Aviva Premiership Round Twelve

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Bath Rugby vs Exeter Chiefs
The Rec
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 9 mph South Westerly Winds 

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Aaron Smith
02. Rory Best	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nepo Laulala
04. Charlie Ewels	11. Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Damian De Allende
06. Liam Squire	13. Jesse Kriel
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Liam Williams
08. Toby Faletau	15. Alex Goode

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16. Steven Kitchoff 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Scott Wilson 19. Will Skelton 20. - 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill  23. George Moala


Man short on the bench - Liam Squire named twice

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 Exeter under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries and offloading at a high pace looking to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Camille Lopez
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Noa Nakaitaci
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Charles Ollivon	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Teimana Harrison	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Maxime Medard

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Subs: 16. Thomas Domingo, 17. Tom Youngs, 18. Ben Tameifuna, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Dave Ewers, 21. Nic White, 22. Alex Lozowski, 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 have freshened up the side after the Tigers game by bringing in Ollivon for Ewers at blindside, Lopez for Lozowski at 10, Nakaitaci for JP Pietersen on the wing and Medard for Lowe at fullback. We see the pack as a key win here and Ollivon gives a similar option to Ewers. Lopez at 10 provides more control and gives us a very experienced and controlled 9/10 combination.

We have picked a big pack and are targeting the forward battle as key to the win. We have a solid scrum to build from and two big locks who are both good lineout options.

The set piece will be important and we will look to use this as a weapon to attack from and gain territory. Our back row are all big carriers and we will use them all to gain hard yards and tire out Bath defenders. Ollivon, Coles, Sinckler, Parisse, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lopez to work with.

In the backs we will use Nonu as a crash ball option and a decoy runner to open up space for the likes of Mermoz, Nakaitaci and Medard to exploit. Laidlaw will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

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Gloucester Rugby vs Northampton Saints
Kingsholm Stadium
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 9 mph South Westerly Winds

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Gloucester
Manager - Anonmattyt

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Jonny May
05. Elliott Stooke	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Will Addison
07. Ardie Savea	14. Israel Dagg
08. Jaime Heaslip	15. Israel Folau

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Subs: 16. Rob Evans, 17. Joe Gray, 18. Uini Atonio, 19. Tom Croft, 20. Willem Alberts, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Charlie Walker

Attributes

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

Huge game at home.

We aim to play a super high tempo and take advantage of the conditions to attack saints in wider channels.

Initially We will look to build phases and use the likes of Moriarty, etzbeth, savea , heaslip etc to get us across the gain line so we can play with quick ball.

we will look for Robson, Carter and Crotty to control the tempo of the game. Off static ball we will look to use runners off ten or kick for space with a heavy press. However our  aim is to play at pace. Our 9,10,12,13 will look to give Create space to target saints wide  Backline .

With a back 3 of dagg,may and Folau We have pace to burn and we will look to get it to them as often as possible. We will also look to put high ball on saints back 3. With May Dagg and Folau being aerial experts we can really win here.

We will also be keen to test their ten channel/ We will Target him and look to flood numbers And cut him at source.

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 and can play.

Having ball players in 9-15 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 looking to exploit the space outwide. We will use folau, Dagg or Crotty 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 Dagg to gain territory, looking to kick long to Make them play. We want them
To kick to touch so we can use our line out to get quality possession and pressure the saints line on their ball:

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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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Conor Murray
02. Schalk Brits	10. George Ford
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Elliot Daly
07. David Pocock	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Facundo Isa	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

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Replacements:
16. Schalk Burger 17. Billy Vunipola 18. Wyatt Crockett 19. Jake Cooper Wooley 20. Paul Jedrasiak 21. Joe Simpson 22. Lima Sopoaga 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
Made three changes to the pack to freshen it up for a big game against Gloucester, again we've picked a team that has a lot of big ball carriers in the pack and strike runners in our backline to win the collisions and gain line battle. We will play the game at speed and at a real intensity, with Ford controlling the game with his kicking and passing, putting us into the right areas of the pitch to hurt Gloucester and with Halfpenny's boot we will look to keep the scoreboard building. Our bench is picked for its impact and we will look to finish the game pushing for tries.

Set Piece
Lineout - Four good options in the lineout, where we will look to generate quick ball for our backline to attack from, with Gray leading the lineout for Scotland and Glasgow.
Scrum - will use the scrum for Isa to launch attacks and get Carter into rucks/mauls.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Gloucester defence to suck in players and create space out wide for our strike runners to exploit. Have picked an extremely physical backrow where we will aim to make it difficult for Gloucester to cross the gain line and look to use our power to get Gloucester playing off the back foot.

Breakdown
See attributes.

Attack
- Aim to really dominate the gain line battle with big ball carriers in the pack and Ford bringing our strike runners into the game in the backline to push the Gloucester defence and exploit any gaps.
- Strong kicking game from the 9-10 combination, where we can look to win the territorial battle.
- Powerful impact bench to up the tempo in final 20/25 minutes.

Defence
Blitz defence, with Murray sweeping behind. Kicking game of 9 and 10 to get us out of trouble.

Nb. Ashley Johnson is replacement hooker.

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Leicester Tigers vs Saracens
Welford Road
Thick Cloud, 9 degrees, 11 mph South Westerly Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Stephen Moore	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Owen Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Dominic Bird	12. Kurtley Beale (k)
06. Don Armand	13. Gael Fickou
07. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe	14. Sean Maitland
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

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Subs: 16. Dave Ward 17. Mikheil Nariashvili 18. Brian Mujati 19. Pascal Pape 20. Calum Chick 21. Nick Phipps 22. Freddie Burns 23. Ben Teo'o

In reasonable conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, going through the phases and continually shifting the point of attack. With it being slightly damp however we won't take chances with offloading in our half, but will make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly. Trinh-Duc will take the ball to the line and tempt someone to bite down on him, creating holes for our back line to exploit. 

In defence, as always we will be running our traditional 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. Young will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

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 Saracens ball put pressure on through Manoa and Bird, who are athletic line-out jumpers. 
  
  
• Scrum: Get low and underneath their props and drive straight. Really test their props technical abilities rather than get in to a battle of strength.
  
  
• Breakdown: When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly and go again. In defence, if we have made a passive tackle and the carrier has momentum we will not 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.
  
  
• Attacking Play: We will be looking to play a fast 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, 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. Houagaard 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 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 Beale 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 Saracens. 
  

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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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Ed Slater	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. John Hardie	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

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16. Richard Hibbard 17. Alex Waller 18. Paul Hill 19. Geoff Parling 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

ATTACK THE LINE OUT - Look for Whitelock to take apart the Tigers line out with no real leader.

TARGET SCRUM - Jenks and Franks not had the best of times lately. Look to target from the off and attack if weakness seen.

DOMINATE BREAKDOWN - Very few breakdown options for Tigers. Look to take advantage of this and slow down/turnover ball with our numerous options.

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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Newcastle Falcons vs Wasps
Kingston Park
Sunny Intervals, 10 degrees, 18 mph West South Westerly Winds

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Scott Williams
06. Pablo Matera	13. Sam James
07. Francois Louw	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

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16.Camille Chat 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Elliott Dixon 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

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

Win the pack battle -  looking to use Matera/Petti/De Jager/George as our heavy carriers, with Louw/Read to help us rule the breakdown.

Send carriers down 10/12 - Slade doesn't play a lot of 12 and Cruden can be got at defensively

Target the wings positionally with solid boots at 9/10/13 and our back 3 are all excellent chasers.

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

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

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Joe Marler	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Sebastien Vahamahina	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones (c)	12. Henry Slade
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Anthony Watson
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Rob Kearney

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16. Harry Thacker, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Dave Wilson, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Jerome Kaino, 21. Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 22. Brad Barritt, 23. Marland Yarde

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Sale Sharks vs Bristol Rugby
AJ Bell Stadium
Thick Cloud, 9 degrees, 9 mph South Westerly Winds
 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Danny Care
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Maro Itoje	11. Semesa Rokoduguni
05. Brodie Retalick	12. Reece Hodge
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Gary Ringrose
07. Sam Cane	14. Simon Zebo
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Tommy Taylor 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Dave Atwood 20. Sean McMahon 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Bernard Foley 23. Kyle Eastmond

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. Care to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

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. Care will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Zebo & Bendy 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 while POM marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

Bench: Genuine game changing impact from the bench with Taylor, Attwood, McMahon, De Klerk & Foley all adding different options.

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Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Sam Carter	12. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Rene Ranger
08. John Barclay (c)	15. Chris Pennell

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16. Loni Uhila 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Mike Ross 19.  Kearnan Myall 20  Carl Fearns 21. Victor Vito 22. Ben Spencer  23. Duncan Taylor 

Tactics:
Attributes:

Attacking:
1) Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
2)  Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Defending:
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. 
2) Breakdown - Organised Ruck defence: with guards and body guards set, allowing the rest of the line to set off them.


Tactics: Ideally I would edit these when I get to see Johnny's team!

Away to the league leaders with their exemplary home record and their internationals back is a huge ask, so realistically our best bet for points and the chance of stealing a win here is to spoil and be opportunistic. Now our team is based very much about the breakdown and keeping the phases going and we can't completely change our tactical approach for one game and expect it to stay together, so we will make the following adjustments:

Breakdown: as you an see we have picked 3 players, all internationals, with experience at 7 in positions that they can still do the specialist roles - looking for high impact carries from VDF, tackles and workrate from Robshaw and linkplay and maul-finishing from Barclay, as well as an aggressive orchestrated assault at the breakdown aided by 2 flanker-lock crossbreeds in the second row. With this teamwork and groundskills across teh entire pack we will viciously defend our own ball, looking to get quick enough ball to do a lot of sniping with, and look to slow and spoil and turn their ball at every opportunity, whilst maintaining a tight fringe defence - a combination reliant on the quality of our players at the breakdown rather than quantity.

Attack: We will still build up phase play and look to protect the ball without needless offloads or too many passes too early, and look to hold onto the ball to minimise our defending, but rather now looking to put phases together until an opportunity to break (ideally) or more realistically kick past their defensive line and chase to reclaim or pressurise the receiver for a penalty occurs. We will also look for a high percentage of snipes from 9 and 10 and pick up and goes compared to usual, hoping our aggressive rucking makes the fringes vulnerable.

We have Gopperth at 12, a good snipe/kick 9 in Cubelli, teh solid kicking option Pennell, and strong chasers in Tompkins and Sharples as well as a high workrate pack to help with this. Ranger, Montoya, Kepu and VDF will be doing a lot of work to break the gainline and keep some momentum up but obvious the rest of the pack can tight carry well too.

We will be very happy to fire off dropped goals, chip and cross kick today.

Defence: To aid spoiling, it will be a blitz as usual today, really looking to doubleteam 9 and 10 if we can to stifle any momentum early and give the best chance of a hold up or on the ground turnover. This may create space out wide for the opposition, but we will have to trust the back 3's coverage ability. Sharples is also a great intercept runner and with his and Tompkins pace outwide, we will be looking for a game stealing turnover try at any moment

Scrums: we have picked our best scrummaging front row to try and hold on and attack Sale's put in, legally or illegally. On our own ball, we will be happy to whip it in and out quickly and use our backrow to narrow their defence off phase 1

Lineouts: 

A big strength of Sale's here so we will be looking to minimalise them with running back of kicks or playing high for possession rather than kicking for touch. We will take quick lineouts more readily than usual. On our own put in, there is no point in keeping it simple/predictable as it will make things easy for Sale to pick off or leave a neutered maul at the front - we will use a few long throws, trusting Montoya, and mix our options up. On their ball, let them have the ball in the air and compete solely on the ground

Subs: As we intend to make the game rather attritional and physical, we have gone for a 6-2 split, with a mix of carrying power in Vito/Fearns/Uhila, experience in Ross/Vito, lineout prowess in Vito/Kearns to ensure we don't fade in vital areas late in the game. Spencer and Taylor work excellently as opportunistic sniping players or in a kick chase to keep the gameplan up, but we also have the players on the pitch and the bench to play a more usual attacking phased game if we need to change approach.

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Worcester Warriors vs Harlequins
Sixways Stadium
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 8 mph South Westerly Winds

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Joe Moody	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Devin Toner	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jackson Wray	13. Mark Bennett
07. Matt Todd	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Codie Taylor 17. Val Ruskin 18. Henry Thomas 19. Mike Williams 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Anton Leniert-Brown

Season's Attributes-

• Offloading in the Tackle
  
• Breakdown (Turnovers)
  
• Blitz Defence
  
• Choke Tackle
  

• We have gone with a different centre pairing of Roberts-Bennett to tackle the Quins centre pairings as well as looking to use Roberts as he is IRL by Quins using him 3 times then as a decoy going behind him to Bennett.
  
• We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Quins danger from their big carriers and set piece,
  
• We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Biggar will look for territory where we have Toner and Maestri ready to rule the skies,
  
• 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.
  
• Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Todd bringing the turnover attribute,
  
• We have good form and all of our internationals back meaning we can play our full strength squad,
  
• The breakdown is likely to 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 Quins 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 Jones allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Quins playing a quick tempo game,
  
• Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off Roberts and Bennett, we will use Thompstone and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
  
• When nothing is on  go for territory and also use his Biggar's 'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
  
• We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep Quins guessing and allow us the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
  
• We have selected a huge bench which will be used for impact and to maintain a high tempo game running against tired legs,
  
• Take all kickable penalties.
  

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cian Healy	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Tadhg Furlong
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper(c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

.
16. Scott Baldwin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Ultan Dillane 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Mike Haley  

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

• Play at pace. Look to play at a quick tempo controlled by Youngs and Jantjies with McKenzie also acting as a first receiver. Look for Jantjies to stand flat and bring our pack onto the ball at pace in the midfield. We want to move the Worcester pack around so will not look to carry off 9 but instead play outside 10. 
  
• Look to use out the back options to get the ball wide into the hands of Henshaw, Joseph and our back three's hands. 
  
• Use Jantjies and Mckenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field, but we will always look to run the ball if we have the overlap or an unorganised defence. Use Henshaw's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Gloucester back three under the high ball
  
• Look for forwards to carry with support, and look for the offload out of contact if it is on or to recycle the ball quickly for the next attack. We have a much more mobile pack than Worcester so we will look to move their pack around the pitch by looking to carry away from the ruck outside of 10 and 12 with Youngs keeping the Worcester fringe defence honest. 
  
• Use Du Toit and Kruis to put huge pressure on the Worcester line out, looking to allow the front but not allow easy ball of the back or the tail of the line out.
  
• Employ the chop tackle to allow us to bring Worcester's carriers down quickly so we can use Hooper, Clifford and Creevy in particular to attack the breakdown and turnover possession. 
  

---

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Ed Slater	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	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. Geoff Parling 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

ATTACK THE LINE OUT - Look for Whitelock to take apart the Tigers line out with no real leader.

TARGET SCRUM - Jenks and Franks not had the best of times lately. Look to target from the off and attack if weakness seen.

DOMINATE BREAKDOWN - Very few breakdown options for Tigers. Look to take advantage of this and slow down/turnover ball with our numerous options.

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.

Just putting this up so hopefully easier to amend on phone.

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Joe Marler	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Sebastien Vahamahina	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones (c)	12. Henry Slade
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Anthony Watson
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Rob Kearney

_
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Dave Wilson, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Jerome Kaino, 21. Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 22. Brad Barritt, 23. Marland Yarde

---

Tactics
Attack:
- Good athleticism in the pack. Looking for them to be mobile and get around the park, ensuring good numbers at every breakdown to give clean ball
- Mix up forward runners off 9 and 10 to give go forward and tie in defence. When space opens up, go wide and utilise pace of back three.
Defence:
- Ensure guards and body guards at every breakdown, no gaps in midfield.
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence

Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Sam Carter	12. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Rene Ranger
08. John Barclay (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Loni Uhila 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Mike Ross 19.  Kearnan Myall 20  Carl Fearns 21. Victor Vito 22. Ben Spencer  23. Duncan Taylor 

Tactics:
Attributes:

Attacking:
1) Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
2)  Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Defending:
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. 
2) Breakdown - Organised Ruck defence: with guards and body guards set, allowing the rest of the line to set off them.


Tactics: Ideally I would edit these when I get to see Johnny's team!

Away to the league leaders with their exemplary home record and their internationals back is a huge ask, so realistically our best bet for points and the chance of stealing a win here is to spoil and be opportunistic. Now our team is based very much about the breakdown and keeping the phases going and we can't completely change our tactical approach for one game and expect it to stay together, so we will make the following adjustments:

Breakdown: as you an see we have picked 3 players, all internationals, with experience at 7 in positions that they can still do the specialist roles - looking for high impact carries from VDF, tackles and workrate from Robshaw and linkplay and maul-finishing from Barclay, as well as an aggressive orchestrated assault at the breakdown aided by 2 flanker-lock crossbreeds in the second row. With this teamwork and groundskills across teh entire pack we will viciously defend our own ball, looking to get quick enough ball to do a lot of sniping with, and look to slow and spoil and turn their ball at every opportunity, whilst maintaining a tight fringe defence - a combination reliant on the quality of our players at the breakdown rather than quantity.

Attack: We will still build up phase play and look to protect the ball without needless offloads or too many passes too early, and look to hold onto the ball to minimise our defending, but rather now looking to put phases together until an opportunity to break (ideally) or more realistically kick past their defensive line and chase to reclaim or pressurise the receiver for a penalty occurs. We will also look for a high percentage of snipes from 9 and 10 and pick up and goes compared to usual, hoping our aggressive rucking makes the fringes vulnerable.

We have Gopperth at 12, a good snipe/kick 9 in Cubelli, teh solid kicking option Pennell, and strong chasers in Tompkins and Sharples as well as a high workrate pack to help with this. Ranger, Montoya, Kepu and VDF will be doing a lot of work to break the gainline and keep some momentum up but obvious the rest of the pack can tight carry well too.

We will be very happy to fire off dropped goals, chip and cross kick today.

Defence: To aid spoiling, it will be a blitz as usual today, really looking to doubleteam 9 and 10 if we can to stifle any momentum early and give the best chance of a hold up or on the ground turnover. This may create space out wide for the opposition, but we will have to trust the back 3's coverage ability. Sharples is also a great intercept runner and with his and Tompkins pace outwide, we will be looking for a game stealing turnover try at any moment

Scrums: we have picked our best scrummaging front row to try and hold on and attack Sale's put in, legally or illegally. On our own ball, we will be happy to whip it in and out quickly and use our backrow to narrow their defence off phase 1

Lineouts: 

A big strength of Sale's here so we will be looking to minimalise them with running back of kicks or playing high for possession rather than kicking for touch. We will take quick lineouts more readily than usual. On our own put in, there is no point in keeping it simple/predictable as it will make things easy for Sale to pick off or leave a neutered maul at the front - we will use a few long throws, trusting Montoya, and mix our options up. On their ball, let them have the ball in the air and compete solely on the ground

Subs: As we intend to make the game rather attritional and physical, we have gone for a 6-2 split, with a mix of carrying power in Vito/Fearns/Uhila, experience in Ross/Vito, lineout prowess in Vito/Kearns to ensure we don't fade in vital areas late in the game. Spencer and Taylor work excellently as opportunistic sniping players or in a kick chase to keep the gameplan up, but we also have the players on the pitch and the bench to play a more usual attacking phased game if we need to change approach.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Camille Lopez
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Noa Nakaitaci
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Charles Ollivon	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Teimana Harrison	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Maxime Medard

.
Subs: 16. Thomas Domingo, 17. Tom Youngs, 18. Ben Tameifuna, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Dave Ewers, 21. Nic White, 22. Alex Lozowski, 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 have freshened up the side after the Tigers game by bringing in Ollivon for Ewers at blindside, Lopez for Lozowski at 10, Nakaitaci for JP Pietersen on the wing and Medard for Lowe at fullback. We see the pack as a key win here and Ollivon gives a similar option to Ewers. Lopez at 10 provides more control and gives us a very experienced and controlled 9/10 combination.

We have picked a big pack and are targeting the forward battle as key to the win. We have a solid scrum to build from and two big locks who are both good lineout options.

The set piece will be important and we will look to use this as a weapon to attack from and gain territory. Our back row are all big carriers and we will use them all to gain hard yards and tire out Bath defenders. Ollivon, Coles, Sinckler, Parisse, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lopez to work with.

In the backs we will use Nonu as a crash ball option and a decoy runner to open up space for the likes of Mermoz, Nakaitaci and Medard to exploit. Laidlaw will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

Ignore team entered below.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Scott Williams
06. Pablo Matera	13. Sam James
07. Francois Louw	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Camille Chat 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Elliott Dixon 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

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

Win the pack battle - looking to use Matera/Petti/De Jager/George as our heavy carriers, with Louw/Read to help us rule the breakdown.

Send carriers down 10/12 - Slade doesn't play a lot of 12 and Cruden can be got at defensively

Target the wings positionally with solid boots at 9/10/13 and our back 3 are all excellent chasers.

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

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

Northampton Saints Team:
Manager Dammit Chris

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Schalk Brits
3. Ramiro Herrera  
4. Joe Launchbury (c)
5. Jonny Gray
6. Ashley Johnson
7. David Pocock
8. Faconda Isa
9. Conor Murray
10. George Ford
11. Julian Savea
12. Wesley Fofana
13. Elliot Daly
14. Adam Ashley Cooper
15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

Replacements:
16. Schalk Burger 17. Billy Vunipola 18. Wyatt Crockett 19. Jake Cooper Wooley 20. Paul Jedrasiak 21. Joe Simpson 22. Lima Sopoaga 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
Made three changes to the pack to freshen it up for a big game against Gloucester, again we've picked a team that has a lot of big ball carriers in the pack and strike runners in our backline to win the collisions and gain line battle. We will play the game at speed and at a real intensity, with Ford controlling the game with his kicking and passing, putting us into the right areas of the pitch to hurt Gloucester and with Halfpenny's boot we will look to keep the scoreboard building. Our bench is picked for its impact and we will look to finish the game pushing for tries.

Set Piece
Lineout - Four good options in the lineout, where we will look to generate quick ball for our backline to attack from, with Gray leading the lineout for Scotland and Glasgow.
Scrum - will use the scrum for Isa to launch attacks and get Carter into rucks/mauls.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Gloucester defence to suck in players and create space out wide for our strike runners to exploit. Have picked an extremely physical backrow where we will aim to make it difficult for Gloucester to cross the gain line and look to use our power to get Gloucester playing off the back foot.

Breakdown
See attributes.

Attack
- Aim to really dominate the gain line battle with big ball carriers in the pack and Ford bringing our strike runners into the game in the backline to push the Gloucester defence and exploit any gaps.
- Strong kicking game from the 9-10 combination, where we can look to win the territorial battle.
- Powerful impact bench to up the tempo in final 20/25 minutes.

Defence
Blitz defence, with Murray sweeping behind. Kicking game of 9 and 10 to get us out of trouble.

Nb. Ashley Johnson is replacement hooker.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Joe Moody	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Devin Toner	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jackson Wray	13. Mark Bennett
07. Matt Todd	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Codie Taylor 17. Val Ruskin 18. Henry Thomas 19. Mike Williams 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Anton Leniert-Brown

Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle
*We have gone with a different centre pairing of Roberts-Bennett to tackle the Quins centre pairings as well as looking to use Roberts as he is IRL by Quins using him 3 times then as a decoy going behind him to Bennett.
-We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Quins danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Biggar will look for territory where we have Toner and Maestri ready to rule the skies,
-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,
-Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Todd bringing the turnover attribute,
-We have good form and all of our internationals back meaning we can play our full strength squad,
-The breakdown is likely to 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 Quins 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 Jones allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Quins playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off Roberts and Bennett, we will use Thompstone and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
-When nothing is on go for territory and also use his Biggar's 'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
-We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep Quins guessing and allow us the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
-We have selected a huge bench which will be used for impact and to maintain a high tempo game running against tired legs,
-Take all kickable penalties.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cian Healy	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Tadhg Furlong
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper(c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

.
16. Scott Baldwin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Ultan Dillane 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Mike Haley  

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

• Play at pace. Look to play at a quick tempo controlled by Youngs and Jantjies with McKenzie also acting as a first receiver. Look for Jantjies to stand flat and bring our pack onto the ball at pace in the midfield. We want to move the Worcester pack around so will not look to carry off 9 but instead play outside 10.
  
  
• Look to use out the back options to get the ball wide into the hands of Henshaw, Joseph and our back three's hands.
  
  
• Use Jantjies and Mckenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field, but we will always look to run the ball if we have the overlap or an unorganised defence. Use Henshaw's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Gloucester back three under the high ball
  
  
• Look for forwards to carry with support, and look for the offload out of contact if it is on or to recycle the ball quickly for the next attack. We have a much more mobile pack than Worcester so we will look to move their pack around the pitch by looking to carry away from the ruck outside of 10 and 12 with Youngs keeping the Worcester fringe defence honest.
  
  
• Use Du Toit and Kruis to put huge pressure on the Worcester line out, looking to allow the front but not allow easy ball of the back or the tail of the line out.
  

[*]Employ the chop tackle to allow us to bring Worcester's carriers down quickly so we can use Hooper, Clifford and Creevy in particular to attack the breakdown and turnover possession.
[/list]

Chris, dont think you have a hooker on the bench

AJ at 6 mate

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Aaron Smith
02. Rory Best	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nepo Laulala
04. Charlie Ewels	11.  Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Damian De Allende
06. Liam Squire	13. Jesse Kriel
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Liam Williams
08. Toby Falateu	15. Alex Goode

16. Steven Kitchoff 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Scott Wilson 19. Will Skelton 20. Liam Squire 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill  23. George Moala

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 Exeter under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries and offloading at a high pace looking to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench 

Pooly, I'm doing what Wasps do with Ashley Johnson who covers no2 when he starts as no6. Thanks though.

Conditions updated, will get my side in shortly.

Tactics updated

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Danny Care
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Maro Itoje	11. Semesa Rokoduguni
05. Brodie Retalick	12. Reece Hodge
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Gary Ringrose
07. Sam Cane	14. Simon Zebo
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Tommy Taylor 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Dave Atwood 20. Sean McMahon 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Bernard Foley 23. Kyle Eastmond

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. Care to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

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. Care will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Zebo & Bendy 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 while POM marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

Bench: Genuine game changing impact from the bench with Taylor, Attwood, McMahon, De Klerk & Foley all adding different options.

Fluxy, haven't seen Mat post a team, could you throw in this one as don't want a walk over?

Gloucester
Manager - Anonmattyt

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira 09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie 10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth 11. Jonny May
05. Elliott Stooke 12. Ryan Crotty
06. Ross Moriarty 13. Will Addison
07. Ardie Savea 14. Israel Dagg
08. Jaime Heaslip 15. Israel Folau
.
Subs: 16. Rob Evans, 17. Joe Gray, 18. Uini Atonio, 19. Tom Croft, 20. Willem Alberts, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Charlie Walker


Attributes

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

Huge game at home.

We aim to play a super high tempo and take advantage of the conditions to attack saints in wider channels.

Initially We will look to build phases and use the likes of Moriarty, etzbeth, savea , heaslip etc to get us across the gain line so we can play with quick ball.

we will look for Robson, Carter and Crotty to control the tempo of the game. Off static ball we will look to use runners off ten or kick for space with a heavy press. However our aim is to play at pace. Our 9,10,12,13 will look to give Create space to target saints wide  Backline .

With a back 3 of dagg,may and Folau We have pace to burn and we will look to get it to them as often as possible. We will also look to put high ball on saints back 3. With May Dagg and Folau being aerial experts we can really win here.

We will also be keen to test their ten channel/ We will Target him and look to flood numbers And cut him at source.

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 and can play.

Having ball players in 9-15 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 looking to exploit the space outwide. We will use folau, Dagg or Crotty 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 Dagg to gain territory, looking to kick long to Make them play. We want them
To kick to touch so we can use our line out to get quality possession and pressure the saints line on their ball:

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

Will be around until 1700, if anyone needs to update tactics etc.

glaws tactics please add



Attributes

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


Huge game at home.

We aim to play a super high tempo and take advantage of the conditions to attack saints in wider channels.

Initially We will look to build phases and use the likes of Moriarty, etzbeth, savea , heaslip etc to get us across the gain line so we can play with quick ball.

we will look for Robson, Carter and Crotty to control the tempo of the game. Off static ball we will look to use runners off ten or kick for space with a heavy press. However our aim is to play at pace. Our 9,10,12,13 will look to give Create space to target saints wide  Backline .

With a back 3 of dagg,may and Folau We have pace to burn and we will look to get it to them as often as possible. We
Will also look to put high ball
On saints back 3 . With May Dagg and Folau being aerial experts we can really win here.

We will also be keen to test their ten channel/ We will Target him and look to flood numbers And cut him at source.

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 and can play.

Having ball players in 9-15 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 looking to exploit the space outwide. We will use folau, Dagg or Crotty 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 Dagg to gain territory, looking to kick long to Make them play. We want them
To kick to touch so we can use our line out to get quality possession and pressure the saints line on their ball:

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

Predictions open - to me please  

Will keep open until Monday morning, as that is when I will be back in the office to do results.

Morning gents, seeing as I have only four sets of predictions - I will keep this week open until this evening. Just to allow a chance for more to come in.

Bath Rugby 29 - 25 Exeter Chiefs
Both packs in pretty strong shape with no real advantage. small edge in the backrow but not huge. Bath best hbs in league and despite both sides with form issues in the backs, bath come through.

Bath Rugby 23 - 23 Exeter Chiefs
Man short costs Bath the win. Evenly matched teams across the board. A lot of hit and miss players in Exeter's back line which hurts them. Bath have the players just not the tactics or direction at the minute.

Bath Rugby 32 - 32 Exeter Chiefs 
Really tough game, not much in way of tactics from the home side and one player short on the bench costs them a bit, but is a backrower so not as bad as if front rower. Bath have a great team, secodn row a little underpowered but that backline controlled by Smith and Barrett is scary. Irish have more tactics and a very strong impact from the bench, which will make a huge difference.

Bath Rugby 22 - 23 Exeter Chiefs
Bath having a man down really costs them here, as otherwise the teams are very difficult to split. Think Chiefs are stronger in the pack, but Bath have a great set of backs who will be able to play off the back foot. The extra forward makes a difference though, and Chiefs sneak it

Bath Rugby 20 - 21 Exeter Chiefs

Bath Rugby 22 -  24 Exeter Chiefs
I think Bath will edge the scrum but Exeter front row offer a huge amount of running ability. I prefer Exeter at the lineout and think their second row pairing is exceptional. Bath definitely ahead at the backrow though. Both backlines work well but Bath have a lot more spark and also more weaknesses conversely. Chiefs do avoid fatigue with their changes but risk losing consistency/cohesion. Overall, with an extra man on the bench, a lot of dynamism in the pack and slightly more gameplan, Chiefs win a vital away match

Bath Rugby 24 - 23 Exeter Chiefs

Gloucester Rugby 21 - 23 Northampton Saints
Solid scrum contest. No real line out leader for either sides but can see Saints being more accurate with LCDs wandering darts. Saints a bit stronger bar perhaps halfback. Gloucester EQ options in Stooke and Addison not really at the level of other sides. Good close game tbough, not much in it.

Gloucester Rugby 25 - 26 Northampton Saints
Gloucester's EQ lets them down. Stooke and Addison are full of potential but look like weaknesses in this quality of game. Saints have more quality across their side though Gloucester's back three are packed with threat to worry Saints but Carter keeps them in it. 

Gloucester Rugby 27 - 29 Northampton Saints
Gloucester will compete well, but its tough to see an area where they will have an outright advantage over Saints. Think Saints strength in the back 5 of the pack will be really important, and can see them dominating the collisions and the breakdown. Saints have enough to take this in a hard fought road win

Gloucester Rugby 22 - 23 Northampton Saints

Gloucester Rugby 22 - 23 Northampton Saints

Gloucester Rugby 20 - 25 Northampton Saints
Gloucester have a solid pack and a very hard working and promising flanker combo in particular but are up against a Saints pack with no real weakness, and a lot of form. Robson and Carter usually win games by themselves but can be matched by a powerful Murray and a Ford who has a bit of confidence back in his game. Gloucster's back 3 are an asset and used well in the tactics, as they will be bale to counter and challenge in teh air, but Saints look a class up in the centres. I would look to bosh it up the middle a bit early in the phase/attack if I were Matt as physicality is the main lacking factor for Saints midfield. Overall, Saints are just too strong upfront

Gloucester Rugby 25 - 26 Northampton Saints

Leicester Tigers 20 - 20 Saracens
Can't separate the sides. Leicester have more guile and creativity against the structure of Saracens. Some good form for Leicester's players but across the board the better side is probably Saracens but don't see them having enough to win away.

Leicester Tigers 22 - 20 Saracens 
Home advantage sways this, prefer the ball carriers that Tigers have in their pack as Saracens very reliant on Hughes to make the yardage. Cole looking good, but can't see the away side dominating the breakdown as they lack that bit of physicality in the pack. Burns and Teo'o will make a huge impact off the bench - would get Teo'o starting though. 

Leicester Tigers 24 - 26 Saracens
Tigers have a game pack, but Sarries are very well set up tactically and look to attack the right areas here. I think they'll get on top in the set piece, and have the breakdown ability to really put the pressure on Leicester. From there, the Saracens backs are a bit more lethal, and I think they'll make the most of their opportunities to nick this on the road

Leicester Tigers 21 - 22 Saracens

Leicester Tigers 24 - 24 Saracens

Leicester Tigers 28 - 28 Saracens
Tigers tactic of almost using FTH as a dummy 10 is interesting and he's the kind of player with Beale and Hougaard around him that could pull it off. Overall Tigers have an interesting backline but it is threatening and I kind of like it and it fits their offloading attack. For Saracens, C Smith is getting on a bit at centre, and may lack the pace to defend this kind of attack, but Saracens offer their own more direct threat. Saracens with Hughes back in form have a backrow to fear again, though the Tigers pack works hard and will make them work. Saracens win the scrum, Tigers the lineout, and Saracens the breakdown. It's a tough one and I think a thrilling draw is fair

Newcastle Falcons 23 - 23 Wasps
Some form issues in both front 5's with BdP very hard to rate and Koch getting smashed of late. I prefer the Falcons backrow. Webb hard to rate and centres not great for Falcons. Wasps better side but no tactics stops a win.

Newcastle Falcons 29 - 25 Wasps
No tactics hurts a strong Wasps on paper. Newcastle are in great form and have a lovely balance to their side. Props and centres let Falcons down in their side. 

Newcastle Falcons 25 - 17 Wasps
No tactics from the away side. 

Newcastle Falcons 29 - 28 Wasps

Newcastle Falcons 27 - 26 Wasps

Newcastle Falcons 22 - 17 Wasps
I think Slade defends well at 12, but Barrett can give up ground in defence. Wasps pack offers a lot of workrate and mostly good form, Newcastle si very efficient up front and I'm struggling to pick winners in any of the forwards contests. Both backlines play to their strengths and it really comes down to tactics in this kind of match up between 2 close teams, so Wasps haven't given themselves the best chance in an away match they could win

Newcastle Falcons 24 - 24 Wasps

Sale Sharks 29 - 25 Bristol Rugby
Really tough outing for CJ whos been going well. Sale on top for most part although both sets of centres not great, esp Bristol.

Sale Sharks 26 - 24 Bristol Rugby
Two strong sides but Sale have too much for Bristol here. 1st choice props rested for Sale but still great quality. Bristol's pack struggle to match Sale and that makes the job of their backs far tougher. Though Patchell and Gopperth have the ability to control the game when the have the ball and both have superb records off the tee to push Sale close.

Sale Sharks 23 - 20 Bristol Rugby
The Sharks pack is looking to be pretty formidable, Bristol's forwards are all a good combination and tactics perfect. Bristol will stay close with Gopperth's boot and form and Sale backline can be got at offensively, but has so much attacking threat. If Sexton gets his form back then can't see Sale losing many games. 

Sale Sharks 29 - 24 Bristol Rugby
Bristol go hard at the champions, but the quality in every area of the Sale side is easy to see. Sale's backs have some real talents coming to the fore this season with the likes of Hodge/Ringrose, and see them pulling away late on for the win

Sale Sharks 24 - 23 Bristol Rugby

Sale Sharks 25 - 24 Bristol Rugby

Sale Sharks 28 - 27 Bristol Rugby

Worcester Warriors 25 - 25 Harlequins
Both packs looking good and a real bruising contest. Healy holds Quins back from gaining any advantage. Worcesrer better at HB, Janjtes not a fh whos going to win you tight games and stops Quins from stealing win. Quins a LH and FH away from poss best side in league.

Worcester Warriors 25 - 24 Harlequins
Biggar wins the battle of the 10s and with two even packs that is the difference.

Worcester Warriors 23 - 25 Harlequins
The sides are very well matched in the pack and halfbacks. Quins look stronger throughout the outside backs though, and think that advantage gets them the win

Worcester Warriors 23 - 24 Harlequins

Worcester Warriors 23 - 25 Harlequins
An excellent contest between 2 well balanced attacking sides, on form I think Quins edge the scrum and JUST the lineout,  and I do prefer their backrow just, but Worcester will compete well in each area with a lot of quality. The backrows and backlines are what are salivating to me, with the offloading/carrying/strike runner mix for Warriors and the everyone is a playmaker approach of Quins. It's tough at Worcester but for me Quins edge up front and their joy de vive in attack just gets a win

Worcester Warriors 23 - 24 Harlequins

I'll take the LBP. Really wish Taylor would start getting played by Saracens again, it's making my centres tricky