Aviva Premiership - Round 4

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Northampton Saints vs Newcastle Falcons
Franklins Gardens
Partly Sunny - 2 degrees, 12mph Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Paul Hill
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Tom Collins
05. Michael Paterson	12. Piers Francis
06. Tom Wood	13. Rob Horne
07. Jamie Gibson	14. George North
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

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16. Mikey Haywood, 17. Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18. Campese Ma'afu, 19. Christian Day, 20. Teimana Harrison, 21. Nic Groom, 22. Steven Myler, 23. Ben Foden

Team News

Northampton Saints have freshened up their side after a strong start to the season. Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes both return after being given a week off after England duty, in place of Mikey Haywood and Christian Day. Paul Hill also gets a first start of the season in place of Kieran Brookes. Jamie Gibson replaces Teimana Harrison, who drops to the bench, in the backrow. In the backs, Piers Francis comes in for Luther Burrell whilst Tom Collins comes back on the wing in place of Ben Foden.

Tactics

- Use Isa as the main carrier, supported by Lawes, Hartley, Wood
- Sexton to kick all pens for goal in range, otherwise go for corner
- Bring North off his wing to look for work
- Use Norths height with cross field kicks
- Goode to act as second playmaker on occasion

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Sam Lockwood	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Santiago Socino	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Callum Green	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Iain Henderson	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Steven Luatua	13. Maxine Mermoz
07. Nili Latu (c)	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Opeti Fonua	15. Alex Tait

:-
16. Kyle Cooper 17. Rob Vickers 18. David Wilson 19. Sean Robinson 20. Mark Wilson 21. Sam Stuart 22. Craig Willis 23. DTH Van Der Merwe

TACTICS


- Blitz defence with good line speed with 9 and 15 sweeping.
- Big runners carrying close to the ruck but looking to keep the ball alive with offloads to runners on their shoulder.

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Worcester Warriors vs Sale Sharks
Sixways
Rain & Snow - 4 degrees, 9mph Westerly Winds

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1. Eddy Ben Arous
2. Jack Singleton
3. Nick Schonert
4. Will Spencer
5. Guido Petti
6. Peter O'Mahoney
7. Michael Hooper
8. David Denton
9. Francois Hougaard
10. Beauden Barrett
11. Dean Hammond
12. Ryan Mills
13. Ben Te'o
14. Josh Adams
15. Chris Pennell

16. Joe Taufete'e
17. Ethan Waller
18. Biyi Alo
19. Donnacha O’Callaghan
20. GJ Van Velze
21. Jonny Arr
22. Jamie Shilock
23. Wynard Olivier
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- Dominate using our pack and use our backs as decoy runners and defence
- Big front row will look to dominate th scrum
- Commit numbers to the breakdown
- Barrett to control the game, let loose his creativity
- Hougaard allowed to attack
- Petti to run the line out

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Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk
02. Rob Webber	10. Nicolas Sanchez (k)
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Will Addison
05. Josh Beaumont (c)	12. Sam James
06. Judicael Cancoriet	13. Jack Goodhue
07. Tom Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. James O'Connor

16. Malcolm Marx 17. Greg Bateman 18. Halani Aulika 19. Bryn Evans 20.  Jono Ross 21. Ben Curry 22. Antoine Dupont 23. Mike Haley

- International quality at 9 and 10 to control the game. Du Klerk to control tempo and Sanchez to control territory and direction of attacks.

- Use our pack to get use over the gain line. Offload just before contact to help us carry over the gain line to keep momentum. Forwards to carry primarily of 9, 10 and 12.

- Look to get the ball wide when we have go forward and the Warriors defence is disorganised. Create space for our outside backs in the outside channels. Try to create mismatches with opposition forwards.

- Du Toit, Beaumont and Cancoriet to pressure Warriors line out at the middle and tail to prevent clean and quick ball off the top.

- Back row to attack the breakdown to turn the ball over or force penalties. Punish isolated carriers. Chop tackles to allow the first man to attack the ball.

- Play the conditions. Slow the ball down and use the kicking game of 9,10, 12 and 15 to control territory.

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Exeter Chiefs vs Bath
Sandy Park
Scattered Showers - 4 degrees, 9mph Westerly Winds

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Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Conor Murray
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Harry Williams
04. Mitch Lees	11. Jack Nowell
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Henry Slade
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Olly Woodburn
08. Sam Simmonds	15. Lachlan Turner

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16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Greg Holmes, 19. Jonny Hill, 20. Thomas Waldrom, 21. Nic White 22. Anthony Belleau, 23. James Short

Look to play the real life Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack. Dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore, keeping it narrow until we create quick enough possession to feed our back line.  

- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Simmonds or Armand to launch themselves off the back of mauls. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Bath of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 
- It will be phases of carrying, running at least in pairs to help maintain a leg drive. This is the standard Chiefs style, and causes the opposition defence to be drawn into the defend through the middle, creating space out wide for our back line to exploit. 
- Half-backs to dictate the game and play for territory. Steenson to also kick available points when on offer - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 
- Devoto to act as the second playmaker and look to spread the ball wide to back three when the space is available to attack, or to take pressure off Steenson on clearances.
- Wingers to come in off their wings and look for work, and get them 1v1 on a forward to make the most of their footwork and speed to beat the slow Bath forwards. 
- Not worried about how Bath will play, we will chop them low and early to allow our back row to compete and slow their ball down. The game is based around us having possession for long periods and forcing Bath to panic when they have the ball, as they will want to do something immediately with it, if they get it, and this should yield mistakes and forced opportunities for us to capatilise on.

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15.Anthony Watson
14.Semseasa Rokoduguni
13.Jonathan Joseph
12.Robbie Henshaw
11.Aled Brew
10.Freddie Burns
9.Kahn Fotuali'i

1.Nathan Catt
2.Tom Dunn
3.Romerio Herrera
4.Charlie Ewels (C)
5.Dave Attwood
6.Francois Louw (C)
7.Sam Underhill
8.Zac Mercer

16.Nathan Charles 17.Nick Auterac 18.Henry Thomas 19.Luke Charteris 20.Toby Falatau 21.Chris Cook 22.Rhys Priestland 23.Matt Banahan
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• Bath have picked a big physical pack to take on chiefs and disrupt game.
• Plenty of carriers and work rate in pack, Underhill to target isolated runners for the turnover
• Kahn to look for the short runners following his snipe the generate quick ball to slow chiefs line speed down and isolate runners.
• Freddie Burn’s to chip the ball over the top and in behind woodburn specifically to test his positioning out.
• Using a blitz defence when short on numbers to put pressure on Steenson
• Pick and Game will be effective for us today and Burns will look to put us in the corners but moving the ball when its on.
• Burns to punish Chiefs indiscipline’s with shots at goal.
• Attwood/Ewels to go up on Chiefs lineout and put pressure on

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Gloucester vs London Irish
Kingsholm
Mostly Sunny - 4 degrees, 8mph Westerly Winds

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Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Aaron Smith
02. James Hanson	10. Billy Burns
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Savage (c)	11. Henry Purdy
05. Franco Mostert	12. Owen Williams
06. Jake Polledri	13. Jon Davies
07. Ruan Ackerman	14. Ollie Thorley
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jason Woodward

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16. Richard Hibbard 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Ross Moriarty 21. Ben Vellacott 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Tom Marshall

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Tactics
*Look to grind them down in the front 5 with a hefty pack not afraid to do dirty work,
*Forwards to work in pods round the corner 2 phases then wide and hit gaps,
*JD2 and Williams to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Burns to look to get quick ball out, if it isn't on then tactical kicking to corners,
*Defence led by JD2 and with a back rower on Burns' shoulder to assist tackle and get over the ball,
*Look to slow them down with a well balanced back row,
*Use bench wisely with experience to come on and pace in the backs to target tired legs especially Vellacott who will be given a run out towards the end,
*Keep the scoreboard ticking over.

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London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Ben Franks	09. TJ Perenara
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Tadgh Furlong
04. Franco Van der Merwe	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Johnny Williams
06. Blair Cowan	13. Tom Fowlie
07. Sam Cane	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordie Barrett

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16. David Paice 17. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Sebastian De Chaves 20. Max Northcote-Green 21. Scott Steele 22. Theo Brophy-Clews 23. Joe Cokanasiga

Game plan

- Front 5 are our carriers, we want to use the ball carrying of Furlong/Retallick/VDM in tight to drag defenders in, then have Aumua running riot wider out against the defence when gaps open up

- Cane to play a demolition role - smash into tackles, stop them on the gainline, particularly targeting their big carriers like Ackermann/Morgan and knock them backwards

- Cowan and Schatz to play as spoilers at the breakdown, get amongst the ball when Cane has knocked them back and slow it down, win turnovers whenever its on but primarily slow the ball down

- Perenara/Cruden/Jordie to run the game - Perenara snipe whenever its on if they're too focused on the big carriers or Cruden

- Cruden and Jordie to split the field when in attacking position, options both sides. Use the strong scrum as a platform for this

- Use the boots of Cruden/Barrett to get us in the right areas, but both are running threats if they overcommit to blocking kicks

- Strong replacements off the bench to continue momentum

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Wasps vs Leicester Tigers
Ricoh Arena
Mostly sunny - 3 degrees, 10mph Westerly Winds

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Matt Mullan	09. Dan Robson
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Josh Bassett
05. Scott Barrett	12. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Elliot Daly
07. Thomas Young	14. Christian Wade
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

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16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. Paul Doran-Jones, 19. James Gaskell, 20. James Haskell, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Kyle Eastmond, 23. Juan De Jongh

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Tactics
Attack:
- Mix up our lines of attack, sometimes with two lines with forwards as options
- Loose forwards 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 too 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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Leicester Tigers

01. Ellis Genge	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. George Ford
03. Dan Cole
04. Dominic Barrow	11. Jonny May
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Matt Toomua
06. Brad Shields	13. Matthew Tait
07. Brendon O'Connor	14. Adam Thompstone
08. CJ Stander	15. Telusa Veainu

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Subs: 16. Harry Thacker 17. Logovi'i Mulipola 18. Pat Cilliers 19. Harry Wells 20. Mike Williams 21. Sam Harrison 22. Joe Ford 23. Manu Tuilagi
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Tactics:
- Solid set piece to set tone and provide solid platform
- Look to play high intensity rugby with a drift defence, not allowing for space for the opp
- Attack the breakdown when it's on with numerous option
- Physical pack to win collision and numerous carrying options to get us over the gain line
- Keep the intensity up with a strong bench
- Get Telusa Veainu into the game whenever possible, he's a match winner in these conditions

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Harlequins vs Saracens
The Stoop
Mostly sunny - 3 degrees, 10mph Westerly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Joe Marler	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith (k)
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Tim Visser
05. Johnny Gray	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Francis Saili
07. Jack Clifford	14. Marlon Yarde
08. Mat Luamanu	15. Mike Brown

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16. Mark Lambert 17. Elia Elia 18. Will Collier 19. George Merrick  20.  Jack Lam 21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. Demetri Catrakalis  23. Charlie Walker 


TACTICS

Breakdown:
  Clifford has no real competition in the wide channels with Sarries backrow very power focussed and should enjoy that. Robshaw to use nous to keep Itoje out of the game - Itoje is not a 6 and Robshaw is top level grafter. Think our backrow balance is far better.  As always unit work is key


Attack:


Running threats throughout our side brought into play by our attacking 9-10, with Smith playing flat and attacking the line, with depth in our line.


Set up the platform to move the point of attack with our flair 9-10, using the power of Brown, Roberts and Yarde on the carry, and pop balls to carriers like Sinckler/Coles/Luamanu.


We know Sarries will blitz, and we know from the real AP that we can exploit this with a clever kicking game from Care and in this case Smith - really target their wingers and the space behind their blitz, almost play an NFL style game with running back style plays off Brown/Roberts and quarterback style plays off 9-10 but with the boot not a forward pass.

Defence:

Quins beat Sarries in real life with a focus on killing fast ball with Robshaw, hounding Wrigglesworth out of the game, coming up fast on Farrell with the blitz and we will do this too. Sarries will make half-breaks so we have an NFL style 2 line defence, with Clifford, Care, Coles (and when free, Robshaw) looking to scramble and kill these. Luamanu's job to hit the Vunipola's before they can go forward and kill the carrying game.


Set Piece:
We have a top international class front row and lineout and will look to push with the scrum/maul on our own ball and set up moves, and be confident we can defend their lineout on the ground and compete on their ball with the world's best hooker on our side.



Other:


Take points where we see them and keep the scoreboard ticking. Tight discipline in our half with Farrell on their side. 

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Chris Wyles
05. George Kruis	12. Alex Lozowski
06. Maro Itoje	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Schalk Burger	14. Sean Maitland
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Liam Williams

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16. Schalk Brits  17. Richard Barrington 18. Juan Figallo 19. Nick Isiekwe  20. Jackson Wray 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Nathan Earle
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Tactics:

- Strong, physical pack to set a tone in the collisions. High intensity rugby, with big carries from numerous options. Will look to dominate the opposition pack and lay a foundation for our backs.
- Target Set piece and go for the jugular if a weakness is seen. Kicking for corners and territory if able to exert pressure in this area.
- Strong impact from the bench to keep intensity up.
- Typical Sarries blitz defence, squeezing the life out opposition and forcing errors.
- Play the game in the right areas of the pitch. Low error rugby and go through the phases when required.
- Farrell and Lozowski to give playmaking options and alternate at first receiver. Look to put Lozowski through gaps or mismatches and exploit his gas.
- Look to especially target the line with 3 world class defensive options in Kruis, Etzebeth and Itoje. These 3 make steals for fun and with few options for Quins will look to really hammer them here.
- Get the flankers targeting Smith from the off. He's not used to this kind of level and we'll have Burger and Itoje looking to hit him hard early on.  
- Quins are missing a bit of form and cohesion in the backline so we'll look to exploit this. Look to close down Smith and Roberts and dry up the options for the outside backs.
- Lack of quality kicking options in the Quins backline - we think this will make them predictable and our wolf pack defence will be all over them. We'll look to keep the FB and SH available form chips and cross fields, with all our back 3 strong under the high ball.
- Keep the intensity up throughout with a very strong bench adding impact.  

Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk
02. Rob Webber	10. Nicolas Sanchez (k)
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Will Addison
05. Josh Beaumont (c)	12. Sam James
06. Judicael Cancoriet	13. Jack Goodhue
07. Tom Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. James O'Connor

16. Malcolm Marx 17. Greg Bateman 18. Halani Aulika 19. Bryn Evans 20.  Jono Ross 21. Ben Curry 22. Antoine Dupont 23. Mike Haley

- International quality at 9 and 10 to control the game. Du Klerk to control tempo and Sanchez to control territory and direction of attacks.

- Use our pack to get use over the gain line. Offload just before contact to help us carry over the gain line to keep momentum. Forwards to carry primarily of 9, 10 and 12.

- Look to get the ball wide when we have go forward and the Warriors defence is disorganised. Create space for our outside backs in the outside channels. Try to create mismatches with opposition forwards.

- Du Toit, Beaumont and Cancoriet to pressure Warriors line out at the middle and tail to prevent clean and quick ball off the top.

- Back row to attack the breakdown to turn the ball over or force penalties. Punish isolated carriers. Chop tackles to allow the first man to attack the ball.

- Play the conditions. Slow the ball down and use the kicking game of 9,10, 12 and 15 to control territory.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Chris Wyles
05. George Kruis	12. Alex Lozowski
06. Maro Itoje	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Schalk Burger	14. Sean Maitland
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Liam Williams

:-
16. Schalk Brits  17. Richard Barrington 18. Juan Figallo 19. Nick Isiekwe  20. Jackson Wray 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Nathan Earle
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Tactics:

- Strong, physical pack to set a tone in the collisions. High intensity rugby, with big carries from numerous options. Will look to dominate the opposition pack and lay a foundation for our backs.
- Target Set piece and go for the jugular if a weakness is seen. Kicking for corners and territory if able to exert pressure in this area.
- Strong impact from the bench to keep intensity up.
- Typical Sarries blitz defence, squeezing the life out opposition and forcing errors.
- Play the game in the right areas of the pitch. Low error rugby and go through the phases when required.
- Farrell and Lozowski to give playmaking options and alternate at first receiver. Look to put Lozowski through gaps or mismatches and exploit his gas.
- Look to especially target the line with 3 world class defensive options in Kruis, Etzebeth and Itoje. These 3 make steals for fun and with few options for Quins will look to really hammer them here.
- Get the flankers targeting Smith from the off. He's not used to this kind of level and we'll have Burger and Itoje looking to hit him hard early on.  
- Quins are missing a bit of form and cohesion in the backline so we'll look to exploit this. Look to close down Smith and Roberts and dry up the options for the outside backs.
- Lack of quality kicking options in the Quins backline - we think this will make them predictable and our wolf pack defence will be all over them. We'll look to keep the FB and SH available form chips and cross fields, with all our back 3 strong under the high ball.
- Keep the intensity up throughout with a very strong bench adding impact.  

Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Paul Hill
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Tom Collins
05. Michael Paterson	12. Piers Francis
06. Tom Wood	13. Rob Horne
07. Jamie Gibson	14. George North
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

.
16. Mikey Haywood, 17. Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18. Campese Ma'afu, 19. Christian Day, 20. Teimana Harrison, 21. Nic Groom, 22. Steven Myler, 23. Ben Foden

Team News

Northampton Saints have freshened up their side after a strong start to the season. Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes both return after being given a week off after England duty, in place of Mikey Haywood and Christian Day. Paul Hill also gets a first start of the season in place of Kieran Brookes. Jamie Gibson replaces Teimana Harrison, who drops to the bench, in the backrow. In the backs, Piers Francis comes in for Luther Burrell whilst Tom Collins comes back on the wing in place of Ben Foden.

Tactics

- Use Isa as the main carrier, supported by Lawes, Hartley, Wood
- Sexton to kick all pens for goal in range, otherwise go for corner
- Bring North off his wing to look for work
- Use Norths height with cross field kicks
- Goode to act as second playmaker on occasion

Markeroooo

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Matt Mullan	09. Dan Robson
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Josh Bassett
05. Scott Barrett	12. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Elliot Daly
07. Thomas Young	14. Christian Wade
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

_
16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. Paul Doran-Jones, 19. James Gaskell, 20. James Haskell, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Kyle Eastmond, 23. Juan De Jongh

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Tactics
Attack:
- Mix up our lines of attack, sometimes with two lines with forwards as options
- Loose forwards 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 too 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

Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Aaron Smith
02. James Hanson	10. Billy Burns
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Savage (c)	11. Henry Purdy
05. Franco Mostert	12. Owen Williams
06. Jake Polledri	13. Jon Davies
07. Ruan Ackerman	14. Ollie Thorley
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jason Woodward

_
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Ross Moriarty 21. Ben Vellacott 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Tom Marshall

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Tactics
*Look to grind them down in the front 5 with a hefty pack not afraid to do dirty work,
*Forwards to work in pods round the corner 2 phases then wide and hit gaps,
*JD2 and Williams to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Burns to look to get quick ball out, if it isn't on then tactical kicking to corners,
*Defence led by JD2 and with a back rower on Burns' shoulder to assist tackle and get over the ball,
*Look to slow them down with a well balanced back row,
*Use bench wisely with experience to come on and pace in the backs to target tired legs especially Vellacott who will be given a run out towards the end,
*Keep the scoreboard ticking over.

London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Ben Franks	09. TJ Perenara
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Tadgh Furlong
04. Franco Van der Merwe	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Johnny Williams
06. Blair Cowan	13. Tom Fowlie
07. Sam Cane	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordie Barrett

:-
16. David Paice 17. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Sebastian De Chaves 20. Max Northcote-Green 21. Scott Steele 22. Theo Brophy-Clews 23. Joe Cokanasiga

Game plan

- Front 5 are our carriers, we want to use the ball carrying of Furlong/Retallick/VDM in tight to drag defenders in, then have Aumua running riot wider out against the defence when gaps open up

- Cane to play a demolition role - smash into tackles, stop them on the gainline, particularly targeting their big carriers like Ackermann/Morgan and knock them backwards

- Cowan and Schatz to play as spoilers at the breakdown, get amongst the ball when Cane has knocked them back and slow it down, win turnovers whenever its on but primarily slow the ball down

- Perenara/Cruden/Jordie to run the game - Perenara snipe whenever its on if they're too focused on the big carriers or Cruden

- Cruden and Jordie to split the field when in attacking position, options both sides. Use the strong scrum as a platform for this

- Use the boots of Cruden/Barrett to get us in the right areas, but both are running threats if they overcommit to blocking kicks

- Strong replacements off the bench to continue momentum

Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Conor Murray
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Harry Williams
04. Mitch Lees	11. Jack Nowell
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Henry Slade
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Olly Woodburn
08. Sam Simmonds	15. Lachlan Turner

. 
16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Greg Holmes, 19. Jonny Hill, 20. Thomas Waldrom, 21. Nic White 22. Anthony Belleau, 23. James Short

Look to play the real life Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack. Dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore, keeping it narrow until we create quick enough possession to feed our back line.  

- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Simmonds or Armand to launch themselves off the back of mauls. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Bath of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 
- It will be phases of carrying, running at least in pairs to help maintain a leg drive. This is the standard Chiefs style, and causes the opposition defence to be drawn into the defend through the middle, creating space out wide for our back line to exploit. 
- Half-backs to dictate the game and play for territory. Steenson to also kick available points when on offer - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 
- Devoto to act as the second playmaker and look to spread the ball wide to back three when the space is available to attack, or to take pressure off Steenson on clearances.
- Wingers to come in off their wings and look for work, and get them 1v1 on a forward to make the most of their footwork and speed to beat the slow Bath forwards. 
- Not worried about how Bath will play, we will chop them low and early to allow our back row to compete and slow their ball down. The game is based around us having possession for long periods and forcing Bath to panic when they have the ball, as they will want to do something immediately with it, if they get it, and this should yield mistakes and forced opportunities for us to capatilise on.

Bam - we must be the same person, posting our teams almost at the same time... 

I blame Chris......time for an ip address check I think

Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Joe Marler	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith (k)
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Tim Visser
05. Johnny Gray	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Francis Saili
07. Jack Clifford	14. Marlon Yarde
08. Mat Luamanu	15. Mike Brown

:-
16. Mark Lambert 17. Elia Elia 18. Will Collier 19. George Merrick  20.  Jack Lam 21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. Demetri Catrakalis  23. Charlie Walker 


TACTICS

Breakdown:
  Clifford has no real competition in the wide channels with Sarries backrow very power focussed and should enjoy that. Robshaw to use nous to keep Itoje out of the game - Itoje is not a 6 and Robshaw is top level grafter. Think our backrow balance is far better.  As always unit work is key


Attack:


Running threats throughout our side brought into play by our attacking 9-10, with Smith playing flat and attacking the line, with depth in our line.


Set up the platform to move the point of attack with our flair 9-10, using the power of Brown, Roberts and Yarde on the carry, and pop balls to carriers like Sinckler/Coles/Luamanu.


We know Sarries will blitz, and we know from the real AP that we can exploit this with a clever kicking game from Care and in this case Smith - really target their wingers and the space behind their blitz, almost play an NFL style game with running back style plays off Brown/Roberts and quarterback style plays off 9-10 but with the boot not a forward pass.

Defence:

Quins beat Sarries in real life with a focus on killing fast ball with Robshaw, hounding Wrigglesworth out of the game, coming up fast on Farrell with the blitz and we will do this too. Sarries will make half-breaks so we have an NFL style 2 line defence, with Clifford, Care, Coles (and when free, Robshaw) looking to scramble and kill these. Luamanu's job to hit the Vunipola's before they can go forward and kill the carrying game.


Set Piece:
We have a top international class front row and lineout and will look to push with the scrum/maul on our own ball and set up moves, and be confident we can defend their lineout on the ground and compete on their ball with the world's best hooker on our side.



Other:


Take points where we see them and keep the scoreboard ticking. Tight discipline in our half with Farrell on their side. 

1. Eddy Ben Arous
2. Jack Singleton
3. Nick Schonert
4. Will Spencer
5. Guido Petti
6. Peter O'Mahoney
7. Michael Hooper
8. David Denton
9. Francois Hougaard
10. Beauden Barrett
11. Dean Hammond
12. Ryan Mills
13. Ben Te'o
14. Josh Adams
15. Chris Pennell

16. Joe Taufete'e
17. Ethan Waller
18. Biyi Alo
19. Donnacha O’Callaghan
20. GJ Van Velze
21. Jonny Arr
22. Jamie Shilock
23. Wynard Olivier

- Dominate using our pack and use our backs as decoy runners and defence
- Big front row will look to dominate th scrum
- Commit numbers to the breakdown
- Barrett to control the game, let loose his creativity
- Hougaard allowed to attack
- Petti to run the line out

Bath Team for Round 4

15.Anthony Watson
14.Semseasa Rokoduguni
13.Jonathan Joseph
12.Robbie Henshaw
11.Aled Brew
10.Freddie Burns
9.Kahn Fotuali'i

1.Nathan Catt
2.Tom Dunn
3.Romerio Herrera
4.Charlie Ewels (C)
5.Dave Attwood
6.Francois Louw (C)
7.Sam Underhill
8.Zac Mercer

16.Nathan Charles 17.Nick Auterac 18.Henry Thomas 19.Luke Charteris 20.Toby Falatau 21.Chris Cook 22.Rhys Priestland 23.Matt Banahan

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Sam Lockwood	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Santiago Socino	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Callum Green	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Iain Henderson	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Steven Luatua	13. Maxine Mermoz
07. Nili Latu (c)	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Opeti Fonua	15. Alex Tait

:-
16. Kyle Cooper 17. Rob Vickers 18. David Wilson 19. Sean Robinson 20. Mark Wilson 21. Sam Stuart 22. Craig Willis 23. DTH Van Der Merwe

TACTICS


- Blitz defence with good line speed with 9 and 15 sweeping.
- Big runners carrying close to the ruck but looking to keep the ball alive with offloads to runners on their shoulder.

• Bath have picked a big physical pack to take on chiefs and disrupt game.
• Plenty of carriers and work rate in pack, Underhill to target isolated runners for the turnover
• Kahn to look for the short runners following his snipe the generate quick ball to slow chiefs line speed down and isolate runners.
• Freddie Burn’s to chip the ball over the top and in behind woodburn specifically to test his positioning out.
• Using a blitz defence when short on numbers to put pressure on Steenson
• Pick and Game will be effective for us today and Burns will look to put us in the corners but moving the ball when its on.
• Burns to punish Chiefs indiscipline’s with shots at goal.
• Attwood/Ewels to go up on Chiefs lineout and put pressure on

PREDICTIONS OPEN

Please send scores to Flux.

CJB can you give me a shout when you add yours and I'll try and put them into the thread.

Northampton Saints 24 - 23 Newcastle Falcons
A really tight affair in the front 5 with neither side getting any real advantage. Past that it's the same story, such a tight game with no side really dominating. I think this one will come down to home advantage with Saints just sneaking it. 

Northampton Saints 29 - 21 Newcastle Falcons
Overall a small advantage to Saints in the scrum and a big one in the lineout. Falcons grit, power and physicality in the pack can really make metres in the maul, driving etc. RElatively tight breakdown. Lots of play making in Saints line, which will mostly be looking to use North to finish, whereas Falcons have less control but more threats, and will surely get a wonder try or two but Saints too solid. 

Northampton Saints 19 - 18 Newcastle Falcons
Northampton looking strong and have a bit too much for Falcons, who lack a little bit of international quality in key positions. Sexton is a little out of form but has the players around him to take some of the pressure off. The conditions won't really allow for an exciting brand of rugby so I see it as a low scoring game of attrition. 

Northampton Saints 20 - 21 Newcastle Falcons

Northampton Saints 27 - 23 Newcastle Falcons
Falcons a bit rudderless at the moment, and up against a very decent Saints side I think they'll struggle to get enough ball and field position to really threaten

Northampton Saints 23 - 22 Newcastle Falcons

Northampton Saints 25 - 21 Newcastle Falcons
Saints have more in pack with Isa , Paterson and Lawes all able to get them on front foot and some better lineout operators. Sexton/Francis/Goode all ballers and can get the backs moving and scoring tries.

Northampton Saints 21 - 20 Newcastle Falcons

Worcester Warriors 29 - 25 Sale Sharks
Good scrum battle with Worcester just shading it and similar in the 2nd row. Impressive backrow from Worcester and possibly one of the best in the league will get some advantage around the park against a non too shabby Sale outfit. On the front foot can see Barrett causing some real damage and Worcester coming away with a decent win. 

Worcester Warriors 17 - 15 Sale Sharks
With POM, Worcester pack is seriously gnarly and grizzled, with a good set piece and now looks preety dangerous at the breakdown. Sale are also tough but look less physical, with a very mobile backrow. In the sun, elsewhere, Sale would have an edge there, but today Wuss have a big advantage in the pack. Hougaard vital in the rain, but pack is the real key and Worcester win that.

Worcester Warriors 24 - 25 Sale Sharks

Worcester Warriors 26 - 25 Sale Sharks

Worcester Warriors 24 - 26 Sale Sharks
Really difficult to call. Both sides have strong packs, think Sale have the better pack, but the Worcester 8 might slightly edge it in the filthy conditions. Think the difference will be behind the scrum, with a very strong set of backs for Sale having the edge over a weaker Worcester backline, and they'll just create enough for a win

Worcester Warriors 19 - 18 Sale Sharks

Worcester Warriors 13 - 13 Sale Sharks
Tough game to call with conditions spoiling the game. Wuss 6-10 are best set up in league. Real good front 5 battle. Can't split

Worcester Warriors 24 - 25 Sale Sharks

Exeter Chiefs 20 - 19 Bath Rugby
Another good. close contest showing how tight the league is at the minute. Whitelock can really drive the Exeter front 5 on and see them just getting the edge here. Possibly just prefer the Bath backrow but so little in it. Murray will direct things in the backs but Bath perhaps a touch stronger after that. Very close game. 

Exeter Chiefs 23 - 22 Bath Rugby
Both sides look very strong across the park, both packs very balanced and dynamic. Henshaw makes that Bath backline tick, good buy. Hard to separate, home team wins.

Exeter Chiefs 18 - 16 Bath Rugby
Far from ideal conditions. I think the game is won by the half backs for Exeter who offer control in the difficult conditions. Packs aren't easily separated but the exciting Bath backs won't get the quality of ball in these conditions to really impact on game. 

Exeter Chiefs 23 - 22 Bath Rugby

Exeter Chiefs 27 - 26 Bath Rugby

Exeter Chiefs 24 - 20 Bath Rugby
Chiefs pack looks really good, Hepburn has come back on fire and Whitelock adds class. With a very strong back row, they're a tough match up for anyone with Murray steering the ship. Bath look good too, but think Exeter will be hard to beat at home this season

Exeter Chiefs 24 - 23 Bath Rugby

Gloucester Rugby 23 - 25 London Irish
The early pace setters against one of the big underdogs sees the away side get some control in the front 5 with a strong unit. Cane gives Irish some help in the backrow but it's possibly just siding to the home side. The NZ halfbacks really help Irish and although their centres can be got at, it's close in the back 3. 

Gloucester Rugby 24 - 28 London Irish
Gloucester try to take on the Irish pack and use their class at 9 and 13. Irish have bought well though and have a top pack, with a world class performer in each of scrum, lineout and breakdown supported by good players, and I think will edge Gloucester, then a very attacking backline can take advantage with very good tactics. Big away win

Gloucester Rugby 24 - 23 London Irish
A good contest with some of the Worlds best players on show. Smith hugely improves the Gloucester back line and they already have a strong, abbrasive pack. I don't quite think Irish have the quality across the side to get the away win against a strong Gloucester side.

Gloucester Rugby 25 - 25 London Irish

Gloucester Rugby 25 - 24 London Irish

Gloucester Rugby 17 - 20 London Irish
Gloucester forwards really good, would have just started Moriarty as he'd make a difference over 80 minutes. Can see Williams and Davies not working as well as hoped. Irish half backs can make things from nothing.

Gloucester Rugby 25 - 24 London Irish

Wasps 24 - 25 Leicester Tigers
Clear edge in the front row to Tigers although the Wasps engine room is a step up. Fantastic backrow contest but Tigers taking the backs and have an edge to just take things, cracking game.

Wasps 27 - 27 Leicester Tigers
Wasps on top in the scrum and carrying. Very good battle in the backrow that I can't separate, and awesome contest between the halfback combos - more form there to Tigers? Wasps all out attack in their backs, and play to use that, relying on Gopperth's boot as the pressure valve. Tigers more multipurpose in the backs.  I think a draw

Wasps 23 - 23 Leicester Tigers
Two strong sides who are likely to challenge at the end of the season. Can't really call between the packs but Leicester have the stronger half backs with outside backs even. Shields is a super addition along with Stander to really sure up the Leicester pack. Can't see anything but a draw in this one.

Wasps 26 - 25 Leicester Tigers

Wasps 28 - 27 Leicester Tigers

Wasps 27 - 23 Leicester Tigers
Wasps a strong looking team, the packs match up well, but Wasps backs are probably the best in the league. Leicester's half backs keep it close, but Wasps take it

Wasps 29 - 23 Leicester Tigers
Really open game this with home advantage and danger men like Le Roux being a step up in quality making the difference.

Wasps 23 - 22 Leicester Tigers

Harlequins 20 - 20 Saracens
Saracens pack is stronger her besides the front rows which are well matched. Half backs one a piece with Care and Farrell both playing well. I prefer the Quins outside backs there isn't a lot in it at all. Think Saracens have enough to come away with the draw.

Harlequins 24 - 25 Saracens

Harlequins 24 - 25 Saracens

Harlequins 24 - 24 Saracens
This is a great game, Quins one of the few in the league able to take on Sarries. Front rows even, second row just favours Sarries on form, while the back row is a real contrast of styles and with Billy lacking form I think Quins are stronger with their tactic of using Clifford out wide. Backs pretty even as a whole, but I can't call it. Draw it is

Harlequins 30 - 31 Saracens

Harlequins 14 - 20 Saracens
Quins team is young and dynamic but lacks the experience to beat the Saracens machine. Saints better across the fifteen and plenty of danger outside.

Harlequins 20 - 19 Saracens

I voted too Flux

Well won Pooly.

BamBam wrote:I voted too Flux

Sorry mate, missed you off