AP Round 3

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Worcester Warriors v Harlequins
Light Cloud, 14 Degrees, 5mph Winds 


Worcester Warriors
Manager - stnick88

01. Nathan Catt	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Matthew Rees	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Brian Mujati
04. Alun Wyn-Jones (c)	11. David Strettle
05. Johann Muller	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Dave Denton	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Ross Rennie	14. Mark Cueto
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Delon Armitage

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Koree Britton 18. BJ Botha 19. James Percival 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Michael Classens 22. Olly Barkley  23. Tom Casson

Tactics

- The conditions are decent so at home we will play an attacking game. The halfbacks will look to get us playing in the right areas and try to dominate territory, securing good possesion before releasing the backline.
- Yach will kick all pens in range to keep scoreboard ticking over.
- Use Bast as a crash ball and decoy runner option.
- Muller to be the main lineout option, with AWJ and Beattie also options. Muller to disrupt as much oppositon ball as possible.
- Forwards to hit the breakdown hard and allow Rennie to secure and turnovers and win pens.


Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Greig Laidlaw (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Dan Bowden
03. Gjorgi Jgenti
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Luike Morahan
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Ben Tapuai
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Frank Halai
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Kyle Sinckler 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Pieter Labushagne 21. Lee Dickson 22. Florian Fritz 23. Topsy Ojo

Tactics

Use strong carriers to get across the gainline and allow us quick ball to release our backline in the Warriors half.

Strong in set piece looking to put Worcester ujnder pressure at scrum and lineout.

Use Wood and Warburton to look to rule the battle at the breakdown.

Look to get out outside backs on the ball as often as possible providing we have front foot ball.

look to double up in tackle when possible to win the collision and drive Worcester back.

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Sale Sharks v London Wasps
Light Cloud, 14 Degrees, 11mph Winds 

 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Iain Henderson	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. George Pisi
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Dave Kilcoyne 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Phil Swainston 19. Tom Savage 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

Key Points/Specifics

• Eastmond, Zebo & Gilroy will look to take advantage of gaps in the Wasps defence. Taute last played 13 this time last year for the Boks and TNW is shifted to the wing after 2 weeks in midfield so defensive positioning will be an issue. 
  
• Look to a strong blitz defence getting up quick in the Wasps 10-12 channel. With a lack of playmakers in the Wasps side stopping them before the gain line will blunt them.
  

Attacking

• Look to play high tempo, high intensity rugby. Ball in hand, look to use our big line breakers to make the hard yards and tie up defenders creating space in wider channels for Sexton to exploit. 
  
• We see the offload as a crucial weapon and our carriers will all be looking to offload in contact, continuing our forward momentum and breaking the defensive line.
  
• Care will look to tie the Wasps back row to the breakdown with his sniping game allowing Sexton to play flat on the gain line. Sexton will look to bring our dangerous runners in to the game or find mismatches for himself to hit on the wrap around.
  
• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the ball.
  

Set Piece

• With a strong technical front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much room as possible to attack from.
  
• In Wasps territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs. In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.
  

Defending

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Wasps momentum before it can get going.
  
• Care will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.
  
• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose ball.
  
• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with Quedragao looking to get his hands on the ball.
  
• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.
  

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Nick Phipps
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Owen Farrell
03. Dave Wilson
04. Romain Millo-Chluski	11. Anthony Watson
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Pat McCabe
06. Rynhardt Elstadt	13. Jaco Taute
07. Marcel Coetzee	14. Tim Nanai-Williams
08. Steffon Armitage	15. Gareth Anscombe

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Fraser Balmain 18. Frans Malherbe 19. George Skivington 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Camille Lopez 23. Jack Nowell

Key Points

• Salford is not an intimidating place to go for away teams so any home advantage will be minimal.
  
• Added bulk to the pack with Elstadt as we want to dominate physically in the collisions and at the breakdown.
  
• Taute has played at outside centre at international level.  Defensive positioning will not be an issue.
  
• Anscombe comes in as an additional playmaker to exploit any space created by the team.
  
• Basic game plan designed to frustrate Sale whose players are all better in attack than defence.  When they do get possession they could become over anxious and wasteful and also will not enjoy defending for long periods with all of the back three having question marks over them defensively.
  
• Sale playing on the edge of the offside line in defence will be risky as if they get pinged we have two very reliable kickers in Farrell and Anscombe.  Sexton is not in the same class off of the tee.
  

Basic Game Plan
Basic tactical premise will be to dominate possession.  We will go through the phases were possible and look to starve Sale of the ball for long periods.  We will look for gaps and as the tackles come in make the offload to support runners.  Huge focus for us will be winning the collisions and dominating the breakdown.

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

• Breakdown. In attack we will flood it rucking past the ball at pace to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence if the turnover is on we will flood it in the same manner to get quick ball, but if not on we will only commit a small number of players to slow the ball, instead maintaining a solid defensive line.
  
• Lineout. We will look to use this as a weapon in attack and play quick of the top mixing up where in the line we throw to.  On Sale ball we will contest in the air using the athletic Elstasdt to attack where we think it will be thrown to.
  
• Scrums. On defensive scrums, with a bulk 2nd row and back row we will look to get an 8 man shove on rather than our hooker actually hooking for the ball and try to shove them off it.  On our ball we will primarily go for channel 1 ball and look to get it out quickly and start running at the gaps in the defensive line.
  
• Open Play. Big runners off 9 and 10.  Phipps to snipe to tie in the sale back row.  TNW to track off the wing, seeking out the gaps to get us well across the gainline.  Big carriers to target Eastwood in defence.  Target the space between the blitzing defensive line and players sitting deep with grubbers if we are not having success going through the phases.
  

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Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons
Light Cloud, 15 Degrees, 9mph Winds 

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Henry Speight
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Tamati Ellison
07. Jacques Burger	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Mike Brown

16. Charlie Clare 17. Benn Robinson 18. Craig Mitchell 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Steve Mafi 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Kurtley Beale

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game and the power and strength of our side.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole and Sheridan to look to really get into the opposition.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Joubert or Hines at the front and Horwill off the top as our three key options.
Shortened lineouts with Burger in midfield as crash or decoy option.

- Put serious pressure on Best's throws with Joubert at the front on all Newcastle throws.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Newcastle defence. The likes of SOB, Youngs, Burger, Horwill and Hines to be used to target the Newcastle 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 SOB, and the likes of Cole too, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

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

- Target Ford all game with Burger and SOB breathing down his neck at every opportunity. Big runners through his channel - looking to win the Wilko vs Ford contest.

- 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. Peel to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalties.


Newcastle Falcons
Manager - Driver

1.Ryan Grant
2.Rory Best
3.Paul Doran Jones
4.Yoaan Maestri
5.Ed Slater
6.Kelly Brown
7.Richie McCAw
8.Chris Masoe

9.Ben Youngs
10.George Ford
11.Alex Cuthbert
12.Brad Barritt
13.Rene Ranger
14.Chris Ashton
15.Jared Payne

Mcguigan,  Tonga'uhia,  Wilson,  Grey,  J Smith,  Harrison,  Gopperth,  Lowe

We've picked a big pack to target the break down and keep the tempo high,  Players such as Grant,  Best, Maestri,  Brown, mcCaw and masoe 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.

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

feed players like ranger and payne as they cam create chances from anywhere.

ford to test tigers blitz with little kicks and putting the ball behind decoy runners

Key points;

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

Ford  will  look to change the points of attack.

Masoe to target the tigers throw and set the drive on our throw

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London Irish v Exeter Chiefs
Light Cloud, 16 Degrees, 7mph Winds 

London Irish
Manager - Prop

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Rory Kockott
02. Hika Elliott	10. Lionel Beauxis
03. Matt Stevens
04. Nick Kennedy	11. Sergeal Petersen
05. Craig Clarke	12. Sereli Naqalevuki
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13.  Henry Trinder
07. Will Fraser	14. Taku Nqwenya
08. Ben Morgan	15. Robbie Henshaw

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16. T.Lindsay 17. T.Court 18. A.Guillamon 19. T.Dusatoir 20. E.Jackson 21. J.Moates 22. S.Geraghty 23. G.Armitage

Key Points

Balanced Backrow
We have picked a big backrow who are well balanced. Gorgodze will look to be abrasive and run at 10 looking to put him off his game. Fraser will look to dismantle the breakdown. Morgan will look to carry the ball all day and be the link man.

8-9-10-12-13
We want quick ball for our half-backs to tactically put us into territory (off the pitch). Our 8-9-10-12-13 will look to be influential and all have played together in this game alot so know each other well. These can all be standout playmakers who will look to control the game at our tempo in the light rain we will not expect attractive rugby.


Attacking

• We want to force errors from and will target the 12 channel by sending big runners down his channel.
  
• Kockott and Beauxis to play what's in front of them and look to release Naqa (who smash the holes) or snipe as much as possible. If it isn't on then Evans will stick it in the corners and, with Kenneday, Godzilla and Clarke we have the number jumpers to gain the ball back, we know they will be dangerous here so will look to avoid his area and mix up our lineouts.
  
• Look for runners off of 10 and 12 channel to make the initial break before sending the ball out wide to Petersen and Ngwenya.
  
• We will look to use our big pack to carry alot of ball and, if it isn't on then run off of 9 and take a couple of 'up the jumper' phases to drag defenders in.
  
• Our back three will look to come off their wings and hit the right angles.
  

• Power to close out the win in Lindsay and Guillamon, Dus will have a field day against tired legs, excitement to continue to target the tired players through Moates' sniping, heavy impact at the scrum to come on and Armitage and Geraghty can continue to control the game and bring further excitement and pace..
  

Set Piece

• Strong scrum which will get the edge up on the Stevens and a good bench to come on as well to continue the pressure, 8-9-10 is a move we will use alot.
  
• We will use the maul to get ourselves up the pitch quickly and power over from short distance.
  
• Lineout has been mentioned previously where we have many strong jumpers here who will look to control attacking and defensive ones.
  

Defending

• Banana blitz defence targetting slowing down the ball led by Naqa so he has no time to kick or give quick ball to the centres (we will have a backrower on Beauxis' shoulder to look for quick turnover ball, we will protect the channels to stop 9 sniping.
  
• Kockott will look to sweep and counter attack off any kick through's.
  
• We will hit the breakdown quick to give Fraser time to get over the ball and obliterate any protection they have in place.
  
• If the turnover isn't on we won't commit and will fan out defending inside-out.
  

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Logovii Mulipola	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Rob Webber (C)	10. Stephen Myler (K)
03. Mike Ross
04. Brad Thorn	11. Dom Shipperly
05. Geoff Parling	12. Bundee Aki
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. John Barclay	14. Zac Guilford
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Matt Tait

16. Sean Cronin 17. Yannick Forestier 18. Will Collier 19. Bradley Davies 20. Carl Fearns 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Alex Dunbar

Tactics

After a strong performance against the Wasps last week, we look towards the game to kick of the season and look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every opportunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, therefore the intelligence of Myler and Machenaud will dictate when to attack and when we need to clear the lines. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. We have brilliant leaders all other the pitch in Webber, Parling, Rougerie and Robshaw, and they know what will be provided leadership 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 Irish to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them. In attack we will look to use the Myler's and Aki's creativity to create space and use the dangerous runners outside them and themselves. 

• Mulipola and Ross are solid technicians and will allow Webber freedom to secure our own feed, to provide first phase possession for our backs. 
  
  
• With a strong line-out, Parling will lead and use himself as banker ball at the in line with Davies jumping in the front and middle. At the back we can look to use Robshaw sparingly. If winning own ball Parling will look to call full number lineouts to tie in the IRish forwards. 
  
  
• Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. We have picked Robshaw and Barclay to cut down the runners coming at us and to dominate the breakdown. 
  
  
• Whole pack capable of carrying, along with some effort from the backs. If Wasps want to target the big guys we can look for them to move the ball on to more forwards standing further outside the guards. Big emphasis on running forwards down the ten when there is slow ball. 
  

• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines and allowing their back row to get over the ball.
  
  
• Myler is a decent attacker (as proven at the end of last season and first game this season) and look to use a league style move to unlock the defence. Aki can either take it short and through gaps or it can be screened to Rougerie with the 14, and 15 to attack the numbers outside. 
  
  
• We will use a Blitz drift line in defence to cut down Beauxis's options and push him inside towards our backrow.
  
  
• Look for Taulava to run down their 10's channel off scrums, and big carries down this channel in open play. He can be got at put off his game.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game.
  
  
• Myler will kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Irish should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With strong set-pieces will look to keep the game and momentum in our favour. If we can open the game up in their half when in control we will. 
  

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Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints
Light Cloud, 16 Degrees, 7mph Winds 

Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Mat

01. Tufungisi	09. Connor Murray
02. Jamie George	10. Dan Carter
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Richie grey	11. Johnny may
05. George Robson	12. Berrick barnes
06. Arno Botha	13. Juan de Jongh
07. Qera	14. Matt Banahan
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Andreas Masi

Subs: 16. Luke Cowan Dickie  17. Rupert Harden18. Joe Grey 19. Tom palmer 20. Immanol haronordoquoy21. Dan robson 22. Ryan Lamb  23. Iain Balshaw

- target saints at scrums with Mas getting at mako.
- target saints line out with Bonaire main recognised saints jumper
- send numbers into breakdown with saints lacking a genuine 7
-Qera to get after priest land and try and unsettle his rhythm
- use our pack full of ball carriers to get on front foot to allow us to play.
- use our 8,9,10,12 superiority to dictate play
- carter to use bomb on wade
- look to up tempo as game breaks up
-  forwards to play a off loading game with sheer weight of carriers breaking down saints defence

Key points

Attack Saints lack line out jumpers
Glaws have better balanced backrow
8,9,10,12 of glaws offer control especially with fofana out of position at 13


Northampton Saints
Manager - Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. Rhys Priestland
03. Carl Hayman
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Christian Wade
05. Samo Manoa	12. Matt Giteau
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Weslie Fofana
07. Ed Quirk	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Subs: 16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. CJ Stander 21. Joe Simpson 22. Sitiveni Siviatu 23. Ben Foden

Tactics:Will play a strong, aggressive game that looks to bring Gloucester into a really physical confrontation. Aim to dominate the setpiece and control possession of the ball, make Gloucester defend for large periods and then bring our impact bench on. We have picked a team full of strong ball carriers to punch get us over the gainline and provide front foot ball to release the our backline to exploit.

Setpiece: Will look to hammer Gloucester in the scrum, big front row who are all internationals and will look to really pressurise the Gloucester front row. Get good attacking ball for Vunipola off the base of the scrum. With lineouts we will look for quick ball to attack with, Bonnaire to lead. Defensively we will use Lawes athleticism to put George's throwing under pressure.  

Breakdown/Backrow: Aware this will be a physical area and have selected Lawes, Manoa and Vunipola as guys who can clear the Gloucester players out of the breakdown area to get us quick ball to attack with. We've also selected Ed Quirk for his speed and breakdown work to look for turnovers.

Possession/Territory: We have a team that will look to control both possession and territory, have a lot of big ball carriers to go through the phases and to tire the Gloucester defence. We have also selected three top class kickers in our backline (Priestland, Giteau and Halfpenny) so we can pin Gloucester back and pressurise them/force penalties in areas where Halfpenny can take 3 points.

Gainline: Our game is all about getting over the gainline and having strike runners to create opportunities. Pack has the Vunipola's, Samoa and backline has Fofana, Giteau and Bowe. Creativity of Priestland and Giteau to help create space and really test Gloucester.

Defence: Defensively we will play an aggressive rush defence, looking to really pressurise Carter who has been part of the All Blacks squad and we'll look to get Lawes making his traditional impact on no10s!

Impact: Our bench is all about impact and upping the tempo in the final 20/30 minutes of the game. Especially in the forwards with Launch, CJ Stander (2 tries at the weekend).

Key selection points:
Form - Lot of players in good form in real life.
Target - Put pressure on Carter from the off.
Timing - Good time to play Gloucester during the RC.

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Saracens v Bath Rugby
Sunny Intervals, 16 Degrees, 7mph Winds 

Saracens
Manager – Pooly
 

01. Matt Mullen	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. Tiaan Liebenberg	10. Tom Taylor
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Louis Deacon	11. Tom Vardell
05. Luke Charteris	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Alessandro Zanni	13. Joel Tomkins
07. George Smith	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Lee Byrne

16. Darren Dawidiuk  17. Max Lahiff  18. Hoani Tui  19. Kevin McLaughlin  20. Jordan Crane  21. Chris Cook  22. Ben Botica  23. Mark Cueto
 
Tactics:

- Look to mix it up the pack with some big carries from Kalamafoni/Kepu/Liebenburg
- Target scrum if weakness with squat powerful front row and Deacon packing down behind Kepu to stabilse TH side
- Simple lineout with Deacon calling but Charteris/Zanni offering strong options. Target opp throw in their half esp
- Look to gain control of the breakdown and ruck over the ball to allow Zanni/Smith hands on
- Taylor/Crotty 10/12 link being key to decision making in the backline, Tomkins to run at angles as impact/dummy runner
- Strong kicking options at 9/10 to kick in behind Bath back 3 and allow backline to put pressure
- Duvenge to sweep behind rush defence to prevent any
- Play it simple in backs, all from 10/12 channel

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Henry Speight
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Tamati Ellison
07. Jacques Burger	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Mike Brown

16. Charlie Clare 17. Benn Robinson 18. Craig Mitchell 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Steve Mafi 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Kurtley Beale

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game and the power and strength of our side.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole and Sheridan to look to really get into the opposition.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Joubert or Hines at the front and Horwill off the top as our three key options.
Shortened lineouts with Burger in midfield as crash or decoy option.

- Put serious pressure on Best's throws with Joubert at the front on all Newcastle throws.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Newcastle defence. The likes of SOB, Youngs, Burger, Horwill and Hines to be used to target the Newcastle 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 SOB, and the likes of Cole too, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

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

- Target Ford all game with Burger and SOB breathing down his neck at every opportunity. Big runners through his channel - looking to win the Wilko vs Ford contest.

- 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. Peel to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalties.

Conditions up 

Saracens
Manager – Pooly
 

01. Matt Mullen	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. Tiaan Liebenberg	10. Tom Taylor
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Louis Deacon	11. Tom Vardell
05. Luke Charteris	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Alessandro Zanni	13. Joel Tomkins
07. George Smith	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Lee Byrne

16. Darren Dawidiuk  17. Max Lahiff  18. Hoani Tui  19. Kevin McLaughlin  20. Jordan Crane  21. Chris Cook  22. Ben Botica  23. Mark Cueto
 
Tactics:

- Look to mix it up the pack with some big carries from Kalamafoni/Kepu/Liebenburg
- Target scrum if weakness with squat powerful front row and Deacon packing down behind Kepu to stabilse TH side
- Simple lineout with Deacon calling but Charteris/Zanni offering strong options. Target opp throw in their half esp
- Look to gain control of the breakdown and ruck over the ball to allow Zanni/Smith hands on
- Taylor/Crotty 10/12 link being key to decision making in the backline, Tomkins to run at angles as impact/dummy runner
- Strong kicking options at 9/10 to kick in behind Bath back 3 and allow backline to put pressure
- Duvenge to sweep behind rush defence to prevent any
- Play it simple in backs, all from 10/12 channel

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Iain Henderson	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. George Pisi
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Dave Kilcoyne 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Phil Swainston 19. Tom Savage 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

Key Points/Specifics

• Eastmond, Zebo & Gilroy will look to take advantage of gaps in the Wasps defence. Taute last played 13 this time last year for the Boks and TNW is shifted to the wing after 2 weeks in midfield so defensive positioning will be an issue.
  
• Look to a strong blitz defence getting up quick in the Wasps 10-12 channel. With a lack of playmakers in the Wasps side stopping them before the gain line will blunt them.
  

Attacking

• Look to play high tempo, high intensity rugby. Ball in hand, look to use our big line breakers to make the hard yards and tie up defenders creating space in wider channels for Sexton to exploit.
  
• We see the offload as a crucial weapon and our carriers will all be looking to offload in contact, continuing our forward momentum and breaking the defensive line.
  
• Care will look to tie the Wasps back row to the breakdown with his sniping game allowing Sexton to play flat on the gain line. Sexton will look to bring our dangerous runners in to the game or find mismatches for himself to hit on the wrap around.
  
• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the ball.
  

Set Piece

• With a strong technical front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much room as possible to attack from.
  
• In Wasps territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs. In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.
  

Defending

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Wasps momentum before it can get going.
  
• Care will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.
  
• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose ball.
  
• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with Quedragao looking to get his hands on the ball.
  
• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.
  

Northampton Saints
Manager - Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. Rhys Priestland
03. Carl Hayman
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Christian Wade
05. Samo Manoa	12. Matt Giteau
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Weslie Fofana
07. Ed Quirk	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Subs: 16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. CJ Stander 21. Joe Simpson 22. Sitiveni Siviatu 23. Ben Foden

Tactics:Will play a strong, aggressive game that looks to bring Gloucester into a really physical confrontation. Aim to dominate the setpiece and control possession of the ball, make Gloucester defend for large periods and then bring our impact bench on. We have picked a team full of strong ball carriers to punch get us over the gainline and provide front foot ball to release the our backline to exploit.

Setpiece: Will look to hammer Gloucester in the scrum, big front row who are all internationals and will look to really pressurise the Gloucester front row. Get good attacking ball for Vunipola off the base of the scrum. With lineouts we will look for quick ball to attack with, Bonnaire to lead. Defensively we will use Lawes athleticism to put George's throwing under pressure.  

Breakdown/Backrow: Aware this will be a physical area and have selected Lawes, Manoa and Vunipola as guys who can clear the Gloucester players out of the breakdown area to get us quick ball to attack with. We've also selected Ed Quirk for his speed and breakdown work to look for turnovers.

Possession/Territory: We have a team that will look to control both possession and territory, have a lot of big ball carriers to go through the phases and to tire the Gloucester defence. We have also selected three top class kickers in our backline (Priestland, Giteau and Halfpenny) so we can pin Gloucester back and pressurise them/force penalties in areas where Halfpenny can take 3 points.

Gainline: Our game is all about getting over the gainline and having strike runners to create opportunities. Pack has the Vunipola's, Samoa and backline has Fofana, Giteau and Bowe. Creativity of Priestland and Giteau to help create space and really test Gloucester.

Defence: Defensively we will play an aggressive rush defence, looking to really pressurise Carter who has been part of the All Blacks squad and we'll look to get Lawes making his traditional impact on no10s!

Impact: Our bench is all about impact and upping the tempo in the final 20/30 minutes of the game. Especially in the forwards with Launch, CJ Stander (2 tries at the weekend).

Key selection points:
Form - Lot of players in good form in real life.
Target - Put pressure on Carter from the off.
Timing - Good time to play Gloucester during the RC.

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Rory Kockott
02. Hika Elliott	10. Lionel Beauxis
03. Matt Stevens
04. Nick Kennedy	11. Sergeal Petersen
05. Craig Clarke	12. Sereli Naqalevuki
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13.  Henry Trinder
07. Will Fraser	14. Taku Nqwenya
08. Ben Morgan	15. Robbie Henshaw

|;
16. T.Lindsay 17. T.Court 18. A.Guillamon 19. T.Dusatoir 20. E.Jackson 21. J.Moates 22. S.Geraghty 23. G.Armitage

Key Points

Balanced Backrow
We have picked a big backrow who are well balanced. Gorgodze will look to be abrasive and run at 10 looking to put him off his game. Fraser will look to dismantle the breakdown. Morgan will look to carry the ball all day and be the link man.

8-9-10-12-13
We want quick ball for our half-backs to tactically put us into territory (off the pitch). Our 8-9-10-12-13 will look to be influential and all have played together in this game alot so know each other well. These can all be standout playmakers who will look to control the game at our tempo in the light rain we will not expect attractive rugby.


Attacking

• We want to force errors from and will target the 12 channel by sending big runners down his channel.
  

• Kockott and Beauxis to play what's in front of them and look to release Naqa (who smash the holes) or snipe as much as possible. If it isn't on then Evans will stick it in the corners and, with Kenneday, Godzilla and Clarke we have the number jumpers to gain the ball back, we know they will be dangerous here so will look to avoid his area and mix up our lineouts.
  

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

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

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

• Power to close out the win in Lindsay and Guillamon, Dus will have a field day against tired legs, excitement to continue to target the tired players through Moates' sniping, heavy impact at the scrum to come on and Armitage and Geraghty can continue to control the game and bring further excitement and pace..
  

Set Piece

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

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

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

Defending

• Banana blitz defence targetting slowing down the ball led by Naqa so he has no time to kick or give quick ball to the centres (we will have a backrower on Beauxis' shoulder to look for quick turnover ball, we will protect the channels to stop 9 sniping.
  

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

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

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

1.Ryan Grant
2.Rory Best
3.Paul Doran Jones
4.Yoaan Maestri
5.Ed Slater
6.Kelly Brown
7.Richie McCAw
8.Chris Masoe

9.Ben Youngs
10.George Ford
11.Alex Cuthbert
12.Brad Barritt
13.Rene Ranger
14.Chris Ashton
15.Jared Payne

Mcguigan, Tonga'uhia, Wilson, Grey, J Smith, Harrison, Gopperth, Lowe

Manager - Mat

01. Tufungisi	09. Connor Murray
02. Jamie George	10. Dan Carter
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Richie grey	11. Johnny may
05. George Robson	12. Berrick barnes
06. Arno Botha	13. Juan de Jongh
07. Qera	14. Matt Banahan
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Andreas Masi

Subs: 16. Luke Cowan Dickie  17. Rupert Harden18. Joe Grey 19. Tom palmer 20. Immanol haronordoquoy21. Dan robson 22. Ryan Lamb  23. Iain Balshaw[/quote]- target saints at scrums with Mas getting at mako.
- target saints line out with Bonaire main recognised saints jumper
- send numbers into breakdown with saints lacking a genuine 7
-Qera to get after priest land and try and unsettle his rhythm
- use our pack full of ball carriers to get on front foot to allow us to play.
- use our 8,9,10,12 superiority to dictate play
- carter to use bomb on wade
- look to up tempo as game breaks up
-  forwards to play a off loading game with sheer weight of carriers breaking down saints defence

Key points

Attack Saints lack line out jumpers
Glaws have better balanced backrow
8,9,10,12 of glaws offer control especially with fofana out of position at 13

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	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Ross Rennie	14. Eli Walker
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Delon Armitage

16. Nathan Catt 17. Richardt Strauss 18. Oliver Tomaszczyk 19. James Percival 20. Phil Dowson 21. Michael Classens 22. Olly Barkley  23. Mark Cueto

Worcester Warriors make 5 changes from the home draw with Harlequins last weekend. In the pack, BJ Botha, Mouritz Botha, Ashley Johnson and Thomas Waldrom come in for Nathan Catt, Alun Wyn-Jones, Johnnie Beattie and Dave Denton. In the backline, Eli Walker gets a first start of the season, replacing Mark Cueto who drops to the bench.

'We know what Wasps are all about. They have a big pack and with Farrell kicking, you have to front up and not let them dominate the territory. Farrell doesn't miss many kicks so discipline is key. We have brought in powerful guys like Ashley Johnson and Thomas Waldrom to bring the fight to Wasps.'

Following last weeks close loss to Wasps, Exeter Chiefs director of rugby Flux released a quick press release when announcing his side for their away clash to London Irish.
"We've had the chance to have a slight reshuffle in the pack, but kept the same back-line the same from last week after how they successful they were in implementing our game plan. We have recalled Brad (Thorn) back into the side after overcoming a slight niggle from the past weeks. We've recalled John (Barclay) and moved Chris (Robshaw) over in the back-row to implement a game plan for this week."


Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Logovii Mulipola	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Rob Webber (C)	10. Stephen Myler (K)
03. Mike Ross
04. Brad Thorn	11. Dom Shipperly
05. Geoff Parling	12. Bundee Aki
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. John Barclay	14. Zac Guilford
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Matt Tait

16. Sean Cronin 17. Yannick Forestier 18. Will Collier 19. Bradley Davies 20. Carl Fearns 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Alex Dunbar

Tactics

After a strong performance against the Wasps last week, we look towards the game to kick of the season and look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every opportunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, therefore the intelligence of Myler and Machenaud will dictate when to attack and when we need to clear the lines. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. We have brilliant leaders all other the pitch in Webber, Parling, Rougerie and Robshaw, and they know what will be provided leadership 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 Irish to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them. In attack we will look to use the Myler's and Aki's creativity to create space and use the dangerous runners outside them and themselves. 

• Mulipola and Ross are solid technicians and will allow Webber freedom to secure our own feed, to provide first phase possession for our backs. 
  
  
• With a strong line-out, Parling will lead and use himself as banker ball at the in line with Davies jumping in the front and middle. At the back we can look to use Robshaw sparingly. If winning own ball Parling will look to call full number lineouts to tie in the IRish forwards. 
  
  
• Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. We have picked Robshaw and Barclay to cut down the runners coming at us and to dominate the breakdown. 
  
  
• Whole pack capable of carrying, along with some effort from the backs. If Wasps want to target the big guys we can look for them to move the ball on to more forwards standing further outside the guards. Big emphasis on running forwards down the ten when there is slow ball. 
  

• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines and allowing their back row to get over the ball.
  
  
• Myler is a decent attacker (as proven at the end of last season and first game this season) and look to use a league style move to unlock the defence. Aki can either take it short and through gaps or it can be screened to Rougerie with the 14, and 15 to attack the numbers outside. 
  
  
• We will use a Blitz drift line in defence to cut down Beauxis's options and push him inside towards our backrow.
  
  
• Look for Taulava to run down their 10's channel off scrums, and big carries down this channel in open play. He can be got at put off his game.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game.
  
  
• Myler will kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Irish should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With strong set-pieces will look to keep the game and momentum in our favour. If we can open the game up in their half when in control we will. 
  

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Greig Laidlaw (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Dan Bowden
03. Gjorgi Jgenti
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Luike Morahan
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Ben Tapuai
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Frank Halai
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Kyle Sinckler 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Pieter Labushagne 21. Lee Dickson 22. Florian Fritz 23. Topsy Ojo

Tactics

Use strong carriers to get across the gainline and allow us quick ball to release our backline in the Warriors half.

Strong in set piece looking to put Worcester ujnder pressure at scrum and lineout.

Use Wood and Warburton to look to rule the battle at the breakdown.

Look to get out outside backs on the ball as often as possible providing we have front foot ball.

look to double up in tackle when possible to win the collision and drive Worcester back.

We've picked a big pack to target the break down and keep the tempo high, Players such as Grant, Best, Maestri, Brown, mcCaw and masoe 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.

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

feed players like ranger and payne as they cam create chances from anywhere.

ford to test tigers blitz with little kicks and putting the ball behind decoy runners

Key points;

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

Ford will look to change the points of attack.

Masoe to target the tigers throw qnd set the drive on our throw

London Wasps make 4 changes to the matchday 23 as they look to extend their winning start to the season against Sale Sharks this week.  Up front Rynhardt Elstadt comes into the back row in place of Luke Wallace, with Marcel Coetzee moving to the openside.  In the backs Gareth Anscombe comes in at full back replacing Jack Nowell, with Jaco Taute moving to outside centre and Tim Nanai Williams to the wing.  Nowell takes a bench spot with Michele Campagnaro dropping out.  Fraser Balmain and Camille Lopez also come onto the bench for Steven Kitshoff and Elton Jantjies.  Head coach Ozzy3213 had this to say;-

“It was a difficult decision to make changes this week after a good performance last time out, but we’ve picked a side to combat what Sale Sharks will throw at us, as well as to allow us to exploit some areas where we feel they are vulnerable.  Rynhardt (Elstadt) comes into the back row to add some real physicality there and also provides us another lineout option, whilst the inclusion of Gareth (Anscombe) improves our tactical kicking options and allows us to utilize Jaco’s (Taute) physical presence in midfield in both attack and defence.  Tim (Nanai-Williams) can also provide real attacking threat from out wide.  We know it’s another tough game, but we are confident that we have the players and the gameplan to come back from Salford with the win”

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Nick Phipps
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Owen Farrell
03. Dave Wilson
04. Romain Millo-Chluski	11. Anthony Watson
05. Jim Hamilton ©	12. Pat McCabe
06. Rynhardt Elstadt	13. Jaco Taute
07. Marcel Coetzee	14. Tim Nanai-Williams
08. Steffon Armitage	15. Gareth Anscombe

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Fraser Balmain 18. Frans Malherbe 19. George Skivington 20. Tom Johnson 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Camille Lopez 23. Jack Nowell

Key Points

• Salford is not an intimidating place to go for away teams so any home advantage will be minimal.
  
• Added bulk to the pack with Elstadt as we want to dominate physically in the collisions and at the breakdown.
  
• Taute has played at outside centre at international level.  Defensive positioning will not be an issue.
  
• Anscombe comes in as an additional playmaker to exploit any space created by the team.
  
• Basic game plan designed to frustrate Sale whose players are all better in attack than defence.  When they do get possession they could become over anxious and wasteful and also will not enjoy defending for long periods with all of the back three having question marks over them defensively.
  
• Sale playing on the edge of the offside line in defence will be risky as if they get pinged we have two very reliable kickers in Farrell and Anscombe.  Sexton is not in the same class off of the tee.
  

Basic Game Plan
Basic tactical premise will be to dominate possession.  We will go through the phases were possible and look to starve Sale of the ball for long periods.  We will look for gaps and as the tackles come in make the offload to support runners.  Huge focus for us will be winning the collisions and dominating the breakdown.

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

• Breakdown. In attack we will flood it rucking past the ball at pace to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence if the turnover is on we will flood it in the same manner to get quick ball, but if not on we will only commit a small number of players to slow the ball, instead maintaining a solid defensive line.
  
• Lineout. We will look to use this as a weapon in attack and play quick of the top mixing up where in the line we throw to.  On Sale ball we will contest in the air using the athletic Elstasdt to attack where we think it will be thrown to.
  
• Scrums. On defensive scrums, with a bulk 2nd row and back row we will look to get an 8 man shove on rather than our hooker actually hooking for the ball and try to shove them off it.  On our ball we will primarily go for channel 1 ball and look to get it out quickly and start running at the gaps in the defensive line.
  
• Open Play. Big runners off 9 and 10.  Phipps to snipe to tie in the sale back row.  TNW to track off the wing, seeking out the gaps to get us well across the gainline.  Big carriers to target Eastwood in defence.  Target the space between the blitzing defensive line and players sitting deep with grubbers if we are not having success going through the phases.
  

Tactics added.

No sure whats going on with Bath team???

Not sure Pooly not like CJB not to get a team in still has time though

Tactics added. Best of luck SJE.

Worcester 25-23 Harlequins

FR - Just shades to Worcester here with Mujati getting at Marler and the other side equal, both sets of locks add good grunt to the scrum
SR - Good balance and good combo's, bit more carrying for Worcester but think Quins back 5 have more lineout options.
BR - Good combo's but Rennie lacking form shades this one to Quins.
HB - Laidlaw better at 9 but the Worcester pairing stronger with Bowden not playing regular at 10
CE - Little bit more for Worcester but 2 good combo's
B3 - Little stronger for Quins, good balance.
Overall - Worcester just shading it as a whole and with home advanatge sneak it, good benches.

N/A

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Sale 30-0 Wasps

Errr, Really???

There's no Wasps team???

Ahhhh, just seen.

Sale 27-22 Wasps

FR - Top scrum battle, little edge to Wasps with Wilson getting at the Sale LH
SR - More jumpers for Wasps but think Sale have the better quality and Tolofua throw can be shocking, Sale to steal a few balls
BR - Wasps balance in the backrow just doesn't really work for me and can see Sale getting on top around the breakdown
HB - Step for Sale
CE - Both decent combo's, not much in this contest
B3 - Again not too sure on the Wasps balance, Watson could be targeted
Overall - Sale edge most areas, little bit of reshuffle in Wasps line up needed imo but a good game

PREDICTIONS OPEN

Leaving predictions open till 3pm Sunday to give everyone time to get full explanations in. Likely to be a regular occurrence from now on as a few are more time challenged this season.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:There's no Wasps team???

I only put teams up with tactics in when I'm on Thursday evenings. Saves a lot of cutting and chopping on Friday mornings

Worcester Warriors 24-21 Harlequins

Scrum: Edge to Quins. Catt will struggle somewhat.
Lineout: Good battle between Muller & Borthwick. Both sides have decent supporting options.
Breakdown: Both sides with decent balance. Little bit more quality to Quins but don't see them slowing down much here.
HB's: Edge to Worc. FTD a big step up at 10.
Attack: Plenty of power in the Quins side but more creativity in the Worc back line.
Defence: No weak links to either side and both packs capable of putting a shift in.
Bench: Worc can sure up the scrum but the likes of PSDT, Labushagne & Fritz can up the workload for Quins.
Tactics: Not a lot of detail to either so hard to judge. Feel to win away Quins need to win the forward battle with the halfback combo on show and they don't do that here.


Leicester Tigers 27-21 Newcastle Falcons

Scrum: Tough to call more power to Tigers but more technique to Falcons. Neither side will really get a sustained edge.
Lineout: Slight edge to Tigers with a little more jumper wise and Best really struggling.
Breakdown: Edge to Tigers. McCaw a passenger here after having to travel the world for this game.
HB's: Wilko a step up in quality but good form from Ford keeps Falcons in this battle.
Attack: Bit more about the Falcons back line. More mobility to the Tigers pack though.
Defence: Ranger is questionable positionally.
Bench: Neither side can get on top in any one area.
Tactics: Feel Falcons haven't the pack to pull off the game plan this week against a big Tigers unit. 


London Irish 18-18 Exeter Chiefs

Scrum: Both front rows more about the hit and will struggle against better technicians.
Lineout: Both sides should hold their own but Irish with more options will be better in good attacking areas.
Breakdown: Great little battle here between the back rows. Real ding dong affair.
HB's: Both combos a little limited but Myler more capable of bringing his backs into it.
Attack: Back lines fairly even but Irish have more in the carrying department with Morgan & Gorgodze massive here.
Defence: Trinder not the strongest defensively and Henshaw can be got at under the ball.
Bench: Don't think either side have that impact player that can turn the game around.
Tactics: One or two references to last weeks games guys ;)But both gameplans are sound and both sides have the players to execute. Tough game to call and sorry to opt out but I see a draw here.


Gloucester Rugby 19-22 Northampton Saints

Scrum: No real edge here. Mas could cause problems but Mako with better support.
Lineout: Good battle. Both sides should hold their own ball.
Breakdown: Better balance to Glaws back row and they are more capable here. Should slow some ball up but some great ruck clearers for Saints will still ensure good ball.
HB's: Both 10s marked down. Priestland for no form over the last 18 months and Carter for flying across the world for this game.  
Attack: Better form in midfield for Saints and more quality to the back three.
Defence: Fofanna can be pulled out of position at 13.
Bench: More impact from the Saints backs and feel they can up the tempo more in the pack.
Tactics: Not much detail to go on from Glaws. Saints set up well and give more of an indication of how they are playing. See a very messy match here with neither 10 going well and its the extra bit of quality in the backs and bench that sees Saints pick up a crucial away win.


Saracens 30-0 Bath Rugby

Warriors 20-23 Quins
Quins pack will get the points but Warriors half back pairings will keep them in the game. Feel Quins have a bit more impact off the bench.

Sale 22-21 Wasps
Again love the Sale half back pairing. Wasps pack looks stronger but not sure about Armitage at 8 to be honest. Think Sale could edge a little bit in the back row and home advantage just edges this one.

Tigers 24-23 Falcons
Front row to Tigers, 2nd row to Falcons and back row hard to split. 2 very dangerous back lines here and very hard to split these two teams. Comes down to who has the tactics for the game and Tigers have theirs down.

Glos 23-24 Saints
Packs very hard to split today in this match. 2 good half back pairings but Carter may struggle travelling to this game. Feel Saints have a bit more about them in the outside backs and enough to snatch and grab a good result.

N/A

Irish 21-21 Exeter

FR - A small edge to Irish brought back with Thorn locking down behind Ross
SR - More graft for Exeter but see Irish shading the lineout
BR - Irish to gain control around the breakdown with a strong combo
HB - Beauxis isn't much cop which just sees Exeter get on top here
CE - Slight edge for Exeter, good balance from Irish
B3 - Step up in quality for Exeter
Overall -Strong impact from both benches, Exeter so close to nabbing the win but can't see a tough Irish losing.

Gloucester 19-21 Northampton

FR - Mako could struggle a little against Mas but LH issues for Gloucester with Tufungisi not near this level and no LH on the bench for Gloucester. Mistake for Gloucester to target scrum.
SR - Gloucester scrum not helped with 2 non scrummaging locks but can see them dominating lineout with no leader for Saints
BR - 6/7 lacking a bit of quality for both sides, can't see much in it. 8's at a similar level and can see no major advantage from either side.
HB - Gloucester shade the 9 with Phillips poor. Issues at 10 with Carter hard to rate just getting off a plane and Priestland with no form to speak of.
CE - No real physical presence for either side. Hard to rate Barnes and Fofana much better at 12, adavatage to Saints just with form.
B3 - Big step up in quality for Saints, Masi isn't great and not a fan of Banahan at all. Good balance for Saints.
Overall - Gloucester really miss their SH players, look shadow of side they can put up. Both midfields look a little off and both sides can attack each others set pieces (Gloucester lineout and Saints scrum). Saints tactics make little sense but they sneak this one.

Iv posted tactics yesterday

Sorry Driver I've completely missed those. Added them in and will re-predict in a bit

I'll redo later

Leicester 26-27 Newcastle

FR: nothing in the scrum, good contest.
SR: v strong Tigers unit, I like the grunt for Falcons but POC would have tipped the lineout
BR: class above at 7/8, Falcons will get on top and McCaw be key
HB: Youngs well ahead of Peel, Wilko well ahead of Ford. Not sure Wilko will have good rude though
CE: Stronger unit for Falcons
B3: Again just a bit more for Falcons
Overall: Cracking game, Falcons just edge everywhere bar front 5 and sneak a good win

Warriors 27 - 28 Quins
Really tough game to predict on, Quins have such a good combination 4-8 and Warburton and Wood are a great pairing with Easter and will cause a lot of problems. Good backrow from Warriors, but can see Quins getting more ball and turnovers. Roberts is going to be a threat throughout. Is going to be a close game, but not sure the Worcester team is going to be able to play the attacking style they set out in tactics. Bad conditions and Warriors would win.

Sale 26-25 Wasps
Great game in prospect, like how Pete is getting his team set out with some great runners and a lot of in form players too. Do have a few issues around the young French hooker, who is dynamite in the loose, but I don't think he's quite there with the setpiece, espc lineout. Big contest in the pack, pretty even all over - just really like SJE's 9,10,12 combination, Eastmond turning into a bit of a game changer in tight games. Very close though as with Farrell you get 12-15 points a game and Wasps will get tries too.

Irish 27 - 26 Exeter
A slight issue for me is that Davies has been banned for 2 games, so wouldnt be featured on the Exeter bench. Really need a full compliment of forwards to take on away from home. Still a close game, like the Irish centre combo, Trinder has been great this year. But Chiefs have put togehter a good team and are really close to winning these games that they would have lost by 5+ points last year. Good work Fluxy!

Tigers 22-20 Falcons
Trying not to give draws in these games, just really like the Tigers pack, really powerful and tough to get away wins at the Champions. Driver has got a pack that will compete, might be a week too early for McCaw and think he wouldn't be as effective in the game. Like the look of the Wilko/Twelvetrees combo and that they are targeting Ford with big runners, think he'd be alright with Barritt but could get a little joy here.

Saracens - Bath
No Bath team?

Worcester 27 - 25 Harlequins

Not a lot in it up front, two decent but not perfect units. Similar story in the 2nd row, both duos decent and neither dominates. Quins for me take the back row as they look stronger in each area. Good pack battle that Quins edge due to back row. Worcs take the HB’s with their French duo. Unsure on Bowden at 10. Good centre contest, neither dominating, and neither side has a great back three. Really good game here, close contest, I think at home Worcs sneak it.


Sale 26 - 25 Wasps

Not much in it up front, no clear winner here for me. Ever so slight edge to Wasps with their horrible duo in the second row. Good back row battle, think I edge with Sale’s all French unit. Think Steffon needs to go back to 7 asap Pete. Sale take the HB’s, as they always tend to do, although do like Wasps duo. Two decent looking centre units, and slight edge to Sale in the back three. At home, with a good back row and HB’s, Sale edge it.


Irish 23 - 21 Exeter

Fairly even up front, no clear winner. Not many sides will get the better of Exeter in the 2nd row, really good unit, and they take the upper hand here. Slight edge to Irish in the back row, but Robshaw a great addition for Chiefs. Neither side are dominating at HB, and same story at centre, with two decent back threes. This is a decent, tight game, with Irish, at home, having a bit more for me.

Sale v Wasps - Even front fives but prefer the balance of Sales back row to give them the edge. Sale take the HBs with a great combo. backlines close but home advantage and pack win it for sale.
27-23

Tigers v Falcons - Very solid packs for both sides. slight edge to tigers front five but think i prefer the falcons backrow to even it out. HBs go to Tigers. backlines pretty even both have some threats.
26-24

Irish v Chiefs - edge to the away sides front five but irish take the backrow with a strong unit. backlines are pretty even as are the benches. home advantage and the goal kicking of kockott sneaks it.
24-23

Glos v Saints - neither Mako or Hayman are the greatest scrummagers but they will match the glos unit. two athletic and quality lock pairings on show. no real splitting the packs for me. one a piece inthe HBs. Edge to the saints backline althought Glos have some class there too. think saints have a bit more to bring on late on and take a great away win.
29-32

Worcester Warriors 24 - 25 Harlequins

Intriguing contest as at the set pieces is about even maybe edge towards Quins though with the experience and probably one of the best lineout combos available. Both back fives are good, perhaps more phyiscal from Warriors, but work rate and effectiveness of Quins edge the opposing unit, based on form. Prefer Wuss spine to their team, all in good form especially TD. There is attacking talent in the Quins back line but some slight issues. Bowden not really playing much at 10, and perhaps woul've liked to have seen Ojo start in front of Morahan. Quins bench has more impact to it. Wuss will keep in the game, but Quins impacts off the bench and boot of Laidlaw, will see them just sneak it.

Sale Sharks 20 - 19 LondonWasps

The Sharks are just behind Wasps in terms of grunt, but have the right technicians in the right places, and for me Armitage suffers up against a well-oiled unit. Love the Sale halfbacks and they will create things out of nothing. Faz will keep the score board ticking over, as well as create - but not as well as the Sale pair. As he lacks the creativity outside him to make those decisions. But he does carry out his game-plan well, Faz will outscore Sexton in the kicking states, however Sexton not too far behind. Wasps need to get the ball into their wings hands to create any excitement. Sale's backline can create and score from further out. Both benches are about even in impact, but at home I'm afraid Sharks have some advantages that tales the game away from Wasps.

Leicester Tigers 28 - 24 Newcastle Falcons
Tigers have better form overall in the pack, but Falcons have some star quality. Tigers just edge the set pieces, and the breakdown is a good contest as Tigers have more operators which will out number McCaw and Brown.
Targeting the Best throw will create chances for Tigers to score. Halfbacks are intirguing as Falcons unit will work and create more than Tigers. Ford has proven he has something at this level so isn't so badly done by. But he can't create to much with his centres. The Falcons back three will be got at as none of them are really that great in defence. Tigers have more solidity about them and will just out score Falcons at home with the Welford road crowd behind them.

Gloucester 25 - 26 Northampton Saints

Both packs are about even, and will go at each other hammer and tongs no doubt. But there is a little more functionality at the breakdown from Glos. Backlines are varying in form and selction. I like the Glos on but certain players pull them down (Barnes/Carter). Saints maybe lack a little in the halfbacks but their backs are electric and have a better impact of the bench. Therefore Halfpenny will just edge this battle.

Sale 28 -26 Wasps

Big physical Wasps pack here which makes this a very interesting game. I like the Sale backrow with its balance but the sheer physicality of the Wasps 8 gives them a slight advantage uip front but not to the extent that it takes the game away from Sale. In the backs Sale have the more creative players but their are still threats in the Wasps backline. I think this game comes down to the half backs and I think Sale's pair will be able to break the opposition down on more regular intervals and get Sale a good win.

Leicester 25 - 22 Newcastle

Leicester's big front 5 will have a considerable impact upon today's result as man for man they are stronger than their counterparts. A bit more for Falcons in the back row but Leicester stronger at half back. Not a great deal between the outside backs but the key is upfront and at half back.

London Irish 27 -27 Exeter

Really tough game to call here, Not much between the packs with the big backrow of Irish getting on top of the more crafty Exeter trio. Think I prefer the Exeter half backs with both outside backs threatening on the front foot. Essentially this is too tight to call.

Gloucester 24 - 26 Northampton

Tungafisi will struggle at scrum time here and make it tough for Mas to get into Vunipola on the other side. The packs are pretty even aside from that and their isn't a great deal to choose. As units I think Saints have the stronger back line and will score some tries. Great game and a massive win for Saints.

Worcester Warriors 27 Harlequins 27

Set Piece: I’ve got the scrum and lineout even in this one.
Breakdown: Tough to call but I think I just edge to Quins here.
Key Jerseys (2,8,9,10):  Not sold on the control of either 10, but with good tactical 9’s on show they will be helped.  Slight edge for Worcester at 8 and 2’s are even.
Bench:  Decent impact from both, but with a slight edge to Quins.
Tactics: Not much to go on, so can’t give either side an advantage here.
Overall: I can see this being quite fast and loose with how the teams want to play, and I don’t see either side having a real advantage with that kind of game.  Quick ball will be important and Quins have the breakdown edge, but not quite enough to win away.  Home advantage for Worcester makes this a draw.

Leicester Tigers 26 Newcastle Falcons 22

Set Piece: Edge for Tigers in the scrum and lineout with Cole the best technician and better jumping options for the Tigers.
Breakdown: Nothing to call in this area.
Key Jerseys (2,8,9,10):  2, 8 and 9 are even, but Tigers better at 10.
Bench:  Tigers with more quality replacements to call on.
Tactics: Tigers game plan as ever is suited to their team. Falcons looking to work off the set piece, but I don't see them winning that battle.
Overall: Like the power in the Falcons back line, but not sure their is enough creativity to hurt Tigers, as power alone will not cause them great problems. Set piece edge for Tigers at home and with a solid game plan gives them the win.

London Irish vs. Exeter Chiefs

Set Piece:
Breakdown:
Key Jerseys (2,8,9,10):  
Bench:  
Tactics:
Overall:

Gloucester vs. Northampton Saints

Set Piece:
Breakdown:
Key Jerseys (2,8,9,10):  
Bench:  
Tactics:
Overall:

Warriors 27 - 28 Quins
Like Quins back 5 of pack and see these stopping Worcesters attacking style. Tough to win away but they do it here. Not sold on the 10 a in this at all

Sale 17- 15Wasps

Big physical game. Pete has a brutish powerful pack and they will keep this game tight and a real slog. Think tolofua is a big weakness though as he basically means line out will not work. Think sale half backs and home advantage sneak the win. wasps really improves and a handful

Irish 27 - 27 Exeter
Hard to
Separate hence the draw. Think Exeter take the front 5 and Irish the backrow. Benches even but think that front 5 advantage allows Exeter to grab a great draw

Tigers 24-21 Falcons
Think
Leicester take front 5 quite easily and will have advantage at set pieces. Backrow falcons come in to this but are outgunned at 10. Think falcons tactics would not work hence Leicester win

Saracens - Bath 30- 0 not sure this awarding 30 points for. No team works. It disadvantages everyone in the leagues points difference as no team ever wins by that amount

Gloucester 27 - 26 Saints

Edge to Saints up front for me, and the second row is a decent contest with no clear winner. Slight edge to Gloucs in the back row for me, good well balanced unit. Packs are even. Gloucs take the HB's with Carter the standout. Prefer Saints at centre and in the back threes though. Good close game here, think Gloucs just have enough at home.


Sarries 30 - 0 Bath

Pooly will take this lol.

Results: 

Worcester Warriors 27 (T: Catt, Waldrom C: Yachvili P: Yachvili 5)
Harlequins 27 (T: Kearney, Brits C: Laidlaw P: Laidlaw 5)

Sale Sharks 28 (T: Henderson, Zebo, Tulou C: Sexton 2 P: Sexton 3)
London Wasps 22 (T: Watson, Hamilton P: Farrell 4)

Leicester Tigers 29 (T: Youngs, Peel, Beale C: Wilkinson P: Wilkinson 4)
Newcastle Falcons 23 (T: Payne P: Ford 3, Gopperth 3)

London Irish 25 (T:Morgan, Henshaw, Kockett C: Beaxuis 2 P: Beaxuis 2)
Exeter Chiefs 23 (T: Guilford, P: Myler 6)

Gloucester Rugby 24 (T: May 2 C: Carter P: Carter 4)
Northampton Saints 28 (T: Manoa, Hartley, Stander C: Halfpenny 2 P: Halfpenny 3)

Saracens 30 (T: Varndell 2, Smith, Lahiff C: Taylor 2 P: Taylor 2)
Bath Rugby 0

Bonuses:

Full: Fluxy, Matt, Steve, Luke, Prop, Chris, SJE, Pooly, Nick
Incomplete: Pete
Excused: Driver
Fined: CJB

Hell of a result for saints. Chris marching on. Quins lost first 3?

Still haven't won a league game  

Yet Pooly strides back in and gets a win!

Sorry for no preadictions guys.

It's £9.50 holiday time at work amd we get smashed by what looks like the jeremy kyle green room meets sports direct sale every night