Heineken Cup Round Four

 
 

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Pool 1 - Leinster vs  Gloucester Rugby 
Location - RDS Arena
Light Rain, 6 degrees, 26mph South Westerly Winds

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Leinster

01. Jack McGrath	09. Eoin Reddan
02. Sean Cronin	10. Ian Madigan
03. Mike Ross
04. Devin Toner	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. Mike McCarthy	12. Gordon D'Arcy
06. Rhys Ruddock	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Dave Kearney
08. Jamie Heaslip (c)	15. Rob Kearney

Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Michael Bent, 18 Martin Moore, 19 Leo Cullen, 20 Shane Jennings, 21 John Cooney, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Zane Kirchener.

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Gloucester 

01. Nick Wood	09. Dan Robson
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter
03. Nicola Mas
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. Johnny May
05. George Robson	12. Matt Scott
06. Willem Alberts	13. Juan de Jongh
07. Julian Salvi	14. Matt Banahan
08. Dickinson	15. Israel folau

16. Steenkamp 17. Adriaan Strauss  18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Croft 20. Arno Botha 21. Connor Murray 22. Ryan mills 23. Israel dagg


Tactics 

In windy damp conditions glos have beefed up the pack and bought Alberts in to increase carrying and collisions.

We will target scrums and line outs as believe we havev superiority and options here. Both locks in fantastic form and will look to poach Leinster ball.

We have also bought in Robson to give us another kicking option from 9. We feel the reddan Madigan axis will struggle in these conditions and glos will be playing territory and using our big pack to carry the ball and get on front foot.
Carter will dictate.
With May and folau in back 3 we have ability to score tries and counter attack when necessary. 

Will look to use folau and Banahan for cross kicks when suitable. All penalties to be kicked and Strauss and Steenkamp to come on at half time to ram home front
5 domination.

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Pool 2 - Toulon vs Northampton Saints
Location - Stade Mayol
Sunny Intervals, 15 degrees, 7mph north Westerly Winds

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Toulon

01. Florian Fresia	09. Sebastien Tillouse-Borde
02. Craig Burden	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Bryan Habana
05. Ali Williams	12. Matt Giteau
06. Juan Smith	13. Mathieu Basteraud
07. Stefon Armitage	14. Alexis Palisson
08. Chris Masoe	15. Drew Mitchell

Replacements: 16 Jean Charles Orioli, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Carl Hayman, 19 Virgile Bruni, 20 Jocelino Suta, 21 Micheal Claasens, 22 Maxime Mermoz, 23 Rudi Wulf.

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Northampton Saints

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. Ian Madigan
03. Ben Tamiefuna
04. Joe Launchbery	11. Julien Savea
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Christian Wade
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

Subs: 16. TPN 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Steve Luatua 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Ben Foden

Tactics:Saints will play a high intensity/tempo'd game from the outset and take the game to Toulon. We will look to place them under pressure with a really physical, aggressive approach and defence to force errors and mistakes to exploit. We will look to win the gainline battle and the collisions with our big ball carriers and generate quick ball for our backline that will make the most of the perfect conditions to attack and score tries. Will target the lineout throughout to generate attacking ball. 

Win the forward battle: Great conditions for our forwards, Picked a mobile pack, with a lot of ball carriers and physicality to take the game to the home side and get a good platform for our halfback.

Setpiece: Will continue with the England lineout options, supported by Bonnaire. We will aim to generate plenty of quick ball to attack Toulon, Use Lawes and Launch to target Toulon's throw and give them scrappy ball to use. Will use the scrum as an attacking platform. 

Breakdown/Backrow: Mobile and strong pack to really attack Toulon at the breakdown, Cane selected to really target turnovers and to slow down opposition ball, will look to clear him out in numbers and attack the fringes at the breakdown. Will also aim to knock Toulon back in the tackle with likes of Lawes and Launch to stop their forward momentum and give us the advantage of hitting the rucks going forward. 

Possession/Territory: Perfect conditions for Saints, will want to get the ball in the hands of our pack who are all big ball carriers and get us over the gainline and suck tacklers in to create space outwide. Madigan to put Fofana, Tuilagi and back three into space. Halfpenny to kick all points on offer. 

Attack the Gainline/Win Collisions: Again look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to provide our backs with the platform to attack, big ball carriers in the pack - Vunipola, Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury and Billy V can all get us over the gainline. We will really target the gainline, suck in Toulon defenders and then go out wide to our backline. 

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, putting pressure onto the Worcester halfbacks. Very good defensive pack with Lawes and Launchbury's workrates being massive for us. Will look for big hits and to force mistakes. Phillips to sweep behind and backthree to counter any loose kicks. 

Key selection points: 
Unbeaten in Europe for over a year.
Stong pack to take game to the French.
Win the collisions and gainline battle - whole pack big ball carriers. 
Perfect conditions for us to attack. 
In good form - boosted by return of Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury and Billy Vunipola to the pack.
Strong bench to bring on in the second half.

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Pool 3 - Leicester Tigers vs Zebre
Location - Welford Road
Sunny Intervals, 8 degrees, 13 mph South Westerly Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Kearnan Myall	11. Paul Sackey
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. James Scaysbrook	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Jacques Burger	14. Josh Bassett
08. Ryan Jones	15. Pat Lambie

16. Tom Youngs 17. Benn Robinson 18. Dan Cole 19. Ian Evans 20. Sean O'Brien 21. Kahn Fotuali'i 22. Brock James 23. Mike Brown

Tactics:

TBC

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Zebre

01. Salvatore Perugini	09. Alberto Chillon
02. Tommaso D'Apice	10. Tommaso Iannone
03. Luciano Leibson
04. Quintin Geledenhuys	11. Giovanbattista Venditti
05. Marco Bortolami (c)	12. Gonzalo Garcia
06. Mauro Bergamasco	13. Kameli Ratuvou
07. Nicola Cattina	14. Leonardo Sarto
08. Samuela Vunisa	15. Gugliemo Palazzani

Replacements:16 Andrea Manici, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Michael van Vuren, 20 Emiliano Caffini, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Roberto Quartaroli, 23 Giulio Toniolatti

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Pool 3 - London Wasps vs Toulouse 
Location - Adams Park
Sunny Intervals, 8 degrees, 8 mph South Westerly Winds

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London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Sebastien Vahaamahina	11. Marland Yarde
05. George Skivington	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Tom Johnson	13. JJ Englebrecht
07. Siya Kolisi	14. Jack Nowell
08. Steffon Armitage	15. Tim Nanai-Williams

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Luke Wallace 21. Nick Phipps 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Digby Ioane

Basic Game Plan

In good conditions we will be looking to play a fast paced offloading game when in the Toulouse half, utilising big carriers with pacy backs on their sholders to take the offloads and hit the gaps. We will look to shift the point of attack and keep the ball moving. Our back row will look to support and hit rucks hard to free up quick ball. When in our own territory we will use the boots of Farrell and Lealiifano to put ourself deep in the Toulouse 22. Our intention is to utilize our strength, which is pace and mobility, and move the Toulouse pack around to tire them and create space for our runners.

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. Smith will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

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Toulouse

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Jano Vermaak
02. Chilliboy Ralepele	10. Jean Pascal Barraque
03. Cencus Johnstone
04. Edwin Maka	11. Hosea Gear
05. Yoann Maestri	12. Yann David
06. Yacouba Camara	13. Florian Fritz
07. Thierry Dusautoir (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Clement Poitrenaud

Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Schalk Ferreira, 18 Yohan Montes, 19 Romain Millo-Chulski, 20 Christopher Tolofua, 21 Jean-Marc Doussain, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Timoci Matanavou

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Pool 4 - Newcastle Falcons vs Racing Metro 92
Location - RDS Arena
Light Cloud, 8 degrees, 16 mph South Westerly Winds

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Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Waller	09.Ben Youngs
02.Dane Coles	10.Dan Bigger (K)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.ED Slater	11.Charlie Sharples
05.Paul O'Connell(C)	12.Brad Barritt
06.Ben Mowen	13.Ben Smith
07.Heinrich Brussouw	14.Cory Jane
08.Dave Ewers	15.James O'Connor

16.Darren Dawiduik 17.Ryan Grant 18.Scotty Wilson 19.Will Carrick Smith 20.Ali Williams 21.Juan Smith 22.Dave Lewis 23.Adam Ashley-Cooper

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Racing Metro 92 

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Dimitri Szarzewski	10. Benjamin Dambielle
03. Luc Ducalon
04. Francois Van Der Merwe	11. Marc Andreu
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Alexandre Dumoulin
06. Wenceslas Lauret	13. Fabrice Estanbanez
07. Bernard Le Roux	14. Benjamin Fall
08. Jone Qovu Nailiko	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 David Khinchagashvili, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Karim Ghezal, 20 Camille Gerondeau 21 Mike Phillips, 22 Jonny Sexton, 23 Juan Imhoff

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Pool 5 - Montpellier vs Harlequins
Location - Stade Yves-du-Manoir
Light Cloud, 11 degrees, 6 mph North Easterly Winds

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Montpellier 

01. Na'ama Leleimalefaga	09. Jonathon Pelissie
02. Charles Geli	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Maximiliano Bustos
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Yoan Audrin
05. Mikael De Marco	12. Thomas Cambezou
06. Kelian Galetier	13. Rene Ranger
07. Mamuka Gorgodze	14. Timoci Nagusa
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Anthony Floch

16. Thomas Bianchin, 17. Mikheil Nariashvili, 18. Paea Fa'anunu, 19. Thibault Privat, 20. Alex Tulou, 21. Eric Escande, 22. Pierre Berard, 23. Wynand Olivier

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Quade Cooper (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Sam Warburton (c)	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Schalk Brits 17. Ben Franks 18. Gjorgi Jgenti 19. George Kruis 20. Pierre Spies 21. Karl Dickson 22 Freddie Burns 23. Ben Tapuai

Tactics

- All starts up front and we are looking to really tear into the montpellier front 5 at the scrum. Really look to upset them here. 

- Patient game play with carriers running off 9 and 10. The carriers will carry at pace and look to win the collision and get across the gain line.

- Get Cooper putting players into space when we have quick ball, particularly getting at FTD's channel. 

- We are packed with form players and have the experience to get the win in France. Looking to score tries but win is the most important thing.

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Pool 6 - Sale Sharks vs Edinburgh
Location - AJ Bell Stadium
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 15 mph Northerly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Kieran Marmion
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Phil Swainston
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Christian Day	12. Gael Fickou
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Sam Smith
08. Victor Vito	15. Jean Marcellin Buttin

16. Ross Harrison 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Tom Savage 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

We will play a fast paced, high intensity offloading game looking to create space for our halfbacks and to get our back three onto the ball as much possible.

- Target the scrum. Good technical front row supported by plenty of grunt will look to get on top and win penalties. 

- Isolate Nel at the scrum. He has struggled massively under the new scrum laws and Ayerza will look to seriously work him over.

- Attack from the lineout. Five genuine jumping options allows us to mix it up and really use the lineout as an attacking platform. Look to get the ball to Barrett and Eastmond with space outside. 

- Look to mix up play. Barrett & Eastmond to interchange at first receiver and change the point of attack. Marmion provides a threat snipping around the base.

- Get the back three involved. Eastmond, Smith and Buttin all to run lines looking for the inside ball or offload to get in behind the opposition defence. 

- Hit the breakdown hard. Look to our dynamic front five to clear the ruck and allow the likes of POM & Kvesic to really attack the breakdown.

- Straight line blitz defence focusing on a quick line speed to isolate the ball carrier before the gain line. Marmion to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

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Edinburgh

01. Al Dickinson	09. Greig Laidlaw (c)
02. Aleki Lutui	10. Harry Leonard
03. WP Nel
04. Grant Gilchrist	11. Jack Cuthbert
05. Izak van der Westhuizen	12. Ben Atiga
06. Cornell du Preez	13. Nick De Luca
07. Ross Rennie	14. Dougie Fife
08. Dave Denton	15. Greig Tonks

Replacements: 16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Wicus Blaauw, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Joaquin Dominguez, 23 Tom Brown

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Quade Cooper (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Sam Warburton (c)	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Schalk Brits 17. Ben Franks 18. Gjorgi Jgenti 19. George Kruis 20. Pierre Spies 21. Karl Dickson 22 Freddie Burns 23. Ben Tapuai

Tactics

- All starts up front and we are looking to really tear into the montpellier front 5 at the scrum. Really look to upset them here.

- Patient game play with carriers running off 9 and 10. The carriers will carry at pace and look to win the collision and get across the gain line.

- Get Cooper putting players into space when we have quick ball, particularly getting at FTD's channel.

- We are packed with form players and have the experience to get the win in France. Looking to score tries but win is the most important thing.

Falcons move there home game to the Darlington Arena as part of there rugby in the north east community scheme. 

The Stadium holds 28,000 spectators and is central in a North East hotbed for rugby.

Newcastle make 3 changes to the side which faced Racing Metro last time out. Ben Mowen comes into the side at 6 with Cory Jane starting on the right wing. Juan Smith takes the spot on the bench whilst Charles Pitatau drops out of the 23 to stay fresh for Exeter Chiefs game. Dave Lewis also comes onto the bench.

Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Waller	09.Ben Youngs
02.Dane Coles	10.Dan Bigger (K)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.ED Slater	11.Charlie Sharples
05.Paul O'Connell(C)	12.Brad Barritt
06.Ben Mowen	13.Ben Smith
07.Heinrich Brussouw	14.Cory Jane
08.Dave Ewers	15.James O'Connor

16.Darren Dawiduik 17.Ryan Grant 18.Scotty Wilson 19.Will Carrick Smith 20.Ali Williams 21.Juan Smith 22.Dave Lewis 23.Adam Ashley-Cooper

Leicester Tigers have made 13 changes tot he side that played Zebre last week.

In comes Stephen Moore, James Horwill, Gethin Jenkins and Ryan Jones for their first starts since the Autumn Internationals, and the likes of Jonny Wilkinson, Jacques Burger and Kearnan Myall return to the team.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Kearnan Myall	11. Paul Sackey
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. James Scaysbrook	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Jacques Burger	14. Josh Bassett
08. Ryan Jones	15. Pat Lambie

16. Tom Youngs 17. Benn Robinson 18. Dan Cole 19. Ian Evans 20. Sean O'Brien 21. Kahn Fotuali'i 22. Brock James 23. Mike Brown

Tactics:

TBC

Northampton Saints v Toulon

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Dylan Hartley (c)
3. Ben Teimafano
4. Joe Launchbury
5. Courtney Lawes
6. Julian Bonnaire
7. Sam Cane
8. Billy Vunipola

9. Mike Phillips
10. Ian Madigan
11. Julian Savea
12. Weslie Fofana
13. Manu Tuilagi
14. Christian Wade
15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

Subs: 16. TPN 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Steve Luatua 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Ben Foden

Tactics:Saints will play a high intensity/tempo'd game from the outset and take the game to Toulon. We will look to place them under pressure with a really physical, aggressive approach and defence to force errors and mistakes to exploit. We will look to win the gainline battle and the collisions with our big ball carriers and generate quick ball for our backline that will make the most of the perfect conditions to attack and score tries. Will target the lineout throughout to generate attacking ball.

Win the forward battle: Great conditions for our forwards, Picked a mobile pack, with a lot of ball carriers and physicality to take the game to the home side and get a good platform for our halfback.

Setpiece: Will continue with the England lineout options, supported by Bonnaire. We will aim to generate plenty of quick ball to attack Toulon, Use Lawes and Launch to target Toulon's throw and give them scrappy ball to use. Will use the scrum as an attacking platform.

Breakdown/Backrow: Mobile and strong pack to really attack Toulon at the breakdown, Cane selected to really target turnovers and to slow down opposition ball, will look to clear him out in numbers and attack the fringes at the breakdown. Will also aim to knock Toulon back in the tackle with likes of Lawes and Launch to stop their forward momentum and give us the advantage of hitting the rucks going forward.

Possession/Territory: Perfect conditions for Saints, will want to get the ball in the hands of our pack who are all big ball carriers and get us over the gainline and suck tacklers in to create space outwide. Madigan to put Fofana, Tuilagi and back three into space. Halfpenny to kick all points on offer.

Attack the Gainline/Win Collisions: Again look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to provide our backs with the platform to attack, big ball carriers in the pack - Vunipola, Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury and Billy V can all get us over the gainline. We will really target the gainline, suck in Toulon defenders and then go out wide to our backline.

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, putting pressure onto the Worcester halfbacks. Very good defensive pack with Lawes and Launchbury's workrates being massive for us. Will look for big hits and to force mistakes. Phillips to sweep behind and backthree to counter any loose kicks.

Key selection points:
Unbeaten in Europe for over a year.
Stong pack to take game to the French.
Win the collisions and gainline battle - whole pack big ball carriers.
Perfect conditions for us to attack.
In good form - boosted by return of Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury and Billy Vunipola to the pack.
Strong bench to bring on in the second half.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Kieran Marmion
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Phil Swainston
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Christian Day	12. Gael Fickou
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Sam Smith
08. Victor Vito	15. Jean Marcellin Buttin

16. Ross Harrison 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Tom Savage 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

We will play a fast paced, high intensity offloading game looking to create space for our halfbacks and to get our back three onto the ball as much possible.

- Target the scrum. Good technical front row supported by plenty of grunt will look to get on top and win penalties. 

- Isolate Nel at the scrum. He has struggled massively under the new scrum laws and Ayerza will look to seriously work him over.

- Attack from the lineout. Five genuine jumping options allows us to mix it up and really use the lineout as an attacking platform. Look to get the ball to Barrett and Eastmond with space outside. 

- Look to mix up play. Barrett & Eastmond to interchange at first receiver and change the point of attack. Marmion provides a threat snipping around the base.

- Get the back three involved. Eastmond, Smith and Buttin all to run lines looking for the inside ball or offload to get in behind the opposition defence. 

- Hit the breakdown hard. Look to our dynamic front five to clear the ruck and allow the likes of POM & Kvesic to really attack the breakdown.

- Straight line blitz defence focusing on a quick line speed to isolate the ball carrier before the gain line. Marmion to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

Glos

01. Nick Wood	09. Dan Robson
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter
03. Nicola Mas
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. Johnny May
05. George Robson	12. Matt Scott
06. Willem Alberts	13. Juan de Jongh
07. Julian Salvi	14. Matt Banahan
08. Dickinson	15. Israel folau

16. Steenkamp 17. Adriaan Strauss  18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Croft 20. Arno Botha 21. Connor Murray 22. Ryan mills 23. Israel dagg


Tactics

In windy damp conditions glos have beefed up the pack and bought Alberts in to increase carrying and collisions.

We will target scrums and line outs as believe we havev superiority and options here. Both locks in fantastic form and will look to poach Leinster ball.

We have also bought in Robson to give us another kicking option from 9. We feel the reddan Madigan axis will struggle in these conditions and glos will be playing territory and using our big pack to carry the ball and get on front foot.
Carter will dictate.
With May and folau in back 3 we have ability to score tries and counter attack when necessary.

Will look to use folau and Banahan for cross kicks when suitable. All penalties to be kicked and Strauss and Steenkamp to come on at half time to ram home front
5 domination.

London Wasps
Manager Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Sebastien Vahaamahina	11. Marland Yarde
05. George Skivington	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Tom Johnson	13. JJ Englebrecht
07. Siya Kolisi	14. Jack Nowell
08. Steffon Armitage	15. Tim Nanai-Williams

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Luke Wallace 21. Nick Phipps 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Digby Ioane

Basic Game Plan

In good conditions we will be looking to play a fast paced offloading game when in the Toulouse half, utilising big carriers with pacy backs on their sholders to take the offloads and hit the gaps. We will look to shift the point of attack and keep the ball moving. Our back row will look to support and hit rucks hard to free up quick ball. When in our own territory we will use the boots of Farrell and Lealiifano to put ourself deep in the Toulouse 22. Our intention is to utilize our strength, which is pace and mobility, and move the Toulouse pack around to tire them and create space for our runners.

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. Smith will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Leinster 27-24 Gloucester

Hell of a game this one. Leinster were unreal last week but Gloucester a big step in quality. Packs are really close, can see Leinster shading the line out but scrum will be tight. Gloucester take the half backs but Leinster on top from there. Great battle but Leinster in magic form
and so tough to beat at home.

Toulon 25-22 Northampton

Another cracker! Toulon so tough at home but Saints make real crack at it. Line out tight but Toulon scrum a step up. Great back 5 battle but Toulon a little stronger. Toulon a step up at half back but pretty even past that with 2 cracking backlines. Saints put up a real fight but just fall short in the pack.

Leicester 37-9 Zebre

Routine win

Wasps 20-20 Toulouse

A step up in the pack for Toulouse, especially the back 5. Set pieces will be pretty tight though. Wasps take the half backs and centres pretty even. Toulouse back 3 very dangerous and edge, not convinced with Nowell on wing. Toulouse stronger most areas but struggling for form I just can't see them having enough to win.

Newcastle 29-13 Metro

Falcons a step up throughout and Metro in disarray, easy win.

Leinster 21-20 Glos
Huge game which I feel Leinster edge in the front 5 but Glos could get a little joy on the flanks, Heaslip a step up over Dickinson. Bit more for Glos at half backs. Tough to split the outside backs but think that Folau could get some joy against Kearney and exploiting the brothers. It’s the bench that does help keep Glos in this game though with more international experience. The Glos counter attacking will work today and bringing in an other kicking option in Robson was a good call. Tough game to give but think that, with the Leinster backs and the form they nick it.

Toulon 22-22 Saints
2 strong packs on show today, can’t split them really. Same in the backs as well with very strong set of backs on show from both. On the bench I can see a slight advantage to Saints but this is nullified by home advantage for Toulon. Saints are set out well in tactics and do have good form coming into this game but I really don’t think that either team will get much joy from 2 strong attacking sides with good defence. Going to have to sit on the fence sorry.

Tigers 35-10 Zebre
Easy win here, Tigers way too strong all over and extra power on the bench.

Wasps 20-19 Toulouse
2 very strong packs coming together, not overly sure about Armitage at 8 to be honest but he will bring power from the base of the scrum. Toulouse strong in the back row. Wasps half backs looking a bit stronger. Nowell stood up well against Toulon so think that it’s evens in the outside backs as well. Wasps, a lot stronger on the bench. Looking at the tactics I feel that Wasps could tire the Toulouse front row and the influence of BDP plays a big role in an important win.

Falcons 26-21 Metro
Falcons may struggle a little in the scrum but will get good lineout ball. Prefer the Falcons half backs and outside backs. Metro have power to come on off the bench but Falcons will close this game out.

Montpellier 18-22 Quins
Quins are stronger in the front 5 but Montpellier could cause some issues in the backrow however Quins do have enough here to steady the ship. In the backs I see Quins as stronger and their patient game tactics will work well and nullify Montpellier’s dangerous centre partnership.

Sale 28-12 Edinburgh
Sale are simply stronger in all positions and Edinburgh will really struggle here. Feel the Sale tactics of targeting a good set piece and attacking quick from here are spot on.

I'd just like to point out this is the Toulouse side who lost at home to Connacht last week!   

Trying to influence voting Pete   

Leinster 31-29 Gloucester
Mat's hugely unlucky that he's got Leinster the week after they put on perhaps one of the greatest European performances in the last 4-5 seasons. Will be a close game, as there are a lot of try scorers for Gloucester and Carter is a huge influence. Can see a good scoring game.

Tigers 57-12 Zebre
Way too much for Tigers, can see this being completely one sided and close to a cricket score with the impact from the bench.

Wasps 26-20 Toulouse
Generally French teams have been very poor this season with the odd good performance. Toulouse aren't anywhere near the team they once were and wont beat a very strong Wasps team away.

Falcons 30-24 Metro
Falcons have got some serious tries in their backline, so many good attacking options to use and can see them running in a bp. But Metro very handy themselves on the attacking side.

Montpellier 15-27 Quins
Quins too strong for Montpellier, pack is very good and with 6/7 selected they will get a lot of good ball for QC to run the show at no10. AP teams too strong for the French teams now.

Sale 34-15 Edinburgh
Edingburgh are poor, Sale are good.

Montpellier 23-24 Harlequins

Just a bit too much for quality for Quins, tough to call but see them sneak it.

Sale 37-13 Edinburgh

Routine win for Sale, Edinburgh looking poor of late

Leinster 23 - 25 Gloucester 

Hard game to call. Leinster just shade the front five in quality at this level and have a decent spine throughout this side. Glaws will have some joy in the flanks and from the set piece. Bit more attacking flair from the Cherry and Whites and some decent players in form much like the Leinster back three. For me this is swung with the depth of the bench to change the pace of the game late on to just take it out of the reach of Leinster.

Toulon 28 - 30 Northampton Saints

The Stade Mayol is a tough place to go but there is a real impetus and and international quality in this Saints side. Toulon will make this game an absolute classic. Really tough to seperate these sides. As Saints have a real feel of quality in their side, but Toulon have home advantage and are no slackers themselves. What kills it for me is the boot of Halfpenny getting Saints over the line, with a monster display from their pack getting them there.

Leicester Tigers 41 - 12 Zebre

Too much quality in all departments for Tigers and they will pick up an easy five point win to help them gain a foothold in their group.

London Wasps 22 - 19 Toulouse

Two big packs colliding up front, but Wasps edge the front five battle, with a lineout and scrum edge. Wasps come a bit unstuck in the back row as Armitage will be out played be an out an out eight and the experience of Dus will give Toulouse an edge here. Wasps have the control in the spine in their side along with a mix of attacking flair to make use of their strong supply of possession from the set piece. Toulouse have the quality in the back three to score from nothing but Wasps at home have just enough to get home. 

Newcastle Falcons 29 - 26 Racing Metro

Falcons are a little underpowered in comparison to their opponents, but they contain the experience and leadership to make clever decisions in the set-pieces and in the loose to get them a good foothold in the game. Much prefer Falcons back line to Racing with a good mix of control and flair which will put Metro to the sword at "home" for Falcons.

Montpellier 24 - 26 Harlequins
Quins have a real depth of internationla experince and quality in comaprison to their french hosts and will show a real touch of class in the game. Montpellier have some big forwards to trouble Quins but there is enough in this Quins side to keep on top of them. Quins half-backs are in electric form as of now, but their back line lack form mostly, in comparison to their opponents. For me Quins just have enough from 1-10 to secure a massive away win in France.

Sale Sharks 31 - 21 Edinburgh

Sharks have the ability to stretch a decent Edinburgh side and also have the quality to erode away at the pack and allow their backs clean ball to put some points on the board at home. 

Leinster 22 Gloucester 22
Toulon 23 Northamptons Saints 24
Leicester Tigers 40 Zebre 10
Newcastle Falcons 25 Racing Metro 24
Montpellier 20 Harlequins 21
Sale Sharks 27 Edinburgh 26

Guys on way to blaydon to coach kids rugby and was at wedding yesterday so had zero time apolagies

Toulon 23 Northamptons Saints 24
Leicester Tigers 50-49Zebre
Newcastle Falcons 25 Racing Metro 24
Montpellier 26Harlequins 27
Sale Sharks 30Edinburgh 29

Scores would be a higher margin but for new rules around if you can't do explanations.

Just back from work Xmas do and mentally not up for typing long explanations

Leinster 23-22 Glos
Toulon 26-29 Saints
Tigers 48-9 Zebre
Wasps 21-19 Toulouse
Falcons 25-20 Metro
Montpelier 26-27 Quins
Sale 26-22 Edinburgh

Sorry if these are too late

Leinster 23-23 Glos
Toulon 21-25 Saints
Tigers 58-19 Zebre
Wasps 26-25 Toulouse
Falcons 19-15 Metro
Sale 26-18 Edinburgh

Leinster 20 Gloucester 21
Toulon 25 Northampton Saints 25
Leicester Tigers 57 Zebra 56
London Wasps 23 Toulouse 22
Montpillier 22 Harlequins 23
Sale Sharks 20 Edinburgh 19

RESULTS:

Leinster 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)
Gloucester Rugby 24 (T:2 C:1 P:4)

Toulon 25 (T:2 P:5)
Northampton Saints 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)

Leicester Tigers 46 (T:6 C:5 P:2)
Zebre 17 (T:1 P:4)

London Wasps 24 (T:3 C:3 P:1)
Toulouse 20 (T:2 C:2 P:2)

Newcastle Falcons 33 (T:4 C:2 P:3)
Racing Metro 92 22 (T:1 C:1 P:5)

Montpellier 21 (T:3 C:3)
Harlequins 28 (T:3 C:2 P:3)

Sale Sharks 34 (T:4 C:4 P:2)
Edinburgh 19 (T:1 C:1 P:4)

BONUSES:

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

Driver wrote:

Driver wrote:Guys on way to blaydon to coach kids rugby and was at wedding yesterday so had zero time apolagies

Your going to have to give more notice then that to avoid fines mate. I was at a karate coaching course for the day but will happily take the fine as had all day fri/sat to predict