Week 14

Teams and tactics by 12pm Next Friday, predictions by 9 am Monday

---

Racing Metro 92 vs Leicester Tigers

At the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir

20 degrees C, sunny spells, 12mph wind

---

BathiteRacing Metro

01. Ryan Grant	09. Ben Youngs
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Joe Tekori	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Steven Luatua	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. Benjamin Fall

16. Soane Tonghu'ia  17. Dimitri Szarzewski 18. Juan Figallo 19. Steve Mafi 20. Dan Lydiate 21. Maxime Machenaud 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Marc Andreu

TACTICS 
With some key players rested last week, we have a fresh squad and confidence is high, having beaten the Stormers last time around and coming off the back of a strong win in the plate final. As always, we are built on a solid set piece, with the lineout Tigers 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. Power players picked for carrying - Tekori, Faletau, Luatau, Roberts, Strauss, Louw


- Use carriers of Strauss, Tekori, Roberts, Luatua, Faletau to tie up back row. Youngs to snipe around the fringes, with strike runners off him on the pop - Roberts, Bosch, Smith
- Form on the bench. All players capable of making a huge impact and changing the game. Experience of Figallo and Szarz up front will be huge, Mafi and Tiny will offer incredible ball carrying.
- 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.
- 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!

---

Leicester Tigers


CF

01. Benn Robinson	09. Greg Laidlaw (k)
02. George Chuter	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Paul O'Connell	11. Gonzalo Camacho
05. Louis Deacon	12. Francois Steyn
06. Tom Croft	13. Matt Smith
07. Pablo Matera	14. Cory Jane
08. Juan Manuel Leguizamon (c)	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16. George Chuter 17.Boris Stankivich 18.Brian Muajti 19.Geoff Parling 20.Piri Weepu 21.Francois Trinh-Duc 22.Chris Ashton 23.Miles Benjamin



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 JML who will carry the ball and power over the gain-line. Laidlaw 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. 

---

ASM Clermont Auvergne  vs Toulouse

At the Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin

26 degrees, light rain, 8 mph winds 

---

ASMClermontAuvergne


Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01.  Joe Marler	09.  Ludovic Radosavljevic
02. Benjamin Kayser	10.    Aaron Cruden
03. Ben Tameifuina
04.  Andries Bekker	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05.  Samu Manoa	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Schalk Burger	13.   Jared Payne
07. Jacques Burger	14.  Willie Le Roux
08. JMF Lobbe (c)	15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin

16. Thomas Domingo 17. Corey Flynn 18. Clement Ric  19.   Julien Pierre 20. Sam Cane 21.  Morgan Parra  22. Kyle Godwin 23. Aurelien Rougerie


Tactics-




FFS!!!!! I just spent 12 mins writing tactics then my useless iPad reloaded the Frak page!!!!!




Breakdown- roles to be shared by back row as all are adept on floor and clearing out. Look to commit minimum numbers unless the turnover is on or we are at risk of losing fast ball in good position


Attack- build slow ball with mauls and carries in groups of 3, with Ludo having licence to kick or snipe when it's on. Spin quicker ball out and Cruden and Nonu to attack the line using inside passes and offloads to move the defence about and vary the point of attack. When a gap appears, attack it with support runners vital, look to offload to keep the ball alive, with the wings coming in field as a recycling and support option and Buttin joining the line with Le Roux able to cover the backfield


Also send big runners like Nonu on the switch and Big Ben, Samu and Marler at Ford to test his defence 


Kick high and chase or possession rather than looking for too much length


Defence- blitz led by Nonu, Parra covering offloads and Kayser sweeping. Fringe defence led by Manoa, the Burgers to harry 9 and 10 mercilessly. Look to scrag May early.


Line out- keep simple and maul off front ball and spin wide off the top if longer. Bekker looking to target opposition front ball to force overthrows 


Scrum- look to put Youngsnunder pressure so he can't get his foot in position to hook. Use scum as a platform to launch set plays


Kicking- Cruden to kick easy goals. Run back kicks where possible but Buttin and Le Roux give us good options if we need an out. Chase all kicks. Don't give penalties away in our half


Subs- Godwin covers 10-12 and changes play. Use pack subs if they are tiring with our aggressive plan. Payne covers back 3 if needed and try not to bring Parra on for long unless we need him


Other- we are at home. Enough said

---

Toulouse


Driver

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tom Youngs	10. George Ford
03. John Afoa
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Jonny May
05. Romain Millo Chulski	12. Christian Lealifiano
06. Thierry Dusautoir	13. Gael Fickou
07. Michael Hooper	14. Maxi Medard
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

16.Christopher Tolafua 17.Antonio Guillamon 18.Cencus Johnstone 19.Patrico Albacete 20.Yannick Nyanga 21.Jano Vermaak 22.Remi Tales 23.Horsea Gear

---

Toulon vs Natal Sharks

At the Stade Mayol

17 degrees C, sunny, 27mph wind

Toulon

prop_lyd

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Steffon Armitage	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Jaime Heaslip	15.Delon Armitage

 

16. Kyle Cooper 17.Gethin Jenkins18. Carl Hayman 19. Joceline Suta 20. Julien Bonnaire 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Drew Mitchell 23. Matt Giteau

Tactics
We will play an territorial 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 AWJ's leading skills to get good ball.
*Breakdown-look to  here and use our abrasive pack to do this with heavy carrying and tactical breakdown slowing.

---

The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. Danny Care
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Quade Cooper
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Joe Launchbury	11. George North
05. Courtney Lawes	12. James O'Connor
06. Sam Warburton	13. Conrad Smith
07. Willem Alberts	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Mike Brown

16. Stephen Moore 17. Cian Healy 18. Lourens Adriaanse 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Freddi Michalak 22. Patric Lambie 23. Marland Yarde

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 are aiming to control possession by running the ball in great conditions, 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 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 Crusaders 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 Pietersen 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.
  
• First receiver. O'Connor to give the left/right option of two outside halfs to keep the Toulon defence guessing which way we are going..
  
• Possession. We want to keep the ball and play through the phases.  We will kick if we have to but, but first option will always be to run the ball.
  

---

Crusaders vs Stormers

At Lancaster Park

18 degrees C, cloudy. 6 mph winds 

---

Crusaders

BamBam

01. Marcus Ayerza	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Dan Carter(k)
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Luke Romano	11. Israel Folau
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Luther Burrell
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Chris Robshaw (c)	14. Zac Guildford
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Owen Franks 19. Dominic Bird 20. Richie McCaw 21. Jonathan Pelissie 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Scott Williams

Set piece - Our strongest props are in for the scrum, really focus on targeting Brits, he isn't the strongest scrummager and we want Hartley to try and get under him and force him to stand up, look to get penalties by keeping the ball in the scrum. Ayerza to pressure the outside shoulder of Mas, and Hartley on his bind on Brits. In the lineout, on our ball play safe and maul using Gorgodze's power to help, on their ball let them have the safe ball up front, Whitelock to mark Horwill to prevent ball off the top. Maul their ball at the front, and look to force slow ball out to the backs.

Breakdown - SOB hasn't played for months, Robshaw is at the top of his game, the back row to work as a trio in securing ball and going for the turnover when possible. Look to maintain a strong defensive line if the turnover isn't on, front 5 to focus on clearing out strongly when we are in their territory.

Attack - Use the forwards to carry close to the ruck, keeping Wood and co from getting further out. Target Basteraud and JDV using our centres, both can line up at 12/13  so switch up the play, use dummy runners to confuse big Bast and use the kick in behind him to make him turn, Piutau to really look to come in to the line on the shoulder of our centres and target their centres. Use the kicking game to target Wade, Folau is up against him so use the height advantage.

Defence - Gorgodze to lead the forwards, smash their forwards back and let Read/Robshaw get over the ball. No defensive weakness in the backs. Focus on Genia, if he is in trouble Farrell will struggle.

Kicking - FDP, Carter, JD2 and Piutau to get us into the right areas of the field, challenge Wade in the air with Folau, use grubber kicks to mix it up

Bench - International forwards off the bench to add strength at the set piece and breakdown, McCaw to lead the team home and Barrett/Williams as the impact players

---

FluxyStormers

01. Ben Franks	09. Will Genia
02. Schalk Brits	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Julian Savea
05. James Horwill	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. Alex Corbisiero 18. Brok Harris 19. Nathan Hines 20. Rynhardt Elstadt 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Juan De Jongh

You may as well award my game to the oppo now, I have no chance of getting a team in between now and Sunday.

Would extending to Monday make it any better?

I guess we can just go with last team put out if Ozzy really can't get a team in

Not really mate, I am at work today, then 2 of my kids have friends for sleepovers tonight so will chaos, then I'm working tomorrow morning then straight to rugby, then will be smashed when I get home then working a 12 hour shift on Sunday and then starting work again at 6 am on Monday.

Don't know why we can't go back to this...

Super League - Week 1
Post by Fluxy on Mon Nov 25, 2013 9:08 pm

Teamsheets in by Midnight Friday
Predictions in by 9 am Monday morning.


Super League Week 1


Thread up on a Monday, and a full 5 days to get your team. Was working fine, everyone had teams in and everyone predicted. Not sure why we've gone away from it.

01. Marcus Ayerza	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Dan Carter(k)
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Luke Romano	11. Israel Folau
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Luther Burrell
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Chris Robshaw (c)	14. Zac Guildford
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Owen Franks 19. Dominic Bird 20. Richie McCaw 21. Jonathan Pelissie 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Scott Williams

Set piece - Our strongest props are in for the scrum, really focus on targeting Brits, he isn't the strongest scrummager and we want Hartley to try and get under him and force him to stand up, look to get penalties by keeping the ball in the scrum. Ayerza to pressure the outside shoulder of Mas, and Hartley on his bind on Brits. In the lineout, on our ball play safe and maul using Gorgodze's power to help, on their ball let them have the safe ball up front, Whitelock to mark Horwill to prevent ball off the top. Maul their ball at the front, and look to force slow ball out to the backs.

Breakdown - SOB hasn't played for months, Robshaw is at the top of his game, the back row to work as a trio in securing ball and going for the turnover when possible. Look to maintain a strong defensive line if the turnover isn't on, front 5 to focus on clearing out strongly when we are in their territory.

Attack - Use the forwards to carry close to the ruck, keeping Wood and co from getting further out. Target Basteraud and JDV using our centres, both can line up at 12/13 so switch up the play, use dummy runners to confuse big Bast and use the kick in behind him to make him turn, Piutau to really look to come in to the line on the shoulder of our centres and target their centres. Use the kicking game to target Wade, Folau is up against him so use the height advantage.

Defence - Gorgodze to lead the forwards, smash their forwards back and let Read/Robshaw get over the ball. No defensive weakness in the backs. Focus on Genia, if he is in trouble Farrell will struggle.

Kicking - FDP, Carter, JD2 and Piutau to get us into the right areas of the field, challenge Wade in the air with Folau, use grubber kicks to mix it up

Bench - International forwards off the bench to add strength at the set piece and breakdown, McCaw to lead the team home and Barrett/Williams as the impact players

Agreed, would be good to get back to that. I'm relatively lucky in being able to post with no problems at work, but am rubbish at formatting threads etc, or would take that side of it over!

Ok works for me

Could either of you decide on a fair prize for my cup win too? Flux doesn't seem to be about much, and I want to get a foreign in!

Me too! For the plate win!

Winning the loser cup :p do you really want a reward for that   

I have no idea what would be fair

BamBam wrote:Winning the loser cup :p do you really want a reward for that  ;) 

Trying telling an Exeter fan that!

I was thinking £10m for the cup, £5m for the plate, £20m for the league? Something like that?

Will change depending on trades

ASMClermontAuvergne

Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01.  Joe Marler	09.  Ludovic Radosavljevic
02. Benjamin Kayser	10.    Aaron Cruden
03. Ben Tameifuina
04.  Andries Bekker	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05.  Samu Manoa	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Schalk Burger	13.   Jared Payne
07. Jacques Burger	14.  Willie Le Roux
08. JMF Lobbe (c)	15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin

16. Thomas Domingo 17. Corey Flynn 18. Clement Ric  19.   Julien Pierre 20. Sam Cane 21.  Morgan Parra  22. Kyle Godwin 23. Aurelien Rougerie

Tactics-


FFS!!!!! I just spent 12 mins writing tactics then my useless iPad reloaded the Frak page!!!!!


Breakdown- roles to be shared by back row as all are adept on floor and clearing out. Look to commit minimum numbers unless the turnover is on or we are at risk of losing fast ball in good position

Attack- build slow ball with mauls and carries in groups of 3, with Ludo having licence to kick or snipe when it's on. Spin quicker ball out and Cruden and Nonu to attack the line using inside passes and offloads to move the defence about and vary the point of attack. When a gap appears, attack it with support runners vital, look to offload to keep the ball alive, with the wings coming in field as a recycling and support option and Buttin joining the line with Le Roux able to cover the backfield

Also send big runners like Nonu on the switch and Big Ben, Samu and Marler at Ford to test his defence 

Kick high and chase or possession rather than looking for too much length

Defence- blitz led by Nonu, Parra covering offloads and Kayser sweeping. Fringe defence led by Manoa, the Burgers to harry 9 and 10 mercilessly. Look to scrag May early.

Line out- keep simple and maul off front ball and spin wide off the top if longer. Bekker looking to target opposition front ball to force overthrows 

Scrum- look to put Youngsnunder pressure so he can't get his foot in position to hook. Use scum as a platform to launch set plays

Kicking- Cruden to kick easy goals. Run back kicks where possible but Buttin and Le Roux give us good options if we need an out. Chase all kicks. Don't give penalties away in our half

Subs- Godwin covers 10-12 and changes play. Use pack subs if they are tiring with our aggressive plan. Payne covers back 3 if needed and try not to bring Parra on for long unless we need him

Other- we are at home. Enough said

Sounds ok to me, what does Ozzy etc think?

will try to get my team in tomorrow on time. Rate my Toulon team are egoing at the moment I may just accept the loss!!

The Sharks make 13 changes to the starting XV with only Quade Cooper and JP Pietersen keeping their jerseys as they return to league action against RC Toulonnais.

The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. Danny Care
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Quade Cooper
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Joe Launchbury	11. George North
05. Courtney Lawes	12. James O'Connor
06. Sam Warburton	13. Conrad Smith
07. Willem Alberts	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Mike Brown

16. Stephen Moore 17. Cian Healy 18. Lourens Adriaanse 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Freddi Michalak 22. Patric Lambie 23. Marland Yarde

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 are aiming to control possession by running the ball in great conditions, 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 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 Crusaders 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 Pietersen 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.
  
• First receiver. O'Connor to give the left/right option of two outside halfs to keep the Toulon defence guessing which way we are going..
  
• Possession. We want to keep the ball and play through the phases.  We will kick if we have to but, but first option will always be to run the ball.
  

Just go by last weeks I don't have the time or motivation at the moment.

Stormers

01. Ben Franks	09. Will Genia
02. Schalk Brits	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Julian Savea
05. James Horwill	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. Alex Corbisiero 18. Brok Harris 19. Nathan Hines 20. Rynhardt Elstadt 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Juan De Jongh

Hogg not banned Flux?

1.Guthro Steenkamp
2.Tom Youngs
3.John Afoa
4.Yoaan Maestri
5.Romain Millo Chulski
6.Thiery Dusitour
7.Michael Hooper
8.Lewy Picamoles

9.Ruan Pienaar
10.George Ford
11.Jonny May
12.[size=13.333333015441895]Christian Lealiifano[/size]
[size=13.333333015441895]13.Gael Fickou[/size]
[size=13.333333015441895]14.Maxime Medard[/size]
[size=13.333333015441895]15.Leigh Halfpenny[/size]


[size=13.333333015441895]16.Christopher Tolafua 17.Antonio Guillamon 18.Cencus Johnstone 19.Patrico Albacete 20.Yannick Nyanga 21.Jano Vermaak 22.Remi Tales 23.Horsea Gear[/size]

When is this team in for?

Friday

if it's not till friday I may get time this week to get my team in, maybe wednesday

Racing Metro TBC

01. Ryan Grant	09. Ben Youngs
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Joe Tekori	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Steven Luatua	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. Benjamin Fall

16. Soane Tonghu'ia  17. Dimitri Szarzewski 18. Juan Figallo 19. Steve Mafi 20. Dan Lydiate 21. Maxime Machenaud 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Marc Andreu

TACTICS TBC
With some key players rested last week, we have a fresh squad and confidence is high, having beaten the Stormers last time around and coming off the back of a strong win in the plate final. As always, we are built on a solid set piece, with the lineout Tigers 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. Power players picked for carrying - Tekori, Faletau, Luatau, Roberts, Strauss, Louw


- Use carriers of Strauss, Tekori, Roberts, Luatua, Faletau to tie up back row. Youngs to snipe around the fringes, with strike runners off him on the pop - Roberts, Bosch, Smith
- Form on the bench. All players capable of making a huge impact and changing the game. Experience of Figallo and Szarz up front will be huge, Mafi and Tiny will offer incredible ball carrying.
- 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.
- 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!

01. Mako Vunipola 09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard 10. Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Bakkies Botha 11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones (c) 12. Wesley Fofana
06. Steffon Armitage 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric 14. Craig Gilroy
08. Jaime Heaslip 15.Delon Armitage

16. Kyle Cooper 17.Gethin Jenkins18. Carl Hayman 19. Joceline Suta 20. Julien Bonnaire 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Drew Mitchell 23. Matt Giteau
Tactics
We will play an territorial 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 AWJ's leading skills to get good ball.
*Breakdown-look to here and use our abrasive pack to do this with heavy carrying and tactical breakdown slowing.

Yep back to the original system, thread up on Monday and teams in by Friday

Light rain

Ill use CF's team from last week to avoid a walkover if he doesn't get one up

Predos open

Just home from being away, will try to get mine done this evening.

Won't get mine in today

Get them in as soon as you can

Racing Metro 27 Leicester Tigers 24
ASM Clermont Auvergne 23 Stade Touloussain 21
Crusaders 25 Stormers 21

Will be predicting shortly

Metro 28- 22Tigers

Close in scrum but Tigers take line out. Then Metro have more at the breakdown and carrying, and an edge in the HBs with a better 10 and Youngs' form returning. Powerful back line plus impact at the bench and home advantage sees the Parisians on too

Toulon 30 - 30 Sharks

Sharks take the scrum and just edge line out though both sides will manage fine on own throw. Quick backrow sees Toulon take breakdown just, and with Sharks tactics both sides will have quick ball, however if Toulon can get hands on a sneak a turnover they will have space to breakaway which is dangerous. Both packs can carry though Toulon better looser and Sharks supreme in tight. HBs strong though Sharks more attacking threat, both dangerous with quick ball. Lethal backs with defensive gaps at 12. At home, Sharks scrum and Danny-Cooper would sneak it as it is, draw

Crusaders 28 - 26 Stormers

Crusaders get an edge in the scrum but too close to call at the line out and the breakdown. Stormers edge carrying and just the HBs based on form. However, Crusaders back line just ahead in attack, plus they have tactics and a killer bench and at home the secures the win

Clermont 19 Toulouse 15
Hard to separate those front rows, no obvious weaknesses other than Youngs' throwing. Toulouse have some serious carrying in that pack with Youngs, locks, Picamoles and Hooper in the more open spaces. Some tactics would really help them here, as I can see how they could have an advantage in the pack. Solid back row from Clermont, but let down by Schalk lack of game time and consistency. Good idea to target Ford's defence, but it won't be at full effectiveness with 2nd choice SH running the show. Really like Payne, but he hasn't played huge amounts at 13 and not that recently, so I think the power of Fickou will cause him problems. Toulouse with tactics could easily have snuck this.

Toulon 18 Sharks 23
Two great front rows, but the Sharks edge it with Cole struggling for form and Sharks the renowned unit. Sharks still tearing it up with their in form lock pairings. Toulon going to struggle for carrying in that backrow, which is a bit lightweight, but has a lot of pace and ability in the more open channels. Care/Cooper/JOC can really be got at defensively, but I can't see the tactics there to do that, despite Wilko/Fofana being a good unit to exploit it. I think that the Sharks back row can really choke their counterparts with power and upfront they've got a solid base. With some good quality possession, certainly with some turnover ball, Care and Cooper are going to be very dangerous.

Crusaders 24 Stormers 20
Two fairly matched front rows, but there's some good direction to target Brits. Debaty and Franks are awesome bench options, so BamBam has done well here. More rotation from the Crusaders in back and middle rows, with again some smart targeted tactics seeing some joy. Fluxy has the upper hand in the half backs and centres, but it is so difficult to make this count away from home, without tactics.

Metro 26 - 21 Tigers

Set piece - Props about even, Strauss better than Chuter slight edge to Metro. At the lineout, Tigers to have their usual success

Breakdown - More for Metro here, strong all over the back 5 and the front row are good at ruck time too. Tigers weak at hooker and Croft will struggle physically

Carrying - Metro, back row strength will make the difference here

Attack - Sexton by a fair chunk over Flood, Youngs improving too so have to give Metro the edge at HB. Both outside backs strong, but Tigers insist on not playing their best players (Dagg/Tuilagi!!!) despite all the feedback to the contrary

Bench - Tigers have 2 wingers and no back row replacement on the bench. Metro by miles

Overall an easy win for Metro

To be fair to CF I just used last week's team as he didnt enter one and so he couldn't listen to feedback. I thought it was unfair on Bathite to make any changes

Clermont 23 - 20 Toulouse

Set piece - ASM in the scrum, not a big fan of Steenkamp and Youngs not the strongest either, despite the power from the second row. Lineout about equal

Breakdown - Prefer Clermont unit by a whisker, both very good but Hooper can be got at

Carrying - Toulouse, loads of good options

Attack - Toulouse for me, both in very good form, would have been different with Parra starting. Love the ASM outside backs, Payne is an excellent 13 in my book, and 11-15 all a massive threat. Toulouse also good, but Medard hard to rate and not big on LLF

Bench - Equal

Toulouse with tactics might have won this, shame they never have any. ASM win

ChequeredJersey wrote:To be fair to CF I just used last week's team as he didnt enter one and so he couldn't listen to feedback. I thought it was unfair on Bathite to make any changes

Ah ok, fair enough. Point still stands for next week then!

Toulon 20 - 22 Sharks

Set piece - Sharks unit has the edge here, especially with Cole's lack of form. Line out to Sharks too, think Toulon lack a real standout jumper without Bonnaire

Breakdown - Like the Toulon tactic of playing with duel 7s, should give them some good turnover ball, but the Sharks pack is strong enough to combat this. Equal here

Carrying - Sharks here. Toulon lack a little in the back row, although front 5s both very strong

Attack - Sharks HBs on form. Cooper/JOC could really be targeted, but Toulon haven't gone down that route, but I do prefer the Toulon backline by a whisker, mainly due to JOC at 12

Bench - Sharks, really good bench

Overall - Sharks win a tight one on the road

Predos closed

I can rustle these up

RESULTS:

Metro 29 - 22 Tigers

Tries- B Youngs, Imhoff, Beale. // F Steyn x2 , Ashton
C- Sexton. // Laidlaw x2
P- Sexton x 4 // Laidlaw