Aviva Premiership Round Nineteen

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Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints
Location - Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 14 Degrees, 13mph SSW Winds

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Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Cian Healy	09. Connor Murray
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Camille Lopez
03. Mike Ross
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Paul O'Connell (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. James Haskell	14. Cory Jane
08. Fritz Lee	15. James O'Conoor

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16. Sean Cronin 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Jake Cooper-Woolley 19. Tomás Lavanini 20. Luke Wallace 21. Chris Cook 22. Alex Losowski 23. Andrew Trimble

Fast paced game based around high intensity in defence, offloading, and dynamic carrying and rucking. We want to hit the ground running and hit the opposition hard and fast from the off. Our aim is to control possession and go through the phases. 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. We won't play their game plan, and at Sandy Park, Saints will play at our pace, which will be a struggle for most of their slow lumbering forwards. 

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. Murray 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 Saints territory. This week we are looking to kick long or use Murray's box to force the the Saints back three to turn and retrieve the ball, with pressure from our kick chase game. We want to keep the ball in field, to tire out a drained Saints side and to trust our imposing defence (joint second best with tries conceded this season) to frustrate Saints, and generate penalties. 
  
• Lineout - Using POC, Tui & Lee to mix up our options and look for possession off the top and into midfeld. Look to cut line out numbers and have a forward pod in midfield to exploit the defense or Daly and Fofana.
  
• Forwards - Generally in defence with our line we will look to get stuck in early and get the carrier to ground early. This is to then either ensure we have numbers in the defensive line, or to get numbers in at the breakdown to slow up/turnover Saints ball. Our back row is renowned for physicality at the breakdown and will frustrate the Saints carriers and support. 
  
• 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 Evans & Daly channels, with our back three looking to isolate their slower lads in the defensive line eg Mulipola, Vunipolas & Burger.
  
• Build a Score - Lopez 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.
  
• Home Advantage - We have only lost one game at home this season and managed draws to the top any of the current top four sides apart from Saints. This week is no different and we will look to put saints to the sword with the sixteenth man  #Chiefsfortress
  

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 Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Nick Evans
03. Logi Mulipola
04.  Jonny Gray	11. Julian Savea
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. Chris Robshaw (c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Replacements:
16. Dylan Hartley 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Trevor Nyakane 19. Samu Manoa 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Cobus Reinarch 22. George Ford 23. Manu Tuilagi

Overall: To play at a high tempo with a physical with emphasis on winning the gainline battle and providing halfbacks with a platform to attack the home team and put the backs into space to score tries and take advantage of conditions. Unload the bench to ensure we finish the game strongly and put Chiefs under pressure.  

Key Points:
* Leigh Halfpenny's boot - away game, best goal kicker in world rugby and guarantees steady flow of points.
* Win the gainline battle with ball carriers in the pack and backline and get halfbacks front foot attacking ball.
* Tire Chiefs defence by working through the phases, getting physical ball carriers on the ball and creating space.
* We have a lot of 'match winners' in v good form in real life - Simpson, Fofana, Daly, Savea and Bowe - so will look to get them the ball and test the homeside defensively from the outset.
* Impact bench to finish the final 20 minutes very strongly - will introduce Manoa, Parisse and Ford early.

Pack/Setpiece: We've picked a strong, mobile pack that has a lot of big ball carriers and physicality to get us over the gainline. Will look to build a solid platform to attack from the scrum and have selected 4 jumping options to generate quick ball to attack from off our own lineout. We will aim to use Lawes to put Yeandle under pressure by marking O'Connell and contesting Chiefs throw ins. Bench is packed full of internationals that will allow Saints to finish very strongly in this area.

Attack: Conditions will let us play our attacking game of getting over the gainline and winning the collisions. We've selected Fofana and Daly in midfield to offer different attacking options to beat Barritt and AAC - Fofana will aim to create space for Daly to attack AAC's outside channel and bring in Savea. We will use the cross field kick for Bowe and Savea to challenge in attack as see this as an area we can get some success in.

Kicking/Territory: We want to play the game in the right area and aim to push Exeter back in their own half with kicking game of 9, 10, 13 and 15. Will get Halfpenny kicking three points at every opportunity to build up a score and keep building pressure.

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 to use Burger and Robshaw's experience to make the most of Chiefs not having a natural open side in their lineup.

Defence: Will play a physical rush defence, aiming to put pressure on Exeter's decision makers with Lawes (and later Manoa) targeting a big hit on the fly half. Looking to force mistakes and force Exeter into kicking to our back three to counter. Simpson to sweep in behind the defensive line.

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Harlequins v Gloucester

Location - Twickenham Stoop
Light Cloud, 18 Degrees, 12mph SSW Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly	15. Rob Kearney

16. Schalk Brits 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Nick Easter 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Karl Dickson 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Jan Serfontein

Tactics

Game Plan - Look to use our forwards to get us over the gain line carrying off 9 and 10. They will look to carry the ball at pace and with support so we can offload or recycle the ball quickly. Our forwards will look to use agility before contact to attack spaces and gaps in the Gloucester defence. Look to use the front 5 off 9 and the back row off 10.

When we can get quick ball and are getting over the gain line we will look to get our backs into the game. Myler will look to stand flat and bring in his outside backs and put them into space. Look to isolate Kuridrani and get JJ one on one and using his outside break. Look for our blindside winger to come and look for work.

Set Piece - Look to target the scrum. Woodcock and Afoa to work hard for 50 mins then bring on Kitchoff and Brookes to make an impact at the set piece and around the park. Look to realy compete at the lineout with 4 very strong jumpers.

Defence and Breakdown - Look to defend from out to in with JJ leading the line speed. Look to make Gloucester throw risky passes or play behind the gain line in order to get out wide. Hooper and Wood to look to challenge at the breakdown. Nothing easy for Gloucester. Quick line speed with the aim of winning the collisions when Gloucester have slow ball or chopping and attacking the breakdown when they are on the front foot.

KEY POINTS

Look to test Gloucester (especially Walker and May) with high balls for Henshaw, Huget, Kearney and Nowell to attack.

Use the control offered by our half backs to control territory and the tempo of the game.

Take all points.

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 Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

1 Beast
2 Strauss
3 Mas
4 Gray
5 Taofufina
6 Croft
7 Salvi
8 Heaslip
9 Perenara
10 Cipriani
11 May
12 Toomua
13 Kurindrani
14 Walker
15 Dagg
16 Wood
17 LCD
18 Ousthuizen
19 Moriarty
20 Alberts
21 Robson
22 Carter
23 gear




Glos make the trip to Quins 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 Strauss Gray Taofufina Have the physicality and the power to swamp their backrow.

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 pienaar and myler Not having much form this season. We will look to flood this channel

Scrum- we will be looking to
Scrimmage hard with Beast and Mas for 50 minutes until bringing on the bench.

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 Taofufina to really challenge here.

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 croft Heaslip and Salvi to bring pace to the game and to profit off our dynamic front 5 who will 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. We have 4 kicking options in Perenara Cips Toomua and Dagg and see this is a huge plus point in comparison

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.

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Saracens v Leicester Tigers
Location - Allianz Park
Light Cloud, 18 Degrees, 12mph SSW Winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Keven Mealamu	10. Bernard Foley
03. Dan Cole
04. Brad Davies	11. Zak Guildford
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Ben Mowen	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Thierry Dusatoir(c)	14. Chris Ashton
08. Dave Denton	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Guilhem Guirado 17. Nick Auterac 18. Tomas Francis 19. Sam Carter 20. Heinrich Brussow 21. Henry Taylor 22. Morne Steyn 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics:

TARGET SCRUM - With Corbs struggling a little at scrum time, look to use Cole to target here.

TARGET BREAKDOWN - Target from the off. Numerous options in Cole, Mealmu, Dusatoir to slow and turn over Tigers ball.

PUT PRESSURE ON 10/12 CHANNEL - Fast & mobile flanks to target 10/12 channel in possesion and put them off their game. Look to get big runners Denton/SBW running down this channel and test out the defence.

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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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. Rene Ranger
05. Victor Matfield	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Johnson	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. JMF Lobbe	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

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16. Stephen Moore 17. Max Lahiff 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Steve Mafi 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Dan Bowden 23. Ugo Monye

Tactics:

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

- 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 to look to steal and really give opposition problems.

- Attack all scrums if an advantage - Front row of Franks, Creevy and Corbs to look to really get the shove on. Target if we start to get upper hand.

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

- Look to win battle at the breakdown - Lobbe and Burger, supported by the likes of Creevy and Bastearaud, to really look to get into the breakdown and give the opposition 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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London Welsh v London Wasps
Location - Kassam Stadium
Light Cloud, 17 Degrees, 15mph SSW Winds

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London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. Kilcoyne	09. Lacrampe
02. Ward	10. Trinh Duc
03. Botha
04. Gilchrist	11. Nadolo
05. Temani	12. Laulala
06. Fearns	13. Lowe
07. Barclay	14. Horne
08. Vito	15. Pennell

:-
16. Catt, 17. Rees, 18. Tomaszczyk,  19. Botha, 20. Lapandry, 21. Spencer, 22. Godwin, 23. Mogg

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London Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213  
                 

01. Scott Sio	09. Aaron Smith
02. Tom Youngs	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Ben Alexander
04. Matt Symons	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun-Wyn Jones	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Marcell Coetzee	13. Henry Slade
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Noa Nakaitaci
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Delon Armitage

Reps: 16. Deon Fourie 17. Joe Marler 18. David Wilson 19. Sebastien Vahaamahina 20. Fulgence Ouedraogo 21. Ben Youngs 22. Paul Jordaan 23. Anthony Watson

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, Slade 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.  
  
• Scrum.  Get the ball in and out quickly (as the Reds did in their championship year a few years back).  We want to use the scrum as a way of getting quick ball, with opposition forwards tied into it, and using Nonu and Nakaitaci off first phase from it to tie in more players and create space wider out to attack.
  
• 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.  
  
• Tactical Kicking.  If we kick, we will look to kick for the corners and contest the opposition lineout.
  

Key Poinst

• Form/Momentum  We are in great form within the game as we come to the business end of the season.  We also have a huge number of players in form in real life, as shown HERE.
  
• Areas of criticism  The main area I seem to get hammered for is locks and lineout.  You are of course free to predict as you wish, but I'd like to point out Symons runs the lineout for the Chiefs and is one of the form locks in Super Rugby.  AWJ and Vermeulen have both run the lineout at various times for club and country.  Whilst we do not have a Matfield/POC type lineout leader, this area would function perfectly well with the experienced internationals we have in there.
  

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London Irish v Sale Sharks
Location - Majedski Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 17 Degrees, 14mph S Winds

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London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. Rhodri Jones	09. Lee Dickson
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Stuart Hooper (c)	11. Horatio Agulla
05. Devin Toner	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jordan Taufua	13. Conrad Smith
07. Sam Warburton	14. Nick Cummins
08. Ben Morgan	15. Luke Fitzgerald

16. Ken Owens 17. Tom Smallbone 18. Henry Thomas 19. Tom Savage 20. Will Welch 21. Rory Kockett 22. Jules Plisson 23. Mark Bennett

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. With Toner and Hooper we have 2 great options to challenge their lineout.

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), Warburton (jackles) and Morgan(carries). We know they are good on the floor so will look to prevent Sale 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 Roberts 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. Smith willl marshall and play heads up rugby.

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 Thomas bringing scrum impact, Welch and Savage will relish running at tired defences.  Quality in the backs with Kockott and Plisson looking to switch the play and up the tempo towards the end and Bennett 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 Taufua 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. We will run Roberts and Morgan down Allen's channel and look to play a maximum of 3 phases before seeking territory.

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Martin Moore
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Simon Zebo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Anthony Allen
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Jared Payne
07. Sam Cane	14. Willie Le Roux
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

:-
16. Jack McGrath 17. David Paice 18. Samson Lee 19. Will Skelton 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Calum Braley 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Kyle Eastmond

We will adopt a territory first approach and play the game in the opposition half forcing Irish to play from deep.

- Intelligent kicking. Sexton will look to take advantage of the positioning of the Irish back three. Fitzgerald last played at fullback for Leinster in March 2013 while we will look to catch out both wingers on the turn.

- Attack the wider channels. When in opposition territory we will look to move the ball out wide and attack the dog legs in the Irish in to out blitz defence. Picamoles will look to play further out from the ruck and build up a head of steam when carrying to make easy yards.

- 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.

- Late Impact. We will look to seriously up the tempo late on with likes of McGrath, Lee & Skelton to come in and up the carrying. Barrett and Eastmond change the dynamics of our backline. While Kvesic will look to get the better of Welch and turn ball over late on.

- 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 & Cane 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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Newcastle Falcons v Bath
Location - Kingston Park
Light Rain Shower, 16 Degrees, 13mph S Winds

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Nick Phipps
02. Rory Best	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Yohan Maestri	11. Charles Piutau
05. Geoff Parling	12. Ian Madigan
06. David Ewers	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw	14. Ben Smith
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16.Dane Coles 17.Vincent Debaty 18.Charlie Faumuina 19. Ed Slater 20. Will Fraser 21.Rhys Webb 22. Andy Goode 23. Charlie Sharples

Set piece - Really looking to get after the scrum today. Big Ben is barely a 50 min man and we think we can get at Wilson whenever he comes on. Mullan and Best to really look to put the pressure on Tameifuma, wear him down slowly and sap his energy. Keep the ball in the scrum with Ewers and Maestri packing down on the loosehead side to add extra weight. Expected to be raining so we think scrums will have a big effect, we've got big power coming off the bench in the second half in Debaty, Ducalcon and Slater to add further weight. In the lineout, 3 options in Maestri, Parling and Read. On their ball, look to defend the maul, mark Whitelock and force them to go long or play safe at the front.

Breakdown - Look for physicality at the breakdown and blow Tipuric off the ball, we think we could have an advantage by driving through the rucks and trying to dominate their back row. Support from the likes of Maestri and Best in looking for turnovers. Read and McCaw to work as a pair, one clearing out the first man and second to secure our ball.

Kicking - We've got options throughout to support the half backs in the likes of Madigan, JD2 and the back 3 all play full back. Use the kicking game to target the wings, kick in behind North and up in the air against Wade with the chase coming on from the back 3. Force them backwards, if they can't claim cleanly given the conditions, we're ready to win the scrum battle. Use chip kicks to beat the blitz defence

Attack - 2 sided attack in their territory with Madigan and Farrell, while Smith and Hogg offer running threats at first receiver. Look to play heads up and challenge the line whenever its on. Send the big runners down Sanchez's channel, particularly the likes of JD2 and Ewers. Lydiate will play one out from the ruck, send a big runner down that channel with support to recycle quickly if he makes the chop tackle, then get the ball out wide when they are less set up. Back 3 are free to counter if we catch on the halfway line

Defence - no weak links in the backline, all the back 3 are experienced full backs and excellent cover tacklers, JD2 to lead the rush when he thinks its on, we'll look to pressure the half backs, as we don't think their centres are skilled at first receiver so keep them pinned back. In the conditions, we think they lack big ball carriers in the back row and are happy to defend against them one on one to maintain the line

Bench - Big ball carriers to take advantage of a tired pack, and the halfback replacements have been picked for their tactical kicking to see us home at the end. If chasing, Fraser to help us win turnover ball and Sharples/Webb pace to exploit it

Key points

Target the tighthead side of Bath's scrum
Blow Tipuric off the ball physically
Kick in behind North and aerially challenge Wade
2 sided attack in their territory
Big runners down 10 channel

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Richard Barrington	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Ben Tameifuma
04. Graham Kitchener	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Damien De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Christian Wade
08. Toby Falateu	15. Liam Williams

16. Mikey Haywood 17. James Slipper 18. Scott Wilson 19. Luke Romano 20. Liam Messam 21. George Di Cothi 22. Christian Lealifano 23. Alex Goode

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

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Kitch, Falateu 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.

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Falateu 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 Falcons to beat us.

Defence: Blitz Defence looking to really put pressure on the Newcastle decision makers. 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/De Allende/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, Tipuric, 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. 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.

---

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. Rene Ranger
05. Victor Matfield	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. JMF Lobbe	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Jacques Burger	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

.
16. Stephen Moore 17. Max Lahiff 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Steve Mafi 20. Tom Johnson 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Dan Bowden 23. Ugo Monye

Tactics:

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

- 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 to look to steal and really give opposition problems.

- Attack all scrums if an advantage - Front row of Franks, Creevy and Corbs to look to really get the shove on. Target if we start to get upper hand.

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

- Look to win battle at the breakdown - Lobbe and Burger, supported by the likes of Creevy and Bastearaud, to really look to get into the breakdown and give the opposition 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.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Nick Phipps
02. Rory Best	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Yohan Maestri	11. Charles Piutau
05. Geoff Parling	12. Ian Madigan
06. David Ewers	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Richie McCaw	14. Ben Smith
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16.Dane Coles 17.Vincent Debaty 18.Charlie Faumuina 19. Ed Slater 20. Will Fraser 21.Rhys Webb 22. Andy Goode 23. Charlie Sharples

Set piece - Really looking to get after the scrum today. Big Ben is barely a 50 min man and we think we can get at Wilson whenever he comes on. Mullan and Best to really look to put the pressure on Tameifuma, wear him down slowly and sap his energy. Keep the ball in the scrum with Ewers and Maestri packing down on the loosehead side to add extra weight. Expected to be raining so we think scrums will have a big effect, we've got big power coming off the bench in the second half in Debaty, Ducalcon and Slater to add further weight. In the lineout, 3 options in Maestri, Parling and Read. On their ball, look to defend the maul, mark Whitelock and force them to go long or play safe at the front.

Breakdown - Look for physicality at the breakdown and blow Tipuric off the ball, we think we could have an advantage by driving through the rucks and trying to dominate their back row. Support from the likes of Maestri and Best in looking for turnovers. Read and McCaw to work as a pair, one clearing out the first man and second to secure our ball.

Kicking - We've got options throughout to support the half backs in the likes of Madigan, JD2 and the back 3 all play full back. Use the kicking game to target the wings, kick in behind North and up in the air against Wade with the chase coming on from the back 3. Force them backwards, if they can't claim cleanly given the conditions, we're ready to win the scrum battle. Use chip kicks to beat the blitz defence

Attack - 2 sided attack in their territory with Madigan and Farrell, while Smith and Hogg offer running threats at first receiver. Look to play heads up and challenge the line whenever its on. Send the big runners down Sanchez's channel, particularly the likes of JD2 and Ewers. Lydiate will play one out from the ruck, send a big runner down that channel with support to recycle quickly if he makes the chop tackle, then get the ball out wide when they are less set up. Back 3 are free to counter if we catch on the halfway line

Defence - no weak links in the backline, all the back 3 are experienced full backs and excellent cover tacklers, JD2 to lead the rush when he thinks its on, we'll look to pressure the half backs, as we don't think their centres are skilled at first receiver so keep them pinned back. In the conditions, we think they lack big ball carriers in the back row and are happy to defend against them one on one to maintain the line

Bench - Big ball carriers to take advantage of a tired pack, and the halfback replacements have been picked for their tactical kicking to see us home at the end. If chasing, Fraser to help us win turnover ball and Sharples/Webb pace to exploit it

Key points

Target the tighthead side of Bath's scrum
Blow Tipuric off the ball physically
Kick in behind North and aerially challenge Wade
2 sided attack in their territory
Big runners down 10 channel

 London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. Rhodri Jones	09. Lee Dickson
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Stuart Hooper (c)	11. Horatio Agulla
05. Devin Toner	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jordan Taufua	13. Conrad Smith
07. Sam Warburton	14. Nick Cummins
08. Ben Morgan	15. Luke Fitzgerald

16. Ken Owens 17. Tom Smallbone 18. Henry Thomas 19. Tom Savage 20. Will Welch 21. Rory Kockett 22. Jules Plisson 23. Mark Bennett

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. With Toner and Hooper we have 2 great options to challenge their lineout.

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), Warburton (jackles) and Morgan(carries). We know they are good on the floor so will look to prevent Sale 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 Roberts 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. Smith willl marshall and play heads up rugby.

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 Thomas bringing scrum impact, Welch and Savage will relish running at tired defences.  Quality in the backs with Kockott and Plisson looking to switch the play and up the tempo towards the end and Bennett 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 Taufua 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. We will run Roberts and Morgan down Allen's channel and look to play a maximum of 3 phases before seeking territory.

Think that's the toughest selection I've made so far this season!!

 London Welsh
Manager – CJ

01. Kilcoyne	09. Lacrampe
02. Ward	10. Trinh Duc
03. Botha
04. Gilchrist	11. Nadolo
05. Temani	12. Laulala
06. Fearns	13. Lowe
07. Barclay	14. Horne
08. Vito	15. Pennell

:-
16. Catt, 17. Rees, 18. Tomaszczyk,  19. Botha, 20. Lapandry, 21. Spencer, 22. Godwin, 23. Mogg

Mark

Will I get punished for a late side this week?  Couldnt get on yesterday afternoon.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

[/td]

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly	15. Rob Kearney

16. Schalk Brits 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Nick Easter 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Karl Dickson 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Jan Serfontein

Tactics

Game Plan - Look to use our forwards to get us over the gain line carrying off 9 and 10. They will look to carry the ball at pace and with support so we can offload or recycle the ball quickly. Our forwards will look to use agility before contact to attack spaces and gaps in the Gloucester defence. Look to use the front 5 off 9 and the back row off 10.

When we can get quick ball and are getting over the gain line we will look to get our backs into the game. Myler will look to stand flat and bring in his outside backs and put them into space. Look to isolate Kuridrani and get JJ one on one and using his outside break. Look for our blindside winger to come and look for work.

Set Piece - Look to target the scrum. Woodcock and Afoa to work hard for 50 mins then bring on Kitchoff and Brookes to make an impact at the set piece and around the park. Look to realy compete at the lineout with 4 very strong jumpers.

Defence and Breakdown - Look to defend from out to in with JJ leading the line speed. Look to make Gloucester throw risky passes or play behind the gain line in order to get out wide. Hooper and Wood to look to challenge at the breakdown. Nothing easy for Gloucester. Quick line speed with the aim of winning the collisions when Gloucester have slow ball or chopping and attacking the breakdown when they are on the front foot.

KEY POINTS

Look to test Gloucester (especially Walker and May) with high balls for Henshaw, Huget, Kearney and Nowell to attack.

Use the control offered by our half backs to control territory and the tempo of the game.

Take all points.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Keven Mealamu	10. Bernard Foley
03. Dan Cole
04. Brad Davies	11. Zak Guildford
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Ben Mowen	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Thierry Dusatoir(c)	14. Chris Ashton
08. Dave Denton	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Guilhem Guirado 17. Nick Auterac 18. Tomas Francis 19. Sam Carter 20. Heinrich Brussow 21. Henry Taylor 22. Morne Steyn 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics:

TARGET SCRUM - With Corbs struggling a little at scrum time, look to use Cole to target here.

TARGET BREAKDOWN - Target from the off. Numerous options in Cole, Mealmu, Dusatoir to slow and turn over Tigers ball.

PUT PRESSURE ON 10/12 CHANNEL - Fast & mobile flanks to target 10/12 channel in possesion and put them off their game. Look to get big runners Denton/SBW running down this channel and test out the defence.

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.

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Cian Healy	09. Connor Murray
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Camille Lopez
03. Mike Ross
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. Tom Varndell
05. Paul O'Connell (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. James Haskell	14. Cory Jane
08. Fritz Lee	15. James O'Conoor

_
16. Sean Cronin 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Jake Cooper-Woolley 19. Tomás Lavanini 20. Luke Wallace 21. Chris Cook 22. Alex Losowski 23. Andrew Trimble

Fast paced game based around high intensity in defence, offloading, and dynamic carrying and rucking. We want to hit the ground running and hit the opposition hard and fast from the off. Our aim is to control possession and go through the phases. 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. We won't play their game plan, and at Sandy Park, Saints will play at our pace, which will be a struggle for most of their slow lumbering forwards. 

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. Murray 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 Saints territory. This week we are looking to kick long or use Murray's box to force the the Saints back three to turn and retrieve the ball, with pressure from our kick chase game. We want to keep the ball in field, to tire out a drained Saints side and to trust our imposing defence (joint second best with tries conceded this season) to frustrate Saints, and generate penalties. 
  
• Lineout - Using POC, Tui & Lee to mix up our options and look for possession off the top and into midfeld. Look to cut line out numbers and have a forward pod in midfield to exploit the defense or Daly and Fofana.
  
• Forwards - Generally in defence with our line we will look to get stuck in early and get the carrier to ground early. This is to then either ensure we have numbers in the defensive line, or to get numbers in at the breakdown to slow up/turnover Saints ball. Our back row is renowned for physicality at the breakdown and will frustrate the Saints carriers and support. 
  
• 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 Evans & Daly channels, with our back three looking to isolate their slower lads in the defensive line eg Mulipola, Vunipolas & Burger.
  
• Build a Score - Lopez 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.
  
• Home Advantage - We have only lost one game at home this season and managed draws to the top any of the current top four sides apart from Saints. This week is no different and we will look to put saints to the sword with the sixteenth man  #Chiefsfortress
  

Steve, not my decision obviously, but I would say you shouldn't be penalised as the thread only went up yesterday afternoon and you've got it in first thing this morning.

Similar boat, apologies. I'm a few hours ahead and get limited internet.

Where are you Pooly?

I live in Bahrain Bam, just near Saudi Arabia.

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Richard Barrington	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Ben Tameifuma
04. Graham Kitchener	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Damien De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Christian Wade
08. Toby Falateu	15. Liam Williams

16. Mikey Haywood 17. James Slipper 18. Scott Wilson 19. Luke Romano 20. Liam Messam 21. George Di Cothi 22. Christian Lealifano 23. Alex Goode

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

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Kitch, Falateu 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.

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Falateu 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 Falcons to beat us.

Defence: Blitz Defence looking to really put pressure on the Newcastle decision makers. 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/De Allende/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, Tipuric, 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. 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.

Harsh if
Penalised. Bank holiday skews things. I have no issues as the person playing you

Burger might get banned, hearing tomorrow:

http://www.rugbyweek.com/news/article.asp?id=46057

Reckon he will be, was a definite forearm to the face.

I think I've been penalised twice for late team before - pretty sure it is 3 points in a match, but Bank Holiday a good excuse not to fine anyone this time.

Page didn't go up till yesterday afternoon though Chris

Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Nick Evans
03.Logi Mulipola
04.  Jonny Gray	11. Julian Savea
05.Courtney Lawes	12.  Weslie Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. Chris Robshaw (c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Replacements:
16. Dylan Hartley 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Trevor Nyakane 19. Samu Manoa 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Cobus Reinarch 22. George Ford 23. Manu Tuilagi

Overall: To play at a high tempo with a physical with emphasis on winning the gainline battle and providing halfbacks with a platform to attack the home team and put the backs into space to score tries and take advantage of conditions. Unload the bench to ensure we finish the game strongly and put Chiefs under pressure.

Key Points:
* Leigh Halfpenny's boot - away game, best goal kicker in world rugby and guarantees steady flow of points.
* Win the gainline battle with ball carriers in the pack and backline and get halfbacks front foot attacking ball.
* Tire Chiefs defence by working through the phases, getting physical ball carriers on the ball and creating space.
* We have a lot of 'match winners' in v good form in real life - Simpson, Fofana, Daly, Savea and Bowe - so will look to get them the ball and test the homeside defensively from the outset.
* Impact bench to finish the final 20 minutes very strongly - will introduce Manoa, Parisse and Ford early.

Pack/Setpiece: We've picked a strong, mobile pack that has a lot of big ball carriers and physicality to get us over the gainline. Will look to build a solid platform to attack from the scrum and have selected 4 jumping options to generate quick ball to attack from off our own lineout. We will aim to use Lawes to put Yeandle under pressure by marking O'Connell and contesting Chiefs throw ins. Bench is packed full of internationals that will allow Saints to finish very strongly in this area.

Attack: Conditions will let us play our attacking game of getting over the gainline and winning the collisions. We've selected Fofana and Daly in midfield to offer different attacking options to beat Barritt and AAC - Fofana will aim to create space for Daly to attack AAC's outside channel and bring in Savea. We will use the cross field kick for Bowe and Savea to challenge in attack as see this as an area we can get some success in.

Kicking/Territory: We want to play the game in the right area and aim to push Exeter back in their own half with kicking game of 9, 10, 13 and 15. Will get Halfpenny kicking three points at every opportunity to build up a score and keep building pressure.

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 to use Burger and Robshaw's experience to make the most of Chiefs not having a natural open side in their lineup.

Defence: Will play a physical rush defence, aiming to put pressure on Exeter's decision makers with Lawes (and later Manoa) targeting a big hit on the fly half. Looking to force mistakes and force Exeter into kicking to our back three to counter. Simpson to sweep in behind the defensive line.

London Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213  
                   

01. Scott Sio	09. Aaron Smith
02. Tom Youngs	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Ben Alexander
04. Matt Symons	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun-Wyn Jones	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Marcell Coetzee	13. Henry Slade
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Noa Nakaitaci
08. Duane Vermeulen ©	15. Delon Armitage

Reps: 16. Deon Fourie 17. Joe Marler 18. David Wilson 19. Sebastien Vahaamahina 20. Fulgence Ouedraogo 21. Ben Youngs 22. Paul Jordaan 23. Anthony Watson

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, Slade 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.  
  
• Scrum.  Get the ball in and out quickly (as the Reds did in their championship year a few years back). We want to use the scrum as a way of getting quick ball, with opposition forwards tied into it, and using Nonu and Nakaitaci off first phase from it to tie in more players and create space wider out to attack.
  
• 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.  
  
• Tactical Kicking.  If we kick, we will look to kick for the corners and contest the opposition lineout.
  

Key Poinst

• Form/Momentum  We are in great form within the game as we come to the business end of the season. We also have a huge number of players in form in real life, as shown HERE.
  
• Areas of criticism The main area I seem to get hammered for is locks and lineout. You are of course free to predict as you wish, but I'd like to point out Symons runs the lineout for the Chiefs and is one of the form locks in Super Rugby. AWJ and Vermeulen have both run the lineout at various times for club and country. Whilst we do not have a Matfield/POC type lineout leader, this area would function perfectly well with the experienced internationals we have in there.
  

1 Beast
2 Strauss
3 Mas
4 Gray
5 Taofufina
6 Croft
7 Salvi
8 Heaslip
9 Perenara
10 Cipriani
11 May
12 Toomua
13 Kurindrani
14 Walker
15 Dagg
16 Wood
17 LCD
18 Ousthuizen
19 Moriarty
20 Alberts
21 Robson
22 Carter
23 gear




Glos make the trip to Quins 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 Strauss Gray Taofufina Have the physicality and the power to swamp their backrow.

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 pienaar and myler Not having much form this season. We will look to flood this channel

Scrum- we will be looking to
Scrimmage hard with Beast and Mas for 50 minutes until bringing on the bench.

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 Taofufina to really challenge here.

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 croft Heaslip and Salvi to bring pace to the game and to profit off our dynamic front 5 who will 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. We have 4 kicking options in Perenara Cips Toomua and Dagg and see this is a huge plus point in comparison

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.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Martin Moore
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Simon Zebo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Anthony Allen
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Jared Payne
07. Sam Cane	14. Willie Le Roux
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

:-
16. Jack McGrath 17. David Paice 18. Samson Lee 19. Will Skelton 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Calum Braley 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Kyle Eastmond

We will adopt a territory first approach and play the game in the opposition half forcing Irish to play from deep.

- Intelligent kicking. Sexton will look to take advantage of the positioning of the Irish back three. Fitzgerald last played at fullback for Leinster in March 2013 while we will look to catch out both wingers on the turn.

- Attack the wider channels. When in opposition territory we will look to move the ball out wide and attack the dog legs in the Irish in to out blitz defence. Picamoles will look to play further out from the ruck and build up a head of steam when carrying to make easy yards.

- 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.

- Late Impact. We will look to seriously up the tempo late on with likes of McGrath, Lee & Skelton to come in and up the carrying. Barrett and Eastmond change the dynamics of our backline. While Kvesic will look to get the better of Welch and turn ball over late on.

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

As the thread was late and opposition have no issues there won't be any punishment for the late team sheets this week

SJE and Chris, will get my tactics in before nine tomorrow. Struggling for time right now!

Mine in tomorrow too

Will be on at lunch time to do my own tactics and update the page

Done!

Page updated. No tactics from Welsh as yet but will add them if you get them in CJ. Have amended the Tigers team sheet for the banned Burger.


PREDICTIONS OPEN

Exeter 26 - 24 Northampton

Physicality of the Exeter pack stands out here. Except for hooker which a considerable weakness this is a very very strong pack and Saints are one of the few sides in the league who could match Saints up front here. The only real edge I see in slightly at the line out for Chiefs but I think the dynamic carrying options in the Chiefs pack is a big plus. One a piece at half back with Murray and Evans step ups over their opposite number. Centres edge to Saints with a very creative units. Saints stronger on the wings with two full backs struggling for their sensational best. This is a great game which Exeter edge at home.

Saracens 25 - 25 Leicester

Tremendous battle at the scrum here with Waller the weak link which gives Tigers the edge. Think Leicester also edge the line out. Very little between the packs in the loose or the breakdown. Good back row battle. Give the edge to Saracens at half back with the centres a good battle with a slight edge to Saracens. Slightly prefer the Leicester wingers. With a slight edge up front for Tigers and a good advantage in the backs for Saracens I call this a draw.

London Welsh 23 - 27 Wasps

The lack of tactics affect what would have been a good contest with a dogged Welsh line up but the quality in the Wasps side takes them to a comfortable away win. To beat Wasps you need to have thought carefully about how you play against them.

London Irish 22 - 22 Sale Sharks

Small edge to Sale up front at the set piece but nothing at the line out or in the loose or at the breakdown. Edge at half back to Sale but not massive with the Irish pair playing well and Care not in the best nick. Centres comfortably to Irish and they will get some joy here. Back three's pretty even and I'm a big fan of the Irish wingers. Another one I struggle to seperate.

Newcastle 27 - 27 Bath

Really good battle up front where I struggle to seperate the sides. Two well rounded packs which compete against anyone. I prefer Bath at half back with the control they offer. Outside backs are fantastic with a really good contest. I like the extra control offered by Madigan at 12 but the strong runners De Allende and North offer more go forward. I hate doing it but I can't seperate these sides without making up scenarios. Game of the week.

Sorry for the lack of tactics and proper predos recently, guys. Struggling lately, will try to do better

Exeter 21-20 Northampton

Cracking pack battle. I think Exeter can get a edge in the scrum and line out but little between the two sides in the loose in the front 5. I like the Saints lock combo, could be a world class unit  in a few years. Little in the backrows or breadown, Burger playing well for Chris.

Big step up at 9 for Exeter and they also shade 10 with Evans not in great form. Barritt should contain Fofana but see the striaght running AAC giving Daly issues. Saints back 3 a touch better. Great game and Saints bench will take it right to the wire, but Exeter set piece and hafback advantage will set them a good platform.

Welsh 22-23 Wasps

Welsh just shade the scrum with both side struggling a little in the line out. Wasps backrow unit stronger though and this will give them a pack advantage.

Wasps again stronger at halfback and 12, with Welsh shading 13. Not too much in a good back 3 battle. Another tight one but Wasps 6-12 give them an advanatge.

Irish 25-26 Sale

Scrum advantage to Sale with a solid unit. Not too much in the lineout with both sides holding their own, Sale with a bit more around the park though. Good backrow units and little in it again.

Just a touch more in the halfbacks for Sale but Irish take the centres with a very good unit. Sale a bit more threat in the back 3's. Another really tight game but Sale on fire and have some serious form in their 15. Irish push them hard but Sale with some good impact sees them get another win.

Newcastle 24-24 Bath

Not much in the set pieces with a slight scrum advantage to Falcons, both strong front 5 units. Falcons shade backrow although not in the greatest of from have quality.

Halfbacks close but prefer the Bath centre combo, electric back 3's from both sides. Another close one and I'm sure if either side have enough to take home the spoils.

Harlequins 32 - 32 Gloucester
A lot of the Quins game is built around their forwards getting over the gainline and I'm not sure they will get that much joy from that, until some of the subs come on. Great battle at the breakdown, Gloucester could get a lot of quick ball from lineout and with Cips and Toomua's form will get some joy. Great backline for Quins and the combination means a very high scoring draw. Quinn would have won if they got a bit more joy over the gainline, while Gloucester could have won if Croft had a bit more form.

Saracens 23 - 24 Leicester Tigers
There is a lot of power in the Tigers pack and can see them getting the edge on the home side there, it is probably the strongest front five in the league. Sarries have a great centre partnership, but again Twelvetrees and Basteraud are very solid defensively as is the whole Tigers backline and can marshall the threat. Burns form helps get the win. Sarries need a bit more impact on the bench and they'd win this game.

London Welsh 23 - 27 Wasps
Sorry, but have always given teams without tactics a minus on the score front and it costs them here against a strong Wasps team. Do think the homeside can get at the Wasps front five, which is really the only area you can find any fault with them.

London Irish 27 - 26 Sale Sharks
Massive battle of the two no10s! Very even throughout the packs and both teams have players who can make a difference in the backline. Normally Sexton would be the difference, but the form of Biggar and his goal kicking evens the whole game out and home advantage the decisive factor (just), the Sale backline just misses a guy who can get them over the gainline, while Irish have Roberts who can make those hard yards.

Newcastle Falcons 23 - 23 Bath
Three out of three draws on this one! Two really even pack battles and can't really see one team getting on top of the other there. Falcons would have won if Farrell had some form, but sounds like he is back next week so should make a difference for Falcons then.

Harlequins 31 - 29 Gloucester

Gloucester will struggle up front with a slight lack of form and Quins lads having a bit more game time in the front five, however the scrums will be a bit of a mess. Both will have much cleaner possession from line outs and this will allow some quick play to the game. Some good tactics from the Glaws side, to attempt to halt the Quins momentum at the breakdown. Quins however have a bigger presence defensively with Wood and Hooper managing to steal some possession through turnovers. 
Quins control at half back allows them to play in the right areas and get the ball into the hands of those who will damage, particularly JJ and Nowell. 
Gloucester will create some moments of magic with the Cips/Toomua combination putting their dangerous back three into space. Quins are clever to exploit the defensive deficiencies on the wings and will create some moments of panic in the Glaws defence. This one is tight right until the last few moments when Pienaar slots a match winning penalty to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. 

Saracens 25 - 29 Leicester Tigers

The front five of the Tigers side provides a more than solid platform for the Tigers back row and half backs to impose themselves on the game. The well organised Saracens pack though does have some aces up there sleeves and the mobility of their back row provides a big nuisance to the Tigers and their momentum of possession. Burns having some good form helps create a creative focal point in the Tigers back line. Sarries do have a real attacking threat throughout the back line, but with a stuttering supply of possession won't get to make the impact on the game as they would like. Sarries keep this game close with their attacking threat and Parra/Steyn keeping the score board ticking and at one point lead the game. However with Tigers momentum and possession Burns won't be so accurate at goal but will create more try scoring opportunities and just edge the Saracens at home.

London Welsh 24 - 30 Wasps

Welsh have the front five to get in amongst the Wasps forwards and really put them off their stride. Wasps however have a bit more quality in key positions which becomes a telling factor as the game wears on. Despite there being a quality disparity, Welsh will manage to score some well created tries. With Welsh having some dangerous backs that can score tries from nothing. But in the end Wasps just have too much in the tank for the home side. 

London Irish 24 - 21 Sale Sharks

Sharks here get a decent nudge on, once scrums are set and the ball fed. Irish however take the line outs with the leadership of Hooper and ability of Toner on show. Around the park both sides are about even in the terms of the front five, but the Irish back row is very good and will make a big impact around the park. 

This allows the Irish half backs a little more time and Biggar the time to direct how his side plays, implementing their game plan to get go forward. Sexton will pin back Irish, which will trouble the Irish back three in certain situations. There is a good attacking threat in the irish back line with ball in hand, as the same with the Sharks. Irish, will just get over the line in the end and keep out the visiting Sharks and record a massive victory!

Newcastle Falcons 25 - 23 Bath Rugby

A tough little contest up front. Falcons just edge Bath in the set piece, but around the park the Bath energy in their front five is a good advantage. The back row contest is an interesting battle. Falcons have real quality on show, but the combined unit of Bath is a trusted and quality one. This allows back line some decent speed possession to play with. Bath will play a decent speed game with Wiggles providing a secure supply of ball to Sanchez who can put his dangerous outside backs into spaces. Falcons the flip side are a little more dangerous with Phipps providing a quicker service and a threat at the base of rucks. This creates time for Faz and Madigan to distribute to their equally dangerous runners, or for Faz and Madigan to put their forwards in the right areas of the field. Really hard fought game with both sides going hammer and tongs at one another. But the real separating factor is the 9/10/12 axis for Falcons which will provide a service and platform to a tight win.

Exeter 21 - 28Northampton

physical battle up front with Exeter taking front row. Saints better unit of locks with tuitopu having a mare at moment.

Backrow sainys better in every position but a good battle.

One a piece at half backs.

Saints backs deadly and a step up on a good Exeter backline. What makes this comfortable for saints is the benches. They have world class options and will take the game away




London Welsh 20- 27 Wasps

The lack of tactics affect what would have been a good contest. However even with tactics they would lose as Wasps are a step up in most areas



Newcastle 27 - 27 Bath

Even up front and in bqcks think bath have a bit more with deallende and North etc. however not
Enough to win away

Exeter 21 - 28Northampton

physical battle up front with Exeter taking front row. Saints better unit of locks with tuitopu having a mare at moment.

Backrow sainys better in every position but a good battle.

One a piece at half backs.

Saints backs deadly and a step up on a good Exeter backline. What makes this comfortable for saints is the benches. They have world class options and will take the game away




London Welsh 20- 27 Wasps

The lack of tactics affect what would have been a good contest. However even with tactics they would lose as Wasps are a step up in most areas



Newcastle 27 - 27 Bath

Even up front and in bqcks think bath have a bit more with deallende and North etc. however not
Enough to win away

Some interesting results this week

Irish 22-22 Sale

Contrast of styles. Sale have a decent advantage in front 5 but conditions are great so will not be many scrums. Great backrow battle just shaded by Irish.

Half backs one as piece but Irish a better unit as care is having a tough time.

Backs fairly even with sale centres struggling vs Irish and sale sneaking back 3. Game of the round

A real lack of predos. Shall we leave then open ?? I know several said they would struggle to get on

Exeter 24-26 Saints

Think Exeter can get the edge at the scrum, tight at the lineout but Saints advantage. Prefer the Saints pack as a whole around the park, although Exeter also very good. One each at half back, outside backs to Saints, and the bench will help them edge this one late on.

Quins 27-25 Gloucester

Quins have the edge in the front 5 at the set piece, although Glos even it up around the park. Tough to split the back rows but I think Hooper may just get more support at the breakdown and will edge it. Backs even pretty much throughout both home advantage swings this one for me.

Sarries 24-23 Tigers

Big battle in the front 5, but think Leicester have the power to set themselves up. Sarries stronger in the back row, and also advantage in the half backs. Sarries win the centres but prefer Tigers back 3. Originally went for a draw but back row and halfback strength let Saracens sneak it

Welsh 23-27 Wasps

Sio's form helps Wasps win the scrum, evens at lineout time. The Wasps back row is stronger but fancy Barclay to win a few turnovers. HBs to Wasps with the NZ combo, centres very close but back 3 to Wasps. Good game and solid win for Wasps.

Irish 26-27 Sale

Sale have a good advantage in the scrum, but Irish with Toner can get at the lineout, back row will be a terrific battle but I fancy the Sale flankers to just win the breakdown battle. Sexton > Biggar and the scrum halfs equal, Irish centres are excellent though. Both back 3s will score tries, but the impact from Sale's bench added to the scrum and breakdown superiority gives them the win for me

Exeter Chiefs 28-27 Northampton Saints
See Chiefs causing a few problems at the set piece with an impressive front 5 overall. Backrow battle fairly tight. Half backs edge to Chiefs with both 10s faltering but more at 9. Saints back three possibly best in the league but midfield battle tight. Saints with a big finish in mind with that bench. 

Both sides looking for a very similar imposing physical approach. Chiefs set piece gives them the easier set up for attacking platforms early on and should work more scores of it. Saints come back late on but Chiefs should scrap home by the skin of their teeth.


Harlequins 23-19 Gloucester 
Not a lot between the front fives but that Quins back row has a serious work rate and can get on top at the breakdown. Glaws shade halfbacks with Perenara in good form.  Feel Kuindrani makes some good yards from 13 but outside of that the back lines are very similar quality wise. Bench wise don't see either edging any specific area. 

Both sides looking for front foot ball but happy to put foot to ball as well. Expect Quins to get the better of the aerial battle and with a strong breakdown effort see them controlling territory at home.


Saracens 19-16 Leicester Tigers
More about the Tigers front 5 at scrum time but a better balance to Sarries in the back row following Burgers suspension. Halfbacks to Sarries with good recent form and they edge midfield. See the SBW offloads working well running off Twelvetrees.

Think both sides have a very similar approach and have had throughout most of the season. Feel Sarries halfbacks have more about them and can pick their runners out that bit more effectively here. 


London Welsh 20-30 London Wasps
Front 5 battle relatively tight but more about Wasps in the back row and halfbacks and Nonu in tremendous form against a disorganised Welsh and I can only see a bonus point fothcoming.


Newcastle Falcons 26-22 Bath 
Bit more about the Falcons scrum and they edge the back row although the All Blacks not in the best of form. Halfbacks one a piece but feel the Bath combo better suited to each other. Falcons back three all dangerous and happy to join the line looking for the ball. Can see Falcons getting at the scrum late on. 

Bath halfbacks set the tempo better at times but big emphasis on the scrum from Falcons and can see them working penalties off it.

Exeter 23-25 Northampton
Quins 24-24 Glaws
Sarries 26-25 Tigers
Welsh 23-27 Wasps
Irish 22-25 Sale

Not picking on you CJB, but I thought score only predos were one point margins?

If I'm wrong then please ignore me!

RESULTS:

Exeter Chiefs 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)
Northampton Saints 27 (T:3 P:4)

Harlequins 29 (T:3 C:1 P:4)
Gloucester 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)

Saracens 25 (T:1 C:1 P:6)
Leicester Tigers 25 (T:1 C:1 P:6)

London Welsh 23 (T:1 P:6)
London Wasps 31 (T:4 C:4 P:1)

London Irish 25 (T:1 C:1 P:6)
Sale Sharks 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)

Newcastle Falcons 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)
Bath Rugby 24 (T:2 C:1 P:4)

BONUS:

Full: Fluxy, Matt, Steve, Bam, SJE & Pooly
Score: CJB
Excused: Luke, Pete, Prop & CJ

Fluxy wrote:Not picking on you CJB, but I thought score only predos were one point margins?

If I'm wrong then please ignore me!

Your right Flux. I adjust the scores up when doing the results

Interesting score on the Exeter v Saints game Matt

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Interesting score on the Exeter v Saints game Matt

What's interesting about it? It's same as wasps vs Welsh. The explanation is there for you to read so suggest you read it.


I think wasps and saints are a cut above all of us guys in the middle this year.. That saints backline In decent conditions would rip most teams apart.

Forgets the Sale side currently sitting above Saints in the table

Thought I had sale saints and wasps in that list SJE. There is a reason why the top 3 is so far clear