for the turnover or disrupt their plan of getting quick ball,
*Experience and impact on the bench.
Backs
*Quick ball from Reddan and Steyn will play what's in front of him, he will look to run quite a bit of ball if there is space ahead and the defence are disorganised but if not he'll pin Sale back deep INTO TOUCH and we will challenge their lineouts. Go for goal when the opportunities are there,
*Strong centres with McCabe looking for the offload to a forward runner or to Whitten who will look to get across the gainline before releasing the strong running back 3,
*On the wings we have players who are proven scorers, Short and Garvey will both bring pace, both will look to come off their wing's for work. *We have further pace on the bench with Heathcote who can fill in and play a kicking game if the clock needs to be wound down, Kerr-Barlow will look to snipe against tired legs.
Defence
*Banana-blitz defence with McCabe leading this and Reddansweeping,
*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
*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 vs. Northampton Saints
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 17 mph winds.
Saracens
Manager – Mike Driver
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris
Replacements
16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Webber 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Liam Messam 21. Mike Phillips 22. Ben Botica 23. Matthew Tait
Key Points
•Gainline breakers - we have a team that is full of gainline breakers who can put us in great attacking positions and give Simpson frontfoot ball.
•Impact bench - all 5 forwards big, aggressive ball carriers.
•Aggression - have picked a team that is strong in defence, can put in big hits and will be very combative at the breakdown. Will look to make it a really physical game and force Saracens into mistakes and turnovers.
•Test the lineout - with light rain we will target the lineout and attack Saracens ball with Launch, Albacete and Bonnaire.
Tactics
With the conditions we will look to play a game that is dominated by big ball carriers and getting over the gainline to generate front foot ball for our backs and ensure that Saracens are doing the majority of the tackling. Giteau will direct play at 10 and is the creative spark to put Fofana, Tuilagi and Savea into space - Ashton to track the runs of the gainline breakers and feed off the chances they create. Giteau and Halfpenny will also target Cueto's positioning at fullback and put him under pressure.
•Powerful forward pack that can generate good ball from both set pieces to attack with. Will look to generate quick ball from lineouts in the Sarries half, whilst contesting opposition lineouts to force errors.
•Have chosen an out and out 7 in Cane and will look to win the battle at the breakdown. Will smash the Sarries team off the ball and will put numbers in if the ball is there to be won. If not we will look to slow down the ball legally and reset the defence.
•We will play an aggressive blitz defence with a big battle in the centres - Fofana and Tuilagi provide a great defence to prevent the threat of the Sarries 12/13 channel, and Nonu playing out of position could sway the battle our way - Simpson to sweep behind to cover any kicks or linebreaks.
•If Sarries start to play a kicking game we will bring Ashton or Savea back to support him and then counter attack as players 9-15 are all try scorers who can win a game with one bit of magic.
•Look to empty the bench during the game and up the intensity over final 25mins or so.
Teams to be named by midnight on Thursday 27th December 2012.
Predictions by 20:00 hours on Saturday 29th December 2012.
Predictions by 20:00 hours on Saturday 29th December 2012.
Newcastle Falcons vs. Bath Rugby
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 15 mph winds.
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
01. Fabien Barcella | 09. Ben Youngs |
02. Lee Mears | 10. Aaron Cruden |
03. Owen Franks | |
04. Brad Thorn | 11. Alex Cuthbert |
05. Juandre Kruger | 12. Sonny Bill Williams |
06. Chris Robshaw | 13. George Lowe |
07. Richie McCaw(c) | 14. Tommy Bowe |
08. Kieran Read | 15. Alex Goode |
16.Augustin Creevy 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Tom Croft 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Henry Slade 23. Miles Benjamin
Tactics
HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES.....GAME CHANGERS IN BACKLINE IN CRUDEN, YOUNGS, BOWE, SBW
HOME ADVANTAGE - WON EVERY GAME IN OVER 2 YEARS
In damp conditions will look to control possession and play in play in right areas of pitch. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off with high tempo and physical defence. Cruden will play flat and look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.
Set piece:
In the damp conditions look to get the ball in and out for Youngs/Cruden to attack with. Look for fast ball off the top of the lineout with Kruger making the calls. If weakness seen in either set piece we’ll look to exploit.
Pack & Breakdown:
Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on in conditions. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot.
DEFENCE:
Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow out backrow to dominate affairs. Thorn/Robshaw in particular will look to hit the ruck hard and remove attempted turnovers from the equation allowing us to ruck over the ball and control the breakdown. Robshaw/McCaw will look to target the opposition scrum half early on and pressure his ditribution. Youngs to sweep in behind the defensive line.
Backs:
Basically get the backs into play whenever possible with Cruden the spark. Goode will act as second playmaker and come into the line to mix things up. Look to get Bowe & Cuthbert into the game whenever possible. Youngs to play on instinct around the fringes and look to get SBW in on the draw and release to use his power through the middle.
POINTS:
SCRUM & LINEOUT – Target throughout, if weakness seen go for the jugular
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through opposition
BREAKDOWN – Backrow to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball
FORM – We are in great form in the league with a great away win over Gloucester last week
BACKS – World class running options and finishers, big game players and finishers to see us through at home
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
SBW – For those knocking him for lack of form he last played Int rugby 25 Aug and was arguably the best 12 in world rugby
Bath backline – Look to get big runners down the Bath 10 channel and in between Allen/Hogg
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
01. Ben Alexander | 09. Aaron Smith |
02. Chris Brooker | 10. Charlie Hodgson |
03. Davit Kubrashvili | |
04. Graham Kitchener | 11. George North |
05. Sam Whitelock | 12. Anthony Allen |
06. James Haskell | 13. Stuart Hogg |
07. David Pocock | 14. Nopolini Nalaga |
08. Juan Martin Fernando Lobbe | 15. Cory Jane |
- Look to punish the Newcastle scrum with Alexander and Kubs
- Look to target the lineout. Whitelock, Lobbe, Haskell and Kitchener makes for a formidable lienout combo. If we gain a solid advantage, look to kick to corners
- Look for big carries from the forwards
- Smith and Hodgson look to really get the ball moving and control the tempo. Look to let our backs get their hands on the ball and run at Newcastle
Harlequins vs. London Irish
Light Rain, 12 degrees, 14 mph winds.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
01. Tony Woodcock | 09. Lee Dickson |
02. Schalk Brits | 10. Freddie Burns (k) |
03. John Afoa | |
04. Bakkies Botha | 11. Zac Guildford |
05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Jamie Roberts |
06. Michael Hooper | 13. Jonathan Joseph |
07. Sam Warburton (c) | 14. Yoann Huget |
08. Nick Easter | 15. Andre Taylor |
16. Rob Buchanan 17. Joe Marler 18. Ben Franks 19. George Kruis 20. Dave Denton 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Tom Biggs
Tactics
Look to control possession and keep the ball in hand, especially in the Irish half. Use big carriers off 9 and 10 to tie in defenders before we send the ball wide. Look for players to carry the ball into contact at pace with the aim of winning the collisions. We will carry in numbers and look for the offload if its on but if not we will look to get quick ruck ball and attack again.
In the forwards we will look to control the set piece and make everything difficult for Irish. We will look to put the pressure on at the scrum and lineout as well as at the breakdown where we want Hooper and Warburton to control things. We need our forwards to do a lot of donkey work and allow our backs the chance to play.
In the backs we want Burns to stand flat and bring others into the game. Roberts will run his usual lines at 12 tieing in defenders and allowing Burns an easy option before sending the ball to JJ and our back 3.
In defence we will enforce a quick linespeed and will look to put a lot of pressure on the key decision makers in the Irish side. Roberts and Warburton will control this.
London Irish
Manager – pullthestrings
01. Jean Baptiste Poux | 09. Julien Dupuy |
02. Tom Lindsay | 10. Nick Evans |
03. Martin Castrogiovanni | |
04. Matt Garvey | 11. Marland Yarde |
05. Johann Muller | 12. Luke McAllister |
06. Yannick Nyanga | 13. Conrad Smith |
07. Steffon Armitage | 14. JP Pieterson |
08. Keegan Daniel | 15. Delon Armitage |
16. Deon Fourie 17. Grant Shiells 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Will Fraser 21. Jack Moates 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Anthony Watson
Leicester Tigers vs. Gloucester
Light Rain, 11 degrees, 16 mph winds.
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
01. Andrew Sheridan | 09. Dimitri Yachvili |
02. Stephen Moore | 10. Jonny Wilkinson (k) |
03. Dan Cole | |
04. Pascal Pape | 11. Isa Nacewa |
05. Geoff Parling | 12. Maxime Mermoz |
06. Sean O'Brien | 13. Brian O'Driscoll (c) |
07. Francois Louw | 14. Vincent Clerc |
08. Ernst Joubert | 15. Kurtley Beale |
Tactics:
In wet, windy 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.
- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole andSheridan to look to really get into the opposition. Lots of scrums in wet weather and an area we will look to dominate.
- Attack at all lineouts using Moore's darts. Use Joubert at the front and Parling off the top as our two key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option. Joubert at the front on Gloucester throws putting real pressure on Grey.
- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Gloucester defence. The likes of SOB, Louw, Pape, Moore and Joubert to be used to crash through the 9/10 channel.
- Look to win battle at 7 with Louw vs Lapandry - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Louw, and the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.
- 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.
- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first recievers in Wilko and Beale. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.
- Use boxkicks and up and unders to target Nacewa vs Sharples. Lightning back three to get the chase on, and look to steal the ball or win turnovers with isolated recievers.
- 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 wind and 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 Gloucester into mistakes for Wilko to take the points.
Form and Momentum
Gloucester have not been the same team they were last year, whereas we have 10 wins out of 11 in the league. We are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. Particularly at Welford Road, we feel unbeatable.
Breakdown Advantage
We are placing huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today. With breakdown expert Francois Louw - supported by the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial. Any opportunity that we get, we will look to win turnover ball.
Gloucester
Manager - Mat
01. Gurthro Steenkamp | 09. Dan Robson |
02. Joe Grey | 10. Dan Carter |
03. Juan Figallo | |
04. Eben Etzebeth | 11. Jonny May |
05. George Robson | 12. Berrick Barnes |
06. Stephen Ferris | 13. Richard Kahui |
07. Alexandre Lapandry | 14. Charlie Sharples |
08. Imanol Harinordoquoy | 15. Israel Dagg |
16. Tim Payne 17. Adrian Strauss 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. Conor Murray 22. Iain Balshaw 23. Ryan Lamb
Glaws tactics
We have come here today to play a controlling game and to push Leicester around the park. Kicking will play a large part as will keeping the ball through the forwards. Basically they need to get us in to the right positions and then we can look to kick for position or set it up again off backs running the angle. If it is on we will look to play but conditions mean that methodical structured rugby is the key.
Key points
- huge scrummaging unit for glos with 2 huge current international props. Front row are also all good carriers and mobile
- 5 top line out forwards- this will secure our own ball in conditions but also allow us to attack moores throw. Moore has had a poor season and is no longer first choice for country we see our pressure here as key. We will be kicking in behind Leicester lots and he will be expected to throw in under extreme pressure
- lots of ball carrying off back of rucks. We will make sure we have numbers to edge the ball around the park and manipulate field position. We will send numbers in to Rucks to win good quick ball
- drive lots of line out ball to suck life out Leicester and then launch runners off the back.
- see our pack as having more ball carriers. These conditions made for the pack selected
- have a great controlling spine Hari Robson carter Barnes and gear allows us control.
- packed with kickers Robson carter Barnes and dagg all great kickers and in form. Beale is not really made for these conditions and will be targeted heavily.
- blitz defence. Aim to pressure wilko and yach to shovel ball on. Lack of kicking in centres for Leicester allows us to stifle them behind gainline
- we aim to turn this into a territory and possesion game where we think we will
triumph.
- when there is the opportunity we will shift it wide but generally will be disciplined and play the conditions
London Welsh vs. London Wasps
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 17 mph winds.
London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213
01. Alex Corbisiero | 09. Morgan Parra |
02. Bismarck du Plessis | 10. Owen Farrell |
03. Dave Wilson | |
04. Sitaleki Timani | 11. Digby Ioane |
05. James Hanks | 12. Patric Lambie |
06. Tom Johnson | 13. Jonathan Davies |
07. Thierry Dusautoir (c) | 14. Bryan Habana |
08. Duane Vermeulen | 15. Jaco Taute |
16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Adam Jones 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Wallace 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Darren Cave 23. James Simpson-Daniel
Key Points
- Form/Momentum. Our form over the last 5 matches is DWWWW so we come into this game in form, full of confidence and with great momentum.
- Experienced internationals in key position (2,8,9,10) who know how to control a game, and in the case of our 8,9,10 axis their most recent top level (international) form is excellent.
- 10-12 ability to interchange and keep the Wasps defence guessing. Can split left/right off the back of rucks leaving the defence unable to confidently target either.
- Solid defenders throughout the team mean that it will take something special to score points against us.
- Wasps decision to employ a drift defence will give our ball carriers momentum as they will be across the gainline before the tackle is made, which will give us a lot of control in the game.
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 however be looking for gaps rather than contact and looking to offload to support runners. We will look to apply pressure to Wasps 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 Wasps make.
Specifics
- Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
- Ioane and Habana to both be tracking inside ball and coming off their wings looking for offloads from the ball carrier.
- Keep the scoreboard ticking over by taking all penalties on offer.
- We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further. Parra will sweep in behind.
- We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, 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.
London Wasps
Manager – Fluxy
01. Ben Robinson | 09. Nick Phipps |
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau | 10. Stephen Myler |
03. Carlos Nieto | |
04. Dan Tuohy | 11. Geordan Murphy |
05. Samu Manoa | 12. Brad Barritt |
06. Donnacha Ryan | 13. Casey Laulala |
07. John Barclay | 14. Topsy Ojo |
08. Jordan Crane | 15. Mike Brown |
16. Sean Cronin 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Dave Dennis 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Jamie Elliot
Tactics
The Kassam has been a bit of a fortress and we want to make it difficult for Welsh so we will look to win, or keep the scores close through out to keep us in reach of a LBP. 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, therefore Myler will look to keep us penned in the Welsh 22. If Welsh are to score against us they will have to run the ball 80+ metres. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. Slow ball we will look to set up pods and runners off Myler, as this will drag Welsh defenders further apart and produce wholes or mismatches. Welsh have some prominent players at the ruck, so we will look to set and clear rucks quickly and to always have a man on the shoulder. Either to offload quickly or set the before a man can jackal on the ball.
Tactics
- Solid scrummagers on and off the bench, we will look to secure our own ball and at least pressure the Welsh feed. Sometimes look to legally wheel their feed to cut of the scrum-half from the backline.
- With a strong lineout, Ryan will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Tuohy jumping in the middle. Look to run full number lineouts to tie in the opposing pack.
- The backrow will target the halfbacks, allowing them no time on the ball, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes.
- We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines and moving the point of attack. Myler will direct traffic with the use of quick pods systems outside the guards of the rucks.
- Myler to use Barritt and Laulala to get over the gainline, quick ball will be span out to the backs in the next phase.
- Brown to look to come into play like he does for Quins and take quick ball of the back of rucks snipe, Murphy in the team can cover his runs at the back.
- We will run a slow drift line in defence, with Phipps sweeping. We won't look to blitz, as Welsh have only the obvious few who will carry to the line. If they begin to look to kick, a blitz can be deployed later on.
- The defence will look to gang up on the carriers and use the 'choke' tackle to prevent quick ruck ball and slow down the guys that are good at the ruck for Welsh.
- Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game. To get an advantage in the scrum, and collisions with big impact players.
- Myler kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Welsh should be wary of giving away penalties.
- With; Parra, Farrell and Lambie in the side, there is a bit of mixture of gameplans, so we won;t give them time as this will cause confusion and mistakes leading to scrums for us to use to attack
- With; Parra and Farrell Welsh will to kick a bit. Therefore any poor kick can be returned with interest or punished by our clever footballing backthree.
Sale Sharks vs. Worcester Warriors
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 15 mph winds.
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
01. Jerome Schuster | 09. Danny Care |
02. David Paice | 10. Johnny Sexton |
03. Davit Zirakishvilli | |
04. Brodie Retalick | 11. Kyle Eastmond |
05. Andries Bekker | 12. Francois Steyn |
06. Peter O'Mahony | 13. Robbie Freuen |
07. Fulgence Quedragao | 14. David Strettle |
08. Louis Picamoles | 15. Nick Abendanon |
Key Points
- Momentum. We are on a roll with 4 wins from 4 while Worcester come off the back of a painful home defeat to Welsh. Winning breeds confidence and we have it in abundance at the moment.
- Attack the scrum from the start. BJ Botha has struggled for Munster in recent weeks so Schuster comes in to get at him. Keep the pressure on the scrum as the inexperienced Worcester bench come in.
- Test the lineout. Strauss has struggled throwing in since the start of the AIs and Worcester are lacking a top lineout jumper to hit. Bekker, POM & Quedragao will look to dominate the skies and remove the threat of Morne Steyns boot. If we are dominating here Sexton and Franny Steyn will look to keep the game in Worcester’s 22.
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 Sexton & Steyn and force Worcester 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 Worcester territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs. In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.
- 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 Warriors momentum before it can get going.
- Care 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 Quedragao 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.
Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd
01. Paul James | 09. Eion Reddan |
02. Richardt Strauss | 10. Morne Steyn (k) |
03. BJ Botha | |
04. Ollie Kohn | 11. James Short |
05. Jim Hamilton (c) | 12. Pat McCabe |
06. Mamuka Gorgodze | 13. Ian Whitten |
07. Scott Higginbotham | 14. Marcel Garvey |
08. Ben Morgan | 15. Olly Morgan |
16. Korree Britton 17. Nathan Catt 18. Fraser Balmain 19. Tom Savage 20. Justin Tipuric 21. Kerr Barlow 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Jon Clarke
Tactics
In light rain we have picked a pack who will play up the jumper rugby and a confrontational game before releasing our backs. Our pack is one of the strongest we have fielded all season and this will give us an advantage come scrum time. Strong runners in the backrow will make the holes for our 10-12 link-up who will control the game. Steyn will be looking to stand flatter today to give the ball on the gainline.
Forwards
*Front row to concentrate on the scrum and get the upper hand from the hit. We will look to get the edge on them on their feed to open a clearer route for Morgan and Gorgodze to run at their attack,
*2nd row-lineouts is key today and we have jumpers who will look for quick ball and to disrupt their ball. Hamilton and Kohn will look to get under their skin and Higginbotham is the extra jumper,
*Back-row have international all across and are players who will bring power to the game and be strong carriers over the pitch, we will use both Higgs and Gorgodze to aim to hit every other defensive ruck to look for the turnover or disrupt their plan of getting quick ball,
*Experience and impact on the bench.
Backs
*Quick ball from Reddan and Steyn will play what's in front of him, he will look to run quite a bit of ball if there is space ahead and the defence are disorganised but if not he'll pin Sale back deep INTO TOUCH and we will challenge their lineouts. Go for goal when the opportunities are there,
*Strong centres with McCabe looking for the offload to a forward runner or to Whitten who will look to get across the gainline before releasing the strong running back 3,
*On the wings we have players who are proven scorers, Short and Garvey will both bring pace, both will look to come off their wing's for work. *We have further pace on the bench with Heathcote who can fill in and play a kicking game if the clock needs to be wound down, Kerr-Barlow will look to snipe against tired legs.
Defence
*Banana-blitz defence with McCabe leading this and Reddansweeping,
*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
*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 vs. Northampton Saints
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 17 mph winds.
Saracens
Manager – Mike Driver
01. Matt Mullen | 09. Jean-Marc Doussain |
02. Hika Elliot | 10. Ian Humphreys |
03. Jannie Du Plessis | |
04. Flip Van Der Merwe | 11. Tim Visser |
05. Rob Simmons | 12. Yannick Jauzion |
06. Phil Dowson | 13. Ma'a Nonu |
07. Joe Van Niekirk | 14. Adam Thompstone |
08. Luke Narraway | 15. Mark Cueto |
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris
01. Thomas Domingo | 09. Joe Simpson |
02. Dylan Hartley(c) | 10. Matt Giteau |
03. Sekope Kepu | |
04. Joe Launchbury | 11. Chris Ashton |
05. Patricio Albacete | 12. Weslie Fofana |
06. Julian Bonnaire | 13. Manu Tuilagi |
07. Sam Cane | 14. Julian Savea |
08. Ashley Johnson | 15. Leigh Halfpenny(k) |
Replacements
16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Webber 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Liam Messam 21. Mike Phillips 22. Ben Botica 23. Matthew Tait
Key Points
•Gainline breakers - we have a team that is full of gainline breakers who can put us in great attacking positions and give Simpson frontfoot ball.
•Impact bench - all 5 forwards big, aggressive ball carriers.
•Aggression - have picked a team that is strong in defence, can put in big hits and will be very combative at the breakdown. Will look to make it a really physical game and force Saracens into mistakes and turnovers.
•Test the lineout - with light rain we will target the lineout and attack Saracens ball with Launch, Albacete and Bonnaire.
Tactics
With the conditions we will look to play a game that is dominated by big ball carriers and getting over the gainline to generate front foot ball for our backs and ensure that Saracens are doing the majority of the tackling. Giteau will direct play at 10 and is the creative spark to put Fofana, Tuilagi and Savea into space - Ashton to track the runs of the gainline breakers and feed off the chances they create. Giteau and Halfpenny will also target Cueto's positioning at fullback and put him under pressure.
•Powerful forward pack that can generate good ball from both set pieces to attack with. Will look to generate quick ball from lineouts in the Sarries half, whilst contesting opposition lineouts to force errors.
•Have chosen an out and out 7 in Cane and will look to win the battle at the breakdown. Will smash the Sarries team off the ball and will put numbers in if the ball is there to be won. If not we will look to slow down the ball legally and reset the defence.
•We will play an aggressive blitz defence with a big battle in the centres - Fofana and Tuilagi provide a great defence to prevent the threat of the Sarries 12/13 channel, and Nonu playing out of position could sway the battle our way - Simpson to sweep behind to cover any kicks or linebreaks.
•If Sarries start to play a kicking game we will bring Ashton or Savea back to support him and then counter attack as players 9-15 are all try scorers who can win a game with one bit of magic.
•Look to empty the bench during the game and up the intensity over final 25mins or so.
Last edited by Ozzy3213 on Mon 31 Dec 2012, 8:31 am; edited 9 times in total (Reason for editing : Typo!!!)
Ozzy3213- Moderator
- Posts : 18500
Join date : 2011-01-29
Age : 48
Location : Sandhurst
Re: Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
In my opinion Ihumph and doussain could not manage there way out of a library. I had you winning by a bit but on reflection could have been a 20 point win. Giteau played 10 maybe 30-40 times for aus so is decent there but lack of playing there recently would count against a top 10 but Ihumph is poor for me
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Re: Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
Not like us to disagree lol
Can't all think alike eh
Can't all think alike eh
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
Never pooly one day you will understand rugby if you listen to my south west views.
Ihumph gets hidden in ap level as defence so bad. His channel responsible for 70% of all tries vs Irish and he was replaced by paddy Jackson who is mediocre at best. That's my case and I am sticking with it!
Ihumph gets hidden in ap level as defence so bad. His channel responsible for 70% of all tries vs Irish and he was replaced by paddy Jackson who is mediocre at best. That's my case and I am sticking with it!
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Re: Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
Jackson is 20 years old and been one of Ulsters best players this season.
Ihump got replaced because he was on decent wedge and 31 and they had the Ireland U20s fly half in the wings.
Ihump got replaced because he was on decent wedge and 31 and they had the Ireland U20s fly half in the wings.
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
I really like Jackson, boys a special talent.
Humph drives me mad though, can be magic on his day but also everything can go wrong another.
Humph drives me mad though, can be magic on his day but also everything can go wrong another.
Sgt_Pooly- Posts : 36294
Join date : 2011-04-27
Re: Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
anonmattyt wrote:Ihumph makes cips look like burger in defence
Burger hasn't missed a tackle in 6 months.........
Driver- Posts : 11038
Join date : 2011-04-20
Age : 32
Location : Hartlepool
Re: Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve
Ha ha very good. Back for February allegedly. We will see!
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