Aviva Premiership Round Nine

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Bath Rugby v Harlequins 
Location - Recreation Grounds
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 13mph E Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Ben Tameifuma
04. Luke Romano	11. Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Christian Lealifano
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Luke Wallace	14. George North
08. Liam Messam	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16. Tom Dunn 17. Peter Dooley 18. Jake Cooper Woolley 19. Sam Whitelock  20. Siya Kolisi 21. George De Cothi 22. Darren Cave 23. Sitiveni Sivivatu


Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby. Look to overwhelm Quins in the loose. We will play a high tempo and really look to get some big carries in. We feel we have a real advantage in the set piece so look to real attack of this. 

Scrum: Look for our unit to set a strong platform. Our props have been well rotated so will be fresh. 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 Romano, Messam, SOB 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. Look to compete on the opposition throw as we have a great number of options. Try and starve them of quality ball from the lineout. 

Breakdown: The breakdown is an area we really see ourselves as able to dominate. We will look to get men to the breakdown quickly and clear out so Sean O'Brien and Luke Wallace can try and disrupt opposition ball. 

Defence: Blitz Defence looking to really put pressure on the Quins decision makers. Try to stop the ball from getting to the centres. Focus on gain line collisions and driving back in the tackle. FDP to sweep in behind. 

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. FDP 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 Tameifuma, Kitchener, Haywood, Healy and SOB will try and wear down defences by looking for gaps. The likes of Wade, North and De Allende will be looking for gaps created that they can exploit. Look to counter attack kicks if possible. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Look for chances to offload. 

Kicking: Hodgson 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. LLF, Hogg 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.

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Schalk Brits (C)	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Jack Nowell
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Jamie Gibson	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Colin Slade 23. Robbie Henshaw

Damien Chouly - This will be his 6th start for club or country in 11 possible games.

Tactics

Game Plan

In the Bath half we are going to look for our forwards to take them on up front. We will look to get forward momentum around the fringes and off 9 before using carriers of 10 and 12 to tie in Bath defenders before we spread the ball into the wider channels and get it into the hands of Joseph and our back three. Our carriers will not be static but will take the ball at pace with the aim of winning the collision and keeping the legs pumping in contact to get us across the gain line. We will carry in numbers so that the offload is always an option or so that we can recycle quick ball.  

One aim for today is to drag Bath into a dog fight up front and use our big, experienced pack to hurt them and gain possession.

Inside our own half we are going to look to use good tactical kicking from 9, 10 and 12 to control territory and play the game in Bath's half. Pienaar, Myler and Hernandez will look to kick to space and will look to use the cross kick to Wades wing where Huget can challenge for the ball. We will look to kick to space or to the touch line as we have a very strong line out with our back 5 all highly accomplished line out forwards and will look to put huge pressure on Kitchener and the Bath line out as we feel we can get some joy here.

Set Piece

Really look to target the Bath line out. Look to mark their jumpers man for man and put real pressure on Haywood and later on the inexperienced Tom Dunn. On our own line out we will look to maul to gain territory using our size. At the scrum look to milk any advantage we have for penalties and points.

Defence

We really want to drag Bath into a dog fight up front as we feel this is an area we can gain areal advantage. We want to legally slow down as much ball as we can through effective rucking and getting the first man to the breakdown. We will also look to employ the choke tackle to regain possession and halt Bath's momentum.

We will employ a quick line speed from out to in with Joseph setting the speed. We will look to put pressure on Bath's key decision makers and decide whether we are going for the big hit if its on or the chop tackle to try to get the first man over the ball.

Key Points

Win the battle up front - We will look to use our pack to rough Bath up and get them going backwards early on. We have a big, experienced, heavy pack which we want to put and imprint on the game early on.

Field position - We have picked a 9, 10, 12, 15 axis which has a superb kicking game so that we can play this game in Bath's half of the field. Using the tactic of putting Huget up against Christian Wade on box kicks and cross-field kicks as well as putting huge pressure on Bath's line out we hope to really control the field position during the game.

Tie in Bath defenders - Patiently use our forwards to tie in Bath defenders and get us quick ball before we unleash JJ and out back 3 when they have more space.

Keep the scoreboard ticking over - In JMH we have the master of the drop goal. When we have stalled our momentum he will drop into the pocket at take 3. As well as kicking all points on offer we really want to build scoreboard pressure from the off.

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Exeter Chiefs v Saracens 
Location - Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 13 Degrees, 16mph E Winds

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Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Richard Barrington	09. Connor Murray
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Toby Flood
03. James Johnston
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Kane Douglas	12. Ian Madigan
06. Michael Paterson	13. Luther Burrell
07. Yannick Nyanga	14. David Strettle
08. Carl Fearns	15. James O'Connor

16. Dimitri Szarzewski 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Tomas Lavanini 20. Donnacha Ryan 21. Chris Cook 22. Camille Lopez 23. Richard Kahui

General Game plan

Fast paced game based around high intensity in defence, offloading, and dynamic carrying and rucking. We won't look to get into too much of an arm wrestle with with the big Sarries side. Hence the selection of strong, but mobile back five to our pack, where Paterson has played for his previous sides, Hurricanes, Cardiff Blues and Sale Sharks. His dynamism and clever hands fits the game plan this week, of looking to move the point of attack in the forwards to prevent the Sarries jackals from slowing down our possession.
The aim is to control possession and go through the phases. Flood will look to play flat and look to get our back line into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout. Madigan outside him will help dictate play and his defence along with Burrell have proven to be stern all season.
Big point is to match them man for man, in our style of play. We won't play their game plan, and at Sandy Park, Sarries will be forced to play at our pace, which will be a struggle for most of their slow lumbering front five. 

Set piece - Control the set piece and use it to restart our game plan and create point of attacks. Paterson to marshal the line-out and get quick ball from our dynamic jumpers. At the scrum we’ll look to squeeze JdP on their put in, but on ours look for a quick hook from Yeandle, who has had a strong season thus far, and look to avoid being driven backwards. Although we have some big weight with JJ and Tui anchoring the scrum.

Pack & Breakdown - Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition defence to create overlaps for our backs. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on - keeping the likes of Clark and Mowen off the deck, and their big guys on the move which will knacker them out! Our back-five 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 will look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot. 

Defence - Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow our back-row to dominate affairs. The big carriers are obvious so we'll look to double on the likes of SBW and Hughes, and chop them to the deck as early as possible to prevent them to generate momentum and Nyanga the oppurtunity to jackle. Using the 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. Nyanga will also look to target the opposition fly half early on and pressure his kicking, and cut off any passing to his backs and force Steyn to kick aimlessly.

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


Key Points

Home Advantage - Sandy Park is one of the hardest places to come and play. We won't want to kick the ball away, and Sarries can't score any points without the ball. 
Scrum & Line-out – Target throughout, if weakness seen heap pressure and generate penalties. Barrington to exploit JdP and pile in on him with Yeandle. 
Quick Rucks - with their big pack we will look to set rucks quickly and keep their pack on the move to tire them out. As well as to keep moving the point if attack with ball in hand with clever offloads and pops to keep Sarries guessing and on the move. 
Physicality & Dynamism – Win the collision and target rucks to drive through opposition. We have a physical and dynamic pack. Supported by some high energy forwards off the bench and Burrell and Strettle
Targets in Defence - SBW not quite up to scratch for Sarries atm, so we will want exploit his positioning and concentration in defence. Flood will try to angle runners off his weaker shoulder to break the line. Similarly we will want exploit the defence of both wingers, when we generate two on ones.
Breakdown – The pack to be clever and identify when to compete at the ruck or filter into the defensive. When the chance arrives the back five 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. 
Backs – Classy running options and two of the most prolific finishers in the AP in Strettle & Varndell, so they we will get the ball in their hands and they will take any opportunity. JOC to counter attack when possible with Steyn and Parra kicking to him and the a lot.
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. Unless ten metres from the line then we kick for the line-out.

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Keven Mealamu	10. Morne Steyn
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Bradley Davies	11. Zak Guildford
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Ben Mowen(c)	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Callum Clark	14. Chris Ashton
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Xavier Chiocci 18. Dan Cole 19. Louis Deacon 20. Thierry Dusatoir 21. Henry Taylor 22. Malakai Fekitoa 23. Tom Taylor

Tactics:

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

SLOW GAME DOWN, TARGET EXETER BACKROW - We'll look to take advantage of the slight imbalance of the Exeter backrow (Has Paterson played 6 in this game, has he played 6 in real life?) and get at the breakdown. We'll also look to target Fearns at the back of the scrum and his control as again it's not his usual position. Numerous breakdown specialists to attempt to slow/steal ball and counter against Exeter.

SCRUM ADVANTAGE- Look to target the Exeter scrum from the off and keep the ball in if weakness seen. We'll look for the big push when the ball is put in and catch Yeadle whilst attempting to hook, driving over the ball. We have a extremely strong starting and bench scrummaging outfit with Davies/Flip/Deacon renowned scrummaging locks.

TARGET 10/12/13 defence – Look to get big runners through the midfield channels and target individuals/gaps. SBW to test out the 10/12 channel with Ashton etc running angles looking for the offloads. We'll look to keep the tempo up and move through the opposition midfield.

TARGET KICKING GAME– Look to dominate the kicking game and put pressure on opposition line out

PARRA/STEYN COMBO - Perfect combo to dictate play and keep us playing in right area. Steyn/BoschParra give us a deadly place kicking option and we will take all points on offer to kill off the game.


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/Cole/Mowen etc a chance to slow down/steal ball. Put pressue on SH's basics and force him into errors, Mowen the expert here. 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 SBW on his shoulder. Huge carrying backrow to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. SBW/Bosch to run angles off the 9/10, allowing us gain line breakers. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Ashton will look to track the midfield combo and get the end of SBW's little offloads in contact. Guildford to keep things honest and come looking for work.

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Leicester Tigers v London Wasps
Location - Welford Road
Light Cloud, 10 Degrees, 12mph E Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Stephen Moore (c)	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Nathan Hines	11. Rene Ranger
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Tamati Ellison
06. JMF Lobbe	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Francois Louw	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Sean Maitland

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16. Agustin Creevy 17. Harry Rudkin 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. Pascal Pape 20. Jacques Burger 21. Micky Young 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Ugo Monye

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.

- 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 - Front row of Franks, Moore and Jenkins to look to really get the shove on, particularly targeting the Wasps James/Youngs channel.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Hines or Lobbe at the front and Myall off the top as our three key options.
Shortened lineouts with Waldrom in midfield as crash or decoy option.

- Gigantic XV made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Wasps defence. Primarily using Waldrom, Basteraud and Moore, plus the likes of Louw, Hines, Lobbe and Ranger to get us over the gainline. Add to that the likes of Pape, Creevy and Burger off the bench.

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

- Look to win battle at the breakdown - Louw and Lobbe, supported by the likes of Bastareaud, to really look to get into the breakdown and give Wasps problems.

- In attacking play, 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. Fotuali'i to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

Burns to kick all penalties.

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 Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213     
              

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Tom Youngs	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Euan Murray
04. Romain Millo-Chluski	11. Bryan Habana
05. Sebastien Vahaamahina	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Fulgence Ouedraogo	13. Henry Slade
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Tim Nanai-Williams
08. Jerome Kaino	15. Delon Armitage

16. Harry Thacker 17. Ben Moon 18. Fraser Balmain 19. Matt Symons 20. Rynhardt Elstadt 21. Sebastien Tillous-Borde 22. Paul Jordaan 23. Robbie Freuan


Basic Game Plan
In dry conditions we will be looking to play a possession based, high intensity, offloading game.  We will get runners on the ball carriers shoulder and look to offload just before or in the tackle.  If the offload is not on we will take the tackle and recycle the ball quickly, going through the phases and keeping possession.

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

Specifics 

• Kicking Game..  When we kick we will aim to find touch as deep as possible in Tigers territory and force them to throw into the lineout close to their own line, where we will use Vahaamahina and Ouedraogo to target the ball and attempt to steal.
  
• Lineout. We will mix it up, but essentially want to play quick off the top.
  
• Scrum. Look to get the ball in and out quickly and play using the pace and power of Armitage and Kaino off the back to make ground and get on the front foot.  If we can get a nudge on we will look to exploit it and gain a psychological advantage, and to that end our primary focus will be Euan Murray attempting to legitimately split Moore and Corbisiero by getting low driving straight through.  Millo-Chluski will pack down on the tighthead side to assist this process, and if required Kaino will pack down on the flank on that side and will stay down and shove.
  
• 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.
  
• Attack Specifics. Carriers to target specific potential weaknesses, so big heavy carriers to look to go through Burns, pacier guys to look to isolate players like Hines, Waldrom, Bastareaud, and get on the outside shoulder to try to gas them.
  
• Game Time Issues  AI players are as follows.  Cruden - played 1 game for the AB's in the AI's and 6 games in 10 weeks for me prior to that.  Kaino - played 2 games in the AI's and started 4 games in 10 weeks for me before that.  James - played 2 out of 3 in the AI's (didn't play a full 80 minutes in either) and started 4 out of 10 games for me prior to that.  Smith - 2 out of 3 in the AI's and 1 start for me in 10 weeks prior to that.  Habana - 3 out 3 in the AI's, but started 0 games for me so far this season.  There is no way at this stage of the season that any of these guys would be fatigued with those workloads.
  

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London Irish v Gloucester 
Location - Madejski Stadium
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 11mph E Winds

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 London Irish
Manager – Prop
TOM COURT NAMED TWICE. BENCH MAN SHORT.

01. Tom Court	09. Lee Dickson
02. Ken Owens	10. Owen Williams
03. Henry Thomas
04. Jacques Poitgeiter	11. Nick Cummins
05. Devin Toner	12. Alapati Leuia
06. Tom Savage	13. Conrad Smith
07. Scott Higginbotham	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Kelly Brown	15. Rob Cook

:-
16. Marc Jones 17. 18. Will Collier 19. Dean Mumm 20. Jon Fisher 21. Rory Kockott 22. Luke McAlister 23. Brice Dulin

Tactics

Recent Results: We have had a good run of results in the cups recently and came away from the Rec with a shock draw so we are high in confidence at the moment and looking to impose  ourselves at home and make the Madjeski a fortress for the rest of the season.

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.

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. Higginnbotham 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 Glos 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: Williams will stand flat initially to give Leuia and our pack runners the chance to get over the gainline. Dickson 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 look at Leuia to get over the gainline and Smith to pull the strings and find the gaps for our the strong runners, if it is not on and the wind is lowing in our advantage then we will look for deep kicks to go off  the field and put pressure on their lineouts.. 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 especially being able to bring on Mumm, McAlister and Dulin who will all make inroads against tired defences and be able to pull the strings to make the gaps available.

Defence: We also know how good the Glos centres are so will look to prevent them offloading the ball by double tackling him. We will look to blitz in their 10’s face allowing Williams the opportunity to drop back and cover with Cook for any kicks ahead. We will defend inside-out and spread the line. Bell is a strong defender and we will use this to our advantage to prevent anything going out wide.

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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 Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Steenkamp	09. Robson
02. Gray	10. Cipriani
03. Mas
04. Gray	11. Gear
05. Tamofuina	12. Carter
06. Alberts	13. Kurindrani
07. Salvi	14. Walker
08. Heaslip	15. Dagg

16 Wood 17 LCD 18 Figallo 19 Robson 20 Palu 21 Perenara 22 Juan De Jongh 23 Rhule

TARGET BREAKDOWN– We have a big mobile physically stronger bunch and will hit rucks with venom. We will Send numbers in and try and effect turnovers or Disrupt ball.we believe the likes of  Heaslip Gray tamofuina Alberts Salvi and Steenkamp has physicality and the power to swamp their backrow.Backed by our  front 5 and this is an area we will flood.

TARGET 9 10 channel- Get our big runners in to the channel and look to get in behind. 

Half backs- Robson in top form will look to threaten around the ruck but his job is to give it to cips who will dictate. 
Cips Will challenge line and kick When necessary. We want to play high tempo and Off front foot vl. We will do this by using runners off ten to smash holes and look to flood.

General- We've selected a team packed with power and physicality. We Have a lot more carriers in the pack and will use this to dominate and get front foot ball. We believe this  will give is the upper hand. We will use this to sap Irish energy. We see them struggling with our power. When its on we will play an offloading game. When in behind We will Flood through with our quick Backs targeting mismatches

Line out– We have options galore in Gray tamofuina Alberts heaslip etc and will use this to disrupt. On our ball we will mix It but as game progresses go Off The top more To Get in to there backline 

Kicking options - with Cips Dagg and carter we have great options to dominate kicking game when needed and also have fantastic options for exiting when under pressure. See Irish as reliant on williams so will look to charge down

Defence- Blitz defence with high intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player if the ball hits the deck. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Bench- Game changing bench with More ball carriers and attacking backs. Our intention is to use it as required

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London Welsh v Northampton Saints
Location - Kassam Stadium
Thick Cloud, 11 Degrees, 12mph ESE Winds

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 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. Nathan Catt	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
02. Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. George Skivington	11. Napoliono Nadolo
05. Sitaleki Timani	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Casey Laulala
07. John Barclay	14. Aseili Tikoirituma
08. Victor Vito	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Matt Rees 17. David Kilcoyne 18. Oliver Tomaszczyk   19. Jamie Cudmore    20. Tom Guest 21. Ben Spencer  22. Jordan Turner-Hall 23. Jesse Mogg

Tactics

As usual we will focus on winning the breakdown, with Ward and Barclay acting in tandem, supported by the rest of the pack where necessary, only committing the numbers we need to allow the rest to be options in attack or defence until an opportunity to turn over comes along. Aside from the inexperienced Jones, Saints are a backrow more suited to tackling than jackaling and rely on Launchbury, whom we shall take out of the breakdown equation by targeting his carries specifically as turnover ball and targeting him as a tackler to ensure he isn't at the ruck.

In attack, we will build slow ball with driving mauls and carries in groups from our pack, crash balls off 10 and a high, chased kicking game.

Faster ball will be spun wide with FTH attacking the line and standing flat and Godwin and Pennell as second distributors. Laulala and the inside ball to our carriers in the pack and the blindside winger will be used as a primary phase 1 run, then using our fetchers we will recycle the ball for our wave 2 runners of the backrow, Godwin and the open wing. Lots of work coming into the line by the back 3. If they try to blitz us, we have kickers at 9, 10, 12 and 15 to chip and grubber through and the two wave approach is ideal for countering the blitz.

Look to send AJ, Vito and Timani at their wingers with the ball down the blind side of rucks to really test their physical and mental mettle and look to break the tackle and offload into support. Support is vital and part of Ward and Barclay's role

We will chase all kicks, run them back where possible and take on all points on offer. Kicks will be high and for possession which we will aim to dominate.

Our scrum will look to target Spurling and pop him up on Saint ball. On our ball we will get it out as quickly as we can, and use it to send Vito and AJ on a run at Simpson and Evans.

Our lineout will see us attack Spurling by competing for every ball and denying them the front, testing his longer range. We will keep to simple ball off the top with Skivs calling.

Defence- we will viciously target Nev to deny him space and put him off his game as Sarries do. AJ will look to target him with physical hits. We will also cut off his service by having Vito shackle Simpson's space and pressurise his occasionally dodgy passing. Otherwise narrow blitz defence led by Laulala, aggressive at the ruck fringes and TKB sweeping.

Subs- impact bench with returning international stars

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 Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Scott Spurling	10. Nick Evans(k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Jordan Williams
05. Jonny Gray	12. Matt Giteau (c)
06. Samo Manoa	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Jones	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Foden

:-
16. Elliott Dee 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Sam Twomey 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Gareth Davies 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Julian Savea

Tactics:
Looking to get back to winning ways away to London Welsh, so we've picked a team that will be strong at the setpiece to secure our backs go forward ball and a subs bench to up the ball carrying and impact in the second half as defences begin to tire. We will look to go on the offensive from the off and play the game at a high tempo and get the likes of Manoa, Vunipola, Tuilagi and Goneva over the gainline to create space to exploit.

Pack/Setpiece:
Domingo and Herrera have been selected to start the game, so that we have two strong scrummagers on the pitch and build a strong platform for the halfbacks. We will look to pressure the Welsh scrum. In the second half we will bring on Mako and Logi to play a more expansive ball carrying style to up the pressure in the final quarter. We've selected four lineout options and will look to go to the back for quick off the top ball to let our backs attack.

Attack/Kicking Game:
We are confident our set piece and pack can secure us a good attacking platform, we are going to put pace and width on the ball to stretch the Welsh defence and get our big runners over the gainline. We aim to tire down the Welsh defence and make them put in a lot of tackles and suck players into the tackle area, so we can then spread the ball out wide and look for tries.

Evans and Giteau to dictate where we play the game and have the kicking game to pin back London Welsh when it is needed.

Breakdown:
We want quick ball and with our big ball carriers we expect to get some forward momentum at the breakdown, we will attack this area aggressively to secure our own ball and clear out the Welsh players. In Launchbury, Gray and Manoa we have a very mobile pack to help Jones here. On Welsh ball we will look for turnover ball when it is on.


Defence:
We will look to play an aggressive defence with fast line speed and closing down the London Welsh attacking options, we will try and force them to kick the ball to our back three, or put big hits in that force mistakes and handling errors. Simpson will sweep behind the defensive line.

Key Points:
* Strong setpiece and pack that is vital to get an away win.
* Attack London Welsh and place the home team under pressure defensively from the off with our big ball carriers in the pack and backline.
* Win the possession and territory game with Evans and Giteau controlling the game.
* Impact bench to up the tempo in final quarter and go looking for tries.
* Herrera has been on the bench for Argentina the last 2 games and Jonny Gray was used mainly as a substitute by Saints prior to the AIs so they will both be fresh to play, but both will be taken off around the 55minute mark.

---

---

Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks
Location - Kingston Park
Light Cloud, 10 Degrees, 13mph SE Winds

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Driver

01. Matt Stevens	09. Dave Lewis
02. George McGuigan	10. Andy Goode
03. Carl Hayman
04. Brad Thorn	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Francia Sailli
06. Dave Ewers	13. Charles Pitatau
07. Will Fraser	14. Cory Jane
08. Immanol Harinordoquy	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.Dane Coles 17.Tonga'Uhia 18.Luc Ducalon 19.Ed Slater 20.Kieron Read 21.Greig Laidlaw 22.Gareth Anscombe 23.Jean De Villers

---

 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Semesa Rokoduguni
05. Christian Day	12. Anthony Allen
06. Steven Luatua	13. George Pisi
07. Matt Todd	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Jared Payne

:-
16. Jack McGrath 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Matt Garvey 20. Sam Cane 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Johnny Sexton 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.

- AI Appearances. Retalick (subbed at half time in one), Care, McGrath, Sexton & Eastmond = 2 starts 
Barrett, Roko, Gilroy, Payne, Cane = 1 start. 

- 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. Barrett 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 & Barrett. 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 Todd fetching for the ball, supported by the rest of the pack when needed. We will always look to turn the ball over.

---

I was excited for about 3 predictions there...

Bath Rugby 22 Harlequins 21
Exeter Chiefs 20 Saracens 19
London Irish 18 Gloucester 19
London Welsh 21 Northampton Saints 22
Newcastle Falcons 20 Sale Sharks 20

Bath Rugby 25 - 25 Harlequins

A good contest up front, with Quins and Bath about even blow for blow. Quins just edge the line out, and have a slightly better effect upon the breakdown. Two good little sets of halfbacks who will look to control the game. Both back lines look funnily a little similar, but play differently. Bath will use their backs with ball in hand as they have real electricity in their attack play. Whereas on the other hand Quins will look to put Bath back in their 22 using the boot and creating in Bath half. Too tough for me to split this one, as both benches are good. 

Leicester Tigers 28 - 30 Wasps

Both relatively even up front, allowing the backs to influence the game with decent spells of possession. Wasps have more intent with the ball to play in the right areas of the pitch with the control in the spine of their side. Fotuali and Burns are a little more loose in this aspect but can spark break for their back line to score tries. In the end it comes down to the scoreboard and Wasps have a slightly more reliable and accurate goal kicker to help them edge a big away win. 

London Welsh 22 - 24 Northampton Saints

Welsh make a tough game of it for a much changed Saints side. Saints have some very promising combinations, but they come up against a side who will make the breakdown a real battle and slow down their possession to a real stand still. For me Welsh halfbacks help dictate the pace and play for the game, but Saints have a much bigger in the midfield and out wide to just push them to a win. 

London Irish 21 - 25 Gloucester

Irish are unlucky to go one man down which puts them at a slight disadvantage asking a prop to carry on for a full 80 mins. Irish are strong in the back row to slow up the glaws game. the Carter Cipriani axis is a good little creativity combo which allow Kuridrani to cause havoc. I like the Dickson Williams axis as they keep Irish in the game throughout. However, the ability in Gloucester's back three allows them to edge Irish out at home.  

Newcastle Falcons 20 - 24 Sale Sharks

Falcons are a good unit, but come up against a strong Sharks unit as well. Sale edge the back row for me at the minute, although I like the combo for Falcons. Great ability in the Sale back line, but some lads have been lacking form recently. Falcons have great ability throughout, but look a little rudderless at the minute with a limited game plan. Sale to edge it slightly, but Falcons aren't far away from upsetting the Sharks.

Just doing results as I know SJE is busy with work presently.

Back to back away wins. Happy with that.

Likewise. I've taken 10 points from this block of 3 games, with two of them away from home. Very happy with that.

Blast another draw! Drawn more games than won games in the league!

Better than losing though mate, and you are handily placed for a play off push.

True, but I will be a mess come the Six Nations I imagine. Hence I'm looking to bring in some SH blood before then.

doing better than just one draw fluxy!!

Fkuxy don't worry about the 6Nations - at least you'll have a team to put out, I'm not sure if I will...

Can't help but feel I needed to win at least one more game this AIs whilst you all had players away...

Cheers Pete! Was an exam day today unfortunately 

How's you get on? I thought you'd finished?

Not yet Pooly! Wasn't too bad. One more to go next week and hopefully finished with them for good then.

Good luck SJE!

Good luck for that one then

Good luck buddy

SirJohnnyEnglish wrote:Cheers Pete! Was an exam day today unfortunately 

No worries buddy, had an operation earlier so am laid up for a couple of days, so plenty of time on my hands.

Deals!

Ozzy3213 wrote:

SirJohnnyEnglish wrote:Cheers Pete! Was an exam day today unfortunately 

No worries buddy, had an operation earlier so am laid up for a couple of days, so plenty of time on my hands.

Have you had to have a Winkle reduction too?

BONUS:

Full: SJE, Steve, Pooly, Luke, Chris, Fluxy
Score: CJ, Prop, CJB, Matt, Ozzy

I didn't write winkle???