Aviva Premiership Round 1

PREDOS OPEN UNTIL TUES 8PMAP R1

Teams in by Saturday 8pm please!

Saturday, 7 September 2013

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Newcastle v Bath at Kingston Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

15 degrees C, 7mph winds, overcast

Newcastle Falcons

01. Grant Shiells	09. Piri Weepu (C)
02. Scott Lawson	10. Nicki Robinson
03. Tom Mercer
04. Paul O'Connell	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Marcos Wentzel	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Matt Everard	13. Brad Barritt
07. Richard Mayhew	14. Ugo Monye
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Stuart Hogg

replacements: 16.Swarzeski 17.Tui 18.McKenzie 19.Macleod 20.Denton 21.Young 22.Biggar 23.Basteraud

With our strength clearly being in the backs we will look to play quick rugby to get the ball to the backs and look to carry the ball with the backs looking to score tries on a regular basis and looking to keep the scoreboard ticking over. We do have strength in the forwards as well, most noticeably through 'beast' and O'Connell. We will be strong in the scurm and line out and dont want to give away silly penalties. However Habana'a pace will look to be utilised a lot in this match

55 mins: Swarzeski for Lawson
60 mins: Denton for Everard
70 mins: Biggar for Robinson

Bath
Manager –  Bathite

01. Cian Healy	09. Michael Classens
02. Ross Batty	10. James Hook (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Johann Muller (c)	11. Rene Ranger
05. Dave Attwood	12. Frans Steyn
06. Carl Fearns	13. Kyle Eastmond
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Alex Goode

16. Nathan Catt 17. Chris Tolufua 18. Kane P-Newport 19. Rynhardt Eldstadt 20. Julian Salvi 21. Chris Cook 22. Rory Clegg 23. Eliot Daly


TACTICS TBC
- In difficult conditions, we have picked a heavy ball carrying pack. We want to play all the rugby in their half, so will use the boots of Steyn, Hook and Goode to pin Newcastle back.

- With Muller calling the lineout, we'll look to challenge every throw and Batty has been picked for his consistent throwing ability to ensure we win our throws.

- Look to keep their defence narrow with SOB, Fearns, Attwood, Beattie, Healy smashing it up on the fringes. Classens to look to snipe

- Steyn and Hook to mix up first receiver with slow ball to change point of attack. Eastmond and Goode available to offer at first/second receiver with quick ball

- Steyn and Ranger to crash it up off slow ball to set up the ruck. A very mobile pack will get there first to smash and clear out, leaving quick ball for 9

- In defence, look to pressurise fly half, a perceived weakness in the team. SOB to rush up and close him down, leading the rush, with Classens sweeping in behind

- Salvi to come on for Fearns after 50 mins, his freshness will help to slow oppo ball at the ruck and look to force turnovers against tired legs.

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Gloucester v Sale at Kingsholm, Gloucester

24 degrees C, 15mph winds, cloudy


Gloucester

01. Rhys Gill	09. Dimitri Yachvilli
02. Rory Best	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Antoin Guillamon
04. Tom Savage (c)	11. Johnny May
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Alisdair Strokosch	13. Henry Trinder
07. Akapusi Qeratd]	14. Adam Thompstone
08. JVN	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Korree Britton 17. Adam Jones 18. Nick Wood 19. Will James 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dan Robson 22. Jimmy Gopperth 23. JSD

Tactics:
Mobile team in good running conditions,
Run the ball alot using Burns to be the main link man and playmaker with Yachvilli giving quick ball,
Powerful jumpers to challenge in the lineout,
Backrow of heavy hitters to keep them wary of coming down their channel,
Defence led by Trinder calling them up,
Enthusiasm in back 3 with all eq players looking to prove a point and put down a marker.



Sale Sharks

Manager –  LondonIrishOllie

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Connor Murray
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Johan Goosen
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Yohan Maestri	11. Raymond Rhule
05. Kyran Myall	12. Jonathon Davies
06. Matt Garvey	13. Jonathon Joesph
07. Thierry Dusatoir(c)	14. Hosea Gear
08. Jordan Crane	15. Rob Miller

16. Gary Botha 17. Henry Thomas 18. L Molopola 19. James Gaskell 20. Schalk Burger 21. Hayden Thomas 22. Nick Macleod 23. Charlie Aymsebury

Tactics:

- Attack the set piece
- look to use pace out wide and through centre
- Play in opp half
- look to use big pack to tie in defenders

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London Irish v Saracens at Twickenham Stadium, London

20 degrees C, 9 mph winds, overcast with showery spells

London Irish

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Rhys Marshall	10. Brock James
03. Euan Murray
04. Ian Evans	11. David Strettle
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Dan Bowden
06. Peter O'Mahoney	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock	14. Delon Armitage
08. Imanol Harinodoquy	15. Matt Tait

Replacements;

16. Rob Herring
17. Max Lahiff
18. Paulo Ion
19. Tom Palmer
20. Tom Guest
21. Joe Simpson
22. Guy Armitage
23. Anthony Watson

Tactics:

- Attack lineout with Kennedy & Hari
- Laidlaw & Brock to ping the corners and put pressure on lineout throughout
- Rougerie to crash ball at angles and get between opp centres
- Simpson to inject pace and attack in last 20


Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Danny Care
02. Rob Buchanon	10.    Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04.  Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Varndell
05.  Donnacha Ryan	12.  Anthony Allen
06. Kelly Brown (c)	13.   Chris Wyles
07. Will Fraser	14.  Simon Zebo
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Hawkins 18. Ben Tameifuna  19. George Skivington  20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Morgan Parra 22. Tom Casson 23. Luke Arscott

Tactics:

-The weather is unclear so our team is capable of playing several styles of rugby.

-The main focus will be putting the opponents under pressure in their 22, tiring their pack early on and the breakdown

- We have solid technicians in the scrum, look to win our own ball and run Billy off it to start up momentum

-Botha jumping at front, Ryan in middle with Brown and Fraser too. Mix up off the top ball with mauling to tire the opposition pack.

-Contest all throws in opposition 22 to pressurise their possession but outside that, target the longer throws but let them have the front, where we can set our defence and force them to maul, tiring their forwards.

Breakdown- approach as a unit- Fraser winning ball, Billy and Botha clearing out and Brown doing both. Fraser to track the ball in attack to either make the ruck first or support breaks.

-Commit numbers to turnover able ball and slow/steal in their 22 but don't overcommit in our half and risk no penalties in our half if possible

Defence- blitz led by Allen with Fraser/Brown pressurising 10 and Care sweeping the chip. Brown to lead fribge defence which is vital

Attack- depends on weather. Outside of their 22, pick and drive (or kick if there is space to kick at) slow ball, use Billy as an inside crash or Allen running straight  on quicker ball (off Hodgson flat) to set up momentum then spin it wide. Wyles acting as a support runner off Allen. If it's slippery, keep it tighter and kick a territory game. In their 22, mix up the above with some cross fields to the wings, Halfpenny coming into the line and Care looking to snipe.

Kicking- take any easy points but keep pressure up by putting harder kicks to corner. Chase all kicks, and make sure those in play are high enough to chase and those meant to go out do.

Subs- if it's wet or tight, bring on Parra. Parra covers 10 and Halfpenny wing. We have some excellent impact subs to bring on against tired legs and make big carries at the end. Because of this I want our pack to compete hard all game and leave nothing on the pitch knowing we can replace them if they get fatigued

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London Wasps v Harlequins at Twickenham Stadium, London

20 degrees C, 9 mph winds, overcast with showery spells

Fluxy wrote:London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Paul James	09. Will Chudley
02. David Paice	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Pascal Pape	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Dom Waldouck
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. George Lowe
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Maxime Medard
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Mike Brown

Replacements; 16. Tom Lindsay 17. Scott Wilson 18. Franck Montenella 19. Louis Deacon 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Ben Spencer (on free loan from Saracens)  22. Nick Evans 23. Andrea Masi

Tactics

With out first "home game" we will look to start the season with a bang and lay down a marker from last season, and look to build on recent form and set up a strong start to the campaign off the back of some good pre season games. 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, using the nous of Pienaar and Farrell to play in the right areas of the pitch, off the back of our strong setpieces. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. The side contains  brilliant leaders all over the pitch in Picamoles, Borthwick, Pienaar, Wilson and Medard, 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 Quins to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them.

• James and Wilson are solid technicians and will secure our own feed. A big target for us here is to get under the front-row and make them go backwards with constant pressure, from the whole front five as a unit.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Borthwick will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Pape jumping in the middle. If winning own ball Borthwick will look to call short numbers lineouts to allow, Higgy/Pickles a run at the defence in midfield.
  
  
• 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 Quins pack, this will keep the likes of JJ, Easter, Armitage and Schuster on the move.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks,  which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes. Big empahsis on running forwards down the ten channel when there is slow ball.
  
  
  
• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines. As the Lions proved, Farrell can play flat and bring in great attacking play, and Saili will help the creative play.
  
  
  
• We will use a blitz drift line in defence to cut down Priestlands options and push him inside towards our backrow.
  
  
  
• Look for Pickles to run down Priestlands channel off scrums, and big carries down this channel in open play.
  
  
  
• 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 Quins should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
  

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hr]
Harlequins

Manager - Driver

01.Jerome Schuester	09. Richard Wrigglesworth (c)
02. Ben Kayser	10. Rhys Priestland (K)
03. James Johnston
04. Mo Botha	11. George North
05. Iain Henderson	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Steve Mafi	13. Chris Farrell
07.Steffon Armitage	14. Ollie Lindsay-Hague
08. Nick Easter	15. Jared Payne

16.Neil Briggs 17.Mark Lambert 18.Will collier 19.James Percival 20.Jack Clifford 21.Luke Burguss 21.Gareth Steenson 22.James Short

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Northampton v Exeter at Franklin Gardens, Northampton

23 degrees C, 12mph winds, showery spells


Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. JP Pieterson
05. Andries Bekker	12. Gael Fickou
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood	14. Chris Ashton
08. Roger Wilson	15. Ben Foden

16. S. Kitshoff 17. R. Strauss 18. J. Hagan 19. S. Manoa 20. C. Clark 21. M. Roberts  22. S. Myler 23.  J. Elliot

Tactics
"Key Points





Tactics

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

• In these conditions the scrum will be an important weapon. With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep it up and take full advantage drawing penalties from opposition.
  

• With handling an issue we want to keep things simple and use Bekker, Wood and Lawes as banker ball at the lineout. We will look to bring the ball down into the maul and use the physicality of our pack to drive us into the right areas.
  

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any opposition momentum before it can get going.
  

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

• The back 3 will sit deep to cover any kicks down the line and will look to counter attack of any loose ball.
  

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood it with Wood 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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Exeter Chiefs


Manager – Bam Bam

01. Ben Moon	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Alan Wyn-Jones	11. Fetu Vainikolo
05. Tim Swinson	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Josh Tatupu
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Cory Jane
08. Toby Faletau	15. Jack Nowell

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Chris Brooker 18. John Afoa 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Justin Tipuric 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Mark Cueto


We want to play a territory based game, regularly using the boots of Wilko and Twelvetrees to get deep into The opposite half. We have Nowell and Cory Jane in the back 3 both adept at FB and wing, so will look to return kicks with interest.

Line out will be targeted, Croft is our main jumper, but AWJ, Swinson and Robshaw will all be used to keep the opposition guessing. On their ball, we will use Croft at the front to try to disrupt their ball.

Croft and Robshaw are a proven back row combination for England, with Faletau's work rate in the rucks and carrying allowing Croft to do what he does best further out. AWJ and Swinson are both good around the park, they and Webber will be charged with hitting rucks and punching holes in the defensive line.

Mas is starting, to give us a strong platform off our scrum. As the game opens up, Afoa and Tipuric will be brought on to give us more around the park, Tips is likely to come on for Croft, with Robshaw switching to 6. We feel this will give us an advantage at the breakdown in the last quarter of the game, especially considering our opposition are lacking an out and out 7, with Tips handling and running also contributing to our attack.

Of course, with Wilko we will take advantage of any penalties inside the opposition half and kick for goal. In attack, Twelvetrees will act as first receiver at times, giving us a double pivot. Vainikolo is free to come off his wing and run hard, likewise we are expecting Tatupu to make some dents in the defence

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Leicester v Worcester at Welford Road, Leicester

27 degrees C, 12 mph winds, overcast

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Toby Flood
03. Dan Cole
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Marlon Yarde
05. Geoff Parling	12. Matt Scott
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Jamie George 17. Martin Castrogiovani 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Richie Gray 20. Luke Wallace 21. Karl Dickson 22. Ian Madigan 23. Niall Morris

TACTICS:

- fast paced, attacking rugby with athletic pack moving opposition around park.
- target set piece, look to attack if weakness
- use Lydiate to target opposition runners and prevent any momentum with Warburton working in tandom looking for the turnover (with Cole, Launch backing up)
- attack the line and look to get ball through the backline using Manu as crash or decoy targeting opposition 13.
- Youngs to sweep in behind aggressive rush defence and give opp 10 no time on ball

Worcester Warriors

Manager – CJB

01. Joe Marler	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Ollie Hayes	10. Andy Goode
03. James Currie
04. Nile Dacres	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Robbie Freaun
06. James Haskell	13. Matt Hopper
07.  Matt Kvesic	14. Max Stelling
08. Ben Morgan	15. Tom Homer

16. Tatafa Polota Nau 17. George Porter 18. Juan Figallo 19. Juandre Kruger 20. Liam Messam 21.  Johnny Arr 22. Paddy Jackson  23. Kurtley Beale

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Weather may change as forecast becomes more clear

Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Danny Care
02. Rob Buchanon	10.    Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04.  Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Varndell
05.  Donnacha Ryan	12.  Anthony Allen
06. Kelly Brown (c)	13.   Chris Wyles
07. Will Fraser	14.  Simon Zebo
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Hawkins 18. Ben Tameifuna  19. George Skivington  20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Morgan Parra 22. Tom Casson 23. Luke Arscott

Tactics:

-The weather is unclear so our team is capable of playing several styles of rugby.

-The main focus will be putting the opponents under pressure in their 22, tiring their pack early on and the breakdown

- We have solid technicians in the scrum, look to win our own ball and run Billy off it to start up momentum

-Botha jumping at front, Ryan in middle with Brown and Fraser too. Mix up off the top ball with mauling to tire the opposition pack.

-Contest all throws in opposition 22 to pressurise their possession but outside that, target the longer throws but let them have the front, where we can set our defence and force them to maul, tiring their forwards.

Breakdown- approach as a unit- Fraser winning ball, Billy and Botha clearing out and Brown doing both. Fraser to track the ball in attack to either make the ruck first or support breaks. Commit numbers to turnover able ball and slow/steal in their 22 but don't overcommit in our half and risk no penalties in our half if possible

Defence- blitz led by Allen with Fraser/Brown pressurising 10 and Care sweeping the chip. Brown to lead fribge defence which is vital

Attack- depends on weather. Outside of their 22, pick and drive (or kick if there is space to kick at) slow ball, use Billy as an inside crash or Allen running straight  on quicker ball (off Hodgson flat) to set up momentum then spin it wide. Wyles acting as a support runner off Allen. If it's slippery, keep it tighter and kick a territory game. In their 22, mix up the above with some cross fields to the wings, Halfpenny coming into the line and Care looking to snipe.

Kicking- take any easy points but keep pressure up by putting harder kicks to corner. Chase all kicks, and make sure those in play are high enough to chase and those meant to go out do.

Subs- if it's wet or tight, bring on Parra. Parra covers 10 and Halfpenny wing. We have some excellent impact subs to bring on against tired legs and make big carries at the end. Because of this I want our pack to compete hard all game and leave nothing on the pitch knowing we can replace them if they get fatigued

Cheers mate

Bath
Manager –  Bathite
 

01. Cian Healy	09. Michael Classens
02. Ross Batty	10. James Hook (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Johann Muller (c)	11. Rene Ranger
05. Dave Attwood	12. Frans Steyn
06. Carl Fearns	13. Kyle Eastmond
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Alex Goode

 
16. Nathan Catt 17. Chris Tolufua 18. Kane P-Newport 19. Rynhardt Eldstadt 20. Julian Salvi 21. Chris Cook 22. Rory Clegg 23. Eliot Daly


TACTICS TBC
 - In difficult conditions, we have picked a heavy ball carrying pack. We want to play all the rugby in their half, so will use the boots of Steyn, Hook and Goode to pin Newcastle back. 

 - With Muller calling the lineout, we'll look to challenge every throw and Batty has been picked for his consistent throwing ability to ensure we win our throws.

- Look to keep their defence narrow with SOB, Fearns, Attwood, Beattie, Healy smashing it up on the fringes. Classens to look to snipe

 - Steyn and Hook to mix up first receiver with slow ball to change point of attack. Eastmond and Goode available to offer at first/second receiver with quick ball

 - Steyn and Ranger to crash it up off slow ball to set up the ruck. A very mobile pack will get there first to smash and clear out, leaving quick ball for Kerr Barlow

 - In defence, look to pressurise fly half, a perceived weakness in the team. SOB to rush up and close him down, leading the rush, with Classens sweeping in behind

 - Salvi to come on for Fearns after 50 mins, his freshness will help to slow oppo ball at the ruck and look to force turnovers against tired legs.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Toby Flood
03. Dan Cole
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Marlon Yarde
05. Geoff Parling	12. Matt Scott
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Jamie George 17. Martin Castrogiovani 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Richie Gray 20. Luke Wallace 21. Karl Dickson 22. Ian Madigan 23. Niall Morris

TACTICS:

- fast paced, attacking rugby with athletic pack moving opposition around park.
- target set piece, look to attack if weakness
- use Lydiate to target opposition runners and prevent any momentum with Warburton working in tandom looking for the turnover (with Cole, Launch backing up)
- attack the line and look to get ball through the backline using Manu as crash or decoy targeting opposition 13.
- Youngs to sweep in behind aggressive rush defence and give opp 10 no time on ball

Sale Sharks

Manager –  LondonIrishOllie

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Connor Murray
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Johan Goosen
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Yohan Maestri	11. Raymond Rhule
05. Kyran Myall	12. Jonathon Davies
06. Matt Garvey	13. Jonathon Joesph
07. Thierry Dusatoir(c)	14. Hosea Gear
08. Jordan Crane	15. Rob Miller

16. Gary Botha 17. Henry Thomas 18. L Molopola 19. James Gaskell 20. Schalk Burger 21. Hayden Thomas 22. Nick Macleod 23. Charlie Aymsebury

Tactics:

- Attack the set piece
- look to use pace out wide and through centre
- Play in opp half
- look to use big pack to tie in defenders

Cheers, forgot about Kerr Barlow

1.Jerome Schuster
2.Ben Kayser
3.Jerome Johnstone
4.Mo Botha
5.Iain Henderson
6.Steve Mafi
7.Steffon Armitage
8.Nick Easter

9.Richard Wrigglesworth (c)
10.Rhys Priestland
11.George North
12.Wesley Fofana
13.Chris Farrell
14.Ollie Lindsey Hague
15.Jared Payne

16.Neil Briggs 17.Mark Lambert 18.Will collier 19.James Percival 20.Jack Clifford 21.Luke Burguss 21.Gareth Steenson 22.James Short

I'll shorten my tactics tomorrow if I need to, can't see their length properly on iPhone

Exeter Chiefs


Manager – Bam Bam

01. Ben Moon	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Alan Wyn-Jones	11. Fetu Vainikolo
05. Tim Swinson	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Josh Tatupu
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Cory Jane
08. Toby Faletau	15. Jack Nowell

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Chris Brooker 18. John Afoa 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Justin Tipuric 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Mark Cueto


We want to play a territory based game, regularly using the boots of Wilko and Twelvetrees to get deep into The opposite half. We have Nowell and Cory Jane in the back 3 both adept at FB and wing, so will look to return kicks with interest.

Line out will be targeted, Croft is our main jumper, but AWJ, Swinson and Robshaw will all be used to keep the opposition guessing. On their ball, we will use Croft at the front to try to disrupt their ball.

Croft and Robshaw are a proven back row combination for England, with Faletau's work rate in the rucks and carrying allowing Croft to do what he does best further out. AWJ and Swinson are both good around the park, they and Webber will be charged with hitting rucks and punching holes in the defensive line.

With Wilko and 36, our 10-12 channel is very strong, so I expect Saints to attack further out, where the likes of Croft and Tatupu will be solid

Mas is starting, to give us a strong platform off our scrum. As the game opens up, Afoa and Tipuric will be brought on to give us more around the park, Tips is likely to come on for Croft, with Robshaw switching to 6. We feel this will give us an advantage at the breakdown in the last quarter of the game, especially considering our opposition are lacking an out and out 7, with Tips handling and running also contributing to our attack.

Of course, with Wilko we will take advantage of any penalties inside the opposition half and kick for goal. In attack, Twelvetrees will act as first receiver at times, giving us a double pivot. Vainikolo is free to come off his wing and run hard, likewise we are expecting Tatupu to make some dents in the defence

01. Rhys Gill	09. Dimitri Yachvilli
02. Rory Best	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Antoin Guillamon
04. Tom Savage (c)	11. Johnny May
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Alisdair Strokosch	13. Henry Trinder
07. Akapusi Qeratd] [td height="undefined" nowrap="true" width="undefined"]14. Adam Thompstone
08. JVN	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Korree Britton 17. Adam Jones 18. Nick Wood 19. Will James 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dan Robson 22. Jimmy Gopperth 23. JSD

Tactics:
Mobile team in good running conditions,
Run the ball alot using Burns to be the main link man and playmaker with Yachvilli giving quick ball,
Powerful jumpers to challenge in the lineout,
Backrow of heavy hitters to keep them wary of coming down their channel,
Defence led by Trinder calling them up,
Enthusiasm in back 3 with all eq players looking to prove a point and put down a marker.


If anyone wants to help me by being a co-manager let me know as I am seriously struggling for time at the moment.

Are my tactics OK length wise?

Do I have to do tactics? Struggling for time this week with exams early next week

Just settling in theatre so struggling to check through things.

I'm happy to predict on minimal tactics but none will see a marking down.

Bam, just get a few words in I'd poss, anything is better than non.

Are all teams in? Can Irish just be copied from last game pls?!?

I'll be more involved next week but crazy with work at min

I'll copy Irish's from their last match tomorrow and add in any strong players if expect to start and withdraw ineligible players. I'll do one set of updates in the morning when I wake up hungover and another in the evening when I get back from Twickers

Actually, I'm playing Irish so could someone else do that?

1. Gethin Jenkins
2. Rhys Marshall
3. Euan Murray
4. Ian Evans
5. Nick Kennedy
6. Peter O'Mahoney
7. David Pocock
8. Imaniol Harinordoquy

9. Greg Laidlaw
10. Brock James
11. David Strettle
12. Dan Bowden
13. A Rougerie
14. Delon Armitage
15. Matt Tait

16. Rob Herring
17. Max Lahiff
18. Paulo Ion
19. Tom Palmer
20. Tom Guest
21. Joe Simpson
22. Guy Armitage
23. Anthony Watson

Tactics:

- Attack lineout with Kennedy & Hari
- Laidlaw & Brock to ping the corners and put pressure on lineout throughout
- Rougerie to crash ball at angles and get between opp centres
- Simpson to inject pace and attack in last 20

FALCONS TACTICS

01.Tendi Mtawaria
02.Scott Lawson
03.Tom Mercer
04.Paul O'Connell
05.Marco Wenztel
06.Matt Everard
07.Richard Mayhew
08.Jamie Heaslip
09.Piri Weepu (c)
10.Nicky Robinson (k)
11.Bryan Habana
12.Maxime Mermoz
13.Brad Barritt
14.Ugo Monye
15.Drew Mitchell

replacements: 16.Swarzeski 17.Tui 18.McKenzie 19.Macleod 20.Denton 21.Young 22.Biggar 23.Basteraud

With our strength clearly being in the backs we will look to play quick rugby to get the ball to the backs and look to carry the ball with the backs looking to score tries on a regular basis and looking to keep the scoreboard ticking over. We do have strength in the forwards as well, most noticeably through 'beast' and O'Connell. We will be strong in the scurm and line out and dont want to give away silly penalties. However Habana'a pace will look to be utilised a lot in this match

55 mins: Swarzeski for Lawson
60 mins: Denton for Everard
70 mins: Biggar for Robinson

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. JP Pieterson
05. Andries Bekker	12. Gael Fickou
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood	14. Chris Ashton
08. Roger Wilson	15. Ben Foden

16. S. Kitshoff 17. R. Strauss 18. J. Hagan 19. S. Manoa 20. C. Clark 21. M. Roberts  22. S. Myler 23.  J. Elliot

Tactics
"Key Points

Tactics

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

• In these conditions the scrum will be an important weapon. With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep it up and take full advantage drawing penalties from opposition.

• With handling an issue we want to keep things simple and use Bekker, Wood and Lawes as banker ball at the lineout. We will look to bring the ball down into the maul and use the physicality of our pack to drive us into the right areas.

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any opposition momentum before it can get going.

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

• The back 3 will sit deep to cover any kicks down the line and will look to counter attack of any loose ball.

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood it with Wood 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.

 

---

London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Paul James	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. David Paice	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Pascal Pape	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Francis Sailli
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. George Lowe
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Maxime Medard
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Mike Brown

Replacements; 16. Tom Lindsay 17. Scott Wilson 18. Franck Montenella 19. Louis Deacon 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Will Chudley 22. Nick Evans 23. Andrea Masi

Tactics

With out first "home game" we will look to start the season with a bang and lay down a marker from last season, and look to build on recent form and set up a strong start to the campaign off the back of some good pre season games. 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, using the nous of Pienaar and Farrell to play in the right areas of the pitch, off the back of our strong setpieces. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. The side contains  brilliant leaders all over the pitch in Picamoles, Borthwick, Pienaar, Wilson and Medard, 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 Quins to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them.

• James and Wilson are solid technicians and will secure our own feed. A big target for us here is to get under the front-row and make them go backwards with constant pressure, from the whole front five as a unit. 
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Borthwick will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Pape jumping in the middle. If winning own ball Borthwick will look to call short numbers lineouts to allow, Higgy/Pickles a run at the defence in midfield.
  
  
• 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 Quins pack, this will keep the likes of JJ, Easter, Armitage and Schuster on the move. 
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks,  which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes. Big empahsis on running forwards down the ten channel when there is slow ball. 
  
  
  
•  We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines. As the Lions proved, Farrell can play flat and bring in great attacking play, and Saili will help the creative play.
  
  
  
• We will use a blitz drift line in defence to cut down Priestlands options and push him inside towards our backrow.
  
  
  
• Look for Pickles to run down Priestlands channel off scrums, and big carries down this channel in open play.
  
  
  
• 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 Quins should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
  

Can't pick Pienarr mate

I'm loaning you Spencer as a back up 9 for free as you don't have enough 9s in your squad right now

Cheers mate, don't know why I couldn't see that right off the bat 

Predos Open

Will get mine in this evening  

Bath 24 - 19 Newcastle

Can't see an area where I would favour Newcastle, Bath has the edge in the backs, even without a true 7 I see Bath dominating the ruck area with the power of the pack. Like the Steyn, Eastmond combo too

Gloucester 22 - 20 Sale

Really like Sale's pack, Dusatoir could have a field day, but in the end I think the extra cutting edge in the Gloucester backs will tell, as I think their pack will achieve parity.

London Irish 14 - 20 Saracens

Sarries pack makes the difference, strong in all areas of forward play, with a decent backline too. Irish' tactic of kicking to the corners and playing for territory may come unstuck with Halfpenny back there as his positioning is unlikely to let him down.

Wasps 27 - 24 Quins

An entertaining game, Quins have the better backs and Wasps the better pack for me. Like Pape and Borthwick as a combo, with Picamoles in the back row to do the heavy duty carrying setting a target for Higgy and co. Love the idea of North running angles off Fofana, but hard to see Quins having enough off the bench to swing the game their way

Leicester 22 - 15 Worcester

Worcester's back row is quality, the strength of their team, but is matched and arguably bettered by Leicester. Morgan and Lydiate will be key, if Morgan can give go forward then Worcester have a chance. As it is, I see Lydiate and co being able to stop him and other carriers, giving opportunities on the turnover to that backline. Yarde, Wade and Manu will be pretty tough to stop with turnover ball, and a strong scrum, another area I see Worcester struggling

When are predictions due in for?

Tues evening but if that's a problem for people I'll extend

Wed eve be ok mate?

I like to fully go through things and just blitzed at min

It's fine by me

Wed eve should hopefully be good for me too. Only one point responses though if I dont have time!

Newcastle 17-22 Bath

Can see Bath getting control of the packs in the 2nd half especially, some strange calls from CF, he needs to get his best pack out or he'll struggle.

Backs are pretty close throughout, Steun struggling for form a little but Falcons centres wrong way round imo. Would have been close with a stronger Falcons pack. Wentzal hard to rate and Everard not great.

Newcastle Falcons 12 - 32 Bath


Still some surprising selections by CF, and it really hurts their pack. Bath dominate up front, and their pack show up their opposition around the park. Set-piece a little more even, but there is a clear gap in quality. 
Backs is a closer affair, Robinson slightly marked down because he's now playing championship rugby, and the centres need to swap. Like everything else, therer could be a real spark to the Falcons. Bath look solid and efficient. I like the Bath centre combo, despite form and slight worry for Eastmonds defence in that channel. There is too much power up front and this helps Bath clean out and provide very quick ball for their clinical backs.

To clarify, CF wished to start Beast and Habana but neither was eligible

Gloucester 24 - 25 Sale Sharks 


A cracking contest up front. Both negate each other really in the set-piece, although Sheridan may suffer slightly from the removal of the hit. Otherwise back-rows are both great on the floor and carrying around the park. 
In the backs Glos have a decent attacking edge, as do Sale. But I do feel that the Sharks have a bit more of an ability to score from nothing, hard to say against Glos! Glos can attack well, but I think Balshaw might be targeted in defence, much like the rest of the back three. Burns and Yach will kick well. But I'm afraid to say that if Miller and Goosen can kick a few goals, I could see Sharks just scoring a try in the corner to steal the game for a famous win.

London Irish 20 - 22 Saracens

Irish have a great pack as individuals but lack a slight cohesion in there side. Sarries have a some strength through their spine and can take some advantage from that. Set-piece battle is even, as both sides have some good operators in each department. 
Irish lack the all round threat from the halfbacks in comparison to Sarries, but they can drag their pack into good situations through clever kicking for territory, especially with their back three backing up the kick chase and ability in the air. Irish also have a slight advantage at the centres with Roug getting a good up side on Wyles. Halfpenny for me to keep the board ticking and just secure a the points.

Northampton Saints 20 - 20 Exeter Chiefs

Saints props might suffer from the scrum rule change, but hard to tell early on in the season. But it is about evens up front. Lineout wise, Chiefs have an upper hand, with Croft, AWJ and Swinson prominent. Swinson shows up well after having a big summer for Scotland. Saints suffer with form issues for Bekker and Ferris, but they are still quality players. Faletua edges the backrow to Chiefs and the carrying of their pack. 

Saints show up better in the backs and can really get amongst the Chiefs backs. Chiefs gameplan a little conservative, but I can understand it given the personnel and changeable conditions. Two decent benches, in the end though I can see Wilko just stealing the points off Saints for a hard thought draw.

Leicester Tigers 38 - 15  Worcester Warriors 


Wuss really hurt from call ups here, and can't wait to see them get their best side out again. Tigers have the edge in the front five with Marler struggling without an established anchor on the otherside helping him out. Kitchener does well in the lineout with support from Haskell and Kvesic, but is still out classed. Back row is a very handy combination and I like the hard edge of it, but they are on the back foot for quite a bit of this game and struggle to attack. Wuss are well controlled in the backs but again lack their big players. This is just easy for the likes of Manu, wade and Yarde. Tigers scarily good from the off.

Also, I apologise, Figallo should not be on the Wuss bench, that is my fault

Wasps 23-21 Quins
Saints 25-24 Exeter

Sorry CJ was sure I posted a team tbh

No worries, was a frantic week anyway!

Newcastle 10 Bath 23

Bath have a field day in the pack and have the backs to do the damage to Newcastle.

Gloucester 23 Sale 20

Close game but Gloucester have a bit more snap about them , Miller is playing 'A' League rugby.

London Irish 18 Saracens 25

Irish are a good side on Paper but Saracens are well set out for the away win.

Northampton Saints 20 Exeter Chiefs 15

Saints have better players in key positions but Chiefs will be good when the RC is over.

Leicester 27 Worcester 22

Wuss come on leaps but tigers great throughout.

Newcastle 18 - Bath 28

Good backs for Newcastle actually, even better with Habana back, but they lose this one on the pack. They will stand up in the lineout, but get munched at the scrum and the breakdown and Bath's backrow is as brutal a carrying unit as I can see on this game, if a tad 1D. For Bath, a nice mix of skill, power and speed in the backs, but Hook at 10 and an out of sorts Steyn at 12 stop them really really shining. Lots of playmaking ability there though and a good plan. I'm actually ok with the way round the centres for Falcons are, Barritt has had some good games at 13, and I like the back 3. Just need a better platform

Gloucester 25 - 24 Sale

Big pack battle which Glous maybe just edge on form but it's very hard to call. Glous take the scrum but otherwise pretty even and Sale will make hard yards ESP with the maul. I think Sale's backs have gained a lot of credit from this summer, ESP Murray, JD2 back on form and Rhule, but Gloucester are pretty good here even and Miller is the weakest on either side. Gloucester win this with home advantage, the scrum and their HB combo which is one of my favourites

Wasps 28 - 24 Quins

As it stands I have to give the front row to Wasps, and probably the lineout and breakdown too. Like Quins' backrow but Picamoles and Higginbotham will make ground and big plays for Wasps though Higs loses points as he hasn't played recently. Wasps also edge the backs with a weakness at 9 but a non-flashy but effective and underrated backline, Quins better at 9 but Priestland can be hit and miss, and the excellence of North and Fofana is not helped by OLH, despite his beautiful step, playing on the wing and inexperienced vs Medard. The wasps tactics are also good and the bench is very strong. Quins will look better with a full team out

Saints 22 - 20 Exeter

Saints have a very solid pack but Ferris hard to rate and the front row are ones I expect might struggle under the new laws but right now I call the scrum equal with a relatively powerful Saints back 5 and Moon not the strongest. Equal at lineout with both having options, but Ex take the backrow battle in te breakdown as Ferris hard to rate and Robshaw better IMO than Wood. Ex backrow lightweight though and could be knocked back in the tight. Both sides staying on the safe side with simplicity and directness in attack and an emphasis on defence. This plays into Saints hands with their pack and power. I like both HB combos, edge in this game to Ex's but Saints backs have a bit more. 2 good benches but I think Ex offer more impact. Not enough to turn the game though

Leicester 30 - 22 Worcester

Worcester suffer without their SH names, though frankly Fotuali'i outclasses Genia right now. Tigers win the scrum though I expect Marler to shine with the new rules. Tigers also win the lineout and have a very dynamic pack and decent backrow where Parisse is class (usually) and Sam and Dan, though neither perfect, compliment each other well. However I think even missing Hooper Wuss have equality here, Kvesic shows promise even if he will lose the breakdown to Warbs and Haskell will help him in that area and Morgan and Haskell give great go forward. Established duo at 9/10 for Tigers but Wuss have a good pair (though not sure how they work together)- Goode underrated and had a great season last season and a great game last match and Fotuali'i possibly the best 9 around now and will go very well with Carter. Tigers' backs a lovely line and better than the talented but less lethal Wuss ones. Beale and Messam add impact but Tigers' bench us awesome too.