Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Thirteen

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Newcastle Falcons vs. Northampton Saints
Cloudy, 10 degrees, 11mph 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. Ed Slater 20. Tom Croft 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Adam Ashley-Cooper 23. Miles Benjamin


Tactics:

HOME ADVANTAGE - WON EVERY GAME IN OVER 2 YEARS. LOOKING FOR DOUBLE OVER SAINTS AFTER BEATING THEM AWAY

Game plan...Fast paced, high intensity, offloading, dynamic rugby. We’ll be aiming to control possession and go through the phases. 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 good 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. Look to exploit Ben T throughout with him only just signing for Saints. Barcella will look to work the youngster over and get him to concede pens.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. 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:

BEN T – With him just signing for Saints we’ll look to target him in set piece and loose as he won’t know the defensive systems at Saints. Youngs/Cruden will look to exploit him in the defensive line throughout.
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through opposition
8/9/10 combo – All world class players who can dictate tempo of game.
BREAKDOWN – Backrow to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball. With lack of fetcher in Saints pack will look to exploit here.
FORM – We are in great form in the league with a great away wins over Gloucester and Bath
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
TARGET SAINTS HALFBACKS – Look for McCaw and backrow to rough Simpson up. He likes to go himself so we’ll look for this and tie him causing slow ball and no scrum half or the turnover.
HARTLEY – Look to wind him up throughout. With Taumanolo not a strong scrummager (getting destroyed weekly in T14) will allow Franks to put pressure on the link between LH and HK and driver Hartley up which doesn’t take much. Thorn to lock down behind Franks to give added push.


Northampton Saints
Manager - Dammit Chris

01. Sona Taumalolo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. Ben Teimafona
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Chris Ashton
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Matt Giteau
06. Liam Messam	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Bonnaire	14. Juan Jose Imhoff
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

16. Rob Webber 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Logovi'i Mulipola 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Calum Clark 21. Mike Phillips 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Matthew Tait

Key Points

To beat Newcastle away we have targeted the following areas:

• Defence: Team selected on defensive ability. We are aiming to spoil Newcastle's attacking flow, slow down their game and Ashton, Imhoff and Halfpenny selected as defensive unit to stop the threat of Newcastle outwide/limit try scoring opportunities. With Lawes leading the forward defensive effort, we are going to play a very physical/confrontational game. Simpson to sweep behind a blitz defence.

• Attack: To use the ball carriers in our pack to get us over the gainline and work on going through the phases and keeping hold of the ball before attacking at speed. To really disrupt Newcastle's rhythm and their tempo. Simpson in great form (see his try v London Welsh!), whilst Youngs is very hot and cold - main point of attack will be off Giteau who will look to isolate Lowe and put Tuilagi and other backs through his channel. Have no9, 13 and backthree that need just one chance to score.

• Kicking game: Selected Hernandez at no10 for his kicking game, which will be supported by Giteau and Halfpenny. Perceive Newcastle to have no kicking game in their midfield and will look to win the kicking battle and territory game. Winning the territory game will be vital in such a big game and with the kick chase offered by Ashton and Imhoff this will be big factor for Saints.

• Taking three points: With territory we will take every opportunity for three points we can take, whether it is Halfpenny's boot from 55metres out or Hernandez's eye for a drop goal.

• Set piece: Very strong scrum and target Mears who we believe we can exploit as long as he is on the pitch. With the kicking game we have implemented we will also be looking to target the Newcastle lineout, with Bonnaire leading and Lawes, Albacete and Parisse as options this is a key area for us. Aim to generate quick ball from our own throw to attack Newcastle through the midfield. (no issue for Ben T as was club colleague with Sona at the Chiefs).

• Power: We have purposefully picked a team that is full of power and physicality so (i) we can get over the Newcastle gainline and attack with frontfoot ball (both props, Lawes, Albacete, Messam and Parisse in the pack) and (ii) so we can clear out the Newcastle players at the breakdown area and slow down quick Newcastle ball. Aware of how good McCaw is so opting to use a power-based game and limiting his effectiveness instead of directly competing.

• Leadership/Experience: Great mix of leadership/experience in the team, with Hartley, Albacete, Parisse and Bonnaire in the pack and Hernandez and Giteau in the backline. Important to win away.

• Finish strong: We've picked a really strong subs bench to ensure we finish the game the better of the two sides. All big ball carriers and game changers who can add to the physicality in the closing 25/30minutes.

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Gloucester vs. London Irish
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 9mph winds.

Gloucester
Manager - Mat

01. Nick Wood	09. Connor Murray
02. Joe Gray	10. Dan Carter
03. Jamie Johnstone
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Jonny May
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Steven Ferris	13. Juan de Jongh
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoquoy	15. Israel Dagg

16. Guthro Steenkamp17. Adrian Strauss 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer20. Jamie Heaslip 21. Dan Robson 22. Iain Balshaw 23. Ryan lamb

Tactics

Glos are targeting a BP win at home and are really looking to open up the game by getting our big ball carriers on front foot and trying to get in behind Irish. We have gone for a super dynamic bench and will be looking to get our forward replacements on after about 50 to maintain tempo.

Keys points
Target scrum- whole front row in great form with a top bench front row to come on. This enables them to go full tilt from off

Lineout- As ever we have gone for 5 jumpers and have 2 Great throwing hookers. We will really target Lindsay's darts and see this as a key point

We will be mixing the drive and off the top to really get in to Irish

Ball carriers- we are packed with mobile ball carriers and will look to play high intensity with offloading and dynamic rucking.

We will be sending numbers in to rucks I create quick ball early on and also to nullify armitage.

Our Backrow will also target dupuy and try to ruin his ball to evans

Aim is to play an open brand but we will kick all penalties and not look to throw around until we have got on front foot.

8,9,10,12 channel is strong for us and we will use this to dictate tempo.

When we get in right positions we will be trying to isolate one on ones with our super quick backline
As game progresses tempo will be revved up with quick throw ins and our back 3 countering every loose kick.

Defensively we will be aggressive and use the blitz where necessary.

We are targeting the win and the BP win with it and think we have the team and bench to deliver this.


London Irish
Manager – pullthestrings

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Adam Jones
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. Tom Homer

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London Welsh vs. Harlequins
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 9mph winds.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Digby Ioane
05. Dean Schofield	12. Owen Farrell
06. Tom Johnson	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Thierry Dusautoir (c)	14. Bryan Habana
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Jaco Taute

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Dave Wilson 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Duane Vermeulen 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Darren Cave 23. James Simpson-Daniel


Key Points

• Form/Momentum. Our form over the last 6 matches is DWWWWW so we come into this game in form, full of confidence and with great momentum.
  
• Home advantage. We have an experienced side playing at home which has to be worth a few points in any game.
  
• Top international half backs, with world class finishers out wide which will enable us to take any chances that we create.
  
• 10-12 ability to interchange and keep the Quins 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. (Only Tigers have conceded fewer points than us this season)
  
• Schofield and Taulava are both 20st and come in to effect our gameplan of physically dominating the gainline collisions.
  
• We are playing to control possession and not give Quins any counter attack opportunities.
  
• Front 5 weight stats: Welsh 94st 2lbs (ave 18st 12lbs) - Quins 88st 9lbs (ave 17st 10lbs). That's a stone a man advantage, and with good techinical props as well our scrum will not be going backwards, and we will have an advantage in the collisions on the gainline.
  

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 Quins 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 Quins 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, being particularly wary of Burns ability to chip and chase.
  
• 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.
  
• Schofield to run the lineout mixing it up for us to secure ball and utilise the the maul in attack. In defence will use the athletic Johnson to disrupt Quins ball by putting pressure on Brits.
  

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 (c)	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Dave Denton	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Joe Marler 18. Ben Franks 19. George Kruis 20. Sam Warburton 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Matt Smith

Tactics

Game Plan

We will look to control the possession and the tempo of the game. We will look to keep the ball in hand when we are outside of our own 22 and look to put the pressure on Welsh and cause them to make mistake/give away penalties. We will use our big carriers in our pack to get us over the gainline and tie in defenders before we send the ball into wider channels.

We will be looking for our front 5 to carry off of 9 and 10 with our back row looking to carry off 10 and 12. When our forwards carry we want them to do so with support so they can offload or we can ruck over the ball quickly so we can get quick ball and start again. We want our carriers to win the collisions and keep the legs pumping in contact so as to cross the gain line. We have deliberately picked a pack full of carriers so we can make yards in the early phases of our attack.

In our own 22 or when we do have to kick we will look to kick to touch or use the up and under option so we don't give the London Welsh wingers the chance to run at a broken field.

Forwards

In the pack we will look to control the set piece. Borthwick will run our lineout with Denton, Botha and Easter providing other jumping options. At the scrum we will look to put big pressure on Castro who might not be used to the Welsh scrum technique. When it comes to the ruck we want to adopt a low body position and clear the breakdown so Dickson has clean ball to increase the tempo should he decide to. We don't want to have to commit lots of men to the rucks when we have the ball so we need to be effective with our rucking technique. Welsh don't have a natural breakdown man so we feel we can get some quick ruck ball by rucking quickly and effectively.

Backs

The key to this game lies with our half backs, We have the men to play to the style we want to. Dickson will control our pack and get us quick ball and Freddie Burns will play flat and bring other into the game, as well as kick his goals. It is key for us to cross the gainline to allow Burns to stand flat and attack the Welsh defensive line. We will look to have Jamie Roberts run a line at each opportunity and Burns can either hit him or another forward or he can play behind them and hit JJ or one of the back 3. We will look to get the ball into the hands of our back 3 joining the line at pace once there are gaps outwide.

Defence

We will look to have a quick line speed and out real pressure on the Welsh decision makers. At rucks we are determined to make Welsh work hard at the rucks with Hooper looking to get on the ball early. We will look to double up in the tackle area when we can with one man taking the legs (or winning the collision if its possible) with the second man concentrating on the ball.

Key Points

- Castro comes into the Welsh side straight away. Plausible that he will struggle with calls and knowing the game plan.

- Keep the ball, build the pressure, draw the penalties.

- Kick the points when we have the chance. This is a big game and we will take the points at each opportunity.

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Saracens vs. Sale Sharks
Cloudy, 10 degrees, 9mph winds.

Saracens Football Club
Manager – DHLS07

01. Matt Mullan	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. John Smit (c)	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Flip van der Merwe	11. Mark Cueto
05. Ali Williams	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Joe van Niekerk	13. Jean de Villiers
07. Liam Gill	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Elliott Daly

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Werner Kruger 19. Rob Simmons 20. Phil Dowson 21. Jean-Marc Doussain 22. Gareth Steenson 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics

- Very much a traditional South African game plan as adopted by Heyneke Meyer.

- Big emphasis on the forwards dominating their opponents with their physicality. Be abrasive and niggly and get under the skin of the Sale forwards.

- Tight forward dominated game with big carriers punching holes in the Sale defence.

- Kick/Chase game using our wingers to hunt the ball as it drops and if the opposition winger takes it to wrap him up in the tackle and isolate him to either win us the turnover or the penalty.

- Really go for it on turnover ball and get the ball through the hands and exploit the disorganised defence.

- Use Daly's cannon of a boot to play in the Sale half of the pitch.

- Solid defensive line with Liam Gill either stealing or slowing the ball at the breakdown.

- If we are going through the phases and getting nowhere near to the Sale twenty-two then take the drop goal and the three points.

- Our escape from the relegation battle starts today. The team is fired up this one and want to impress the new manager.


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. Alex Tulou	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Dave Attwood 20. Peter O’Mahony 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

Key Points

• Momentum. We are 5 wins for 5 and come in to this with a settled side full of form. Sarries find themselves at the bottom of the table, under new management and handing a few debuts out.

• Goalkicking. Lack of a consistent goal kicker in the Sarries side with neither FTD or Elliot high percentage kickers. This is crucial in a game where Sarries will need to take any points on offer.

• Lack of pace in the Sarries back three means the kicking game will have to be spot on for their chasers and FTD is not known for his kicking from hand.

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 Sarries 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 Sarries 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 Sarries 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.

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London Wasps vs. Bath Rugby
Cloudy, 9 degrees, 7mph winds.

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
At home this week and we look to seal the first win in Flux era at Adams Park. 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 Bath 22. If Bath 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 Bath defenders further apart and produce wholes or mismatches. Bath 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

• This week we believe we have a stronger front row, and bigger scrummaging front five. And we want to use this to our advantage and nullify any front ball that Bath backrow will get.
  
  
• 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 and backrow
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• 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 Bath.
  
  
• 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 Bath should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With only Hodgson the only recognised FH in their squad we will look to knock him backwards every-time and unsettle him, He will be there all game and this will cause mistakes when he has been severely rattled. [b]
  
  [b]
• In attack we will look to vary the attack with grubbers in behind the big guys of the Bath line to make them turn and pressure them.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Ben Alexander	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Carl Rimmer
04. Luke Romano	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Juan Martin Fernando Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Jon Golding 17. Chris Brooker 18. Davit Kubrashvilli 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Tom Guest 21. Aaron Smith 22. Nopolini Nalaga 23. Luther Burrell

Overall: Look to play flowing rugby with Hodgson pulling the strings. We will be looking for big carries all over to get over the gainline.

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. We will look to hammer this advantage home. We have Whitelock and Lobbe leading our lineout whilst Haskell and Romano both offer solid options. We will look to actively pressure 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 Romano, Mealamu, Lobbe and Haskell 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 Haskell 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. Wigglesworth 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 North, Rougerie, Jane and Hogg seeing lots of the ball.

Fatigue: We feel we are more fresh than the Wasps team. Robinson, Ryan, Barclay, Crane and Laulala have all started 3 games in a row. Myler has played four of the last five with Ojo playing five straight. Brown and Phipps have played 5 of the last six including 2 internationals with six straight from Barritt.

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

Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo. Golding, Brooker and Kubrashvilli will look to keep the scrum strong. Kitchener will look to add grit late as well as another quality lineout operator. Guest will look to get in gaps with his strong running. Smith will look to add tempo late on and try to put pressure on Wasps defenders. Nalaga + Burrell will come on early in the second half and will look to get their hands on the ball for big carries against tired legs.

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Worcester Warriors vs. Leicester Tigers
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 7mph winds.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd

01. Beast	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Gary Botha	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Tom Savage	11. Sean Maitland
05. Jim Hamilton (c)	12. Olly Barkley
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Yannick Jauzion
07. Justin Tipuric	14. James Short
08. Ben Morgan	15. Olly Morgan

16. Korree Britton 17. Fraser Balmain 18. Nathan Catt 19. Ollie Kohn 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Eoin Reddan 22. Pat McCabe 23. Marcel Garvey

Tactics

Overall

Tigers expect us to play a kicking game in the current conditions. We have picked 2 players capable of getting us downfield if needs be but have a beastly pack and will look more towards the forwards. In our backs we have good strike runners across the backline and an inform Peel who will give Steyn more time on the ball. Quick ball will be used only if it is on and gaps can be seen, the forwards will take on a lot of ball today and the backs will have the ball on the front foot.


Forwards

*Heavy front row who have played together for Worcester a lot, will look to gain the nudge on at scrum and clear any obstacles at the breakdown,

*Brute force here and both capable of jumping in the lineout. Both will be wind up merchants and strong carriers from the base of the rucks as we look to pick and drive,

*Breakdown specialist in Tips (lineout option) who will float along the defensive line and pick the gaps at the breakdown to get the turnovers,

*Gorgodze (lineout option) and Morgan are both very hard to stop and will target the centre pairing of Tigers especially BOD who hasn’t played a lot IRL,

*Good front row power and Kohn, Higginbotham will add the extra international quality.


Backs

*Halfback pairing who will capitalise gaps and want quick ball for our outside backs,

*As a change of tactics we will have Steyn standing flat in opposition half, this will allow us to bring in our strike runners quicker and give Barkley quick ball for Jauzion to break through the gainline,

*If we are penned in our own half then we will look to put boot to ball, when this happens Steyn and Barkley will swap to give Steyn more time to clear when stood at 12, he will make sure the ball goes out of play and prevent any quick counter attack,

*The centres have strike runners on their shoulders from 11-15 and 6-8 who will look to break through and support any breaks made,

*Back three won’t see a much ball as we look to play a tight game but Morgan is comfortable under high ball and Short and Maitland will come looking for work,

*Strong impact bench with Reddan providing pace, McCabe will run at tired legs, Garvey brings power to the back 3.


Defence

*Blitz-banana defence with Peel sweeping,

*We will have one of our back 5 players in the 10-12 channel to support Steyn and Barkley and look for a quick turnover,

*Slow down their ball and use Gorgodze to target Wilkinson.


Extra’s

*Conditions are good for this style of rugby,

*Our pack have been praised as a wet weather, winter pack so we are playing to our strength’s today,

*Targeting a win here and give their all as many of the players will rest after this game,

*Tigers may be top but Sixways in the wet with our current team is hard to come away from with a strong win and we will look to bring them down to our level and target a big upset.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Geoff Parling	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Steve Mafi	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Ryan Bower 17. Stephen Moore 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Simon Shaw 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Frederic Michalak 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Dominic Waldouck

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around winning the kicking battle by targetting Worcester's back three; the physicality in our pack and the strength in our set piece.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole and Sheridan to look to really get into an out of sorts Beast and Botha.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Mafi at the front and Parling off the top as our two key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option.
Mafi at the front on Worcester throws putting real pressure on Botha.

- Physical, abrasive pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Worcester defence. The likes of SOB, Louw, Youngs, Mafi and Hines to be used to crash through the Worcester defence.
Look to play an offloading game, with runners always supporting.

- Look to win battle at 7 with Louw vs Tipuric - 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.

- If in the centre of the pitch 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 kicking game of Yach, Wilko and Beale to target Worcester's back three. 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:

Form and Momentum
11 wins out of 12 in the league, we are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. Our away form has been a real plus point - having already beat Irish, Sale, Saracens, Wasps and London Welsh away from home.

Target Worcester's Back Three
We expect M.Steyn to play a kicking game, so have selected Nacewa and Beale in our back three with their safe hands and counter/kicking ability. Use kicking game of Yach, Wilko and Beale to target Worcester's back three with high kicks and win that key battle.

Impact off Bench
Look to utilise our bench in the 2nd half to dominate Irish. Moore and Cencus to keep the set piece on track, and Waldrom to add serious carrying options. Michalak to give us a bit of creativity if needed at HB.

---

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 (c)	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Dave Denton	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Joe Marler 18. Ben Franks 19. George Kruis 20. Sam Warburton 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Matt Smith

Tactics

Game Plan

We will look to control the possession and the tempo of the game. We will look to keep the ball in hand when we are outside of our own 22 and look to put the pressure on Welsh and cause them to make mistake/give away penalties. We will use our big carriers in our pack to get us over the gainline and tie in defenders before we send the ball into wider channels.

We will be looking for our front 5 to carry off of 9 and 10 with our back row looking to carry off 10 and 12. When our forwards carry we want them to do so with support so they can offload or we can ruck over the ball quickly so we can get quick ball and start again. We want our carriers to win the collisions and keep the legs pumping in contact so as to cross the gain line. We have deliberately picked a pack full of carriers so we can make yards in the early phases of our attack.

In our own 22 or when we do have to kick we will look to kick to touch or use the up and under option so we don't give the London Welsh wingers the chance to run at a broken field.

Forwards

In the pack we will look to control the set piece. Borthwick will run our lineout with Denton, Botha and Easter providing other jumping options. At the scrum we will look to put big pressure on Castro who might not be used to the Welsh scrum technique. When it comes to the ruck we want to adopt a low body position and clear the breakdown so Dickson has clean ball to increase the tempo should he decide to. We don't want to have to commit lots of men to the rucks when we have the ball so we need to be effective with our rucking technique. Welsh don't have a natural breakdown man so we feel we can get some quick ruck ball by rucking quickly and effectively.

Backs

The key to this game lies with our half backs, We have the men to play to the style we want to. Dickson will control our pack and get us quick ball and Freddie Burns will play flat and bring other into the game, as well as kick his goals. It is key for us to cross the gainline to allow Burns to stand flat and attack the Welsh defensive line. We will look to have Jamie Roberts run a line at each opportunity and Burns can either hit him or another forward or he can play behind them and hit JJ or one of the back 3. We will look to get the ball into the hands of our back 3 joining the line at pace once there are gaps outwide.

Defence

We will look to have a quick line speed and out real pressure on the Welsh decision makers. At rucks we are determined to make Welsh work hard at the rucks with Hooper looking to get on the ball early. We will look to double up in the tackle area when we can with one man taking the legs (or winning the collision if its possible) with the second man concentrating on the ball.

Key Points

- Castro comes into the Welsh side straight away. Plausible that he will struggle with calls and knowing the game plan.

- Keep the ball, build the pressure, draw the penalties.

- Kick the points when we have the chance. This is a big game and we will take the points at each opportunity.

Can I do the double over Saints

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Ben Alexander	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Carl Rimmer
04. Luke Romano	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Juan Martin Fernando Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Jon Golding 17. Chris Brooker 18. Davit Kubrashvilli 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Tom Guest 21. Aaron Smith 22. Nopolini Nalaga 23. Luther Burrell

Overall: Look to play flowing rugby with Hodgson pulling the strings. We will be looking for big carries all over to get over the gainline.

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. We will look to hammer this advantage home. We have Whitelock and Lobbe leading our lineout whilst Haskell and Romano both offer solid options. We will look to actively pressure 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 Romano, Mealamu, Lobbe and Haskell 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 Haskell 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. Wigglesworth 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 North, Rougerie, Jane and Hogg seeing lots of the ball.

Fatigue: We feel we are more fresh than the Wasps team. Robinson, Ryan, Barclay, Crane and Laulala have all started 3 games in a row. Myler has played four of the last five with Ojo playing five straight. Brown and Phipps have played 5 of the last six including 2 internationals with six straight from Barritt.

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

Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo. Golding, Brooker and Kubrashvilli will look to keep the scrum strong. Kitchener will look to add grit late as well as another quality lineout operator. Guest will look to get in gaps with his strong running. Smith will look to add tempo late on and try to put pressure on Wasps defenders. Nalaga + Burrell will come on early in the second half and will look to get their hands on the ball for big carries against tired legs.

Pfft...........bring on an UPSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Go easy on me Luke yeah?! The Warriors staff'll cook your starting 15 food the night before as a kind gesture.

No lasagne please.

It'll be a curry.

Leicester Tigers have named their side to play Worcester this week.

Tigers have made 3 changes to the side that beat Gloucester 28-20 last week. Tom Youngs, Nathan Hines and Steve Mafi come into the pack, and replace Stephen Moore, Pascal Pape and Ernst Joubert.

Manager LukeLovesLuka has said "we've made a few changes, as we normally do, and in this case we had a big game against Gloucester last week, and i've made a change in the front row, second row and back row.

Worcester will pick an abrasive side, and we will look to beat them at their own game. Tom, Nathan and Steve are very physical players, and we've gone for a gigantic pack to win the physical battle - for our backs to then take advantage of."

Tigers have now beaten every side in the league this season, and are on target to better last year's league position of 4th.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Geoff Parling	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Steve Mafi	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Ryan Bower 17. Stephen Moore 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Simon Shaw 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Frederic Michalak 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Dominic Waldouck

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around winning the kicking battle by targetting Worcester's back three; the physicality in our pack and the strength in our set piece.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole and Sheridan to look to really get into an out of sorts Beast and Botha.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Mafi at the front and Parling off the top as our two key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option.
Mafi at the front on Worcester throws putting real pressure on Botha.

- Physical, abrasive pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Worcester defence. The likes of SOB, Louw, Youngs, Mafi and Hines to be used to crash through the Worcester defence.
Look to play an offloading game, with runners always supporting.

- Look to win battle at 7 with Louw vs Tipuric - 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.

- If in the centre of the pitch 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 kicking game of Yach, Wilko and Beale to target Worcester's back three. 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:

Form and Momentum
11 wins out of 12 in the league, we are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. Our away form has been a real plus point - having already beat Irish, Sale, Saracens, Wasps and London Welsh away from home.

Target Worcester's Back Three
We expect M.Steyn to play a kicking game, so have selected Nacewa and Beale in our back three with their safe hands and counter/kicking ability. Use kicking game of Yach, Wilko and Beale to target Worcester's back three with high kicks and win that key battle.

Impact off Bench
Look to utilise our bench in the 2nd half to dominate Irish. Moore and Cencus to keep the set piece on track, and Waldrom to add serious carrying options. Michalak to give us a bit of creativity if needed at HB.

Have to get my selection and tactics spot on this week. Going to be a tough battle vs. Quins.

Tough games. Glad to be at home

Has the makings of a great game Pete. Luke has a tough away game so could potentially be a chance for myself or Pooly to try and bridge the gap.

Looking at the fixtures they should all be pretty close ones really, all could go either way depending on teams/tactics. Am just putting together mine now. Couple of changes for me this week to try to effect the gameplan I want to play and give us an edge. Will have it in this afternoon/evening Steve so you'll have plenty of time to get your tactics done.

London Welsh make 3 personnel changes in the pack and 1 positional change in the backs as they seek to extend their unbeaten run to 7 games against Harlequins at the Kassam Stadium this week. New signing Martin Castrogiovanni comes in at tighthead with Dave Wilson dropping to bench, along with Duane Vermeulen, who is replaced by Semisi Taulava. Dean Schofield comes in for James Hanks, who drops out of the matchday 23. In the backs, Patric Lambie and Owen Farrell switch positions at 10 and 12 in a move designed in part to strengthen the side defensively in the centres.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Digby Ioane
05. Dean Schofield	12. Owen Farrell
06. Tom Johnson	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Thierry Dusautoir (c)	14. Bryan Habana
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Jaco Taute

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Dave Wilson 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Duane Vermeulen 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Darren Cave 23. James Simpson-Daniel


Key Points

• Form/Momentum. Our form over the last 6 matches is DWWWWW so we come into this game in form, full of confidence and with great momentum.
  
• Home advantage. We have an experienced side playing at home which has to be worth a few points in any game.
  
• Top international half backs, with world class finishers out wide which will enable us to take any chances that we create.
  
• 10-12 ability to interchange and keep the Quins 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. (Only Tigers have conceded fewer points than us this season)
  
• Schofield and Taulava are both 20st and come in to effect our gameplan of physically dominating the gainline collisions.
  
• We are playing to control possession and not give Quins any counter attack opportunities.
  
• Front 5 weight stats: Welsh 94st 2lbs (ave 18st 12lbs) - Quins 88st 9lbs (ave 17st 10lbs). That's a stone a man advantage, and with good techinical props as well our scrum will not be going backwards, and we will have an advantage in the collisions on the gainline.
  

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 Quins 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 Quins 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, being particularly wary of Burns ability to chip and chase.
  
• 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.
  
• Schofield to run the lineout mixing it up for us to secure ball and utilise the the maul in attack. In defence will use the athletic Johnson to disrupt Quins ball by putting pressure on Brits.
  

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
At home this week and we look to seal the first win in Flux era at Adams Park. 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 Bath 22. If Bath 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 Bath defenders further apart and produce wholes or mismatches. Bath 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

• This week we believe we have a stronger front row, and bigger scrummaging front five. And we want to use this to our advantage and nullify any front ball that Bath backrow will get.
  
  
• 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 and backrow
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• 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 Bath.
  
  
• 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 Bath should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With only Hodgson the only recognised FH in their squad we will look to knock him backwards every-time and unsettle him, He will be there all game and this will cause mistakes when he has been severely rattled. [b]
  
  [b]
• In attack we will look to vary the attack with grubbers in behind the big guys of the Bath line to make them turn and pressure them.

---

Northampton Saints
Manager Dammit Chris

01. Sona Taumalolo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. Ben Teimafona
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Chris Ashton
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Matt Giteau
06. Liam Messam	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Bonnaire	14. Juan Jose Imhoff
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

16. Rob Webber 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Logovi'i Mulipola 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Calum Clark 21. Mike Phillips 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Matthew Tait

Key Points

To beat Newcastle away we have targeted the following areas:

• Defence: Team selected on defensive ability. We are aiming to spoil Newcastle's attacking flow, slow down their game and Ashton, Imhoff and Halfpenny selected as defensive unit to stop the threat of Newcastle outwide/limit try scoring opportunities. With Lawes leading the forward defensive effort, we are going to play a very physical/confrontational game. Simpson to sweep behind a blitz defence.

• Attack: To use the ball carriers in our pack to get us over the gainline and work on going through the phases and keeping hold of the ball before attacking at speed. To really disrupt Newcastle's rhythm and their tempo. Simpson in great form (see his try v London Welsh!), whilst Youngs is very hot and cold - main point of attack will be off Giteau who will look to isolate Lowe and put Tuilagi and other backs through his channel. Have no9, 13 and backthree that need just one chance to score.

• Kicking game: Selected Hernandez at no10 for his kicking game, which will be supported by Giteau and Halfpenny. Perceive Newcastle to have no kicking game in their midfield and will look to win the kicking battle and territory game. Winning the territory game will be vital in such a big game and with the kick chase offered by Ashton and Imhoff this will be big factor for Saints.

• Taking three points: With territory we will take every opportunity for three points we can take, whether it is Halfpenny's boot from 55metres out or Hernandez's eye for a drop goal.

• Set piece: Very strong scrum and target Mears who we believe we can exploit as long as he is on the pitch. With the kicking game we have implemented we will also be looking to target the Newcastle lineout, with Bonnaire leading and Lawes, Albacete and Parisse as options this is a key area for us. Aim to generate quick ball from our own throw to attack Newcastle through the midfield. (no issue for Ben T as was club colleague with Sona at the Chiefs).

• Power: We have purposefully picked a team that is full of power and physicality so (i) we can get over the Newcastle gainline and attack with frontfoot ball (both props, Lawes, Albacete, Messam and Parisse in the pack) and (ii) so we can clear out the Newcastle players at the breakdown area and slow down quick Newcastle ball. Aware of how good McCaw is so opting to use a power-based game and limiting his effectiveness instead of directly competing.

• Leadership/Experience: Great mix of leadership/experience in the team, with Hartley, Albacete, Parisse and Bonnaire in the pack and Hernandez and Giteau in the backline. Important to win away.

• Finish strong: We've picked a really strong subs bench to ensure we finish the game the better of the two sides. All big ball carriers and game changers who can add to the physicality in the closing 25/30minutes.

Bloody hell Chris, you only signed Ben T about 15mins ago!

01. Beast	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Gary Botha	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Tom Savage	11. Sean Maitland
05. Jim Hamilton (c)	12. Olly Barkley
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Yannick Jauzion
07. Justin Tipuric	14. James Short
08. Ben Morgan	15. Olly Morgan

16. Korree Britton 17. Fraser Balmain 18. Nathan Catt 19. Ollie Kohn 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Eoin Reddan 22. Pat McCabe 23. Marcel Garvey

Tactics

Overall

Tigers expect us to play a kicking game in the current conditions. We have picked 2 players capable of getting us downfield if needs be but have a beastly pack and will look more towards the forwards. In our backs we have good strike runners across the backline and an inform Peel who will give Steyn more time on the ball. Quick ball will be used only if it is on and gaps can be seen, the forwards will take on a lot of ball today and the backs will have the ball on the front foot.



Forwards

*Heavy front row who have played together for Worcester a lot, will look to gain the nudge on at scrum and clear any obstacles at the breakdown,

*Brute force here and both capable of jumping in the lineout. Both will be wind up merchants and strong carriers from the base of the rucks as we look to pick and drive,

*Breakdown specialist in Tips (lineout option) who will float along the defensive line and pick the gaps at the breakdown to get the turnovers,

*Gorgodze (lineout option) and Morgan are both very hard to stop and will target the centre pairing of Tigers especially BOD who hasn’t played a lot IRL,

*Good front row power and Kohn, Higginbotham will add the extra international quality.



Backs

*Halfback pairing who will capitalise gaps and want quick ball for our outside backs,

*As a change of tactics we will have Steyn standing flat in opposition half, this will allow us to bring in our strike runners quicker and give Barkley quick ball for Jauzion to break through the gainline,

*If we are penned in our own half then we will look to put boot to ball, when this happens Steyn and Barkley will swap to give Steyn more time to clear when stood at 12, he will make sure the ball goes out of play and prevent any quick counter attack,

*The centres have strike runners on their shoulders from 11-15 and 6-8 who will look to break through and support any breaks made,

*Back three won’t see a much ball as we look to play a tight game but Morgan is comfortable under high ball and Short and Maitland will come looking for work,

*Strong impact bench with Reddan providing pace, McCabe will run at tired legs, Garvey brings power to the back 3.



Defence

*Blitz-banana defence with Peel sweeping,

*We will have one of our back 5 players in the 10-12 channel to support Steyn and Barkley and look for a quick turnover,

*Slow down their ball and use Gorgodze to target Wilkinson.



Extra’s

*Conditions are good for this style of rugby,

*Our pack have been praised as a wet weather, winter pack so we are playing to our strength’s today,

*Targeting a win here and give their all as many of the players will rest after this game,

*Tigers may be top but Sixways in the wet with our current team is hard to come away from with a strong win and we will look to bring them down to our level and target a big upset.

Tactics added, our game looks a belter Steve. Best of luck bud.

Saracens Football Club
Manager – DHLS07

01. Matt Mullan	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. John Smit (c)	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Flip van der Merwe	11. Mark Cueto
05. Ali Williams	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Joe van Niekerk	13. Jean de Villiers
07. Liam Gill	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Elliott Daly

16. George Chuter 17. Max Lahiff 18. Werner Kruger 19. Rob Simmons 20. Phil Dowson 21. Jean-Marc Doussain 22. Gareth Steenson 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics

- Very much a traditional South African game plan as adopted by Heyneke Meyer.

- Big emphasis on the forwards dominating their opponents with their physicality. Be abrasive and niggly and get under the skin of the Sale forwards.

- Tight forward dominated game with big carriers punching holes in the Sale defence.

- Kick/Chase game using our wingers to hunt the ball as it drops and if the opposition winger takes it to wrap him up in the tackle and isolate him to either win us the turnover or the penalty.

- Really go for it on turnover ball and get the ball through the hands and exploit the disorganised defence.

- Use Daly's cannon of a boot to play in the Sale half of the pitch.

- Solid defensive line with Liam Gill either stealing or slowing the ball at the breakdown.

- If we are going through the phases and getting nowhere near to the Sale twenty-two then take the drop goal and the three points.

- Our escape from the relegation battle starts today. The team is fired up this one and want to impress the new manager.

Will have to do my tactics in the morning guys, haven't seen Pooly's team yet so will get my tactics in by 10am tomorrow.

And Pooly Ben T's looking forward to playing alongside his cousin in the front row, their time together at Chiefs will help him ease straight in to the swing of things...so don't you worry about that!

Front row is a unit mate, wouldn't expect you to understand lol. What about defensive duties??

I'll have my team in later tonight, cut off for team and tactics is midnight so not sure why you're naming them at 10am tomorrow Chris.

Got a networking event tonight so wont be able to do tactics (i) before you get round to posting a team and (ii) when I get in as it will be a last train job, so if it is ok with Pete I will make sure they are there for 10am tomorrow morning?

We've allowed teams/tactics in late previously. Predictions are open from midnight, and it's up to people when they predict. If it is before tactics are in then in the spirit of the game I think most people would miss out that predo and come back to it if they know tactics are coming. If people know they can't get on after to do it then you may end up witht he game being predicted on without your tactics.

This has always been the case.

DHL: I think you only have 9 eq players bud

I might be wrong but he might be counting Steenson, who I think could play for England on residency grounds but I don't know if he has declared he would play.

Main issue with him is that I don't think Pete has accepted DHL's bid for him yet

Chris, I posted team & tactics the other week when Matt didn't post his team till Friday. There's no rule which states the opposition team has to be in, it's just a midnight cut off.

Not sure how I can do tactics when I don't see a team though - can't really do much until I've seen them. Always try and get my team in as early as possible so the other manager can get a team in etc, know it isnt possible for people to put a team in earlier etc.

But I'm off for work now and wont be in until 12:30/1ish if I'm lucky so can't really put my tactics in until tomorrow morning I'm afraid.

"Not sure how I can do tactics when I don't see a team though - can't really do much until I've seen them"

Same way I done it last week. There's a cut off, no rule for teams in.

Give it a rest you two, it's getting tedious already.


Steenson is EQ unless he gets capped by Ireland, which is unlikely, or moves abroad. Slight issue that I haven't accpeted the bid yet, albeit that it will be accepted at that price. I'll let it slide this week, but for future reference DHL you need to wait for the bid to be accepted before you can include the player in your team.

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. Ed Slater 20. Tom Croft 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Adam Ashley-Cooper 23. Miles Benjamin


Tactics:

HOME ADVANTAGE - WON EVERY GAME IN OVER 2 YEARS. LOOKING FOR DOUBLE OVER SAINTS AFTER BEATING THEM AWAY

Game plan...Fast paced, high intensity, offloading, dynamic rugby. We’ll be aiming to control possession and go through the phases. 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 good 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. Look to exploit Ben T throughout with him only just signing for Saints. Barcella will look to work the youngster over and get him to concede pens.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. 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:

BEN T – With him just signing for Saints we’ll look to target him in set piece and loose as he won’t know the defensive systems at Saints. Youngs/Cruden will look to exploit him in the defensive line throughout.
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through opposition
8/9/10 combo – All world class players who can dictate tempo of game.
BREAKDOWN – Backrow to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball. With lack of fetcher in Saints pack will look to exploit here.
FORM – We are in great form in the league with a great away wins over Gloucester and Bath
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
TARGET SAINTS HALFBACKS – Look for McCaw and backrow to rough Simpson up. He likes to go himself so we’ll look for this and tie him causing slow ball and no scrum half or the turnover.
HARTLEY – Look to wind him up throughout. With Taumanolo not a strong scrummager (getting destroyed weekly in T14) will allow Franks to put pressure on the link between LH and HK and driver Hartley up which doesn’t take much. Thorn to lock down behind Franks to give added push.

On phone, will put in format later

01. Nick Wood	09. Connor Murray
02. Joe Gray	10. Dan Carter
03. Jamie Johnstone
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. Johnny May
05. George Robsob	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Steven ferris	13. Juan de Jongh
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoquoy	15. Israel Dagg

16. Guthro steenkamp17. Adrian strauss18. Rupert Harden19. Tom Palmer20. Jamie heaslip 21. Dan Robson 22. Iain Balshaw 23. Ryan lamb

Tactics

Glos are targeting a BP win at home and are really looking to open up the game by getting our big ball carriers on front foot and trying to get in behind Irish. We have gone for a super dynamic bench and will be looking to get our forward replacements on after about 50 to maintain tempo.

Keys points
Target scrum- whole front row in great form with a top bench front row to come on. This enables them to go full tilt from off

Lineout- As ever we have gone for 5 jumpers and have 2 Great throwing hookers. We will really target Lindsay's darts and see this as a key point

We will be mixing the drive and off the top to really get in to Irish

Ball carriers- we are packed with mobile ball carriers and will look to play high intensity with offloading and dynamic rucking.

We will be sending numbers in to rucks I create quick ball early on and also to nullify armitage.

Our Backrow will also target dupuy and try to ruin his ball to evans

Aim is to play an open brand but we will kick all penalties and not look to throw around until we have got on front foot.

8,9,10,12 channel is strong for us and we will use this to dictate tempo.

When we get in right positions we will be trying to isolate one on ones with our super quick backline
As game progresses tempo will be revved up with quick throw ins and our back 3 countering every loose kick.

Defensively we will be aggressive and use the blitz where necessary.

We are targeting the win and the BP win with it and think we have the team and bench to deliver this.

Keeping tactics short and succinct. I like tactics but some are too long for me

Must add people's tactics not too long this week. Think the new guys have set there teams out well

Looking forward to seeing George Robsob in action

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. Lee Mears	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Owen Franks
04. Juandre Kruger	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

Spot the deliberate mistake!!!

Teach me trying to do team on my phone

Mine was on my phone hence Robsob

Yo boys, just got back from training - can I post now?

yes mate, open till midnight

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. Alex Tulou	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Dave Attwood 20. Peter O’Mahony 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

Key Points

• Momentum. We are 5 wins for 5 and come in to this with a settled side full of form. Sarries find themselves at the bottom of the table, under new management and handing a few debuts out.

• Goalkicking. Lack of a consistent goal kicker in the Sarries side with neither FTD or Elliot high percentage kickers. This is crucial in a game where Sarries will need to take any points on offer.

• Lack of pace in the Sarries back three means the kicking game will have to be spot on for their chasers and FTD is not known for his kicking from hand.

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 Sarries 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 Sarries 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 Sarries 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.

Just a quick one before we open:

We're looking to target Ben T in defensive line as you signed him a day a go, we're making a big point of this as the boy will be completely lost especially as you expect a prop to guard the fringes and Youngs/Cruden are top draw at exploiting around the ruck.

" (no issue for Ben T as was club colleague with Sona at the Chiefs)."

Doesn't really mean a whole lot lol

Not a dig just found it canny amusing.

All the best Chris.

Predictions are OPEN folks.

No team for London Irish. I will leave it as we have done in the past whereby you can give that game the 30-0 Gloucester win or leave it blank and if pull gets a team in at any point you can predict on it then.

Can we give pull until midday ? That's fair then as we have had some teams in on a Friday morning ?

I get the feeling this may be reviewed come end of the season!

Pull can't get on here during working hours. The site is blocked by his work firewall

I will post a team for pull this week as he's new.

Irish team is on.

Get predicting people.