Fantasy Anglo Welsh Cup Round Three

Bath Rugby vs. Newcastle Falcons

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Euan Murray
04. Luke Romano	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Luther Burrell
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Seymour	14. Maxime Medard
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Jon Golding 17. Chris Brooker 18. Carl Rimmer 19. Graham Kitchener 20. David Pocock 21. Aaron Smith 22. Cory Jane 23. Rob Miller


Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Driver

01.Fabian Barcella	09.Ben Youngs
02.Lee Mears	10.Aaron Cruden (k)
03.Owen Franks
04.Brad Thorn	11.Miles Benjiman
05.Juandre Kruger	12.Sonny Bill Williams
06.Kelly Brown	13.George Lowe
07.Richie McCaw(c)	14.Adam Ashley-Cooper
08.Kieron Read	15.Alex Goode

.

16.Alex Waller 17.Agustin Creevey 18.Paul Doran Jones 19.Ed Slater 20.Tom Croft 21.Jimmy Cowen 22.Toby Flood 23.James O'Connor

Tactics

Tactics

Falcons will play a high intensity game as we want to win every trophy that is presented to us and we need 2 from 2 for us to progress. From the word off we will look to take the game to Bath with Youngs and Cruden keeping the tempo of the game high moving the ball around the pitch and taking the ball to the gain line and attacking the fringes.

Our ball carrying forwards will look to get there hands on the ball as much as possible and taking it coming round the corner , from deep , off 9 and off 10 mixing out game plan up with out dynamic runners testing the Bath line.

Our primary aims are to secure our set piece and generate quick ball at the ruck we have picked a pack which is well balanced through out and will be led by the exceptional Richie McCaw.

At the kick off we will look to aim it onto the opposition 8 and hang it high to allow the mobile Kelly Brown , Richie McCaw and Kieron Read to chase and hit the man early forcing him to deck or into a errror. The tackler will look to be quick to his feet to steal the ball or slow the ball down.

Alex Goode will look to come into the line to give us a 2nd attacking line and give us plenty more options in the attacking play and create 2 on 1 situations and put men in space.

Defensivly we will operate flatline pressing hard on the 10 channel forcing the ball wide and allowing us to drift and force the winger into a 1 on 1 tackle with AAC and Benjiman solid defenders capable of putting there man down.

SBW will look to unlease runners from him with his usual offload and ball carrying.

KEY POINTS

• TBA
  
  
• TBA
  
  
• TBA

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Harlequins vs. London Welsh

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Karl Dickson
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Quade Cooper
03. Kieran Brookes
04. George Kruis	11. Taku Ngwenya
05. Hugh Pyle	12. Felipe Contepomi (k) (c)
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Anthony Faainga
07. Will Welch	14. Ross Chisholm
08. Dave Denton	15. Luke Morahan

16. Matthew Rees 17. Tony Woodcock 18. Will Collier 19. Jerome Thion 20. James Gaskell 21. Francois Houghard 22. Greig Laidlaw 23. Matt Smith

Tactics

Picked a side which has a lot to prove. Power in the pack and pace out wide, with Dickson and Cooper threatening the defenders and putting others into space. Cooper and Contepomi will control our game and put us in the right area of the pitch and we will target the opposition lineout.


London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Owen Farrell
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. James Simpson-Daniel
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Pat McCabe
06. Thierry Dusautoir	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Luke Wallace	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Jaco Taute

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Dave Wilson 19. James Hanks 20. Sione Kalamafoni 21. Tomas O’Leary 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Bryan Habana

Tactics

Usual Welsh tactics of big carriers taking the ball up before going wide and looking to dominate the collisions and play a possession based game.

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Northampton Saints vs. Gloucester

Northampton Saints

01. Ryan Grant	09. Joe Simpson
02. Mike Haywood	10. Ben Botica (k)
03. Carl Hayman/td][td]
04. Bradley Davies	11. Christian Wade
05. Alun Wyn Jones	12. Ashley Beck
06. Dan Lydiate (c)	13. Tomassi Benvenutti
07. Julian Salvi	14. Juan Jose Imhoff
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Ben Foden

16. Scott Spurling 17. Sebastien Taofifenua 18. Ben Tameifuna 19. James Craig 20. Ben Nutley 21. Sam Harrison 22. George Ford 23. Matthew Tait


Gloucester

01. Dan Murphy	09. Will Genia
02. Jamie George	10. Johan Goosen
03. Anthony Guillamon
04. Elliot Stookes	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Julien Pierre	12. Matt Scott
06. Arno Botha	13. Rob Horne
07. Ardo Savea	14. Iain Clarke
08. George Evans	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Tom Heard 17. Adriaan strauss 18. Juan Figallo 19. James Percival 20. Sean Addendorf 21. TJ Perenara 22. Billy Burns 23. Steph Reynolds

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Leicester Tigers vs. London Wasps

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Jared Saunders	09. Micky Young
02. Jimmy Stevens	10. Frederic Michalak (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Romain Taofifenua	11. Paul Sackey
05. Pieter-Steph du Toit	12. Dominic Waldouck
06. Steve Mafi (c)	13. Paul Jordaan
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Dom Shipperley
08. Edwin Maka	15. Clement Poitreanud

16. Ryan Bower 17. Sebastien Bruno 18. Jonny Harris 19. Nathan Hines 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Sarel Pretorius 22. Rory Clegg 23. Alex Lewington

Tactics:

TBC


London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Charlie Beech	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Sean Cronin	10. Stephen Myler
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Dan Tuohy	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (C)	12. Dan Bowden
06. Dave Dennis	13. Dan Hipkiss
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Ben Mowen	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Alec Hepburn 18. Shaun Knight 19. Donnacha Ryan 20. jordan Crane 21. Nick Phipps 22. Brad Barritt 23. Mike Brown

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Sale Sharks vs. Scarlets

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Darren Dawdiuk	10. James Hook
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Iain Henderson	11. Sam Smith
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Victor Vito	13. Keith Earls
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Jean Marcelin Buttin

16. Lee Imolek 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Dave Attwood 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Will Addison


Scarlets

01.Shaun Hopkins	09.Aled Davies
02.Kirby Myhill	10.Aled Thomas
03.Jacobie Adriaanse
04.Jake Ball	11.Lee Williams
05.Johan Shynman	12.Adam Warran
06.Craig Price	13.Garath Maule
07.Dan Thomas	14.Kristian Phillips
08.Kieran Murphey	15.Andy Fenby

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London Irish vs. Worcester Warriors

London Irish

01. Jean-Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Hika Elliott	10. Lionel Beauxis
03. Matt Stevens
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marlande Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAlister
06. Marcel Coetzee	13. Conrad Smith
07. Will Fraser	14. JP Pietersen
08. Alex Grey	15. Tom Homer

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Adam Jones 18. Grant Shiells 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Ross Rennie 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Henry Trinder


Worcester Warriors

01.Paul James	09.Kerr Barlow
02.Korree Britton	10.Pat Lambie (k)
03.Craig Mitchell
04.Ollie Kohn	11. Sean Maitland
05.Dean Schofield	12.Tom Casson
06.Ryan Jones (c)	13.Marcelo Bosch
07.Scott Higginbotham	14.Eli Walker
08.Ben Morgan	15.Rob Cook

.

16. Dave Ward 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Chris Budgen 19. Tom Savage 20. Shane Jennings 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Morne Steyn 23. Olly Barkley

Quick warriors tactics......
*Big carrying forwards to dominate set piece,
*Backs to play with the ball and settle into positions ready for league,
*No surrender...we have won 2 on the trot and want to make it 3,
*Strong bench for impact for the full 80.

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Saracens vs. Cardiff Blues

Saracens Football Club
Manager – DHLS07

01. Max Lahiff	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. John Smit (c)	10. Gareth Steenson
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Flip van der Merwe	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. Louis Deacon	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Joe van Niekerk	13. Elliott Daly
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Smith

16. George Chuter 17. Hoani Tui 18. Phil Swainston 19. Rob Simmons 20. Keegan Daniel 21. Will Chudley 22. Francois Trinh-Duc 23. Jean de Villiers

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.

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

- Play in the right areas, territory over possession.

- Solid defensive line with Steffon Armitage either stealing or slowing the ball at the breakdown.


Cardiff Blues

01. Sam Hobbs	09. Lewis Jones
02. Rhys Williams	10. Gareth Davies
03. Taufa'ao Filise
04. Lou Reed	11. Tom James
05. James Down	12. Gavin Evans
06. Luke Hamilton	13. Owen Williams
07. Josh Navidi (c)	14. Tom Williams
08. Robin Copeland	15. Dan Fish

16. Marc Breeze 17. Nathan Trevett 18. Ryan Harford 19. Macauley Cook 20. Thomas Young 21. Rob Lewis 22. Ceri Sweeney 23. Dafydd Hewitt

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Newport Gwent Dragons vs. Ospreys

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Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Driver

01.Fabian Barcella	09.Ben Youngs
02.Lee Mears	10.Aaron Cruden (k)
03.Owen Franks
04.Brad Thorn	11.Miles Benjiman
05.Juandre Kruger	12.Sonny Bill Williams
06.Kelly Brown	13.George Lowe
07.Richie McCaw(c)	14.Adam Ashley-Cooper
08.Kieron Read	15.Alex Goode

.

16.Alex Waller 17.Agustin Creevey 18.Paul Doran Jones 19.Ed Slater 20.Tom Croft 21.Jimmy Cowen 22.Toby Flood 23.James O'Connor

Tactics

Tactics

Falcons will play a high intensity game as we want to win every trophy that is presented to us and we need 2 from 2 for us to progress. From the word off we will look to take the game to Bath with Youngs and Cruden keeping the tempo of the game high moving the ball around the pitch and taking the ball to the gain line and attacking the fringes.

Our ball carrying forwards will look to get there hands on the ball as much as possible and taking it coming round the corner , from deep , off 9 and off 10 mixing out game plan up with out dynamic runners testing the Bath line.

Our primary aims are to secure our set piece and generate quick ball at the ruck we have picked a pack which is well balanced through out and will be led by the exceptional Richie McCaw.

At the kick off we will look to aim it onto the opposition 8 and hang it high to allow the mobile Kelly Brown , Richie McCaw and Kieron Read to chase and hit the man early forcing him to deck or into a errror. The tackler will look to be quick to his feet to steal the ball or slow the ball down.

Alex Goode will look to come into the line to give us a 2nd attacking line and give us plenty more options in the attacking play and create 2 on 1 situations and put men in space.

Defensivly we will operate flatline pressing hard on the 10 channel forcing the ball wide and allowing us to drift and force the winger into a 1 on 1 tackle with AAC and Benjiman solid defenders capable of putting there man down.

SBW will look to unlease runners from him with his usual offload and ball carrying.

KEY POINTS

• TBA
  
  
• TBA
  
  
• TBA

01.Paul James	09.Kerr Barlow
02.Korree Britton	10.Pat Lambie (k)
03.Craig Mitchell
04.Ollie Kohn	11. Sean Maitland
05.Dean Schofield	12.Tom Casson
06.Ryan Jones (c)	13.Marcelo Bosch
07.Scott Higginbotham	14.Eli Walker
08.Ben Morgan	15.Rob Cook

.

16.Dave Ward 17. Beast 18. Chris Budgen 19. Tom Savage 20. Shane Jennings 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Morne Steyn 23. Olly Barkley

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Karl Dickson
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Quade Cooper
03. Kieran Brookes/td][td]
04. George Kruis	11. Taku Ngwenya
05. Hugh Pyle	12. Felipe Contepomi (k) (c)
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Anthony Faainga
07. Will Welch	14. Ross Chisholm
08. Dave Denton	15. Luke Morahan

16. Matthew Rees 17. Tony Woodcock 18. Will Collier 19. Jerome Thion 20. James Gaskell 21. Francois Houghard 22. Greig Laidlaw 23. Matt Smith

Tactics

Picked a side which has a lot to prove. Power in the pack and pace out wide, with Dickson and Cooper threatening the defenders and putting others into space. Cooper and Contepomi will control our game and put us in the right area of the pitch and we will target the opposition lineout.

Leicester Tigres have named their side to play Wasps this week.

Tigers have made 13 changes to the side that beat Glasgow 36-17 last week. Only James Scaysbrook and Freddie Michalak remain from last week's victory, with Tigers making wholesale changes.

Tigers have named a very young side, with Academy players featuring thoughout the team. Jared Saunders and Jimmy Stevens line up in the front row, and Romain Taofifenua and Pieter-Steph du Toit make up the 2nd row, with Edwin Maka lining up at No.8. Tigers have also named Paul Jordaan and Dom Shipperley in their back line.

Senior figures such as Brian Mujati, Steve Mafi, James Scaysbrook and Frederic Michalak will be asked to guide their youthful teamates during the game.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Jared Saunders	09. Micky Young
02. Jimmy Stevens	10. Frederic Michalak (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Romain Taofifenua	11. Paul Sackey
05. Pieter-Steph du Toit	12. Dominic Waldouck
06. Steve Mafi (c)	13. Paul Jordaan
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Dom Shipperley
08. Edwin Maka	15. Clement Poitreanud

16. Ryan Bower 17. Sebastien Bruno 18. Jonny Harris 19. Nathan Hines 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Sarel Pretorius 22. Rory Clegg 23. Alex Lewington

Tactics:

TBC

01. Dan Murphy	09. Will Genia
02. Jamie George	10. Johan Goosen
03. Anthony Guillamon /td][td]
04. Elliot stookes	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Julien Pierre	12. Matt Scott
06. Arno Botha	13. Rob Horne
07. Ardo Savea	14. Iain Clarke
08. George evans	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Tom Heard 17. Adriaan strauss 18. Juan Figallo19. James percival 20. Sean addendorf 21. Tj perenara 22. Billy burns 23. Steph Reynolds

Saints team versus Gloucester

Saints give first starts for Ryan Grant and Ben Botica in a team that sees the return of Carl Hayman, Bradley Davies and Alun Wyn Jones in the pack and Ashley Beck and Tomassi Benvenutti in the backline.

01. Ryan Grant	09. Joe Simpson
02. Mike Haywood	10. Ben Botica (k)
03. Carl Hayman/td][td]
04. Bradley Davies	11. Christian Wade
05. Alun Wyn Jones	12. Ashley Beck
06. Dan Lydiate (c)	13. Tomassi Benvenutti
07. Julian Salvi	14. Juan Jose Imhoff
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Ben Foden

16. Scott Spurling 17. Sebastien Taofifenua 18. Ben Tameifuna 19. James Craig 20. Ben Nutley 21. Sam Harrison 22. George Ford 23. Matthew Tait

Will redo that at some point - didn't realise I had put so many players out on loan!

London Welsh make a number of changes to keep things fresh this week, as they look to extend their unbeaten run away at Harlequins.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Owen Farrell
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. James Simpson-Daniel
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Pat McCabe
06. Thierry Dusautoir	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Luke Wallace	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Jaco Taute

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Dave Wilson 19. James Hanks 20. Sione Kalamafoni 21. Tomas O’Leary 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Bryan Habana

Tactics to follow…

Think you could be looking at a healthy win there Chris !

Yeah I was looking through my team and I've loaned out pretty much all my academy players and couldn't really recall them.

Though if it is ok with you I might change a couple of players as I don't really want to play Giteau and a couple more - just trying to balance it all out at the moment.

Do what you like I have no desire to win welsh. Using it to rest players. I want 3rd straight heino and to get top 4 in the league

Going to be close in the HC - I am not overly looking at the league this year, but a lot for me will depend on the form of my players in the 6Nations, but don't think I can get a top4 spot.

Out of the team I have put out I am only really expecting Benvenutti and Ryan Grant to feature in the first two games of the 6Nations - sure Davies, Wyn Jones and Lydiate are all out, with Beck also out.

My worst time of season is the 6Nations!

Saracens Football Club
Manager – DHLS07

01. Max Lahiff	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. John Smit (c)	10. Gareth Steenson
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Flip van der Merwe	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. Louis Deacon	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Joe van Niekerk	13. Elliott Daly
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Smith

16. George Chuter 17. Hoani Tui 18. Phil Swainston 19. Rob Simmons 20. Keegan Daniel 21. Will Chudley 22. Francois Trinh-Duc 23. Jean de Villiers

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.

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

- Play in the right areas, territory over possession.

- Solid defensive line with Steffon Armitage either stealing or slowing the ball at the breakdown.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Euan Murray
04. Luke Romano	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Luther Burrell
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Seymour	14. Maxime Medard
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Jon Golding 17. Chris Brooker 18. Carl Rimmer 19. Graham Kitchener 20. David Pocock 21. Aaron Smith 22. Cory Jane 23. Rob Miller

London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Charlie Beech	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Sean Cronin	10. Stephen Myler
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Dan Tuohy	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (C)	12. Dan Bowden
06. Dave Dennis	13. Dan Hipkiss
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Ben Mowen	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Alec Hepburn 18. Shaun Knight 19. Donnacha Ryan 20. jordan Crane 21. Nick Phipps 22. Brad Barritt 23. Mike Brown

Will get London Irish team in in the morning.

Quick warriors tactics......
*Big carrying forwards to dominate set piece,
*Backs to play with the ball and settle into positions ready for league,
*No surrender...we have won 2 on the trot and want to make it 3,
*Strong bench for impact for the full 80.

Is it ok if I predict the matches now as I will struggle over the weekend? Am happy to p.m them to you ozzy.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Darren Dawdiuk	10. James Hook
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Iain Henderson	11. Sam Smith
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Victor Vito	13. Keith Earls
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Jean Marcelin Buttin

16. Lee Imolek 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Dave Attwood 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Will Addison

Was there not a rule about playing so
Many youth players in this cup ?

Predictions are OPEN

Harlequins 15 London Welsh 20

Front rows goes to Welsh with Corbs getting plenty of joy scrummaging at Brookes and Whitehead and Castro shading there man. More power and experience in the Welsh engine room. Draw in the back row with Welch better than Wallace , Dus miles above Gibson and Denton ahead of a average Taulava. 9/10 has to be Welsh with a great half back pairing to control the game. Dickson not playing all the time at Quins doesn't help him and Can't remember last time Quade played? Centres Welsh all day with Davies best 13 in Europe and McCabe getting some joy running at Quade/Contipomi. Back 3s big advantage to Welsh but good to see Quins blooding youth. Bench marginal edge to Quins

Northampton 27 Gloucester 18

Northampton totally outplay Gloucester in the pack with better players in 1-8 , half backs on form go to Saints with Glaws pair being out for so long. Centres to saints along with back three. Benchs both have decent players on it with Strauss the standout from both benchs. Gloucester get stuffed on the day but benifit in the long term from playing there wonder kids.

Prop PM'd me his predos last night as he wouldn't be on much today...

prop_lyd wrote:Here's my predo's apart from the Sale match which doesn't have a squad:
Bath 20-22 Falcons
Close game all round, think Falcons backrow will just have enough.
Quins 17-21 Welsh
Welsh have more overall and a potent centre partnership.
Saints 25-18 Glos
Glos will struggle up front and not get a lot of ball, their back's are ok but Saints are obviously targetting this and are stronger overall.
Tigers 15-18 Wasps
Wasps front 5 strong here and backs on the bench will see them home. Michalak will keep Tigers in it.
Sarries 32-12 Blues
Weak Blues side put to the sword.

Leicester Tigers 12 London Wasps 13

Front 5 is shaded to Wasps with a bit more experience, wasps better at 7 and 8 but Mafi is in immense form at the minute and will keep Tigers competative. Half backs Micky Young doesn't seem to get a look in at Tigers in real life. Micilak will be on the back foot so can't see him competing that much and Myler is playing reasonably well. Centres to Tigers along with back 3 but not enough ball to punish Wasps. Better bench from 19-23 sees this through for Wasps.

Sale Sharks 45 Scarlets 8

Easy as you like for Scarlets , Iain Henderson is absolutely awesome. Great player for Sale to have.

London Irish 12 Worcester Warriors 12

Front 5s are a tough one to call with Irish going for balance with Muller at 5 whilst Warriors live up to there name and pick 5 hard c unts. Wuss probs have a bit more in back row and i imagine Ryan Jones will take 90% of the ball threw to him in the line. Morgan and Higginbottom better in the 7/8 jerseys.

Half backs i can see KB and Lambie getting Wuss moving and into the right areas. Centres going to Irish along with the back 3. Both sides have good benchs with Jennings capable of making a impact against isolated runners late on and Rennie and Pienaar capable to upping the temp. Tough one to call but tactics are all so important so Wuss snatch the draw

Saracens 30 Cardiff Blues 5

Bath 24 - 21 Newcastle

Bath the stronger scrum and will get at Newcastle here and have the stronger front 5. Newcastle have the better back row but not loads in it. Half backs even with Hodgson in sublime form. Prefer the Bath outside backs with Benjamin a huge weakness in Newcastle side. Home advantage helps Bath to a good win.

Northampton 34 - 26 Gloucester

Saints dominate up front as Gloucester are packed with promise up front but at the moment it is just that. Gloucester control things better at half backs with a much stronger unit. Prefer the Saints outside backs and at home they get a comfortable win.

Leicester 22 - 25 Wasps

Wasps have the stronger pack and will get much more quality ball to their backs than the Leicester unit will. Half backs one a piece with the cenres going to Wasps and even in the back three. Good win for Wasps.

Sale 43 - 13 Llanelli

Comfortbale win for Sale. Side is well strong enough to put away the Scarlets who aren't awful but can't contain Sale here.

London Irish 27 - 29 Worcester

Great battle here. Back 5 of the pack I see a strong advantage to Worcester which will be important. Worcester also stronger across the backs than Irish everywhere but the centres where Irish will do well. Both benches are quality. Feel Worcester have enough to get a good win.

Saracens 38 - 10 Cardiff

Not Saracens best side but enough to put Cardiff away although the Welsh side will be competitive for the first 40 mins. Not a fan of that Saracens front row at all. Think it would really struggle in AP.

Bath 23 - 25 Newcastle
Can't split this one, really interesting game as both teams have gone out with really strong sides. Two main areas in the forwards for me, one that Bath have a strong adv at hooker and Falcons with McCaw will dominate the breakdown. In the backline Bath have arguable the inform no10 in Europe with Hodgson, but an issue with Burrell in the centres. Newcastle for me have a weakness when they play Benjimen and with SBW now in Japan and then going to league I find it hard to rate him, but he will smash Burrell.

End of the day Driver having tactics makes the difference. Great game.

Quins 19 - 23 Sarries
Pack of Sarries wins this and really like the make up of their backline. Farrell will get all his points and very good to have behind the Sarries pack.

Leicester 21 - 25 Wasps
Good team put out by Wasps, main issue for me is Cronin and Stevens, added experience there will be very good for Wasps and can see them as a result winning the set piece battle. Even game in the loose though.

Sale 35 - 9 Llanelli
Easy, comfortable, bp win.

London Irish 23 - 26 Worcester
Would say there is a little bit more experience in the Worcester team and Lambie will be a great signing for them. Irish have a lot of promising players, but see that extra bit of physicality helping Worcester.

Saracens 41 - 15 Cardiff
Will be an easy win for Sarries, too many internationals and some serious gas outwide.

Think that is the most away wins I've ever given there!

Really suprised by some of the teams put out.
Wonder if this will affect teams as the season progresses?

Surprised in what way Luke?

Just the way some teams have named lots of players who are first teamers and have played the majority of games.

Bath Rugby 17-23 Newcastle Falcons

Scrum: Nothing between the front 5s here
Lineout: Evens. Good options on both sides
Breakdown: Edge to Falcons who are stronger collectively and with McCaw a class above
HB's: Edge to Falcons with two better players
Attack: Good carriers on both sides but Bath slightly lacking creativity
Defence: Don’t see major weaknesses on either side but Benjamin is marked down
Bench: Some great impact of both benches
Tactics: No game plan for Bath is a mark down with Falcons putting one out.


Harlequins 20-25 London Welsh

Scrum: Edge to Welsh with serious power in the front 5
Lineout: Both sides should hold their own ball
Breakdown: Edge to Welsh with great work put in by the flankers
HB's: Welsh edge with Parra in great form at the moment
Attack: Both sides have the players to open the defence but Quins will rely on Denton & Fainga a lot to get over the gain line
Defence: Welsh to make a bit of ground through the Quins 10-12 channel
Bench: Bit of spark off both benches
Tactics: N/A


Northampton Saints 31-19 Gloucester

Don’t see the need for a full prediction here. Saints gone a lot stronger in the packs and will teach a young Glaws pack a few lessons. Glaws backs capable of a few counter strikes but won’t see much ball.

(Only 4 EQ for Saints?)


Leicester Tigers 15-22 London Wasps

Scrum: Both THs see some joy but Nieto gets some more
Lineout: Wentzel will cause a few problems and don’t know how the Tigers young hooks throwing would stand up
Breakdown: Decent battle here neither side getting on top
HB's: Edge to Tigers with Freddie pulling the strings
Attack: Perhaps a little more inventiveness for Tigers but I don’t see much between the sides
Defence: Both 12s will struggle against the bigger carriers
Bench: Bit more on offer from Wasps and Knight will really get at the scrum
Tactics: N/A. Youngsters in the front 5 stop Tigers building momentum at the set piece


London Irish 18-18 Worcester Warriors

Scrum: Good battle here neither side winning out
Lineout: Warriors lacking a get out option and Irish can really get on top here
Breakdown: Worcester clear well but Fraiser will poach a few balls
HB's: More attacking intent from Worcester but Irish have the boots to take advantage of the lineout
Attack: Edge to Warriors with stronger options in the backrow and the halfbacks opening up play more
Defence: Cook could struggle under an aerial bombardment
Bench: Both sides very strong here
Tactics: N/A. Worcester open up Irish but Irish at home will get enough out of the lineout to sneak a draw


Saracens 32-13 Cardiff Blues

Full prediction not needed. Sarries with a strong outfit will dominate the Blues pack around the park for me. Lacking creativity a bit at 9-10-12 but on the front foot will score plenty

Sale Sharks 38-10 Scarlets
They'll run riot here

Bath 23 - 25 Newcastle

4 strong props, but Bath much stronger at HK. Great second row battle that i'll edge to Bath with AB combo. Newcastle better in each position in back row, with a big swing. Good HB battle, slight edge to Newcastle but Hodgson in fine form. One apiece in the centres, with a decent back three contest but Benjamin brings Newcastle down. Newcastle's back row causes Bath issues, and think they can edge this one.

Harlequins 18 - 27 Welsh

Welsh to get the edge on up front, and they have a better second row on show too. Good back row battle - prefer Welsh on eht flank but Quins stronger at 8. Welsh take the pack quite comfortably. Much moreform for Welsh at HB, and they look much stronger here. Similar story in the centres with more form for Welsh. Sounding like a brokenrecord, here, but same story in the back threes. Welsh have put a strongside out, and take this comfortably.

Saints 25 - 20 Gloucester

Bit of a nudge to Glos in the front row, but prefer Saints' Welsh duo in the locks. Stronger back row for Saints and they gain a good advantage here. Edge at HB for Glos - and see them getting on top of Saints pairing. Not much in the centres, but Saints take the back three with a really dangerous unit. At home Saints have enough for a good win.

Does Botica count as EQ now?

Botica eq for me. All articles visible say this. Can anyone show
Article saying he is not???

Sale 28 - 15 Scarlets

Sale gone strong enough to win this convinclingly at home.

Irish 22 - 21 Worcester

Prefer the Irish front row, and think they also edge a good second row battle. Prefer Worcs in each back row contest though, and they get the upper hand here. Worcs have the better HBs on show for me, but Irish win the centre battle. Decent back three contest, edge to Irish. Tough to call with Worcs better in back row and HB, but at home think irish can sneak it.

All articles I've seen say Botica is EQ, has British passport etc. Think it is because he spent 8 years of his childhood (possibly born here) that he gets that.

Bath 23 - 22 Newcastle Falcons

Great up front battle between the front fives. Kruger seperates the Falcons in the lineout battle though. Backrows are good units, but Falcons edge here. Again two great half backs, Falcons pair can create something out of nothing, but Hodh and Wiggles in some good form. Both backlines are good, love the Bath back three in particular. But I fell again a little more creativity comes from the Falcons back line. With both benches strong I reckon that Bath will nick this at the end with Smith coming on to dictate pace.

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Harlequins 17 - 24 London Welsh

A good young pack from Quins, but Welsh have picked a big strong pack which well tear into the Quins pack. Some good shining lights for Quins but they will struggle against some of the class from Welsh. Outwide, Welsh again have a great controlling pair at halfback which will impose on the Quins pair. More attacking threat from Quins as they could create a slice of magic at any point. But can't see past the strong Welsh side, from not winning.

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Northampton Saints 31 - 20 Gloucester

Saints pack will dominate the Glos one, and will make it easy for their destructive backs. Glos talented halfbacks will keep them close but too much on the day from Saints see's them win well.

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Sale Sharks 39 - 9 Llanelli Scarlets

Sale have too much class throughout for Scarlets to hold them back. Stronng bonus point win at home from the Sharks.

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London Irish 19 - 23 Worcester Warriors

Brilliant battle up front, which for me is similar for both in the front fives. Where the sides start separating is in the backrow. More class from Warriors and same situation into the halfbacks. Solid backs as well and Wuss will score some points, but Irish look dangerous here with ball in hand. However with the strong forwards bench to come and the boot of Lambie, I think it's a turning point for Props side.

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Saracens 32 - 13 Cardiff Blues

Sarries have enough about them to put Blues to the sword. The grit up front to give them clean ball and the boots of Daly and Steenson to edge them to a winning margin, before unleashing their running backs and scoring tries.

Bath 22-19 Newcastle
Little bit more across the Bath forwards win them the game.

Harlequins 21-29 London Welsh
Welsh pack dominant here and gives them the platform they need to win this one.

Northampton 32-18 Gloucester
Saints just stronger through the team.

Leicester 19-20 Wasps
Tough one to call but I prefer the Wasps forwards and that gives them the win.

London Irish 20-20 Worcester
Even in the forwards and very littel int he backs so it's a draw.

Sale 38-5 Scarlets
Sale far stronger than the Scarlets.


Sorry am in a rush.

Bath 22-19 Newcastle
Home advantage and edge in forwards

Harlequins 18-24 London Welsh
Big welsh pack take this
Leicester 19-25Wasps
Wasps stringer and more experienced in key areas
London Irish 20-21 Worcester
Worcester Bench change the game and sneak it

Sale 42-5 Scarlets
Sale far stronger than the Scarlets.


Sarries 28-3 Cardiff

Cardiff poor and lacking quality sarries are not

Just CJB to predict now then.

Quins 19-25 Welsh
Tigers 15-18 Wasps
Sale 37-14 Scarlets
Irish 23-25 Warriors
Sarries 31-8 Cardiff

Very surprised I won that! Put out a relatively weak team as well