European Challenge Cup Round 5

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Bordeaux Begles v London Welsh
Location - Stade Chaban-Delmas
Light Rain Shower, 9 Degrees, 12mph W Winds

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Bordeaux Begles

15 Romain Lonca 14 Paulin Riva 13 Felix le Bourhis 12 Thibault Lacroix 11 Charles Brousse 10 Lionel Beauxis 9 Yann Lesgourgues
1 Sebastien Taofifenua 2 Ole Avei 3 Patrick Toetu 4 Julien Ledevedec 5 Adam Jaulhac 6 Bertrand Guiry 7 Hugh Chalmers 8 Tai Tu'ifua

Replacements
16 Clement Maynadier 17 Jefferson Poirot 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela 19 Jan Andre Marais 20 Matthew Clarkin 21 Baptiste Serin 22 Pierre Bernard 23 Metuisela Talebula Maijaina

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 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. Nathan Catt	09. Ben Spencer
02. Dave Ward	10. Remi Tales (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Jamie Cudmore	11. Richard Lane
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Carl Fearns.	13. George Lowe
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Victor Vito	15. Jesse Mogg

:-
16. Matt Rees 17. Yannick Forestier 18. Oliver Tomaszczyk    19.   Mike McCarthy    20. Tom Guest  21. Michael Classens  22. Nick Tompkins 23. Aseili Tikorituima

Simple tactics-

Looking for a team effort to back up Ward as the lead fetcher at the breakdown (Fearns deputising), and looking to use the dynamism and power from 4-8 to bully Bourdeaux off the ball and dominate the contact area, carrying aggressively and looking to surge over the gainline before engaging our backs with their pack locked into the ruck and their backline on the back foot.

Attack- carry using our powerful back row as above, ensuring good support for te breakdown, also looking to use our big forwards off pop passes. When we have an opportunity, spin to the backs with Godwin acting as a second playmaker, switching up the point of attack and looping back in our forwards to create spaces inside and out. Look to switch into inside gaps with our playmakers and use our wingers in outside spaces.

Spencer second kicking option, territory will be important in wet so make sure we play in their half not ours. Mix up kicks deep for length and high for possession.

Defence- blitz led by Lowe, aggressive tackling from backrow and rest of pack.

We can take them on in the set piece and give them no platform


Could people predicting please comment on what they think of backrow an centre partnership? Thanks

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Connacht v Saracens
Location - Sportsground
Light Cloud, 5 Degrees, 18mph WNW Winds

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Connacht

15 Darragh Leader 14 Niyi Adeolokun 13 Conor Finn 12 Craig Ronaldson 11 Fionn Carr 10 Miah Nikora 9 Caolin Blade
1 Ronan Loughney 2 Dave Heffernan 3 Finlay Bealham 4 Michael Swift 5 Aly Muldowney 6 James Connolly 7 Willie Faloon 8 Daniel Qualter

Replacements
16 Shane Delahunt 17 Dennis Buckley 18 Saba Meunargia 19 George Naoupu 20 21 Kieran Marmion 22 David McSharry 23 Matt Healy

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Henry Taylor
02. Jack Walker	10. Bernard Foley
03. Matius Diaz
04. Julian Pierre	11. Nathan Earle
05. Louis Deacon	12. Tom Taylor
06. Joe Batley	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Matt Hankin	14. Aaron Morris
08. Brad Shields	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Sam James 17. Paul Hill18. Biyi Alo 19. Tom Jubb 20. Sam Underhill 21. Josh Sharpe 22. George Perkins 23. Charlie Kingsman

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Exeter Chiefs v Oyonnax
Location - Sandy Park
Sunny Intervals, 6 Degrees, 18mph WNW Winds

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Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Ryan Grant	09. Chris Cook
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Toby Flood
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Tomás Lavanini	11. Lolagi Visinia
05. Michael Paterson	12. Ian Madigan
06. Gus Jones	13. Alex Dunbar
07. Yannick Nyanga	14. Andrew Trimble
08. James Haskell	15. Maxime Medard

_
16. Sean Cronin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Phil Swainston 19. Patrick Tuipulotu 20. Jacob Rowan 21. Nic White 22. Marnitz Boshoff 23. Jean Marcel-Buttin

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Onyonnax

15 Maxime Lebourhis 14 Dug Codjo 13 Guilliaume Bousses 12 Roimata Hansell-Pune 11 Jean-Francois Coux 10 Regis Lespinas 9 Fabien Cibray
1 Lukas Rapant 2 Paul Ngauamo 3 Antoine Guillamon 4 Thibault Lassalle 5 Geoffrey Fabbri 6 Guillaume Bernad 7 Valentin Ursache 8 Christophe Andre

Replacements
16 Clement Jullien 17 Antoine Tichit 18 Ruaan du Preez 19 Patrick Sobela 20 Arthur Aziza 21 Alex Luatua 22 Yves Donguy 23 Damien Lagrange

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London Irish v Grenoble
Location - Madejski Stadium
Light Cloud, 5 Degrees, 13mph WNW Winds

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London Irish

Manager – Prop

01. Tom Court	09. Neil De Kock
02. Ross Batty	10. Owen Williams
03. Will Collier
04. Stuart Hooper	11. Harry Robinson
05. Tom Savage	12. Cory Allen
06. Jackson Wray	13. Mark Bennett
07. Jon Fisher	14. Bjorn Basson
08. David  Sisi	15. Jonah Placid

16. Ken Owens 17. Tom  Smallbone 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Devin Toner 20. George Smith 21. Jack Moates 22. Jules Plisson 23. Luke Fitzgerald

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Grenoble

15 Gio Aplon 14 Robinson Caire 13 Chris Farrell 12 Geoffroy Messina 11 Benjamin Thiery 10 Fabien Gengenbacher 9 Lilian Saseras
1 Albertus Buckle 2 Laurent Bouchet 3 Richard Choirat 4 Thibault Rey 5 Alexandre Dardet 6 Mahamadou Diaby 7 Rory Grice 8 Florian Faure

Replacements
16 Arnaud Heguy 17 Dayna Edwards 18 Remy Hugues 19 Louis Marrou 20 Joannes Henry 21 Xavier Mignot 22 Jackson Willison 23 Hendrik Roodt

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Bath Rugby v Dragons
Location - Recreation Grounds
Sunny Intervals, 5 Degrees, 15mph WNW Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Tom Dunn	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Jake Cooper Woolsey
04. Charlie Ewels	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sam Hill
06. Liam Squire	13. Darren Cave
07. Luke Wallace	14. Damian De Allende
08. James Gaskell	15. Alex Goode

16. Richard Hibbard 17. Benn Robinson 18. Charlie Faumuania 19. Luke Charteris 20. Sean O'Brien 21. Maxine Machenaud 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Nopolini Nalaga

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Dragons

15 Tom Prydie 14 Matthew Pewtner 13 Ross Wardle 12 Ashley Smith 11 Hallam Amos 10 Jason Tovey 9 Jonathan Evans
1 Phil Price 2 T.Rhys Thomas 3 Brok Harris 4 Andrew Coombs 5 Cory Hill 6 James Thomas 7 Nic Cudd 8 Lewis Evans

Replacements
16 Elliott Dee 17 Owen Evans 18 Dan Way 19 Rynard Landman 20 Taulupe Faletau 21 Luc Jones 22 Dorian Jones 23 Rhys Jones

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 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. Nathan Catt	09. Ben Spencer
02. Dave Ward	10. Remi Tales (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Jamie Cudmore	11. Richard Lane
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Kyle Godwin
06.   Carl Fearns.	13. George Lowe
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Victor Vito	15. Jesse Mogg

:-
16. Matt Rees 17. Yannick Forestier 18. Oliver Tomaszczyk    19.   Mike McCarthy    20. Tom Guest  21. Michael Classens  22. Nick Tompkins 23. Aseili Tikorituima

Simple tactics-

Looking for a team effort to back up Ward as the lead fetcher at the breakdown (Fearns deputising), and looking to use the dynamism and power from 4-8 to bully Bourdeaux off the ball and dominate the contact area, carrying aggressively and looking to surge over the gainline before engaging our backs with their pack locked into the ruck and their backline on the back foot.

Attack- carry using our powerful back row as above, ensuring good support for te breakdown, also looking to use our big forwards off pop passes. When we have an opportunity, spin to the backs with Godwin acting as a second playmaker, switching up the point of attack and looping back in our forwards to create spaces inside and out. Look to switch into inside gaps with our playmakers and use our wingers in outside spaces.

Spencer second kicking option, territory will be important in wet so make sure we play in their half not ours. Mix up kicks deep for length and high for possession.

Defence- blitz led by Lowe, aggressive tackling from backrow and rest of pack.

We can take them on in the set piece and give them no platform


Could people predicting please comment on what they think of backrow an centre partnership? Thanks

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Ryan Grant	09. Chris Cook
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Toby Flood
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Tomás Lavanini	11. Lolagi Visinia
05. Michael Paterson	12. Ian Madigan
06. Gus Jones	13. Alex Dunbar
07. Yannick Nyanga	14. Andrew Trimble
08. James Haskell	15. Maxime Medard

_
16. Sean Cronin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Phil Swainston 19. Patrick Tuipulotu 20. Jacob Rowan 21. Nic White 22. Marnitz Boshoff 23. Jean Marcel-Buttin

I know we don't predict on these ones as much, and I've been terrible at full predos lately, but when it comes down to it if anyone wants to give me their views on those centres and that backrow I'd appreciate it muchly

ChequeredJersey wrote:I know we don't predict on these ones as much, and I've been terrible at full predos lately, but when it comes down to it if anyone wants to give me their views on those centres and that backrow I'd appreciate it muchly

Stick this at the end of your tactics as a reminder mate

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Tom Dunn	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Jake Cooper Woolsey
04. Charlie Ewels	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sam Hill
06. Liam Squire	13. Darren Cave
07. Luke Wallace	14. Damian De Allende
08. James Gaskell	15. Alex Goode

16. Richard Hibbard 17. Benn Robinson 18. Charlie Faumuania 19. Luke Charteris 20. Sean O'Brien 21. Maxine Machenaud 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Nopolini Nalaga

01. Tom Court	09. Neil De Kock
02. Ross Batty	10. Owen Williams
03. Will Collier
04. Stuart Hooper	11. Harry Robinson
05. Tom Savage	12. Cory Allen
06. Jackson Wray	13. Mark Bennett
07. Jon Fisher	14. Bjorn Basson
08. David  Sisi	15. Jonah Placid

16. Ken Owens 17. Tom  Smallbone 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Devin Toner 20. George Smith 21. Jack Moates 22. Jules Plisson 23. Luke Fitzgerald

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Henry Taylor
02. Jack Walker	10. Bernard Foley
03. Matius Diaz
04. Julian Pierre	11. Nathan Earle
05. Louis Deacon	12. Tom Taylor
06. Joe Batley	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Matt Hankin	14. Aaron Morris
08. Brad Shields	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Sam James 17. Paul Hill18. Biyi Alo 19. Tom Jubb 20. Sam Underhill 21. Josh Sharpe 22. George Perkins 23. Charlie Kingsman

Bordeaux 16-24 Welsh

Some new boys in for Welsh and they look better for it, will take a few weeks to settle so not a huge win.

Exeter 37-12 Oyonnax

Routine win against a pretty poor side.

Irish 36-15 Grenoble

Another routine win with the AP sides a step up on the Challange teams

Bath 38-14 Dragons

Similar story here, Bath will cruise home

Pooly I think you released Louis Deacon ?

He is down as starting for you

Yea I did.

jubb in, bench one man short.

Bordeaux 20-34 Welsh
Welsh will walk this one - too much power in the pack and the impact from the bench.

Connacht 25 - 39 Saracens
Nice mix of youth and experience for Pooly, they will get a BP - would have been bigger win but can just see Connacht winning the backrow battle and is the hardest game of the round.

Exeter 52 - 9 Oyonnax
Easy, easy, easy.

Irish 44-12 Grenoble
Nice mix of experience and youth for Prop, easy win at home.

Bath 48-19 Dragons
Be good to get the AP teams against each other in this cup - another easy win.

Bordeaux 17-32 Welsh
Bordeaux playing poorly at the moment and struggling. Up front they do have some grunt but not enough against the technique of the Welsh front row. Welsh backrow heavy with carriers and maybe need a breakdown specialist against stronger teams in my opinion but they will cause problems. Like the look of the Welsh backline with the centres a good pairing and hopefully Godwin will get more plaudits during this Super 15. Strong bench pulls Welsh away.

Connacht 22-34 Sarries
A fairly weakened Connacht side on show today and Sarries will have a strong set piece on show. Foley will pull the strings well and a good centre partnership will find the holes. Naoupu and Marmion will help Connacht a bit off the bench but not enough to get the lbp.

Chiefs 42-14 Oyonnax
Easy pickings for Chiefs up front with that backrow causing problems. Backline a lot stronger than this opposition and good impact bench on show. Oyonnax not great travellers so a good win for Chiefs at home.

Bath 38-15 Dragons
Bath are a lot stronger in the backs here today, the axis of Smith-Wardle is good but won’t compete with Hill-Cave. Bath backrow will dominate well and their bench will make the difference.

Bordeaux 16-30 Welsh
Bordeaux as good as out won't be up for this can see a bonus point being snuck here. On the backrow has everything mate well rounded. Barclay in great form at 7. Midfield is solid but not much more currently. Godwin highly rated though and a good Super 15 could see him really step up for you.

Connacht 20-30 Saracens
Sarries fortunate not to see Connacht's best side out. Scrum advantage and a step up in the backs they win out.

Exeter Chiefs 42-15 Oyonnax
Oyonnax not a great side and Chiefs back row will dominate here for Flood & Madigan to run riot

London Irish 27-12 Grenoble
Grenoble a tidy side under Jackman not sure how committed they will be away from home in the challenge cup. Irish don't see it all their own way here. 

Bath 31-23 Dragons
Dragons an improving side and will match Bath at the set piece but Bath have more about the backs and from the bench and should win out comfortably in the end.

Connacht 21 - 30 Sarries

Connacht tough at home but Sarries have too much in the front 5 and in te backs and win comfortably

Exeter 50 - Oyonnax 22

Mismatch in the pack especially the excellent Exeter backrow, and better in every area. Demolition job

Irish 35 - 25 Grenoble

Grenoble ok, but Irish front 3 can take them apart at scrum time if having a good day. Love the attacking intent in the backline

Bath 30 - 17 Dragons

Bath excellent in backs and especially good centres.
They probably get a slight advantage up front and use this to score freely

Bordeux 20 - 30 Welsh
Connacht 12 - 25 Saracens
Exeter 32 - 15 Oyannax
London Irish 31 - 19 Grenoble
Bath 31 - 23 Dragons

Bordeaux Begles 18 - 29 London Welsh

Bordeaux are decent at home, but are no longer paying much attention to this competition anymore. Welsh have a good unit in the back row, which compliments each player nicely. Midfield looks creative but lacks a slight tough on of control for, but that would depend on who plays ten, and both are also young. Welsh strong winners away from home, but denied the bonus point. 

Connacht 21 - 28 Saracens

Saracens lucky that Connacht can't put their best side out, but I would bet that Pooly would have stepped up his selection. The winds will help Connacht and make this a tough one away from home for Sarries, they are just denied that bonus point. 

London Irish 29 - 15 Grenoble

Like most french sides in this competition they won't be that committed and the old adage of French sides away from home will help Irish secure the home win. 

Bath Rugby 28 - 20 Newport Gwent Dragons

This will be a tough one for Bath, with some dangerous players in the Dragons line-up. But once the bench get involved Bath will be able to pull away from Dragons.

Bordeaux 16-27 Welsh
Connacht 18-28 Sarries
Exeter 35-12 Oyonnax
Irish 31-20 Grenoble

Bordeaux 20-40Welsh
Very open game. Bordeaux play some lovely stuff but are underpowered and not interested. Welsh too much power in the pack and the impact from the bench.



Exeter 40- 9 Oyonnax
Routine, Exeter get to bp and take foot off the pedal

Irish 38- 12 Grenoble
, easy win at home against average Grenoble side

Bath 48-19 Dragons
dragons not competitive in any facet another easy win.

Bordeaux 20 - 28 Welsh
Connacht 18 - 26 Saracens
Exeter 32 - 20 Oyannax
London Irish 31 - 15 Grenoble
Bath 28 - 15 Dragons

Bordeaux 23 - 29 Welsh

Front 5 dominance will set a platform that the welsh backs can build a lead off and stay in front through out. Back row works fine for me, Barclay in good form so has everything for me. Centres probably the best combo that you could put out for me, big fan of both of them

Connacht 21 - 29 Saracens

Sarries have way too much class, with the 10,12,13 combo being way too good for their opposition, plenty of young talent on show too

Exeter 47 - 7 oyonax

Way too much quality for Exeter for this to be anything other than a 40 point win, Oyonnax can't match them in a single area

Irish 36-14 Grenoble

Grenoble not a bad side, but away from home in the Challenge cup I can't see anything other than a home win, Irish side looks to have plenty in hand too

Bath 39-20 Dragons

Good game to watch this one, Bath have a strong side out, and will get dominance in the forwards, then from 11-15 they're on a different planet and can pretty much score at will

RESULTS:

Bordeaux 19 (T:1 C:1 P:4) 
London Welsh 35 (T:4 C:3 P:3)

Connacht 20 (T:2 C:2 P:2)
Saracens 34 (T:4 C:4 P:2)

Exeter 46 (T:6 C:5 P:2)
Oyonnax 14 (T:1 P:3)

London Irish 39 (T:5 C:4 P:2)
Grenoble 16 (T:1 C:1 P:3)

Bath 41 (T:5 C:5 P:2)
Dragons 19 (T:1 C:1 P:4)

BONUS:

Incomplete: Pete
Full: Everyone else

SEEDINGS

1 London Irish 25pts (26 tries)
2 Bath 25pts (25 tries)
3 Exeter Chiefs 25pts (24 tries)
4 Saracens 25pts (21 tries) (82 point difference)
5 London Welsh 25pts (21 tries) (79 point difference)
6 Cardiff Blues 15pts (29 tries)
7 Dragons 15pts (21 tries)
8 Connacht 14pts
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9 Oyonnax 12pts
10 Lyon 9pts