Aviva Premiership Round Sixteen - Six Nations

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Bristol Rugby vs Bath Rugby
Ashton Gate Stadium
Heavy Rain, 11 degrees, 18mph South Westerly Winds

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Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth(k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Sam Carter	11. Rene Ranger
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Chris Pennell
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Rhys Patchell

:-
16. Mike Ross 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Loni Uhila 19.  Grant Gilchrist 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Piers Francis 23. Digby Ioane

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.

Overall with Bath a side that excels in dry weather, playing a quick strike attack form of rugby relying on quick ball, soft fringes and using very attack orientated halfbacks and back 3 in particular, we will look to hugely pressurise them early in the phase and test them in conditions that are not their favourite. Our defensive attributes in particular are almost perfect to make life difficult for the approach they have taken all season.

Breakdown:

With Gill the main threat here, using our two international level 7s we will look take advantage of the extra rucks that we have a real breakdown menace at, working together to turn over and spoil as much Bath ball as we can, and to secure our own ball with the help of a team effort of dynamic rucking out - always as a unit. Robshaw is excellent at consistently making life difficult for vaunted opposition flankers and I want him to make Gill's match hell.

Attack:

In awful weather, simple plays are the best. We will use a lot of direct carrying and ball recycling from the ground, no risky offloads. We will build a few phases, hoping to get enough attacking ball to pass safely and quickly to our backs with momentum, where they too will mostly run directly and simply at the space we hope to create. Obviously we will bring some carriers running directly at Barrett during most sets of phases.

Clever dummy lines and carefully selected accurate passes rather than fancy moves and changes in direction are best in the wet and with 3 potential playmakers with good passing skills we hope we can achieve this.

I am very happy for our forwards to directly pick and drive and our 9 to attack the fringes if well supported, overall Cubelli will look to dictate the game as he sees it

We will be kicking more and much earlier than usual. Bath usually focus on a blitz, so the chip is an option, but with kicking players at 9,10,12,14 and 15 we have a huge variety in options here. We will especially test Goode's positioning against the deep kick and the chip, test him under our Fullback on the wing under the high ball and target Wade's kick defence in terms of space behind him and in the air with Pennell rearing down on him in the wet, with Ranger looking to physically bully Imhoff. use our full range and variety of kicking tricks

Defence:

As always we will use a blitz with a sweeper, and this will be narrow, tight around the fringes and push forward early on 9-10 to pressurise them and force fumbles or charge downs. I want Vito to hound Smith when he can  and Van Der Flier when available to press early on Barrett from the inside. Barrett and Smith are class players but used to being on top in the pack and have attacking instincts that we won't let them use. Their first phase attack will also struggle against our tight, well practised fringe defence, led by Robshaw and Carter. The narrow early press may leave space outwide but passing wide and fast under pressure in the wet is risky and hopefully result in mistakes we can punish.
We will mostly return kicks with our own kicking game.

Scrum:

Key today - Kepu to look to match and hold EBA, and we have picked Kilcoyne specifically for his current scrummaging form to neutralise Laulala. Make the scrum and hard contest, and we should be able to match them. If they do get on top, I am happy to try to win penalties to disrupt their scrum and risk giving them away - Barrett is not a high percentage kicker and has no back up apart from Goode so I don't think they'll get many points. No complexity off the back of the scrum today - simple carries or kick-chasing.

Lineout:

With Barrett far more likely to go for touch, attacking Bath's lineout is key. They have a mix of options but in the wet long throws are riskier - always lift at the front and make them make those riskier throws, the back of the lineout looking to clean up lose ball rather than compete in the air. On our ball, for the same reasons we will keep it simple and happy to maul and then deal with the slow ball. 

Other:

Game management should be ok with wily Cubelli and Gopperth starting and a 10 at 15. Generally mixing up high, contested kicks with deep kicks to space and a hard chase, and looking to use our fullback on the wing for extra safety at the back and options in the backfield.
We will take any kickable points today unless a penalty try situation looks on when we have momentum. We are also very happy to go for dropped goals from 10.
Subs - . Fearns and Uhila add powerful carrying if impact is needed, Ioane spark if we end up needing to chase the game and a powerful carrier at wing/13, Francis another playmaker in the backs and Ross experience and Spencer another 9 who can play a controlled kicking game. We note Bath lack a 10 or goal-kicker on the bench, so if Barrett goes off our defence will look for further pressurise kicks and we will become more aggressive re discipline

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Aaron Smith
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nepo Laulala
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Josh Beaumont	12. Damian De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. George Moala
07. Liam Gill	14. Juan Imhoff
08. Liam Squire	15. Alex Goode

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16. - 17. Leni Asipai 18. Scott Wilson 19. Will Skelton 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill 23. Jesse Kriel

*Bath bench one man short, as Ben Arous is playing for France - therefore Kitshoff starts

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

Scrum: Use the set piece to get quick ball to restart our play. We will look to get more power from our back five. Squire will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Beaumont, Squire and Kitchener options in the lineout. Beaumont 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. Kitch will offer 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. Really work Bristol hard here and look to tire them out as a pack

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

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Smith will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Barrett 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 De Allende and Moala who we would like to get running at defenders.  Try and get them in the Gopperth channel. Wade and Goode 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, Kitch and Squire in order to break the line and make yards. Throughout them team look to Keep the ball alive and look for offloads. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Exploit the holes we create and look to tire out Bristol which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

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

Substitutes: Keep a high tempo off the bench.

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Exeter Chiefs vs Newcastle Falcons
Sandy Park
Light Rain, 11 degrees, 20mph South Westerly Winds

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. James Horwill	11. JP Pietersen
05. Kane Douglas	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Chris Ashton
08. Teimana Harrison	15. James Lowe

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Subs: 16. Tom Youngs, 17. Nathan Catt, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Juandre Kruger, 20. Fritz Lee, 21. Chris Cook, 22. Colin Slade, 23. Maxime Medard

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.

The weather isn't brilliant so we will play a forward based and territory based game to get in the right positions of the pitch.

We have picked the players to do this. Big carriers and a mobile back and hard working back row. Laidlaw is the perfect controlling 9 and will give good service to Lozowski. Lowe is in at 15 for his huge boot.

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 Newcastle defenders. Ewers, Coles, Ben T, Coetzee, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lozowski 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, Lowe and JP Pietersen 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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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Will Chudley
02. Camille Chat	10. Ian Madigan
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Elliot Dixon	13. Sam James
07. Pablo Matera	14. Ben Smith
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.Ricky Riccitelli 17.Nic Auterac 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Callum Clark 21. Dave Lewis 22. Gareth Anscombe 23. Luke Marshall

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

Big back row to carry hard and knock their big runners back - scrag Laidlaw at every opportunity to force Lozowski to take on more responsibility with little help outside him

Bombard Ashton's wing with kicks and Piutau chasing - vary the kicks, grubbers and bombs to really test his willingness to take us on physically

James to offer a second option outside Madigan to clear the ball and as a second playmaker in their 22 - Serfontein the power runner to get us on the front foot, target the 10 channel

Back 3 all excellent in the air - counter if its on but secure possession first


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,  

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

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Harlequins vs Leicester Tigers
Twickenham Stoop
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 16mph South Westerly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rob Webber	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Luke Romano	11. James O'Connor
05. George Kruis	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Pieter Steph Du Toit	13. Bundee Aki
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

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16. Jack Singleton 17. Gurthro Steenkamp 18. John Afoa 19. Jean Luc Du Preez 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Stuart Townsend 22. Steven Myler 23. Mike Haley

Tactics

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 control the tempo using Pienaar and Jantjies with McKenzie and JMH 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 offer numerous threats to Leicester's defence with forwards carrying off 9 10 and 12.
  
  
• A back line who are all comfortable with ball in hand and offer numerous kicking options to control territory. Plenty of experience in how to manage a game in wet conditions. COmbine this with dynamic, mobile and physical pack who will be solid at the set piece and we feel we have the combination to control the game.
  
  
• Use Jantjies, Pienaar, Hernandez, JOC and McKenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field and put territorial pressure. Use JOC and Cordero's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Leicester 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. Conditions will be slippery so we know that we need to set a good platform with strong carries from our packs working in pods. 
  
  
• Use Du Toit, Kruis and Romano to put huge pressure on the Leicester's line out, not allowing easy ball at the line out. Also look for Hooper to attack the breakdown at every opportunity.
  
  
  
  
  • We have electric pace in our back line. If we can use the carriers in our pack to get us across the gain line and get Leicester's defence on the back foot and allow us to attack them on the front foot. Despite slippery conditions, we still offer enormous threat through the power of Aki and the pace of our back 3. 
    
  
  
  

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Mikheil Nariashvili	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Stephen Moore	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Owen Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Dominic Bird	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Mathieu Basteraud
07. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe	14. Drew Mitchell
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Kurtley Beale (k)

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Subs: 16. Dave Ward 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brian Mujati 19. Stanley South 20. Calum Chick 21. Nick Phipps 22. Freddie Burns 23. Damien Penaud

Tigers Attributes
Defensive:

• 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:
  
• 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
  

In greasy and slippery conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, working through the phases, and looking for territory when required. We want to look to play a gameplan, similar to that of Connacht/Sale Sharks last week/Argentina vs ABs last year, whereby the forwards and scrum half will to play through the guts of weakly defended rucks and guards, as we see Quins back five forwards wanting to stand wider apart at defence, where they will want to affect the breakdown. This will then in turn suck defenders into covering the yards made and scramble defence, creating space and disarray out wide. Multiple play-makers to come in at first receiver, either side of the ruck to then stretch the Quins defence in an attempt to create an overlap, or to provide the opportunity of grubber or high ball in behind the wings. Ideally we want to be putting the ball through the hands to stretch the defence and give the man on the end a simple run in, in space.

In defence, as always we will be running our hard blitz defence - looking for us to win the gain line battle as we will cause the Quinscarrier to make negative metres. Our focus will be on the gain line collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us. Houagaard 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 Harlequins ball put pressure on; by getting Bird up at the front and Armand up in the middle to compete.
  
  
• 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. This is an area this week, where we believe we can manipulate the scrum in directions we require, to get Waldrom doing his best carrying at the try line.
  
  
• Breakdown: When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly, so that Hougaard can feed the ball quickly to forwards, the first receiver, or snipe through a hole. 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 contestable ruck.
  
  
• 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. 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. Hougaard to also look to snipe around the fringes, to keep the defence honest and keep us going forwards all the time - testing the like of du Toit at guard, who can be got at with 2 v 1s.
  
  
• 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/Beale/Twelvetrees who can take the ball to the line and kick in behind the defence, to get our wingers either on the end of the grubber, or pin back Harlequins.
  
  
• Look to use the bench to freshen the impetus - especially with the 'finishers' in the forwards.
  

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Northampton Saints vs Worcester Warriors
Franklin Gardens
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 19mph South Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Joe Simpson(c)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Lima Sopoaga (k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Michael Paterson	11. Julian Savea
05. Scott Cummings	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. David Pocock	14. Manuel Montero
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Foden

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16. Ashley Johnson 17. Logi Mulipola 18. Jake Cooper-Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Facunda Isa 21. Jamie Shillcock 22. Harry Mallinder 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
Worcester are a very dangerous side, especially during the 6Nations, we've recalled Brits to ensure that we have good ball at the setpiece and brought in more technical lineout jumpers. We've picked a team with strong ball carriers and will look to make this a physical game, particularly with the impact from our bench. Will look to exploit any advantage that we have in the back row. Our main change is in the backline, where we will look to make the most of the wetter conditions by having Simpson's box kicking and Sopoaga kicking the ball into danger areas and pressurise Worcester into mistakes with a strong kick chase from AAC, Savea and Montero.

Set Piece & Pack
Strong physical pack, which we have strengthened for the conditions, with giving Brits a starting spot for his lineout work and bringing in Paterson and Cummings (fresh off scoring twice at the weekend for Glasgow) offering safer options in the light rain. Off the scrum we will launch Vunipola into the Worcester midfield and look to get ourselves on the front foot. Looks like a very even pack battle, but will aim to edge the back row battle.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Worcester defence to suck in players and create space out wide for our strike runners to exploit. This is an area we feel we can get a big advantage on and set our game plan around getting our backline on the front foot by winning the collisions and physical battle with our big ball carriers.

Breakdown/Backrow
See attributes, we will look to get an advantage over Worcester in this area, with a very experienced trio and then the impact of Isa.

Attack
- Send big runner after big runner into the Worcester defence to wear them down in the first 50-60 minutes, tiring down their defence and then looking to exploit in the final 20 minutes with our impact bench.
- Look for Pocock to win the turnover battle and secure quick ball for our backs to exploit
- Sopoaga controlling the midfield, bringing in our strike runners, Fofana, Montero, Savea, AAC and Foden.
- Simpson and Sopoaga to test the Worcester back three - all our backline has been picked for its kick chase ability and physicality and will look to make the most of this.

Kicking
- Kick more than usual, looking to unsettle the Worcester back three with aerial bombardment and strong kick chase
- Sopoaga to keep the scoreboard ticking over

Defence
Blitz defence, we want to get at the Worcestor halfbacks put them under pressure, with a strong defensive midfield to stop the threat of their danger man at no12. Simpson sweeping behind defence.

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Luca Noguera Paz	09. Rory Kockott
02. Codie Taylor	10. Owen Williams(k)
03. Henry Thomas
04. Mike Williams	11. Sergeal Petersen
05. Leone Nakawara	12. Anton Leniert-Brown
06. Jackson Wray	13. Jarrad Payne
07. Matt Todd	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan (c)	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Ross Batty 17. Val Ruskin 18. WP Nel 19. Tom Savage 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jules Plisson 23. NMS
Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle
*We have gone with a different centre pairing of ALB-Payne to tackle the Saints centre pairings with Payne's ability to hit hard at the tackle.
*We have a big carrying, hard working pack in wet conditions to stop Saints in their tracks and put a lot of pressure on Simpson to prevent the quick ball.

-We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Saints danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Williams will look for territory,
-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,
-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 Saints 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 Payne allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Saints playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off ALB and Payne, we will use Petersen 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  'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
-We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep them 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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Saracens vs Sale Sharks
Allianz Park
Light Rain,  9 degrees, 18mph South Westerly Winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Paul Hill
04. Ed Slater	11. Teddy Thomas
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. Theirry Dusatoir	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Dave Denton	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Alex Waller 18. Ben Franks 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Underhill 21. Lee Dickson 22. Ollie Devoto 23. Pat Lambie

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

KICK IN BEHIND SALE WINGERS WITH STRONG KICK CHASE FORCING THEM TO KICK - Excellent kicking options in the halfbacks. Look to get the ball in behind the Sale wingers and force them to kick from deep.  

PRESSURE FOLEY - Target Foley early on with Dus and Thompson and look to put pressure on his kicking game. If it comes down to 3 pointers we have a step up in quality.

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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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Faf De Klerk
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Bernard Foley
03. Martin Moore
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Reece Hodge
06. Sean McMahon	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Matt Garvey 20. Matt Kvesic 21. James Mitchell 22. Quade Cooper 23. Willie Le Roux
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.  

Back Field: As is always our tactic when Foley starts, Foley to defend the backfield with Bendy offering a good clearance game.


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. De Klerk 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.

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. De Klerk will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Foley & 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 Retalick 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.

---

Wasps vs Gloucester Rugby
Ricoh Arena
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 18mph South Westerly Winds

---

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Sebastien Tillous Borde
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Bryan Habana
05. Andrew Kitchener	12. Brad Barritt
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Luther Burrell
07. Fulgence Quedraogo	14. Marland Yarde
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Tim Nani-Williams

_
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Dave Wilson, 18. Fraiser Bailmen, 19. Dom Barrow, 20. Will Owen, 21. Mitchell Drummound, 22. Nick Evans, 23. -

*Wasps bench one man short, as Slade is playing for England - therefore Burrell starts

---

Tactics
Attack:
- Good mobility in the back row to get round the park
- 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:
- Nullify the midfield threat, looking for big hit opportunities and wrap tackles to prevent the offloads
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence
Breakdown:
- Be disciplined at the breakdown and do not give away penalties in our half
- If ruck is lost, don't compete and fan out in D
Bench:
- Good quality on the bench with a number of options.

---

Gloucester 
Caretaker Manager - Fluxy

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. TJ Perenara
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Israel Dagg
05. Tomas Lavanini	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Tom Croft	13. Tevita Kurindrani
07. Ardie Savea	14. Charlie Walker
08. Willem Alberts	15. Israel Folau

.
Replacements: 16. Titi Lamisotele, 17. Joe Gray, 18. Coenie Ousthuizen, 19. Elliott Stooke, 20. Yacouba Camara, 21. Dan Robson, 22. Dan Carter, 23. Will Addison

---

Conditions updated for this week - looks like a wet one.

Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth(k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Sam Carter	11. Rene Ranger
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Chris Pennell
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Rhys Patchell

:-
16. Mike Ross 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Loni Uhila 19.  Grant Gilchrist 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Piers Francis 23. Digby Ioane

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.

Overall with Bath a side that excels in dry weather, playing a quick strike attack form of rugby relying on quick ball, soft fringes and using very attack orientated halfbacks and back 3 in particular, we will look to hugely pressurise them early in the phase and test them in conditions that are not their favourite. Our defensive attributes in particular are almost perfect to make life difficult for the approach they have taken all season.

Breakdown:

With Gill the main threat here, using our two international level 7s we will look take advantage of the extra rucks that we have a real breakdown menace at, working together to turn over and spoil as much Bath ball as we can, and to secure our own ball with the help of a team effort of dynamic rucking out - always as a unit. Robshaw is excellent at consistently making life difficult for vaunted opposition flankers and I want him to make Gill's match hell.

Attack:

In awful weather, simple plays are the best. We will use a lot of direct carrying and ball recycling from the ground, no risky offloads. We will build a few phases, hoping to get enough attacking ball to pass safely and quickly to our backs with momentum, where they too will mostly run directly and simply at the space we hope to create. Obviously we will bring some carriers running directly at Barrett during most sets of phases.

Clever dummy lines and carefully selected accurate passes rather than fancy moves and changes in direction are best in the wet and with 3 potential playmakers with good passing skills we hope we can achieve this.

I am very happy for our forwards to directly pick and drive and our 9 to attack the fringes if well supported, overall Cubelli will look to dictate the game as he sees it

We will be kicking more and much earlier than usual. Bath usually focus on a blitz, so the chip is an option, but with kicking players at 9,10,12,14 and 15 we have a huge variety in options here. We will especially test Goode's positioning against the deep kick and the chip, test him under our Fullback on the wing under the high ball and target Wade's kick defence in terms of space behind him and in the air with Pennell rearing down on him in the wet, with Ranger looking to physically bully Imhoff. use our full range and variety of kicking tricks

Defence:

As always we will use a blitz with a sweeper, and this will be narrow, tight around the fringes and push forward early on 9-10 to pressurise them and force fumbles or charge downs. I want Vito to hound Smith when he can  and Van Der Flier when available to press early on Barrett from the inside. Barrett and Smith are class players but used to being on top in the pack and have attacking instincts that we won't let them use. Their first phase attack will also struggle against our tight, well practised fringe defence, led by Robshaw and Carter. The narrow early press may leave space outwide but passing wide and fast under pressure in the wet is risky and hopefully result in mistakes we can punish.
We will mostly return kicks with our own kicking game.

Scrum:

Key today - Kepu to look to match and hold EBA, and we have picked Kilcoyne specifically for his current scrummaging form to neutralise Laulala. Make the scrum and hard contest, and we should be able to match them. If they do get on top, I am happy to try to win penalties to disrupt their scrum and risk giving them away - Barrett is not a high percentage kicker and has no back up apart from Goode so I don't think they'll get many points. No complexity off the back of the scrum today - simple carries or kick-chasing.

Lineout:

With Barrett far more likely to go for touch, attacking Bath's lineout is key. They have a mix of options but in the wet long throws are riskier - always lift at the front and make them make those riskier throws, the back of the lineout looking to clean up lose ball rather than compete in the air. On our ball, for the same reasons we will keep it simple and happy to maul and then deal with the slow ball. 

Other:

Game management should be ok with wily Cubelli and Gopperth starting and a 10 at 15. Generally mixing up high, contested kicks with deep kicks to space and a hard chase, and looking to use our fullback on the wing for extra safety at the back and options in the backfield.
We will take any kickable points today unless a penalty try situation looks on when we have momentum. We are also very happy to go for dropped goals from 10.
Subs - . Fearns and Uhila add powerful carrying if impact is needed, Ioane spark if we end up needing to chase the game and a powerful carrier at wing/13, Francis another playmaker in the backs and Ross experience and Spencer another 9 who can play a controlled kicking game. We note Bath lack a 10 or goal-kicker on the bench, so if Barrett goes off our defence will look for further pressurise kicks and we will become more aggressive re discipline

Gets the double over Gloucester.....then faces Sale, great

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. James Horwill	11. JP Pietersen
05. Kane Douglas	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Chris Ashton
08. Teimana Harrison	15. James Lowe

.
Subs: 16. Tom Youngs, 17. Nathan Catt, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Juandre Kruger, 20. Fritz Lee, 21. Chris Cook, 22. Colin Slade, 23. Maxime Medard

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.

The weather isn't brilliant so we will play a forward based and territory based game to get in the right positions of the pitch.

We have picked the players to do this. Big carriers and a mobile back and hard working back row. Laidlaw is the perfect controlling 9 and will give good service to Lozowski. Lowe is in at 15 for his huge boot.

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 Newcastle defenders. Ewers, Coles, Ben T, Coetzee, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lozowski 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, Lowe and JP Pietersen to exploit. Laidlaw will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rob Webber	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Luke Romano	11. James O'Connor
05. George Kruis	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Pieter Steph Du Toit	13. Bundee Aki
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

16. Jack Singleton 17. Gurthro Steenkamp 18. John Afoa 19. Jean Luc Du Preez 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Stuart Townsend 22. Steven Myler 23. Mike Haley

Tactics

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[/b][/b][/b]

[/b][/b][/b]

• Look to control the tempo using Pienaar and Jantjies with McKenzie and JMH 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 offer numerous threats to Leicester's defence with forwards carrying off 9 10 and 12.
  
  
• A back line who are all comfortable with ball in hand and offer numerous kicking options to control territory. Plenty of experience in how to manage a game in wet conditions. COmbine this with dynamic, mobile and physical pack who will be solid at the set piece and we feel we have the combination to control the game.
  
  
• Use Jantjies, Pienaar, Hernandez, JOC and McKenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field and put territorial pressure. Use JOC and Cordero's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Leicester 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. Conditions will be slippery so we know that we need to set a good platform with strong carries from our packs working in pods.
  
  
• Use Du Toit, Kruis and Romano to put huge pressure on the Leicester's line out, not allowing easy ball at the line out. Also look for Hooper to attack the breakdown at every opportunity.
  
  
  
  
  • We have electric pace in our back line. If we can use the carriers in our pack to get us across the gain line and get Leicester's defence on the back foot and allow us to attack them on the front foot. Despite slippery conditions, we still offer enormous threat through the power of Aki and the pace of our back 3.
    
  
  
  
  

can see that the weather is affecting some team selections

Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Joe Simpson(c)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Lima Sopoaga (k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Michael Paterson	11. Julian Savea
05. Scott Cummings	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. David Pocock	14. Manuel Montero
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Foden

.
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Mako Vunipola/Logi Mulipola 18. Jake Cooper-Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak/Vaea Fifita 20. Facunda Isa 21. Jamie Shillcock 22. Harry Mallinder 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
Worcester are a very dangerous side, especially during the 6Nations, we've recalled Brits to ensure that we have good ball at the setpiece and brought in more technical lineout jumpers. We've picked a team with strong ball carriers and will look to make this a physical game, particularly with the impact from our bench. Will look to exploit any advantage that we have in the back row. Our main change is in the backline, where we will look to make the most of the wetter conditions by having Simpson's box kicking and Sopoaga kicking the ball into danger areas and pressurise Worcester into mistakes with a strong kick chase from AAC, Savea and Montero.

Set Piece & Pack
Strong physical pack, which we have strengthened for the conditions, with giving Brits a starting spot for his lineout work and bringing in Paterson and Cummings (fresh off scoring twice at the weekend for Glasgow) offering safer options in the light rain. Off the scrum we will launch Vunipola into the Worcester midfield and look to get ourselves on the front foot. Looks like a very even pack battle, but will aim to edge the back row battle.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Worcester defence to suck in players and create space out wide for our strike runners to exploit. This is an area we feel we can get a big advantage on and set our game plan around getting our backline on the front foot by winning the collisions and physical battle with our big ball carriers.

Breakdown/Backrow
See attributes, we will look to get an advantage over Worcester in this area, with a very experienced trio and then the impact of Isa.

Attack
- Send big runner after big runner into the Worcester defence to wear them down in the first 50-60 minutes, tiring down their defence and then looking to exploit in the final 20 minutes with our impact bench.
- Look for Pocock to win the turnover battle and secure quick ball for our backs to exploit
- Sopoaga controlling the midfield, bringing in our strike runners, Fofana, Montero, Savea, AAC and Foden.
- Simpson and Sopoaga to test the Worcester back three - all our backline has been picked for its kick chase ability and physicality and will look to make the most of this.

Kicking
- Kick more than usual, looking to unsettle the Worcester back three with aerial bombardment and strong kick chase
- Sopoaga to keep the scoreboard ticking over

Defence
Blitz defence, we want to get at the Worcestor halfbacks put them under pressure, with a strong defensive midfield to stop the threat of their danger man at no12. Simpson sweeping behind defence.

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Aaron Smith
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nepo Laulala
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Josh Beaumont	12. Damian De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. George Moala
07. Liam Gill	14. Juan Imhoff
08. Liam Squire	15. Alex Goode

16. Steven Kitchoff 17. Leni Asipai 18. Scott Wilson 19. Will Skelton 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill 23. Jesse Kriel

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

Scrum: Use the set piece to get quick ball to restart our play. We will look to get more power from our back five. Squire will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Beaumont, Squire and Kitchener options in the lineout. Beaumont 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. Kitch will offer 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. Really work Bristol hard here and look to tire them out as a pack

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

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Smith will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Barrett 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 De Allende and Moala who we would like to get running at defenders.  Try and get them in the Gopperth channel. Wade and Goode 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, Kitch and Squire in order to break the line and make yards. Throughout them team look to Keep the ball alive and look for offloads. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Exploit the holes we create and look to tire out Bristol which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

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

Substitutes: Keep a high tempo off the bench.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Paul Hill
04. Ed Slater	11. Teddy Thomas
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. Theirry Dusatoir	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Dave Denton	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Alex Waller 18. Ben Franks 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Underhill 21. Lee Dickson 22. Ollie Devoto 23. Pat Lambie

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

KICK IN BEHIND SALE WINGERS WITH STRONG KICK CHASE FORCING THEM TO KICK - Excellent kicking options in the halfbacks. Look to get the ball in behind the Sale wingers and force them to kick from deep.  

PRESSURE FOLEY - Target Foley early on with Dus and Thompson and look to put pressure on his kicking game. If it comes down to 3 pointers we have a step up in quality.

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.

 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Will Chudley
02. Camille Chat	10. Ian Madigan
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Elliot Dixon	13. Sam James
07. Pablo Matera	14. Ben Smith
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.Ricky Riccitelli 17.Nic Auterac 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Callum Clark 21. Dave Lewis 22. Gareth Anscombe 23. Luke Marshall

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

Big back row to carry hard and knock their big runners back - scrag Laidlaw at every opportunity to force Lozowski to take on more responsibility with little help outside him

Bombard Ashton's wing with kicks and Piutau chasing - vary the kicks, grubbers and bombs to really test his willingness to take us on physically

James to offer a second option outside Madigan to clear the ball and as a second playmaker in their 22 - Serfontein the power runner to get us on the front foot, target the 10 channel

Back 3 all excellent in the air - counter if its on but secure possession first


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,  

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

Fotuali'i banned :/ so I'm bringing Cubelli as a direct replacement, is that ok, CJB?

Note for Bam - Louw is also banned

Gloucester 
Caretaker Manager - Fluxy

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. TJ Perenara
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Israel Dagg
05. Tomas Lavanini	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Tom Croft	13. Tevita Kurindrani
07. Ardie Savea	14. Charlie Walker
08. Willem Alberts	15. Israel Folau

.
Replacements: 16. Titi Lamisotele, 17. Joe Gray, 18. Coenie Ousthuizen, 19. Elliott Stooke, 20. Yacouba Camara, 21. Dan Robson, 22. Dan Carter, 23. Will Addison

ChequeredJersey wrote:Note for Bam - Louw is also banned

Thanks CJ 

Nick, am swapping him out as didn't realise, hope thats ok

yeh no issue mate

CJ, Charteris In Wales team.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Luca Noguera Paz	09. Rory Kockott
02. Codie Taylor	10. Owen Williams(k)
03. Henry Thomas
04. Mike Williams	11. Sergeal Petersen
05. Leone Nakawara	12. Anton Leniert-Brown
06. Jackson Wray	13. Jarrad Payne
07. Matt Todd	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan (c)	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Ross Batty 17. Val Ruskin 18. WP Nel 19. Tom Savage 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jules Plisson 23. NMS
Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle
*We have gone with a different centre pairing of ALB-Payne to tackle the Saints centre pairings with Payne's ability to hit hard at the tackle.
*We have a big carrying, hard working pack in wet conditions to stop Saints in their tracks and put a lot of pressure on Simpson to prevent the quick ball.

-We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Saints danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Williams will look for territory,
-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,
-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 Saints 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 Payne allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Saints playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off ALB and Payne, we will use Petersen 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  'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
-We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep them 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.

Just in need of a Wasps and a Sale side

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Faf De Klerk
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Bernard Foley
03. Martin Moore
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Reece Hodge
06. Sean McMahon	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Matt Garvey 20. Matt Kvesic 21. James Mitchell 22. Quade Cooper 23. Willie Le Roux
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.  

Back Field: As is always our tactic when Foley starts, Foley to defend the backfield with Bendy offering a good clearance game.


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. De Klerk 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.

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. De Klerk will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Foley & 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 Retalick 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.

prop_lyd wrote:CJ, Charteris In Wales team.

Swapping him out, Gilchrist comes in

Fluxy, haven't seen England or France team - assuming that Mako will be in match day 23 so will swap him with Mulipola and if Jedrasiak is in French team will use Fifitia - think it is clear in my squad though mate.

Not sure how I feel about that Chris *cough* cheat *cough* !!!!!!!! I'll let you make the changes for a 40 point head start

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Sebastien Tillous Borde
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Bryan Habana
05. Andrew Kitchener	12. Brad Barritt
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Henry Slade
07. Fulgence Quedraogo	14. Marland Yarde
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Tim Nani-Williams

_
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Dave Wilson, 18. Fraiser Bailmen, 19. Dom Barrow, 20. Will Owen, 21. Mitchell Drummound, 22. Nick Evans, 23. Luther Burrell

---

Tactics
Attack:
- Good mobility in the back row to get round the park
- 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:
- Nullify the midfield threat, looking for big hit opportunities and wrap tackles to prevent the offloads
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence
Breakdown:
- Be disciplined at the breakdown and do not give away penalties in our half
- If ruck is lost, don't compete and fan out in D
Bench:
- Good quality on the bench with a number of options.

Pull, Watson is in the England 23 for Italy.

Good spot - Swear I put Yarde in, must not have copied across correctly. Cheers.

Pull, ignore that, strangely Watson hasn't been included!

Bristol Rugby 19 - 19 Bath Rugby
Bristol have a good side out and are set out very well tactically. The players who make the difference here are the 9 and 10 for Bath. They are the best in the world in there positions by a distance currently and will make a huge impact on this game. Bath would take away the win had they a full 23 men as up front I see the battles to be very even. Conditions spoil what would have been a great spectacle in the dry.

Bristol Rugby 18 - 17 Bath Rugby
Bath unlucky to lose a prop from the match day 23, most other areas you can get away with it but has a big bearing on the game. Bristol edge the back row battle and Gopperth still in excellent shape and doesnt miss kicks. Not sure Smith/Barrett will get enough clean, quick ball to have the biggest influence on a game. 

Bristol Rugby 25 - 25 Bath Rugby
Good face off in the front row with no real winner. Bath lose a lot of bulk without Skelton and this gives Bristol the chance to get on top around the ruck areas. Bath lacking a real carrying option in the pack which will make them easy to defend against. Bath backline is a real step up in quality in pretty much every psotion but they'll have limited ball with that platform. Kitschoff a fit LH so can see out the game and no real top quality TH to come on and get him for Bristol. 

Bristol Rugby 26 - 25 Bath Rugby

Bristol Rugby 24 - 22 Bath Rugby
Other than Kitschoff, the Bath pack just looks a bit underpowered, and up against a solid Bristol pack on the road in these conditions its tough to see them getting much of a foothold. Bath stronger in the backs, especially halfback, but I'm not convinced they'll get enough ball up front to be able to sneak the win, Bristol hold on

Bristol Rugby 22 - 21 Bath Rugby

Bristol Rugby 23 - 22 Bath Rugby

Exeter Chiefs 24 - 22 Newcastle Falcons
There is a very physical edge to the Exeter pack which I really like in the slippery conditions and expect them to match a strong Newcastle back 5 of the pack. At half back their is a real advantage to Exeter with Newcastle edging the outside backs who won't have as much of an impact as they might usually. Laidlaw's boot will see Exeter sneak a good win.

Exeter Chiefs 22 - 21 Newcastle Falcons
Huge game, Chiefs have some excellent carriers in their pack for the conditions, but see an edge at the setpiece and scrum time and centres who are just going to smash it up the middle for the full 80 minutes. Falcons good move to target Ashton on the wing with kicks, but he's pretty decent under the highball. Home advantage and slight edge in the front row sway it. 

Exeter Chiefs 27 - 24 Newcastle Falcons
Really like the Exeter front row and I can see them getting on top against a decent Falcons unit. Two good engine rooms, although perhaps some form issues for Jager and Douglas, making it quite even. A lot of power in the backrows but Falcons to get back with again some form issues in the Exeter trio. Barring the Falcons wings, Exeter backs look stronger and they'll have enough to win at home. 

Exeter Chiefs 18 - 19 Newcastle Falcons
Tight battle in the front row, and both give a huge amount around the park. Falcons edge the lineout, and a better workrate and balance in the backrpw, probably edge the breakdown too. Exeter HB combo in current form looks very strong and a touch up in terms of control, Falcons wingers hugely high quality and will cause problems coming into the backline. Both sides have simple tactics, Exeter just edge the subs benches but Falcons have just enough advantage in the pack to win.

Exeter Chiefs 22 - 27 Newcastle Falcons 
Newcastle look stronger in the front five. Newcastle also better in the back row. One each in the half backs but advantage to Exeter. Pretty much even outside of that but Newcastle have too much in the forwards. 

Exeter Chiefs 24 - 25 Newcastle Falcons

Exeter Chiefs 25 - 25 Newcastle Falcons

Harlequins 23 - 23 Leicester Tigers
I don't think Quins have the power runners in the backline to threaten the Tigers defence there, pace and speed definitely but that is a very solid defensive line for the away side. Tigers are going to get at the Quins front row, but Quins should dominate the kicking contest and lineout. Tough game to call, weather conditions see more scrums, gives Tigers the chance to get some penalties. 

Harlequins 24 - 23 Leicester Tigers
Can see Quins struggling in the front row with a lack of form and quality against a very good Tigers trio. Quins claw this back in the back 5 with some real quality and they will be extremely tough for Tigers to contain around the park. Quins lacking quality at 10 which gives Tigers a chance to dictate play although they have options in the centres to get back and some good back 3 players. Extremely tight one this, home advantage just sees Quins through although front row and 10 are areas for improvement if they want that title. 

Harlequins 20 - 19 Leicester Tigers
Tigers edge the scrum, and have a strong backrow which might get ahead with a lock at 6 for Quins. Top quality locks for Quins and they also win the lineout, and the breakdown is a weird one, but Leicester give a clearer plan here and have the edge. Love the control (vital in light rain) and danger at 9 with attacking 10s for both sides, can't separate them, but there's more playmaking and danger outside that for Quins. It's very close but at home Quins win

Harlequins 23 - 19 Leicester Tigers 
Slight edge to Tigers in the front five. Prefer the Quins back row. Quins have the edge in both half back spots. They also have the stronger outside backs and at home should get the win. 

Harlequins 24 - 23 Leicester Tigers

Harlequins 22 - 20 Leicester Tigers
Leicester love the rain and will really make it tough for Quins to use their backs. Quins have the solid pack to be able to play a tighter game though, and are set up to do so. Kruis makes a big difference with his tight game and lineout prowess, and can see them dominating there with 4 very good jumpers. Quins take this at home in a tight one

Harlequins 24 - 23 Leicester Tigers

Northampton Saints 25 - 22 Worcester Warriors
There is a little bit more for Saints across the board here which adds up on the scoreboard. They have more up front and a good back line which is well balanced. Worcester do have a strong side which can worry Saints but don't think they run them close enough away from home.

Northampton Saints 20 - 16 Worcester Warriors
Big battle is Herrera vs Paz, excellent contest, but with Crockett>Taylor Saints win teh scrum. Weaker than usual second row for Saints lets Wuss get ahead there, especially with some great carrying. 2 strong backrows but hard to beat Saints there. Great balance through both backllines, but in the rain I'd just take the Worcester halfbacks. Tactics all appropriate. Close contest, Saints are home and edge the pack though

Northampton Saints 27 - 18 Worcester Warriors
Hardly anything in the front fives, perhaps edge to Worcester. The back row of Northampton is stronger. Both half backs go to Northampton and they have the outside backs to cause damage. 

Northampton Saints 27 - 26 Worcester Warriors

Northampton Saints 26 - 23 Worcester Warriors
Another game where the conditions play a big part. Worcester stronger in the front 5, but after that the Saints side looks more dangerous throughout. Saints have their tactics right with the lineout and tactical kicking coming to the fore, and at home I think they take this

Northampton Saints 24 - 23 Worcester Warriors

Saracens 23 - 22 Sale Sharks
Two very strong sides and a game which I feel is ultimately decided by the conditions which help Saracens and there game plan. Up front, there isn't a lot between the sides with both sides solid at set piece with a good selection of carriers. Think the half backs favour Saracens who offer more control in my eyes which is significant. Important win for Saracens in the top 4 chase. 

Saracens 19 - 24 Sale Sharks
Sale are on top in the pack, with an even second row battle but Sale taking the front row and just the backrow. Light rain could fit either team's approach and HBs, but think Saracens play it safer. Sale power will force defensive errors outwide and they are one of few teams to hve the centres to best Saracens, and that helps secure a decent win

Saracens 20 - 26 Sale Sharks
Sale have the strongest front five here. I love the back row combination from Sale as well. One each in the half backs and hard to separate the combinations. 

Saracens 25 - 25 Sale Sharks

Saracens 25 - 25 Sale Sharks
Game of the week. Sale stronger in the front row, Saracens have a better lock pairing. Great battle in the back row but Sale look the stronger to me with 3 very good international operators, Saracens a level below. Saracens edge the half backs, but Sale stronger in the outside backs and bench impact. Really difficult to call, I'll sit on the fence 

Saracens 25 - 26 Sale Sharks

Saracens 25 - 25 Sale Sharks

Wasps 21 - 21 Gloucester Rugby
A tough game to call with 1 an short hurting Wasps but outside backs is the best place to be a man short. Gloucester's physicality is important in letting them get a foothold in the game away from home. Two well matched sides who I can't separate.

Wasps 20 - 18 Gloucester Rugby
Managerless Gloucester start off with a hard game at Wasps. The home side set up very well defesnively and should cope with the Gloucester attack, especially with an out of sorts Cipriani at no10. Kitchener a glaring weakness in second row, would def start Barrow there. Lack of tactics even out loss of a player.

Wasps 26 - 24 Gloucester Rugby
Front rows are evened up with BDP's lack of form and LCD's lack of throwing, little in the props. I prefer the Gloucester engine room but they are struggling at 6/8 for form and this allows Wasps back into the game. Wasps with the better halfbacks and it's quite tight in the backs with Wasps just enough for the win. 

Wasps 20 - 19 Gloucester Rugby
No tactics so based on teams only - Pull's side better in the front row, but Gloucester edge the second row and lineout. Wasps better backrow balance. Great HBs for Gloucester but still dangerous for Wasps duo, and I think in the wet I just prefer the solidity of Wasps backs

Wasps 16 - 19 Gloucester Rugby
Probably a slight front five edge to Gloucester. A similarly slight edge in the back row. One each in the half backs. Not much in the outside backs but the extra man on the bench seals it for Gloucester

Wasps 28 - 27 Gloucester Rugby

Wasps 26 - 21 Gloucester Rugby
Really difficult to give the Gloucester side anything without tactics, obviously understandable in the circumstances. Wasps too good a side to be beaten on the road with no direction

Wasps 20 - 20 Gloucester Rugby

Wasps 22 - 21 Gloucester Rugby

Edged that, think the weather helped me a lot, CJB, good game