Aviva Premiership Round Seventeen

Team & Tactics - 2000hrs Saturday
Predictions - 2000 hrs Tuesday

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Bath v Gloucester
Location - The Rec

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. N.Catt	09. M.Classens
02. A.Strauss	10. O.Barkley (k)
03. O.Franks
04. J.Muller (c)	11. T.Biggs
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn
06. C.Fearns	13. E.Daly
07. F.Louw	14. T.Bowe
08. S.Kalamafoni	15. I.Dagg

16. J.Golding 17. C.Tolufua 18. K.P-Newport 19. R.Eldsadt 20. J.Salvi 21. C.Cook 22. S.Donald 23. C.Lualala

TACTICS TBC

Forwards
- TBC

Backs
- TBC

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01. A.Guillamon	09. D.Yachvilli
02. D.Dawiduk	10. F.Burns (k)
03. R.Harden
04. S.Whitelock	11. JSD
05. T.Savage	12. M.Tindall
06. A.Qera	13. JDJ
07. S.Cane	14. J.May
08. JVN (c)	15. P.Lambie

16. K.Britton 17. N.Wood 18. A.Jones 19. W.James 20. L.Narraway 21. D.Robson 22. R.Mills 23. H.Trinder

Tactics

Key Points

Strong-Balanced Backrow
JVN brings a very strong carrying game and can run off our outside backs to hit the gaps and power through. Cane brings his breakdown work and learning from the master McCaw can't be a bad thing at international level he will look to make a nuisance of himself. Qera brings abrasiveness and hard hitting tackles, he will bring impact with his loose play and in the tight. These three will be the backbone to a good win.

Tactical Backs
With Le General, Sinbad and Tindall in the backs we have the old heads who can create something out of nothing. In the rest we have exciting young talent and JDJ brings the go forward we need from a 13 to have our back three to run off. Burns and Lambie will look to kick behind Bath with JSD and May using their pace to put pressure on them. We won't always give it to Tindall to smash up and will look to spread it as much as possible when on.

Impact Bench
We have: Narraway, Robson, Mills and Trinder to come off the bench and all are game changers who can continue our abrasive and energetic style of play to push us towards the big win.

Attacking

• We come off the back of a huge win and have rotated for fresh legs but expect nothing else but another big win.

• Yachvilli and Burns to play what's in front of them and look to release JDJ or snipe as much as possible. If it isn't on then Lambie will stick it in the corners and, with Whitelock, Cane, JVN and Savage we have a number of jumpers to gain the ball back.

• Look for runners off of 10 and 12 channel to make the initial break before sending the ball out wide to Sharples and May.

• We will look to use our big pack to carry alot of ball and, if it isn't on then run off of 9 and take a couple of 'up the jumper' phases to drag defenders in.

• Our back three will look to come off their wings and hit the right angles.

• Impact bench to shore up our victory and to keep the scoreboard ticking, Robson, Mills and Trinder will play fast-in your face-rugby, James and Narraway will have a field day against tired legs in the loose. Jones will only come on if needed for 15 mins impact max

Set Piece

• Strong scrum which will get the edge up on the tighthead side and a good bench to come on as well to continue the pressure, 8-9-10 is a move we will use alot.

• We will use the maul to get ourselves up the pitch quickly and power over from short distance.

• Lineout has been mentioned previously where we have many strong jumpers here who will look to control attacking and defensive ones.

Defending

• Banana blitz defence targetting 10 so he has no time to kick or give quick ball to the centres, we will protect the channels to stop 9 sniping.

• Yachvilli will look to sweep and counter attack off any kick through's.

• We will hit the breakdown quick to give Qera and Cane time to get over the ball and obliterate any protection they have in place.

• If the turnover isn't on we won't commit and will fan out defending inside-out.

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Harlequins v Exeter Chiefs
Location - Twickenham Stoop

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Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Marcos Ayerza	09.Richard Wrigglesworth
02.Joe Grey	10. Morne Steyn (K)
03.James Johnstone
04.Eben Etzebeth	11.Bryan Habana
05.Mouritz Botha	12.Hudson Tonga'uhia
06.Tom Croft(C)	13.Adam Ashley Cooper
07.Marcell Coatzee	14.Mark Cueto
08.Semisa Taulava	15.Nick Abendonan

16.John Smit 17.Mark Lambert 18.Will Collier 19.James Percival 20.Jamie Gibson 21.Bryn Hall 22. Gareth Steenson 23.Ollie Lindsey Hague

Big pack to get ontop the chiefs front 5 and put them under the cosh at the Scrum and rucks with plenty of impact from the bench.

Scrummage for 80 minutes with strong scrummagers on the bench to come on if need

Steyn to test chiefs backs 3s position game with Kicks in behind with Habana and Cueto chasing with neither being on the small side.

Tonga/AAC to take the ball to the gain line and ask questions of the chiefs back line with Habana/Cueto/Abedonan coming into the line to cause problems

Croft to run our lineout whilst Coatzee and Croft will look to smash rucks to slow down and chiefs ball.

Jumpers from 4-8 in our pack giving Joe Grey plenty of targets with Etzebeth and Croft targeting the chiefs Lineout.

Wrigglesworth to control the tempo , feeding Steyn the ball at the right times and using his own vision to snipe and put the ball in behind chiefs.

Blitz Defence to stop chiefs backs playing with Wrigglesworth sweeping behind

Impact from the bench will see this game through Smit will keep things calm up front , Gibson will come on and smash everything in front of him.

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Pooly (Caretaker)

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. TJ Perenara
02. Neil Clark	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Pascal Pape	11. Gonzalo Camacho
05. James Horwill(c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Steve Mafi	13. Richard Kahui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Cory Jane
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Simon Alcott 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. Toby Faletau 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Henry Slade 23. Sireli Naqelevuki

Tactics

- Look to set a tone in the set piece with big front 5 unit & two big scrummaging locks
- Dominate collisions and allow TJ fast ball to attack with
- Look to ruck over the ball and allow Steffon to get in amongst things
- Wilko to take 3 points on offer
- Look to keep ball in hand and work through the phases

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Leicester Tigers v Sale Sharks
Location - The rec

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Karl Dickson
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Toby Flood
03. Aaron Jarvis
04. Luke Romano	11. Digby Ioane
05. Alister Hargreaves	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Maurie Fa’asalavu	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Liam Gill	14. Christian Wade
08. Jacque Cronje	15. James O’Connor

16. Tom Youngs 17. Dan Cole 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Warburton 21. Ben Youngs 22. George Ford 23. Marlon Yarde

Tactics

We will base our game around high tempo, high intensity rugby. We’ll look to use the set piece as a foundation to work from and turn the screw on the opposition if a weakness is seen. We’ll look for big carries from our pack to give us go forward ball which our backs thrives upon.

In the decent conditions we’ll look to use the offload when on and change the point of attack to keep the opposition defence guessing, with our tried and trusted Flood/Barnes combo pulling the strings.

Flood/Barnes will dictate tempo and look to get Manu running angles to either punch holes in the opposition midfield or draw the decoy and allow our back 3 into the game. Our back 3 will be brought in whenever possible to cause havoc in the opposition defence.

When the 3 is on in front of the posts we’ll take and the captain will make the call on set piece if an advantage is seen.



- Turn screw in set piece if weakness seen
- HOME RECORD – immense home form
- Dickson to attack the gaps and allow Flood time to hit the line
- Manu to be used as crash and decoy with back 3 coming into the line
- Look to clear out past the ball with big pack to allow Gill hands on to force the steal. Dickson will be primed waiting for this to exploit gaps and put JOC into space
- JOC to come into the line and look for gaps between the Sale halfbacks
- Target Eli Walkers defence all game, look to get Manu on the outside and exploit Walker putting Wade/JOC into space
- Full International forwards bench to make impact in last 20 mins
- Internationals are fresh – Tuilagi has started 1 game in 4 weeks, Domingo has started 1 game in 4 weeks, Flood has played sub and being on park for around 50 mins in 4 weeks

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Sale Sharks
Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Andrew Sheridan	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Aaron Cruden (k)
03.Davit Kubriashvilli
04.Matt Garvey (c)	11.Eli Walker
05.Dean Schofield	12.Sam Tuitupou
06.JMF Lobbe	13.Jonathan Joseph
07.Dave Seymour	14.Cameron Shephard
08.Jordan Crane	15.Rob Miller

Subs 16.Marc Jones 17.Logovoi Mulipola 18.Henry Thomas 19.James Gaskell 20.Schalk Burger 21.Scott Mathie 22.Johan Goosen 23.Tom Brady

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Tactics

Cruden to stand flat to put Tigers defence under pressure.

JJ and wingers to look to get on ball carriers shoulders for a potential offload.

Look to target their 10-13 defensively due to the fact this is a combination that has been changed regularly for them, so they may not be confident with eachothers defensive games.

If we are close to their line, look to get Shephard on Wade's wing and look for a cross field kick, as Wade can be got at in this area.

Sheridan to target Jarvis at scrum time.

JMF to run lineout. With Garvey, Schofield and Crane all good jumpers as well.

Subs as and when needed.

Cruden to take all points on offer.

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London Welsh v Saracens
Location - Kassam Stadium

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London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Rhys Gill	09. Francois Pienaar (K)
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans
03. David Wilson
04. Dean Mumm	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Paul O'Connell (C)	12. Dominic Waldlouck
06. Tom Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Hienrich Brussow	14. Horacio Agulla
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Maxime Medard

16. Paul James 17. Frans Malherbe 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Steve Borthwick 20. Jackson Wray 21.Will Chudley 22. Brad Barritt 23. Ben Ransom

Tactics
With a strong record at home the team will look to build on recent form and set up a strong finish to the campaign. 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, and Evans knows when to attack and when we need to clear the lines. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. We have brilliant leaders all other the pitch in POC, Pienaar and Evans, and they know what will be required to get we want from the game - a win. With the decent conditions, we will look to play a simple expansive game in attack and in defence will look to force Sarries to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them.
Tactics
[list]
[*] Gill and Wilson are solid technicians and will secure our own feed, to provide first phase possession for our backs. We have strong props on the bench as well, so we should not be outclassed throughout the game.

[*] With a strong lineout, O'Connell will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Mumm jumping in the middle. If winning own ball POC will look to call full number lineouts to tie in the Sarries fowards.

[*] Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. We will look to offload in the tackle to keep moving the point of attack and tire out the big Sarries pack, this will keep McCaw and Fraser away from turning over our possesion.

[*] 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. Evans will direct traffic with the use of quick pods systems outside the guards of the rucks, and target any of our forwards against their backs.

[*] We will use a banana drift line in defence to cut down Hodgsons options and push him inside towards our backrow.

[*] Evans has some dangerous backs out side him, and will look to use them at every valid opportunity after we have tied in forwards or created mismatches in the defensive line.

[*] 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.

[*]Pienaar will kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Sarries should be wary of giving away penalties.

[*] At home we make it a struggle for anyone to even get a LBP at our fortress.

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[b]Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Ollie Kohn	11. Leigh Halfpenny (k)
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Anthony Allen
06. Will Fraser	13. Conrad Smith
07. Richie McCaw (c.)	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Beauden Barrett

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Schalk Brits 18. Ben Tameifuna 19. Donnacha Ryan 20. Nick Easter 21. Jordan Burns 22. Alex Goode 23. Joel Tomkins

Tactics- Hard to say without weather but I'm away this evening and tomorrow and can't wait. We will once again focus on a solid set piece and a very strong breakdown

Breakdown- We will have McCaw and Fraser sharing fetcher duties depending on who is closer, and Billy (plus Kohn etc) clearing out. In attack, the flanker not on the floor will chase the ball to secure the next breakdown quickly and in defence they will guard the fringes of the ruck (preferably McCaw). We willl apply heavy numbers to turnover ball when it's on but not overcommit to already won/lost ball and if we commit large numbers to the ruck we will follow with a series of pick and drives to continue quick ball and make ground whilst allowing our men to get back into attacking positions. Or maul straight off the fringes of the ruck to suck in defenders

Scrum- We should have some success here against a decent but unspectacular front row. Get Billy running at 9/10 and Blind wing off any go forward and use backrow moves to link to the backs.

Lineout- Mix it up as we have lots of good but no standout jumper. POC is hard to take ball off so if we think it is going to him, don't challenge but set the defence to force them back in the maul and have Billy or Fraser run at Pienarr to pressure him

Defence- Blitz defence with Dupuy sweeping as their 9/10 like to chip and kick. Nev is class but if he starts to falter early he often has an average game so I want Richie in his face from the off.

Kicking- Halfpenny to take points on offer, but make sure we play in their 22 with some great kickers at 9,10,11 and 15. Punish them with Leigh's range and put height on the ball- Halfpenny and Mitchell are International fullbacks and with Richie they will challenge any receiver off a high kick. II'd rather kick high and deep and isolate the back 3 than get touch everytime. But run back any unchased kicks to our back 3

Attack- taget their centres with direct running from Allen and support from Smith and the pack. Send Buchanan and Billy at Evans. Drewe to wander off his wing and look for work, Beauden to come into the line as a second distributor. When we manipulate space, support the halfbreak and look to Halfpenny to finish.

Subs- Halfpenny might get tired so Burns covers him (and 9) and bring on big carriers wherever players tire. No pre-ordnained subs today but if the lineout falters bring on Ryan at 6

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Northampton Saints v London Irish
Location - Franklin Gardens

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Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Stephen Myler
03. Brian Mujati
04. Samu Manoa	11. Jamie Elliot
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Calum Clarke	14. Vasily Artemiev
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. S. Kitshoff 17. M. Haywood 18. P. Doran-Jones 19. C. Lawes 20. R. Wilson 21. L. Dickson 22. R. Lamb 23. S. Armstrong

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 boot of Myler and force Irish 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 opposition territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Myler 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 opposition momentum before it can get going.

• Smith 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 Clark & co looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

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London Irish

Manager – Mad for Chelsea

01. Dean Greyling	09. Darren Allinson
02. Stephen Moore	10. Quade Cooper
03. Paulica Ion
04. Bryn Evans	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Simon Shaw	12. Regan King
06. Tom Guest	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. David Strettle
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Matt Tait

16. Rhys Marshall, 17. Fraan Rautenbach, 18. Tom Smallbone, 19. Tom Palmer, 20. Andy Saull, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Brock James, 23. Anthony Watson

Tactics:

Hooker Stephen Moore makes his debut, and Simon Shaw returns to add some beef to the scrum which is an area of strength for Northampton. The half-backs change around with Cooper showing good form, while King and Rougerie who tore Paris apart today are re-united in the centre. We've picked an exciting backline, and back our forwards to generate enough quick ball for them to do damage.

- look to dominate the breakdown. Saints don't have a proper fetcher and we expect Pocock to do some real damage here.

- beefed up the tight five to add some power to the scrum, where we should gain at least parity.

- Harinordoquy will run the line-out, with plenty of options. We'll mostly look to play off the top of the line-out.

- Big ball carriers to target the 10 channel, putting the team on the front foot when in posession, before unleashing a very dangerous backline.

- Cooper and King to pull the strings, with Tagitackibau and Rougerie running the angles, looking to exploit any gaps.

- The backrow are all good handlers and should provide a good link between forwards and backs.

- Play a blitz defense to put their FH and centres under pressure.

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Worcester Warriors v London Wasps
Location - Sixways Stadium

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Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Louis Radian	09. Will Genia
02. Ed Shervington	10. Kurtley Beale
03. Juan Figallo
04. Gerhard Mostert	11. Luke Rooney
05. Nile Dacres	12. Steven Shingler
06. James Haskell	13. Robbie Freaun
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Tom Homer

16. Tatafa Polota Nau 17. Joe Marler 18. Tevita Taumoepeau 19. George Robson 20. Michael Hooper 21. Shaun Perry 22. Dan Carter 23. Ma’a Nonu

Overall: Look for strong running rugby led by our half back combination who will look to control our tempo and keep us playing in the right areas. We will look to use forwards advantage and use it as a base. Our bench will also come on late where we feel we have a huge advantage over Wasps. Big carries will be used often with the likes of Morgan and Haskell looking to burst through defenders.

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London Wasps

Manager – CF

01. Zak Taulfao	09. Piri Weepu (C)(K)
02. George Chuter	10. nicky Robinson
03. Matt Stevens
04. Ross Filipo	11. Charlie Ingall
05. James Cannon	12. Chris Bell
06. Tinius Du Plessis	13. Jacque Fourie
07. Matt Everard	14. Tom Varndell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Richard Haughton

REPLACEMENTS: 16.Chris Brooker, 17.Ben Broster 18.Nicolas Mas 19,Pedrie Wannerburg 20.Danny Care 21.Owen Farrell 22.Maxime Mermoz 23.Ugo Monye

TACTICS: rest and rotation in the forwards again. Need to see how these players can do against this opposition...many 6 nations players rested, however so much strength on the bench. Play through the forwards tiring the oppo, when oppo get tired go to the backs and use their pace to exploit oppo tiring defence. With the likes of Skvington, Care,Farrell,Mermoz and Monye on the bench, they can come on and affect the scoreboard in a big way!

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. N.Catt	09. M.Classens
02. A.Strauss	10. O.Barkley (k)
03. O.Franks
04. J.Muller (c)	11. T.Biggs
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn
06. C.Fearns	13. E.Daly
07. F.Louw	14. T.Bowe
08. S.Kalamafoni	15. I.Dagg

16. J.Golding 17. C.Tolufua 18. K.P-Newport 19. R.Eldsadt 20. J.Salvi 21. C.Cook 22. S.Donald 23. C.Lualala

TACTICS TBC

Forwards
- TBC

Backs
- TBC

Bath are gonna go home crying!!

Yo mouth's writing cheques yo body can't cash!

ps. We're playing at home, numpty!

I know we're away but your squad don't live at the rec do they?! My side are fully rested and ready for blood!!

Same as last week Fluxy, but swap steyn and steenson

Bath v Gloucester the pick this week then

Big one in real life, looking forward to it

I can't wait for Glos to ruin Bath on Saturday to be honest! Huge game, we need to win well to cement 4th spot.

Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Ollie Kohn	11. Leigh Halfpenny (k)
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Anthony Allen
06. Will Fraser	13. Conrad Smith
07. Richie McCaw (c.)	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Beauden Barrett

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Schalk Brits 18. Ben Tameifuna 19. Donnacha Ryan 20. Nick Easter 21. Jordan Burns 22. Alex Goode 23. Joel Tomkins

Tactics- Hard to say without weather but I'm away this evening and tomorrow and can't wait. We will once again focus on a solid set piece and a very strong breakdown

Breakdown- We will have McCaw and Fraser sharing fetcher duties depending on who is closer, and Billy (plus Kohn etc) clearing out. In attack, the flanker not on the floor will chase the ball to secure the next breakdown quickly and in defence they will guard the fringes of the ruck (preferably McCaw). We willl apply heavy numbers to turnover ball when it's on but not overcommit to already won/lost ball and if we commit large numbers to the ruck we will follow with a series of pick and drives to continue quick ball and make ground whilst allowing our men to get back into attacking positions. Or maul straight off the fringes of the ruck to suck in defenders

Scrum- We should have some success here against a decent but unspectacular front row. Get Billy running at 9/10 and Blind wing off any go forward and use backrow moves to link to the backs.

Lineout- Mix it up as we have lots of good but no standout jumper. POC is hard to take ball off so if we think it is going to him, don't challenge but set the defence to force them back in the maul and have Billy or Fraser run at Pienarr to pressure him

Defence- Blitz defence with Dupuy sweeping as their 9/10 like to chip and kick. Nev is class but if he starts to falter early he often has an average game so I want Richie in his face from the off.

Kicking- Halfpenny to take points on offer, but make sure we play in their 22 with some great kickers at 9,10,11 and 15. Punish them with Leigh's range and put height on the ball- Halfpenny and Mitchell are International fullbacks and with Richie they will challenge any receiver off a high kick. II'd rather kick high and deep and isolate the back 3 than get touch everytime. But run back any unchased kicks to our back 3

Attack- taget their centres with direct running from Allen and support from Smith and the pack. Send Buchanan and Billy at Evans. Drewe to wander off his wing and look for work, Beauden to come into the line as a second distributor. When we manipulate space, support the halfbreak and look to Halfpenny to finish.

Subs- Halfpenny might get tired so Burns covers him (and 9) and bring on big carriers wherever players tire. No pre-ordnained subs today but if the lineout falters bring on Ryan at 6

What are the rules regarding playing EPS players etc this week guys?

As with all other internationals they are available CJ but starters will likely get marked down in predictions

Ta

Depends on gametime for me CJ.

No dramas with a back playing a game or two.

I won't be playing Cole, Launch, Parling, Youngs etc though.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Pooly (Caretaker)

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. TJ Perenara
02. Neil Clark	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Pascal Pape	11. Gonzalo Camacho
05. James Horwill(c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Steve Mafi	13. Richard Kahui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Cory Jane
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Simon Alcott 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. Toby Faletau 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Henry Slade 23. Sireli Naqelevuki

Tactics

- Look to set a tone in the set piece with big front 5 unit & two big scrummaging locks
- Dominate collisions and allow TJ fast ball to attack with
- Look to ruck over the ball and allow Steffon to get in amongst things
- Wilko to take 3 points on offer
- Look to keep ball in hand and work through the phases

Bathite....might be worth looking at when your medical joker ran out mate.

You owe me one

London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Rhys Gill	09. Francois Pienaar (K)
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans
03. David Wilson
04. Dean Mumm	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Paul O'Connell (C)	12. Dominic Waldlouck
06. Tom Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Hienrich Brussow	14. Horacio Agulla
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Maxime Medard

16. Paul James 17. Frans Malherbe 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Steve Borthwick 20. Jackson Wray 21.Will Chudley 22. Brad Barritt 23. Ben Ransom

Tactics

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Bathite....might be worth looking at when your medical joker ran out mate.

You owe me one ;)

You fined me 5 match points, I don't think I owe you anything!

I could have let you play that side again and you'd have forfeited this match too. You're never happy

Tough crowd!

Can you too book a romantic weekend away yet?

Leave your fantasies out of this one...

We're actually the same person. I wanted to tell you all earlier, but didn't have the heart. Pooly and Bathite are actually both Glos_Bear, sorry lads

Not rowley-fox?!?! Miss that guy!!

He had loads of names, didn't he.

You read the main rugby boards much? He reminds me so much of beshocked, either they are the same person or just both douche bags

Bathite wrote:You read the main rugby boards much? He reminds me so much of beshocked, either they are the same person or just both douche bags

Ha I thought that but he was pro-sarries. Rowley or what ever his name was Tigers fan I thought

01. A.Guillamon	09. D.Yachvilli
02. D.Dawiduk	10. F.Burns (k)
03. R.Harden
04. S.Whitelock	11. JSD
05. T.Savage	12. M.Tindall
06. A.Qera	13. JDJ
07. S.Cane	14. J.May
08. JVN (c)	15. P.Lambie

16. K.Britton 17. N.Wood 18. A.Jones 19. W.James 20. L.Narraway 21. D.Robson 22. R.Mills 23. H.Trinder

Tactics

Key Points

Strong-Balanced Backrow
JVN brings a very strong carrying game and can run off our outside backs to hit the gaps and power through. Cane brings his breakdown work and learning from the master McCaw can't be a bad thing at international level he will look to make a nuisance of himself. Qera brings abrasiveness and hard hitting tackles, he will bring impact with his loose play and in the tight. These three will be the backbone to a good win.

Tactical Backs
With Le General, Sinbad and Tindall in the backs we have the old heads who can create something out of nothing. In the rest we have exciting young talent and JDJ brings the go forward we need from a 13 to have our back three to run off. Burns and Lambie will look to kick behind Bath with JSD and May using their pace to put pressure on them. We won't always give it to Tindall to smash up and will look to spread it as much as possible when on.

Impact Bench
We have: Narraway, Robson, Mills and Trinder to come off the bench and all are game changers who can continue our abrasive and energetic style of play to push us towards the big win.

Attacking

• We come off the back of a huge win and have rotated for fresh legs but expect nothing else but another big win.

• Yachvilli and Burns to play what's in front of them and look to release JDJ or snipe as much as possible. If it isn't on then Lambie will stick it in the corners and, with Whitelock, Cane, JVN and Savage we have a number of jumpers to gain the ball back.

• Look for runners off of 10 and 12 channel to make the initial break before sending the ball out wide to Sharples and May.

• We will look to use our big pack to carry alot of ball and, if it isn't on then run off of 9 and take a couple of 'up the jumper' phases to drag defenders in.

• Our back three will look to come off their wings and hit the right angles.

• Impact bench to shore up our victory and to keep the scoreboard ticking, Robson, Mills and Trinder will play fast-in your face-rugby, James and Narraway will have a field day against tired legs in the loose. Jones will only come on if needed for 15 mins impact max

Set Piece

• Strong scrum which will get the edge up on the tighthead side and a good bench to come on as well to continue the pressure, 8-9-10 is a move we will use alot.

• We will use the maul to get ourselves up the pitch quickly and power over from short distance.

• Lineout has been mentioned previously where we have many strong jumpers here who will look to control attacking and defensive ones.

Defending

• Banana blitz defence targetting 10 so he has no time to kick or give quick ball to the centres, we will protect the channels to stop 9 sniping.

• Yachvilli will look to sweep and counter attack off any kick through's.

• We will hit the breakdown quick to give Qera and Cane time to get over the ball and obliterate any protection they have in place.

• If the turnover isn't on we won't commit and will fan out defending inside-out.

Beshocked isn't Rowley although he does have issues.

Rowley was 100% mental

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Karl Dickson
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Toby Flood
03. Aaron Jarvis
04. Luke Romano	11. Digby Ioane
05. Alister Hargreaves	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Maurie Fa’asalavu	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Liam Gill	14. Christian Wade
08. Jacque Cronje	15. James O’Connor

16. Tom Youngs 17. Dan Cole 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Warburton 21. Ben Youngs 22. George Ford 23. Marlon Yarde

Tactics

We will base our game around high tempo, high intensity rugby. We’ll look to use the set piece as a foundation to work from and turn the screw on the opposition if a weakness is seen. We’ll look for big carries from our pack to give us go forward ball which our backs thrives upon.

In the decent conditions we’ll look to use the offload when on and change the point of attack to keep the opposition defence guessing, with our tried and trusted Flood/Barnes combo pulling the strings.

Flood/Barnes will dictate tempo and look to get Manu running angles to either punch holes in the opposition midfield or draw the decoy and allow our back 3 into the game. Our back 3 will be brought in whenever possible to cause havoc in the opposition defence.

When the 3 is on in front of the posts we’ll take and the captain will make the call on set piece if an advantage is seen.



- Turn screw in set piece if weakness seen
- HOME RECORD – immense home form
- Dickson to attack the gaps and allow Flood time to hit the line
- Manu to be used as crash and decoy with back 3 coming into the line
- Look to clear out past the ball with big pack to allow Gill hands on to force the steal. Dickson will be primed waiting for this to exploit gaps and put JOC into space
- JOC to come into the line and look for gaps between the Sale halfbacks
- Target Eli Walkers defence all game, look to get Manu on the outside and exploit Walker putting Wade/JOC into space
- Full International forwards bench to make impact in last 20 mins
- Internationals are fresh – Tuilagi has started 1 game in 4 weeks, Domingo has started 1 game in 4 weeks, Flood has played sub and being on park for around 50 mins in 4 weeks

Sale Sharks
Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Andrew Sheridan	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Aaron Cruden (k)
03.Davit Kubriashvilli
04.Matt Garvey (c)	11.Eli Walker
05.Dean Schofield	12.Sam Tuitupou
06.JMF Lobbe	13.Jonathan Joseph
07.Dave Seymour	14.Cameron Shephard
08.Jordan Crane	15.Rob Miller

Subs 16.Marc Jones 17.Logovoi Mulipola 18.Henry Thomas 19.James Gaskell 20.Schalk Burger 21.Scott Mathie 22.Johan Goosen 23.Tom Brady

---

Tactics

Cruden to stand flat to put Quins defence under pressure.

JJ and wingers to look to get on ball carriers shoulders for a potential offload.

Look to target their 10-13 defensively due to the fact this is a combination that has been changed regularly for them, so they may not be confident with eachothers defensive games.

If we are close to their line, look to get Shephard on Wade's wing and look for a cross field kick, as Wade can be got at in this area.

Sheridan to target Jarvis at scrum time.

JMF to run lineout. With Garvey, Schofield and Crane all good jumpers as well.

Subs as and when needed.

Cruden to take all points on offer.

"Look to target their 10-13 defensively due to the fact this is a combination that has been changed regularly for them, so they may not be confident with eachothers defensive games."

Think I've played that combo about 15 times Oll

WASPS TACTICS

01.Zak Taulfao
02.George Chuter
03.Matt Stevens
04.James Cannon
05.Ross Flippio
06.Tinis Du Plessis
07.Matt Everard
08.Thomas Waldrom
09.Piri Weepu (c)
10.Nicky Robinson
11.Tom Vardnell
12.Chris Bel
13.Jaque Fourie
14.Charlie Ingall
15.Richard Haughton

REPLACEMENTS: 16.Chris Brooker, 17.Ben Broster 18.Nicolas Mas 19,Pedrie Wannerburg 20.Danny Care 21.Owen Farrell 22.Maxime Mermoz 23.Ugo Monye

TACTICS: rest and rotation in the forwards again. Need to see how these players can do against this opposition...many 6 nations players rested, however so much strength on the bench. Play through the forwards tiring the oppo, when oppo get tired go to the backs and use their pace to exploit oppo tiring defence. With the likes of Skvington, Care,Farrell,Mermoz and Monye on the bench, they can come on and affect the scoreboard in a big way!

CF

Castex is injured.

You need 2 props on the bench.

Don't you have Matt Stevens?

edited

Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Louis Radian	09. Will Genia
02. Ed Shervington	10. Kurtley Beale
03. Juan Figallo
04. Gerhard Mostert	11. Luke Rooney
05. Nile Dacres	12. Steven Shingler
06. James Haskell	13. Robbie Freaun
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Tom Homer

16. Tatafa Polota Nau 17. Joe Marler 18. Tevita Taumoepeau 19. George Robson 20. Michael Hooper 21. Shaun Perry 22. Dan Carter 23. Ma’a Nonu

Overall: Look for strong running rugby led by our half back combination who will look to control our tempo and keep us playing in the right areas. We will look to use forwards advantage and use it as a base. Our bench will also come on late where we feel we have a huge advantage over Wasps. Big carries will be used often with the likes of Morgan and Haskell looking to burst through defenders.

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Stephen Myler
03. Brian Mujati
04. Samu Manoa	11. Jamie Elliot
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Calum Clarke	14. Vasily Artemiev
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. S. Kitshoff 17. M. Haywood 18. P. Doran-Jones 19. C. Lawes 20. R. Wilson 21. L. Dickson 22. R. Lamb 23. S. Armstrong

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 boot of Myler and force Irish 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 opposition territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Myler 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 opposition momentum before it can get going.

• Smith 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 Clark & co looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

Stephen Myler at FH and at TH prop? assume that's a typo

London Irish

Manager – Mad for Chelsea

01. Dean Greyling	09. Darren Allinson
02. Stephen Moore	10. Quade Cooper
03. Paulica Ion
04. Bryn Evans	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Simon Shaw	12. Regan King
06. Tom Guest	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. David Strettle
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Matt Tait

16. Rhys Marshall, 17. Fraan Rautenbach, 18. Tom Smallbone, 19. Tom Palmer, 20. Andy Saull, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Brock James, 23. Anthony Watson

Tactics:

Hooker Stephen Moore makes his debut, and Simon Shaw returns to add some beef to the scrum which is an area of strength for Northampton. The half-backs change around with Cooper showing good form, while King and Rougerie who tore Paris apart today are re-united in the centre. We've picked an exciting backline, and back our forwards to generate enough quick ball for them to do damage.

- look to dominate the breakdown. Saints don't have a proper fetcher and we expect Pocock to do some real damage here.

- beefed up the tight five to add some power to the scrum, where we should gain at least parity.

- Harinordoquy will run the line-out, with plenty of options. We'll mostly look to play off the top of the line-out.

- Big ball carriers to target the 10 channel, putting the team on the front foot when in posession, before unleashing a very dangerous backline.

- Cooper and King to pull the strings, with Tagitackibau and Rougerie running the angles, looking to exploit any gaps.

- The backrow are all good handlers and should provide a good link between forwards and backs.

- Play a blitz defense to put their FH and centres under pressure.

If SJE doesn't get back on can you put PDJ at TH Flux

aw, I rather fancied my chances of getting a nudge on with Myler there

laugh out loud....if he had only named him the once it would have had to stand, not really got the build for TH Myler.

Could imagine Manu doing a job though

Pooly doing tactics on phone will be in for 830

Same team as last week but styen starts amd steeno on bench

Big pack to get ontop the chiefs front 5 and put them under the cosh at the Scrum and rucks with plenty of impact from the bench.

Scrummage for 80 minutes with strong scrummagers on the bench to come on if need

Steyn to test chiefs backs 3s position game with Kicks in behind with Habana and Cueto chasing with neither being on the small side.

Tonga/AAC to take the ball to the gain line and ask questions of the chiefs back line with Habana/Cueto/Abedonan coming into the line to cause problems

Croft to run our lineout whilst Coatzee and Croft will look to smash rucks to slow down and chiefs ball.

Jumpers from 4-8 in our pack giving Joe Grey plenty of targets with Etzebeth and Croft targeting the chiefs Lineout.

Wrigglesworth to control the tempo , feeding Steyn the ball at the right times and using his own vision to snipe and put the ball in behind chiefs.

Blitz Defence to stop chiefs backs playing with Wrigglesworth sweeping behind

Impact from the bench will see this game through Smit will keep things calm up front , Gibson will come on and smash everything in front of him.

I will get the page done in the next half an hour.

Think everything is done.

Bath 21-22 Gloucester
Quins 24-26 Exeter
Tigers 28-26 Sale
Welsh 22-20 Sarries
Saints 29-22 Irish

Bath 14-22 Gloucester

Lack of tactics hinder Bath in this one. Bath edge front row but can see lineout creaking with Strauss just joining and Gloucester with good edge in back 5. Gloucester control the halfbacks with good platform and centres even although Daley a defensive issue. Good back 3 from Bath but can't see them getting good ball. Routine win in end with no game plan for home side.