Aviva Premiership Round Five

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Bath Rugby v Saracens
Location - Recreation Grounds
White Cloud, 18 Degrees, 16mph SSW winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

Robinson away on internationals. Replaced by Healy bench one man short

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Charlie Faumaunia
04. Luke Romano	11. Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Christian Lealifano
06. Siya Kolisi	13. Darren Cave
07. Liam Gill	14. George North
08. Liam Messam	15. Alex Goode

16. Mikey Haywood 17.  18. Jake Cooper Woolsey 19. Luke Charteris 20. James Haskell 21. Sean O'Brien 22. Maxime Machenaud 23. Stuart Hogg

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby. Look to overwhelm Sarries in the loose. We will play a high tempo and really look to get some big carries in. Despite Sarries trying to use power and physicality we actually have the bigger, heavier forwards and will look to use this.

Scrum: We don't expect too many scrums in the conditions. How very we will be looking to get on top and pressure Sarries. Faumuina is relatively fresh and will look to pressure Waller (14 last AB caps at TH) whilst Dan Cole has not played since February. Strong second row provide the grunt behind the technically sound props. It is a NZ combo that has been very solid and provides a great platform for us. We will try to set a base, controlled by Messam which he can attack off.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Messam, Romano and Kitchener options in the lineout. Kitch will run the lineout with Romano offering an easy banker ball. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul.

Breakdown: Look to get men to the breakdown quickly and clear out so Liam Gill can try and disrupt opposition ball. However we will not be commuting too many men into the breakdown unless a great chance presents itself.

Defence: Blitz Defence looking to really put pressure on the Sarries decision makers. Focus on gain line collisions and driving back in the tackle. Wiggles to sweep in behind.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wigglesworth and Hodgson can play what they see and put the rest of the back line in strong positions. Lealifano can act as an extra playmaker from the 12. We have strong runners who can get over the gainline throughout the side with a very dynamic pack and a big back line. Look to get the big carriers involved as much as possible. The likes of Faumuania, Romano, Hibbard, Robinson and Medsam will try and wear down defences by looking for gaps. The likes of Wade, North and Cave will be looking for gaps created that they can exploit. Look to counter attack kicks if possible, kicking to Wade is a dangerous game if he gets it right. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Look for chances to offload.

Kicking: Goode will be our chosen place kicker. Any kicks will not be aimed towards their back three. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Goode, LLF, Wiggles and Hodgson all have the boots necessary to try and put us in a good position territorially if need be.

Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo. We have gone with the 6-2 split and some huge forwards to try and provide go forward in second half. The front row subs will look to get on top of the scrum and really provide a threat in the loose. Charteris can shore up the lineout and work in the loose. Both Haskell and SOB will look to offer a huge all round skillset with energy against tired defenders. Machenaud will provide snappy service whilst Hogg will be looking to get his hands on the ball and make things happen.

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Morne Steyn
03. Dan Cole
04. Patrico Albacete(c)	11. Zak Guildford
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Scott Williams
06. Callum Clark	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Chris Ashton
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Xavier Chiocci  18. Clement Ric 19. Bradley Davies 20. Dave Denton 21. Henry Taylor 22. Josh Sharp 23. Sonny Bill Williams

Tactics:

TARGET BREAKDOWN – With Bruss/Clark/Cole strong in this area we’ll look to target turnover ball and slowing opposition attacks.

CROSS FIELD KICK AT WADE – We've seen this tactic work in previous games. Look to isolate Wade and get the crossfield kick in against him with Ashton looking to either catch or knock back to runners. Look to use this play off strong scrum with the field split and wheel opposition away from area.

TARGET SCRUM – Big locks and formidable propping options starting and bench. Look to target Bath props and drive them up and inwards. Cole will look get between Robinson & Hibbard and cause issues there.

PARRA/STEYN COMBO - Perfect combo to dictate play and keep us playing in right area of pitch. Look to target Bath line out early on and if weakness seen kick to corners.

General - We've selected a team packed with power and physicality. We'll be playing a structured physical game from the off, look to smash the opposition back and get into the rucks/maul's and drive through. We'll look to tie the opposition in and then get at their backline, more so in their half. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work. Looking to move the opposition pack around and then use big carrying options to punch holes through the opposition defence.

Scrum - Look to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Strong front 5 with big locks will look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back. Our TH and Hooker will look to target LH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow LH to work on TH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out – Look for quick ball off the top with the world class line out options and experience. Will allow SH good clean ball and have big carriers running off the 9 at angles.

Defence - Blitz defence with high intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player if the ball hits the deck. physical pack that can look to get at the collision and breakdown allowing Bruss/Clark etc a chance to slow down/steal ball. Lack of straight running option in the opp backline will allow us to hold up the runner and attempt the maul turnover. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp territory. Scrum half to dictate play from the breakdown and have Williams/Mermoz on his shoulder. Huge carrying backrow to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Williams to run angles off the 9/10 and interchange 2nd receiver with Mermoz. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Ashton will look to track the midfield combo and get the end of Mermoz’s little offloads in contact. Guildford to keep things honest and come looking for work.

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Harlequins v London Welsh
Location - Twickenham Stoop
Sunny Intervals, 20 Degrees, 13mph SSW winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Schalk Brits	10. Steven Myler
03. John Afoa
04. George Kruis	11. Jack Nowell
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Tom Wood (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

:-
16. Rob Buchanan 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Jonathan Joseph

b]Game Plan[/b]

In the opposition half we will look to play our usual game of using a big carriers off 9 and 10 to get quick ball and tie in defenders and then we can get the ball into wider channels and put our back three into space and isolate defenders. 9 and 10 will look for forwards carrying at pace and in numbers to allow us the option to offload before or after contact or to allow us to get a quick ruck and attack again. When we get quick ball we will look to create gaps or overlaps out wide using runners cutting strong lines back towards play to keep the defenders honest.

In the opposition half we will look to get territory using the boots of our backs. We will look to kick behind opposition wingers and using a solid chase and fill the field and force them to kick. Kick to spaces. If no space then we use our numerical advantage to create a overlap.  

Set Piece

Scrum - exert any dominance we have for penalties or possession.

Line out - shorten when we want quick ball. Look for back ball when its on and conditions suited.

Defence

Quick line speed from out to in looking to put pressure on the opposition decision makers. Our 13 will lead the line speed and rush up and try to force the opposition to stay narrow or risk a loose pass out wide where 13 can have an opportunity for the interception. We will decide whether we are going for the big hit to win the collision to halt momentum or whether to chop tackle and try to get a man on the ball early.  

At the breakdown we will look for the first man to contest and attempt to slow the ball down legally the rest will set the defensive line.

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 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01.Yannick Forestier	09. Michael Classens
02.  David Ward (c)	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Matt Stevens
04. Sepoke Timani	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Jamie Cudmore	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Julien Lapandry	13. Casey Laulala
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Victor Vito	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. BJ Botha  19.  George Skivington 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Ben Spencer 22. Remi Tales  23. Jesse Mogg

Tactics-

Ward, Lapandry and Barclay to work as a trio to ensure we always have at least one breakdown expert immediately on every attacking ball and to look to spoil and steal opposition ball without overcommitting other players to rucks. This gives them time to set the defence. In ensuring they are close to the ball like this, the 3 fetchers will also be in great position for support play and linking. They will be facilitated by high intensity clearing out in small numbers but working as a unit through Vito and the other forwards.

Slow ball- We will look to test their back 3 positionally with low driven kicks and grubbers under the chase with 9, 10, 12 and 15 all strong kickers. Their back 3 are all strong under the high ball so we will test them positionally and under the bouncing ball instead. We will also look to maul and pick and drive the ball to speed it up and the crash ball inside off 10 and 12 (and pop off 9) to Pennell and Vito to get go forward and give the fetchers a chance to speed the ball up

Quick ball- look to spin quickly out to FTH standing flat and attacking the line with Pennell and Godwin as secondary play-makers , looking to mix short pop passes inside and out to exploit the lack of adaptability in the blitz and short dummy runners with the long pass outside to exploit space and get our wingers in the game, and dummy runners with the inside switch to change the angle of attack behind the game line and cut into the defence. If there is space behind the defensive line, look to chip from 9, 10 or 12 with our canny back 3  and back row chasing. When tackled if the offload is on make it with support lines from our fetchers vital but if not recycle quickly and attack the fringes. Look to exploit Rougerie's lack of pace.


Kicking- kick low not high. Take available points at goal, and look to use all our kicking options out of hand to prevent any predictability or pressure leading to chargedowns.

Defence-  TKB and any free pack members to target Pienarr and especially pressurise his kicking game so his measured pace of play becomes a weakness not a strength. Fringe defence led by Cudmore. Approach is a blitz marshalled by Laulala

Scrum- look to get our attacking ball out quickly and use Vito to carry and give us momentum for the quick ball game.

Lineout- keep it simple in attack- not an area of strength so better with simple short throws then using our powerful locks to maul. Use Lapandry as a useful extra option. Contest every throw with Brits throwing.

Discipline- push for penalties and turnovers in their 22- if we concede it doesn't cost us much and any gains will be amplified. Opposite, cautious approach in our own half, which may help keep the ref on our side psychologically and subconsciously

Subs- go 100% knowing our pack subs are strong.  AJ adds impact, and we can strengthen the set piece too.

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London Irish v Northampton Saints
Location - Madejski Stadium
White Cloud, 19 Degrees, 15mph SSW winds

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London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. JB Poux	09. Rory Kockott
02. Marc Jones	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. Henry Thomas
04. Devin Toner	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Jacques Poitgeiter	12. Alapati Leuai
06. Kelly Brown	13. Henry Trinder
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Nick Cummins
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Tom Lindsay 17.  Tom Court 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Dean Mumm 20. Jackson Wray 21. Lee Dickson 22. Owen Williams 23. Rob Cook

Tactics

Set piece:  We have picked a strong scrummaging front 5 who all bring carrying bulk to the game. From kick offs we will look to go 2 passes in before hitting our direct runners. We will look to scrummage low (which all of our props are known for doing) and scrum straight to prevent the wheel. Our lineouts will be simple and we will look to bring the ball down before feeding 9. There’s not many players able to get as high as Toner.

Backrow: We feel we have a well balanced back row with a tackler, a carrier and a jackler and all 3 will be used for their main attributes. We have confidence in them all to do their jobs with Brown looking to get in their 10’s face.

Breakdown: We will look to be controlled here with the tackler and 1 more player committing initially to the breakdown. Warburton will play the McCaw role and sweep behind the breakdowns picking and choosing when he will attack for a penalty or a turnover. We will use the call “fire ball” which will be when Saints under commit to their ruck and we will look to blitz past the ball for the turnover. We  will adopt the hold and roll technique to take them off their feet at the breakdown and ‘tactically’ hold them down to slow them getting to the next ruck.

Half Backs: Biggar will stand flat initially to give Leuia and our pack runners the chance to get over the gainline. We know how well Biggar can find touch and we will use this. Kockott has shown how well he can control a game and he will use these skills to control the tempo and slow the ball down if needed.

Outside Backs:  We have brought in Leuia to bring a bit of smash to the centre running and to target Giteau, Trinder will run close to him and look to be on his shoulder when he breaks the gainline. If it is on we will look to ship it wide to our speedsters. We will look to have a lot of movement off the ball to prevent us being easily read. There will be runners off of 12 and 13 when available and the ball will be shipped to the wings quickly to allow them to get the advantage in the race to the line. We have international experience in the back 3 and will look to exploit this with angled running and confusing the oppositions defence.

Bench: Impact in all areas and Williams and Cook can change the pace of the game if required. The experience of Mumm and Dickson will be vital in this game.

Defence:  We also know how good the Saints centres are so will look to prevent him offloading the ball by double tackling him. We will look to blitz with Brown in their 10’s  allowing Biggar the opportunity to drop back and cover with Dulin for any kicks ahead. We will defend inside-out and spread the line.

Overall: This will be a controlled performance. We will look to hit the ball up twice and suck in defenders by going the same way till we run out of space, we will then flash across and look for quick hands against their pack who will be stuck defending the centre channels. Our carriers will come round the corner in 3’s to prevent the opposition knowing where the ball is going. We have a strong team on show and backs who are able to control a game well and defend strongly without allowing any gaps to appear.

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 Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Gareth Davies
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. George Ford
03. Adam Jones
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Vereniki Goneva
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Matt Giteau
06. Samu Manoa	13. Elliot Daly
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Foden

Subs: 
16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Webber 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Jonny Gray 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Joe Simpson 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Jordan Williams

Tactics:
We are looking to make it 5 wins out of 5 and conditions are perfectly suited to play a high tempo/expansive game that places the onus on attack and creating space outwide for our strike runners. We've picked a very mobile pack, with a lot of ball carriers to get us over the gainline and will look to test the home team's defence from the off. We have picked an impact bench and will aim to finish the final quarter the stronger of the two teams and make this tell on the scoreboard.

Pack/Setpiece:
A powerful pack selected to enable us to use the scrum as a platform to launch attacks with Vunipola from base. We've given starts to Domingo and Jones who will look to pressurise the Irish scrum, before we bring on Vunipola, Mulipola and Webber in the second half to up the intensity and increase ball carrying options. Lineout wise we keep with our four main jumpers to give Hartley a variety of options and provide quick off the top ball for our backs and allow us to make full use of the great attacking conditions. Lawes to pressurise Jone's throws and aim to disrupt Irish's set piece ball. Again selected a very mobile pack, with strong ball carriers that will help us to win the possession battle and five full internationals to call off the bench to finish the game strong.

Attack:
We want to utilise our mobile pack and play at a fast pace to put the Irish defence under pressure. We will look at all of our forwards to share the carrying responsibilities to get us over the gainline and suck in defenders, before getting the ball to our strike runners in the backline. We've recalled Giteau to the centres so that we have three kicking options away from home in the midfield and can choose to pin Irish back in their own half when we need to. Backthree of strike runners who can attack off the creativity of the 10-12-13 shirts and will keep Irish defence guessing where next attack will come from.
Backthree told to counter attack any loose kicks when opportunities are there.

Breakdown:
We will look to get our pack to the breakdown in numbers to secure our own ball and then look for turnovers whenever possible, with Lawes and Launchbury we have effectively got two additional backrowers – will look to use the Vunipola, Manoa and Robshaw to clear Irish from the breakdown area and distrupt the speed of their attacking play. We will specifically target Warburton and aim to clear him out the breakdown area as quickly as possible due to his threat.

Defence:
An aggressive defence all across the pitch, have some strong tacklers in the forwards. We will look for quick line speed to put pressure on the Irish halfbacks Davies to sweep behind the defensive line.

Key Points:
* Our best start in the AP with four wins in a row, with 3 try scoring bps and will look to build on this at Irish.
* Will look to really attack the game and get over the gainline with our strike runners to put IRish defence under pressure. .
* Bench has been selected for impact – all five forwards are internationals and will strengthen the setpiece, while the backs are all creative players who can score tries in the final 20 minutes.

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Gloucester Rugby v Leicester Tigers
Location - Kingsholm
White Cloud, 19 Degrees, 17mph SSW winds

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 Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Dan Robson
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter
03. Coenie Ousthuizen
04. Richie Gray	11. Hosea Gear
05. Romain taofufina	12. Andreas Masi
06. Willem Alberts	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Julian Salvi	14. Charlie Walker
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Johnny May

:-
16. Luke Cowan Dickie17. Juan Figallo 18. Nick Wood  19.  George Robson 20. Tom Croft 21. Will Genia  22. Dan Cipriani 23. Rhaymond Rhule

Subject to changes for int games

Glos host Leicester in the last game during RC.
We will be looking to utilise our carriers to blast through and create a quick offloading game.

As with last week there will not be many in these conditions but
With the ones there are we will look to anchor
Our own ball. On Opposition ball we will look to target Leicester heavily.
We have an all international front 5 and will demonstrate this.

Lineout 

With taofufina , Grey and Heaslip we have serious height and athelticism. In the first
Half we will look to take middle or back ball and maul it sucking in and tiring out Leicester Pack. As the game progresses we will go off the top more and more and look to move it to big runners like Alberts standing midfield.
On their ball we will challenge every time and utilise our giants to at very least put off their hooker

General forwards 

We have a lot more carriers and a seriously mobile pack so will be looking to really blast through the Exeter pack. Alberts,Heaslip ,Coenie, Streenkamp etc will carry hard and straight and really batter at the opposition.
when on we will look to get the offload in and get in behind.

We will commit numbers to rucks to disrupt and counter ruck. 

Backs

The backs will be looking to play whenever they can get quick ball.
With carter as playmaker.
We have the options to vary our play as necessary with Masi to crash or to float the ball out wide 

In our half on slow ball it will be kicked and tempo will be controlled by Dan Carter.
He will decide when to go and when to slow.


We will definitely be targeting cuthbert with kicks in behind to exploit his weakness there 


We will utilise the bomb and cross kick if they defend narrowly.
As game progresses and people tire we will up the tempo with quick throws and more
Countering of loose Leicester  kicks

Blitz defence mainly with scrum half covering 
Key points
- much quicker pack who will aim to keep tempo high to disrupt Leicesters old heavy guys.
- conditions suit the quick game
- serious amount of big ball carriers
- superior kicking game
- impact bench

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Stephen Moore (c)	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Nathan Hines	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Pascal Pape	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Francois Louw	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Jacques Burger	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Mike Brown

16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Max Lahiff 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Rene Ranger

Tactics:

We will look to play high tempo, high intensity rugby. We have, throughout our XV, big line breakers to make the hard yards and tie up defenders creating space in wider channels for Burns to exploit.

Key points:

Try to get Gloucester's heads dropped
They have started the season poorly, and manager has admitted they are desperate for RC to be over. Pressure early, get points on the board through Burns, and look to get their heads dropped.

Test Gloucester back three positionally
Test them early with May out of position and Walker coming in. Burns and Twelvetrees to look to get them turned and if they struggle keep testing them.

Pressure on Carter
Burger and Louw to pressure Carter all game, hitting him fast and hard. His last AB appearance was back in November 2013 - his form can be got at.

General Tactics:

- Play an offloading game. We see the offload as our big weapon and our carriers will all be looking to offload in contact, continuing our forward momentum.

- Attack all scrums if we have an advantage - Front row of Moore, Jenkins and Johnston to look to really get the shove on, particularly targetting Gloucester's Grey / Ousthuizen channel.

- Attack all lineouts. Use safe option of Hines at the front, and also use Pape and Beattie in the middle or at the back. Hines to look to put real pressure at the front on all Gloucester's throws.
Shortened lineouts with Burger in midfield as crash/decoy option.

- Physical, abrasive XV made up of massive line-breakers.
The likes of Bastareaud, Cuthbert, Beattie, Louw, Pape, Hines and Moore to be used to win the collisions in attack.
Add to that the likes of Lahiff, Tolofua, Waldrom and Ranger off the bench.

- Fotauli'i to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.

- Look to win battle at the breakdown - Burger and Louw, supported by the likes of Basteraud and Jenkins, to really look to get into the breakdown and give Gloucester problems.

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first receivers in Burns and Twelvetrees.
We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack consistently.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline, and look to win the collisions in defence. Fotauli'i to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

Burns to kick all penalties.

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Sale Sharks v London Wasps
Location - AJ Bell Stadium
Thick Cloud, 17 Degrees, 16mph SSW winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Christian Day	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Gael Fickou
07. Matt Todd	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Jared Payne

:-
16. Ross Harrison 17. David Paice 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Iain Henderson 20. Matt Garvey 21. Kieran Marmion 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Kyle Eastmond

We will play an expansive, high intensity offloading game looking to create space and break the defensive line. Mobility, physicality and handling is key to our approach.

- Fast ball is crucial. Mobile pack and physical midfield to clear out rucks and ensure quick ball. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to make it easier to do so.

- Commit the defence. Sexton will play flat on the gain line to pull in defenders before releasing runners while Care will look for opportunities to snipe around the base always committing defenders.

- Change the point of attack. Numerous playmakers across the backline comfortable at coming in at first receiver allow us to change the point of attack and leave the opposition guessing.

- Back three always involved. Wingers to track the ball off their wings looking for the inside ball or offload. Payne to join the line from fullback looking for mismatches and to create overlaps.

- Attack from the scrum. Strong technical front row backed up by a powerful second row will look to build a platform for Pickles, Care & Sexton. An area we will look to target if winning.

- Mix it up at the lineout. Five genuine jumpers gives us a strong attacking platform. Look to use both the rolling maul and ball off the top to keep the defence guessing.

- Straight line blitz defence. Focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. Care will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers.

- Target the breakdown. Committed to the breakdown with POM & Todd fetching for the ball, supported by the rest of the pack when needed. We will always look to turn the ball over.

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London Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213     
                 

01. Paul James	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Romain Millo-Chluski	11. Anthony Watson
05. Alun-Wyn Jones	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Sebastian Vahaamahina	13. Paul Jordaan
07. Fulgence Ouedraogo	14. Marland Yarde
08. Steffon Armitage	15. Delon Armitage

16. Deon Fourie 17.Ben Moon 18. Fraser Balmain 19. Paul Willemse 20. Luke Narraway 21. Sebastien Tillouse-Borde 22. Henry Slade 23. Tim Nanai-Williams

Basic Game Plan
In dry conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, going through the phases and continually shifting the point of attack.  We will play sensibly in our own half though, and will use the boots of Cruden and Armitage if it is not on to run the ball.  When using the boot we will kicking for touch and looking to contest the lineout.  We will not kick to their back three.

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence.  Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle.  Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us.  Youngs will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics 

• Lineout.  Nothing flash. Hit our front and middle jumpers and ensure that we secure their ball.  On Falcons ball put pressure on through AWJ, Vahaamahina and Ouedraogo, who are all athletic lineout jumpers.
  
• Breakdown.  When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence, if we have made a passive tackle and the carrier has momentum we will not overcommit, but will maintain a strong defensive line.  If we win the collision and knock the carrier back we will look to get the second man in hard over the ball to turn it over.  Key for us is being selective.
  
• Attacking Play.  We will be looking to play a Super Rugby type offloading game, with the ball shifted on to the support runner just prior to the point of the tackle with the defender already committed.  We will constantly look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps.  Youngs to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  
  

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Newcastle Falcons v Exeter Chiefs
Location - Kingston Park
Light Rain Shower, 17 Degrees, 16mph SSW winds

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Driver

01. Matt Mullen	09. Gregg Laidlaw
02. Rory Best (c)	10. Owen Farrel(k)
03. Luc Ducalon
04. Brad Thorn	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Brad Barrittl
06. Chris Henry	13.John Davies
07. Will Fraser	14. Max Evans
08. Dave Ewers	15. Rob Miller

16.George McGuigan 17.Soana Tonga'uhia 18.Scott Wilson 19.Geoff Parling 20.Dan Lydiate 21.Dave Lewis 22.Andy Goode 23.Robbie Frueen

TACTICS

Falcons to build a win today based on a rock solid defence and dominant set piece. The selection of Henry and Fraser gives and indiction as to how we want to play the game targetting the ball on the deck and looking to pile pressure on the Chiefs pairing of Murray and Flood. We'll look to operate a aggressive defence around the contact area in an attempt to slow down any chiefs momentum and force them to kick to our dangerous back 3 and pressure Flood into a territory game against Laidlaw , Faz and Miller who all have quality kicking games whilst Flood is the only field position kicker in the Chiefs backline.

In the set piece we'll look to put Kruger up at two and target the Szcarweski throw and look to make him crumble early doors with his throwing we also see Scarweski as a weakness at Scrum time and Ducalon will look to bore in from 3 and Isolate him to force him into popping up and winning penalties.

Farrell will kick deep and look for touch in the space behind Tom Varndell and David Strettle to test out there position with Sharples and Evans great chasers.

Farrell to take all points on offer to build the lead and take the game away from Chiefs.

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Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Richard Barrington	09. Connor Murray
02. Dimitri Szarzewski	10. Toby Flood (k)
03. James Johnstone
04. Paul O'Connell (c)	11. Tom Varndell
05. Kane Douglas	12. Luther Burrell
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Alex Dunbar
07. Justin Tipuric	14. David Strettle
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O'Connor

16. Jack Yeandle 17. Ryan Grant 18. Mike Ross 19. Michael Paterson 20. Carl Fearns 21. Chris Cook 22. Ian Madigan 23. Andrew Trimble

General Game plan

Fast paced game based around high intensity in defence, offloading, and dynamic carrying and rucking. With wet and windy conditions we will want to hit the ground running and hit the opposition hard and fast from the off. 
Our aim is to control possession and go through the phases. We will look to play a simple territory game based around our strong set-piece and carrying. This means when kicking the backs kick under no pressure - if there is slow ball we recycle and set guards to allow a clean kick and chase. 
Big point is to match them man for man, in our style of play and keep the high tempo going throughout.

Set piece - Control the set piece and use it to restart our game plan. POC to marshal the line-out and get quick ball from our dynamic jumpers, POC to look at using the line-out for the box from Murray, as we see no clear line-out leader for Falcons to attack or defend. At the scrum we’ll look to get the squeeze on and target the front row, Best hasn't played in a while and the pressure will be applied on him. A nudge at the scrum for us to keep the opposition back row tied into the scrum giving Murray, Flood more time and space to work in. 

Pack & Breakdown - Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball tight in the greasy conditions and take advantage of the forwards in the Falcons pack who prefer to be out in the wider channels. Our back-row will target the breakdown and look to blow through the ruck and past the ball. Clean ball will be generated either by blowing through the ruck and past the ball and a long presentation of the ball to keep it away from opposition defenders. Murray look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot. We’ll look to win the collision with big our physical pack and dominate the opposition pack in the contact.

Defence - Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow our back-row to dominate affairs. We will revert to your strong defensive banana drift defence to push the attackers towards our inside defence, with Murray sweeping in behind to guide defenders to plug holes and covers any kicks in behind. If an oppo player gets held or brought down this allows the second man to get over the ball quickly to at least compete and slow opposition possession. Tipuric will look to target the opposition fly half early on and pressure his kicking. 

Backs - Look to get the ball in hands of the backs, as they have the pace and finishing ability to worry any defence. Utilise the pace and size of Dunbar/Burrell to crash through the line, using our 'league/slider move' developed from last season to break the line. Varndell/Burrell/Strettle are big quick guys and will be able to mix and match the opposition defence, either catching Barritt's weaker inside shoulder on a a run against the grain, or exploiting the concentration of their back three in defence. Or generate the two on one with JOC joining the back line as the slider moves under the crash/dummy line.


Key Points

Scrum & Line-out – Target throughout, if weakness seen heap pressure and generate penalties. Considering "boring in" is an illegal move by props we will notify the ref to keep an eye out, as we will get the resulting penalty. 
Line-out & Mauls - with a big front five we will look to set rolling mauls, to keep their back five tied in and also gain strong momentum.
Physicality & Dynamism – Win the collision and target rucks to drive through opposition. We have a big physical, but also mobile pack. Supported by some high energy forwards off the bench. With players like Ewers, Kruger and Best in wider channels, a lot of work will be required by the front five of Falcons
Territory - When playing for territory, ensure we have a good chase to pressure the return and enforce the error and we will not kick directly to their back three. If the back three recieve the ball they shall be put to the floor instantly from the chase and not allowed to run. 
Breakdown – Tipuric & Nyanga to be a nuisance in in the breakdown and either get over the ball or get past the ball and make the opposition cleaners a nightmare by having to make them drive our forwards even further off their ball, or steal if the are limited numbers competing. They will look to remove Fraser from the ruck early to prevent turnovers. 
Backs – Classy running options and two of the most prolific finishers in the AP with Strettle & Varndell and they will take any opportunity to run back loose kicks from the Falcons, and are fantastic finishers in greasy conditions. 
Build a Score - Flood and JOC to share kicking at goal responsibilities with JOC taking the longer ones. Any penalty within their ten metre to be kicked at goal to keep scoreboard ticking.

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Team subject to change


London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01.Yannick Forestier	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlowe
02.  David Ward (c)	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Matt Stevens
04. Sepoke Timani	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Jamie Cudmore	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Julien Lapandry	13. Casey Laulala
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Victor Vito	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. BJ Botha  19.  George Skivington 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Ben Spencer 22. Remi Tales  23. Jesse Mogg


Team will change once home team is up

Tactics-

Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Dan Robson
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter
03. Coenie Ousthuizen
04. Richie Gray	11. Hosea Gear
05. Romain taofufina	12. Andreas Masi
06. Willem Alberts	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Julian Salvi	14. Charlie Walker
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Johnny May

:-
16. Luke Cowan Dickie17. Juan Figallo 18. Nick Wood  19.  George Robson 20. Tom Croft 21. Will Genia  22. Dan Cipriani 23. Rhaymond Rhule

Subject to changes for int games

Glos host Leicester in the last game during RC.
We will be looking to utilise our carriers to blast through and create a quick offloading game.

As with last week there will not be many in these conditions but
With the ones there are we will look to anchor
Our own ball. On Opposition ball we will look to target Leicester heavily.
We have an all international front 5 and will demonstrate this.

Lineout 

With taofufina , Grey and Heaslip we have serious height and athelticism. In the first
Half we will look to take middle or back ball and maul it sucking in and tiring out Leicester Pack. As the game progresses we will go off the top more and more and look to move it to big runners like Alberts standing midfield.
On their ball we will challenge every time and utilise our giants to at very least put off their hooker

General forwards 

We have a lot more carriers and a seriously mobile pack so will be looking to really blast through the Exeter pack. Alberts,Heaslip ,Coenie, Streenkamp etc will carry hard and straight and really batter at the opposition.
when on we will look to get the offload in and get in behind.

We will commit numbers to rucks to disrupt and counter ruck. 

Backs

The backs will be looking to play whenever they can get quick ball.
With carter as playmaker.
We have the options to vary our play as necessary with Masi to crash or to float the ball out wide 

In our half on slow ball it will be kicked and tempo will be controlled by Dan Carter.
He will decide when to go and when to slow.


We will definitely be targeting cuthbert with kicks in behind to exploit his weakness there 


We will utilise the bomb and cross kick if they defend narrowly.
As game progresses and people tire we will up the tempo with quick throws and more
Countering of loose Leicester  kicks

Blitz defence mainly with scrum half covering 
Key points
- much quicker pack who will aim to keep tempo high to disrupt Leicesters old heavy guys.
- conditions suit the quick game
- serious amount of big ball carriers
- superior kicking game
- impact bench

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Leicester Tigers v London Irish

Fly to Oz Wednesday night. May not get on for tactics or predictions. If so SJE could I have last weeks tactics!

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Schalk Brits	10. Steven Myler
03. John Afoa
04. George Kruis	11. Jack Nowell
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Tom Wood (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

:-
16. Rob Buchanan 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Jonathan Joseph

b]Game Plan[/b]

In the opposition half we will look to play our usual game of using a big carriers off 9 and 10 to get quick ball and tie in defenders and then we can get the ball into wider channels and put our back three into space and isolate defenders. 9 and 10 will look for forwards carrying at pace and in numbers to allow us the option to offload before or after contact or to allow us to get a quick ruck and attack again. When we get quick ball we will look to create gaps or overlaps out wide using runners cutting strong lines back towards play to keep the defenders honest.

In the opposition half we will look to get territory using the boots of our backs. We will look to kick behind opposition wingers and using a solid chase and fill the field and force them to kick. Kick to spaces. If no space then we use our numerical advantage to create a overlap.  

Set Piece

Scrum - exert any dominance we have for penalties or possession.

Line out - shorten when we want quick ball. Look for back ball when its on and conditions suited.

Defence

Quick line speed from out to in looking to put pressure on the opposition decision makers. Our 13 will lead the line speed and rush up and try to force the opposition to stay narrow or risk a loose pass out wide where 13 can have an opportunity for the interception. We will decide whether we are going for the big hit to win the collision to halt momentum or whether to chop tackle and try to get a man on the ball early.  

At the breakdown we will look for the first man to contest and attempt to slow the ball down legally the rest will set the defensive line.

After four hard fought games Northampton Saints have made two changes to the front row in order to freshen up the pack and ensure a strong set piece against a strong London Irish side. Matt Giteau lines up at inside centre after recovering from injury for his first start of the season.

 Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Gareth Davies
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. George Ford
03. Adam Jones
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Vereniki Goneva
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Matt Giteau
06. Samu Manoa	13. Elliot Daly
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Foden

Subs: 
16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Webber 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Jonny Gray 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Joe Simpson 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Jordan Williams

Tactics:
We are looking to make it 5 wins out of 5 and conditions are perfectly suited to play a high tempo/expansive game that places the onus on attack and creating space outwide for our strike runners. We've picked a very mobile pack, with a lot of ball carriers to get us over the gainline and will look to test the home team's defence from the off. We have picked an impact bench and will aim to finish the final quarter the stronger of the two teams and make this tell on the scoreboard.

Pack/Setpiece:
A powerful pack selected to enable us to use the scrum as a platform to launch attacks with Vunipola from base. We've given starts to Domingo and Jones who will look to pressurise the Irish scrum, before we bring on Vunipola, Mulipola and Webber in the second half to up the intensity and increase ball carrying options. Lineout wise we keep with our four main jumpers to give Hartley a variety of options and provide quick off the top ball for our backs and allow us to make full use of the great attacking conditions. Lawes to pressurise Jone's throws and aim to disrupt Irish's set piece ball. Again selected a very mobile pack, with strong ball carriers that will help us to win the possession battle and five full internationals to call off the bench to finish the game strong.

Attack:
We want to utilise our mobile pack and play at a fast pace to put the Irish defence under pressure. We will look at all of our forwards to share the carrying responsibilities to get us over the gainline and suck in defenders, before getting the ball to our strike runners in the backline. We've recalled Giteau to the centres so that we have three kicking options away from home in the midfield and can choose to pin Irish back in their own half when we need to. Backthree of strike runners who can attack off the creativity of the 10-12-13 shirts and will keep Irish defence guessing where next attack will come from.
Backthree told to counter attack any loose kicks when opportunities are there.

Breakdown:
We will look to get our pack to the breakdown in numbers to secure our own ball and then look for turnovers whenever possible, with Lawes and Launchbury we have effectively got two additional backrowers – will look to use the Vunipola, Manoa and Robshaw to clear Irish from the breakdown area and distrupt the speed of their attacking play. We will specifically target Warburton and aim to clear him out the breakdown area as quickly as possible due to his threat.

Defence:
An aggressive defence all across the pitch, have some strong tacklers in the forwards. We will look for quick line speed to put pressure on the Irish halfbacks Davies to sweep behind the defensive line.

Key Points:
* Our best start in the AP with four wins in a row, with 3 try scoring bps and will look to build on this at Irish.
* Will look to really attack the game and get over the gainline with our strike runners to put IRish defence under pressure. .
* Bench has been selected for impact – all five forwards are internationals and will strengthen the setpiece, while the backs are all creative players who can score tries in the final 20 minutes.

Will do Steve 

London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. JB Poux	09. Rory Kockott
02. Marc Jones	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. Henry Thomas
04. Devin Toner	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Jacques Poitgeiter	12. Alapati Leuai
06. Kelly Brown	13. Henry Trinder
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Nick Cummins
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Tom Lindsay 17. Tom Court 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Dean Mumm 20. Jackson Wray 21. Lee Dickson 22. Owen Williams 23. Rob Cook

Tactics

Set piece: We have picked a strong scrummaging front 5 who all bring carrying bulk to the game. From kick offs we will look to go 2 passes in before hitting our direct runners. We will look to scrummage low (which all of our props are known for doing) and scrum straight to prevent the wheel. Our lineouts will be simple and we will look to bring the ball down before feeding 9. There’s not many players able to get as high as Toner.

Backrow: We feel we have a well balanced back row with a tackler, a carrier and a jackler and all 3 will be used for their main attributes. We have confidence in them all to do their jobs with Brown looking to get in their 10’s face.

Breakdown: We will look to be controlled here with the tackler and 1 more player committing initially to the breakdown. Warburton will play the McCaw role and sweep behind the breakdowns picking and choosing when he will attack for a penalty or a turnover. We will use the call “fire ball” which will be when Saints under commit to their ruck and we will look to blitz past the ball for the turnover. We will adopt the hold and roll technique to take them off their feet at the breakdown and ‘tactically’ hold them down to slow them getting to the next ruck.

Half Backs: Biggar will stand flat initially to give Leuia and our pack runners the chance to get over the gainline. We know how well Biggar can find touch and we will use this. Kockott has shown how well he can control a game and he will use these skills to control the tempo and slow the ball down if needed.

Outside Backs: We have brought in Leuia to bring a bit of smash to the centre running and to target Giteau, Trinder will run close to him and look to be on his shoulder when he breaks the gainline. If it is on we will look to ship it wide to our speedsters. We will look to have a lot of movement off the ball to prevent us being easily read. There will be runners off of 12 and 13 when available and the ball will be shipped to the wings quickly to allow them to get the advantage in the race to the line. We have international experience in the back 3 and will look to exploit this with angled running and confusing the oppositions defence.

Bench: Impact in all areas and Williams and Cook can change the pace of the game if required. The experience of Mumm and Dickson will be vital in this game.

Defence: We also know how good the Saints centres are so will look to prevent him offloading the ball by double tackling him. We will look to blitz with Brown in their 10’s allowing Biggar the opportunity to drop back and cover with Dulin for any kicks ahead. We will defend inside-out and spread the line.

Overall: This will be a controlled performance. We will look to hit the ball up twice and suck in defenders by going the same way till we run out of space, we will then flash across and look for quick hands against their pack who will be stuck defending the centre channels. Our carriers will come round the corner in 3’s to prevent the opposition knowing where the ball is going. We have a strong team on show and backs who are able to control a game well and defend strongly without allowing any gaps to appear.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Stephen Moore (c)	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Nathan Hines	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Pascal Pape	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Francois Louw	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Jacques Burger	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Mike Brown

16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Max Lahiff 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Rene Ranger

Tactics:

We will look to play high tempo, high intensity rugby. We have, throughout our XV, big line breakers to make the hard yards and tie up defenders creating space in wider channels for Burns to exploit.

Key points:

Try to get Gloucester's heads dropped
They have started the season poorly, and manager has admitted they are desperate for RC to be over. Pressure early, get points on the board through Burns, and look to get their heads dropped.

Test Gloucester back three positionally
Test them early with May out of position and Walker coming in. Burns and Twelvetrees to look to get them turned and if they struggle keep testing them.

Pressure on Carter
Burger and Louw to pressure Carter all game, hitting him fast and hard. His last AB appearance was back in November 2013 - his form can be got at.

General Tactics:

- Play an offloading game. We see the offload as our big weapon and our carriers will all be looking to offload in contact, continuing our forward momentum.

- Attack all scrums if we have an advantage - Front row of Moore, Jenkins and Johnston to look to really get the shove on, particularly targetting Gloucester's Grey / Ousthuizen channel.

- Attack all lineouts. Use safe option of Hines at the front, and also use Pape and Beattie in the middle or at the back. Hines to look to put real pressure at the front on all Gloucester's throws.
Shortened lineouts with Burger in midfield as crash/decoy option.

- Physical, abrasive XV made up of massive line-breakers.
The likes of Bastareaud, Cuthbert, Beattie, Louw, Pape, Hines and Moore to be used to win the collisions in attack.
Add to that the likes of Lahiff, Tolofua, Waldrom and Ranger off the bench.

- Fotauli'i to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.

- Look to win battle at the breakdown - Burger and Louw, supported by the likes of Basteraud and Jenkins, to really look to get into the breakdown and give Gloucester problems.

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first receivers in Burns and Twelvetrees.
We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack consistently.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline, and look to win the collisions in defence. Fotauli'i to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

Burns to kick all penalties.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Driver

01. Matt Mullen	09. Gregg Laidlaw
02. Rory Best (c)	10. Owen Farrel(k)
03. Luc Ducalon
04. Brad Thorn	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Brad Barrittl
06. Chris Henry	13.John Davies
07. Will Fraser	14. Max Evans
08. Dave Ewers	15. Rob Miller

16.George McGuigan 17.Soana Tonga'uhia 18.Scott Wilson 19.Geoff Parling 20.Dan Lydiate 21.Dave Lewis 22.Andy Goode 23.Robbie Frueen

TACTICS

Falcons to build a win today based on a rock solid defence and dominant set piece. The selection of Henry and Fraser gives and indiction as to how we want to play the game targetting the ball on the deck and looking to pile pressure on the Chiefs pairing of Murray and Flood. We'll look to operate a aggressive defence around the contact area in an attempt to slow down any chiefs momentum and force them to kick to our dangerous back 3 and pressure Flood into a territory game against Laidlaw , Faz and Miller who all have quality kicking games whilst Flood is the only field position kicker in the Chiefs backline.

In the set piece we'll look to put Kruger up at two and target the Szcarweski throw and look to make him crumble early doors with his throwing we also see Scarweski as a weakness at Scrum time and Ducalon will look to bore in from 3 and Isolate him to force him into popping up and winning penalties.

Farrell will kick deep and look for touch in the space behind Tom Varndell and David Strettle to test out there position with Sharples and Evans great chasers.

Farrell to take all points on offer to build the lead and take the game away from Chiefs.

Mark

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Benn Robinson	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Charlie Faumaunia
04. Luke Romano	11. Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Christian Lealifano
06. Siya Kolisi	13. Darren Cave
07. Liam Gill	14. George North
08. Liam Messam	15. Alex Goode

16. Mikey Haywood 17. Cian Healy 18. Jake Cooper Woolsey 19. Luke Charteris 20. James Haskell 21. Sean O'Brien 22. Maxime Machenaud 23. Stuart Hogg

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby. Look to overwhelm Sarries in the loose. We will play a high tempo and really look to get some big carries in. Despite Sarries trying to use power and physicality we actually have the bigger, heavier forwards and will look to use this.

Scrum: We don't expect too many scrums in the conditions. How very we will be looking to get on top and pressure Sarries. Faumuina is relatively fresh and will look to pressure Waller (14 last AB caps at TH) whilst Dan Cole has not played since February. Strong second row provide the grunt behind the technically sound props. It is a NZ combo that has been very solid and provides a great platform for us. We will try to set a base, controlled by Messam which he can attack off.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Messam, Romano and Kitchener options in the lineout. Kitch will run the lineout with Romano offering an easy banker ball. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul.

Breakdown: Look to get men to the breakdown quickly and clear out so Liam Gill can try and disrupt opposition ball. However we will not be commuting too many men into the breakdown unless a great chance presents itself.

Defence: Blitz Defence looking to really put pressure on the Sarries decision makers. Focus on gain line collisions and driving back in the tackle. Wiggles to sweep in behind.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wigglesworth and Hodgson can play what they see and put the rest of the back line in strong positions. Lealifano can act as an extra playmaker from the 12. We have strong runners who can get over the gainline throughout the side with a very dynamic pack and a big back line. Look to get the big carriers involved as much as possible. The likes of Faumuania, Romano, Hibbard, Robinson and Medsam will try and wear down defences by looking for gaps. The likes of Wade, North and Cave will be looking for gaps created that they can exploit. Look to counter attack kicks if possible, kicking to Wade is a dangerous game if he gets it right. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Look for chances to offload.

Kicking: Goode will be our chosen place kicker. Any kicks will not be aimed towards their back three. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Goode, LLF, Wiggles and Hodgson all have the boots necessary to try and put us in a good position territorially if need be.

Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo. We have gone with the 6-2 split and some huge forwards to try and provide go forward in second half. The front row subs will look to get on top of the scrum and really provide a threat in the loose. Charteris can shore up the lineout and work in the loose. Both Haskell and SOB will look to offer a huge all round skillset with energy against tired defenders. Machenaud will provide snappy service whilst Hogg will be looking to get his hands on the ball and make things happen.

London Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213     
                 

01. Paul James	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Romain Millo-Chluski	11. Anthony Watson
05. Alun-Wyn Jones	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Sebastian Vahaamahina	13. Paul Jordaan
07. Fulgence Ouedraogo	14. Marland Yarde
08. Steffon Armitage	15. Delon Armitage

16. Deon Fourie 17.Ben Moon 18. Fraser Balmain 19. Paul Willemse 20. Luke Narraway 21. Sebastien Tillouse-Borde 22. Henry Slade 23. Tim Nanai-Williams

Basic Game Plan
In dry conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, going through the phases and continually shifting the point of attack.  We will play sensibly in our own half though, and will use the boots of Cruden and Armitage if it is not on to run the ball.  When using the boot we will kicking for touch and looking to contest the lineout.  We will not kick to their back three.

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence.  Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle.  Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us.  Youngs will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics 

• Lineout.  Nothing flash. Hit our front and middle jumpers and ensure that we secure their ball.  On Falcons ball put pressure on through AWJ, Vahaamahina and Ouedraogo, who are all athletic lineout jumpers.
  
• Breakdown.  When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence, if we have made a passive tackle and the carrier has momentum we will not overcommit, but will maintain a strong defensive line.  If we win the collision and knock the carrier back we will look to get the second man in hard over the ball to turn it over.  Key for us is being selective.
  
• Attacking Play.  We will be looking to play a Super Rugby type offloading game, with the ball shifted on to the support runner just prior to the point of the tackle with the defender already committed.  We will constantly look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps.  Youngs to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  
  

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Morne Steyn
03. Dan Cole
04. Patrico Albacete(c)	11. Zak Guildford
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Scott Williams
06. Callum Clark	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Chris Ashton
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Xavier Chiocci  18. Clement Ric 19. Bradley Davies 20. Dave Denton 21. Henry Taylor 22. Josh Sharp 23. Sonny Bill Williams

Tactics:

TARGET BREAKDOWN – With Bruss/Clark/Cole strong in this area we’ll look to target turnover ball and slowing opposition attacks.

CROSS FIELD KICK AT WADE – We've seen this tactic work in previous games. Look to isolate Wade and get the crossfield kick in against him with Ashton looking to either catch or knock back to runners. Look to use this play off strong scrum with the field split and wheel opposition away from area.

TARGET SCRUM – Big locks and formidable propping options starting and bench. Look to target Bath props and drive them up and inwards. Cole will look get between Robinson & Hibbard and cause issues there.

PARRA/STEYN COMBO - Perfect combo to dictate play and keep us playing in right area of pitch. Look to target Bath line out early on and if weakness seen kick to corners.

General - We've selected a team packed with power and physicality. We'll be playing a structured physical game from the off, look to smash the opposition back and get into the rucks/maul's and drive through. We'll look to tie the opposition in and then get at their backline, more so in their half. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work. Looking to move the opposition pack around and then use big carrying options to punch holes through the opposition defence.

Scrum - Look to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Strong front 5 with big locks will look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back. Our TH and Hooker will look to target LH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow LH to work on TH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out – Look for quick ball off the top with the world class line out options and experience. Will allow SH good clean ball and have big carriers running off the 9 at angles.

Defence - Blitz defence with high intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player if the ball hits the deck. physical pack that can look to get at the collision and breakdown allowing Bruss/Clark etc a chance to slow down/steal ball. Lack of straight running option in the opp backline will allow us to hold up the runner and attempt the maul turnover. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp territory. Scrum half to dictate play from the breakdown and have Williams/Mermoz on his shoulder. Huge carrying backrow to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Williams to run angles off the 9/10 and interchange 2nd receiver with Mermoz. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Ashton will look to track the midfield combo and get the end of Mermoz’s little offloads in contact. Guildford to keep things honest and come looking for work.[/b]

Faumuania has played at TH for his last 14 NZ tests

Director of Rugby Flux named his 23 to face Newcastle Falcons this weekend at Kingston Park. Flux named a virtually unchanged 23, with the only change in the starting line up being Kane Douglas into the second row with Michael Paterson taking Douglas's spot on the bench. Flux had this to say on the swap


"Kane has been excellent in training since he arrived at the Club from Sale last season, but unfortunately suffered a small injury prior to the season to miss out on selection. He is back now and his impact off the bench last week shows how much he can bring into this side. We also are lucky to have Ryan (Grant) back this week and it is a bit harsh on Alex (Lundberg) but he still in the first team plans for the future and his experiences with the squad and in the upcoming Euro games will benefit in the long run. 

We will be looking to continue our momentum even away from home against the Falcons. At the moment we fear no one and that can be shown in our results so far this season. We were unlucky to throw the game away last week, but that's the game and sometimes things go against you. We got the group together and said that despite the loss of a win against a top side, a draw is a big result for us considering last season we would have been favourites to lose the game."


Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Richard Barrington	09. Connor Murray
02. Dimitri Szarzewski	10. Toby Flood (k)
03. James Johnstone
04. Paul O'Connell (c)	11. Tom Varndell
05. Kane Douglas	12. Luther Burrell
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Alex Dunbar
07. Justin Tipuric	14. David Strettle
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O'Connor

16. Jack Yeandle 17. Ryan Grant 18. Mike Ross 19. Michael Paterson 20. Carl Fearns 21. Chris Cook 22. Ian Madigan 23. Andrew Trimble

General Game plan

Fast paced game based around high intensity in defence, offloading, and dynamic carrying and rucking. With wet and windy conditions we will want to hit the ground running and hit the opposition hard and fast from the off. 
Our aim is to control possession and go through the phases. We will look to play a simple territory game based around our strong set-piece and carrying. This means when kicking the backs kick under no pressure - if there is slow ball we recycle and set guards to allow a clean kick and chase. 
Big point is to match them man for man, in our style of play and keep the high tempo going throughout.

Set piece - Control the set piece and use it to restart our game plan. POC to marshal the line-out and get quick ball from our dynamic jumpers, POC to look at using the line-out for the box from Murray, as we see no clear line-out leader for Falcons to attack or defend. At the scrum we’ll look to get the squeeze on and target the front row, Best hasn't played in a while and the pressure will be applied on him. A nudge at the scrum for us to keep the opposition back row tied into the scrum giving Murray, Flood more time and space to work in. 

Pack & Breakdown - Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball tight in the greasy conditions and take advantage of the forwards in the Falcons pack who prefer to be out in the wider channels. Our back-row will target the breakdown and look to blow through the ruck and past the ball. Clean ball will be generated either by blowing through the ruck and past the ball and a long presentation of the ball to keep it away from opposition defenders. Murray look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot. We’ll look to win the collision with big our physical pack and dominate the opposition pack in the contact.

Defence - Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow our back-row to dominate affairs. We will revert to your strong defensive banana drift defence to push the attackers towards our inside defence, with Murray sweeping in behind to guide defenders to plug holes and covers any kicks in behind. If an oppo player gets held or brought down this allows the second man to get over the ball quickly to at least compete and slow opposition possession. Tipuric will look to target the opposition fly half early on and pressure his kicking. 

Backs - Look to get the ball in hands of the backs, as they have the pace and finishing ability to worry any defence. Utilise the pace and size of Dunbar/Burrell to crash through the line, using our 'league/slider move' developed from last season to break the line. Varndell/Burrell/Strettle are big quick guys and will be able to mix and match the opposition defence, either catching Barritt's weaker inside shoulder on a a run against the grain, or exploiting the concentration of their back three in defence. Or generate the two on one with JOC joining the back line as the slider moves under the crash/dummy line.


Key Points

Scrum & Line-out – Target throughout, if weakness seen heap pressure and generate penalties. Considering "boring in" is an illegal move by props we will notify the ref to keep an eye out, as we will get the resulting penalty. 
Line-out & Mauls - with a big front five we will look to set rolling mauls, to keep their back five tied in and also gain strong momentum.
Physicality & Dynamism – Win the collision and target rucks to drive through opposition. We have a big physical, but also mobile pack. Supported by some high energy forwards off the bench. With players like Ewers, Kruger and Best in wider channels, a lot of work will be required by the front five of Falcons
Territory - When playing for territory, ensure we have a good chase to pressure the return and enforce the error and we will not kick directly to their back three. If the back three recieve the ball they shall be put to the floor instantly from the chase and not allowed to run. 
Breakdown – Tipuric & Nyanga to be a nuisance in in the breakdown and either get over the ball or get past the ball and make the opposition cleaners a nightmare by having to make them drive our forwards even further off their ball, or steal if the are limited numbers competing. They will look to remove Fraser from the ruck early to prevent turnovers. 
Backs – Classy running options and two of the most prolific finishers in the AP with Strettle & Varndell and they will take any opportunity to run back loose kicks from the Falcons, and are fantastic finishers in greasy conditions. 
Build a Score - Flood and JOC to share kicking at goal responsibilities with JOC taking the longer ones. Any penalty within their ten metre to be kicked at goal to keep scoreboard ticking.

Luke had to shift things around to accommodate loss of Crotty. Bought walker and Carter in. SJE is this ok ?

Bit concerned that SJE hasn't got his team in, that's not like him.

Not like him at all Pete. Never see him give a 3 point lead away cheaply Has been on here at all recently ?
He is super organised so hope all is well

He was last on here on Tuesday lunchtime.

I'm sure he'll take the hit.

We should bring that rule in for late tactics also, always seems to be people posting them up Friday morning.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Christian Day	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Gael Fickou
07. Matt Todd	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Jared Payne

:-
16. Ross Harrison 17. David Paice 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Iain Henderson 20. Matt Garvey 21. Kieran Marmion 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Kyle Eastmond

We will play an expansive, high intensity offloading game looking to create space and break the defensive line. Mobility, physicality and handling is key to our approach.

- Fast ball is crucial. Mobile pack and physical midfield to clear out rucks and ensure quick ball. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to make it easier to do so.

- Commit the defence. Sexton will play flat on the gain line to pull in defenders before releasing runners while Care will look for opportunities to snipe around the base always committing defenders.

- Change the point of attack. Numerous playmakers across the backline comfortable at coming in at first receiver allow us to change the point of attack and leave the opposition guessing.

- Back three always involved. Wingers to track the ball off their wings looking for the inside ball or offload. Payne to join the line from fullback looking for mismatches and to create overlaps.

- Attack from the scrum. Strong technical front row backed up by a powerful second row will look to build a platform for Pickles, Care & Sexton. An area we will look to target if winning.

- Mix it up at the lineout. Five genuine jumpers gives us a strong attacking platform. Look to use both the rolling maul and ball off the top to keep the defence guessing.

- Straight line blitz defence. Focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. Care will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers.

- Target the breakdown. Committed to the breakdown with POM & Todd fetching for the ball, supported by the rest of the pack when needed. We will always look to turn the ball over.

Struggling for time this week. Sorry for the lateness on the team sheet Pete!
Will get the thread updated tomorrow but may not get predictions in this week.

No need for apologies mate, was more worried that something was up as not like you to not get your team in. Hope everything's ok buddy?

Just super busy between work and home at the moment unfortunately!

Tactics hopefully by 12, might be 1 sprry

Team subject to change


London Welsh
Manager – CJ


[td colspan="1" height="undefined" nowrap="nowrap" rowspan="1" width="undefined"]02.  David Ward (c)

01.Yannick Forestier	09. Michael Classens
10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Matt Stevens
04. Sepoke Timani	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Jamie Cudmore	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Julien Lapandry	13. Casey Laulala
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Victor Vito	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. BJ Botha  19.  George Skivington 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Ben Spencer 22. Remi Tales  23. Jesse Mogg


Team will change once home team is up

Tactics-

Ward, Lapandry and Barclay to work as a trio to ensure we always have at least one breakdown expert immediately on every attacking ball and to look to spoil and steal opposition ball without overcommitting other players to rucks. This gives them time to set the defence. In ensuring they are close to the ball like this, the 3 fetchers will also be in great position for support play and linking. They will be facilitated by high intensity clearing out in small numbers but working as a unit through Vito and the other forwards.

Slow ball- We will look to test their back 3 positionally with low driven kicks and grubbers under the chase with 9, 10, 12 and 15 all strong kickers. Their back 3 are all strong under the high ball so we will test them positionally and under the bouncing ball instead. We will also look to maul and pick and drive the ball to speed it up and the crash ball inside off 10 and 12 (and pop off 9) to Pennell and Vito to get go forward and give the fetchers a chance to speed the ball up

Quick ball- look to spin quickly out to FTH standing flat and attacking the line with Pennell and Godwin as secondary play-makers , looking to mix short pop passes inside and out to exploit the lack of adaptability in the blitz and short dummy runners with the long pass outside to exploit space and get our wingers in the game, and dummy runners with the inside switch to change the angle of attack behind the game line and cut into the defence. If there is space behind the defensive line, look to chip from 9, 10 or 12 with our canny back 3  and back row chasing. When tackled if the offload is on make it with support lines from our fetchers vital but if not recycle quickly and attack the fringes. Look to exploit Rougerie's lack of pace.


Kicking- kick low not high. Take available points at goal, and look to use all our kicking options out of hand to prevent any predictability or pressure leading to chargedowns.

Defence-  TKB and any free pack members to target Pienarr and especially pressurise his kicking game so his measured pace of play becomes a weakness not a strength. Fringe defence led by Cudmore. Approach is a blitz marshalled by Laulala

Scrum- look to get our attacking ball out quickly and use Vito to carry and give us momentum for the quick ball game.

Lineout- keep it simple in attack- not an area of strength so better with simple short throws then using our powerful locks to maul. Use Lapandry as a useful extra option. Contest every throw with Brits throwing.

Discipline- push for penalties and turnovers in their 22- if we concede it doesn't cost us much and any gains will be amplified. Opposite, cautious approach in our own half, which may help keep the ref on our side psychologically and subconsciously

Subs- go 100% knowing our pack subs are strong.  AJ adds impact, and we can strengthen the set piece too.


Sorry about late tactics

CJ TKB is in AB side on bench

Thanks Matt

Bath 23-23 Sarries
Think Bath could get a slight nudge when it comes to the scrum but Sarries will hold out with good 2nd rows. Backrow I prefer the Sarries backrow personally. Both pretty steady at half back. One a piece in the centres. Small advantage to Bath on the wings. Both teams have players who haven’t played for quite a while so this is affecting some decisions and only making some things small advantages. Two fairly good sets of tactics, not a lot in this game to be honest. Sitting on the fence.


Quins 25-22 Welsh
Unfortunately I can see Quins causing the Welsh front 5 a lot of problems at scrum time. A heavier backrow for Quins too. One a piece at half back. Not hearing a lot from either centre pairing at the moment to be honest. Will call it evens out wide. Tactics a bit clearer from Welsh and the only reason I’m giving Quins the win is because their pack will have the upper hand today.

Glos 23-22 Tigers
Slight edge to Glos when it comes to the front 5 and some huge collisions will happen with two very good combinations coming up against each other. Robson and Fotuali’i the standout two in the half backs with both in great form. With all the centres currently I’d say 12T is slightly off form but again close here. Good back threes from both, very close here. Think that Glos get the edge in the bench. Glos looking to run Tigers round which will tire them slightly but maybe not enough to create the big gaps they are looking for. Tigers targeting Glos in the right places. Personally I’m going to give it to Glos as they have the better impact off the bench.

Sharks 25-25 Wasps
Front rows fairly even here, 2nd rows I can see Sharks getting a slight advantage with good form coming into this game from both of them. Back rows not a lot in them and this is the same when we come to the half backs with two good pairings on show. Huge clash in the centre with two different styles of play coming into the game. Nothing really between the back 3’s either with some on form players on show from both teams and a couple of players who haven’t lit up the stage this season yet. Same on the benches with good impact from both. Two teams coming in wanting to play expansive rugby and form with both. I’m going to have to be annoying here and sit on the fence sorry as I really can’t see much of a difference between the two teams. Great game.

Falcons 20-21 Chiefs
Not much in front rows or 2nd rows, a small edge to Falcons in the breakdown but Chiefs better balanced (Fluxy, I’d keep track of Tipuric’s concussion situation). Not a lot in the half backs. Same in the centres with two good pairings. Out wide both Varndell and Sharples are hitting good form. Personally it’s the tactics which help and Chiefs are set up well using their carriers and setting up with their centres well. Think Falcons need slightly more information about how they are going to attack.

Harlequins 24-22 Welsh

FR-Two strong front rows, I like both set ups but think Quins could just get the edge in the scrum.
SR-Strong physical unit for Welsh, they'll get a nudge on around the breakdown and carrying. Quins have the better line out options in the pack though (good backrow options for Welsh) and Ward can go a little astray.
BR-Quins with the slight edge I think although Welsh will do well at the breakdown. One thing for CJ is the flanks are a little lightweight but he gets away with it a little with the nasty engine room.
HB-Not a whole lot in the halfbacks with recent form I don't think. Pienaar and TD the names but evened up with form.
CE-Very route one for Quins, could do with a bit of flair, I think Steve would get away with this combo with Cooper(back soon?). Decent combo for Welsh, could just do with a class act in there.
B3-Just a little more in each position for Quins, Welsh steady and Nadolo gives a bit of x factor.
Overall-Quins just have a touch more. It's been mentioned before but CJ needs a bit of top draw in the backline somewhere, he's getting closer but it's a tough start for him.

Irish 26-23 Northampton

FR-Both units have issues at TH with not the strongest scrummagers, I expect both LH's to get on top.
SR-Again not too much in the engine rooms, Lauch lacking a bit of form makes it a good contest and both holding line out ball.
BR-Irish a bit stronger on the flanks and at the breakdown, 8's pretty even. Both good outfits, prefer Manoa in the backrow.
HB-Irish a step up in both half back positions. Ford kicking well from the tee but Bigger playing well and has bit more.
CE-Irish again set out a little better. Saints have plenty of pace but miss a strong defensive option 10-13. Daly is a weakness at 13 imo.
B3-Not much in the back 3's, good contest. Irish a bit stronger at FB. Goneva/Cummins would be a cracking match up.
Overall-Prop looking to target Saints centres would work well. Irish have enough in the starting 15 to get the win although a good bench from Saints will get them back in it

Sale 30-25 Wasps

FR-Sale a bit stronger and will get a tiny nudge in the scrum. McGrath can be got at a bit but Malherbe not a great scrummager so pretty even there. Sale TH/HK strong.
SR-Interesting match up. AWJ the best lock on show but can't see Wasps getting much on won ball with Youngs throwing and no real line out option, this is a problem area for them. A good line out lock alongside AWJ would be perfect. Wasps a bit better around the park.
BR-Good balance for Sale, nice unit. Wasps a bit off balance for me. Vahaamahina is not the most mobile and can be got at in the backrow, Steffon not really working at 8 imo.
HB-The 2 best HB combo's in the game. Both 9's not in the best of form but still better than most in the game.
CE-A little edge for Wasps at 12 and more for Sale at 13. Decent combo's.
B3-A few form issues for both sides. Yarde really struggling but up against Roko should be ok.
Overall-I think this one is won in the pack. Wasps match Sale in the backline but lose out a bit in the line out and backrow. Some good grunt for Wasps engine room but they need a leader and some balance in the backrow to win away against a firing Sale.

Newcastle 26-24 Exeter

FR-Good match up, some strong recent form for Falcons unit gives them a slight edge and Thorn locking up helps.
SR-2 very good units, line out battle would be fantastic. Can't split.
BR-4 7's on show is odd but evens out. Exeter a bit more with Faletau the class act on show.
HB-One a piece but Farrell the best player on show. Good contest.
CE-JD the class player on show and really makes that Falcons backline tick, just gives them the edge.
B3-Exeter the better unit on show, Falcons steady but miss a bit of spark.
Overall-Really tight game, both sides looking strong during the 4N. Falcons at home just have enough but really hard to split.

Bath 18-19 Saracens 

Not a lot between these sides at set piece time but feel Sarries that bit more capable at the breakdown. Bit more spark from the Bath half backs but off slower ball struggle to set the tempo. 

---

Harlequins 26-22 London Welsh


Another one where the set piece is tight but feel Quins can have the better of the breakdown battle. Good form at 10 for both but more help for Myler from 9 and better ball sees them win.

---

London Irish 24-20 Northampton Saints


Scrum edge for Saints but Irish have the better of the breakdown. Good form in the half backs but Irish the more proven combo. Saints take the midfield battle but back three a lot tighter. Extra experience of the Irish halfbacks sees them win out.

---

Gloucester 20-22 Leicester

Little more at the lineout for Glaws but not a lot between the packs elsewhere. Halfbacks as combos evens. Tigers edge midfield battle. Not sure on May at fullback defensively. Good conditions see the Tigers backs play the better rugby.

---

Newcastle 18-20 Exeter

Front 5s even but theres more about the Chiefs back row in each shirt. Half backs one a piece, strong midfield from Falcons but back three edges to Chiefs. Back row advantage gives Chiefs great away win.

---

Bath 30 - 26 Saracens
More form from that Bath team, I do like the Sarries pack but can't really remember the last time Steyn had a decent game and that is just beginning to hurt Sarries now in the more open running conditions. Wet weather will change that though for their halfbacks. Bath's backline in fantastic form in real life and prefer their bench - not sure if kicking at Wade is the best tactic, unless you have a giant winger and that could get the speedster some joy and tries!

Quins 26 - 24 London Welsh
Steve has a fantastic pack in these conditions, a lot of good form, power and will have a very good set piece. Although CJ has his tactics spot on and is targeting the right areas I can't quite see his pack getting equal footing, whichis really needed to win away from home. The impact bench from Welsh will bring them close near the end though.

Gloucester 22 - 21 Leicester Tigers
This one is one of the closest of the week, Tigers would win this if the conditions were not as good to play running rugby and that suits Gloucester's game more. Tigers have a massive front five, but not the most mobile, which could make playing at a high tempo a bit harder - if they stick to a power game, with possession and ball carrying it is far better for them. More mobile pack and home advantage see Gloucester win by the narrowest of margins.

Sale 23 - 23 Wasps
Two teams very evenly matched across the park, few more match winners in the Wasps team but again can't quite see them getting the away victory and getting Cruden back to play does make a difference with Sexton out injured and not having the best form in France prior to that. Would prefer to see Eastmond at no12 for Sale when at home as he's form centre in the AP right now.

Newcastle Falcons 33 - 31 Exeter Chiefs
Another close game this week, can see both teams getting a try bp when you see who they have in their backthrees, Chiefs do well to plan to go on the offensive, while the Falcons tactics of aggressive defence can see them capitalise on any mistakes. If Chiefs were at home they'd win, but Falcons do well to hold on in a high scorer!

Bath 25 - 24 Saracens (Robinson is Oz Squad CJB. Only just noticed myself)
Irish 27 - 28 Saints
Gloucester 25 - 27 Leicester
Sale 29 - 28 Wasps
Newcastle 22 - 23 Exeter

Quins 27-22 Welsh
Prefer the experienced front row of Quins. Not much in the second rows but the Quins back row is one of my favourites and think it can get on top. Welsh could enjoy some success at the breakdown. One each in the half backs but do not think Claasens is good enough for the league. Quins have the outside backs to take advantage of the pack.

Irish 23-24 Saints
Prefer the Saints front five. Both back rows are very strong but it's a slight edge to Irish, overall the edge in the forwards to Saints. Half backs are about even for me. Outside backs are about even, centres could be key here. Saints have incredible set of subs to bring on and I think this clinches a huge away win.

Gloucester 27-27 Tigers
Tigers have the stronger front row. I think Taofifuena is the standout weakness in second row but not much in it. Gloucester has the stronger back row. One each in the half backs. Great outside backs from Tigers are very dangerous. Gloucester do have home advantage and a really strong bench. Too hard to separate: draw

Sale 28-25 Wasps
Difficult to split front rows, maybe tiny edge to Sale. One each in the second row. Think the Sale back row has more about is but the pack of Wasps will nick a few turnovers. Sale have the advantage in both half back spots but more dangerous outside backs from Wasps.

Newcastle 24-26 Exeter
Bit more in the Newcastle front row, one each in the second row. Exeter back row looks really strong here and think it can dominate; setting a great platform for them. One each in halfbacks with slight edge to Exeter for me. Not much in the outside backs.

Quins 27-22 Welsh

Quins pack in RC up there with saints as best.
Front row and second row to Quins.

Woodcock Afoa and Brits is dynamite. Cudmore and Timani big but I think Cudmore is not what he was and the 2 together mean welsh have no lineout bar vito and front ball. Vito a top lineout option.

Prefer Quins backrow as a unit with gorgodze and wood a great pair. Easter a weakness

Welsh take half backs but outside that Quins have form. In the rain welsh would make this a battle. As is Quins take it easily but welsh compete

Bath 28 - 24 Sarries
Irish 25 - 30 Saints
Gloucester 22 - 24 Tigers
Sale 29 - 29 Wasps
Falcons 24 - 24 Chiefs

ChequeredJersey wrote:Bath 28 - 24 Sarries
Irish 25 - 30 Saints
Gloucester 22 - 24 Tigers
Sale 29 - 29 Wasps
Falcons 24 - 24 Chiefs

CJ when not posting explanations the rule is the losing margin can only be 1 point. It was introduced last year. Irish will be happy as will I!!

Close game matt. Down to the wire.

anonmattyt wrote:

ChequeredJersey wrote:Bath 25 - 24 Sarries
Irish 29 - 30 Saints
Gloucester 23 - 24 Tigers
Sale 29 - 29 Wasps
Falcons 24 - 24 Chiefs

CJ when not posting explanations the rule is the losing margin can only be 1 point. It was introduced last year. Irish will be happy as will I!!

You make a good point, sorry I forgot!

LukeLovesLuka wrote:Close game matt. Down to the wire.

Yes luke. Both of us missing big players. Think
You are sneaking it currently I think.

I start slowly every year but come back. usually bottom so better than usual. Dan carter being injured is a
Help. Losing Crotty is not

anonmattyt wrote:

LukeLovesLuka wrote:Close game matt. Down to the wire.

Yes luke. Both of us missing big players. Think
You are sneaking it currently I think.

I start slowly every year but come back. usually bottom so better than usual. Dan carter being injured is a
Help. Losing Crotty is not

Can't wait for end of AI's. You me and Pete alike.

It's just gonna get worse for me! Lol

ChequeredJersey wrote:It's just gonna get worse for me! Lol

You have made your side better. Tough for teams at bottom but gap
Has levelled more. In past was one sided

Essentially looking forward to the AIs and hoping PSA continues to hate on FTH

FTH in France squad CJ. Personally think he is a top 10. 

Carter barret Farrell sexton FTD pollard in no particular order

Bold statement having Pollard in the mix after so few tests Matt.

Steve would not have pollard in there. No idea why he was posted in there.

No doubt he will be but way to early. Disregard please !!!

Might be looking for a loan or back up 10 then!

ChequeredJersey wrote:It's just gonna get worse for me! Lol

Don't worry it appears I'm going to be with you fella!