Aviva Premiership Round Eighteen

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Sale Sharks v Gloucester
Location - AJ Bell Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 7 Degrees, 9mph WNW Winds

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Marty Moore
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Simon Zebo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Francois Steyn
06. Steven Luatua	13. George Pisi
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Willie Le Roux
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

:-
16. Jack McGrath 17. David Paice 18. Samson Lee 19. Iain Henderson 20. Matt Garvey 21. Callum Braley 22. Kyle Eastmond 23. Jared Payne

We will play an expansive, high intensity offloading game looking to create space and break the defensive line. Mobility and handling is key to our approach as we look to move this Gloucester side around.

- 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.

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

- 10 Cover. Franny Steyn will act as cover for flyhalf late on and will have Eastmond/Payne/Le Roux to rotate first receiver with. He is a capable flyhalf having led the Sharks to the play offs last season and has more games at 10 in the last 18 months then Carter!

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 Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Beast	09. TJ Perenara
02. Gray	10. Cipriani
03. Ousthuizen
04. Gray	11. May
05. Robson	12. Toomua
06. Alberts	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Savea	14. Gear
08. Palu	15. Dagg

:-
16 wood 17 Strauss 18 Mas 19 taofufina 20 Dickinson 21 Robson 22 Carter 23 Walker



Glos make the trip to Sale for a tasty game.

TARGET BREAKDOWN– We have a big mobile physically strong bunch and will hit rucks with impact.
We will Send numbers in and try and effect turnovers or Disrupt ball.we believe the likes of beast Palu Gray Alberts Savea Have the physicality and the power to swamp their backrow. We will target their lack of fetcher

TARGET 9 10 channel- Get our big runners in to the channel and look to get in behind. We also want pressure here in defence with care off colour this season and  able to be got at. sexton carries Ireland and has come off a draining six nations campaign so we see him as not being at his freshest so will get at him

Scrum- we see an advantage here.On their ball beastl Will be targetting Moore.Strauss is equal choice with BDP We see the scrum Edge Continuing when benches empty. In the conditions there will not be that many scrums

Lineout - with 5 jumpers we will look to threaten their ball on every throw.
With our own we will vary where we throw it to and look to mix the drive and off the top. We have purposely gone with Gray and Robson to really challenge here as we believe sale lack a line out leader and have 2 predominantly front jumpers as locks

General - our forwards will be looking to get on front foot throughout with our abrasive ball carriers.
When on we will look to offload to try and get in behind. We
Have picked a backrow of Alberts Palu and Savea to carry heavily and put
Us in front foot.

Backs- overall with the expected platform we have our backs
Are there to exploit it. We have pace and power all over and in Toomua and cips we have 2 play makers to interchange as well as 2 kicking options. We will look to vary our play probe for Gaps. When needed we have hard runners to bosh it.
We have numerous players able to step in to first Receiver with toomua, Cips  Dagg, May.This means we can be lethal from turnover ball and is something we will be looking for throughout

First of all backs need to put us in right positions so kicking is important as.It is in any int as evidenced in England vs Ireland game.

As the game breaks up we will be running back more ball And looking to up the tempo and use quick throw ins etc.
In defenxe we will blitz hard with 9 sweeping.

Bench- in close games benches are the difference and glos have a bench that can chase a game or close one out.

We see sales lack of a ten replacement as an opportunity with sexton having played a 6nations. If he comes off sale will be without a really recognised 10

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Leicester Tigers v Exeter Chiefs
Location - Welford Road
Light Cloud, 8 Degrees, 12mph WNW Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Nathan Hines (c)	11. Ugo Monye
05. Victor Matfield	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Steve Mafi	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. JMF Lobbe	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

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16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Max Lahiff 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Jacques Burger 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Dan Bowden 23. Alex Cuthbert

Tactics:

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

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

- Attack all scrums if an advantage - Front row of Franks, Creevy and Corbs to look to really get the shove on, particularly targeting the Chiefs Yeandle/Crockett channel.

- 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.

- Gigantic XV made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Chiefs defence. The likes of Waldrom, Mafi, Hines, Creevy, Lobbe and Bastearuad to be used to get us over the gainline. Add to that the likes of Tolofua, Lahiff and Burger off the bench.

- Look to win battle at the breakdown - Lobbe and Mafi, supported by the likes of Creevy and Bastearaud, to really look to get into the breakdown and give Chiefs 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 Burns and Twelvetrees.
We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack consistently.

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

Burns to kick all penalties.

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Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Fluxy

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Nic White
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Camille Lopez
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Jake Ball	12. Brad Barritt
06. Michael Paterson (C)	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Yannick Nyanga	14. Cory Jane
08. Fritz Lee	15. James O'Connor

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16. Dimitri Szarzewski 17. Ryan Grant 18. Jake Cooper-Wooley 19. Tomás Lavanini 20. Luke Wallace 21. Chris Cook 22. Alex Losowski 23. Andrew Trimble

With dry conditions we will be looking to play a possession based, high intensity, offloading game. Looking for runners off the ball carriers shoulder and look to offload just before or in the tackle. If the offload is not on we will take the tackle and recycle the ball quickly, going through the phases and keeping hold of possession.

In defence, as always we will be running a banana defence. Focus will be on the gain-line collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components. Minimal numbers committed to opposition breakdown. White will sweep in behind the defensive line to sweep up any kicks through the line.

• Territory - When we kick will aim to find touch deep within Tigers territory, and force a competition at the resulting line out, close to their line or within their 22. Here we will look to use the ability of Paterson and Tuipolotu in the air, and utilise our big front five to disrupt any mauls.
  
• Lineout - Using Paterson, Ball & Tui to mix up our options and look for possession off the top and into midfeld.
  
• Scrum - Look to get the ball in and out quickly, Using the pace and power of our back row unit to make ground and get on the front foot.
  
• 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, looking to blow through the ruck and past the ball, to create clean ball. Allowing time for the halfbacks to dictate.
  
• Attack - In the opposition half take our time and not rush with ball in hand. Have confidence in our carriers to tie in defenders and get across the gain line and in our backs to exploit the gaps when we create them. Carriers to target the defence down Burns & 36 channels, with our back three looking to isolate their slower lads in the defensive line eg Hines, Waldrom & Basteraud.
  
• Build a Score - Flood to take on kicking at goal responsibilities. 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 and apply pressure.
  

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London Irish v Newcastle Falcons
Location - Madejski Stadium
Light Rain Shower, 8 Degrees, 8mph WSW Winds

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London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. Ben Franks	09. Lee Dickson
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar
03. Henry Thomas
04. Stuart Hooper (c)	11. Nick Cummins
05. Jacques Potgeiter	12. Alapati Leuia
06. Jordan Taufua	13. Conrad Smith
07. Will Welch	14. Horatio Agulla
08. Ben Morgan	15. Luke Fitzgerald

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16. Ken Owens 17. Rhodri Jones 18. Will Collier 19. Tom Savage 20. Sam Warburton 21. Rory Kockott 22. Jules Plisson 23. Jaimie Roberts

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. Scrummage low and straight. We will look to target their props but if no parity then use for quick restart.

Breakdown: We will look to slow down their ball by committing players, if they have quick ball we will leave it but will look for turnovers and we  have balance in Talfua (tackles), Welch (jackles) and Wray (carries). We know they are good on the floor so will look to prevent McCaw from getting to the breakdown quickly and look to ship the ball. Taufua comes into the game in great form for the Crusaders

Half Backs: Biggar will stand flat initially to give Leuia and our runners the chance to get over the gainline. Dickson will control the tempo and slow the ball down if needed. We have all seen Biggar under the high ball so will use this weapon today.

Attack: Go direct and look to draw two players to commit the tackle before getting quick ball, we have a mobile pack who will look to run off   the backs and round the corner keeping them guessing. Use the centre pairing to pull the strings with players who know each other well and international quality out wide. Looking to play an offloading game and get the ball to the wings.

Bench: International impact in all areas with Owens and Jones bringing scrum impact, Warburton.  Quality in the backs with Kockott and Plisson looking to switch the play and up the tempo towards the end and Roberts to have a run out targetting  weak and scattered defence.

Defence: Strong defenders across the park will look at making the intiial big impact hit. We will target the centres are so will look to prevent them offloading the ball by double tackling them. We will look to blitz with Welch in their 10’s face. Inside-out defence.

Overall: 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 target their pack out wide. We will look to negate their carrying options and put pressure on their half back combination not letting them get the upper hand. We want quick ball so will look to play an offloading game. Target JDV who has been out of action for a while now.

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Nick Phipps
02. Dane Coles	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Charlie Faumuina
04. Ed Slater	11. Charles Piutau
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Jean De Villiers
06. David Ewers	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.George McGuigan 17.Soana Tongahuia 18.Luc Ducalcon 19. Luke Jones 20. Will Fraser 21.Dave Lewis 22. Ian Madigan 23. Charlie Sharples

Set piece - Look to target Thomas with Mullan using his knowledge from international training, backed up by Coles, with Slater and Ewers primarily packing down on that side. If no weakness use as restart. In the lineout, Kruger to call and mark Potgeiter, force them to use the front option and defend the maul or try and go long where Read is waiting. On our ball, use Slater/Kruger/Read/McCaw as options.

Breakdown - McCaw and Read as a combo to work the breakdown, backed up by Coles as a trio, Read to primarily play the wider channels and look for turnovers with the rest of the pack competing close in. Big front 5 to smash the rucks and clear them off the ball. Look to get to rucks ahead of Welch and we think we can get the advantage here.

Kicking - Use JD, Smith and Piutau as kicking options when pinned deep to keep the pressure off Farrell. Target Fitzgerald for an aerial bombardment with Smith and Piutau chasing hard. Kick in behind the wings to play for territory. We've got 2 full backs in our back 3, and Strettle is also good in the air

Attack - Use Smith and Piutau to step in at first receiver and challenge the line at times. Big carriers in Faumuina, Slater and Ewers to tie their defence in at which point we'll go wide. Read to target the wider channels in attack as he chooses. Get the big runners going down Biggar's channel, he's played every game of a physical 6N and we think he could be fatigued as the game continues. JDV to carry direct into the 10 channel off lineout ball whenever its on.

Defence - No weak links in the back line, counter ruck hard and look for turnovers.

Bench - Big ball carriers and a breakdown specialist in Fraser, then plenty of pace and gamebreaking ability in Madigan and Sharples if we're chasing the game

Key points

Target Thomas with our big guys up front in the scrum
Welch is a weak link for Irish at 7, use his inexperience at this level and target the breakdown
Kick to challenge Fitzgerald in the air
Use multiple first receivers to keep us moving forward and keep them guessing
We're well rested and have international quality all over the park

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Northampton Saints v London Wasps
Location - Franklins Garden
Sunny Intervals, 7 Degrees, 10mph WSW Winds

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Saints

1. Mako Vunipola 2. Rob Webber 3. Logi Mulipola 4. Lood de Jäger 5. Courtney Lawes 6. CJ Stander 7. Schalk Burger 8. Sergio Parisse 9. Joe Simpson 10. George Ford 11. Julian Savea 12. Matt Giteau 13. Elliot Daly 14. Tommy Bowe 15 Leigh Halfpenny (k)

16. Dylan Hartley 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Adam Jones 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Julian Bonnaire 21. Gareth Davies 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Manu Tuilagi

Tactics: Perfect conditions for attacking rugby, so we have picked a team that has a lot of gainline breakers in the pack to put us on the front foot and a backline that is in great form in real life from 9-15. Top of the table clash so have recalled Halfpenny to ensure we can pick up 3 points anywhere in the Wasps half, plus look to dominate the territorial kicking battle with 9,10, 12, 13 and 15 all excellent kickers. We feel there is an advantage to be had at the lineout and will use this as an opportunity to get quick ball for our backline.

Key Points:
* Leigh Halfpenny's boot. Top of the table clash, with Cruden's kicking radar off we want to ensure we can nail as many points as we can.
* Win territorial kicking game and push Wasps deep in their own half, Simpson, Ford, Giteau, Daly and Halfpenny all excellent kicking options and we want to play Wasps in areas of the pitch where every error could result in a chance for Halfpenny to get 3 points.
* Target the lineout as an attacking platform and to use Lawes to pressurise Youngs throwing.
* Win the gainline battle through our pack and mix up our attacking game, bringing Bowe and Savea into the game off Ford and Giteau.
* Strong bench to finish the final 20 minutes well.
* Undefeated at home in the league

Pack/Setpiece: Conditions should mean few scrums, so have selected a pack with a lot of ball carriers that will look to get us over the gainline and get us front foot ball and tire the away teams defence. One main target is the lineout, where we have 5 options and will use this to generate quick attacking ball. Will aim to pressurise the Wasps setpiece and use Lawes to put Youngs throwing under a lot of pressure.

Attack: At home we will want to attack, our pack can get us over the gainline, win the collisions that will allow Ford and Giteau to pull the strings in the midfield. We will also use the lineout to generate quick ball, and when we can get Daly really attacking Freuens channel who has barely featured for Wasps since round 12 of the AP. We will use the cross field kick for Bowe to challenge in attack, but will look to get SAvea the ball in space whenever there is the chance to shift the ball wide.

Kicking/Territory: We want to pin Wasps back in their own half with a strong kicking game, make them play from deep and go through the phases in areas where they can't challenge the scoreboard and every mistake they make can get punished by Halfpenny.

Breakdown: We have a mobile pack that can allow us to get numbers to the breakdown, with our ball carriers we can get forward momentum that can help us secure our own ball. We are happy to flood the breakdown area and will again look to turn this into a very physical contest, particularly looking for Schalk Burger to target Armitage.

Defence: We have selected Stander at no6 to give us a very good mobile defensive option to support our midfield double up on Nonu. We see that as a key area of stopping his influence and will look at Stander to marshall him. We also have the option of swapping our midfield to really tighten up the defence with Fofana and Tuilagi second half. We will play an aggressive defence with a fast line speed to limit attacking options and will of course have Lawes lining up Cruden for a big hit. Simpson to sweep in behind the defensive line.

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London Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213                      

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Tom Youngs	10. Aaron Cruden
03. David Wilson
04. Matt Symons	11. Noa Nakaitaci
05. Sebastien Vahaamahina	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Marcell Coetzee	13. Robbie Freuan
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Bryan Habana
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Delon Armitage

Reps: 16. Deon Fourie 17. Scott Sio 18. Ben Alexander 19. Romain Millo-Chluski 20. Fulgence Ouedraogo, 21. Ben Youngs 22. Shane Geraghty, 23. Marland Yarde.

Basic Game Plan
In good conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, going through the phases and continually shifting the point of attack.  When deep in our half we won't take chances with offloading, but will make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly, or using the boots of Cruden and Armitage to take us up the field.

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 our ball.  We will also mix it up, shortening the lineout and using our back row as crash ball options off the top.  On Saints ball put pressure on through Vahaamahina and Vermeulen, who are athletic lineout jumpers.
  
• Scrum.  Get low and underneath their props and drive straight.  Really test their props technical abilities rather than get in to a battle of strength.
  
• 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 also utilise the pick and go, keeping their defensive line on the back foot.  We will then look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps.  Smith to also look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  Lastly, we look to get big runners through their midfield, looking to target link between Giteau and Daly and test their defensive co-ordination.
  
• Tactical Kicking.  If we kick, we will look to kick for touch deep in Saracens territory and then contest the lineout.
  

Key Points 

• Form/Momentum  We are the form team in the game.  After a slow start we've built momentum and won a trophy last time out.
  
• Sticking to the gameplan.  Saints threat is from the ball in hand ability of their backs.  We WILL NOT kick to them.  we will go through the phases and play possession.  If we kick, it will be for touch and we'll contest the lineout in their territory.
  

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Saracens v Harlequins
Location - Allianz Park
Sunny Intervals, 7 Degrees, 10mph WSW Winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Keven Mealamu	10. Bernard Foley
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Brad Davies	11. Zak Guildford
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Brad Shields	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Callum Clark	14. Chris Ashton
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Guilhem Guirado 17. Nick Auterac 18. Tomas Francis 19. James Horwill 20. Heinrich Brussow 21. Henry Taylor 22. Scott Williams 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics:

TARGET THE LINE OUT - With TPN known to go wayward and no real lineout leader for Quins, look to put pressure on the Quins throw throughout.

KICK IN BEHIND AND UP & UNDERS AT QUINS WINGS - Target from the off. Both Quins wings are not renowned for their pressence in the air so will look to get strong kick chase game going with Parra an expert at the box kick. Also look to kick in behind and make them turn.

LOOK TO GET OUTSIDE OF ROUGERIE - Use Fekitoa or wings to attack the 13 channel and exploit Rougerie's lack of gas.

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. Midfield 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 SBW's offloads in contact. Back 3 to keep things honest and come looking for work.

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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. Teddy Thomas
05. George Kruis	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Tom Wood	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Frank Halai
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Colin Slade

:-

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. John Afoa 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Jack Clifford 21. Karl Dickson 22. Stuart Olding 23. Jack Nowell

Control Territory

Exploit the lack of renowned kickers across the Saracens outside backs. Use the boot of Pienaar, Myler, JMH and Slade to kick behind the Saracens back 3 and get us deep into their half. Should they drop men back we can simply exploit the space created in the defensive line.

Attack

When in the Saracens half look to get pods running off 10 and 12 before spinning it wide into the hands of Thomas and Halai in open spaces. Really look to attack Guildford 1 on 1 with Thomas. Effective carrying from our pack essential to get us across the gainline. Strong carriers in pack to hit the ball at pace with support.

Control Tempo

Play the game at our pace with Pienaar and Myler two of the best around at this. We will slow down when we need to and speed up when we are making line breaks and our offload game is clicking. Look to get big carriers such as Gorgodze, Botha, Hooper and Rougerie into spaces with our first receiver standing flat.  

Breakdown

Hooper and Wood looking to boss this area, especially in the midfield and wide channels. In attack we will look to ruck effectively to get quick ball.

Defence

Look to defend outside to in. Get SBW and Fekitoa running at men back on the inside. Look to double up in the tackle with one man on legs and the other on the ball.

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London Welsh v Bath
Location - Kessam Stadium
Light Cloud, 8 Degrees, 9mph WSW Winds

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London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. Kilcoyne	09. Kerr Barlow
02. Ward	10. Trinh Duc
03. Kepu
04. Gilchrist	11. Nadolo
05. Ryan	12. Godwin
06. Fearns	13. Lowe
07. Barclay	14. Horne
08. Vito	15. Pennell

:-
16. Catt, 17. Strauss, 18. Tomaszczyk,  19. Skivington, 20. Lapandry, 21. Spencer, 22. Tales, 23. Mogg

Tactics-
 
Breakdown: use Ward and Barclay in tandem chasing the ball, backed by Fearns in particular, using our powerful other forwards to clear out aggressively to ensure quick ball. On defensive ball, Ward and Barclay to look to disrupt but unless turnover is on, keep numbers out for defence.

Attack: move the ball around with our hard carrying pack, driving in units and looking to tire their pack. Use pop passes from 9 and 10 to our back row to crash ball, supported closely to create fast ball.

When ball is quick, FTH to attack the line with runners coming in at different angles from deep, looking to make space and pop into it for our tracking back 3 and our powerful back row when they have a more broken field to devastate.

We have good kick chasers in the back 3 so look to kick through the defence if it charges up, with grubbers, cross fields and chips, as we can contest there.

Defence- blitz led by Lowe, sweeping by 9, the back row looking to rough up their playmakers with big hits. Really aggressive and physical defence.  Look to run back kicks with our running back 3

Kicking- kick high for possession not territory. Look to use the crossfield in their 22. Take all points on offer

Scrum- look to press their front row especially late in the match where our tactics will aim to tire them

Lineout, keep it simple and maul it up, looking to commit their pack tacklers for moves ie off the inside of 10

Subs- use as needed

In brief- aggressive rucking, aggressive tackling blitz, kick for possession, move about their pack and sap them, move the ball to our danger men in gaps

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. James Slipper	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Ben Tameifuma
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Sam Whitelock/td]	12. Christian Lealifano
06. Siya Kolisi	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Damian De Allende
08. Liam Messam	15. Liam Williams

16. Richard Hibbard 17. Benn Robinson 18. Scott Wilson 19. Luke Romano 20. Dan Lydiate 21. George Di Cothi 22. Luther Burrell 23. George North

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby. Look to overwhelm Welsh in the loose with big carries. High tempo offloading game looking to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece. Try to neutralise the opposition early on and silence the home support.

Scrum: Look to dominate the set piece and use it to restart our game plan. Our props have been well rotated so will be fresh. We will try to set a base, controlled by Messam which he can attack off.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Kitch, Messam and Whitelock options in the lineout. Whitelock will run the lineout with Kitch 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 it is a new combo for them whereas ours is established and knows eachothers games.

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Kolisi, Messam and Tipuric are all adept at the breakdown. Only send numbers in if confident we can get the ball, otherwise look to set the defence and dare the Welsh to beat us.

Defence: Blitz Defence looking to really put pressure on the Welsh decision makers. TKB has played 9 minutes since the last ITM cup in real life. Put him under immense pressure. Try to stop the ball from getting to the centres. Win the collision and drive through rucks. Wiggles to sweep in behind.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wiggles knows how to control a tempo and will play what he sees. Sanchez will look to play flat and involve the back line whenever possible. Look to get the ball in the hands of our dangerous backs. We have natural finishers all over. Williams/LLF/Sanchez can all play first receiver and will rotate in order to keep tempo up and look to play expansively. Look for strong carries from the pack - which has big line breakers - tying in defenders to create overlaps for the backs. Get Big Ben, Slipper, Kolisi, Kitchener and Messam all with their hands on the ball. Wade, De Allende and Campagnaro look to exploit gaps left. Throughout them team look to Keep the ball alive and look for offloads. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line.

Kicking: Sanchez will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. LLF, Sanchez and Williams 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. Hibbard, Wilson and Robinson will come on early in the second half and look to continue dominance at scrum time. Romano will look to add grit and work around the park. Lydiate will come on late look to target the Welsh scrum half and force him into mistakes. Burrell and North add power and the ability to gain yards late on.

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Getting seriously tight at the top!

Some big results.

Unlucky Steve, very close.

Tables up. Chris falls off top spot for the first time this season. Great battle for the European spots as well this year.

Somehow missed the Sale v Gloucester game on predictions, my copying and pasting skills clearly not up to it these days!