Aviva Premiership - Round 22

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Bristol Rugby vs Newcastle Falcons
Ashton Gate Stadium
Thick Cloud - 14 degrees, 15mph North Easterly Winds

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Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Kahn Fotuali'i (vc)
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Donnacha Ryan (vc)	11. Dane Haylett-Petty
05. Luke Charteris	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Chris Robshaw (vc)	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Freddie Burns

:-
16. Will Collier 17. Julien Montoya 18. Loni Uhila 19.  Sam Carter 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Jonathan Danty 23. Chris Pennell

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:

Breakdown - team approach using the twin fetchers at flank (Robshaw focusing where possible on spoiling and JVDF on stealing) and an approach in units dynamically hitting attacking ball to keep it quick.

Attacking- Recurrent phase attack, using heavy carrying and mauling and pick and drives to keep slow ball safe until we can build it into fast ball, then spinning wide quickly through our multiple playmakers, happy to play off 9, 10, 12 or the fullback joining the line, and testing the defense out wide. Then using our breakdown strength to quickly recycle and test their wingers with a second phase attack - using the many playmakers to always have someone to orchestrate the next attack, and willing to change the direction at any time.

Happy to start a phase off any of 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, or 15.

We are happy to pile big players down the blindside when Solomona is the winger defending there - he is still new to Union defence despite his attacking strike rate.

With more kicking depth than Newcastle, we are very happy to fall back onto our kicking game if we need to, and we are happy to keep the ball in the pack as a plan B.

Defence- Blitz led by Taylor, 9 sweeping, with tight fringes and pressure on Farrell especially - he is the lone playmaking player for Newcastle so they will falter if we get a strangehold on him, and he has shown for England (with Ford) and Saracens (Lozowski or Goode) that he works best with a second playmaker. 

DHP helps Burns at the back in field defence where possible

Scrum- Kilcoyne picked to balance out Koch and Kepu looking to attack Mullan physically, looking as usual to get our own ball out quickly and run it off Vito. 

Lineout- We have picked Charteris to help take apart the Newcastle lineout by using his fantastic air defence at the front and to dismantle their mauls. With Vito and Ryan and Robshaw as well we can mix up our own throws and we will be happy to mix up taps off the top and mauls and occasional short lineouts to get our big carriers in the backline to get early momentum.

Other- Falcons love to counter and have a back 3 who are strong on the air and running the ball back, so we will be careful, able to pass teh ball between our kicking options, to ensure we kick into space with a hard chase and never give the ball straight back to them

Push for penalties in their half, but with Farrell kicking be cautious in our own 22 alla Jake White's Brumbies.

Subs - we have the solid scrummaging of Collier, carrying and energy of Uhila and the power of Montoya on the bench, as well as the ability to increase our physicality via Fearns and workrate through Carter, an in-form 9 who can kick and snipe in Spencer, power in the midfield through Danty and Pennell's experience and solidity to firm up the back 3. Taylor covers wing.
 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 Willaims
06. Pablo Matera	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Francois Louw	14. Denny Solomona
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16. Camille Chat 17. Alec Hepburn 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Matt Symons 20. Elliott Dixon 21. Will Chudley 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Sam James

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

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Gloucester Rugby vs Exeter Chiefs
Kingsholm Stadium
Light Cloud - 14 degrees, 15mph North Easterly Winds

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Gloucester 
Manager - SamtheQuin

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Dan Carter
03. Uini Atonio
04. Eben Etzebeth (c)	11. Johnny May
05. Richie Gray	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Israel Folau
07. Luke Wallace	14. Israel Dagg
08. Facunda Isa	15. Jason Woodward

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Replacements: 16. Adriann Strauss 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Elliot Stooke 20. Tom Croft, 21. TJ Penerara 22. Billy Burns 23. Tevita Kurindrani

Defence

• Drift Defence: Your side is known for the drift and maintaining the line 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. 
  
  Attack
  
• Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
  
• 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.
  

- High tempo game with bags of fitness/pace in the back and backs, look to run the legs off the oppsotion and use this to our advantage- Set the tone in the set-piece with a strong foundation. Look to attack the opposition scrum and lineout and exploit weaknesses as seen.- Strong defensive to shut out any space for opposition on the drift defence. Look to squeeze space rather than rushing, make the opposition break us down. Moriarty, Isa, Gray and Etzebeth to give us real bite in the tackle. With Wallace adding his breakdown skills to the mix. - Look to bring our exciting backs into the game at any point. Strong kicking from the halfbacks gives us the option to keep the opp defence on their toes and we'll look to use this to our advantage with Carter pulling the strings. - We have picked some strong running backs, like Folau and Dagg, whilst Woodward brings a lot of control from 15. - Plenty of impact from the bench to carry on with the high tempo game

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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. James Lowe
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Liam Messam	13. Damian Penaud
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Alex Lozowski

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Subs: 16. Tom Youngs, 17. Nathan Catt, 18. Ben Tameifuna, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Teimana Harrison, 21. Nic White, 22. Maxime Mermoz, 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.

- With Glos effectively relegated, they have nothing to play for. We are fighting for top 6 and players will be motivated to achieve this after being in 6th for so long this season.
- Glos have 2 new players in the backrow and two in the backs. They also have 2 new signings on the bench. We will look to exploit these new combinations.

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 Lopez . Lozowski is in at 15 for his boot and counter attacking ability. He will also come in as a receiver at times, a la Alex Goode for Sarries.

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 Glos defenders. Messam, Coles, Sinckler, Coetzee, Parisse 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 Penaud, Lowe and Ashton 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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Northampton Saints vs Harlequins
Franklin Gardens
Light Cloud - 13 degrees, 15mph North Easterly Winds
Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Conor Murray
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Lima Sopoaga(k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury(c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Rieko Ioane
07. David Pocock	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Elliott Daly

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Replacements
16. Rob Evans 17. Jake Cooper-Wooley 18. Vaea Fifita 19. Schalk Burger 20. Ardie Savea 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 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
- We will look to play the game with a real physical intensity and have picked some big ball carriers to get us over the gainline and create opportunities for our strike runners in the backs. Have picked a strong impact bench and feel this is where we can win the game.

- Kept our pack fresh, with a rotation policy over the last month, recalling Hartley and Gray into the starting line up.

- Have recalled Adam Ashley-Cooper to marshall Joseph in the Quins midfield and picked Sopoaga to start the game if the tactic is for Quins to send Henshaw down the 10/12 channel.

- Initially we want our half backs to offer control and build up a good attacking structure into our game, looking to control the territory and kicking battle, before we bring on Simpson and Ford to up the tempo and really take the attack to the away side.

Set Piece and Pack Battle
We know that Quins will look to dominate the lineout with Kruis and Chouly so have recalled Hartley for his throwing/set piece accuracy. We will look to keep our setpiece simple, secure the ball and either set up a maul and build some momentum, or get Billy Vunipola standing off the shoulder of our no10 to run at Jantjies and get some quick front foot ball from that. Expecting a very even scrum battle, but will again rely on BV to get us some go forward from the base.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
We've got a pack full of big ball carriers where we will look to win the gain line battle and create space so we can play an expansive game to really test the Quins defence. We want to get the ball into the hands of both Vunipolas and Ashley Johnson early on and get the Quins defence battling to stop them. With AJ as our replacement hooker it means we can call on new signing Savea and Schalk Burger from the bench, to really up the physical battle in the second half.

Breakdown
Per tactics above.

Attack/Points
- Send big runners at the Quins no10, look to target him with Billy Vunipola and AJ, whilst having Savea run at him off our halfbacks.

- Daly picked at no15 to offer a threat behind Fofana and Rieko Ioane that bypasses the Quins midfield, will have Daly picking his lines and roaming to offer an attacking threat.

- Big impact bench in the final third, with Simpson and Ford both there to up the tempo, and bring in Ford's passing game to test Quins defence late in the second half.  

Defence
- Aggressive blitz defence with Murray sweeping behind.
- Adam Ashley-Cooper and Rieko Ioane to swap positions in defence, with AAC to marshall JJ out of the game.

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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. Damien Chouly	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Mamuka Gorgodza	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

16. Rob Webber 17. Richard Barrington 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Luke Romano 20. Jack Clifford 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Santiago Cordero

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

• Look to use our pack to carry hard to get us over the gain line carrying off 9 and 10. Look to carry in numbers for quick recycling of the ball or to offload.
  

• Youngs to look to snipe and feed oncoming runners with Jantjies standing flat and looking to put others into holes
  

• McKenzie and wingers available as out the back options for when we want to spread the ball wider. When we have quick ball and the Saints defence is disorganised we will look to spread the ball wide into Henshaw, JJ, and the back three's hands.
  

• Look to kick behind Saints in our half, specifically looking to kick to touch to allow us to exert pressure at the lineout
  

• Look to use the set piece as a weapon. Chouly, Kruis and Du Toit are three world class line out options and we will look to put Saints under huge pressure here. Look for Furlong to target Mako at the scrum.
  

• A dynamite back line who love to run the ball. We have threats all over the pitch with ball in hand and feel we have that extra bit of magic in our side to make the difference in a tight game like this
  

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Sale Sharks vs Bath Rugby
AJ Bell Stadium
Light Cloud - 14 degrees, 13mph North Easterly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Danny Care
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Bernard Foley
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Simon Zebo
05. Christian Day	12. Reece Hodge
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Jordie Barrett

Subs:
16. Tommy Taylor 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Iain Henderson 20. Matt Garvey 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Curwin Bosch 23. Nick Abendanon

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

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

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

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. Barrett & Foley 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 POM to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball while Retalick marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

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

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16. Ellis Genge 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Will Skelton 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill 23. George Moala

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Wasps vs Saracens
Ricoh Arena
Thick Cloud - 12 degrees, 15mph North Easterly Winds
Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Joe Marler	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Bismarck Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Wilco Louw
04. Scott Barrett	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun-Wyn Jones	12. Henry Slade
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Tom Wood	14. Anthony Watson
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Tim Nanai-Williams

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16. Harry Thacker, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Dave Wilson, 19. Sebastian Vahaamahina, 20. Sean O'Brien, 21. Sebastian Tillous Borde, 22. Luther Burrell, 23. Marland Yarde

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Tactics
Attack:
- Mix up our lines of attack, sometimes with two lines with forwards as options
- Likes of Kaino, Du Plessis to offer extra pair of hands in the backline when required
- 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:
- Quick line speed, getting up to the 10 and putting pressure on.
- Only step out of the line for big hit opportunities.
Breakdown:
- Be disciplined at the breakdown and do not give away penalties in our half
- Compete for the turnover if it's on, even if it's only to slow down the ball
- If ruck is lost, don't compete and fan out in defence
Territory:
- Use box kicks from 9 and nudges from 10 out of hand to pin them back.
- Play rugby in their half and make them attack from deep
- Full back to marshall the back 3 and make sure our positioning is spot on for kick returns

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Baptise Serin
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Patrick Tuipultou	11. George North
05. Ed Slater	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. James Haskell	13. Sonny Bill Williams
07. John Hardie	14. Teddy Thomas
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

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16. Richard Hibbard 17. Simon McIntyre 18. Paul Hill 19. Marcos Kremer 20. Sam Underhill 21. Morgan Parra 22. Pat Lambie 23. Conrad Smith

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

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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Worcester Warriors vs Leicester Tigers
Sixways Stadium
Thick Cloud - 13 degrees, 14mph North Easterly Winds

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Joe Moody	09. Gareth Davies
02. Codie Taylor	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. Henry Thomas
04. Tom Savage	11. Waisaki Naholo
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Anton Leinert-Brown
06. Sam Warburton (c)	13. Jarrad Payne
07. Matt Todd	14. James Short
08. Ben Morgan	15. David Havilli

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Subs: 16. Ross Batty 17. Luca Paz 18. WP Nel 19. Leone Nakarawa 20. Jackson Wray 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Mathew Tait

Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle
*We are riding high at the moment making the cup final and everyone will be fighting to put in a good performance, one win will secure our safety and we will look at targetting today for it.
*Rotation is everything coming into this stage of the season and we have selected some fresh legs with players able to play longer and being managed with their game time.
*We see our back row as the main impact with the balance and ability to slow their ball whilst keeping the route to our 9 clear.
*We have a big carrying, hard working pack to stop them in their tracks and put a lot of pressure on 9 to prevent the quick ball.
*Bench-we have huge impact on our bench able and will use Paz, Nakawara, Wray and Tait to cause all sorts of trouble in the last 20 minutes minimum.

-We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Biggar 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/Warburton 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 they 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 them playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off ALB and Payne, we will use the back three as strike runners 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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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Jack Maunder
02. Stephen Moore	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Harry Williams
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Jake Ball	12. Gael Fickou
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Matheiu Basteraud
07. Sam Jones	14. Sean Maitland
08. Fritz Lee	15. Joey Carbery (k)

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Subs: 16. Dave Ward 17. Mikheil Nariashvili 18. Owen Franks 19. Dominic Bird 20. Calum Chick 21. Antoine Dupont 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Ben Te'o

Basic Game Plan
In good conditions we will be looking to play a possession based, fast offloading game, keeping the ball alive moving the Worcester pack around. When deep in our half we won't take chances with offloading, but will make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly, or using the boots of Trinh-Duc, Fickou and Carbery to take us up the field. Our general play however this week will be about keeping the ball alive and moving the point of attack. 

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence. Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us. Maunder will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics

• Lineout - In decent conditions we will mix it up on our ball, utilising Ball, Armand and Jones as receivers, whilst also at times shortening the line and using our big forwards as crash ball options off first phase. Defensively we will look to compete for the ball and disrupt wherever possible, making any ball secured by Worcester as scrappy as we can.
  
  
• Scrum - Hit channel one ball and get it to the back quickly, looking to maximise the space available with the opposition forwards packed down. On their ball, 8 man shove and look to drive them off as their hooker lifts his foot to hook the ball. Franks to stay tight and straight. Flanker on that side to stay bound and keep Williams square.
  
  
• Breakdown - When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly, so that Maunder 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. Maunder to also look to snipe around the fringes, to keep the defence honest and keep us going forwards all the time. Maunder to also feed runners down the Warriors ten channel.
  
  

• Tactical Kicking - If we kick, we will look to kick for the corners and contest the opposition lineout. If our kicks can go in behind the wingers, we will aim for that, with the aim of the ball bouncing into touch, or having to force new back three unit to chase and concede a line out by being tackled into touch. 
  

Key Points

• High Quality Spine - In the key decision making jerseys, 2,8,10,12, and 15 we have top class operators. In big games, when things get tight, those guys can be the difference between winning and losing.
  
  
• Impact Bench - 6 full internationals. All can have a huge impact on this game.
  
  
• Momentum - We defeated the league leaders last weekend, reached our first European final in a few seasons, and also drew with Falcons, another top four side. This confidence and vein of form will help us get the result we want to secure Champions Cup rugby next season. 
  
  
• Psychological Advantage - We defeated Worcester earlier in the season, and were seeded ahead of the Warriors in the Challenge Cup. Their eyes and minds may already be focussed on the final next weekend, whereas we are focussed on this job at hand first.
  

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
  

Gloucester 
Manager - SamtheQuin

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Dan Carter
03. Uini Atonio
04. Eben Etzebeth (c)	11. Johnny May
05. Richie Gray	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Israel Folau
07. Luke Wallace	14. Israel Dagg
08. Facunda Isa	15. Jason Woodward

.
Replacements: 16. Adriann Strauss 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Elliot Stooke 20. Tom Croft, 21. TJ Penerara 22. Billy Burns 23. Tevita Kurindrani

Defence

• Drift Defence: Your side is known for the drift and maintaining the line 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. 
  
  Attack
  
• Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
  
• 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.
  

- High tempo game with bags of fitness/pace in the back and backs, look to run the legs off the oppsotion and use this to our advantage

- Set the tone in the set-piece with a strong foundation. Look to attack the opposition scrum and lineout and exploit weaknesses as seen.

- Strong defensive to shut out any space for opposition on the drift defence. Look to squeeze space rather than rushing, make the opposition break us down. Moriarty, Isa, Gray and Etzebeth to give us real bite in the tackle. With Wallace adding his breakdown skills to the mix.

- Look to bring our exciting backs into the game at any point. Strong kicking from the halfbacks gives us the option to keep the opp defence on their toes and we'll look to use this to our advantage with Carter pulling the strings.

- We have picked some strong running backs, like Folau and Dagg, whilst Woodward brings a lot of control from 15.

- Plenty of impact from the bench to carry on with the high tempo game

Can someone let me know whether that team is in the rules please? I think I have the English players ok with a total of 8, but if someone could give me the thumbs up.

You're all good mate

Thanks Flux. Hopefully a few more transfers before the end of the week too.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Camille Lopez
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. James Lowe
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Liam Messam	13. Damian Penaud
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Alex Lozowski

.
Subs: 16. Tom Youngs, 17. Nathan Catt, 18. Ben Tameifuna, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Teimana Harrison, 21. Nic White, 22. Maxime Mermoz, 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.

- With Glos effectively relegated, they have nothing to play for. We are fighting for top 6 and players will be motivated to achieve this after being in 6th for so long this season.
- Glos have 2 new players in the backrow and two in the backs. They also have 2 new signings on the bench. We will look to exploit these new combinations.

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 Lopez . Lozowski is in at 15 for his boot and counter attacking ability. He will also come in as a receiver at times, a la Alex Goode for Sarries.

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 Glos defenders. Messam, Coles, Sinckler, Coetzee, Parisse 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 Penaud, Lowe and Ashton to exploit. Laidlaw will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Conor Murray
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Lima Sopoaga(k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury(c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Rieko Ioane
07. David Pocock	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Elliott Daly

.
Replacements
16. Rob Evans 17. Jake Cooper-Wooley 18. Vaea Fifita 19. Schalk Burger 20. Ardie Savea 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 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
- We will look to play the game with a real physical intensity and have picked some big ball carriers to get us over the gainline and create opportunities for our strike runners in the backs. Have picked a strong impact bench and feel this is where we can win the game.

- Kept our pack fresh, with a rotation policy over the last month, recalling Hartley and Gray into the starting line up.

- Have recalled Adam Ashley-Cooper to marshall Joseph in the Quins midfield and picked Sopoaga to start the game if the tactic is for Quins to send Henshaw down the 10/12 channel.

- Initially we want our half backs to offer control and build up a good attacking structure into our game, looking to control the territory and kicking battle, before we bring on Simpson and Ford to up the tempo and really take the attack to the away side.

Set Piece and Pack Battle
We know that Quins will look to dominate the lineout with Kruis and Chouly so have recalled Hartley for his throwing/set piece accuracy. We will look to keep our setpiece simple, secure the ball and either set up a maul and build some momentum, or get Billy Vunipola standing off the shoulder of our no10 to run at Jantjies and get some quick front foot ball from that. Expecting a very even scrum battle, but will again rely on BV to get us some go forward from the base.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
We've got a pack full of big ball carriers where we will look to win the gain line battle and create space so we can play an expansive game to really test the Quins defence. We want to get the ball into the hands of both Vunipolas and Ashley Johnson early on and get the Quins defence battling to stop them. With AJ as our replacement hooker it means we can call on new signing Savea and Schalk Burger from the bench, to really up the physical battle in the second half.

Breakdown
Per tactics above.

Attack/Points
- Send big runners at the Quins no10, look to target him with Billy Vunipola and AJ, whilst having Savea run at him off our halfbacks.

- Daly picked at no15 to offer a threat behind Fofana and Rieko Ioane that bypasses the Quins midfield, will have Daly picking his lines and roaming to offer an attacking threat.

- Big impact bench in the final third, with Simpson and Ford both there to up the tempo, and bring in Ford's passing game to test Quins defence late in the second half.

Defence
- Aggressive blitz defence with Murray sweeping behind.
- Adam Ashley-Cooper and Rieko Ioane to swap positions in defence, with AAC to marshall JJ out of the game.

Chris you have Isa in your starting lineup, can't have him now I'm afraid!

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. Damien Chouly	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Mamuka Gorgodza	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

16. Rob Webber 17. Richard Barrington 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Luke Romano 20. Jack Clifford 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Santiago Cordero

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

• Look to use our pack to carry hard to get us over the gain line carrying off 9 and 10. Look to carry in numbers for quick recycling of the ball or to offload.

• Youngs to look to snipe and feed oncoming runners with Jantjies standing flat and looking to put others into holes

• McKenzie and wingers available as out the back options for when we want to spread the ball wider. When we have quick ball and the Saints defence is disorganised we will look to spread the ball wide into Henshaw, JJ, and the back three's hands.

• Look to kick behind Saints in our half, specifically looking to kick to touch to allow us to exert pressure at the lineout

• Look to use the set piece as a weapon. Chouly, Kruis and Du Toit are three world class line out options and we will look to put Saints under huge pressure here. Look for Furlong to target Mako at the scrum.

• A dynamite back line who love to run the ball. We have threats all over the pitch with ball in hand and feel we have that extra bit of magic in our side to make the difference in a tight game like this

Cheers Sam, copied and pasted this but team has changed in a Fluxy edit.

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Dylan Hartley
3. Ramiro Fagerson
4. Joe Launchbury
5. Jonny Gray
6. Ashley Johnson
7. David Pocock
8. Billy Vunipola
9. Conor Murray
10. Lima Sopoaga
11. Julian Savea
12. Wesley Fofana
13. Rieko Ioane
14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
15. Elliot Daly

And it should be Ramiro Herrera at no3, instead of Ramiro Fagerson! Flux, I will make the changes when I do tactics if ok, thanks for putting it into the nice looking table too.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Joe Moody	09. Gareth Davies
02. Codie Taylor	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. Henry Thomas
04. Tom Savage	11. Waisaki Naholo
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Anton Leinert-Brown
06. Sam Warburton (c)	13. Jarrad Payne
07. Matt Todd	14. James Short
08. Ben Morgan	15. David Havilli

.
Subs: 16. Ross Batty 17. Luca Paz 18. WP Nel 19. Leone Nakarawa 20. Jackson Wray 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Mathew Tait

Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle
*We are riding high at the moment making the cup final and everyone will be fighting to put in a good performance, one win will secure our safety and we will look at targetting today for it.
*Rotation is everything coming into this stage of the season and we have selected some fresh legs with players able to play longer and being managed with their game time.
*We see our back row as the main impact with the balance and ability to slow their ball whilst keeping the route to our 9 clear.
*We have a big carrying, hard working pack to stop them in their tracks and put a lot of pressure on 9 to prevent the quick ball.
*Bench-we have huge impact on our bench able and will use Paz, Nakawara, Wray and Tait to cause all sorts of trouble in the last 20 minutes minimum.

-We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Biggar 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/Warburton 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 they 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 them playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off ALB and Payne, we will use the back three as strike runners 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.

Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Kahn Fotuali'i (vc)
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Donnacha Ryan (vc)	11. Dane Haylett-Petty
05. Luke Charteris	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Chris Robshaw (vc)	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Freddie Burns

:-
16. Will Collier 17. Julien Montoya 18. Loni Uhila 19.  Sam Carter 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Jonathan Danty 23. Chris Pennell

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:

Breakdown - team approach using the twin fetchers at flank (Robshaw focusing where possible on spoiling and JVDF on stealing) and an approach in units dynamically hitting attacking ball to keep it quick.

Attacking- Recurrent phase attack, using heavy carrying and mauling and pick and drives to keep slow ball safe until we can build it into fast ball, then spinning wide quickly through our multiple playmakers, happy to play off 9, 10, 12 or the fullback joining the line, and testing the defense out wide. Then using our breakdown strength to quickly recycle and test their wingers with a second phase attack - using the many playmakers to always have someone to orchestrate the next attack, and willing to change the direction at any time.

Happy to start a phase off any of 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, or 15.

We are happy to pile big players down the blindside when Solomona is the winger defending there - he is still new to Union defence despite his attacking strike rate.

With more kicking depth than Newcastle, we are very happy to fall back onto our kicking game if we need to, and we are happy to keep the ball in the pack as a plan B.

Defence- Blitz led by Taylor, 9 sweeping, with tight fringes and pressure on Farrell especially - he is the lone playmaking player for Newcastle so they will falter if we get a strangehold on him, and he has shown for England (with Ford) and Saracens (Lozowski or Goode) that he works best with a second playmaker. 

DHP helps Burns at the back in field defence where possible

Scrum- Kilcoyne picked to balance out Koch and Kepu looking to attack Mullan physically, looking as usual to get our own ball out quickly and run it off Vito. 

Lineout- We have picked Charteris to help take apart the Newcastle lineout by using his fantastic air defence at the front and to dismantle their mauls. With Vito and Ryan and Robshaw as well we can mix up our own throws and we will be happy to mix up taps off the top and mauls and occasional short lineouts to get our big carriers in the backline to get early momentum.

Other- Falcons love to counter and have a back 3 who are strong on the air and running the ball back, so we will be careful, able to pass teh ball between our kicking options, to ensure we kick into space with a hard chase and never give the ball straight back to them

Push for penalties in their half, but with Farrell kicking be cautious in our own 22 alla Jake White's Brumbies.

Subs - we have the solid scrummaging of Collier, carrying and energy of Uhila and the power of Montoya on the bench, as well as the ability to increase our physicality via Fearns and workrate through Carter, an in-form 9 who can kick and snipe in Spencer, power in the midfield through Danty and Pennell's experience and solidity to firm up the back 3. Taylor covers wing.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Baptise Serin
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Patrick Tuipultou	11. George North
05. Ed Slater	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. James Haskell	13. Sonny Bill Williams
07. John Hardie	14. Teddy Thomas
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Simon McIntyre 18. Paul Hill 19. Marcos Kremer 20. Sam Underhill 21. Morgan Parra 22. Pat Lambie 23. Conrad Smith

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

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. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Scott Willaims
06. Pablo Matera	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Francois Louw	14. Denny Solomona
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16. Camille Chat 17. Alec Hepburn 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Matt Symons 20. Elliott Dixon 21. Will Chudley 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Sam James

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 alternate first receiver options in Smith/Williams to take pressure off Farrell.

Keep the ball tight in the forwards and push their pack back - we think we have more ball carriers and physicality, use the power in the back row to blast their flankers off the ball

Target Burns defensive positioning - put bombs up on him with strong chasers, and use grubber/banana kicks to make him second guess a position he doesn't play in regularly

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

Leicester Tigers have named an altered squad of 23, ahead of their Challenge Cup opponents and last Aviva Premiership fixture of the season.  
Director of Rugby Fluxy, has taken the opportunity to freshen up his pack, with Gethin Jenkins coming into a starting berth and Nariashvili dropping to the bench. Flux has kept the faith with most of the starting pack from their dramatic and heroic victory over league leaders Sale Sharks last weekend. Out wide he has made more changes with Maunder, Fickou, Basteraud and Carbery all making the starting XV.  

Fluxy had this to say when discussing his team selection with BBC - Radio Leicester:
"Off the back of that massive victory last weekend, we want to keep the momentum going as much as possible. We have need to changed a few personnel out wide to keep things fresh and play a slightly different game to the one we played against Sharks, however we are still looking for that win, to secure our spot, and bring Champions Cup rugby back to Welford Road next season."

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Jack Maunder
02. Stephen Moore	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Harry Williams
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Jake Ball	12. Gael Fickou
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Matheiu Basteraud
07. Sam Jones	14. Sean Maitland
08. Fritz Lee	15. Joey Carbery (k)

.
Subs: 16. Dave Ward 17. Mikheil Nariashvili 18. Owen Franks 19. Dominic Bird 20. Calum Chick 21. Antoine Dupont 22. Kurtley Beale 23. Ben Te'o

Basic Game Plan
In good conditions we will be looking to play a possession based, fast offloading game, keeping the ball alive moving the Worcester pack around. When deep in our half we won't take chances with offloading, but will make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly, or using the boots of Trinh-Duc, Fickou and Carbery to take us up the field. Our general play however this week will be about keeping the ball alive and moving the point of attack. 

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence. Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us. Maunder will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics

• Lineout - In decent conditions we will mix it up on our ball, utilising Ball, Armand and Jones as receivers, whilst also at times shortening the line and using our big forwards as crash ball options off first phase. Defensively we will look to compete for the ball and disrupt wherever possible, making any ball secured by Worcester as scrappy as we can.
  
  
• Scrum - Hit channel one ball and get it to the back quickly, looking to maximise the space available with the opposition forwards packed down. On their ball, 8 man shove and look to drive them off as their hooker lifts his foot to hook the ball. Franks to stay tight and straight. Flanker on that side to stay bound and keep Williams square.
  
  
• Breakdown - When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly, so that Maunder 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. Maunder to also look to snipe around the fringes, to keep the defence honest and keep us going forwards all the time. Maunder to also feed runners down the Warriors ten channel.
  
  

• Tactical Kicking - If we kick, we will look to kick for the corners and contest the opposition lineout. If our kicks can go in behind the wingers, we will aim for that, with the aim of the ball bouncing into touch, or having to force new back three unit to chase and concede a line out by being tackled into touch. 
  

Key Points

• High Quality Spine - In the key decision making jerseys, 2,8,10,12, and 15 we have top class operators. In big games, when things get tight, those guys can be the difference between winning and losing.
  
• Impact Bench - 6 full internationals. All can have a huge impact on this game.
  
• Momentum - We defeated the league leaders last weekend, reached our first European final in a few seasons, and also drew with Falcons, another top four side. This confidence and vein of form will help us get the result we want to secure Champions Cup rugby next season. 
  
• Psychological Advantage - We defeated Worcester earlier in the season, and were seeded ahead of the Warriors in the Challenge Cup. Their eyes and minds may already be focussed on the final next weekend, whereas we are focussed on this job at hand first.
  

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
  

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

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

16. Ellis Genge 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Will Skelton 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill 23. George Moala

Need a Bath and Sale side. Have until Midday to get sides and tactics in if you haven't.

Flux, I amended my tactics slightly as was previously for the game before last. Hope that is ok?

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Danny Care
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Bernard Foley
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Simon Zebo
05. Christian Day	12. Reece Hodge
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Jordie Barrett

Subs:
16. Tommy Taylor 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Iain Henderson 20. Matt Garvey 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Curwin Bosch 23. Nick Abendanon

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

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

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

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. Barrett & Foley 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 POM to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball while Retalick marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

Hey Flux, can you just add my tactics please. I was waiting for a Wasps side and did them Friday morning after I couldn't see one.

Done

Flux, to be fair to BamBam, you missed off his tactics I think

ChequeredJersey wrote:Flux, to be fair to BamBam, you missed off his tactics I think

Only just seen that, apologies Bam, would be a bit late to amend now 

League table updated on homepage

Well done there Nick, was a close one.

For future reference guys are my tactics ok in length, saw other teams have a lot more than mine?

thanks mate.

I needed that to nick 6th place, I owe you that Flux as you knocked me out of the Challenge cup!

So close! Well won, Bam

Momentum for me for this weekend flux.....!!!!

I'll try to go through the season and update top scorers

Unlucky CJ!

BamBam wrote:Unlucky CJ!

Was always going to be a tough one, your squad looks top notch with some great form and acquisitions! I think it's only so close because most of the scores will have been scoreline only and just 1 point in those, if everyone had done full predos I expect you would have won by more

ChequeredJersey wrote:I'll try to go through the season and update top scorers

Already have mate! https://www.606v2.com/t63996-top-points-try-scorers

I just need to update this weeks!

are we getting the written predos as well, Fluxy? No rush, just checking before I start squad adjustment planning

will do at some point mate, a little busy

stnick88 wrote:thanks mate.

I needed that to nick 6th place, I owe you that Flux as you knocked me out of the Challenge cup!

Fair play to you mate, was hoping to just pinch it! Been a good battle for that spot this season!

it has been. i'm pleased with 6th as I took over with Exeter bottom and without a win.

Fluxy wrote:will do at some point mate, a little busy

No worries, mate, know how it is, thanks for all your hard work!