Aviva Premiership Round Eleven

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London Irish v London Welsh
Location - Madejski Stadium
Light Cloud, 4 Degrees, 8mph S Winds

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London Irish
Manager - Prop

01. Ben Franks	09. Lee Dickson
02. Ken Owens	10. Dan Biggar
03. Henry Thomas
04. Dean Mumm	11. JP Pieterson
05. Devin Toner	12. Jaime Roberts
06. Kelly Brown	13. Conrad Smith
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Tom Court 18. Will Collier 19. Tom Savage 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Rory Kockott 22. Owen Williams 23. Rob Cook
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. 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 Wasps 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 Roberts 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 Biggar and Smith to pull the strings and find the gaps for our strong runners, if it is not on and the wind is blowing 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 Higginbotham and Franks who will all make an impact against tired defences and with Kockott and Williams be able to pull the strings to make the gaps available.

Defence: Smith, Warburton, Brown, Morgan, Biggar and Roberts have all shown recently how strong they are in defence and making the intiial big impact hit. We also know how good the Wasps centres are so will look to prevent tem offloading the ball by double tackling them. We will look to blitz with Brown in their 10’s allowing Biggar 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. There won't be much of a home advantage for Wasps as it is their first game so this is basically on neutral ground. We have good form coming in after a good draw against a strong Bath team and then back to back high scores against Cardiff Blues who have shown they are no push overs.

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 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
02. Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc(k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Jamie Cudmore	11. Napoliono Nadolo
05. Sitaleki Timani	12. Kyle Godwin
06.  Ashley Johnson	13. Casey Lualala
07. James Haskell c.	14. Mark Cueto
08. Victor Vito	15. Chris Pennell

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16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. Sepoke Kepu   19. George Skivington    20. Ross Rennie  21. Ben Spencer  22. Remi Tales 23. Ross Chisholm
Tactics


As usual we will focus on winning the breakdown, with Ward and Haskell 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. Ward to chase the ball

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, Haskell, 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's role We will also look to engineer one on ones for our wingers, who are powerful runners who also have an outside step, against theirs to really test their weak defence.

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 use quickly. I'd like to see us taking quick lineouts and where possible getting the likes of AJ or Vito in a position to help run it back.

Lineout:  We will keep to simple ball off the top and compete on every opposition throw.

Scrum- use as a restart for attacking ball off the base. If we are struggling, we can shore it up with our sub props.

Defence- blitz led by Laulala, with TKB sweeping and the pack ready to scramble. Fringes kept tight

Huge power in the pack so look to bully and sap their pack with an aggressive physical approach

Overall- sap their pack with mauls
Clever committal to the breakdown
Run it back and attack in 2 phases
Run the ball at their wingers
Chip over the blitz

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Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers
Location - AJ Bell Stadium
Light Cloud, 3 Degrees, 8mph S Winds

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Simon Zebo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Peter O' Mahony	13. George Pisi
07. Matt Todd	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Willie Le Roux

Subs:
16. Jack McGrath 17. David Paice 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Matt Garvey 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Nick Abendanon
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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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Tusi Pisi (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Nathan Hines (c)	11. Matt Banahan
05. Victor Matfield	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. JMF Lobbe	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Francois Louw	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

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16. Stephen Moore 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Tom Johnson 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 Pisi to exploit.

- Big focus to attack at all lineouts. Use Hines or Lobbe at the front and Matfield off the top as our three key options. Shortened lineouts with Waldrom in midfield as crash or decoy option.
Matfield and Hines to look to steal and really give Kayser problems.

- 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, Creevy and Jenkins to look to really get the shove on, particularly targeting the Sale Zira/Kayser channel.

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

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

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

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first receivers in Pisi 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. Fotuali'i to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

Pisi to kick all penalties.

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Bath v Exeter Chiefs
Location - Recreational Grounds
Light Cloud, 5 Degrees, 9mph S Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. James Slipper	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Charlie Faumaunia
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Alexandre Flanquardt	12. Christian Lealifano
06. Liam Messam	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Luke Wallace	14. Nopolini Nalaga
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Mikey Haywood 17. Benn Robinson 18. Jake Cooper Wooley 19. Luke Romano 20. Liam Gill 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Alex Goode 23. Damian De Allende

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby. Look to overwhelm Exeter 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 SOB which he can attack off.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Kitchener, Messam, SOB and Flanquardt  options in the lineout. Flanquardt will run the lineout with Kitchen 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 SOB, Liam Gill and Liam Meszam 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, Slipper, SOB, Hibbard and Messam will try and wear down defences by looking for gaps. The likes of Wade, Nalaga and Campagnaro 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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Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Connor Murray
02. Sean Cronin	10. Camille Lopez
03. Jamie Johnston
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Paul O'Connell (c)	12. Luther Burrell
06. Carl Fearns	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. David Strettle
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O'Connor

16. Dimitri Szarzewski 17. Richard Barrington 18. Mike Ross 19. Michael Paterson 20. Yannick Nyanga 21. Chris Cook 22. Toby Flood 23. Alex Dunbar

General Game plan

Fast paced game based around high intensity in defence, offloading, and dynamic carrying and rucking. We will play a high paced counter punch style of rugby away from home.
When we gain possession our plan is to control attack with quick clean ball be it from set piece or turnover. After that look to control the pace of the game and go through the phases. Lopez will look to play flat and look to get our back line into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.
Big point is to match them man for man, in our style of play. Looking to control the ball for periods will result in frustrating the Sale side giving away penalties for us to capitalise on. 

Set piece - Control the set piece and use it to restart our game plan and create point of attacks. POC to marshal the line-out and get quick ball from our dynamic jumpers. At the scrum Crockett & Cronin will look to get the squeeze on and target Faumaunia, who is prone to the odd collapse of the scrum and look to keep the opposition back row tied into the scrum giving Murray and Lopez more time and space to work in. 

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. 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 will 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. 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. 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 and the back three especially, as they have the pace and finishing ability to worry any defence. Utilise the pace and size of Burrell\AAC to crash through the line, using our 'league/slider move' developed from last season to break the line. AAC/Burrell/Strettle are big quick guys and will be able to mix and match the opposition defence, either catching Lealifiano's weaker inside shoulder on a a run against the grain, or exploiting the concentration of Campagnaro in defence. Or even generate a two on one with JOC joining the back line and providing the extra man to either put a winger away or go himself. 

Key Points

Pressure on the 8-9-10 axis - look to isolate SOB him from his backs and also force him to take up scrappy possession. He hasn't played eight much recently for, so we will look to isolate and turnover possession as well as kill the Bath momentum.  
Scrum & Line-out – Target throughout, if weakness seen heap pressure and generate penalties. Crockett to exploit Faumuania and pile in on him with Cronin. Cronin & POC had a strong period together over the AI's and proved that his darts are more than capable at this level
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 Bath guessing. 
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.
Targets in Defence - Campagnaro is not a renowned defender and small in comparison to our centres, therefore Lopez will try to angle runners off his weaker shoulder to break the line.
Breakdown – 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. Especially targetting Wade and Hogg who can get lost positionally and aren't known for their defending. 
Build a Score - Lopez 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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Gloucester Rugby v London Wasps
Location - Kingsholm
Thick Cloud, 5 Degrees, 10mph S Winds

 Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Wood	09. Perenara
02. Strauss	10. Cipriani
03. Mas
04. Etzbeth	11. May
05. Robson	12. Toomua
06. Alberts	13. Kurindrani
07. Salvi	14. Folau
08. Heaslip	15. Dagg

Subs:
16 Beast 17 Luke Cowan Dickie 18 Ousthuizen  19 Gray 20 Croft 21 Robson 22 Carter 23 Walker

TARGET BREAKDOWN– We have a big mobile physically strong 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 Etzbeth Alberts Salvi and Shas 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. We also want pressure here as Smith has shown he can be got at

Half backs- perenara 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  want to use  our 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 Wasps 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 Etzbeth robson  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 toomua we have great options to dominate kicking game when needed and also have fantastic options for exiting when under pressure.

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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Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213    

01. Joe Marler	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Dave Wilson
04. Alun-Wyn Jones (c)	11. Bryan Habana
05. Sebastien Vahaamahina	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Robbie Freuan
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Anthony Watson
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Tim Nanai-Williams

16. Tom Youngs 17. Paul James 18. Euan Murray 19. Romain Millo-Chluski 20. Marcell Coetzee 21. Ben Youngs 22. Henry Slade 23. Marland Yarde


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 Watson 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.  Smith 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 Irish ball put pressure on through AWJ and Vahaamahina, who are athletic lineout jumpers.
  
• Scrum.  Target Nick Wood. We see him as the weak link in the scrum and Wilson will look to stay square and utilise his power to drive through him.  Kaino will pack down on the tighthead side and stay bound in to add power against him.
  
• 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.  Smith to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  
  

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Harlequins v Northampton Saints
Location - Twickenham Stoop
Light Cloud, 4 Degrees, 7mph S Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Robbie Henshaw
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly	15. Rob Kearney

Subs:
16. Rob Buchanan 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. John Afoa 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Tom Wood 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Jonathan Joseph

Tactics

Game Plan

In the opposition half we are going to play our usual patient balll retention game where we look for our forwards to get us over the gain line and tie in defenders before we unleash our outside backs into the wider spaces. We have deliberately picked players who can get us across the gain line regularly in our pack with TPN and Gorgodze specifically brought into the side for the physicality with they offer around the park. They will look to carry off 9 and 10 taking the ball in pace. Our front 5 and Gorgodze will work in pods of 3 to ensure we have support to the breakdown or to provide an option to offload. Hooper and Chouly will have freedom to carry in the areas they see as most effective so they can have the biggest impact. They will especially be looking to target the midfield of Northampton where we feel we can punch some holes or draw Daly infield to create space out wide. The tempo of our game will be controlled by our half backs who will know when to really speed up our game and when its necessary to slow it all down.

In our own half we will look to get ourselves into the other half of the pitch. We see the dangerous players in the Saints back three but they are much less dangerous facing their own try line in their own half. Pienaar, Myler and Kearney's kicking game will be key to getting territory in the opposition half. We feel if our kick chase is good enough to force the Saints back three into a kicking duel we should come off the better more often than not. It will be important to use a variety of kicks to keep the Saints players guessing.

Defence

We will employ and out to in defence and prevent Ford and Giteau getting the ball into the wider channels where Saints are dangerous. This defence will be lead by Serfontein and Henshaw. We will look to be really physical with their 10/12/13 axis in attack and defence.

Breakdown

Hooper will do his usual job of looking to target the turnover ball in the wide channels with his pace getting him their first. We will look for all of our pack to legally slow the ball down and counter ruck when we have a good defensive line set.

Set Piece

We will look to use the driving line out more that we usually do in this game to tie in the Saints pack and try to get some forward momentum before getting the ball to the backs again looking to isolate Daly and draw him out of position. We will vary between a simple drive and a shift drive to entice the Saints back row to get involved. Botha at the front is a simple option but we will mix it up between our back 5. When we do use a short line, Chouly, Hooper and Serfotein will provide crash ball options with George Ford and Giteau the defenders we want to target.

Key Points

Getting across the gain line - We have picked a side with big carriers and really want to control the collision. With Goneva, Manoa, Fofana, Tuilagi, Hartley and the Vunipola's in the starting line up Saints are deprived of many of their big carriers and have less get out of jail cards in terms of getting across the gain line. We are going to look to be physical from the start in both attack and defence.

Play in the right areas - No messing about. We want to get the ball into the Saints half where they are much less dangerous. Kick to spaces or towards touch. Chase has to be in a line and not staggered to force the Saints back three to kick it back.

Target the Saints midfield - Get Serfontein, Hooper and Chouly running hard at Ford, Giteau and Daly. Get over the gain line, recycle quick ball, exploit the space out wide.  

Stop Saints going wide - Use our out to in defence to stop Saints getting wide easily. Henshaw will lead this defence and Pienaar will sweep behind. We want Ford and Giteau to be trying big, risky, looping passes if they want to get the ball wide.

Get at Simpson -  If we can get to Simpson and stop him getting into a rhythm then we make defence so much easier. This takes time away from Ford and Giteau and allows us to press up from out to in much more effectively. Not giving Saints easy ruck ball is key to this.

Bench We have quite deliberately picked a bench which allows us the option to really open the game up if we are behind. With Cooper and Joseph we can take advantage of the spaces which appear as fatigue sets in.

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. George Ford
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Jonny Gray	11. Julian Savea
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Matt Giteau
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Elliot Daly
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Ben Foden

Subs:
16. Elliot Dee 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Manu Samoa 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Niko Matawulu 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Vereniki Goneva

Tactics:
We've put a strong run together and will look to build on this away at Harlequins. Our game plan is around generating quick ball to get our backline attacking Quins and ensuring we dominate the lineout and the territorial kicking battle. We will play at a high intensity/tempo and keep the ball moving around the park to tire the home team's defence before rolling off the impact sub bench in the final 25/30mins of the game.

Pack/Setpiece:
We've picked a really strong scummaging unit to take the game to Quins, they've picked Brookes to start and we will look to place him under pressure at every scrum, we will also target their hooker to secure penalities at scrum time. The lineout is the area we will look to dominate - we have five excellent jumping options and on our own ball will look to generate quick ball to attack off of. We will target the Quin's hookers throwing at lineout time and use Lawes athleticism to disrupt the home teams set piece. This is an area we feel we can take advantage of. Lot of experience in the pack with Webber, Robshaw, Bonnaire and Parisse all leaders.

Attack/Kicking Game:
We've recalled Giteau to the starting XV as we want to really beat Quins on the tactical kicking front, early on we will look for the corners and seek to test the Quins lineout both defensively and offensively. With our jumping options we see this as a great attacking platform. Our midfleld is full of creativity and off quick ball will look to find ways of bringing our strike runners from the back three into the game, by attacking at speed and bringing both Savea and Bowe off their wings. We also want to target the 12/13 defensive channel of Quins, which is very new and an area we will exploit.

Breakdown:
We will look for Robshaw to play the same game against Hooper as he did over the Autumn, mark him out of the game and slow him down at every opportunity. We have a really mobile pack and will look to support Robshaw in numbers and set up strong defensive lines around the ruck area.


Defence:
As always a really aggressive defence with fast line speed and closing down the Quins halfbacks. We want to force them into mistakes and handling errors. We will have Simpson sweep in behind the defensive line.

Key Points:
* On the back of three wins in a row against Tigers, full of confidence.
* A strong pack that can target the set piece, the lineout is an area we can especially go for in both attack and defence, putting pressure on the Aussie's lineout throwing and with Domingo, Webber and Herrera we will look for penalties come scrum time - again targeting TPN and Brookes.
* Aim to dominate the territorial kicking battle with Ford/Giteau axis, make sure we are in the right areas to pressurise Quins and force the errors - if we get joy in the lineout we will just keep this tactic going.
* Strongest impact bench we've had to finish extremely strongly, we will have played expansive rugby and will look to have tired Quins and then bring on our big ball carriers.

---

---

Newcastle Falcons v Saracens
Location - Kingston Park
Light Cloud, 3 Degrees, 12mph SWS Winds

---

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Nick Phipps
02. Dane Coles	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Brad Thorn	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Geoff Parling	12. Jean De Villiers
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw	14. Charles Piutau
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Rory Best 17.Soane Tonga'huia 18.Matt Stevens 19.Ed Slater 20. David Ewers 21.Greig Laidlaw 22.Gareth Anscombe 23. Rob Miller

Set piece - We have picked a strong set of scrummagers up front, backed up by a strong second row. Particular focus on Chiocci, Hayman has spent plenty of time scrummaging against him in training, and we have selected Thorn to give Hayman maximum help in targeting Chiocci with the shove from the second row, look to work on the channel between loosehead and hooker. We think Mullan can then attack JDP. In the lineout, Parling to call with Thorn and Read as secondary jumpers. Plenty of ball off the top going straight to JDV to run at Foley, who gets hidden at international level. Look to compete on their ball with Parling leading this

Breakdown - Lydiate is in the team to make his chop tackles, we think they will look to use Denton as the primary carrier, aim to chop him down behind the gain line with McCaw immediately going over the ball, similar to how Lydiate and Warburton work for Wales. Denton doesn't tend to offload, so we think he is an ideal target for this tactic. Backed up by Read we think we can get an edge at the ruck.

Kicking - primarily look to keep ball in hand in their half, in ours we have kicking options throughout the back 3 and with JD to take pressure off Farrell. Use grubbers in behind the wings, as well as high balls to test their back 3 with our excellent chasers putting pressure on.

Attack - Phipps to look to snipe whenever the defence over commits, to keep them honest. We will look to target the Foley/Fekitoa channel, with Fekitoa rarely playing 12, look to use JDV's experience and power to tie them in, then give JD and the back 3 a chance to go at Mermoz. Smith to pop up at first receiver at times to give us a 2 sided option in their 22

Bench - a load of carrying options and pace off the bench in Anscombe and Miller. Laidlaw on to help control the game if we are up

Key points

Haymans to go after Chiocci

Target Foley/Fekitoa channel in attack

Lydiate to look to chop Denton down behind the gainline as a primary target for turnovers

---

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Xavier Chiocci	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Bernard Foley
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Louis Deacon	12. Malakai Fekitoa
06. Brad Shields	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Callum Clark	14. Juan Imhoff
08. Dave Denton	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Nick Auterac 18. Tom Francis 19. Julian Pierre 20.  21. Henry Taylor 22. Lee Byrne 23. Tom Taylor

Tactics:

TARGET BREAKDOWN – We're strong in this area we’ll look to target turnover ball and slowing opposition attacks.

General - 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 a chance to slow down/steal ball. Put pressure on SH's basics and force him into errors, Shields 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 runners on his shoulder. Huge carrying backrow to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Midfiels to run angles off the 9/10, allowing us gain line breakers. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Wingers will look to track the midfield combo and get the end of little offloads in contact. Back 3 to keep things honest and come looking for work.

---

Big one against my old club

Pete a big one. Expected rain but forecast great

Let's hope it doesn't rain with your scrummaging options against Petes, could be Bath v Gloucester last week!

Considering tuapisi does not play for me and only 2 scrums were completed in entire game will be hard.

I am sure the likes of beast Strauss and Mas will go ok. If glos had them in real life I would be so happy. 

If glos had one of those world class options we would be a better side and have leadership.

Thanks for your interest though.

I'd hardly call Beast, Strauss or Mas world class options but fair one. Mas is lucky to play game these days, seems constantly crocked.

Still laugh at him getting smashed by Slipper in Aus, Slimani came through and sorted them out. Big fan of Slimani, he's a real powerhouse, bit like Mas used to be like, built as wide as he is tall!

What is for your encore ? I get it you rate none of my players. Luckily others on here understand the game and have valid views.

Not sure why I am your focus ? Were you touched by operation yew tree ? If so counselling can help.

Beast might scrape a top 3 to be fair, it's not been a good season for LH's with Healy, Corbs & Woodcock crocked. I wouldn't say he was a scrummager though, good loose player.

anonmattyt wrote:What is for your encore ? I get it you rate none of my players. Luckily others on here understand the game and have valid views.

Not sure why I am your focus ? Were you touched by operation yew tree ? If so counselling can help.

No issue, just talking rugby on a rugby site.

Team subject to change




 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
02. Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc(k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Jamie Cudmore	11. Napoliono Nadolo
05. Sitaleki Timani	12. Kyle Godwin
06.  Ashley Johnson	13. Casey Lualala
07. James Haskell c.	14. Mark Cueto
08. Victor Vito	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. Sepoke Kepu   19. George Skivington    20. Ross Rennie  21. Ben Spencer  22. Remi Tales 23. Ross Chisholm

Not sure a match thread is the place to be talking down another side. Not sure it should be done at all.

In the interest of balance Mas was outstanding on the weekend. Ruined the Toulouse scrum.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Robbie Henshaw
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly	15. Rob Kearney

Subs:
16. Rob Buchanan 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. John Afoa 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Tom Wood 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Jonathan Joseph

Tactics

Game Plan

In the opposition half we are going to play our usual patient balll retention game where we look for our forwards to get us over the gain line and tie in defenders before we unleash our outside backs into the wider spaces. We have deliberately picked players who can get us across the gain line regularly in our pack with TPN and Gorgodze specifically brought into the side for the physicality with they offer around the park. They will look to carry off 9 and 10 taking the ball in pace. Our front 5 and Gorgodze will work in pods of 3 to ensure we have support to the breakdown or to provide an option to offload. Hooper and Chouly will have freedom to carry in the areas they see as most effective so they can have the biggest impact. They will especially be looking to target the midfield of Northampton where we feel we can punch some holes or draw Daly infield to create space out wide. The tempo of our game will be controlled by our half backs who will know when to really speed up our game and when its necessary to slow it all down.

In our own half we will look to get ourselves into the other half of the pitch. We see the dangerous players in the Saints back three but they are much less dangerous facing their own try line in their own half. Pienaar, Myler and Kearney's kicking game will be key to getting territory in the opposition half. We feel if our kick chase is good enough to force the Saints back three into a kicking duel we should come off the better more often than not. It will be important to use a variety of kicks to keep the Saints players guessing.

Defence

We will employ and out to in defence and prevent Ford and Giteau getting the ball into the wider channels where Saints are dangerous. This defence will be lead by Serfontein and Henshaw. We will look to be really physical with their 10/12/13 axis in attack and defence.

Breakdown

Hooper will do his usual job of looking to target the turnover ball in the wide channels with his pace getting him their first. We will look for all of our pack to legally slow the ball down and counter ruck when we have a good defensive line set.

Set Piece

We will look to use the driving line out more that we usually do in this game to tie in the Saints pack and try to get some forward momentum before getting the ball to the backs again looking to isolate Daly and draw him out of position. We will vary between a simple drive and a shift drive to entice the Saints back row to get involved. Botha at the front is a simple option but we will mix it up between our back 5. When we do use a short line, Chouly, Hooper and Serfotein will provide crash ball options with George Ford and Giteau the defenders we want to target.

Key Points

Getting across the gain line - We have picked a side with big carriers and really want to control the collision. With Goneva, Manoa, Fofana, Tuilagi, Hartley and the Vunipola's in the starting line up Saints are deprived of many of their big carriers and have less get out of jail cards in terms of getting across the gain line. We are going to look to be physical from the start in both attack and defence.

Play in the right areas - No messing about. We want to get the ball into the Saints half where they are much less dangerous. Kick to spaces or towards touch. Chase has to be in a line and not staggered to force the Saints back three to kick it back.

Target the Saints midfield - Get Serfontein, Hooper and Chouly running hard at Ford, Giteau and Daly. Get over the gain line, recycle quick ball, exploit the space out wide.

Stop Saints going wide - Use our out to in defence to stop Saints getting wide easily. Henshaw will lead this defence and Pienaar will sweep behind. We want Ford and Giteau to be trying big, risky, looping passes if they want to get the ball wide.

Get at Simpson -  If we can get to Simpson and stop him getting into a rhythm then we make defence so much easier. This takes time away from Ford and Giteau and allows us to press up from out to in much more effectively. Not giving Saints easy ruck ball is key to this.

Bench We have quite deliberately picked a bench which allows us the option to really open the game up if we are behind. With Cooper and Joseph we can take advantage of the spaces which appear as fatigue sets in.

Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Wood	09. Perenara
02. Strauss	10. Cipriani
03. Mas
04. Etzbeth	11. May
05. Robson	12. Toomua
06. Alberts	13. Kurindrani
07. Salvi	14. Folau
08. Heaslip	15. Dagg

Subs:
16 Beast 17 Luke Cowan Dickie 18 Ousthuizen  19 Gray 20 Croft 21 Robson 22 Carter 23 Walker

TARGET BREAKDOWN– We have a big mobile physically strong 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 Etzbeth Alberts Salvi and Shas 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. We also want pressure here as Smith has shown he can be got at

Half backs- perenara 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 want to use our 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 Wasps 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 Etzbeth robson 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 toomua we have great options to dominate kicking game when needed and also have fantastic options for exiting when under pressure.

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

He was only up against Steenkamp Steve, he's one of the worst scrummaging Int props about!

No worries Steve as Matt says seems to be the website at the moment. Always some issue copying across to the match thread on a Friday morning these days.

Wasps make 3 changes to the starting XV for the visit to Kingsholm to take on Gloucester.  In the pack Joe Marler returns to the front row replacing Paul James who drops to the bench, with Jerome Kaino coming in at blindside for Marcell Coetzee who is also amongst the replacements.  In the back line Tim Nanai-Williams comes in at full back with Anthony Watson moving to the right wing and Marland Yarde dropping to the bench.

Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213    

01. Joe Marler	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Dave Wilson
04. Alun-Wyn Jones (c)	11. Bryan Habana
05. Sebastien Vahaamahina	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Robbie Freuan
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Anthony Watson
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Tim Nanai-Williams

16. Tom Youngs 17. Paul James 18. Euan Murray 19. Romain Millo-Chluski 20. Marcell Coetzee 21. Ben Youngs 22. Henry Slade 23. Marland Yarde


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 Watson 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.  Smith 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 Irish ball put pressure on through AWJ and Vahaamahina, who are athletic lineout jumpers.
  
• Scrum. Target Nick Wood. We see him as the weak link in the scrum and Wilson will look to stay square and utilise his power to drive through him. Kaino will pack down on the tighthead side and stay bound in to add power against him.
  
• 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.  Smith to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  
  

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Simon Zebo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Peter O' Mahony	13. George Pisi
07. Matt Todd	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Willie Le Roux

Subs:
16. Jack McGrath 17. David Paice 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Matt Garvey 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Nick Abendanon

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Nick Phipps
02. Dane Coles	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Brad Thorn	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Geoff Parling	12. Jean De Villiers
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw	14. Charles Piutau
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Rory Best 17.Soane Tonga'huia 18.Matt Stevens 19.Ed Slater 20. David Ewers 21.Greig Laidlaw 22.Gareth Anscombe 23. Rob Miller

Set piece - We have picked a strong set of scrummagers up front, backed up by a strong second row. Particular focus on Chiocci, Hayman has spent plenty of time scrummaging against him in training, and we have selected Thorn to give Hayman maximum help in targeting Chiocci with the shove from the second row, look to work on the channel between loosehead and hooker. We think Mullan can then attack JDP. In the lineout, Parling to call with Thorn and Read as secondary jumpers. Plenty of ball off the top going straight to JDV to run at Foley, who gets hidden at international level. Look to compete on their ball with Parling leading this

Breakdown - Lydiate is in the team to make his chop tackles, we think they will look to use Denton as the primary carrier, aim to chop him down behind the gain line with McCaw immediately going over the ball, similar to how Lydiate and Warburton work for Wales. Denton doesn't tend to offload, so we think he is an ideal target for this tactic. Backed up by Read we think we can get an edge at the ruck.

Kicking - primarily look to keep ball in hand in their half, in ours we have kicking options throughout the back 3 and with JD to take pressure off Farrell. Use grubbers in behind the wings, as well as high balls to test their back 3 with our excellent chasers putting pressure on.

Attack - Phipps to look to snipe whenever the defence over commits, to keep them honest. We will look to target the Foley/Fekitoa channel, with Fekitoa rarely playing 12, look to use JDV's experience and power to tie them in, then give JD and the back 3 a chance to go at Mermoz. Smith to pop up at first receiver at times to give us a 2 sided option in their 22

Bench - a load of carrying options and pace off the bench in Anscombe and Miller. Laidlaw on to help control the game if we are up

Key points

Haymans to go after Chiocci

Target Foley/Fekitoa channel in attack

Lydiate to look to chop Denton down behind the gainline as a primary target for turnovers

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. James Slipper	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Charlie Faumaunia
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Alexandre Flanquardt	12. Christian Lealifano
06. Liam Messam	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Luke Wallace	14. Nopolini Nalaga
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Mikey Haywood 17. Benn Robinson 18. Jake Cooper Wooley 19. Luke Romano 20. Liam Gill 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Alex Goode 23. Damian De Allende

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby. Look to overwhelm Exeter 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 SOB which he can attack off.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Kitchener, Messam, SOB and Flanquardt options in the lineout. Flanquardt will run the lineout with Kitchen 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 SOB, Liam Gill and Liam Meszam 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, Slipper, SOB, Hibbard and Messam will try and wear down defences by looking for gaps. The likes of Wade, Nalaga and Campagnaro 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.

01. Ben Franks	09. Lee Dickson
02. Ken Owens	10. Dan Biggar
03. Henry Thomas
04. Dean Mumm	11. JP Pieterson
05. Devin Toner	12. Jaime Roberts
06. Kelly Brown	13. Conrad Smith
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Tom Court 18. Will Collier 19. Tom Savage 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Rory Kockott 22. Owen Williams 23. Rob Cook

Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. George Ford
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Jonny Gray	11. Julian Savea
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Matt Giteau
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Elliot Daly
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Ben Foden

Subs:
16. Elliot Dee 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Manu Samoa 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Niko Matawulu 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Vereniki Goneva

Tactics:
We've put a strong run together and will look to build on this away at Harlequins. Our game plan is around generating quick ball to get our backline attacking Quins and ensuring we dominate the lineout and the territorial kicking battle. We will play at a high intensity/tempo and keep the ball moving around the park to tire the home team's defence before rolling off the impact sub bench in the final 25/30mins of the game.

Pack/Setpiece:
We've picked a really strong scummaging unit to take the game to Quins, they've picked Brookes to start and we will look to place him under pressure at every scrum, we will also target their hooker to secure penalities at scrum time. The lineout is the area we will look to dominate - we have five excellent jumping options and on our own ball will look to generate quick ball to attack off of. We will target the Quin's hookers throwing at lineout time and use Lawes athleticism to disrupt the home teams set piece. This is an area we feel we can take advantage of. Lot of experience in the pack with Webber, Robshaw, Bonnaire and Parisse all leaders.

Attack/Kicking Game:
We've recalled Giteau to the starting XV as we want to really beat Quins on the tactical kicking front, early on we will look for the corners and seek to test the Quins lineout both defensively and offensively. With our jumping options we see this as a great attacking platform. Our midfleld is full of creativity and off quick ball will look to find ways of bringing our strike runners from the back three into the game, by attacking at speed and bringing both Savea and Bowe off their wings. We also want to target the 12/13 defensive channel of Quins, which is very new and an area we will exploit.

Breakdown:
We will look for Robshaw to play the same game against Hooper as he did over the Autumn, mark him out of the game and slow him down at every opportunity. We have a really mobile pack and will look to support Robshaw in numbers and set up strong defensive lines around the ruck area.


Defence:
As always a really aggressive defence with fast line speed and closing down the Quins halfbacks. We want to force them into mistakes and handling errors. We will have Simpson sweep in behind the defensive line.

Key Points:
* On the back of three wins in a row against Tigers, full of confidence.
* A strong pack that can target the set piece, the lineout is an area we can especially go for in both attack and defence, putting pressure on the Aussie's lineout throwing and with Domingo, Webber and Herrera we will look for penalties come scrum time - again targeting TPN and Brookes.
* Aim to dominate the territorial kicking battle with Ford/Giteau axis, make sure we are in the right areas to pressurise Quins and force the errors - if we get joy in the lineout we will just keep this tactic going.
* Strongest impact bench we've had to finish extremely strongly, we will have played expansive rugby and will look to have tired Quins and then bring on our big ball carriers.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Tusi Pisi (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Nathan Hines (c)	11. Matt Banahan
05. Victor Matfield	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. JMF Lobbe	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Francois Louw	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

.
16. Stephen Moore 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Tom Johnson 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 Pisi to exploit.

- Big focus to attack at all lineouts. Use Hines or Lobbe at the front and Matfield off the top as our three key options. Shortened lineouts with Waldrom in midfield as crash or decoy option.
Matfield and Hines to look to steal and really give Kayser problems.

- 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, Creevy and Jenkins to look to really get the shove on, particularly targeting the Sale Zira/Kayser channel.

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

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

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

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first receivers in Pisi 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. Fotuali'i to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

Pisi to kick all penalties.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Xavier Chiocci	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Bernard Foley
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Louis Deacon	12. Malakai Fekitoa
06. Brad Shields	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Callum Clark	14. Juan Imhoff
08. Dave Denton	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Nick Auterac 18. Tom Francis 19. Julian Pierre 20.  21. Henry Taylor 22. Lee Byrne 23. Tom Taylor

Tactics:

TARGET BREAKDOWN – We're strong in this area we’ll look to target turnover ball and slowing opposition attacks.

General - 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 a chance to slow down/steal ball. Put pressure on SH's basics and force him into errors, Shields 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 runners on his shoulder. Huge carrying backrow to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Midfiels to run angles off the 9/10, allowing us gain line breakers. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Wingers will look to track the midfield combo and get the end of little offloads in contact. Back 3 to keep things honest and come looking for work.[/b]

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Connor Murray
02. Sean Cronin	10. Camille Lopez
03. Jamie Johnston
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Paul O'Connell (c)	12. Luther Burrell
06. Carl Fearns	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. David Strettle
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O'Connor

16. Dimitri Szarzewski 17. Richard Barrington 18. Mike Ross 19. Michael Paterson 20. Yannick Nyanga 21. Chris Cook 22. Toby Flood 23. Alex Dunbar

General Game plan

Fast paced game based around high intensity in defence, offloading, and dynamic carrying and rucking. We will play a high paced counter punch style of rugby away from home.
When we gain possession our plan is to control attack with quick clean ball be it from set piece or turnover. After that look to control the pace of the game and go through the phases. Lopez will look to play flat and look to get our back line into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.
Big point is to match them man for man, in our style of play. Looking to control the ball for periods will result in frustrating the Sale side giving away penalties for us to capitalise on. 

Set piece - Control the set piece and use it to restart our game plan and create point of attacks. POC to marshal the line-out and get quick ball from our dynamic jumpers. At the scrum Crockett & Cronin will look to get the squeeze on and target Faumaunia, who is prone to the odd collapse of the scrum and look to keep the opposition back row tied into the scrum giving Murray and Lopez more time and space to work in. 

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. 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 will 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. 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. 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 and the back three especially, as they have the pace and finishing ability to worry any defence. Utilise the pace and size of Burrell\AAC to crash through the line, using our 'league/slider move' developed from last season to break the line. AAC/Burrell/Strettle are big quick guys and will be able to mix and match the opposition defence, either catching Lealifiano's weaker inside shoulder on a a run against the grain, or exploiting the concentration of Campagnaro in defence. Or even generate a two on one with JOC joining the back line and providing the extra man to either put a winger away or go himself. 

Key Points

Pressure on the 8-9-10 axis - look to isolate SOB him from his backs and also force him to take up scrappy possession. He hasn't played eight much recently for, so we will look to isolate and turnover possession as well as kill the Bath momentum.  
Scrum & Line-out – Target throughout, if weakness seen heap pressure and generate penalties. Crockett to exploit Faumuania and pile in on him with Cronin. Cronin & POC had a strong period together over the AI's and proved that his darts are more than capable at this level
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 Bath guessing. 
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.
Targets in Defence - Campagnaro is not a renowned defender and small in comparison to our centres, therefore Lopez will try to angle runners off his weaker shoulder to break the line.
Breakdown – 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. Especially targetting Wade and Hogg who can get lost positionally and aren't known for their defending. 
Build a Score - Lopez 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

Guessing tactics don't need I be in till Friday seeing as tomorrow is Christmas?!

I believe they need to be in by tomorrow night prop.

Can't seem to copy tactics on phone so use same as last week but change wasps to welsh

Tactics


As usual we will focus on winning the breakdown, with Ward and Haskell 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. Ward to chase the ball

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, Haskell, 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's role We will also look to engineer one on ones for our wingers, who are powerful runners who also have an outside step, against theirs to really test their weak defence.

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 use quickly. I'd like to see us taking quick lineouts and where possible getting the likes of AJ or Vito in a position to help run it back.

Lineout: We will keep to simple ball off the top and compete on every opposition throw.

Scrum- use as a restart for attacking ball off the base. If we are struggling, we can shore it up with our sub props.

Defence- blitz led by Laulala, with TKB sweeping and the pack ready to scramble. Fringes kept tight


Huge power in the pack so look to bully and sap their pack with an aggressive physical approach


Overall- sap their pack with mauls
Clever committal to the breakdown
Run it back and attack in 2 phases
Run the ball at their wingers
Chip over the blitz

Can we have tactics in by tomorrow evening. On a phone and can't Copy and paste off the site

PREDICTIONS OPEN

I'll add tactics if they come in when I'm next online. Predictions open till Wednesday. Will be on tomorrow/Monday with next weeks match thread.

What has happened to Poolys bench? They're a man short

I must have deleted one when I added my tactics.

Johnny if ok can you shot Brussow in, if not thats ok, I'll run short.

London Irish 23-21 London Welsh

Scrum pretty even with Welsh having the better scrummaging locks but Irish the better front row. Thomas has been impressive of late and showing some great scrum form. Bit more in the line out for Irish but more around the park for Welsh. Tiny edge for Irish in the backrow but a good contest between two good combo's. Irish more in the half backs and centres with back 3's pretty close. Good game but irish a bit more 9-13 and home advantage.

Sale 21-20 Leicester

A bit more in the scrum for Sale with Jenks just struggling for a bit of form of late, I'd start start Slimani over Ziri but good options to have. Two top engines rooms with Sale having more around the park but Tigers a real step up at the line out with Matfield & Lobbe. Tigers backrow combo stronger, especially on the flanks and will make a real mess of the breakdown. Care a little out of form evens the 9's but Sexton a step up at 10. Prefer the Tigers midfield but Sale sneak the back 3. Tight game with Sale just having enough to sneak a win.

Bath 24-25 Exeter

Not much in the front rows again, both will hold their own with LH's not the greatest. Exeter have the stronger engine room and will get a nudge in the line out. Exeter slight edge in the backrow, SOB lacking form for Bath holds them back a little. Not much in the 10's but Murray a bit better than FdP with him starting to lose a bit of form. Exeter shade the midfield but I like the Bath back 3 and they'll run a few tries in. Surprised with this one but Exeter have a good pack and the players to control/get over the gain line. Tough on Bath but Exeter will just scrape a thriller.

Harlequins 19-19 Northampton

I'd fancy Saints to just sneak the scrum with Woodcock struggling for a bit of form and also sneak the line out with a nice engine room. 6/8 not in the best of nick for Saints gives Quins the backrow with a good combo and they'll just get on top here. Ford playing well sneaks the 10's but the gulf at 9 is large giving Quins the halfbacks, Saints need a good 9 to really take control of these games as Simpson is nowhere near good enough imo. Quins just shade the centres with Daly a weakness and back 3 bar Savea. Saints had this in the bag but weak at 9 & 13. A good 9 and I can't see them losing the league this year. Quins strong were it matters and home advantage gets the draw.

London Irish 25 - 23 London Welsh

Not much between the front 5's for me in either the set piece or the loose, Not a huge Toner fan as don't really see what he brings to a game. Good carrying options in both front rows. Both back rows are very strong and noticeably well balanced. I favour with the Irish unit as they as individuals are marginally better players that their Welsh counterparts although Haskell is in fine form. Half backs are pretty even though I see more control in the Irish pair. Midfield goes to Irish by a fair distance with Welsh stronger in the back 3. Don't see anything between the bench options. Important win for Irish.

Sale 24 - 24 Leicester

Don't see an advantage either way in the scrum but I do think that Matfield will be able to knock Kayser off his game and pinch a few of the Sale pack at the line out. Second row battle is tremendous and will be won by Leicester in the tight and Sale in the loose. I give the back row edge to Leicester with two world class flankers and Waldrom in magnificent form. Breakdown edges to Leicester as well with two strong options as well as Jenkins in the front row. Both sides have some good carriers but outside their number 8's lack anyone who consistently gets well over the gain line. Up front Leicester have an edge across the board.
Half backs to Sale whilst in the midfield I can see Leicester getting Basteraud over the gain line time and time again down Eastmond's channel. I just can't see the Sale midfield winning any collisions with him using the blitz defence. Back three goes the way of Sale with a strong running unit. Benches both relatively even across the 8. What prevents Leicester from the win here is at half back (which I'm sure Luke is sick of hearing) Their 4 options don't provide enough to take advantage of a pack which at worst should gain parity. In Sexton and Barrett Sale have two world class fly half's to control their side for the full 80 and this is what saves them from defeat.

Bath 25 - 26 Exeter

I'm not overly convinced by any of the starting props as scrummagers (form based for Johnstone) whilst I prefer the Exeter locks as a combination. similar story in the back row where as a unit Exeter just have a bit more to them with form issues for both number 8's. Packs edge to Exeter. I consider the half backs even with the experience for the Bath pair more than useful in this league. Also like the extra control provided by Lealifano at 12 although as pairings I prefer the Exeter pair in attack. Back threes even. Exeter's half backs will give their backs chances and Flood coming on to control things is a superb tactical option as Lopez can be very inconsistent and I wouldn't be fully confident in him to close a game out. Superb win for Exeter on the road. Bath won't loose many at home in the run in.

Gloucester 28 - 26 Wasps

I don't see much in the set piece with possibly a slight scrum advantage for Wasps and the same at the line out for Gloucester. Matt is targeting the breakdown and they should get a small advantage here. Both packs have excellent carrying options and it will be very physical. As a combo the Wasps pair is stronger but Cipriani is playing as gooder rugby as anyone in the world and he has some serious talent outside him and he will cause all sorts of problems. I think the Gloucester centres will be the stronger pair on form and their back three is a formidable one with ball in hand. Wasps offer plenty of threat themselves with ball in hand but I don't think they have the players to really dominate territory with their kicking game. In a superb game, Gloucester take the spoils.

Newcastle 28 - 25 Saracens

Slight scrummaging advantage for Newcastle and prefer their line out options as well. Breakdown is very competitive with both sides taking a few scalps. One a piece at half back on current form but more control for the Falcons. Midfield to Newcastle as well as the back three. Saracens make things tough but their are a few more star individuals and experience gets Newcastle safely across the line.

Won't be massively in depth sorry.

Sharks 22-20 Tigers
Sharks intensity and control at half back will cause Tigers problems. Tigers backrow keeps this game close.

Bath 22-23 Chiefs
Tough game to call, can see Bath slightly edging front row battle but Chiefs look better at backrow with current form and playing time. Backs pretty even but think Chiefs nick it with Cook's current form and Flood's control off of the bench.

Glos 24-24 Wasps
*not sure why Matts tactics weren't added to the game thread but thought I'd note for others that he does have them on the page*
Very hard game to call with not much give at the set piece. Think Wasps are stronger at halfback but Cips does have the form coming into the game. Lots outwide for both teams and think I'm going to have to give it a draw as this is the third time I've changed my mind looking at these teams!

Quins 22-23 Saints
Massive match, front row to Saints, 2nd row even, backrow to Quins. Halfback is one a piece and out wide I think Saints could get a small advantage. This game will go down to the bench and I think Saints have the edge with Manoa and both Vunipola's to come on.

Falcons 24-22 Sarries
Little advantage up front in the set piece for Falcons but pretty even in the backrow battle. Half backs one a piece. Outside backs pretty even as well. Looking at the bench I see Falcons having the impact to get the win. Good tactics from both but I don't think either side will get breakdown parity.

London Irish 25 - 22 London Welsh

Welsh get a slight edge in the front five, but the Irish back row helps even up the battle as the game wears on. Irish just have a bit more about them out wide to worry the Welsh defence regularly. Welsh are getting there, and if this had been at home and were focused on man-shaming the Irish front five they could have pulled off the win. 

Sale Sharks 29 - 25 Leicester Tigers

Shark's high intensity game from their pack helps take control of the game and allows Care to dictate the pace of the game. Tigers power based game is matched by the Sharks, and the breakdown is a slight mess with both sides trying to target that area. For me the Sharks backs look more dangerous with ball in hand, especially with Eastmond in midfield. They might suffer a little up against Basteraud once or twice in defence however. Sharks at home are big beast to overcome and Tigers put a good challenge but are beaten in the end. 

Gloucester Rugby 26 - 26 Wasps


Close game with either side not really taking much of a backward step up front. Wasps perhaps have a better carrying ability, with for me Heaslip, Robson and Wood not great close contact ball carriers. A lot of attacking ability out wide, but a little more control from Wasps. Very hard game to seperate bot sides. It might sound harsh, but Matt's tactics had his boys carrying in with 'venom', which for me late on with quite a few hot headed forward in his pack might cost him the victory going down to ten men. Tough, but in the end possibly the most fair result. 

Harlequins 32 - 30 Northampton Saints

big battle up front between these massive sets of forwards. There's no real budging in the set pieces, but Quins can just shade the back row with a good all en compassing combination. It's about even in the backs with Giteau providing Ford and Simpson solidarity. Quins for me with their forward replacements will hold on to a big home win, as Myler and Pienaar can play the territory game and also kick goals to keep the pressure on the Saints throughout, which will cause Simpson and Ford, who have been in good form to eventually crumble under the pressure. Saints bench to swing the momentum late on, but too little too late in the end. 

Newcastle Falcons 24 - 20 Saracens


About even up front with Sarries matching Falcons in the set pieces. Falcons will take the game away from Sarries however in the loose and the breakdown. Clark will be taught a lesson on the deck by McCaw and Read, and won't get too much help from his pack. Falcons game of controlled attacking will help pay dividends and Phipps snipping will be dangerous. Fekitoa and Foley will be good in attack, but not so in defence, with Fekitoa still learning the 12 role, I would have perhaps swapped him to his more natural 13. Tough trip up North, but Falcons hold on.

London Irish 25-19 London Welsh

Not an awful lot between the front 5s but Irish with a bit more in the backrow. Irish centres possibly the best combo in the league.


Bath 13-17 Exeter Chiefs

Better balance to the Chiefs backrow and some great form in the halfbacks. Feel they have enough about them to sneak a result away from home.


Gloucester 22-24 Wasps

Backrow battle tight but can see Wasps getting more from the scrum. Wasps halfbacks a step up and like the power midfield but the Glaws combo links up well. Glaws stronger in the back three.


Harlequins 22-19 Northampton Saints

Slight scrum edge to Saints but Quins pack the better carriers. Halfbacks tight, Quins stronger in midfield and Saints in the back three. Home advantage the difference.


Newcastle Falcons 28-22 Saracens

Can see Falcons getting some joy out of Chiocci at the scrum and they have a breakdown edge. Halfbacks one a piece but Falcons stronger in the outside backs.

Just did predos and explanations and internet crashed - so shorter version now.

London Irish 25 - 21 London Welsh.
Great combination from 8-13 for Irish, home advantage big help but Thompstone can be got at.

Bath 34 - 32 Exeter Chiefs
Conditions great for open rugby and both teams looking to play that style. Lots of tries. If conditions were worse then I'd give Chiefs the win as pack offers more control, but Bath are set up to attack and Wade's form just gets them the win.

Sale 21 - 20 Leicester Tigers
Close game. Sale make a lot about quick ball but Tigers backrow is a better unit and can slow them down. Massive set piece from Tigers and would have gone for the away win if their 12/13 were in better form - while Eastmond's form could be the difference.

Gloucester 31-30 Wasps
Big game, two cracking teams. Again bad conditions it would be a Wasps win as their setpiece is top rate, but bit more expansive suits Gloucester and form of Cipriani really helps.

Newcastle Falcons 26 - 23 Saracens.
Just a bit more about the home team overall, will be a close battle at breakdown, see Falcons just getting the edge there. The Sarries halfback combination is top rate, but Falcons do have a bit more in other areas. Would probably play Clark at no6 and Fek at no13, as better balance.

Sale 26 - 25 tigers
Bath 28 - 28 Chiefs
Gloucester 30 - 31 Wasps
Quins 28 - 27 Saints
Falcons 24 - 23 Sarries

London Irish 28 London Welsh 27
Sale Sharks 23 Leicester Tigers 23
Bath Rugby 25 Exeter Chiefs 25
Harlequins 22 Northampton Saints 23
Newcastle Falcons 24 Saracens 23

Irish 24-22 Welsh

Slight edge in front 5 to Welsh due to their brawn. However Irish backrow evens IT out. In these conditions with the level of
Players on show I
Cannot see there being many scrums/ that hoes
For all the games on here.

Irish have much more threatening backs and players
In form so pull away

Irish 24-20 Welsh
Tiny edge to the Irish front five. They have the advantage in the back row but do feel Welsh have a lot of go forward in the pack. Half back to Welsh but outside backs probably just go to Irish. At home too much.

Sale 28-26 Tigers
Front five edge to Sale. Back row goes to Tigers. Half backs are a major plus for Sale. Centres to Tigers but feel the back threes see a slight edge to Sale with a bit more danger.

Gloucester 25-26 Wasps
Front row to Wasps and Gloucester take the second. Back row also goes to Wasps with a little back of everything. The NZ combo at half back for New Zealand is huge for Wasps and an advantage. Outside backs go to Gloucester but Wasps have enough for a big away win

Quins 24-26 Saints
Hardly anything in the forwards. Possibly a slight edge in the front give to the Saints. Back row to Quins. Half back edge goes to Quins. Outside backs though are to Saints. Options on the bench punch another huge away win

Newcastle 28-23 Sarries
Front five advantage goes to Newcastle. Like the Newcastle back row and think they take it here. Small edge to the Newcastle half backs. Falcons have enough in the outside backs to take a good win

Irish 26-24 Welsh

Front 5s pretty even, although Welsh have a edge in power at scrum time, and LI probably better at lineout. Back row battle pretty even, tough to call. I think Irish have the edge in the backs, and with home advantage that will be enough for the win.

Sale 27-24 Tigers

Good game here, I think the front 5 edge is to Sale, slightly. Back row will be a big battle, but think the flanker pair gives it to Leicester. 9-13 is a big advantage to Sale on current form, and although the back 3s are about even, with home advantage and the impact off the bench this has to go to Sale

Bath 25-26 Exeter

Nothing in the front 5s for me, both cancel each other out. O'Brien is tough to rate at the moment, and gives Exeter the narrowest of edges in the back row. I also think they have a stronger pair of halfbacks, both starting and off the bench, where I wouldn't fancy Goode at 10 assuming he is the bench choice for Bath. Bath's backs are excellent, and keep this very tight but Exeter centres are in excellent form and help them pull this one out on the road.

Gloucester 24-24 Wasps

Wood and robson look the weak links in the Glos pack, and Ozzy is right to target Wood especially with Wilson's strong scrummaging. Both teams are targeting the breakdown and have terrific back row combos. I think they will end up cancelling each other out here. Half backs in great form for both, and both back lines about equal. Have to sit on the fence here

Quins 24-28 Saints

I expect both tightheads to have the upper hand in the scrum, with plenty of help from the second row. Lineout to Saints with Lawes and Bonnaire being the standout jumpers. Like the Saints breakdown tactics, as Robshaw was successful against Hooper, and think the packs as a whole will be pretty even at breakdown time. Both back lines in good form, but the difference will be in the last 20 with the power that Saints can bring on

Are predos closed for this round now? If so I am happy to knock up the results.

Can't imagine many more coming in Pete, probably best to get this round done and dusted

Just eating my dinner then I'll total them up.

Doing now.

.

Ah feck, just seen Luke's post, will amend once he's done.

Irish 26 - 23 Welsh

Both sides have top back rows, but elsewhere in the pack Irish stronger. prefer Welsh at HB but Irish stronger in attack in general. Home win.


Bath 18 - 20 Chiefs

Really like this Chiefs pack and see them just getting on top. Probs form HBs in the league and looking really dangerous in general. Think they nick an away win here.


Gloucester 21 - 23 Wasps

Wasps look the stronger in the pack man for man and in the backs its fairly tight with two great units. Wasps just edge and grab a great away win.


Harlequins 24 - 26 Saints

Id give front five to Saints and back row to Quins. Overall packs are a good battle. Beyond there Saints have all of the form, and with a good set piece can outscore Quins.


Newcastle 24 - 23 Saracens

Newcastle's dominance in the back row sees them gain an advantage in the pack, whilst both attacks are dangerous. At home Sarries take it but Newcastle edge, just.