AP Round 1

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Newcastle Falcons v Bath Rugby
Light Rain, 13 Degrees, 15mph Winds
 
Newcastle Falcons
 
Manager – Driver
 

01.Ryan Grant	09.Ben Youngs
02.Rory Best	10.George Ford (K)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.Yoann Maestri	11.Alex Cuthbert
05.Paul O'Connell	12.Brad Barritt
06.Kelly Brown	13.Scott Williams
07.Hienrich Brussouw	14.Chris Ashton
08.Toby Falatau	15.Alex Goode

16.George McGuigan 17.Soane Tonga'Uhia 18.Scott Wilson 19.Ed Slater 20.Chris Masoe 21.Jean Doussain 22.Ruirdarh Jackson 23.Charlie Sharples
 
Tactics
 
Newcastle will play this game at a high tempo and look to put pressure on Bath from the start.
 
We've picked a big pack to target the break down and keep the tempo high, Players such as Grant, Best, Maestri, Brown, Brussouw and Falatau can all have a impact there.
 
Our game plan is based around a strong tactical Kicking game with plenty of carriers to get us in a position where we can use our strong set piece to allow our exciting backline to score tries.
 
With light rain forcast we will not be shy to take route one and slot the drop to put points on the board.
 
Key points;
 
No breakdown specialist in the Bath side we've picked Hienrich at 7 to target the ball and generate turnover ball to our broken field runners or win the penalty.
 
Ford and Goode will share the play making responsibilities and look to change the points of attack.
 
POC to target the Bath throw qnd set the drive on our throw.
 
Blitz defence with Youngs sweeping
 
 
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Morgen Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Luke Romano	11. George North
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13. Jonathan Davies
07. James Haskell	14. Nopolini Nalaga
08. Tom Guest	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Chris Brooker 17. Euan Murray 18. Carl Rimmer 19. George Merrick 20. Chris Henry 21.  Richard Wigglesworth 22.  Rob Horne 23. Rob Miller
 
Overall: Look to play flowing rugby with Hodgson pulling the strings. We will be looking for big carries all over to get over the gainline.
 
Scrum: We will look to get an advantage at scrum time with a strong front five picked. Apply pressure and look to get nudge on throughout. Look to play the ref and if not going our way use as a restart.
 
Lineout: At the line out we will look to keep our own ball and challenge the Falcons line out. Rory Best has not been throwing brilliantly lately and we will look to use this to our advantage. Romano and Kitchener will both offer solid banker balls at the front with Haskell and Shields jumping.
 
We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Hibbard, Healy, Romano, Haskell and Guest dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited.
 
Breakdown: Look to clear hard and fast with Pocock and Haskell looking to make a real nuisance of themselves and get their hands on the ball
 
Backs: We will be looking to use the backs in order to create or go through holes. Parra and Hodgson will look to really get the backs going with a good tempo. Parra will attack fringes and try to keep the defence guessing. Look to get our big runners involved as early as possible with Allen, Davies, North and Nalaga seeing lots of the ball.
 
Defence: Use an arrowhead defence in order to put pressure on Warriors key decision makers at 10/12. Ford is inexperienced and the pressure on him could cause him to make mistakes Barritt at 12 will also struggle to create much play. Morgen Parra will sweep in behind
 
Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo. Murray, Brooker and Rimmer will look to keep the scrum strong. Merrick will look to add grit late as well as another quality lineout operator. Henry can look to really get involved in all facets of the game against tired legs. Wigglesworth will prove a composed head to control tempo late. Horne and Miller will look to come up and provide a threat with their running.

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Gloucester Rugby v Sale Sharks
Light Rain, 14 Degrees, 10mph Winds
 
Gloucester
 
01. Nick wood 09. Connor Murray
02. Joe gray 10. Berrick Barnes )
03. Nicola mas
04. Richie gray.    11. John may
05. George Robson 12. Robert ebersohn
06. tom croft 13. Matt Banahan
07. Qera 14. Gear
08. Jamie heaslip 15. Andreas Masi
16 tufungisi 17 Fourie 18 Jamie Johnstone 19 Palmer 20 harinordoquoy21 Robson 22 lamb 23 Balshaw
Attacking
 
Emphasis on playing the game at a high pace and looking to move sale around. The forecast for Kingsholm is light intermittent rain showers and has been all week. This is good weather to play in. However we will be playing a mixed game there is a time for running and a time for kicking.
 
Berrick Barnes will be directing play and we will be targeting the sale centres massively. Steyn has been so out of form for the last 2 years and freuan may never play again after having open heart surgery in January and having been usurped by Ryan grotty. Our eyes Lit up
At seeing that centre pairing. We see them as being very static and we will look to challenge them relentlessly.
 
We have balance and ball playing skills at 10 and 12 and it allows us to kick well as well as move the ball.  We will be looking to pick up pace as we get on top and looking to use our back 3 to score try's. having gear may and Masi means you have use them.
 
With the likes of croft and heaslip in our team we will be using there pace and power to supplement the wide effort and they will feature heavily.
 
Up and unders will be used to target Bendy and
All penslties will be kicked. We will also look to use the cross kick to Gear
 
We are our pack as being good in the tight but also as having a great deal of pace and hands so will be looking to get to breakdowns quickly and also looking to offload
 
Set Piece
 
We have a strong front 5 with a technical front row who will look to cause problems from the off.
 
Line out- we see this as one of our biggest strengths and will aim to get after Kayser who has slipped down the pecking order at Clermont.
Croft Robson and gray as primary jumpers but with Qera and heaslip also good jumpers we will look to dominate here
 
Defending
 
We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace. We see this as being a great way to stop sale playing with both centres not really handling centres. Murray will sweep and look to carry on his majestic lions form.
With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. With the pace in our pack we will look to force turnovers and use the ball.
 
We are expecting sale to kick a lot so back 3 will lie slightly deeper and look to either counter or use the kicking option
 
 
Key Points
 
Attack there centres. Can't see how freuan is playing and we will look to exploit him and Steyn all day
 
 
Line out
 
Look to use it as a source of attack and also to ruin sale ball
 
 
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
 

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Todd	14. Simon Zebo
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. David Paice 18. Phil Swainston 19. Tom Savage 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls
 
Attacking
 

• Emphasis on playing the game in the right areas of the field and forcing errors from Glaws with the physicality of our side.
  
  

• Sexton & Steyn to play sensible rugby and ensure we win the tactical battle, kicking long for touch in our 22, using the up and under in the centre of the pitch and little grubbers in behind the defensive line.
  
  

• Ball in hand, look to use our big line breakers to make the hard yards and tie defenders up creating space in wider channels for Sexton to exploit.
  
  

• Offloading will be cut down to retain possession but not eliminated as we have confidence in the handling of our side.
  
  

• Our wingers will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the midfield and Picamoles looking for the inside ball or offload.
  
  

 
Set Piece
 

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

• With handling an issue we want to keep things simple and use Attwood, Ryan & POM 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.
  
  

 
Defending

• 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 Glaws momentum before it can get going.
  
  

• Care 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 Todd 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.
  
  

 
Key Points
 
Attack down the 12 channel

• Look to get at Ebersohn early on with the big runners. Steyn & Freuen selected to run hard down his channel. With the most missed tackles in Super Rugby (40) this year we will look to break the line in his channel.
  
  

 
Keeping It Tight

• Conditions countrywide this weekend predicate a tight game and we have selected a side for just that with some strong tight carriers in the pack and two units in midfield. We will look to win the contact in and around the ruck area with Glaws pack really lacking tight carrying options.
  
  

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London Irish v Saracens
Heavy Rain Showers, 15 Degrees, 8mph Winds
 
London Irish
 

01.Jerome Schuster	09.Rory Kockott (k)
02.Tom Lindsay	10.Nick Evans
03.Matt Stevens
04.Nick Kennedy	11. Sergeal Petersen
05.Craig Clarke	12.Luke McAlister
06.Justin Tipuric	13. Henry Trinder
07.Will Fraser	14. Nick Cummins
08.Ben Morgan	15.Brice Dulin

16. G.Ellis 17. T.Court 18. A.Jones 19. M.Garvey 20. T.Dusatoir 21. J.Moates 22. G.Armitage 23. JSD
 
Tactics
Quick rugby in good conditions with a mobile back 5 in the pack,
Strong carriers in the front row and will use technical skills to get the upper hand on larger units,
Strong lineout with Clarke and Kennedy great lineout leaders,
Quick ball to Kockott and Evans who can put centres into space,
McAlister to pull the strings in playing in the back three hitting the lines and the backrow carrying off the centres,
Defence led by Fraser or Tipuric and the other one will look to be first to the breakdown to look for the turnover,
Exciting back three who are all capable of skinning their opponents and stopping them dead in defence.

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Northampton Saints v Exeter Chiefs
Heavy Rain, 14 Degrees, 9mph Winds
Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris
 

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Ian Madigan
03. Carl Hayman
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Christian Wade
05. Samo Manoa	12. Matt Giteau
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Tatafu Polatu-Noa 18. Ben Tameifuna 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Billy Vunipola 21.  Mike Phillips 22.  Weslie Fofana 23. Ben Foden
 
Tactics:
Saints will look to lay down a marker for the season by turning Franklins Gardens into a fortress. We have picked a team that will look to dominate the tackle area and stop Exeter Chiefs from getting over the gainline and forcing them into mistakes and penalties. We will work through the phases and utilise the kicking of Simpson, Madigan, Giteau and Halfpenny to put us into areas of the pitch where we can turn pressure into points. Halfpenny to take all points on offer. Powerful bench to bring in over the final 30 minutes, ball carriers and impact players, where we think we can get a big advantage.
 
Pack/Set Piece:
We've picked a powerful pack that has a lot of ball carriers to make the hard yards in the wet conditions and provide Saints with a lot of possession and give good front foot ball to give the halfbacks time to kick for territory. We will look to take control in this area, especially with the impact players that are on the bench, who will ensure that Chiefs have to tackle for the full 80minutes.
 
Heavy rain will see a lot of front ball in the lineout and in Clark, Launchbury, Manoa and Parisse we have 4 safe jumpers. On Chiefs ball we will put Launchbury in front of Parling to put him under pressure on all of Webber's throw ins. Scrum, we will look to put Chiefs under pressure here and can turn the screw in the second half with the power of our 3 subs, who can come on when require.
 
Attack:
Control in the forwards is key for Saints, big ball carriers and get go forward ball. We will initially play for territory and put Chiefs under pressure to force mistakes/penalties and when we have control of the ball in the Chiefs half we will bring the likes of Giteau, Tuilagi and Bowe up the middle, targeting Bundi. We will look for Wade and Halfpenny to feed off any half breaks.
 
Defence/Breakdown:
Picked a forward pack that can put in big hits and knock any of the Chiefs runners down straight away, force handling errors and mistakes. Flankers picked specifically for their tackling and ability to chop down runners and stop any forward momentum building. Rock solid in the midfield with Giteau and Tuilagi.
 
With heavy rain there is less emphasis on getting turnover ball and instead we will ensure that we have strong defensive lines in place to stop Chiefs making ground around the fringes.
 
Key Points:
Confidence, home advantage, HC and LV Cup Champions, 7 Lions players and English players fresh from success of Argentina tour.
Halfpenny's boot.
Very strong bench, every player an impact player and we will look to make this count in final 30 minutes.
 
 
Exeter Chiefs
 
 
Manager – Fluxy
 
 

01. Logovii Mulipola	09. Maxime Machenaud [ /td]
02. Rob Webber	10. Toby Flood (k)
03. Mike Ross
04. Brad Thorn	11. Maxime Medard
05. Geoff Parling	12. Bundee Aki
06. Carl Fearns	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. John Barclay	14. Rene Ranger
08. Nick Williams	15. Matt Tait

16. Yannick Forestier 17. Jack Yeandle 18. Ben Afeaki 19. Bradley Davies 20. Jackson Wray 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Stephen Myler 23 Luke Arscott
 
Simple game plan based around the set piece and the weather conditions.
 
Use the the power and technique in the scrum to gain the upper hand. Likewise in the lineout with Parling calling the shots.
 
Strong carriers through out the side, not just the pack! We will make the most of the bad conditions with big carriers.
 
Use the boots of Mach and Flood to control the game and the territory game which will be important for the lineout battle, where we hope to have an upper hand with out opposition lacking a leader the quality of Parling.
 
Flood to take points on offer. And looks to maintain a the same defensive ethos from last season.
 

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London Wasps v Harlequins
Heavy Rain, 15 Degrees, 7mph Winds
London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213
 

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Nick Phipps
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Owen Farrell
03. Dave Wilson
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Marland Yarde
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Pat McCabe
06. Marcel Coetzee	13.Tim Nanai-Williams
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Digby Ioane
08. Fotu Auelua	15. Jaco Taute

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Paul James 18. Frans Malherbe 19. Sebastien Vahaamahina 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Camille Lopez 23. Jack Nowell
 
Key Points

• Big heavy pack ideal for the conditions.
  
  
  
• Controlling 10 to put us in the right areas.
  
  
  
• Carriers across the whole pack.
  
  
  
• Technical loosehead who should suit the new scrum directives.
  
  
  

 
Basic Game Plan
Basic tactical premise will be to play the game in the opposition half.  In our own half Farrell will use his boot to hit the corners and force Harlequins to play from deep.  When in the Quins half we will use our big carriers to truck it up.  We will look for gaps to make ground and draw defenders in as we cross the gainline, were we will look to recycle quickly by getting men into the ruck and clearing beyond the ball carrier.
 
In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence.  Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle.  Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us.  Phipps will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.
 
Specifics

• Take all points on offer off the tee.
  
  
  
• On our lineout ball we will secure it at the front (obviously we will mix it up a little to keep Quins on their toes, but we will take no risks).  Near to the Quins try line we will look to use the maul to good effect.
  
  
  
• Target Spies when he carries and look to effect the choke tackle and keep him up so the ball becomes unplayable and is turned over to us.
  
  
  

 
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
 

01. Joe Marler	09. Greig Laidlaw
02. Schalk Brits	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Yoannh Huget
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Florian Fritz
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Frank Halai
08. Pierre Spies	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Kieran Brookes 18. Gjorgi Jgenti 19. George Kruis 20. Nick Easter 21. Lee Dickson 22. Dan Bowden 23. Jonathan Joseph
 
Tactics
 
In the heavy rain we have filled our pack with carriers and have picked two half backs who we feel will control the game for us. Key to our game will be our carrying and ball retention and this puts the onus onto our pack to get around the pitch and work hard. When we are in the Wasps half we intend to keep the ball and wear down their defence so that gaps begin to emerge. Key to this strategy is patience and the tempo of the play will be dictated by Laidlaw or Dickson at 9.
 
We will look for our forwards to carry hard and in numbers off of 9 and 10. We will look to win the collision and keep the legs pumping in contact to cross the gainline. The conditions make the offload difficult but when its on we will try it. At the set piece we will look to control the scrum with two technically strong props who we feel will excel under the new scrum engagement laws. At the lineout we have 5 excellent jumpers to use on our own lineout and to put pressure on the Wasps lineout.
 
In the backs we have strong carriers throughout and will look for our centres to hit the ball up hard and punch holes in the smaller Wasps midfield. Outwide we have Huget who can play as a second full back in defence whilst still offering a threat on the front foot whils Halai will be invovled looking to carry the ball when he can. Burns will stand flat in attack and between him and Laidlaw and the boot of Rob Kearney we feel we have the players to win the aerial battles which may take place.

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Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors
Heavy Rain, 14 Degrees, 10mph Winds
 
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
 

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Henry Speight
05. Ian Evans	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Jacques Burger	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ryan Jones	15. Mike Brown

16. Chiliboy Ralepelle 17. Benn Robinson 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Ernst Joubert 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Ugo Monye
 
Tactics:
In wet, windy conditions we will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game and the power of our side.
 
- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole and Sheridan to look to really get into the opposition. Lots of scrums in wet weather and an area we will look to dominate.
 
- Attack at all lineouts. Use Hines or Jones at the front and Evans off the top as our three key options.
Shortened lineouts with Burger in midfield as crash or decoy option. Jones at the front on Worcester throws putting real pressure on Rees.
 
- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Worcester defence. The likes of SOB, Burger, Jones, Youngs and Hines to be used to crash through the 9/10 channel.
 
- Target the breakdown - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Burger, and the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.
 
- No overly ambitious passing - In wet conditions we will either look to kick to gain territory or look to keep ball in hand and take it through the middle.
 
- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first recievers in Wilko and Twelvetrees. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.
 
- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Fotuali'i to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.
 
- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.
 
Worcester Warriors
Manager - stnick88
 
 

01. BJ Botha	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Matthew Rees	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Brian Mujati
04. Mouritz Botha	11. David Strettle
05. Johann Muller(c)	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Danie Russouw	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Ross Rennie	14. Sean Maitland
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Delon Armitage

16. Nathan Catt 17. Dave Ward 18. Halani Aulika 19. James Percival 20. Phil Dowson 21. Michael Classens 22. Olly Barkley 23. Tom Williams

Guys my window for swimming the Channel opens in the next few days, so could get called up to go and swim at any time over the next 10 days. Probably wont be on that much due to training and stuff too.

Will try and put team in correct format before the swim, but Fluxy the team I will put out is:

1. Thomas Domingo
2. Dylan Hartley
3. Carl Hayman
4. Joe Launchbury
5. Samo Manoa
6. Dan Lydiate
7. Callum Clark
8. Sergio Parisse (c)

9. Joe Simpson
10. Ian Madigan
11. Tommy Bowe
12. Matt Giteau
13. Manu Tuilagi
14. Christian Wade
15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Tatafu Polatu-Noa 18. Ben Tameifuna 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Mike Phillips 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Ben Foden.

Falcons team for Bath

will try to update later but playing game through my phone.

1.Ryan Grant
2.Rory Best
3.Paul Doran Jones
4.Yoaan Maestri
5.Paul O'Connell (c)
6.Kelly Brown
7.Hienrich Brussow
8.Toby Falatau

9.Ben Youngs
10.George Ford
11.Alex Cuthbert
12.Brad Barritt
13.Scott Williams
14.Chris Ashton
15.Alex Goode

16.George McGuigan 17.Soane Tonga'Uhia 18.Scott Wilson 19.Ed Slater 20.Chris Masoe 21.Jean Doussain 22.Ruirdarh Jackson 23.Charlie Sharples

 

When do we get weather?

Conditions will be up by lunch time tomorrow Luke. Going to be using BBC weathers forecast for Friday 15.00 hours if you want to have a quick peak for yourself

01. Nick wood 09. Connor Murray
02. Joe gray 10. Berrick Barnes )
03. Nicola mas
04. Richie gray. 11. John may
05. George Robson 12. Robert ebersohn
06. tom croft 13. Matt Banahan
07. Qera 14. Gear
08. Jamie heaslip 15. Andreas Masi
16 tufungisi 17 Fourie 18 Jamie Johnstone 19 Palmer 20 harinordoquoy21 Robson 22 lamb 23 Balshaw
Attacking

Emphasis on playing the game at a high pace and looking to move sale around. The forecast for Kingsholm is light intermittent rain showers and has been all week. This is good weather to play in. However we will be playing a mixed game there is a time for running and a time for kicking.

Berrick Barnes will be directing play and we will be targeting the sale centres massively. Steyn has been so out of form for the last 2 years and freuan may never play again after having open heart surgery in January and having been usurped by Ryan grotty. Our eyes Lit up
At seeing that centre pairing. We see them as being very static and we will look to challenge them relentlessly.

We have balance and ball playing skills at 10 and 12 and it allows us to kick well as well as move the ball.  We will be looking to pick up pace as we get on top and looking to use our back 3 to score try's. having gear may and Masi means you have use them.

With the likes of croft and heaslip in our team we will be using there pace and power to supplement the wide effort and they will feature heavily.

Up and unders will be used to target Bendy and
All penslties will be kicked. We will also look to use the cross kick to Gear

We are our pack as being good in the tight but also as having a great deal of pace and hands so will be looking to get to breakdowns quickly and also looking to offload

Set Piece

We have a strong front 5 with a technical front row who will look to cause problems from the off.

Line out- we see this as one of our biggest strengths and will aim to get after Kayser who has slipped down the pecking order at Clermont.
Croft Robson and gray as primary jumpers but with Qera and heaslip also good jumpers we will look to dominate here

Defending

We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace. We see this as being a great way to stop sale playing with both centres not really handling centres. Murray will sweep and look to carry on his majestic lions form.
With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. With the pace in our pack we will look to force turnovers and use the ball.

We are expecting sale to kick a lot so back 3 will lie slightly deeper and look to either counter or use the kicking option


Key Points

Attack there centres. Can't see how freuan is playing and we will look to exploit him and Steyn all day


Line out

Look to use it as a source of attack and also to ruin sale ball


Good
Luck SJE

Just team Matt. Have till Thursday for tactics

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Nick Phipps
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Owen Farrell
03. Dave Wilson
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Marland Yarde
05. Jim Hamilton ©	12. Pat McCabe
06. Marcel Coetzee	13.Tim Nanai-Williams
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Digby Ioane
08. Fotu Auelua	15. Jaco Taute

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Paul James 18. Frans Malherbe 19. Sebastien Vahaamahina 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Camille Lopez 23. Jack Nowell

Key Points

• Big heavy pack ideal for the conditions.
  
• Controlling 10 to put us in the right areas.
  
• Carriers across the whole pack.
  
• Technical loosehead who should suit the new scrum directives.
  

Basic Game Plan
Basic tactical premise will be to play the game in the opposition half.  In our own half Farrell will use his boot to hit the corners and force Harlequins to play from deep.  When in the Quins half we will use our big carriers to truck it up.  We will look for gaps to make ground and draw defenders in as we cross the gainline, were we will look to recycle quickly by getting men into the ruck and clearing beyond the ball carrier.

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence.  Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle.  Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us.  Phipps will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics

• Take all points on offer off the tee.
  
• On our lineout ball we will secure it at the front (obviously we will mix it up a little to keep Quins on their toes, but we will take no risks).  Near to the Quins try line we will look to use the maul to good effect.
  
• Target Spies when he carries and look to effect the choke tackle and keep him up so the ball becomes unplayable and is turned over to us.
  

Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Driver

01.Ryan Grant	09.Ben Youngs
02.Rory Best	10.George Ford (K)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.Yoann Maestri	11.Alex Cuthbert
05.Paul O'Connell	12.Brad Barritt
06.Kelly Brown	13.Scott Williams
07.Hienrich Brussouw	14.Chris Ashton
08.Toby Falatau	15.Alex Goode

16.George McGuigan 17.Soane Tonga'Uhia 18.Scott Wilson 19.Ed Slater 20.Chris Masoe 21.Jean Doussain 22.Ruirdarh Jackson 23.Charlie Sharples

Tactics

01.Jerome Schuster	09.Rory Kockott (k)
02.Tom Lindsay	10.Nick Evans
03.Matt Stevens
04.Nick Kennedy	11. Sergeal Petersen
05.Craig Clarke	12.Luke McAlister
06.Justin Tipuric	13. Henry Trinder
07.Will Fraser	14. Nick Cummins
08.Ben Morgan	15.Brice Dulin

16. G.Ellis 17. T.Court 18. A.Jones 19. M.Garvey 20. T.Dusatoir 21. J.Moates 22. G.Armitage 23. JSD
 
Tactics
Quick rugby in good conditions with a mobile back 5 in the pack,
Strong carriers in the front row and will use technical skills to get the upper hand on larger units,
Strong lineout with Clarke and Kennedy great lineout leaders,
Quick ball to Kockott and Evans who can put centres into space,
McAlister to pull the strings in playing in the back three hitting the lines and the backrow carrying off the centres,
Defence led by Fraser or Tipuric and the other one will look to be first to the breakdown to look for the turnover,
Exciting back three who are all capable of skinning their opponents and stopping them dead in defence.
 
Not loads of tactics as I am seriously struggling for time right now.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Greig Laidlaw
02. Schalk Brits	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Yoannh Huget
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Florian Fritz
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Frank Halai
08. Pierre Spies	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Kieran Brookes 18. Gjorgi Jgenti 19. George Kruis 20. Nick Easter 21. Lee Dickson 22. Dan Bowden 23. Jonathan Joseph

Tactics

In the heavy rain we have filled our pack with carriers and have picked two half backs who we feel will control the game for us. Key to our game will be our carrying and ball retention and this puts the onus onto our pack to get around the pitch and work hard. When we are in the Wasps half we intend to keep the ball and wear down their defence so that gaps begin to emerge. Key to this strategy is patience and the tempo of the play will be dictated by Laidlaw or Dickson at 9.

We will look for our forwards to carry hard and in numbers off of 9 and 10. We will look to win the collision and keep the legs pumping in contact to cross the gainline. The conditions make the offload difficult but when its on we will try it. At the set piece we will look to control the scrum with two technically strong props who we feel will excel under the new scrum engagement laws. At the lineout we have 5 excellent jumpers to use on our own lineout and to put pressure on the Wasps lineout.

In the backs we have strong carriers throughout and will look for our centres to hit the ball up hard and punch holes in the smaller Wasps midfield. Outwide we have Huget who can play as a second full back in defence whilst still offering a threat on the front foot whils Halai will be invovled looking to carry the ball when he can. Burns will stand flat in attack and between him and Laidlaw and the boot of Rob Kearney we feel we have the players to win the aerial battles which may take place.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Henry Speight
05. Ian Evans	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Jacques Burger	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ryan Jones	15. Mike Brown

16. Chiliboy Ralepelle 17. Benn Robinson 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Ernst Joubert 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Ugo Monye

Tactics:

TBC

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Morgen Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Luke Romano	11. George North
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13. Jonathan Davies
07. James Haskell	14. Nopolini Nalaga
08. Tom Guest	15. Stuart Hogg

|;
16. Chris Brooker 17. Euan Murray 18. Carl Rimmer 19. George Merrick 20. Chris Henry 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Rob Horne 23. Rob Miller

Exeter Chiefs


Manager – Fluxy



[td colspan="1" height="undefined" nowrap="nowrap" rowspan="1" width="undefined"]02. Rob Webber

01. Logovii Mulipola	09. Maxime Machenaud [ /td]
10. Toby Flood (k)
03. Mike Ross
04. Brad Thorn	11. Maxime Medard
05. Geoff Parling	12. Bundee Aki
06. Carl Fearns	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. John Barclay	14. Rene Ranger
08. Nick Williams	15. Matt Tait

16. Yannick Forestier 17. Jack Yeandle 18. Ben Afeaki 19. Bradley Davies 20. Jackson Wray 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Stephen Myler 23 Luke Arscott

Simple game plan based around the set piece and the weather conditions.

Use the the power and technique in the scrum to gain the upper hand. Likewise in the lineout with Parling calling the shots.

Strong carriers through out the side, not just the pack! We will make the most of the bad conditions with big carriers.

Use the boots of Mach and Flood to control the game and the territory game which will be important for the lineout battle, where we hope to have an upper hand with out opposition lacking a leader the quality of Parling.

Flood to take points on offer. And looks to maintain a the same defensive ethos from last season.

Sorry on my hols. Just managed to squeeze five minutes in!

Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Ian Madigan
03. Carl Hayman
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Christian Wade
05. Samo Manoa	12. Matt Giteau
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Tatafu Polatu-Noa 18. Ben Tameifuna 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Billy Vunipola 21.  Mike Phillips 22.  Weslie Fofana 23. Ben Foden

Tactics:
Saints will look to lay down a marker for the season by turning Franklins Gardens into a fortress. We have picked a team that will look to dominate the tackle area and stop Exeter Chiefs from getting over the gainline and forcing them into mistakes and penalties. We will work through the phases and utilise the kicking of Simpson, Madigan, Giteau and Halfpenny to put us into areas of the pitch where we can turn pressure into points. Halfpenny to take all points on offer. Powerful bench to bring in over the final 30 minutes, ball carriers and impact players, where we think we can get a big advantage.

Pack/Set Piece:
We've picked a powerful pack that has a lot of ball carriers to make the hard yards in the wet conditions and provide Saints with a lot of possession and give good front foot ball to give the halfbacks time to kick for territory. We will look to take control in this area, especially with the impact players that are on the bench, who will ensure that Chiefs have to tackle for the full 80minutes.

Heavy rain will see a lot of front ball in the lineout and in Clark, Launchbury, Manoa and Parisse we have 4 safe jumpers. On Chiefs ball we will put Launchbury in front of Parling to put him under pressure on all of Webber's throw ins. Scrum, we will look to put Chiefs under pressure here and can turn the screw in the second half with the power of our 3 subs, who can come on when require.

Attack:
Control in the forwards is key for Saints, big ball carriers and get go forward ball. We will initially play for territory and put Chiefs under pressure to force mistakes/penalties and when we have control of the ball in the Chiefs half we will bring the likes of Giteau, Tuilagi and Bowe up the middle, targeting Bundi. We will look for Wade and Halfpenny to feed off any half breaks.

Defence/Breakdown:
Picked a forward pack that can put in big hits and knock any of the Chiefs runners down straight away, force handling errors and mistakes. Flankers picked specifically for their tackling and ability to chop down runners and stop any forward momentum building. Rock solid in the midfield with Giteau and Tuilagi.

With heavy rain there is less emphasis on getting turnover ball and instead we will ensure that we have strong defensive lines in place to stop Chiefs making ground around the fringes.

Key Points:
Confidence, home advantage, HC and LV Cup Champions, 7 Lions players and English players fresh from success of Argentina tour.
Halfpenny's boot.
Very strong bench, every player an impact player and we will look to make this count in final 30 minutes.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Todd	14. Simon Zebo
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. David Paice 18. Phil Swainston 19. Tom Savage 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

Attacking

• Emphasis on playing the game in the right areas of the field and forcing errors from Glaws with the physicality of our side.

• Sexton & Steyn to play sensible rugby and ensure we win the tactical battle, kicking long for touch in our 22, using the up and under in the centre of the pitch and little grubbers in behind the defensive line.

• Ball in hand, look to use our big line breakers to make the hard yards and tie defenders up creating space in wider channels for Sexton to exploit.

• Offloading will be cut down to retain possession but not eliminated as we have confidence in the handling of our side.

• Our wingers will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the midfield and Picamoles looking for the inside ball or offload.

Set Piece

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

• With handling an issue we want to keep things simple and use Attwood, Ryan & POM 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.

Defending

• 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 Glaws momentum before it can get going.

• Care 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 Todd 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.

Key Points

Attack down the 12 channel

• Look to get at Ebersohn early on with the big runners. Steyn & Freuen selected to run hard down his channel. With the most missed tackles in Super Rugby (40) this year we will look to break the line in his channel.

Keeping It Tight

• Conditions countrywide this weekend predicate a tight game and we have selected a side for just that with some strong tight carriers in the pack and two units in midfield. We will look to win the contact in and around the ruck area with Glaws pack really lacking tight carrying options.

Newcastle will play this game at a high tempo and look to put pressure on Bath from the start.

We've picked a big pack to target the break down and keep the tempo high, Players such as Grant, Best, Maestri, Brown, Brussouw and Falatau can all have a impact there.

Our game plan is based around a strong tactical Kicking game with plenty of carriers to get us in a position where we can use our strong set piece to allow our exciting backline to score tries.

With light rain forcast we will not be shy to take route one and slot the drop to put points on the board.

Key points;

No breakdown specialist in the Bath side we've picked Hienrich at 7 to target the ball and generate turnover ball to our broken field runners or win the penalty.

Ford and Goode will share the play making responsibilities and look to change the points of attack.

POC to target the Bath throw qnd set the drive on our throw.

Blitz defence with Youngs sweeping

Best of luck Steve.

SJE, I have swapped Tillous-Borde out for Phipps as Tillous-Borde got banned for 4 weeks today. I didn't realise he had a hearing. I knew Castro did and was likely to get a ban so I never included him. If that's not ok then Hodgson will start at 9.

Thats fine Pete mate  

Sje just back from
Work can I get tactics in
Before 9 tomorrow ?

yeah sure Matt just knocking mine up at the moment

Tactics:

In wet, windy conditions we will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game and the power of our side.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole and Sheridan to look to really get into the opposition. Lots of scrums in wet weather and an area we will look to dominate.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Hines or Jones at the front and Evans off the top as our three key options.
Shortened lineouts with Burger in midfield as crash or decoy option. Jones at the front on Worcester throws putting real pressure on Rees.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Worcester defence. The likes of SOB, Burger, Jones, Youngs and Hines to be used to crash through the 9/10 channel.

- Target the breakdown - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Burger, and the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

- No overly ambitious passing - In wet conditions we will either look to kick to gain territory or look to keep ball in hand and take it through the middle.

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first recievers in Wilko and Twelvetrees. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Fotuali'i to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.

Just some quick facts. Up to the announcement of Frueans surgery he had been involved in every Crusaders match day squad on the bench three times and starting every other game . He was also amongst the top ball carriers, highest metres made and top offloads in the competition. He is expected to make a full recovery and be back for next years Super Rugby. Far from being overtaken by Ryan Crotty...

Francois Steyn had a poor start to the season and was overweight but as he got fitter he got better before doing his leg in. To suggest he "has been so out of form for the last 2 years" is a bit far fetched though since it was his great form for Metro and the Boks that saw him become the highest paid Bok for this Super Rugby season just finished. Should be fun seeing these two lumps run at Ebersohn

SJE ebersohn stars in defence and attack http://m.watoday.com.au/rugby-union/union-news/ebersohn-added-to-springboks-squad-20130604-2nn1t.html

No comments allowed on match day but as you had yours !!

I was just rebutting some points in your tactics Matt surely you will allow me that as I couldn't last night

The stats show Ebersohn missed 40 tackles the most in Super Rugby and more then my own Beauden Barrett whom you have regularly called a "revolving door" 

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

Scrum: We will look to get an advantage at scrum time with a strong front five picked. Apply pressure and look to get nudge on throughout. Look to play the ref and if not going our way use as a restart.

Lineout: At the line out we will look to keep our own ball and challenge the Falcons line out. Rory Best has not been throwing brilliantly lately and we will look to use this to our advantage. Romano and Kitchener will both offer solid banker balls at the front with Haskell and Shields jumping.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Hibbard, Healy, Romano, Haskell and Guest dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited.

Breakdown: Look to clear hard and fast with Pocock and Haskell looking to make a real nuisance of themselves and get their hands on the ball

Backs: We will be looking to use the backs in order to create or go through holes. Parra and Hodgson will look to really get the backs going with a good tempo. Parra will attack fringes and try to keep the defence guessing. Look to get our big runners involved as early as possible with Allen, Davies, North and Nalaga seeing lots of the ball.

Defence: Use an arrowhead defence in order to put pressure on Warriors key decision makers at 10/12. Ford is inexperienced and the pressure on him could cause him to make mistakes Barritt at 12 will also struggle to create much play. Morgen Parra will sweep in behind

Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo. Murray, Brooker and Rimmer will look to keep the scrum strong. Merrick will look to add grit late as well as another quality lineout operator. Henry can look to really get involved in all facets of the game against tired legs. Wigglesworth will prove a composed head to control tempo late. Horne and Miller will look to come up and provide a threat with their running.

Will do my predos tomorrow morning - are we able to take into account CJB's tactics, assuming that we are as have done in previous seasons?

Yep Chris CJBs tactics are up and can be took into account

Newcastle Falcons 21-19 Bath Rugby

Pack/Set Piece/Breakdown: Would give the forward advantage to Falcons at home, they have a really strong pack and a very consistent team selection from previous seasons. Have some real grunt and go forward and an advantage in the backrow, as Haskell and Guest need to show some form.

Backs/Attack: Ford showed last night that he is one of the best tactical kickers in the AP, but questions need to be answered on his kicking. Bath pack will get him decent ball. Do prefer the Bath backline as is easily one of the best in the RC window. Not sure if they will get enough clean ball to exploit this though.

Tactics/Bench: Pretty even benches, not sure I know of the Falcons no2 replacement though. Both tactics set up well for conditons - would probably say that Falcons have one or two more players in the pack that will help them see out a tight game - espc the influence of POC.

London Irish 30-0 Saracens

Is DHL still playing? Do like Props confidence to play running rugby in heavy rain and playing nick cummins who starts for the Aussies.

Gloucester 25 - 25  Sale

Pack/Set piece/Breakdown: Think Sale can get an advantage over Gloucester in the scrum, but Gloucester can really get some great ball from their lineout jumpers. Really interesting battle in the backrow and think that Sale could get some good forward ball with their carriers and get a bit of joy in loose play.

Backs/Attack: Huge for Sale to take on Gloucester when they are without their first choice halfbacks, Care and Sexton great halfback combo. Gloucester still have some great strike runners.

Bench/Tactics: Benches very even, tactics both set out very well - just think that the Sale pack need to be a bit more grizzled to combat what guys like Mas, Gray will bring and the lineout ball that Gloucester will get makes a huge difference. Sale get a draw though, as think Gloucester just lack the cutting edge during RC.

London Wasps 12 - 15  Harlequins

Pack/Set piece/Breakdown: See Quins having key players in the no2 and no8 shirts in the pack and this makes a massive bearing on the game for me, especially at lineout time. Breakdown very even and powerful battle, which should see both teams give nothing away.

Backs/Attack: Farrell absolutely key in the game due to the conditions and will get WAsps in the right areas and keep the scoreboard ticking in the conditions, Burns attacking game wont have any impact due to conditions, but he's another guy who doesnt really miss a kick.

Bench/Tactics: For me the difference is with key players at 2 and 8 and conditions having a major impact, especially with the lineout throwing and contol at the back of the scrum. Is at Twickenham too so home advantage out the window.

Leicester Tigers 14 - 10 Worcester Warriors

Pack/Set piece/Breakdown: Conditions make for a brutal game in the packs, for me Tigers have the edge and have some strong ball carriers and guys like Burger who you want in your team when the heavens open. Bit more about them but conditions ruin any chance of breakdown making a big impact, so is just a pure battle between them.

Backs/Attack: Again the conditions make attacking rugby impossible, so look to halfbacks and also security of the 15 and would give the advantage to the Tigers player in each shirt there - their no9/10 combination is excellent and stillprobably not another flyhalf in the wet you'd want ahead of Wilko and Brown is a rock at the back.

Bench/Tactics: Both teams have good options and playing the game the way it needs to in conditions - but Tigers pack, Welford Road and Wilko at no10 makes it a low-scoring, attritional home win.

Newcastle 18 - 18 Bath

Not a great deal In the front row, or the whole front five altogether really. Maybe a tad more quality from the home side. I prefer Newcastle's back row, as baths is a bit one dimensional. Overall Newcastle edge the pack but not by a great deal. Bath stronger at HB and in The centres too. Slightly better back three as well, and they look much stronger in the backs. Slightly more impact from Newcastle bench. In th dry bath walk this, wet it's too close to call.



Gloucester 22 - 19 Sale

Decent contest up from, that maybe Gloucs slightly edge but not by much. More form for sale in the second rows. Bt I like both units on display. For me Gloucs take the back row and their unit has a bit of everything. Picamoles makes sale stronger but they lack he class of Gloucs here. Overall edge to the home side in the pack. 2 decent HB combos but prefer sale. Sale lacking form at centre so Gloucs take here, and edge to sale in Back three. Need to play eastmond centre though I think. In the rain, think Gloucs' pack should just see them home.

Newcastle 22 - 24 Bath

Front rows to Bath with 2nd rows one a piece but the Falcons combination is stronger. In the back row I think Falcons are stronger. Overall I don't see a great deal between the packs. In the backline I thin Bath have a strong advantage as a unit. I don't think Newcastle will create much with that midfield and I am not convinced that Youngs, Ford and Goode have the kicking game to implement the tactics they want to against a strong Bath back three. Bath have more control and creativity in their backs as well as some big big carriers. It's not often that a back line wins a game but I think even in light rain Bath's backs will prove decisive.

Gloucester 24 - 25 Sale

Upfront I don't think there is much in it at all with scrums being even and the lineout being a great contest with two strong lineouts. In the loose I don't see much of an advantage to either pack. Pretty much dead even up front. Half backs edge to Sale with Barnes a fairway below Sexton. I think the outside backs edge to Sale with a good physical unit which still offers creativity. Banahan will offer little at 13 and think Fruean will give him a bit of a runaround. Very tough match to call this and it ends a slight win for Sale.

Northampton Saints 18 - 14 Exeter Chiefs

Saints have a massively physical pack which I think Exeter will struggle to control for the duration despite having a physical unit themselves. I think the scrum will be evens but expect Parling to hurt Saints at the lineout. In the loose there is an obvious advantage to Saints for me which is a big advantage in such heavy rain. In the backs, despite a stronger lineout, I'm not convinced that Flood's kicking is good enough to control the territory. Also have concerns over the ability of the Exeter back three under the high ball so expect some joy for Saints there. The Saints physical pack and Halfpennys boot wins a good contest.

Leicester 26 - 22 Worcester

Both packs are well set out for the conditions but I feel Leicester have that bit more as an 8 and have no obvious weaknesses to be exploited. Set piece is pretty even in both aspect but I expect that Rennie will have some joy at the breakdown. At half backs Leicester are better set up for the conditions and FTD's game and skill set isn't suited to the conditions. despite Yach's superb form in France Leicester have the better options at half back. Worcester have the stronger outside backs for the conditions and might get joy there.

Sorry lads, no time for detailed predos so it's 1 point wins only from me this week...

Newcastle Falcons 19 Bath Rugby 18
Gloucester 22 Sale Sharks 22
Northampton Saints 21 Exeter Chiefs 20
Leicester 24 Worcester Warriors 23

Irish 30-0 Saracens
Gloucester 25-26 Sale
Not much in the packs, slight edge to Glucester for me. Half backs definitely go to Sale with Sexton a different quality to Barnes for me. Centres are about equal, think saying Steyn has no form in 2 years is an exaggeration. Back three goes to Sale as well.

Saints 22-17 Exeter
Saints will struggle in the line out against Parling but will be dominant in the scrum and the loose. Flood over Madigan at fly half currently for me. The outside backs secure Saints the victory. Great subs for Saonts as well.

Wasps 18-19 Quins
Leicester 22-21 Warriors

Newcastle Falcons 18Bath Rugby 19

Northampton Saints 21 Exeter Chiefs 17
Leicester 24 wuss 22

Wasps 17-16 Quins

Just a couple of points of order on my game. Chris predo was at 8.37 last night so after predos close, and Schalk Brits is currently banned but played for Quins against me.  

Damn - thought we had until Sunday for predos.

RESULTS:

Newcastle Falcons 21 (T: Youngs, Sharples C: Ford P: Ford 3)
Bath Rugby 19 (T: Haskell C: Hodgson P: Hodgson 4)

Gloucester Rugby 24 (T: May 2, R. Gray C: Barnes 3 P: Barnes)
Sale Sharks 24 (T: Eastmond, Zebo, Kvesic C: Sexton 3 P: Sexton)

London Irish # 30 (T: Trinder, Tipuric, Lindsay, Fraser C: Kockott 2 P: Kockett 2)
Saracens 0

Northampton Saints 23 (T: Wade, Vuinipola C: Halfpenny 2 P: Halfpenny 3)
Exeter Chiefs 17 (T: Williams P: Flood 5)

London Wasps 22 (T: Tolofua C: Farrell P: Farrell 5)
Harlequins # 20 (T: Halai 2 C: Burns 2 P: Burns 2)

Leicester Tigers 25 (T: Sheridan, Clerc, Youngs C: Wilkinson 2 P: Wilkinson 2)
Worcester Warriors 20 (T: Maitland, Aulika C: Yachvili 2 P: Yachvili 2)

# Fined one league point for fielding an ineligible player (Brits & Cummins)



BONUSES:


Full: Steve & SJE
Scores/Incomplete: CJB, Matt, Luke, Pete, Chris
Excused: Prop & Fluxy
Fined: Driver, DHL, Nick

Just a few points guys when giving scores only you can only predict one point winning margins. Where you haven't this week I've brought the losing sides score up to the one point difference. Apologies for ineligible players in sides thats my fault for not looking. Where its happened one league point has been fined per the game rules. Any predictions after 8 haven't been taken into account 

Sorry I didn't predict. Back in sync with Brtish time now!

SJE if you'd like a hand with match threads I can do them like I have been on the other game if you need a spot of help?

I'm also on the hunt for a few deals in the coming days as well lads

Looking for someone to run the European match day threads Fluxy if your up for it?