Week 17

Stormers vs Racing Metro 92

Stormers

01. Ben Franks	09. Will Genia
02. Schalk Brits (c)	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Julian Savea
05. Nathan Hines	12. Juan De Jongh
06. Rynhardt Elstadt	13. Mathieu Basteraud
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Christian Wade
08. Damien Chouly	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Deon Fourie 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Brok Harris 19. James Horwill 20. Tom Wood 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Jaco Taute

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

Set-piece - strong and efficient, put pressure on in certain situations on opposition ball. Eg clearing kicks from scrums and line outs in their 22
Breakdown - Collectively look to clear ball and smash opposing players out of the way. Opposing slow down legally by flooding the breakdown and creating turnover ball
Channels - target carries down Sexton's channel and down the shoulders of Roberts who isn't the most mobile in defence.  
Playing the %'s - Faz will keep the board ticking over and pegging the back.
Ball in hand - Look to get the ball in the hands of our backs when the opportunity arises. We have someof the best attackers in world rugby with ball in hand and they will make things happen out of nothing with their flair.


Racing Metro

01. Ryan Grant	09. Ben Youngs
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Juan Figallo
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Brodie Retallick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Ben Smith
08. Toby Faletau	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Soane Tonghu'ia  17. Dimitri Szarzewski 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Steve Mafi 20. Bernard Le Roux 21. Maxime Machenaud 22. Jonathon Wisnewski 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!

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Crusaders vs Natal Sharks

Crusaders

01. Marcus Ayerza	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Beauden Barrett(k)
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Luke Romano	11. Rene Ranger
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Luther Burrell
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Israel Folau
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Owen Franks 19. Flip Van Der Merwe 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Andrew Ellis 22. Tom Taylor 23. Zac Guildford

Set piece - We think we have the edge at the scrum, especially with Ayerza up against young Adriaanse. Vili and Hartley to focus on scrummaging square against Bismarck and Healy, try and give Ayerza the freedom to work on Adriaanse one on one. We trust the power from our second row to help here, against the more athletic pair of Launch/Lawes. In the lineout, Whitelock to mark Lawes who likes to call to himself, use Romano at the front to force longer throws. Flip VDM on late on to press home any advantage we have here paired with Whitelock

Breakdown - Target their flankers for strong clearing out, first man in to clear and second in to secure the ball. Look to get over the ball when any of our back row have the chance, all excellent here.

Attack - Forwards to carry tight to the fringes, use the front 5 to punch holes in the defence. Robshaw to be the link man, occasionally popping the ball further out to attack different angles. In the backs, go at Cooper all day long, send the forwards/centres at him whenever possible, force Steyn to defend his inside shoulder, then look to go wider with our back 3 coming off their wings at the inexperienced Jordaan. Barrett free to take the line on if he gets the chance. Kick in behind the wings and chase strongly, look to pin them back, if they overpursure in the kicking game our back 3 are deadly.

Defence - Cover Barrett with Burrell outside him and one of the flankers on the inside. We are more worried about their outside backs, and trust Pelissie to sweep up if Michalak tries to get through a gap, so will fan out defensively.

Bench - Gorgodze/Flip/Franks to add ball carrying and strength at the set piece, Taylor on as a second distributor. International forwards all on to see the game out

The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Cian Healy	09. Freddie Michalak
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Lourens Adriaanse
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Marland Yarde
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Francois Steyn
06. Sam Warburton	13. Paul Jordaan
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. James O'Connor

16. Stephen Moore 17. Tendai Mtawarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Charl McLeod 22. Jan Serfontein 23. Mike Brown

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. Lambie will play flat with the outside backs coming from positions of depth to gain momentum.  In defence we will employ the blitz and look to hit the ball carrier before he hits the gainline to stop Crusaders getting any momentum.  Freddie Michalak 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 Michalak 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. Yarde 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. Steyn to give the left/right option of two outside halfs to keep the Metro 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.
  
• Bench Huge impact players on the bench to bring on in the final quarter to either see the game out or get us back into it.
  

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Toulon vs Toulouse

01. Mako Vunipola 09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard 10. Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Carl Hayman  
04. Jocelina Suta 11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones (c) 12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric 14. Craig Gilroy
08. JVN 15.Drew Mitchell

16. Kyle Cooper 17.Gethin Jenkins18. Dan Cole 19. Ali Williams 20. Juan Smith 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Butch  James 23. Maxime Mermoz
Tactics
We will play a running game today and have selected a big pack to win us ball and a fast backrow to get around the park. Wilko will stand short and play heads up rugby, 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. We will be looking to target Slater off the back of the scrum as he is playing out of position.


*9-10 combo-we have Smith to Wilko who will then look to play a counter attacking 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 and Bonnaire'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.

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

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ASM Clermont Auvergne vs Leicester Tigers

ASMClermontAuvergne


Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01.  Joe Marler	09.  Morgan Parra (k)
02. Benjamin Kayser	10.    Nick Evans
03. Ben Tameifuina
04.  Samu Manoa	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05.  Andries Bekker	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Schalk Burger	13.   Jared Payne
07. Jacques Burger	14.  Napolioni Nalaga
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Willie Le Roux

16. Thomas Domingo 17. Corey Flynn 18. Clement Ric  19.   Ed Slater 20. Sam Cane 21.Ludovic Radosavljevic 22.Kyle Godwin  .  23. Aurelian Rougerie

Tactics:

We will be looking to play attacking rugby for 80 mins in the sunshine, as well as looking to tire Tigers' pack and focus on giving ourselves quick ball at the breakdown to execute this.

We have 3 excellent operators here, and they will work with a wolf-pack mentality, with JB chasing the ball to look to support breaks or be first at the breakdown, and the other two and other forwards switching between getting over ball JB can't get to first and clearing out. Don't overcommit numbers unless the ball can be turned over, and look to play it safe and give no penalties in our 22, but don't be scared of giving away penalties in their 22 with lots of pressure to try and force the pilfer.

Attack:

We will build slow ball into quick ball with pack carrying in pick and drives (in 3s), moving the focus of these to move their pack around. If gaps arise at the fringes, Parra and our carriers (like Tameifuina and Marler)  in the pack to attack them and all breaks must be supported. Quick ball to be spread, with Evans attacking the line and looking to move the focus of attack, work gaps with recycling and offloading and then attack them. The Burgers' link-chasing role helpful here. Back 3 coming in off their wing to shift point of attack. Very good forwards in terms of playing the ball and carrying, so have them coming into the line as options.

Defence:


Blitz with width to stop their centres early, Kayser looking to sweep and the blindside wing. Parra and acting as our primary cover defender. Schalk to tackle their 9 and 10 out of the game, and Burger to chase the ball. Fringe defence led by Lobbe and Manoa

Scrum:
Specifically look to move their front row around to tire them, then destroy them as the game goes on. When they bring fresh props on, so can we.

Lineout:
Mix up our options, Bekker back to make the calls. Look to tire their pack with the maul off the front and quick ball to attack directly off the top. Give them front ball then defend the maul immediately, but pressurise any throws further back to stop them having attacking ball.

Subs:
Go 100% in the pack with good cover in all positions, and Domingo an option to make the scrum a weapon against tired legs in the 2nd half. Godwin can change our attacking approach, Payne covers 15, Cane can add more at the breakdown and at link play.

Kicking:
Take on all reasonable kicks at goal, and test their wings under the high ball, with kicks for possession which will be chased hard. Run kicks back whenever possible/ Nev is a highly creative kicker so can exploit any weaknesses on the wings

Targets:

No idea what the Tigers side is yet

Key points:
We are at home. We do not lose here

Press, esp in defence and the breakdown, in their 22 to win penalties and turnovers

Move their pack around with our carrying and mobility from 1-8

Shift focus in attack

Target their HBs

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. Anthony Allen
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.


Teams in by Midnight Friday

Will change

ASMClermontAuvergne


Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01.  Joe Marler	09.  Morgan Parra (k)
02. Benjamin Kayser	10.    Nick Evans
03. Ben Tameifuina
04.  Samu Manoa	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05.  Andries Bekker	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Schalk Burger	13.   Jared Payne
07. Jacques Burger	14.  Napolioni Nalaga
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Willie Le Roux

16. Thomas Domingo 17. Corey Flynn 18. Clement Ric  19.   Ed Slater 20. Sam Cane 21.Ludovic Radosavljevic 22.Kyle Godwin  .  23. Aurelian Rougerie

Tactics:

We will be looking to play attacking rugby for 80 mins in the sunshine, as well as looking to tire Tigers' pack and focus on giving ourselves quick ball at the breakdown to execute this.

We have 3 excellent operators here, and they will work with a wolf-pack mentality, with JB chasing the ball to look to support breaks or be first at the breakdown, and the other two and other forwards switching between getting over ball JB can't get to first and clearing out. Don't overcommit numbers unless the ball can be turned over, and look to play it safe and give no penalties in our 22, but don't be scared of giving away penalties in their 22 with lots of pressure to try and force the pilfer.

Attack:

We will build slow ball into quick ball with pack carrying in pick and drives (in 3s), moving the focus of these to move their pack around. If gaps arise at the fringes, Parra and our carriers (like Tameifuina and Marler) in the pack to attack them and all breaks must be supported. Quick ball to be spread, with Evans attacking the line and looking to move the focus of attack, work gaps with recycling and offloading and then attack them. The Burgers' link-chasing role helpful here. Back 3 coming in off their wing to shift point of attack. Very good forwards in terms of playing the ball and carrying, so have them coming into the line as options.

Defence:


Blitz with width to stop their centres early, Kayser looking to sweep and the blindside wing. Parra and acting as our primary cover defender. Schalk to tackle their 9 and 10 out of the game, and Burger to chase the ball. Fringe defence led by Lobbe and Manoa

Scrum:
Specifically look to move their front row around to tire them, then destroy them as the game goes on. When they bring fresh props on, so can we.

Lineout:
Mix up our options, Bekker back to make the calls. Look to tire their pack with the maul off the front and quick ball to attack directly off the top. Give them front ball then defend the maul immediately, but pressurise any throws further back to stop them having attacking ball.

Subs:
Go 100% in the pack with good cover in all positions, and Domingo an option to make the scrum a weapon against tired legs in the 2nd half. Godwin can change our attacking approach, Payne covers 15, Cane can add more at the breakdown and at link play.

Kicking:
Take on all reasonable kicks at goal, and test their wings under the high ball, with kicks for possession which will be chased hard. Run kicks back whenever possible/ Nev is a highly creative kicker so can exploit any weaknesses on the wings

Targets:

No idea what the Tigers side is yet

Key points:
We are at home. We do not lose here

Press, esp in defence and the breakdown, in their 22 to win penalties and turnovers

Move their pack around with our carrying and mobility from 1-8

Shift focus in attack

Target their HBs

I know I've already put the page up, but do we want to delay this gameweek by a week? I'm away over the weekend, and imagine a few others are too. Will probably struggle to predict as am not back till Wednesday

Bam, I think delaying a week might be a good idea, as there is a massive game to decide a play off place and it would be good to get a full set of predos, which we might not do this weekend.

Need to update, but here's a starting point

Racing Metro TBC

01. Ryan Grant	09. Ben Youngs
02. Andries Strauss	10. Jonathon Sexton (k)
03. Juan Figallo
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Brodie Retallick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Francois Louw (c)	14. Ben Smith
08. Toby Faletau	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Soane Tonghu'ia  17. Dimitri Szarzewski 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Steve Mafi 20. Bernard Le Roux 21. Maxime Machenaud 22. Jonathon Wisnewski 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!

The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Cian Healy	09. Freddie Michalak
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Lourens Adriaanse
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Marland Yarde
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Francois Steyn
06. Sam Warburton	13. Paul Jordaan
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. James O'Connor

16. Stephen Moore 17. Tendai Mtawarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Charl McLeod 22. Jan Serfontein 23. Mike Brown

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. Lambie will play flat with the outside backs coming from positions of depth to gain momentum.  In defence we will employ the blitz and look to hit the ball carrier before he hits the gainline to stop Crusaders getting any momentum.  Freddie Michalak 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 Michalak 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. Yarde 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. Steyn to give the left/right option of two outside halfs to keep the Metro 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.
  
• Bench Huge impact players on the bench to bring on in the final quarter to either see the game out or get us back into it.
  
  

01. Mako Vunipola 09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard 10. Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Jocelina Suta 11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones (c) 12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric 14. Craig Gilroy
08. JVN 15.Drew Mitchell

16. Kyle Cooper 17.Gethin Jenkins18. Dan Cole 19. Ali Williams 20. Juan Smith 21. Sebastian Tillous-Borde 22. Butch James 23. Maxime Mermoz
Tactics
We will play a running game today and have selected a big pack to win us ball and a fast backrow to get around the park. Wilko will stand short and play heads up rugby, 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. We will be looking to target Slater off the back of the scrum as he is playing out of position.


*9-10 combo-we have Smith to Wilko who will then look to play a counter attacking 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 and Bonnaire'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.

Right people, let's get this thread on the road again!

Yep, final week, lots to play for, everyone needs to get a team in!

BamBam

01. Marcus Ayerza	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Beauden Barrett(k)
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Luke Romano	11. Rene Ranger
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Luther Burrell
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Israel Folau
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Owen Franks 19. Flip Van Der Merwe 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Andrew Ellis 22. Tom Taylor 23. Zac Guildford

Set piece - We think we have the edge at the scrum, especially with Ayerza up against young Adriaanse. Vili and Hartley to focus on scrummaging square against Bismarck and Healy, try and give Ayerza the freedom to work on Adriaanse one on one. We trust the power from our second row to help here, against the more athletic pair of Launch/Lawes. In the lineout, Whitelock to mark Lawes who likes to call to himself, use Romano at the front to force longer throws. Flip VDM on late on to press home any advantage we have here paired with Whitelock

Breakdown - Target their flankers for strong clearing out, first man in to clear and second in to secure the ball. Look to get over the ball when any of our back row have the chance, all excellent here.

Attack - Forwards to carry tight to the fringes, use the front 5 to punch holes in the defence. Robshaw to be the link man, occasionally popping the ball further out to attack different angles. In the backs, go at Cooper all day long, send the forwards/centres at him whenever possible, force Steyn to defend his inside shoulder, then look to go wider with our back 3 coming off their wings at the inexperienced Jordaan. Barrett free to take the line on if he gets the chance. Kick in behind the wings and chase strongly, look to pin them back, if they overpursure in the kicking game our back 3 are deadly.

Defence - Cover Barrett with Burrell outside him and one of the flankers on the inside. We are more worried about their outside backs, and trust Pelissie to sweep up if Michalak tries to get through a gap, so will fan out defensively.

Bench - Gorgodze/Flip/Franks to add ball carrying and strength at the set piece, Taylor on as a second distributor. International forwards all on to see the game out

Tactics to come tomorrow!

Yep, likewise. Potentially today

Stormers

01. Ben Franks	09. Will Genia
02. Schalk Brits (c)	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Julian Savea
05. Nathan Hines	12. Juan De Jongh
06. Rynhardt Elstadt	13. Mathieu Basteraud
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Christian Wade
08. Damien Chouly	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Deon Fourie 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Brok Harris 19. James Horwill 20. Tom Wood 21. Dewaldt Duvenage 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Jaco Taute

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

Set-piece - strong and efficient, put pressure on in certain situations on opposition ball. Eg clearing kicks from scrums and line outs in their 22
Breakdown - Collectively look to clear ball and smash opposing players out of the way. Opposing slow down legally by flooding the breakdown and creating turnover ball
Channels - target carries down Sexton's channel and down the shoulders of Roberts who isn't the most mobile in defence.  
Playing the %'s - Faz will keep the board ticking over and pegging the back.
Ball in hand - Look to get the ball in the hands of our backs when the opportunity arises. We have someof the best attackers in world rugby with ball in hand and they will make things happen out of nothing with their flair. 

Sorry for the delay, had something come up. Will try to get the page updated tonight

Predos open, sorry for the delay guys, had a bit of a situation over the weekend.

When do you want predos open till? 9am Thursday sound fair?

Stormers 25 - 24 Metro

Set piece- v close in both areas, can't call either on form
Breakdown-- slight edge Stormers across the whole pack, with their tactics, but Louw is class and will turnover some ball and when he does Stormers with their mass approach will be vulnerable around the fringes
Carrying - a nicer balance of loose and tight carrying to Stormers
HBs- with Youngs back on form and Farrell leaving his kicking boots at home in a couple of recent matches, even maybe even an edge to Metro
Attack- both sides a mix of power and finesse but think Metro just ahead including tactics and their HBs
Defence- Beale, Wade both fallible here
Subs- edge to Stormers in pack
Overall- edge in pack to Stromers, backs to Metro but at home Stormers clinch it

Crusaders 26 - 24 Sharks

Set piece- Evens in scrum, wafer edge to Crusaders in lineout
Breakdown- edge Crusaders
Carrying- wafer edge Sharks
HBs- Sharks due to help from 12 and 15
Attack - evens, would be Crusaders but Burrell-JD2 a little tiny bit unsubtle at times. I'd have started Brown
Defence- no real holes
Subs- even in pack, backs to Sharks

Overall- Home advantage and breakdown sees Crusaders win

Toulon 28 - 24 Toulouse

Set piece- scrum edge to both THs, just. Lineout, Toulon
Breakdown- close call, with breakdown tactics Toulon, otherwise evens
Carrying- Evens
HBs- Toulon with Johnny's form
Attack - Toulon with tactics plus good balance
Defence- evens
Subs- Toulouse edge
Overall- home win to Toulon

Toulon 27 - 23 Toulouse

Set piece - Prefer both THs, but Mako has been doing well and think Hibbard is more help than Youngs will be. Bonnaire the standout in the lineout, edge to Toulon.

Breakdown - Hooper in very good form, think that will make the difference here. Toulon lacking a bit of physicality, and Hooper is just as quick as Tips

Carrying - Evens

Attack - both sets of HBs in good form, think Toulon just edge it, same in the outside backs

Bench - equal

With home advantage and tactics, this goes to Toulon

Clermont 30 - 9 Leicester

Set piece - Clear edge to ASM in the scrum, not even a contest. Lineout to Tigers as usual (CJ I think Bekker was still meant to be injured for this game, but as Tigers injuries haven't been taken into account doesn't make a difference)

Breakdown - Clermont will have a good advantage here, I expect Tigers to wilt under the physical barrage

Carrying - Clermont again

Attack - Slightly closer at HB, Evans still relatively new, although Flood hasn't been playing much. Outside backs to ASM

Bench - Chuter on bench and starting (probably my fault) but ASM anyway

Not even a contest this one

Stormers 24-23 Metro
Crusaders 28-26 Sharks
Clermont 30-12 Tigers

Nah, we get our week 2 injuries back this week

My bad, was reading it wrong!

Stormers 30 - 29 Metro

Set piece - Scrum is tough to call, I think Mas will have an advantage over Grant, but that is cancelled out by Strauss compared to Brits. If Wood/Horwill were playing, lineout to Stormers, as they aren't I call it evens

Breakdown - Louw is the class act, well backed up by Faletau. I think Stormers are slightly stronger as a collective pack. Again Wood would have made this a clearer strength

Carrying - Stormers, just

Attack - HBs to Metro, Youngs back on form and Sexton is always class. In the outside backs, both teams very good ball in hand, think Metro just edge it

Bench - Stormers have some quality forwards in Corbs, Horwill, and Wood. Metro lack the starpower off the bench - Stormers

Defence - Had to go to defence as just can't call it, think Stormers wings can be got at, although very strong in the centres and HBs. Beale and possibly Roberts depending on how he is attacked could be a weakness

This is a real tough one. I usually look at the advantage up front and at half back, so given the very slight edge I gave them at the breakdown and carrying, plus home advantage, I have to give this to Stormers. So close though

May as well leave predos open, no point putting up the next game week yet, hopefully more will come in

I'll get mine in this evening boys. Just home from 3 seriously solid days at work and am knackered.

Crusaders 30 - 28 Natal Sharks

Crusaders at full strength and can see Sharks have rotated a little but this is still a close affair. Ayerza will dominate Adriaanse and this will put the Sharks on the back throughout their game. Both benches are real momentum chnagers, however at home I just see that Saders have a bit more experience to exploit the advantages and dent the Sharks form book. 

ASM Clermont Auvergne 38 - 15 Leicester Tigers

Other than the front five, Tigers lack any physicality to implement their gameplan. Whereas ASM will dominate the collisions and push Tigers back. Tough season for the lads from Welford road. Clermont pick up an good home win.

Toulon 29 - 22 Toulouse

A real physical affair with perhaps Toulon edging their french counterparts in the forwards. Liking the balance between both sets of halfbacks but see Toulon perhaps playing the better game and bringing the best out of their outside backs. Toulon will implement their game plan much better and grind down the Toulouse side.

Crusaders 25 Sharks 24
Two very strong LH/hook combos, but Zirak wins it over his opposite number, with more grunt and top level experience and tactics to implement it. Sharks on top in the second row, but Crusaders with a big win in the back row. Not convinced that the 'saders front 5 will be able to do much punching of holes and creating gaps and think the Sharks have a lot more carrying options, whilst perhaps lacking some breakdown nous against Robshaw and McCaw. Two sets of halfbacks that can be got at defensively. NZ side have recognised this in the their tactics nicely. More danger in the outside backs from the Crusaders means they edge it - best game of the season

Toulon 24 Toulouse 20
Toulon win the battle up front, but are lacking some second row power comparatively and also a lightweight back row, which will be good in the open spaces, but maybe struggle against the likes of Picamoles and Maestri and Youngs in the tight. Prefer the Toulon halfbacks, as they are more reliable, especially with goalkicking. Centres to the home side, back threes quite even. Tactics a bit poor from both, with Toulon referring to Tigers game. Toulon have enough up front to secure ball, with Bonnaire at the lineout and Hibbard throwing and their 9/10 pulling the strings, Toulouse will be chasing the game and the penalties they give away, Wilko will slot

Clermont 29 Tigers 22
A great pack from Clermont, good mix of carrying, physicality in the tight and scrummaging prowess. Burger's form is obviously a huge win for them and Lobbe is a top 8. With that pack, those two halfbacks will run some riot! Outside backs are all better than their opposite numbers man for man.

Sorry boys, fell asleep last night.

Stormers 24 Racing Metro 17
Absolutely ultra physical Stormers pack here which I love. Think they will get themselves on the front foot and although Metro are strong defensively I think they will be up against it. These sort of games at the end of the season where it is essentially a cup final for a play off spot I think the home side have a huge advantage and I just think they have the power in the side to really put it to Metro here.

RC Toulonnais 33 Stade Touloussain 29
No pressure, nothing on it throw around game where the home side just have a little bit more about them.

ASM Clermont Auvergne 35 Leicester Tigers 15
Not sure I really need to justify this one.

RESULTS

Stormers 30 (T:4 C:2 P:2)
Racing Metro 23 (T:2 C:1 P:3)

Crusaders 30 (T:4 C:2 P:2)
Sharks 25 (T:3 C:2 P:2)

RC Toulonnais 34 (T:4 C:4 P:2)
Stade Touloussain 24 (T:3 C:3 P:1)

ASM Clermont Auvergne 37 (T:5 C:4 P:3)
Leicester Tigers 15 (P:5)


Final league table to follow...

Because I'm free (and when I can I will put up the season results:

Stormers- tries - Savea x 2, Brits, Hines
C- Farrell x 2
P- Farrell x 2

Metro
T- Beale, Bosch
C- Sexton
P- Sexton x 3

Crusaders
T- Piutau, McCaw, Barrett, Guildford
C- Barrett x 2
P- Barrett x 2

Sharks
T- Healy, Pietersen, Brown
C- O'Connor, Steyn
P- O'Connor x 2

Toulon
T- Habana, Van Niekirk, Fofana, Mitchell
C- Wilkinson x 4
P- Wilkinson x 2

Toulouse
T- May x 2, Hooper
C - Halfpenny x 3
P- Halfpenny

ASM
T- Nonu, Tameifuina, Evans, Le Roux
C- Parra x 2, Evans x 2
P- Parra

Tigers
P- Laidlaw x 5

Tough tough match with no Cruden for me

Are the semis in true home grounds or "neutral grounds in the home country"?

Home grounds I believe. "Neutral grounds in the home country" is solely a Heineken Cup thing.

But this is an imaginary tournament, so I was wondering if we'd pre decided. Obviously, it would be better for my team if we got to play in Clermont

Nothing in the rules covering it, so just presume it's home advantage.

Gutted!!!! Miss out on playoffs by one penalty. Well played stormers