Aviva Premiership Round 6

First topic message reminder :

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Bath v Sale
Rec
Partial sunny - 16', 6mph winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Rory Best	10. Finn Russell
03. Samson Lee
04. Will Skelton	11. Liam Williams
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Sam Hill
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Liam Gill	14. Juan Imhoff
08. Josh Beaumont	15. Alex Goode

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16. Ellis Genge 17. Mike Haywood 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Charlie Ewels 20. Kolisi 21. Vorster 22. Machenaud 23. Kolbe

Attributes:
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty. 

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby and put Salr under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench. Our kicking attack will look to win the territory battle.

Scrum: Use the set piece to get quick ball to restart our play. Skelton really gives our scrum extra power. Falateu will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Skelton and Kitchener options in the lineout. Kitchener will run the line out. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul. We think we can dominate here against a poor set of jumpers. Skelton will vary the throw by offering a quick ball option at the front. 

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Gill is brilliant at the breakdown and we will also look to get the rest of the pack looking to help and clear out. 

Defence: Run a blitz defence. Wigglesworth to drift behind expecting kicks.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wiggles will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Russell will play flat and use his creativity to bring in the back line and make plays. He will be given a freedom to be creative. Look to bring in the rest of the back line, especially JD2 who we would like to get running at defenders. Williams and  Imhoff are very skilful and if the ball gets to them will look to draw in defenders. The pack will also be involved when we have the ball for a prolonged period. We have strong carriers who excel in the loose. Look to get the ball in the hands of EBA, Lee and Falateu in order to break the line and make yards. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Exploit the holes we create and look to tire out Warriors which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

Kicking: Russell will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Russell, Wigglesworth, Williams and Goode all have the boots necessary to try and put us in a good position territorially if need. 

Substitutes: Keep a high tempo with all our internationals off the bench.

Tactics

Sorry about the timing

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Kieran Marmion
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Maro Itoje	11. Ruan Combrinck
05. Dave Attwood	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. CJ Stander	13. Seta Taminavula
07. Sam Cane	14. Nemani Nadolo
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Simon Zebo

Subs:
16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Matt Garvey 20. Peter O'Mahony 21. James Mitchell 22. Curwin Bosch 23.Nick Abendanon

Attributes:
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it.
Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.  

Attack: We will be playing a high intensity phased attacking game. Look to use a rugby league shape with runners on the gain line and out the back door to force the opposition into making defensive decisions. Numerous playmakers across the back line allows us to constantly change the point of attack and restructure our attacking phases. Marmion to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

Target Midfield Axis: Late changes to the Bath midfield and there will be some confusion at times. We will look to test them with big carriers on the gain line and the likes of Eastmond & Zebo out the back door. Sexton to work the wrap around and create overlaps.
 
Breakdown: Quick ball is the aim on attack. Mobile pack and physical back line to clear out rucks and ensure we get it. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to give a target to hit. Defensively when the initial contact is won we will look to commit numbers and get over the ball turning it over or at least slowing opposition ball up. Otherwise we will strengthen the line. Double team of POM & Cane will look to target the ball.

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. Marmion will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Combrinck & Zebo to cover the background dropping deep to cut off the green grass available to kick into.


Scrum: Strong scrummaging unit in the front row with the support of a powerful 4-8 will look to get the better of the opposition and build a strong attacking platform. We will look to put a slight wheel on where possible to take the opposition backrow out of play and then attack the space available and look for one on ones in the backline.

Lineout: Five mobile, athletic jumpers allows us to genuinely mix it up on attacking ball. Primarily looking to get the backs on the ball in space. Defensively Itoje to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball looking to make it as messy as possible.

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Exeter Chiefs v Gloucester
Sandy Park
Partial sunny - 17', 7mph winds

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Exeter Chiefs 
         
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Tom Youngs	10. Alex Lozowski (k)
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Noa Nakaitaci
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. JP Pietersen
08. Fritz Lee	15. James Lowe

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Subs: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Jake Ball, 20 Brad Shields, 21 Nic White, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Olly Woodburn

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch.
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line.

We will play a territory game and use Laidlaw and Losowski to get us in the right areas. from there we will look to get our big runners on the ball. Nakaitaci can come in off his wing to look for work and Nonu to be used as a crash ball option.

Laidlaw to kick all pens in range to keep score ticking over.

We will use Youngs, Lawes, Ewers, Tameifuna, Fritz Lee and Nonu as our main carriers to tire out Glos defenders. Coetzee will be a nuisance at the breakdown so slow their ball down.

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Gloucester 
Manager – Matt

01. Rob Evans	09. Dan Robson
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter (k)
03. Uini Atonio
04. Richie Gray	11. Jonny May
05. Tomás Lavanini	12. Matt Toomua
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Matt Scott
07. Julian Salvi	14. Will Addison
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Johan Goosen

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Subs: 16. Coenie Oosthuizen, 17. Jack Singleton, 18. Juan Figallo, 19. Sam Dickinson, 20. Tom Croft, 21. Justin Phillips, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Hallam Amos

build momentum until an opportunity arises.

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Choke tackle : Tacklers look where possible to hold the opposition up and force the turnover
Great to be at home with conditions for running rugby. Our game plan will be based around winning quick ball and moving the ball.

We aim to take advantage of the weather and play at pace.

We will look to build phases and use the likes of moriarty, Heaslip, Gray, lavanini etc to get us across the gain line so we can play with quick ball.

we will look for Robson,  Carter and Toomua to control the tempo of the game. Off static ball we will look to truck it up or kick for space but our aim is to play at pace. Matt Scott has been on fire at 13 for Glos scoring every game we will look to give him space as well as our back 3.

We will also be keen to test their ten channel with Lozoski Very much a work in progress against Carter. We will Target him and look to flood numbers for the offload.

When we generate quick ball we will look to utilise our extreme gas out wide and create one on ones. Our wings are quick and elusive

Having ball players in 9, 10, 12 means we are able to slot in on any turnover and counter attack at pace.

We are looking to create space for our outside backs with Scott and our back three looking to exploit the space outwide. We will use toomua or Goosen as a first receiver when we need to change things up.

In our own half when kicking we will use the boots of Robson, Carter and Goosen  to gain territory, looking to kick to touch so we can use our line out to steal possession and pressure the Exeter line out.

In defence And with such a physical pack we will be using the choke tackle to slow down and turnover ball. When it gets to deck we will look to attack the breakdown with the first man there looking to win the penalty or the turnover.

We will look to use the up then out drift defence on the call of the scrum half or full back as in conditions like this it's harder to use as the ball player has more time on the ball. It's a day when blitz is ineffective

Carter to kick all penalties in range

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Harlequins v Northampton Saints
Stoop
Partial sunny - 16', 8mph winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cian Healy	09. Ben Youngs
02. Scott Baldwin	10. Juan Martin Hernandez (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Ultan Dillane	11. Jack Nowell
05. Mamuka Gorgodze	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly (c)	15. James O'Connor

16. Reb Webber 17. Richard Barrington 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Luhkan Tui 20. Jean Luc Du Preez 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Bundee Aki

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

Look to use big runners running hard back towards the play with backs out the back.  Play at pace JMH playing flat  and putting others into holes with JOC looking to offer the option as a second receiver.

Use the up and under with Henshaw and Huget competing for the high ball to retain possession.

Look to up the tempo when we get over the gain line before sendinf the ball wide to use our pace outwide.

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Nic Auterec	09. Conor Murray
02. Dylan Hartley	10. George Ford
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Rieko Ioane
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. David Pocock	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Replacements:
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Zander Fagerson 18. Conan O'Donnell  19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Jack Lamb 21. Joe Simpson 22. Matt Giteau 23. Manu Tuilagi

Attributes:
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.  

Tactics
Play this game at speed and a real high intensity from the outset and look to test the Quins defence and make the most of the attacking conditions. We want to dominate the breakdown area and backrow battle and out-muscle Quins in this area. We have picked a lot of physical ball carriers to get us over the gain-line and some backs in good try scoring form to take advantage of attacking chances. With the conditions we will keep the ball in play and go on the offensive and have a bench picked for its impact in 2nd half.

Set Piece
Lineout - Hartley's throwing looking for quick ball with Launchbury, Gray, Pocock and Burger all options, aim to put Baldwin's throwing under pressure.
Scrum - Vunipola to use any opportunity to launch attacks on JMH at every opportunity and get us over the gain-line. Though due to conditions don't expect many scrums.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Quins defence to suck in players and create space outwide. Have picked a very abrasive backrow to add a real physical approach to the game and get an advantage in a game that could really open up for the team that wins that, we will look to attack the Quins backrow unit.

Breakdown
See attributes.

Attack
- Everything goes through Ford, he's in good form and we'll get him standing flat and bringing forwards and backs into the game and really attack Quins.
- Lot of good form in the backs in real life, will look for tries and getting the ball outwide to exploit space from gain-line success.  
- Impact bench to up the tempo in final 20/25 minutes, open up the game and look for tries.  

Defence
Blitz defence, with Murray sweeping behind. Murray, Ford and Daly to kick us out of trouble.

Keep scoreboard ticking over
Halfpenny to kick all penalties, with Daly going for 3 points 50+ metres out.

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Leicester Tigers v Worcester Warriors
Welford Road
Light rain - 16', 12mph winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Micky Young
02. Hika Elliott	10. Francois Trinh-Duc (k)
03. Atu Moli
04. Samu Manoa	11. Sean Maitland
05. Pascal Pape	12. Ben Teo'o
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Gael Fickou
07. Sam Jones	14. Drew Mitchell
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Mike Brown

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Subs: 16. Dave Ward 17. Mikheil Nariashvili 18. Lasha Tibadze 19. Dominic Bird 20. Liam Messam 21. Antoine Dupont 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Henry Purdy

In wet conditions we will be looking to play a mixed game, and have picked a side enabling us to do so. When in Warriors 22 we will look to trust in our ability to be clinical and put the ball through the hands when it is on to do so. Further out than that and we will utilise the kicking games of our entire back line to take us into the right areas of the pitch.

In defence, in poor conditions, we will employ the blitz defence, to put pressure on the opposition carriers to receive the ball and take their eye off it. We will leave our wingers slightly deeper in anticipation of a primarily kick focussed game plan from Warriors. No dog-legs will be a key component for us. Young will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers. Trinh-Duc will take the ball to the line and tempt the Warriors to jump out of the defensive line, creating holes for our back line to exploit.
Specifics 

• Line-out: Nothing flash. Hit our front and middle jumpers and ensure that we secure our ball. We will also mix it up, shortening the line-out and using our back row as crash ball options off the top. On Worcester ball put pressure on through Pape and Armand, to make it as scrappy and untidy as possible.
  
  
• Scrum: Get low and underneath their props and drive straight. Really test their props technical abilities rather than get in to a battle of strength
  
  
• Breakdown: When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly and go again. In defence, if we have made a passive tackle and the carrier has momentum we will not over commit, 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 slow up momentum, or turn over possession. Key for us is being selective, and only committing men to a winnable ruck. 
  
  
• Attacking Play: We will be looking to play a sensible offloading game, with the ball shifted on to the support runner just prior to the point of the tackle with the defender already committed. However this will only be implemented within the opposition half. We will also utilise the pick and go, meaning their defensive line cannot blitz efficiently. We will then we will look to exploit the delay in their blitz that results. We will then look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps. Young to also look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  
  
  
• Linking to our tactical kicking, but we only want to play rugby in the Warriors half. Otherwise we look to gain territory with the tricky conditions, put pressure on the Worcester wingers to clear there lines and put pressure on the Warriors set piece to regain possession. 
  
  
• Tactical Kicking:  If we kick, we will look to kick in behind their wingers and get them on the turn going back towards their own line, with our wingers on the kick chase to really target them defensively. Trinh-Duc and Brown can take the ball to the line and kick in behind the defense, to get our wingers either on the end of the grubber, or pin back Worcester. 
  
  

Tigers Attributes
Defensive Traits

• Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
  
• Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
  

Attacking Traits

• Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid.
  
• Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
  

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Ali Dickinson	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Leone Nakawara	11. Adam Thomspstone
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Jaime Roberts
06. Jordan Taufua	13. Huw Jones
07. Sam Warburton	14. Brice Dulin
08. Ben Morgan	15. Mathew Tait

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16. Jack Walker 17. Val Ruskin 18. Henry Thomas 19. Devin Toner 20. Jackson Wray 21. Rory Kockott 22. Owen Williams 23. Sergeal Petersen

Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle

• We will play a controlled game, not looking to overly use the offloading-only when on. Biggar will look for territory with Nakawara and Maestri looking to put pressure on the Tigers lineout.
  
• Big carriers up front looking to offload if the conditions allow possible although being mindful of the encroaching defence and we will have support runners on their shoulders, we have brought in Maestri for the added weight in wet weather,
  
• Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Warburton bringing the turnover attribute,
  
• We have Wray and Toner to add energy into the second half and will look to use his link play against tired legs,
  
• In these conditions the breakdown will be scrappy and the first man there will look to go for the ball using our turnover attribute. If it is obviously lost we will fan out. If Tigers under-commit we will look to drive through them for the turnover,
  
• Look to not commit too much to their breakdown if the ball is lost and use blitz defence led by Roberts allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Tigers playing a quick tempo game,
  
• Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off Roberts and Jones, we will use Dulin and Tait as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
  
• When nothing is on Biggar will go for territory and also use  his 'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
  
• We will use Tait and the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep Tigers guessing and allow Roberts the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
  
• Thompstone is in great form and has scored against top class defences in the Prem,
  
• Take all kickable penalties.
  

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Newcastle Falcons v Bristol
Kingston Park
Partial sunny - 14', 7mph winds

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Matt Symons	11. Charles Piutau
05. Flip Van Der Merwe	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Callum Clark	13. Sam James
07. Chris Henry	14. Luke Morahan
08. Jordi Murphy	15. Gareth Anscombe

:-
16.Camille Chat 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Dillon Lewis 19. Jacques Potgeiter 20. Ellis Jenkins 21. Will Chudley 22. Paddy Jackson  23. Rob Miller

Attributes
Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown: Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it

Game plan

Target Ross - He hasn't had a lot of rugby, and will look to pile on the pressure behind Mullan's technique

Target 10-12 combo - Look to get our big carriers going at the 10-12 channel, put them on the back foot with Serfontein's power

Use Anscombe/James to split the field as alternate first receivers, look to create mismatches on the outside

Target the centres, we've got the physicality to put them under pressure, Piutau/Anscombe to come into the line and attack the 13 channel to test Taylor in defence, he hasn't had much rugby

Set piece - Look to really put their props under maximum pressure with our strong front row, we've got a great scrummaging lock pairing to help. If no weakness, use as restart. On their ball, mark their second rows and force long throws. On our ball, use the back row options to mix it up.

Breakdown - Back row and hooker to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. Our openside is charged with keeping their main breakdown threat off our ball, and target turnovers if one of their carriers gets isolated

Kicking - Options throughout the backs. Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man. Challenge wings positioning, Wings free to drop back for the counter off their kicks

Attack - Run our attack off 9 who sets the tempo, constantly change the point of attack and get our 10 quick ball.. Challenge their 10 defensively with our power backs cutting in running hard lines at his channel with the full back coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at 10/12 all day long to put them on the back foot off first phase, see how they handle it.  

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use the blitz defence to put them on the back foot,  Farrell to set the tone in defence with Campagnaro putting pressure on their midfield

Bench - Big carrying forwards throughout and talented, pacy backs to see us home

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Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. Loni Uhila	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Mike Ross
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Luke Charteris	12. Piers Francis
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14.  Rene Ranger
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Tom West 17. Richardt Strauss  18. James Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20 John Barclay, 21. Ben Spencer, 22. Christian Lealiifano 23. Charlie Sharples

Tactics:

Attributes:

[size=32]Attacking:[/size]
[size=32]1) Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown[/size]
[size=32]2)  Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. [/size]
[size=32]Defending:[/size]
[size=32]1) Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. [/size]
[size=32]2) Breakdown - Organised Ruck defence: with guards and body guards set, allowing the rest of the line to set off them.[/size]

Breakdown:

Team approach at the breakdown where we think we can press Falcons. Minimal players committed in defence with Robshaw spoiling ball, twin flankers chasing ball to support plays and ensure we get to rucks early and keep up attacking quick ball with hard clearing out.

Attack:

Fotuali'i in form running the show, playing the Eddie Jones simple 1-2 pass game, with high tempo constant phases mixing up:


1) carries at pace off 9 with Vito, De Flier, the front row taking the ball into contact and breaking the gain line 
2) clean up carries around the corner from the second row and Robshaw with forwards in immediate support in a pod of 3
3) plays off our playmaking 10-12, with mixing up the first receiver between the 2 to allow Gopperth to use his running game with more time and space in the 12 position, and simple passes to our back 3 coming off their wings and the backrow linking in the backs
4) snipes and sniping kicks from 9

All in all keeping high tempo of constant plays and moving around the defence, until a proper break forms

If this doesn't work, we have the pack for a maul game.

Defence:

Blitz, led by Taylor, Fotuali'i sweeping with a hard pressing fringe defence. Aim to pressure Webb to kill his service to Farrell and leave him on the backfoot. This will press him to kick out of hand and our back 3 will look to run that back as a group with interest

Set piece: 

Tough scrum battle so we will aim to move the front 3 about in the loose to tire them and then work them in the scrum with hard straight pushing. In the lineout, mix up our options, confident we can safely throw with Falcons not lineout focused. Charteris to man mark Van Der Merwe.

Other: 

Take all kicks at goal with Gopperth in form. Run back kicks where possible. Avoid kicking at Piutau where possible. Usual discipline in our half and press for penalties in their 22

With Gilroy, Gopperth, Fotuali'i, Der Flier etc we have a lot of in form dynamic players to bring out against Falcons. These are supplemented by the bench where we have the newly picked (for England) and in form Spencer, game changers in Sharples/Lealiifano, and a specialist fetcher to aid the breakdown in Barclay

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Saracens v Wasps
Allianz Park
Partial sunny - 16', 7mph winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Tom Taylor
03. Dan Cole
04. Bradley Davies	11. George North
05. Geoff Parling	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. John Hardie	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Alex Waller 18. Paul Hill 19. Nick Isiekwe 20. James Haskell 21. Lee Dickson 22. Robbie Fruen 23. Delon Armitage

Tactics:

Defensive:

Blitz Defence - Get in the face of the opposition and allow them very little time on the ball.

Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Attacking:

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch

Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid

TARGET BREAKDOWN & OUT MUSCLE THE WASPS BACKROW - Look for turnover or slowing down ball with numerous options in Cole, Guirado, Hardie, Thompson and Hughes. Hughes especially was in devastating from last week in the AP, getting 4 turnovers in the game. Look to dominate the Wasps backrow in contact and at the breakdown. Look to attack when it's on and flood through. Look to get at Evans early and rough him up.

TARGET SCRUM - TDT - Look to isolate TDT and allow Cole to work on him. Du Toit is a handy player but not quite at this level scrummaging wise and we'll look to target that throughout the game.

PUT PRESSURE ON HALFBACKS - Look to send big runners down Priestlands channel as well as giving him very little time on the ball. Once on the backfoot we'll look to keep the tempo up.

USE THE ROLLING MAUL - Big pack put out by us today. Look to use this to our advantage and get the rolling maul on, eating up the yards in the Wasps half.

General - We'll be playing a structured physical game from the off, look to get at the opposition and target the breakdown. We'll look to tie the opposition in with our physical pack/carrying options and then get at their outisde backs, more so in their half. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work. Looking to bring in the opposition pack and then use big carrying options to punch holes through their defence. Look to control the tempo and areas we play with kicking options at halfback.

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 safe ball with world class line out options and experience. Will allow SH good clean ball and have big carriers running off the 9 at angles. Look to target opposition throw and put pressure on the hooker.

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. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp 22 territory. Scrum half to dictate play from the breakdown and runners on his shoulder. Huge carrying pack 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.

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Wasps
Manager - Driver

01. Thomas Du Toit	09. Mitchell Drummond
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Rhy Priestland (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. RG Snyman	11. Marland Yarde
05. Alun Wyn Jones (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Tom Wood	13. Henry Slade
07. Will Owen	14. Anthony Watson
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Tim Nanai Williams

_

16. Harry Thacker, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Frasier Bailmain, 19. Sebastian Vaahaminia, 20. Louis Picamoles, 21. Luther Burrell, 22. Tom Homer, 23. Rob Kearney

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Leicester 18 - 17 Worcester

Worcester definitely ahead at the scrum. Leicester at the lineout. Evens at the breakdown and the back row. Both sides offloading in the drizzle which does make these battles all the more key! Leicester probably have more carrying across the pack but nobody as much of a threat as Morgan or Nakawara. Biggar >FTH in these conditions. And players like Maitland, Brown, Te'o and Roberts/Tait pretty key here too. It's another close one, at home Leicester take it

Leicester 21 - 22 Worcester

Not a whole lot between the packs for me in slippery conditions. Gulf between half backs in my view though and two physical sets of backs will see some big collisions. Marshalled by Davies and Biggar to a narrow win.

Leicester 23-24 Worcester

Good scrum platform for Worcester with the Tigers trio not the strongest in this area. Little in 2 good engine rooms but Worcester just get on top in the backrow. The Worcester halfbacks are a real step-up in quality and this will set the tone as there's little in the backs with it perhaps shading to Tigers.

Leicester Tigers 29 - 27 Worcester
Very even contest - Young is an issue in the no9 shirt for Tigers but their backline is looking really good now, with FTD and Teo'o looking like a great 10/12 combination hat will give them a lot of go forward.

Tigers 20-17 Worc - Home win this time. Some good form in Tigers pack with Armand and Jones etc and they get a good platform. Not a huge fan of the Tigers HB combo but Teo at 12 can take some pressure off. Biggars boot keeps Worc close.

Leicester 19 - 16 Worcester

Leicester props are in for a tough day with young Moli in the side, and in the wet can see plenty of pens going Worcesters way. Tigers pack is probably better suited to a wet weather game, but both 10s excel at a territorial game, Young a real weakness though. Backs pretty even, with a big carrier in each centre pairing, think both sides could have done with another kicker in the backs in the conditions, but Brown will be a help. Think Tigers have enough in the tank to take this at home

Newcastle 24 - 23 Bristol

Really good contest. Falcons right to target Ross with Buchanan but Bristol hold their own elsewhere with some half backs right on form and can keep any side in the game at the moment. Home win here but pushed all the way.

Falcons 23-22 Bristol
Falcons right to target the front row and Bristol may struggle here. Bristol can challenge at the lineout but more grunt for Falcons. Backrow pretty close, not sure Bristol need 3 attributes for this but it helps them slow the ball down. Gopperth in great form so one a piece at half backs although at present think Bristol could get better ball. Not a lot in the centres with 2 good defensive pairings, out wide Falcons have a little more class. Bristol bench set up well and tactics suit this as well as their attacking play. Falcons targetting the right players and think that the blitz could just stop Gopperth's influence. At home, Bristol would take this.

Newcastle 20-20 Bristol

A bruising contest in the front 5's with the home side just coming out on top despite some strong destructive work from the away side. Newcastle's Achilles heel is their backrow during the RC and they'll struggle again here with Bristol a step up in quality. Halfbacks to Falcosn with ease pre-season but the form of the combo's is wide apart and this brings the contest much closer. Both backlines could be stronger though and this keeps the scoreline down, very little in this.

Newcastle Falcons 27 - 27 Bristol Rugby
Good contest between these front fives. Both offer their sides a good source of quick and clean possession. The tactical kicking game is an intriguing contest, with both sides pushing their packs around the park, attempting to get a foothold in territory. The Falcons back row, I like as unit for the hard work and graft, but I prefer the Bristol trio because they execute their roles well and for me offer a very good dynamic balance. A great game, but one that will go to the wire, but won't actually be separated!

Newcastle Falcons 25 - 22 Bristol
Falcons have one of the best balanced teams in the league, starting to lose a bit of ratings for Farrell having not played this season but the likes of George and Symons are really playing well in the pack and Piatua has carried on his excellent form of last year and one of the biggest threats in any back three. Bristol just need that one wc player to change their team, they have some good players in form espc their 9/10 combination but just lack that match winner.

Falcons 25-21 Bristol - Big fan of the Webb/Farrell combo even if it needs a bit more form. Packs are pretty even but Falcons have the edge at HB and the backs.

Saracens 25 - 20 Wasps

Saracens have the better scrum and breakdown, which will make turnovers today, as well as enough to match Wasps in the second row. Wasps have more spark outside their 9-10 but Saracens an edge at HB and the better platform and tactics as well, so win comfortably.

Saracens 28 - 20 Wasps

Saracens set up really well and would beat most sides at home here. Pack missing a few due to RC but still pretty strong. Wasps lack depth and tactics.

Sarries 30-22 Wasps
Sarries could really get on top of Wasps here in the pack with a well balanced backrow who will cause a lot of damage. The half backs for Wasps aren't firing at the moment so Sarries on top again here. Centres bringing it a bit closer but North in great form and really adds the boost for Sarries. No tactics for Wasps makes this a big margin as Sarries set up well against the Wasps pack and targetting their weaknesses. Without direction Wasps will struggle to contain the offloading game.

Saracens 25 - 21 Wasps
The Sarries pack will have good day against a relatively out of sorts and out of form Wasps pack. The pressure on Priestland will yield some penalties as well as pressure at the set piece will generate some good go forward. The wasps back line are dangerous when they get the ball out wide, but that is too far and between, as the Saracens pack will starve the Wasps of any decent possession. A solid but unspectacular win for the home side.

Saracens 29 - 22 Wasps
No tactics means Sarries win by a canter. Thompson a great ball carrying addition to the home side, nicely balanced backline full of attacking intent as well, Veianu starting to show glimpses of last season's form too. Strong looking side.

Saracens 25-22 Wasps - Solid home pack, Thomsons form is a plus and Hughes always a threat. Good kicking options at HB and running threat from back 3. Wasps just not enough in the pack or the backs to get anything away from home at Allianz.

Saracens 27 - 20 Wasps

No tactics really hurts Wasps against a very good Sarries side. TdT is a weakness and will be got at by Cole, and there's too many weaknesses in the Wasps pack to get going against this big Saracens pack. Parra is the best halfback on show by far, and can see him marshalling his side to a fairly comfortable home win against a Wasps side lacking direction

wahoo off the mark!

Close game Prop, really looked like it could have either way! 

Yeah!! Wait till you come to sixways!!!!

stnick88 wrote:wahoo off the mark!

Well done a close one.