Super League - Week 2

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RC Toulon vs Racing Metro 92
Location - Stade Mayol
Sunny, 14 degrees, 8 mph North Easterly winds

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Toulon


prop_lyd

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Johnny Wilkinson (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04.  Bakkies Botha	11. Bryan Habana
05.  Jocelin Suta	12. Matt Giteau
06. Julien Bonnaire	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Drew Mitchell
08. JVN (c)	15. Delon Armitage

16. Kyle Cooper 17. Gethin Jenkins 18. Dan Cole 19. Danie Russouw 20. Juan Smith 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Butch James 23. Wesley Fofana

Tactics
Tactics
We have strength all over the pack with international position in the majority of positions. Hard hitting rugby is what we are looking for with strong carriers in our pack who will look to make the holes and in defence to clear out and give Armitage and Bonnaire time and space to get over the ball. Johnny is our captain as he can pull the strings at 10 and bring influential passages of play. In our backs we have excitement everywhere with Giteauand AAC both looking to pull the strings and for the offloads from the tackles and we know how dangerous all of our back three are going to be. We will not lose at home. Our bench is strong again and brings impact all of the park, we will utilise this as and when and will look to run at tired legs throughout the last 20 minutes.

*Familiarity- Hibbard and Cole met on Lions, Suta-Botha-Armitage-JVN play together, Back 3 are all similar and play together.
*9-10 combo-we have Smith who can deliver quick ball to Johnny who will then look to play a fast attacking game especially from turnover ball.
*Bench-Our bench is full of impact and will look to dominate the end of the game.
*Defence-we have strong defensive leaders in Giteau, AAC and Wilkinson and will look to slow down/turnover a lot of ball.
*Set Piece-power is key today at scrum time  (targetting Ben Arous) and in the lineouts Hibbard's darts have improved and he has quality jumpers lead by Bonnaire and lifters to utilise. 

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Racing Metro TBC

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Brodie Retallick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Henry Chavancy
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Ben Smith
08. Jacques Cronje	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16. Luc Ducalcon 17. Dimitri Szarzeswski 18. Soane Tonghu'ia 19. Jone Qovu 20. Wenclas Lauret 21. Sebastian Descons 22. Jonthan Wisnewski 23. Benjamin Fall 

TACTICS ALL TBC
We like to focus around a solid set piece,and forcing the opposition into making mistakes in their half. In Strauss, Louw and Kruger we have a proven lineout combination. Kruger will call the lineout and look to challenge opposition ball in the air, by marking Bonnaire. In Strauss and Jones we have 2 big scrummagers that we will look to exert pressure at scrum time. We like to play in the right areas and don't take risks in our third. Use Sexton and JMH boot to kick in behind and for territory. Use up and under off slow ball in when in centre channel. Keep the scoreboard ticking over with Sexton.
- Hound Arron Smith. Pressurise him around the ruck and keep his head down. We know that this ploy works well against him. 
- Louw to play as out and out 7, looking to slow ball and force turnovers. Target Carter, who is injured as out of form; force him to play deep and limit his options. Lydiate to be first man in defence in the 1 out channel
- Roberts to lead the fan defence, looking to isolate individuals and allow back row to compete for turnovers. Machenaud to sweep up.
- Utilise the Lions 10/12 combo and get Sexton on the wrap around, using Roberts to draw defenders and encourage Smith to come into the space
- Use Tiny, Strauss, Retallick, Cronje as our big ball carriers around the fringes to keep the defence narrrow. Machenaud to snipe to keep them honest.
- Smith and JMH encouraged to come into the line as 2nd receivers

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ASM Clermont Auvergne vs Crusaders
Location - Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin
Light Clouds, 2 degrees, 7 mph North Easterly winds

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ASMClermontAuvergne

Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Morgan Parra (k)
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Julien Pierre	11. Julien Malzieu
05.  Andries Bekker	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Tom Wood	13.   Aurelien Rougerie (c)
07. Sam Cane	14.  Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin

16. Clement Ric 17. Corey Flynn 18. Frans Malherbe 19. Jamie Cudmore  20. Julien Bardy 21.  Ludovic Radosavljevic 22.  Brock James 23. Lee Byrne

Tactics: As usual the focus will be on selectively attacking the breakdown to acquire turnover ball and quick attacking ball. Cane will be looking to track the ball to achieve this, backed up by Wood and Kayser with the rest of the pack cleaning out with intensity and momentum. Use only the minimum required numbers unless a turnover looks on either way then throw them in to make sure we get the ball. Slow ball controlled by Parra using groups of 3 forwards driving or Parra kicking into space or high to chase. Quick ball to be immediately spun wide for Cruden to attack the line and bring our strike runners into play. Move the ball around with our great handlers until there is a gap, attack it, draw the defence and offload into space. Backrow, Buttin and blindside wing look to come in for the pop inside off 10/12 as that may be where space appears. Cane chasing ball can also look to take offloads and recycle.

- Defence: blitz led by Rougerie. Cane look to scrag Carter, Parra harry Pelisse on backwards back and cover the inside of Cruden on attacking ball to allow the backrow to tackle more aggressively.

- set piece: Debaty can target Franks who has looked weak here. Use several options in lineout, and if ball is messy at all maul and create quick ball as in plan above. Pressure the rear and middle of lineout, force them to go for the front and take them on in the maul.

- kicking and territory: don't kick deep. If the kick to touch isn't an option, either retain possession or chip/grubber into space for our wings. Take all points available.

- targets: JD2's distribution at 12 is weak, look to double team him and hold him up for a maul. Folau positionally vulnerable, so draw him in.

- home advantage: Clermont is literally the hardest place to win away in sport, we are unbeaten in over 65 matches here

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Crusaders

01. Vincent Debaty	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Dan Carter(k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Luke Romano	11. Zac Guildford
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Ryan Crotty
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Israel Folau
08. Kieran Read	15. Israel Dagg

16. Ben Funnell 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Dominic Bird 20. Matt Todd 21. Andrew Ellis 22. Tom Taylor 23. Tom Marshall

Set piece: Debaty has come over from Clermont, so will have experience scrimmaging against Zirikashvili and we expect him to hold his own on that side. Franks is backed up by the strong scrummaging of Hartley, and will also have the 120kg of Romano backing him up. Clermont have a 6'5 lock playing with a 6'10 lock so there may be an imbalance there when it comes to locking the scrum. Whitelock is our main lineout jumper, backed up by Romano, Read and Gorgodze.

Kicking: Carter and Dagg are our primary kickers, we want to pin them back deep in their half, so the chips and grubbers they want to use become a very risky option. Pelissie to sweep up behind the defensive line to counter this. If they miss touch we will counter hard and fast. Carter is free to put up the high kick if he sees an opportunity for Folau to chase, especially when he can challenge the smaller Buttin aerially

Attack:  Read and Whitelock to carry in the wider channels. We want to counter the strength of the Clermont back row at the breakdown by carrying mainly tight to the ruck and straight at Cruden with big ball carrying from Franks, Hartley, Romano and Gorgodze,. tying in their back row. We will then go wider, with Read effectively our 3rd centre in terms of his ball skills and running ability. Davies will occasionally line up at 13 in attack, with Crotty and Read running dummy lines and a miss pass from Carter out to Davies/Folau/Dagg aimed at catching Rougerie on his outside shoulder

Defence: No obvious weak defender in the backs, Folau to stay tight to the touchline as Malzieu is less likely to come inside looking for work. Gorgodze to set the tone in defence, we want to smash their carriers back and give McCaw the chance he needs to school the young pretender Cane. Parra to be targeted for big hits early doors to try and rattle him and disrupt Cruden.

In the last 20, Gorgodze to come off, Todd to 7 and McCaw to 6. Taylor to come on at inside centre and we will play wider, with Taylor's distribution to get our back 3 running into gaps in the tired defence.

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Leicester Tigers vs Stormers
Location - Welford Road
Cloudy, 4 degrees, 11 mph North Westerly winds

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Leicester Tigers

01. Marco Ayerza	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rob Hawkins	10. Toby Flood (k)
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Paul O'Connell	11. Gonzalo Camacho
05. Geoff Parling	12. Anthony Allen
06. Tom Croft	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Pablo Matera	14. Blaine Scully
08. Juan Martin Legiuzamon (C)	15. Mathew Tait

Replacements: 16.Ghiraldini 17.Stankovich 18.Schuster 19.Deacon 20.Weepu 21. Williams 22.Benjamin 23.Huget

With the signing of O'Connell this week are defo stronger in the forwards, in fact from 1-8 that is a powerful forward pack and its exicting to be able to put these comibnations together. Hawkins getting a go today at hooker, and we are looking for a solid line out and looking to Paul and Geoff to get good ball and start off attacks. They will also look to carry ball over the gain line. Croft and Matera will also run the ball on all opportunities. Youngs will look to get quick ball and make sure we play with good attacking intent. Flood will kick in behind, when there is plenty of space for the runners to get on to the ball. Manu and Allen revert to their oridnary roles after last week's experiment failed. Tait also comes in for Huget

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Stormers

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Will Genia
02. Deon Fourie	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Nathan Hines	11. Julian Savea
05. Eben Etzebeth	12. Jean De Villiers (c)
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Siya Kolisi	14. Gio Aplon
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Jaco Taute

16. Scarra Ntubeni 17. Steven Kitshoff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Damien Chouly 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Gerard Van Den Heever

Look to play a simple game based around the strong set piece game to secure possession. The pack is full of heavy carriers to get over the gain line consistently and capable of clearing out the rucks quickly and efficiently to create quick ball when possible. Look to create quick ball off pods outside the fringe defences of the ruck. Genia and Faz to run the game. Genia will look to keep the defences honest and punish any lapse in fringe defence by sniping any holes. Looking for any quick ball for Genia to orchestrate the attacking movements of the backs, and to keep the opponents guessing. Faz to play flat in attack to bring in the centres who can play simple and direct rugby or get it wide to our dangerous back three.

Set-piece - strong and efficient, put pressure on in certain situations on opposition ball. Eg clearing kicks from scrums and line outs in their 22
Breakdown - Collectively look to clear ball and smash opposing players out of the way. Opposing slow down legally by flooding the breakdown. 
Momentum - Use the momentum form last weeks game and our forward pack going forward to break the Tigers team apart.
Playing the %'s - Faz will keep the board ticking over and pegging the back, with Flood the only reliable kicking option in the back line.
Working on Players - Corbs to target Castro at the scrum, Wood to man mark Parling come the line out, with Etze up at the front.

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Toulouse vs Natal Sharks
Location - Stade Ernest-Wallon
Misty, 5 degrees, 3 mph North winds

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StadeToulousian
DOR: Driver
 

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Jano Vermaak
02. Chilliboy Ralapelle	10. Remi Tales
03. Cencus Johnstone
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Hosea Gear
05. Romain Millo-Chulski	12. Luke McCallister
06. Thiery Dusitour (c)	13. Florain Fritz
07. Michael Hooper	14. Leigh Halfpenny (K)
08. Louise Pickamoles	15. Clermount Poitrinaud

 

16.Tom Youngs 17.Antonio Guillamon 18.Vasil Kakovan 19.Patrico Albacete 20.Joe Tekori 21.Yannick Nyanga 22.Jean Marc Doussain 23.Christian Lealiifano


Toulouse go with the game plan which served them so well against Leicester Tigers. Toulouse will aim to play with plenty of power in the attack based around some serious muscle in the pack. We've gone for a big pack with the aim of smashing over the gain line to allow our backs to play fast and loose and create chances for us to run some tries in against the Sharks.   Vermaak and Tales will be key to how we play and will look to bring runners in and put plenty of dents in the Tigers defence. Playing loose and at a high tempo this game will suit our game plan with our backs running wild into the space.

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 The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213
 

01. Cian Healy	09. Danny Care
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Pieter-Steph du Toit	11. George North
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Francois Steyn
06. Marcell Coetzee	13. Conrad Smith
07. Willem Alberts	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parrise (c)	15. James O'Connor

 
16. Sebastien Bruno 17. Tendai Mtawarira 18. Lourens Adriaanse 19. Franco van der Merwe 20. Sam Warburton 21. Ryan Kankowski 22. Freddie Michalak 23. Quade Cooper
 
TACTICS

We will play a traditional South African gameplan in the forwards, being ultra physical and looking to dominate the collisions in attack and defence.  We will be looking in the main to run the ball, using the pack and big backs off first phase ball, with support runners on the ball carriers shoulder for the offloads in or just prior to contact.  We will however be sensible and if running it is not on in our half we will use the boots of Lambie, Steyn and O'Connor to put ourselves in the right area.  We will be looking to play our game at a high tempo. Lambie will play flat with the outside backs coming from positions of depth to gain momentum.  In defence we will employ the blitz and look to hit the ball carrier before he hits the gainline to stop Toulouse getting any momentum.  Danny Care will act as a sweeper behind the defensive line.

• Breakdown.  In attack we will put numbers in rucking past the ball to free it up quickly to go again.  In defence we will be selective.  If it is on to clear out and turn ball over we will throw numbers in to do so, otherwise we will keep a strong defensive line.
  
• Spaces not faces.  Our runners will target the gaps in the defensive line rather than defenders and look to breach the gainline regularly.
  
• Target Poitrenaud.  We will look to put some bombs up in the misty conditions and get a good kick chase in and pressurise Poitrenaud.
  
• Target Vermaak.  Back row to look to hurry Vermaak and put him under pressure in order to disrupt the quality of ball to the backline.
  
• Target the scrum.  Healy to try to get underneath the taller Johnstone, with BdP focusing on driving between Ralapelle and Johnstone, to really destablisie Toulouse on the tighthead side.
  

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Be some pack battle this week Pete.

Sure there might be some hefty collisions out there, will be some big boys on show.

Toulouse announce there team to face Natal Sharks...

Toulouse make 2 changes to there matchday 23 with Chilliboy Ralapele and Clerment Poitrenaud coming into the starting 15. Tom Youngs drops to the bench whilst Christian Lealiifano comes onto the bench in place of Vincent Clerc who drops out all together.

StadeToulousian
DOR: Driver
 

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Jano Vermaak
02. Chilliboy Ralapelle	10. Remi Tales
03. Cencus Johnstone
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Hosea Gear
05. Romain Millo-Chulski	12. Luke McCallister
06. Thiery Dusitour (c)	13. Florain Fritz
07. Michael Hooper	14. Leigh Halfpenny (K)
08. Louise Pickamoles	15. Clermount Poitrinaud

 

16.Tom Youngs 17.Antonio Guillamon 18.Vasil Kakovan 19.Patrico Albacete 20.Joe Tekori 21.Yannick Nyanga 22.Jean Marc Doussain 23.Christian Lealiifano


Toulouse go with the game plan which served them so well against Leicester Tigers. Toulouse will aim to play with plenty of power in the attack based around some serious muscle in the pack. We've gone for a big pack with the aim of smashing over the gain line to allow our backs to play fast and loose and create chances for us to run some tries in against the Sharks.   Vermaak and Tales will be key to how we play and will look to bring runners in and put plenty of dents in the Tigers defence. Playing loose and at a high tempo this game will suit our game plan with our backs running wild into the space.

Ah shame, I thought you might have unleashed Tom Youngs on Bismarck!  

Wouldn't be fair making him take on the human dynamo.

I know mate, I'm very grateful to you!  

Where are we getting conditions from Fluxy, is it BBC?

yes mate, will do them tomorrow as they are a bit more accurate on a tuesday

ASMClermontAuvergne

Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Morgan Parra (k)
02. Benjamin Kayser	10.    Aaron Cruden
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04.  Julien Pierre	11. Julien Malzieu
05.  Andries Bekker	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Tom Wood	13.   Aurelien Rougerie (c)
07. Sam Cane	14.  Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin

16. Clement Ric 17. Corey Flynn 18. Frans Malherbe 19. Jamie Cudmore  20. Julien Bardy 21.  Ludovic Radosavljevic 22.  Brock James 23. Lee Byrne

Tactics: As usual the focus will be on selectively attacking the breakdown to acquire turnover ball and quick attacking ball. Cane will be looking to track the ball to achieve this, backed up by Wood and Kayser with the rest of the pack cleaning out with intensity and momentum. Use only the minimum required numbers unless a turnover looks on either way then throw them in to make sure we get the ball. Slow ball controlled by Parra using groups of 3 forwards driving or Parra kicking into space or high to chase. Quick ball to be immediately spun wide for Cruden to attack the line and bring our strike runners into play. Move the ball around with our great handlers until there is a gap, attack it, draw the defence and offload into space. Backrow, Buttin and blindside wing look to come in for the pop inside off 10/12 as that may be where space appears. Cane chasing ball can also look to take offloads and recycle.

- Defence: blitz led by Rougerie. Cane look to scrag Carter, Parra harry Pelisse on backwards back and cover the inside of Cruden on attacking ball to allow the backrow to tackle more aggressively.

- set piece: Debaty can target Franks who has looked weak here. Use several options in lineout, and if ball is messy at all maul and create quick ball as in plan above. Pressure the rear and middle of lineout, force them to go for the front and take them on in the maul.

- kicking and territory: don't kick deep. If the kick to touch isn't an option, either retain possession or chip/grubber into space for our wings. Take all points available.

- targets: JD2's distribution at 12 is weak, look to double team him and hold him up for a maul. Folau positionally vulnerable, so draw him in.

- home advantage: Clermont is literally the hardest place to win away in sport, we are unbeaten in over 65 matches here

Weather updated

Misty?  Not sure if that's good or bad conditions to be honest.  Am guessing might make the ball a bit slippy.

Need a good fullback in mist id say

Yeah, i'd imagine it would just be a bit slippery without rain, - greasy is the word I believe they would use professionally.

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard	10.    Johnny Wilkinson (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04.  Bakkies Botha	11. Bryan Habana
05.  Jocelin Suta	12. Matt Giteau
06. Julien Bonnaire	13.   Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Steffon Armitage	14.  Drew Mitchell
08. JVN (c)	15. Delon Armitage

16. Kyle Cooper 17. Gethin Jenkins 18. Dan Cole 19. Danie Russouw 20. Juan Smith 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Butch James 23. Wesley Fofana

Tactics
Tactics
We have strength all over the pack with international position in the majority of positions. Hard hitting rugby is what we are looking for with strong carriers in our pack who will look to make the holes and in defence to clear out and give Armitage and Bonnaire time and space to get over the ball. Johnny is our captain as he can pull the strings at 10 and bring influential passages of play. In our backs we have excitement everywhere with Giteauand AAC both looking to pull the strings and for the offloads from the tackles and we know how dangerous all of our back three are going to be. We will not lose at home. Our bench is strong again and brings impact all of the park, we will utilise this as and when and will look to run at tired legs throughout the last 20 minutes.

*Familiarity- Hibbard and Cole met on Lions, Suta-Botha-Armitage-JVN play together, Back 3 are all similar and play together.
*9-10 combo-we have Smith who can deliver quick ball to Johnny who will then look to play a fast attacking game especially from turnover ball.
*Bench-Our bench is full of impact and will look to dominate the end of the game.
*Defence-we have strong defensive leaders in Giteau, AAC and Wilkinson and will look to slow down/turnover a lot of ball.
*Set Piece-power is key today at scrum time (targetting Ben Arous) and in the lineouts Hibbard's darts have improved and he has quality jumpers lead by Bonnaire and lifters to utilise.

I've just realised that I am away to Toulouse in this and the other game this week.  I wonder which of my sides will the better result!

Crusaders

01. Vincent Debaty	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Dan Carter(k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Luke Romano	11. Zac Guildford
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Ryan Crotty
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Israel Folau
08. Kieran Read	15. Israel Dagg

16. Ben Funnell 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Dominic Bird 20. Matt Todd 21. Andrew Ellis 22. Tom Taylor 23. Tom Marshall

Set piece: Debaty has come over from Clermont, so will have experience scrimmaging against Zirikashvili and we expect him to hold his own on that side. Franks is backed up by the strong scrummaging of Hartley, and will also have the 120kg of Romano backing him up. Clermont have a 6'5 lock playing with a 6'10 lock so there may be an imbalance there when it comes to locking the scrum. Whitelock is our main lineout jumper, backed up by Romano, Read and Gorgodze.

Kicking: Carter and Dagg are our primary kickers, we want to pin them back deep in their half, so the chips and grubbers they want to use become a very risky option. Pelissie to sweep up behind the defensive line to counter this. If they miss touch we will counter hard and fast. Carter is free to put up the high kick if he sees an opportunity for Folau to chase, especially when he can challenge the smaller Buttin aerially

Attack:  Read and Whitelock to carry in the wider channels. We want to counter the strength of the Clermont back row at the breakdown by carrying mainly tight to the ruck and straight at Cruden with big ball carrying from Franks, Hartley, Romano and Gorgodze,. tying in their back row. We will then go wider, with Read effectively our 3rd centre in terms of his ball skills and running ability. Davies will occasionally line up at 13 in attack, with Crotty and Read running dummy lines and a miss pass from Carter out to Davies/Folau/Dagg aimed at catching Rougerie on his outside shoulder

Defence: No obvious weak defender in the backs, Folau to stay tight to the touchline as Malzieu is less likely to come inside looking for work. Gorgodze to set the tone in defence, we want to smash their carriers back and give McCaw the chance he needs to school the young pretender Cane. Parra to be targeted for big hits early doors to try and rattle him and disrupt Cruden.

In the last 20, Gorgodze to come off, Todd to 7 and McCaw to 6. Taylor to come on at inside centre and we will play wider, with Taylor's distribution to get our back 3 running into gaps in the tired defence.

Sharks name 22 of their 23 man squad for this weeks clash with Toulouse at Stade Ernst Wallon, with their starting pack showing two changes from the side which beat ASM Clermont Auvergne last week.  Cian Healy and Marcell Coetzee step up from the bench replacing Tendai Mtawarira and Sam Warburton.  The Durban based franchise name an unchanged backline, and leave the 23 shirt open at this stage, with Paul Jordaan likely to keep the jersey if Quade Coopers registration is not completed in time.
 
The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213
 

01. Cian Healy	09. Danny Care
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Pieter-Steph du Toit	11. George North
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Francois Steyn
06. Marcell Coetzee	13. Conrad Smith
07. Willem Alberts	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parrise (c)	15. James O'Connor

 
16. Sebastien Bruno 17. Tendai Mtawarira 18. Lourens Adriaanse 19. Franco van der Merwe 20. Sam Warburton 21. Ryan Kankowski 22. Freddie Michalak 23. Quade Cooper
 
TACTICS

We will play a traditional South African gameplan in the forwards, being ultra physical and looking to dominate the collisions in attack and defence.  We will be looking in the main to run the ball, using the pack and big backs off first phase ball, with support runners on the ball carriers shoulder for the offloads in or just prior to contact.  We will however be sensible and if running it is not on in our half we will use the boots of Lambie, Steyn and O'Connor to put ourselves in the right area.  We will be looking to play our game at a high tempo. Lambie will play flat with the outside backs coming from positions of depth to gain momentum.  In defence we will employ the blitz and look to hit the ball carrier before he hits the gainline to stop Toulouse getting any momentum.  Danny Care will act as a sweeper behind the defensive line.

• Breakdown.  In attack we will put numbers in rucking past the ball to free it up quickly to go again.  In defence we will be selective.  If it is on to clear out and turn ball over we will throw numbers in to do so, otherwise we will keep a strong defensive line.
  
• Spaces not faces.  Our runners will target the gaps in the defensive line rather than defenders and look to breach the gainline regularly.
  
• Target Poitrenaud.  We will look to put some bombs up in the misty conditions and get a good kick chase in and pressurise Poitrenaud.
  
• Target Vermaak.  Back row to look to hurry Vermaak and put him under pressure in order to disrupt the quality of ball to the backline.
  
• Target the scrum.  Healy to try to get underneath the taller Johnstone, with BdP focusing on driving between Ralapelle and Johnstone, to really destablisie Toulouse on the tighthead side.
  

Racing Metro TBC

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Brodie Retallick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Henry Chavancy
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Ben Smith
08. Jacques Cronje	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16. Luc Ducalcon 17. Dimitri Szarzeswski 18. Soane Tonghu'ia 19. Jone Qovu 20. Wenclas Lauret 21. Sebastian Descons 22. Jonthan Wisnewski 23. Benjamin Fall 

TACTICS ALL TBC
We like to focus around a solid set piece,and forcing the opposition into making mistakes in their half. In Strauss, Louw and Kruger we have a proven lineout combination. Kruger will call the lineout and look to challenge opposition ball in the air, by marking Bonnaire. In Strauss and Jones we have 2 big scrummagers that we will look to exert pressure at scrum time. We like to play in the right areas and don't take risks in our third. Use Sexton and JMH boot to kick in behind and for territory. Use up and under off slow ball in when in centre channel. Keep the scoreboard ticking over with Sexton.
- Hound Arron Smith. Pressurise him around the ruck and keep his head down. We know that this ploy works well against him. 
- Louw to play as out and out 7, looking to slow ball and force turnovers. Target Carter, who is injured as out of form; force him to play deep and limit his options. Lydiate to be first man in defence in the 1 out channel
- Roberts to lead the fan defence, looking to isolate individuals and allow back row to compete for turnovers. Machenaud to sweep up.
- Utilise the Lions 10/12 combo and get Sexton on the wrap around, using Roberts to draw defenders and encourage Smith to come into the space
- Use Tiny, Strauss, Retallick, Cronje as our big ball carriers around the fringes to keep the defence narrrow. Machenaud to snipe to keep them honest.
- Smith and JMH encouraged to come into the line as 2nd receivers

Stormers

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Will Genia
02. Deon Fourie	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Nathan Hines	11. Julian Savea
05. Eben Etzebeth	12. Jean De Villiers (c)
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Siya Kolisi	14. Gio Aplon
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Jaco Taute

16. Scarra Ntubeni 17. Steven Kitshoff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Damien Chouly 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Gerard Van Den Heever

Look to play a simple game based around the strong set piece game to secure possession. The pack is full of heavy carriers to get over the gain line consistently and capable of clearing out the rucks quickly and efficiently to create quick ball when possible. Look to create quick ball off pods outside the fringe defences of the ruck. Genia and Faz to run the game. Genia will look to keep the defences honest and punish any lapse in fringe defence by sniping any holes. Looking for any quick ball for Genia to orchestrate the attacking movements of the backs, and to keep the opponents guessing. Faz to play flat in attack to bring in the centres who can play simple and direct rugby or get it wide to our dangerous back three.

Set-piece - strong and efficient, put pressure on in certain situations on opposition ball. Eg clearing kicks from scrums and line outs in their 22
Breakdown - Collectively look to clear ball and smash opposing players out of the way. Opposing slow down legally by flooding the breakdown. 
Momentum - Use the momentum form last weeks game and our forward pack going forward to break the Tigers team apart.
Playing the %'s - Faz will keep the board ticking over and pegging the back, with Flood the only reliable kicking option in the back line.
Working on Players - Corbs to target Castro at the scrum, Wood to man mark Parling come the line out, with Etze up at the front.

LECISTER TIGERS

01.Marco Ayerza
02.Rob Hawkins
03.Martin Castrogivanni
04.Paul O'Connell 
5.Geoff Parling
6.Tom Croft
7.Pablo Matera
08.Juan Manuel Legiuzamon (C)
09.Ben Youngs
10.Toby Flood (k)
11.Gonzalo Camacho
12.Anthony Allen
13.Manu Tuilagi
14.Blaine Scully
15.Matthew Tait

Replacements: 16.Ghiraldini 17.Stankovich 18.Schuster 19.Deacon 20.Weepu 21. Williams 22.Benjamin 23.Huget

With the signing of O'Connell this week are defo stronger in the forwards, in fact from 1-8 that is a powerful forward pack and its exicting to be able to put these comibnations together. Hawkins getting a go today at hooker, and we are looking for a solid line out and looking to Paul and Geoff to get good ball and start off attacks. They will also look to carry ball over the gain line. Croft and Matera will also run the ball on all opportunities. Youngs will look to get quick ball and make sure we play with good attacking intent. Flood will kick in behind, when there is plenty of space for the runners to get on to the ball. Manu and Allen revert to their oridnary roles after last week's experiment failed. Tait also comes in for Huget

Just had a quick glance through and there are going to be some fascinating match ups this week.

Sorry about the delay in the updating the page boys. I will leave the predos open until 8pm Monday just to make up for my lack of time to update the page

Clermont 21-20 Crusaders
SP: Both teams have strong leaders here, hard to split.
BK: Very close again here with strong breakdown players and the ability to make hard yards.
HB: 2 teams very strong in this position, can't split them.
OB: Crotty good but could get found out by Rougerie here.
BE: Steady impact from both sides.
TA: Simple rugby tactics from Clermont and not putting too many into the rucks will work so long as they can keep McCaw away! Kick-chase a good choice for Crusaders, want to know a little bit more about how'd they'd work the breakdown.

Tough game to split, home advantage a big player here with Clermont so strong at home.

Tigers 20-24 Stormers
SP: Stormers stronger at hooker and feel Corbs could cause Castro problems.
BK: Not a lot to split here, SOB may get some joy here.
HB: Tigers are steady here but feel Stormers could have more gamechanging ability.
OB: Tigers looking better with 12-13 in their right positions, feel on the wings Stormers have more scoring ability.
BE: Steady from both.
TA: Tigers will get the joy they want from the lineout, need to know how they'd play in the backs more rather than a selection update. Stormers have picked where they want to target well.

Home advantage is slight but not enough with no major jet lag coming from Stormers, Tigers have improved from last week.

Toulouse 25-27 Sharks
SP: 2 huge front 5's here, going to give a slight edge to the Sharks but only just.
BK: Again 2 strong sets of backrows here, again a tiny advantage to Sharks with Alberts in fine form over Hooper.
HB: Prefer the Sharks pairing.
OB: Good from both, tough to split.
BE: Great impact, very close game so this is needed for both teams.
TA: Need more from Toulouse to know how they are going to use their backs more rather than getting into an arm wrestle. Think Sharks could win that arm wrestle, they have the right tactics and Lambie standing flat will give Steyn go forward ball.

A slight home advantage but, like Tigers not enough as no major jet lag.

Toulon 34 - 31 Racing Metro 92

Can see this one being a bit messy in the scrum. there is enough power from the locks to make it fair but, there will be some resetting which break up the rhythm of the game. Throughout I think the packs are relatively even. Both will get around the park, hit rucks and carry well. In the back lines Wilkinson has reverted to old, and sits a bit deeper these days, which cuts down the opportunities of the dangerous Toulon back line. Racing have some great attacking threats as well. What edges this is the super strong bench and home crowd from Toulon, but Racing make this supremely hard for them. 

ASM Clermont Auvergne 23 - 22 Crusaders


Clermont have the edge up front, but Crusaders aren't completely outmatched in the set piece. They also have a decent back five unit ASM but Crusaders are a world apart at this moment in time. I like the Wood Cane combo and they will provide a good source of turnover and relief of pressure in defence from the strong clermont front five. 
Its vice versa in the spine of the back line. Crusaders have a good combination of skill and speed. But ASM have a real world class unit how can benefit hugely of quick turnover ball and their strong front five providing some possession. Crusaders close the gap in the backs with their impressively dangerous back three who just ooze try scoring ability from nothing.
In the end Clermont's home advantage along with a little more detail up front in the tactics means they will just have enough to edge out Crusaders at home. 

Toulouse 26 - 29 Natal Sharks

Just a bit more to come from the Sharks pack for me in around the park and the experience up front in the scrum give them a decent edge to propel Parisse and Alberts into the foray. Toulouse have a great back row unit, but their front five don't quite match up technically. Sharks also have a bigger attacking threat through their back line, but have some form issues still in some players. Toulouse can keep the game close at home, however there is more of an edge to the Sharks thoughout.

I may be drunk when I post scored snd I apologise

As long as I get a bonus point win, I'm not worried!!

May edit scores tomorrow on reviewing

Toulon 32- 30 Metro

Scrum- advantage to Toulon here
Lineout - close ill bak metro
Breakdown- edge Toulon
Carrying- edge Toulon
Halfbacks - evens
Attack- slither Metro
Defence- Toulon
Subs- Toulon
Overall- Toulon at home have enough, with advantage on most areas.

Tigers 24 - 27 Stormwrs

Scrums- clear advantage Stomers, Hawkins weak point
Lineout- closet but stomers
Breakdown- evens
Carrying- big advantage Stormwrs
HBs- Close, Stomers
Attack- could have gone to Tigers, Scully weak point, Stomers
Defence- Stormwrs just,
Subs- Tigers just.

Altogether- Stormers pack have enough to take a rare away win

Toulouse 28 -29  Sharks
Svrum- Sharks
Lineout- evens
Breakdown- just Toulouse
Carrying- evens
HBs- Sharks
Attack- Sharks
Defence- evens
Subs- Evens
Overall- home advantage sees Sharks pull close but narrow away win

Toulon 23 Racing Metro 20
Clermount 26 Crusaders 22
*I'd mark Clermount down for 2 THs on the bench.
Leicester Tigers 20 Stormers 25

Toulon 26-20 Racing

Ben Arous will struggle in the scrum against Haymans, and Jones hasn't looked amazing under the new laws Line out looks fairly even, with Bonnaire and Kruger good enough to secure own ball comfortably.

Around the park, very tight up front, huge work rates and good breakdown skills, tough to give either an edge.

In the backs, Giteau and AAC are an outstanding combo and I think they will have success attacking the Racing centres. 2 very dangerous back 3s, but the Racing centres aren't as good as their counterparts in bringing them into play.

Massive impact off the Toulon bench, Fofana will be lethal against tired legs and plenty of international forwards joining him. Racing has good bench players, but not the same quality

With home advantage and the bench quality I think Toulon pull away late to win

Leicester Tigers 19 - 22 Stormers

In the scrum, Ayerza and Mas cancel each other out, but Corbs will trouble Castro and Hawkins is definitely a weak link. Tigers have 3 very good line out jumpers at 4,5 and 6, so an advantage here.

Round the park Tigers just seem underpowered compared to Stormers, especially the back 5 of the pack. Tigers have no tactics on how they will approach the breakdown, and their flankers seem to be more focused on running with the ball rather than winning it. Lack of a back row replacement would also appear to be a mistake given the Stormers starting 3.

In the backs, Savea and Tuilagi are the outstanding talents, but I'm not sure how much ball the Tigers can get. I expect Genia to get good ball from his pack and both he and Farrell are dangerous on the front foot.

Even with home advantage, the Tigers don't have the impact up front to be able to beat a very good Stormers outfit. Welford Road factor keeps it close, but Stormers to win relatively comfortably

Toulouse 23-24 Sharks

Scrum and line out look to be even, I think the Beast is a better scrummager than Healy, had he been playing Sharks would have the nudge on. Good jumpers on both sides, Ralepelle needs to be on form with his throws.

I'm not so sure I would try to take on the Sharks pack with muscle up front, but Toulouse are probably big enough up front to keep it close. Dusatoir and Hooper really make a difference at the breakdown, Coetzee isn't in the same class and I expect some turnovers. Sharks have some massive carriers, Toulouse need to ensure their scramble defence is good as holes will be made.

I'm still unsure on Lambie as a 10, and the Toulouse back line is used to playing together more than the Sharks are. Sharks have more stardust, and that should lead to some good breaks.

Sharks have a slightly more impact full bench,Cooper dangerous when the game opens up even on limited practice time. That coupled with the Toulouse insistence on a pack battle gives Sharks a narrow win on the road

Couldn't see much between teams this week, but the away teams all had a little bit extra to earn them a win. Some nice combos building

Clermont 22 - 23 Crusaders
Front row edged to Crusaders, with form of Debaty cancelling out Franks' poor form. Crusaders win locks and back row quite easily. Clermont have best some of best HBs in business and a strong centre piaring. Crusaders more in the back three. Crusaders will win the breakdown and the set piece, so this is enough to sneak an away win.

Tigers 14 - 19 Stormers
Both hookers are the weaknesses up front, but Stormers are stronger with Castro on the wane. Both two great sets of locks, but Stormers have a brutal set with Tigers lacking carrying and clearing out. Not much in the back rows or the half backs. Two proven combos in the cetnres, but more star quality in Stormers back three. Stormers have too much physicality for an improving Tigers squad

Toulouse 13 - 16 Sharks
Beast of a front row from Sharks and 4 brutal locks on show. Hard to seperate 2nd and back rows. Not convinced by either half back pairing or 12s to be honest. Sharks got more quality in the backs though, with nice variation

Toulon vs Metro: 8-5  tight game, real thirller although not many tries

Clermont vs Crusaders: 7-10

Toulouse vs Sharks: 27-30

Driver, Ric is a loosehead

CF, are you taking the urine?

what now?!

I'll do the results in a bit now all the predos are in.

CF, it is clear you don't rate something in my side(s). Could I please have some brief feedback so I know how to address this for my future matches?

im pretty sure i wasnt the only person to predict you to lose..

No but Bathite always gives feedback and I know where he thinks I ought to improve, and it's a continuing trend from the last game too, against the grain then, and it's a trend of oddly low scoring matches considering the conditions, tactics and match ups. For obvious reasons I don't want to have to try and overcome a low-scoring certain loss every week as one of my results, so I'd like to take your opinions on board and alter my team or tactics appropriately so that this I'd less likely in the future but I can't do that without any idea of where you think my team or tactics are weak. As my Sarries team was very different to my ASM team I can't even really make a guess with no further information

Ouch!

Go from being the only team to score a TBP to conceading 1!

Well played, BamBam, nearly another away win there!

CF wrote:Toulon vs Metro: 8-5  tight game, real thirller although not many tries

Clermont vs Crusaders: 7-10

Toulouse vs Sharks: 27-30

Can I get some feedback mate? Just a few lines

League Table
 

POS	World Super League	PLAYED	WON	DREW	LOST	P F	P A	P D	T F	T A	TBP	LBP	POINTS
1	Sharks	2	2	0	0	60	43	+17	7	4	1	0	9
2	Stormers	2	2	0	0	56	40	+16	6	3	0	0	8
3	RC Toulon	2	1	0	1	51	48	+3	6	5	1	1	6
4	Stade Touloussain	2	1	0	1	57	50	+7	7	4	1	0	5
5	Crusaders	2	1	0	1	45	45	0	4	5	0	1	5
6	ASM Clermont Auvergne	2	1	0	1	43	50	-7	4	5	0	0	4
7	Racing Metro 92	2	0	0	2	42	53	-11	4	6	0	1	1
8	Leicester Tigers	2	0	0	2	37	62	-25	1	7	0	0	0

Can't believe I'm 0 from 2!

When everyone picked their squads, I thought ASM and Toulon would be the early front runners.

Cracking start for me!

CF, I'm going to have to request that you please provide descriptions in your predos for next week (if time allows). I'm worried how you finally derive the result and the final score. Seeing as the conditions and players would dictate the score, I honestly can't see how you could come up with the scores you produced - unless you were to justify them. 

Not looking to cause an argument, any comments please get back to me mate