Week 11

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Racing Metro 92 vs Toulon
Location - Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir
Light Rain Showers, 9 degrees, 11 mph South Westerly Winds

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Racing Metro

01. Ryan Grant	09. Jean Marc Doussain
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Juan Figallo
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Brodie Retallick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Steven Luatua	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. Ben Smith

16. Adam Jones 17. Dimitri Szarzewski 18. Soane Tonghu'ia 19. Joe Tekori 20. Dan Lydiate 21. Maxime Machenaud 22. Jean Marc Doussain 23. Adrien Plante




TACTICS
As always, we are built on a solid set piece, with the lineout being a real strength all season and the scrum in solid shape with Grant now settled in. We'll look to use a very quick and mobile back row to get to that breakdown first, givingks slow ball to play off,and allowing us to use our strike runners against a disjointed defence. Luatua clearing out, Louw forcing the turnover and Faletua playing it as he sees it. We've picked a big scrummaging front row, with two very good technical operators.


- We'll play heads up rugby, based on solid possession from scrum and lineout.
- Form on the bench. All players capable of making a huge impact and changing the game. Experience of Jones and Szarz up front will be huge, Tekori and Tiny will offer incredible ball carrying. Le Roux, Doussain, Mach and Plante have had their great form rewarded with a place in the French 6Ns squad
- Use Sexton flat on the gainline, drawing defenders, with Bosch and Roberts offering short pops and Faletau, Retallick offering the inside ball to keep them narrow. Smith and Bosch both encouraged to come into the line either before Roberts or on his shoulder, looking for the offload.
- We've got a world class spine in this time at 2,5,8,9,10,12,15 and these blokes will lead the team, their experience and decision making will be crucial. The 8 9 10 12 is a very familiar unit from the Lions tour.
- In the backs, we are incredibly solid defensively and have a nice mix of power (Roberts, Imhoff, Cuthbert), pace (Smith, Cuthbert, Youngs) and guile (Sexton, Smith and Bosch)
- Many teams have targeted Roberts defensively, so we will use Roberts to draw in defenders on the dummy run and bring Smith into the line. Use Sexton on the wrap around loop and also interchange Bosch and Roberts to keep them guessing.
- Louw to play as out and out 7, looking to slow ball and force turnovers. In Faletau and Louw, we have two blokes that are brilliant at turning over ball. Both can't be stopped!
- Use Strauss, Retallick, Faletua, Lydiate as our big ball carriers around the fringes to keep the defence narrrow. Youngs to snipe and look for mismatches against forwards to keep them honest

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Toulon

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Carl Hayman
04.  Ali Williams	11. Bryan Habana
05.  Jocelina Suta	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire (c)	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Jaime Heaslip	15. Delon Armitage

16. Kyle Cooper 17.Gethin Jenkins 18. Dan Cole 19. Bakkies Botha 20. Steffon Armitage 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Butch James 23. Matt Giteau
Tactics
We will play an flowing game today and have selected a big pack to win us ball and a fast backrow to get around the park. Wilko will stand deep and play territory for our lineout to challenge, the pack will carry a lot as will our centres for quick ball. Strong front row with immense power to come on and a 2nd row who are used to driving players back come scrum time. We have selected a centre partnership who will make good breaks and look for quick recycling of the ball to keep them on the back foot and under constant pressure. Forwards will look to carry a lot in first 20 punching the holes before moving to running off of 12-13.


*9-10 combo-we have Smith to Wilko who will then look to play a controlled kicking game especially from turnover ball and using tight runners off 2nd phase 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 Wilko and AAC and will look to slow down/turnover a lot of ball.
*Set Piece-power is key today at scrum time and in the lineouts using Bonnaire's leading skills to get good ball.
*Breakdown-look to nullify the Metro here and use our abrasive pack to do this with heavy carrying and tactical breakdown slowing.

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Crusaders vs ASM Clermont Auvergne
Location - AMI Stadium
Sunny, 27 degrees, 14 mph North Westerly Winds

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Crusaders

01. Marcus Ayerza	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Dan Carter(k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Luke Romano	11. Zac Guildford
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Scott Williams
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Israel Folau
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Davit Zirakashvili 19. Dominic Bird 20. Chris Robshaw 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Ryan Crotty

Set piece - Ayerza to use all his experience and put maximum pressure on Big Ben's outside shoulder, with Hartley working on his bind on Flynn. On our ball we want to keep the ball in, Read's footballing skills to help here, on theirs Hartley to not strike but just pressure Flynn to prevent him striking for quick ball. In the lineout, Whitelock to mark Bekker who likes to call to himself, make Flynn throw to Manoa/Lobbe with Romano occasionally challenging, but mainly defend the maul.

Breakdown - McCaw to target Cane with Read in to secure ball. Gorgodze to go in if extra body needed. Mobile front 5 to smash the rucks and get us quick ball. Ruck past the ball, we have strong forwards replacements to come on so want maximum energy. Robshaw on to help us get even quicker ball for our impact subs.


Attack - up front, use Gorgodze as a decoy round the fringes, and go further out with our carrying. Use Gorgodze to tie in Lobbe, and then go again with the likes of Read. Gorgodze/Read/Franks to target Cruden with ball in hand at every opportunity. If they want to use Flynn as a sweeper kick in behind and see how good his hands are with Folau bearing down on him. Out wide, focus on Rougerie's outside shoulder, Davies and Piutau to attack him after a few phases tying Nonu in to help Cruden.


Defence - make clearing kicks early, we are confident in our lineout. Pelissie to sweep, target Lobbe and Nonu for blitz defence but generally make them beat us from deep. Try and cut the supply to the back 3 by rushing up on the centres. Read/McCaw to go for the turnover whenever they see its on and play to the ref.


Bench - Debaty and Vili to pressure the scrum, Bird and Robshaw to continue our efforts at the breakdown. Crotty for hard carrying, FDP to use his tactical kicking to close the game in the last 20, Barrett our lightning bolt to counter 


Hartley and Gorgodze under strict instructions to blow kisses to any attempting wind ups  

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ASMClermontAuvergne

Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Morgan Parra (k)
02. Corey Flynn	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Ben Tameifuina
04. Samu Manoa	11. Willie Le Roux
05. Andries Bekker	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Schalk Burger	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Sam Cane	14. Napolioni Nalaga
08. JMF Lobbe (c)	15. JM Buttin

16. Joe Marler 17. Benjamin Kayser 18. Frans Malherbe  19.  Julien Pierre 20. Jacques Burger 21.  Ludovic Radosavljevic  22. Kyle Godwin 23. Julien Malzieu

Tactics: 

The weather is good so we will look to run the ball a lot. At the breakdown, our back row to work as a unit, with Cane looking to win ball, Manoa clearing out and Lobbe and Burger switching between roles. Cane to chase the ball. Look to commit minimum men to ruck unless we can turn the ball over or are at risk of losing it. Slow ball kept in hand with pick/drives and mauls to build it into quick ball. Quick ball spun wide and we will look to recycle quickly or offload to support runners to keep the pace up. Mix up direct approaches using runners like Ben T, Burger and Nonu with moving the ball around and varying the point of attack, then when a space appears, get the ball to it and attack it quickly, then using offloads. Wings and Buttin looking to come into the line and run support lines.

Kicking

Kick at the touchlines when required but not to the back 3. Run back their kicks and look to link up with our attack. If we kick through, use low drives and grubbers and chase hard to take advantage of odd bounces

Scrum

Scrum should be close to Crusaders, so look to hold rather than attack their scrum and then on our ball, get it out quickly to use set plays and on theirs, Parra disrupt at the base and have back row set for defence. 

Lineout

Vary throws with our many options and Flynn is playing as he has recently been with Crusaders and can help us decipher their calls. Attack every throw and make the lineout an area of danger for them. Vary mauling and off the top ball.

Defence

Defend with width, Parra cover-defending and Flynn sweeping. If they kick through, kick into space or run it back. They attack the fringes with forwards so fringe defence vital, Lobbe is great here. Burger will look to rough up Carter

Other

We have kiwis who know Crusaders well, they'll help us look at their weaknesses. We have great bench options in all positions, so go 100% willing to make subs. We'll also aim to wind up Hartley and Gorgodze

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Stormers vs Leicester Tigers
Location - Newlands
Sunny, 28 degrees, 13 mph South Easterly Winds

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Stormers

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Will Genia
02. Schalk Brits	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Nathan Hines	11. Julian Savea
05. Eben Etzebeth	12. Jean De Villiers (c)
06. Tom Wood	13. Mathieu Basteraud
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Christian Wade
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Scarra Ntubeni 17. Stephen Kitschoff 18. Brok Harris 19. James Horwill 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Gio Aplon



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. 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 Faz 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. Care has shown how attacking Faz can be with an attack minded scrum half and quick ball. 

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. 
Keep ball in hand - We can't afford to give away silly possession and kick aimlessly to the oppo back three. 
Playing the %'s - Faz will keep the board ticking over, and implement a simple territorial game.
New Partnership - Look to exploit Steyn's first appearance in the side by angling runners on his inside and outside shoulder to exploit the gaps

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Leicester Tigers

01. Benn Robinson	09. Greg Laidlaw (k)
02. George Chuter	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Louis Deacon	12. Francois Steyn
06. Tom Croft	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Pablo Matera	14. Cory Jane
08. Juan Manuel Leguizamon (c)	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16.Rob Hawkins 17.Boris Stankivich 18.Brian Muajti 19.Paul O'Connell 20.Piri Weepu 21.James Hook 22.Yoann Huget 23.Israel Dagg

Looking for another physical encounter with strong forward play, and plenty of forward replacements looking to inflict damage onto the opponents. We want to get the ball to Matera and JMM who will carry the ball and power over the gain-line. Laidalw will box-kick cleverly when getting the ball, for the wingers and backs to run onto. Laidaw will be the main kicker with JMH as back up. Tuilagi and Steyn are the powerhouses in the centre positions, and Hook, Weepu, Huget and Dagg are quality replacements later on in the game.

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Natal Sharks vs Toulouse
Location - Kings Park Stadium
Light Rain Showers, 25 degrees, 21 mph South Westerly Winds

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The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. Danny Care
02. Bismarck du Plessis (c)	10. Quade Cooper
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Joe Launchbury	11. George North
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Sam Warburton	13. Conrad Smith
07. Willem Alberts	14. Marland Yarde
08. Billy Vunipola	15. James O'Connor

16. Stephen Moore 17. Cian Healy 18. Lourens Adriaanse 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Sergio Parisse 21.Freddie Michalak 22. Patric Lambie 23. JP Pietersen

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.  In wet conditions we will make sure we play in the right areas, using the pack and big backs off first phase to tie defenders in and create gaps to get our outside backs through.  We will be looking to play our game at a high tempo. Cooper 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.  If on Care will snipe to keep us going forwards.  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.  
  
• Wingers. North and Yarde to track the play off their wings looking for the offloads to go through gaps in midfield, with North often used either on the inside crash ball or as decoy.
  
• Bench. We have world class players like Moore, Healy and Parisse coming off the bench to maintain tempo and see the game out.
  
• Hurt. The boys are hurt after our first league defeat last week and are looking to put that right back at the Shark Tank this time out.
  

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Toulouse

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Chilliboy Rallepele	10. George Ford
03. Cencus Johnstone
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Jonny May
05. Yoaan Maestri	12. Christian Lealifiano
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Gael Fickou
07. Thierry Dusautoir (c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

16.Tom Youngs 17.Anthonio Guilamon 18.John Afoa 19.Romain Millo Chulski 20.Edwin Maka 21.Michael Hooper 22.Jano Vermaak 23.Clement Poitrinaud


Tactics

Toulouse to play a controlling game based around a strong set piece and efficent field position,

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Very in advance and hugely subject to change:

ASMClermontAuvergne

Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01.  Thomas Domingo	09.  Morgan Parra (k)
02. Corey Flynn	10.    Aaron Cruden
03. Ben Tameifuina
04.  Samu Manoa	11. Willie Le Roux
05.  Andries Bekker	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Schalk Burger	13.   Aurelien Rougerie
07. Sam Cane	14.  Napolioni Nalaga
08. JMF Lobbe (c)	15. JM Buttin

16. Joe Marler 17. Benjamin Kayser 18. Frans Malherbe  19.  Julien Pierre 20. Jacques Burger 21.  Ludovic Radosavljevic  22. Kyle Godwin 23. Julien Malzieu

Tactics:

The weather is good so we will look to run the ball a lot. At the breakdown, our back row to work as a unit, with Cane looking to win ball, Manoa clearing out and Lobbe and Burger switching between roles. Cane to chase the ball. Look to commit minimum men to ruck unless we can turn the ball over or are at risk of losing it. Slow ball kept in hand with pick/drives and mauls to build it into quick ball. Quick ball spun wide and we will look to recycle quickly or offload to support runners to keep the pace up. Mix up direct approaches using runners like Ben T, Burger and Nonu with moving the ball around and varying the point of attack, then when a space appears, get the ball to it and attack it quickly, then using offloads. Wings and Buttin looking to come into the line and run support lines.

Kicking

Kick at the touchlines when required but not to the back 3. Run back their kicks and look to link up with our attack. If we kick through, use low drives and grubbers and chase hard to take advantage of odd bounces

Scrum

Scrum should be close to Crusaders, so look to hold rather than attack their scrum and then on our ball, get it out quickly to use set plays and on theirs, Parra disrupt at the base and have back row set for defence.

Lineout

Vary throws with our many options and Flynn is playing as he has recently been with Crusaders and can help us decipher their calls. Attack every throw and make the lineout an area of danger for them. Vary mauling and off the top ball.

Defence

Defend with width, Parra cover-defending and Flynn sweeping. If they kick through, kick into space or run it back. They attack the fringes with forwards so fringe defence vital, Lobbe is great here. Burger will look to rough up Carter

Other

We have kiwis who know Crusaders well, they'll help us look at their weaknesses. We have great bench options in all positions, so go 100% willing to make subs. We'll also aim to wind up Hartley and Gorgodze

01. Marcus Ayerza	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Dan Carter(k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Luke Romano	11. Zac Guildford
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Scott Williams
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Israel Folau
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Davit Zirakashvili 19. Dominic Bird 20. Chris Robshaw 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Ryan Crotty

Set piece - Ayerza to use all his experience and put maximum pressure on Big Ben's outside shoulder, with Hartley working on his bind on Flynn. On our ball we want to keep the ball in, Read's footballing skills to help here, on theirs Hartley to not strike but just pressure Flynn to prevent him striking for quick ball. In the lineout, Whitelock to mark Bekker who likes to call to himself, make Flynn throw to Manoa/Lobbe with Romano occasionally challenging, but mainly defend the maul.

Breakdown - McCaw to target Cane with Read in to secure ball. Gorgodze to go in if extra body needed. Mobile front 5 to smash the rucks and get us quick ball. Ruck past the ball, we have strong forwards replacements to come on so want maximum energy. Robshaw on to help us get even quicker ball for our impact subs.


Attack - up front, use Gorgodze as a decoy round the fringes, and go further out with our carrying. Use Gorgodze to tie in Lobbe, and then go again with the likes of Read. Gorgodze/Read/Franks to target Cruden with ball in hand at every opportunity. If they want to use Flynn as a sweeper kick in behind and see how good his hands are with Folau bearing down on him. Out wide, focus on Rougerie's outside shoulder, Davies and Piutau to attack him after a few phases tying Nonu in to help Cruden.


Defence - make clearing kicks early, we are confident in our lineout. Pelissie to sweep, target Lobbe and Nonu for blitz defence but generally make them beat us from deep. Try and cut the supply to the back 3 by rushing up on the centres. Read/McCaw to go for the turnover whenever they see its on and play to the ref.


Bench - Debaty and Vili to pressure the scrum, Bird and Robshaw to continue our efforts at the breakdown. Crotty for hard carrying, FDP to use his tactical kicking to close the game in the last 20, Barrett our lightning bolt to counter 


Hartley and Gorgodze under strict instructions to blow kisses to any attempting wind ups  

Stormers

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Will Genia
02. Schalk Brits	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Nathan Hines	11. Julian Savea
05. Eben Etzebeth	12. Jean De Villiers (c)
06. Tom Wood	13. Mathieu Basteraud
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Christian Wade
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Scarra Ntubeni 17. Stephen Kitschoff 18. Brok Harris 19. James Horwill 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Gio Aplon

BamBam wrote:

01. Marcus Ayerza	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Dan Carter(k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Luke Romano	11. Zac Guildford
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Scott Williams
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Israel Folau
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Davit Zirakashvili 19. Dominic Bird 20. Chris Robshaw 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Ryan Crotty

CJ my team won't change now, only tactics to be added. Just thought I would let you know in case you wanted to make changes

No worries I'll keep my side the same, may change tic tacs though

I'm out the country until Sunday morning without wifi. Any chance I could get a small extension? Will get team in by midday Sunday.

Leicster Tigers

01.Benn Robinson
02.George Chuter
03.Martin Castrogivanni
04.Graeme Kitcehener
05.Louis Deacon
06.Tom Croft
07.Pablo Matera
08.Juan Manuel Leguizamon (c)
09.Greig Laidlaw (k)
10.Francois Trinh-Duc
11.Miles Benjamin
12.Francois Steyn
13.Manu Tuilagi
14.Corey Jane
15.Juan Martin Hernandez 

16.Rob Hawkins 17.Boris Stankivich 18.Brian Muajti 19.Paul O'Connell 20.Piri Weepu 21.James Hook 22.Yoann Huget 23.Israel Dagg

Looking for another physical encounter with strong forward play, and plenty of forward replacements looking to inflict damage onto the opponents. We want to get the ball to Matera and JMM who will carry the ball and power over the gain-line. Laidalw will box-kick cleverly when getting the ball, for the wingers and backs to run onto. Laidaw will be the main kicker with JMH as back up. Tuilagi and Steyn are the powerhouses in the centre positions, and Hook, Weepu, Huget and Dagg are quality replacements later on in the game.

The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. Danny Care
02. Bismarck du Plessis (c)	10. Quade Cooper
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Joe Launchbury	11. George North
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Sam Warburton	13. Conrad Smith
07. Willem Alberts	14. Marland Yarde
08. Billy Vunipola	15. James O'Connor

16. Stephen Moore 17. Cian Healy 18. Lourens Adriaanse 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Sergio Parisse 21.Freddie Michalak 22. Patric Lambie 23. JP Pietersen

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.  In wet conditions we will make sure we play in the right areas, using the pack and big backs off first phase to tie defenders in and create gaps to get our outside backs through.  We will be looking to play our game at a high tempo. Cooper 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.  If on Care will snipe to keep us going forwards.  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.  
  
• Wingers. North and Yarde to track the play off their wings looking for the offloads to go through gaps in midfield, with North often used either on the inside crash ball or as decoy.
  
• Bench. We have world class players like Moore, Healy and Parisse coming off the bench to maintain tempo and see the game out.
  
• Hurt. The boys are hurt after our first league defeat last week and are looking to put that right back at the Shark Tank this time out.
  

Haven't been able to do any game specific tactics as not seen a Toulouse team yet.

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard	10.    Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Carl Hayman
04.  Ali Williams	11. Bryan habana
05.  Jocelina Suta	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire (c)	13.   Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Craig gilroy
08. Jaime Heaslip	15.delon Armitage

16. Kyle Cooper 17.Gethin Jenkins 18. Dan Cole 19. Bakkies Botha 20. Steffon Armitage 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Butch James 23. Matt Giteau
Tactics
We will play an flowing game today and have selected a big pack to win us ball and a fast backrow to get around the park. Wilko will stand deep and play territory for our lineout to challenge, the pack will carry a lot as will our centres for quick ball. Strong front row with immense power to come on and a 2nd row who are used to driving players back come scrum time. We have selected a centre partnership who will make good breaks and look for quick recycling of the ball to keep them on the back foot and under constant pressure. Forwards will look to carry a lot in first 20 punching the holes before moving to running off of 12-13.


*9-10 combo-we have Smith to Wilko who will then look to play a controlled kicking game especially from turnover ball and using tight runners off 2nd phase 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 Wilko and AAC and will look to slow down/turnover a lot of ball.
*Set Piece-power is key today at scrum time and in the lineouts using Bonnaire's leading skills to get good ball.
*Breakdown-look to nullify the Metro here and use our abrasive pack to do this with heavy carrying and tactical breakdown slowing.

Racing Metro

01. Ryan Grant	09. Jean Marc Doussain
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Juan Figallo
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Brodie Retallick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Steven Luatua	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. Ben Smith

16. Adam Jones 17. Dimitri Szarzewski 18. Soane Tonghu'ia 19. Joe Tekori 20. Dan Lydiate 21. Maxime Machenaud 22. Jean Marc Doussain 23. Adrien Plante




TACTICS
As always, we are built on a solid set piece, with the lineout being a real strength all season and the scrum in solid shape with Grant now settled in. We'll look to use a very quick and mobile back row to get to that breakdown first, givingks slow ball to play off,and allowing us to use our strike runners against a disjointed defence. Luatua clearing out, Louw forcing the turnover and Faletua playing it as he sees it. We've picked a big scrummaging front row, with two very good technical operators.


- We'll play heads up rugby, based on solid possession from scrum and lineout.
- Form on the bench. All players capable of making a huge impact and changing the game. Experience of Jones and Szarz up front will be huge, Tekori and Tiny will offer incredible ball carrying. Le Roux, Doussain, Mach and Plante have had their great form rewarded with a place in the French 6Ns squad
- Use Sexton flat on the gainline, drawing defenders, with Bosch and Roberts offering short pops and Faletau, Retallick offering the inside ball to keep them narrow. Smith and Bosch both encouraged to come into the line either before Roberts or on his shoulder, looking for the offload.
- We've got a world class spine in this time at 2,5,8,9,10,12,15 and these blokes will lead the team, their experience and decision making will be crucial. The 8 9 10 12 is a very familiar unit from the Lions tour.
- In the backs, we are incredibly solid defensively and have a nice mix of power (Roberts, Imhoff, Cuthbert), pace (Smith, Cuthbert, Youngs) and guile (Sexton, Smith and Bosch)
- Many teams have targeted Roberts defensively, so we will use Roberts to draw in defenders on the dummy run and bring Smith into the line. Use Sexton on the wrap around loop and also interchange Bosch and Roberts to keep them guessing.
- Louw to play as out and out 7, looking to slow ball and force turnovers. In Faletau and Louw, we have two blokes that are brilliant at turning over ball. Both can't be stopped!
- Use Strauss, Retallick, Faletua, Lydiate as our big ball carriers around the fringes to keep the defence narrrow. Youngs to snipe and look for mismatches against forwards to keep them honest

I can't edit the post on phone, but I'll try to look at it Sunday morning

Predos open.

Metro 26 - 25 Toulon

Sorry, short predos for me...

Scrum-think this goes to Metro, good unit there
Lineout- closer, gonna call it evens
Breakdown- better from Metro but Toulon look to negate this, so close
Carrying- edge to Toulon
HBs- edge Toulon
Atytack- very close, tactics give to Metro with Roberts looking good this weekend
Defence- evens
Subs- Toulon

Overall- at home and edge in set piece and breakdown, enough for Metro

Stormers 28 - 23 Tigers

Scrum- Castro on good form>Corbs injured, Mas>> Robinson, so close here but just to Stormers
Lineout- the two best units here in the game. However, even with Croft still out, Brits is relatively new and Chuter established in his side so advantage Tigers
Breakdown- strong across the pack from Stormers and ahead here
Carrying- immense from Stormers
HBs- Genia >> Laidlaw, Laidlaw's kicking also not on top form this week, Farrell = FTH, so Stormers
Attack- lethal back 3 from Stormers but in this weather overly clumpy centre combo. Good players throughout for Tigers but centres one out of form the otehr injured- edge Stormers
Defence- evens
Subs- Tigers edge

Overall- Too much at home and with their carrying [power from Stormers

Sharks 26 - 18 Toulouse

Scrum-advantage Sharks
Lineout- advantage Sharks
Breakdown- would be a good battle but we saw Warbs win over Nyanga this weekend and taking into account the tactics and help on both sides I have to assume the same would happen again
Carrying- good from Toulouse but even better from Sharks
HBs- Both sets in good form and complimenting each other well. In the weather, I'd usually give Toulouse the edge but the Sharks pair are in such good form I have to give it to them with JOC taking the pressure off Cooper's kicking
Attack- Probably slightly more indiviual threat from a few players for Toulouse, but with a very well balanced backline and tactics, have to go Sharks!
Defence- solid for both with great pack tackling too, evens
Subs-evens

Overall- Sharks lucky to have such an in form halfback pairing! Them plus pack at home too much for Toulouse

Metro vs Toulon: 20-21

Crusaders vs Clermont: 18-21

Sharks vs Toulouse: 13-18

Crusaders 23 Clermont 19
FR - Big fan of the Crusaders unit and the form of Hartley really helps, over a weaker Flynn. Ayerza can get at Ben T, especially in the second half with fatigue. Domingo might have some joy over Franks, but Crusaders have the advantage here, with strong scrummagers on the bench
LK - bit more top level experience from the Crusaders and a real life pair.
BR - A bit more class from the Crusaders unit with Robshaw an excellent option
HB - Clermont have the best pair in the game, but might struggle with getting quick ball with the back row of Crusaders
CE - not much in it, perhaps the Welsh have a bit more pace about them
B3 - more star quality from Crusaders

A really close game, but Crusaders have enough in key areas - front row, back row and some gold dust in the back 3 to see this through at home. Some really strong bench options to see the result through

Stormers 26 Tigers 21
FR - Too much for the Stormers here
LK - Much closer comparison, can't see much in it - maybe more toughness from Stormers
BR - Great balance with the Stormers and all are better man for man
HB - More class from Stormers
CE - Good to target new man in Steyn, and Manu is a bit out of touch
B3 - Not much in it, but not playing Dagg is unforgivable!

That Stormers pack is solid in the set piece basics and will own the breakdown. They will give their HBs an arm chair ride. Farrell's boot builds scoreboard pressure and Tigers will score in broken play, but not challenge for the win.

Sharks 16 Toulouse 14
FR - Two proven club trios here, but the Sharks have more international experience and in Healy and Moore, have a brilliant bench
SR - Another proven combo, in the very best form means Sharks edge this
BR - Hard to seperate, with Dus out, but I'll edge the home side, with Parisse on the bench swinging it
HB - A bit more class from the Sharks, with Care tearing it up! Him and Cooper would love playing together
CE - Toulouse win this one outright
B3 -  Prefer the Toulouse trio again

1-8 Sharks are superior, due to form and trusted units. Toulouse have a great pack, but 2 is a stand out weakness and many of the French are out of sorts and Dus injured. Sharks have the HBs to make the most of the ball and despite Tolouse being more dangerous 11-15, they battle hard for a win.

Metro 23-22 Toulon

Set piece - Scrum edge to Metro, think Figallo will do well vs Mako. Lineout to Toulon, just due to Bonnaire

Breakdown - Evens IMO, both back rows good, Toulon better in the front row and Metro in the locks

Carrying - Metro, by a whisker

Attack - HBs equal, as Doussain does not seem to be doing well at 9, where as Smith had a great game over the weekend. Prefer the Toulon centres by a fair margin, and slight edge to Metro back 3 due to Smith

Bench - Doussain is starting and on the bench! That error knocks down an excellent Metro bench, gives Toulon the edge

Overall, a really tough game to call, but with home advantage and the advantage at the scrum and back 3 gives Metro a one point win

Crusaders 24-20 Clermont
Tough to split the front 5 here, think Crusaders have a bit more from the backrow and will get quicker ball. Tough to split the half backs here, think I'd just edge Cruden over Carter at the moment. See Crusaders as a bit more dangerous out wide and two good benches. Crusaders rely heavily on Gorgodze in tactics but feel they will get the better go forward ball. Clermont set out for a pack battle which they'll meet their match today.

Stormers 21-19 Tigers
Good front 5 from both but Brits takes the hooker battle and sways this. Rate SOB over Matera at present so Stormers take this battle too. See Stormers as a bit more dangerous from half backs but Tigers look good in the outside backs and a very good bench for Tigers, should start POC, Dagg and Huget!! Stormers clear with what they want and relying on their half backs who will look at heads up rugby, Tigers short and simple tactics, can see how their forwards will play but need more for their backs. With better tactics and playing the aforementioned then Tigers would have take this.

Sharks 28-21Toulouse
Two great front 5's on show today and will be a great pack battle. Sharks take the backrow with their players performing better this weekend. More experience at 10 and form takes the half-backs for Sharks. Feel they are a bit stronger and more experienced in outside backs too. Bit more from Sharks bench. Simple and easy to see how Sharks' tactics will work and they will get joy with go forward ball, not enough from Toulouse and this is a killer.

Stormers 23-17 Tigers

Set piece - Mas is the standout at the scrum, given Corbs injury. Rest pretty equal so advantage Stormers.

Breakdown - Stormers back row is excellent, think they are stronger as a pack by a fair margin

Carrying - Stormers by a mile

Attack - both decent, but Genia adds the star power and will get the better ball. Stormers have a better back 3, but their centre pairing could be better for the conditions. Dagg and Huget should be starting without any question.

Bench - tigers but their bench guys should be starting

Comprehensive win for Stormers

Racing Metro 25 RC Toulonnais 20
Just too much power in the Metro pack.  I can see them dominating the physical exchanges particularly in the back 5 of the pack.  This will see them controlling the gailine and breakdown and getting much better ball than Toulon.  Both backlines are good, but with better ball and at home Metro's backs score more to win the game.


Crusaders 24 ASM Clermont Auvergne 23
Close battle, and difficult to pick 'weaknesses' with either side.  if Crusaders have one it is at 12, but behind a great pack and with class around him it's not an issue.  For ASM am starting to find it difficult to rate Bekker, as he's now in Japan so not seeing him play.  Little to pick between the sides, but home advantage and a slight preference for the Crusaders front row gives them the win.


Stormers 22 Leicester Tigers 18
Hate predicting on Tigers games right now as feel as if I am always digging them out. Pack is competitive, but there is a lack of threat in the outside backs. Only Manu is going to trouble the Stormers. I just don't get why players like Huget and Dagg who provide the most attacking threat are left on the bench in good conditions for running rugby. Home win.

Sharks 19-17 Toulouse

Set piece - got to go with the established Sharks front row in the scrum, and Lawes excellent form gives a very slight edge on Toulouse's multiple options.

Breakdown - both excellent here, can't give either the advantage

Carrying - Billy, Alberts and Bismarck is an unbelievable carrying platform to build off. Toulouse also very good, but not quite enough 

Attack - Care in excellent form, think halfbacks equal due to the conditions though. Pienaar's boot will be a big help. Prefer the Toulouse back 3 and Sharks centres

Bench - big impact off both, but Parisse swings it.

Lack of tactics hurts Toulouse, home adv gives Sharks a narrow win

Racing Metro 25 - 23 RC Toulonnais 


Metro forwards are a bit more dominating in the loose and will create some real go forward for their backs. Toulon are a bit more well rounded but Metro will take this one with the better supply of attacking possession.


Crusaders 28 - 26 ASM Clermont Auvergne 


Two really close sides, with no real weaknesses in the line ups. Looking into the tactics and both are a really sound and play the conditions well. I'd prefer the ASM back line in defence but in all round play I would swing for Saders and at home with perhaps a bit more versatility in the pack they will just win by the tightest of margins. 


Natal Sharks 30 - 26 Toulouse

Serious form in the Sharks pack, and even in the whole side. Toulouse have the physicality however to really test the Sharks in this asset of the game and make it real brawl. In the conditions I wouldn't mind Quade and care as they will do well behind this pack, but Ruan and Ford can be inspired in these conditions and will really make it close. In the end I think there is the lack of form from Toulouse and perhaps if this was in france they may have taken it. But away from home and how badly French teams travel they will be second best to a really strong looking Sharks side.

Predos closed

Want me to do the scores?

RESULTS:

Metro 26 - Toulon 23

Tries: Smith, Luatua, Roberts // D Armitage, Habana, S Armitage
Conversions: Sexton // Wilkinson
Penalties: Sexton x 3 // Wilkinson x 2

Crusaders 25 - 22 Clermont

Tries: Folau x 2, Barrett // Le Roux, Godwin
C: Carter x 2 //
P: Carter x 2 // Parra x 2, Cruden, Godwin

Stormers 27 - 20 Leicester

Tries: Genia, Hogg, Hines // Castrogiovanni, Tuilagi
C: Farrell x 3 // Laidlaw x 2
P: Farrell x 2 // Laidlaw x 2

Sharks 25 - 20 Toulouse

Tries: Care, Cooper, Launchbury // Fickou, Poitrenaud
C: Cooper, O'Connor // Halfpenny x2
P: O'Connor, Lambie // Halfpenny x2

Answered your own question mate, good work nonetheless!

Close one CJ! Well played mate

Well done BamBam, could see that loss away coming. Need to regroup and take it out on Someone next week

CF wrote:Metro vs Toulon: 20-21

Crusaders vs Clermont: 18-21

Sharks vs Toulouse: 13-18

Any chance of some feedback on this when you have a min CF

BamBam wrote:

CF wrote:Metro vs Toulon: 20-21

Crusaders vs Clermont: 18-21

Sharks vs Toulouse: 13-18

Any chance of some feedback on this when you have a min CF

Likewise please?

Play offs still wide open. Good league.

Yeah, all to play for! A lot changes in a week on this game! I've been between 4th and 2nd bottom in the last 3 weeks

Who you got this week Bathite?

Clermont away I think. Reckon that they will be happy with second place in the league and I'll sneak a win

Nice easy one then!   

Full predos - fluxy, Ozzy, prop, Cj, Bam, Bathite

Scorelines - CF

No scores - driver