About v2Aviva Premiership Round Nineteen
+6
Steven_Sharks
Sgt_Pooly
ChequeredJersey
prop_lyd
BamBam
SirJohnnyEnglish
10 posters
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Aviva Premiership Round Nineteen
by SirJohnnyEnglish Tue 07 Apr 2015, 1:39 pm
First topic message reminder :
Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints
Location - Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 14 Degrees, 13mph SSW Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Fluxy
_
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.
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris
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.
Harlequins v Gloucester
Location - Twickenham Stoop
Light Cloud, 18 Degrees, 12mph SSW Winds
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
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.
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.
Saracens v Leicester Tigers
Location - Allianz Park
Light Cloud, 18 Degrees, 12mph SSW Winds
Saracens
Manager – Pooly
:-
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.
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
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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.
London Welsh v London Wasps
Location - Kassam Stadium
Light Cloud, 17 Degrees, 15mph SSW Winds
London Welsh
Manager – CJ
:-
16. Catt, 17. Rees, 18. Tomaszczyk, 19. Botha, 20. Lapandry, 21. Spencer, 22. Godwin, 23. Mogg
London Wasps
Manager: Ozzy3213
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
Key Poinst
London Irish v Sale Sharks
Location - Majedski Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 17 Degrees, 14mph S Winds
London Irish
Manager – Prop
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.
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
:-
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.
Newcastle Falcons v Bath
Location - Kingston Park
Light Rain Shower, 16 Degrees, 13mph S Winds
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam
:-
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
Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB
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.
Home teams to be named by midnight on Tuesday
Away teams to be named by midnight on Wednesday
Tactics to be provided by midnight on Thursday
Predictions by 22:00 hours on Sunday
Away teams to be named by midnight on Wednesday
Tactics to be provided by midnight on Thursday
Predictions by 22:00 hours on Sunday
Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints
Location - Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 14 Degrees, 13mph SSW Winds
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
Northampton SaintsManager – 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.
Harlequins v Gloucester
Location - Twickenham Stoop
Light Cloud, 18 Degrees, 12mph SSW Winds
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 |
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.
GloucesterManager – 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.
Saracens v Leicester Tigers
Location - Allianz Park
Light Cloud, 18 Degrees, 12mph SSW Winds
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.
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 |
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.
London Welsh v London Wasps
Location - Kassam Stadium
Light Cloud, 17 Degrees, 15mph SSW Winds
London WelshManager – 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
London WaspsManager: 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 |
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.
London Irish v Sale Sharks
Location - Majedski Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 17 Degrees, 14mph S Winds
London IrishManager – 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 |
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.
Sale SharksManager – 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.
Newcastle Falcons v Bath
Location - Kingston Park
Light Rain Shower, 16 Degrees, 13mph S Winds
Newcastle FalconsManager – 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
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 |
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.
Last edited by SirJohnnyEnglish on Mon 13 Apr 2015, 10:49 am; edited 4 times in total
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Re: Aviva Premiership Round Nineteen
by prop_lyd Mon 13 Apr 2015, 12:48 pm
Thought I'd managed to sneak at least a draw there!!
prop_lyd- Posts : 10387
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Re: Aviva Premiership Round Nineteen
by Ozzy3213 Tue 14 Apr 2015, 6:42 pm
Chuffed to get a TBP, didn't think that was likely.
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