Aviva Premiership - Round Two - Rugby Championship

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Sale Sharks vs Newcastle Falcons
AJ Bell Stadium
Heavy Rain Showers - 15 degrees, 14mph North Westerly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Iain Henderson	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Maro Itoje	12. Charlie Ngatai
06. Peter O'Mahony (c)	13. Gary Ringrose
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. CJ Stander	15. Nick Abendanon

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Subs: 16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Dave Attwood 20. Duane Vermulean 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Quade Cooper 23. Joe Marchant

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. 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. 

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Care will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Sexton & 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. 

Lineout: Four 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 Itoje marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Camille Chat	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Michael Fatiolofa	11. Hallam Amos
05. Matt Symons	12. Scott Williams
06. Callum Clark	13. Vince Aso
07. Francois Louw	14. Denny Solomona
08. Elliott Dixon	15. Charles Piutau

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Alec Hepburn 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Rory Thornton 20. Tom Curry 21. Will Chudley 22. Otere Black 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

Key points

Target their midfield - Look to cause confusion between Ngatai and Ringrose, get runners coming from angles to disrupt their defensive plan

Kicking game behind the wings - we've got some very good chasers in our back 3 - kick behind their big wings, turn them and see how they deal with clearing the ball. Abendanon also likes to run rather than kick, force their back 3 to play a kicking game rather than counter attacking so we win the territory battle

Look for turnovers and attack - We've got some very good turnover merchants in Clark and Louw, pinch the ball at the breakdown and get it out wide for the lethal pace we have from 11-15

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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Bath Rugby vs Saracens
The Rec
Light Rain Showers - 16 degrees, 14mph Westerly Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Finn Russell
03. Samson Lee
04. Josh Beaumont	11. Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Sam Hill
06. Dan Lydiate	13. George Moala
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Juan Imhofd
08. Toby Falateu	15. Liam williams

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16. Ellis Genge 17. Leni Asipai 18. scott Wilson 19. Will Skelton 20. Liam Gill 21. Nick Phipps 22. Harold Vorster 23. Alex Goode

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 Saracens under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries looking to create space and break the defense. No risky offloads in the conditions. 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. Falateu will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Beaumont, Falateu 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. Kitchener will offer quick ball option at the front. 

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

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

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wiggles will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Russell will play flat and use his creativity to bring in the back line and make plays. He will be given a freedom to be creative. Look to bring in the rest of the back line, especially Hill and Imhoff who we would like to get running at defenders.  Wade and Williams 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 Falateu 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 Sarries  which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

Kicking: Russell will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Wiggles, Russell and Williams 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. We want our high class front row to come on late and really impact the game.

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Mohamed Boughanmi	09. Baptise Serin
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Pat Lambie
03. Dan Cole
04. Ed Slater	11. George North
05. Nick Isiekwe	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. James Haskell	13. Francis Saili
07. Hamish Watson	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Alex Waller 18. Paul Hill 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Underhill 21. Morgan Parra 22. Tom Taylor 23. Nathan Earle

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

Points:
- Target Wade on the Wing with cross-field kicks
- Look to turn the screw against Bath's replacement props, especially Wilson who hasn't played for over a year

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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Exeter Chiefs vs London Irish
Sandy Park
Sunny Intervals - 17 degrees, 17mph North Westerly Winds

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Exeter Chiefs

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Tom Youngs	10. Camille Lopez
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. James Lowe
05. James Horwill	12. Remi Lamerat
06. Dave Ewers	13. Damien Penaud
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Scott Spedding

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Replacements: 16 Nathan Catt 17 Ricky Riccitelli 18 Ben Tamiefuna 19 Juandre Kruger 20 Steffon Armitage 21 Ruan Pienaar 22 Alex Lozowski 23 Ma'a Nonu

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.

Exeter Chiefs have made one change to the side that recorded an impressive opening day win at Kingsholm. Scott Spedding come in for Jared Payne at fullback.

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 .

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 opposition defenders. Ewers, 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 Lamerat 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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London Irish

01. Rob Evans	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Juan Figallo
04. Elliot Stooke	11. Johnny May
05. Richie Gray	12. Matt Toomua (k)
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Matt Scott
07. Ben Curry	14. Charlie Walker
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Sam Davies

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Replacements: 16. Adriann Strauss 17. Titi Lamositele 18. Uini Atonio 19. Ruan Ackerman 20. Yacouba Camara 21. Matt Protheroe 22. Billy Burns 23. Will Addison




High tempo game with bags of fitness/pace in the back row and backs, look to run the legs off the opposition and use this to our advantage 
- Set the tone in the set-piece with a strong foundation. 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, Curry, Gray and Cowan-Dickie to give us real bite in the tackle.  
- 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 Cipriani pulling the strings. 
- We have picked some strong running backs, like May and Scott, whilst Davies 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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Harlequins vs Gloucester Rugby
Twickenham Stoop
Light Rain Showers - 17 degrees, 13mph Westerly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cyrill Baille	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rob Webber	10. Ihaia West
03. Tadhg Furlong
04. Ultan Dillane	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Dan Leavy	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly (c)	15. Mike Haley

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16. Jack Singleton 17. Cian Healy 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Mamuka Gorgodze 20. Mitchel Karpik 21. Luke McGrath 22. Dan Jones 23. Jack Goodhue

Tactics

• Look to play with width and move Gloucester around the pitch. Play with forward runners off 9 and 10 before spreading the ball wide when we have go forward utislising the pace in our outside backs.
  
• Look to carry in numbers so we have the option to offload or to recycle the ball quickly. Look to attacks gaps in the defence and look to offload before and out of contact if required to keep the momentum of our attack. 
  
• Look to keep ball in hand outside of our own 22, Only kicks are straight to touch or with the aim of retaining the ball through cross-fields or up and under kicks.
  
• Look to set up one or two hard runners and then a play maker out the back. Allows us variety in our attack to keep the Gloucester defence honest.
  
• Whilst we are looking to run in tries, this is an away game so we will look to keep the scoreboard ticking over to build pressure on Gloucester.
  

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Gloucester Rugby
Prop_lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Bryn Hall
02. Ken Owens	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Tom Savage	11. Waisake Naholo
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jackson Wray	13. Huw Jones
07. Matt Todd (c)	14. James Short
08. Warren Whiteley	15. David Havilli

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16. Jack Yeandle 17. Sean Paranihi 18. Henry Thomas 19. Leone Nakawara 20. Sam Warburton 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Mark Atkinson

DEFENCE-We have brought in Roberts to add physicality to our defence and look to stop Quins from spreading the ball. We will target West with a back rower defending alongside Biggar.
ATTACK-Havili can come into the 12 position after Roberts has carried giving us a backline with flair and pace. We will look to use our heavier pack to rumble the ball and hit Quins wide after retaining for a number of phases.
*Bench-we have huge impact on our bench able and will use Nakawara, Warburton and Atkinson 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 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 Roberts 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 Jones and Roberts/Havilli, 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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Northampton Saints vs Leicester Tigers
Franklin Gardens
Light Rain Showers - 16 degrees, 16mph Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Conor Murray
02. Schalk Brits	10. George Ford (k)
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Facundo Isa	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. James Davies	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Elliot Daly

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Replacements
16. Ox Nche 17. Zander Fagerson 18. Dylan Harley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Schalk Burger 21. Joe Simpson 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Matt Banahan

Tactics
- Priority One – The Gain Line.  In attack and defence we will look to hit with intensity, be it carrying, clearing in attack or smashing back in defence.
- Priority Two – Make Saracens best attacking threats defend. Use big carriers (forwards) slightly further out from the ruck area, down the channels defended by backs, forcing them to work hard in defence and thereby disrupting their attacking concentration/flow.

Set Piece Specifics
- Scrum.  8 man shove in attack and defence.  Keep straight in defence and hold, forcing Saracens to get the ball out and play. In attack flankers to stay down and push, if we get forward momentum but penalty does not look likely, ball out quickly to attack them whilst on the back foot.
- Lineout. In attack mix it up shortening the lineout at times, using BV as a ball carrier through the midfield. In defence look to contest and make any ball off the top as messy as possible.

General
- Conor Murray to sweep behind the blitz along with the blindside winger for any chips, grubbers through from Saracens.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Mikheil Nariashvili	09. Antoine Dupont
02. Rory Best	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Harry Williams
04. Dominic Bird	11. Jason Woodward (k)
05. Jake Ball	12. Ben Te'o
06. Mark Wilson	13. Gael Fickou
07. Don Armand (c)	14. Sean Maitland
08. Samu Manoa	15. Mike Brown

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Subs: 16. Asafao Aumua 17. Max Lahiff 18. Lasha Tibadze 19. Stan South 20. Fritz Lee 21. Jack Maunder 22. Piers Francis 23. Joey Carbery


Basic Game Plan
In wet conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, working through the phases, and looking for territory when required. When in our half we won't take chances with open play, but will make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly, to create the angle for the half backs to achieve territory. 
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. Dupont 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 Wilson as jumpers, 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 Saints 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. Williams 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 Dupont can feed the ball quickly to forwards or the first receiver. 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, on slow ball to regenerate quicker and cleaner possession. 
  Then look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps. Dupont to also look to snipe around the fringes, to keep the defence honest and keep us going forwards all the time. 
  

• Tactical Kicking - As mentioned above, playing in the rights areas is key for our success. If we kick, we will look to kick for the corners and contest the opposition lineout. If our kicks can go in behind the opposition wingers, with the aim of the ball bouncing into touch, or having to force their back three to chase and concede a line out by being tackled into touch, or rushing their kick.
  
• Look to use the bench to freshen the impetus - especially with the 'finishers' in the forwards. 
  

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Worcester Warriors vs Wasps
Sixways Stadium
Light Rain Showers - 17 degrees, 15mph North Westerly Winds

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Worcester Warriors
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Chris Tolofua	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Will Collier
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Sam Carter	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Victor Vito (c)	15.  Chris Pennell

:-
16. Loni Uhila 17.  Rob Buchanan 18.  Pouri Rakete-Stones 19.  Luke Charteris  20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Freddie Burns 23. Kevin Gourdon

Attributes:

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

Defence:
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
Maul Defence: Legally can slow up a maul or stop them gaining headway.

No Wasps team yet, so would like to update these tactics a touch when I know whom I'm facing

Tactics:

Breakdown:
Based on Wasps previous backrows, outright technique on the floor at the breakdown is not a huge focus, so in the rain we will be looking to really target this area, with 2 backrowers on the bench to cover tired legs, hard work and graft clearing from the second row and Vito, nous and workrate from Robshaw, and fetching and pace and power from VDF. We will play it as we see it, committing numbers if we think we steal the ball or get speed to blitz in attack, but otherwise keeping numbers out for defence and trusting our quality.

Attack:
Build up the phases, using our strong breakdown to keep the ball quick and build up speed and momentum
Slow ball kept in the pack with pick/drives and mauls, with the occasional crash ball to keep the defence thinking
When we spread it, early on we will carry hard down the 10-12 channel (Toloufua, Vito and JVF especially). We don't expect to break through but to either put the defence on the backfoot with 10-12 not being dominant tacklers and use this attack the fringes with snipes off the pack and 9 if their backrow get sucked in to help 10-12, or else hammer again with quicker ball if the defence holds but is knocked back, or spin wider if it narrows. Taylor linkman with the backrow. Back 3 looking to run behind defence to enable the grubber through.

As soon as a break forms, look to run support lines off each shoulder. Twin playmakers for us to change the angles of attack and put the above approach into play at any time even if the primary playmaker is unavailable.

Plan B - with our 9-10-12 and quick wingers, the grubber/chip through is a good option. Very happy to play the kicking game in teh wet if we struggle to break the defence, we have the pack and 9-10-12 to succeed playing territory.

Defence:
Blitz led by Taylor, Fotuali'i sweeping. Tight fringe defence

If Slade plays 12, we know he's not yet immune to pressure, so get in his face with Vito leading the charge. Smash him and intimidate him legally. Make him make errors and make Cruden play it solo, where our pack will be waiting for him and the predictability makes a turnover possible.
Watson a threat in the air - Gilroy picked to challenge the high ball with Pennell rock solid in the air.

Scrum: 
We've picked our best scrummagers to look to hold the ball up for a stable platform to attack off. Not looking for penalties but stability, and looking to stay legal on the opposition ball except for a slight wheel to let Fotuali'i get close to Picamoles to stop him before he can build any momentum.

Lineout:
Looking to maul mostly today, with 4 good jumpers to make the target unpredictable so that Wood's lineout defence can't neutralise us. Defend opposition on the ground not the air.

Other:
Take any points from boot today
Kicking game = deep and low driven kicks with hard chase
Substitute game - big impact carrying front row to punch holes in tiring backline and keep power in the carrying game. Charteris to tighten lineout, maul and defence as the game tightens later on. Burns and Spencer allow us to keep up either the playmaking games above or add more kickers (at 15 if needed), 2 backrowers to allow starting pack to go all out and bring power at the ruck and tackle in late in the game.

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Wasps

Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Chris Tolofua	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Will Collier
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Sam Carter	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Craig Gilroy
08. Victor Vito (c)	15.  Chris Pennell

:-
16. Loni Uhila 17.  Rob Buchanan 18.  Pouri Rakete-Stones 19.  Luke Charteris  20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Freddie Burns 23. Kevin Gourdon

Attributes:

Attack:

Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown

Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 

Defence:

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

Maul Defence: Legally can slow up a maul or stop them gaining headway.


No Wasps team yet, so would like to update these tactics a touch when I know whom I'm facing


Tactics: 


Breakdown:


Based on Wasps previous backrows, outright technique on the floor at the breakdown is not a huge focus, so in the rain we will be looking to really target this area, with 2 backrowers on the bench to cover tired legs, hard work and graft clearing from the second row and Vito, nous and workrate from Robshaw, and fetching and pace and power from VDF. We will play it as we see it, committing numbers if we think we steal the ball or get speed to blitz in attack, but otherwise keeping numbers out for defence and trusting our quality.


Attack:


Build up the phases, using our strong breakdown to keep the ball quick and build up speed and momentum


Slow ball kept in the pack with pick/drives and mauls, with the occasional crash ball to keep the defence thinking


When we spread it, early on we will carry hard down the 10-12 channel (Toloufua, Vito and JVF especially). We don't expect to break through but to either put the defence on the backfoot with 10-12 not being dominant tacklers and use this attack the fringes with snipes off the pack and 9 if their backrow get sucked in to help 10-12, or else hammer again with quicker ball if the defence holds but is knocked back, or spin wider if it narrows. Taylor linkman with the backrow. Back 3 looking to run behind defence to enable the grubber through.


As soon as a break forms, look to run support lines off each shoulder. Twin playmakers for us to change the angles of attack and put the above approach into play at any time even if the primary playmaker is unavailable.


Plan B - with our 9-10-12 and quick wingers, the grubber/chip through is a good option. Very happy to play the kicking game in teh wet if we struggle to break the defence, we have the pack and 9-10-12 to succeed playing territory.


Defence:


Blitz led by Taylor, Fotuali'i sweeping. Tight fringe defence


If Slade plays 12, we know he's not yet immune to pressure, so get in his face with Vito leading the charge. Smash him and intimidate him legally. Make him make errors and make Cruden play it solo, where our pack will be waiting for him and the predictability makes a turnover possible.


Watson a threat in the air - Gilroy picked to challenge the high ball with Pennell rock solid in the air.


Scrum: 


We've picked our best scrummagers to look to hold the ball up for a stable platform to attack off. Not looking for penalties but stability, and looking to stay legal on the opposition ball except for a slight wheel to let Fotuali'i get close to Picamoles to stop him before he can build any momentum.


Lineout:


Looking to maul mostly today, with 4 good jumpers to make the target unpredictable so that Wood's lineout defence can't neutralise us. Defend opposition on the ground not the air.


Other:


Take any points from boot today
Kicking game = deep and low driven kicks with hard chase
Substitute game - big impact carrying front row to punch holes in tiring backline and keep power in the carrying game. Charteris to tighten lineout, maul and defence as the game tightens later on. Burns and Spencer allow us to keep up either the playmaking games above or add more kickers (at 15 if needed), 2 backrowers to allow starting pack to go all out and bring power at the ruck and tackle in late in the game.

Conditions are current for this week

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Mikheil Nariashvili	09. Antoine Dupont
02. Rory Best	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Harry Williams
04. Dominic Bird	11. Jason Woodward (k)
05. Jake Ball	12. Ben Te'o
06. Mark Wilson	13. Gael Fickou
07. Don Armand (c)	14. Sean Maitland
08. Samu Manoa	15. Mike Brown

.
Subs: 16. Asafao Aumua 17. Max Lahiff 18. Lasha Tibadze 19. Stan South 20. Fritz Lee 21. Jack Maunder 22. Piers Francis 23. Joey Carbery
Basic Game Plan
In wet conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, working through the phases, and looking for territory when required. When in our half we won't take chances with open play, but will make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly, to create the angle for the half backs to achieve territory. 
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. Kerr-Barlow 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 Wilson as jumpers, 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 Bath 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. Williams 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 Kerr-Barlow can feed the ball quickly to forwards or the first receiver. 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, on slow ball to regenerate quicker and cleaner possession. 
  Then look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps. Kerr-Barlow to also look to snipe around the fringes, to keep the defence honest and keep us going forwards all the time. 
  

• Tactical Kicking - As mentioned above, playing in the rights areas is key for our success. If we kick, we will look to kick for the corners and contest the opposition lineout. If our kicks can go in behind the opposition wingers, with the aim of the ball bouncing into touch, or having to force their back three to chase and concede a line out by being tackled into touch, or rushing their kick.
  
• Look to use the bench to freshen the impetus - especially with the 'finishers' in the forwards. 
  

Exeter Chiefs

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Tom Youngs	10. Camille Lopez
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. James Lowe
05. James Horwill	12. Remi Lamerat
06. Dave Ewers	13. Damien Penaud
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Scott Spedding

:-
Replacements: 16 Nathan Catt 17 Ricky Riccitelli 18 Ben Tamiefuna 19 Juandre Kruger 20 Steffon Armitage 21 Ruan Pienaar 22 Alex Lozowski 23 Ma'a Nonu

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.

Exeter Chiefs have made one change to the side that recorded an impressive opening day win at Kingsholm. Scott Spedding come in for Jared Payne at fullback.

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 .

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 opposition defenders. Ewers, 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 Lamerat 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.

---

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cyrill Baille	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rob Webber	10. Ihaia West
03. Tadhg Furlong
04. Ultan Dillane	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Dan Leavy	14. Yoann Huget
08. Damien Chouly (c)	15. Mike Haley

.
16. Jack Singleton 17. Cian Healy 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Mamuka Gorgodze 20. Mitchel Karpik 21. Luke McGrath 22. Dan Jones 23. Jack Goodhue

Tactics

• Look to play with width and move Gloucester around the pitch. Play with forward runners off 9 and 10 before spreading the ball wide when we have go forward utislising the pace in our outside backs.
  
• Look to carry in numbers so we have the option to offload or to recycle the ball quickly. Look to attacks gaps in the defence and look to offload before and out of contact if required to keep the momentum of our attack.
  
• Look to keep ball in hand outside of our own 22, Only kicks are straight to touch or with the aim of retaining the ball through cross-fields or up and under kicks.
  
• Look to set up one or two hard runners and then a play maker out the back. Allows us variety in our attack to keep the Gloucester defence honest.
  
• Whilst we are looking to run in tries, this is an away game so we will look to keep the scoreboard ticking over to build pressure on Gloucester.
  

Northampton Saints

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Conor Murray
02. Schalk Brits	10. George Ford (k)
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Facundo Isa	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. James Davies	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Elliot Daly

.
Replacements
16. Ox Nche 17. Zander Fagerson 18. Dylan Harley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Schalk Burger 21. Joe Simpson 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Matt Banahan

 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Iain Henderson	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Maro Itoje	12. Charlie Ngatai
06. Peter O'Mahony (c)	13. Gary Ringrose
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. CJ Stander	15. Nick Abendanon

. 
Subs: 16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Dave Attwood 20. Duane Vermulean 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Quade Cooper 23. Joe Marchant

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Finn Russell
03. Samson Lee
04. Josh Beaumont	11. Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Sam Hill
06. Dan Lydiate	13. george Moala
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Juan Imhofd
08. Toby Falateu	15. Liam williams

16. Ellis Genge 17. Leni Asipai 18. scott Wilson 19. Will Skelton 20. Liam Gill 21. Nick Phipps 22. Harold Vorster 23. Alex Goode

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 Saracens under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries looking to create space and break the defense. No risky offloads in the conditions. 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. Falateu will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Beaumont, Falateu 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. Kitchener will offer quick ball option at the front. 

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

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

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wiggles will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Russell will play flat and use his creativity to bring in the back line and make plays. He will be given a freedom to be creative. Look to bring in the rest of the back line, especially Hill and Imhoff who we would like to get running at defenders.  Wade and Williams 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 Falateu 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 Sarries which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

Kicking: Russell will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Wiggles, Russell and Williams 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. We want our high class front row to come on late and really impact the game.

It is the Rugby Championship this weekend CJB - you cannot play your ABs, Ozzies, Argies and Saffas

01. Val Ruskin	09. Bryn Hall
02. Ken Owens	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Tom Savage	11. Naholo
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jackson Wray	13. Huw Jones
07. Matt Todd (c)	14. James Short
08. Warren Whiteley	15. David Havilli

:-
16. Jack Yeandle 17. Sean Paranihi 18. Henry Thomas 19. Leone Nakawara 20. Sam Warburton 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Mark Atkinson

DEFENCE-We have brought in Roberts to add physicality to our defence and look to stop Quins from spreading the ball. We will target West with a back rower defending alongside Biggar.
ATTACK-Havili can come into the 12 position after Roberts has carried giving us a backline with flair and pace. We will look to use our heavier pack to rumble the ball and hit Quins wide after retaining for a number of phases.
*Bench-we have huge impact on our bench able and will use Nakawara, Warburton and Atkinson 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 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 Roberts 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 Jones and Roberts/Havilli, 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.

 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Camille Chat	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Michael Fatiolofa	11. Hallam Amos
05. Matt Symons	12. Scott Williams
06. Callum Clark	13. Vince Aso
07. Francois Louw	14. Denny Solomona
08. Elliott Dixon	15. Charles Piutau

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Alec Hepburn 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Rory Thornton 20. Tom Curry 21. Will Chudley 22. Otere Black 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

Key points

Target their midfield - Look to cause confusion between Ngatai and Ringrose, get runners coming from angles to disrupt their defensive plan

Kicking game behind the wings - we've got some very good chasers in our back 3 - kick behind their big wings, turn them and see how they deal with clearing the ball. Abendanon also likes to run rather than kick, force their back 3 to play a kicking game rather than counter attacking so we win the territory battle

Look for turnovers and attack - We've got some very good turnover merchants in Clark and Louw, pinch the ball at the breakdown and get it out wide for the lethal pace we have from 11-15

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

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Mohamed Boughanmi	09. Baptise Serin
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Pat Lambie
03. Dan Cole
04. Ed Slater	11. George North
05. Nick Isiekwe	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. James Haskell	13. Francis Saili
07. Hamish Watson	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Alex Waller 18. Paul Hill 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Underhill 21. Morgan Parra 22. Tom Taylor 23. Nathan Earle

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

Points:

- Target Wade on the Wing with cross-field kicks
- Look to turn the screw against Bath's replacement props, especially Wilson who hasn't played for over a year

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.

Have swapped De Jager for Symons as he's been named in the Bok side for the weekend

Didn't realise NMS was even in the NZ squad let alone the team so have put Naholo in as he hasn't been involved. Hope that's ok.

Predictions Open - until midday Monday


If Pull can get his tactics in by midday tomorrow I will add them - however if not it will be a default win to CJ.