Aviva Premiership - Round 6

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Bath Rugby vs Wasps
The Rec
Light Cloud - 5 degrees, 19mph North Easterly Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Driver

01. Beno Obano	09. Kahn Fotuali
02. Tom Dunn	10. Rhys Priestland (k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Luke Charteris	11. Semesa Rokoduguni
05. Matt Garvey	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Francois Louw (c)	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Zac Mercer	14. Matt Banahan
08. Toby Faletau	15. Anthony Watson

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16. Jack Walker, 17.Nick Auterac, 18. - , 19. Dave Attwood, 20. - 21. Chris Cook, 22. Freddie Burns, 23. Max Clark


Sam Underhill and Henry Thomas both injured. Mercer takes Underhill's place in the XV, Thomas removed from the bench. 

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Wasps

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Exeter Chiefs vs Leicester Tigers
Sandy Park
Light Cloud - 6 degrees, 21mph North Easterly Winds
Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Nic White
02. Jack Yeandle (c)	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Harry Williams
04. Jonny Hill	11. Jack Nowell
05. Sam Skinner	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Dave Ewers	13. Sam Hill
07. Matt Kvesic	14. James Short
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Lachlan Turner

. 
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Greg Holmes, 19. Mitch Lees 20. James Chisholm, 21. Jack Maunder 22. Anthony Belleau, 23. Jacob Stockdale

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 Waldrom or Ewers to launch themselves off the back of mauls. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Leicester 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 Tigers forwards. 
- Not worried about how Leicester 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 Tigers 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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Leicester Tigers

01. Ellis Genge	09. Sam Harrison
02. Tom Youngs	10. George Ford
03. Dan Cole
04. Dominic Barrow	11. Jonny May
05. Vaea Fifita	12. Matt Toomua
06. CJ Stander	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Brad Shields	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Telusa Veainu

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Subs: 16. Harry Thacker 17. Simon McIntyre 18. Chris Baumann 19. Matt Symons 20. Mike Williams 21. Jono Kitto 22. Joe Ford 23. Nick Malouf
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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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Gloucester Rugby vs Sale Sharks
Kingsholm Stadium
Sunny Intervals - 5 degrees, 19mph North Easterly Winds

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Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Richie Mo'unga (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Jeremy Thrush (c)	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Franco Mostert	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Lewis Ludlow	13. Jon Davies
07. Ruan Ackerman	14. Ollie Thorley
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jason Woodward

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16. James Hanson 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Jake Polledri  21. Ben Vellacott 22. Billy Burns 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 12T to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Mo'unga 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 Mo'unga's 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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 Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Josh Beaumont	11. Byron McGuigan
05. Pieter Steph Du Toit	12. Sam James
06. Judicael Cancoriet	13. Jack Goodhue
07. Ben Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. James O'Connor

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16. Rob Webber 17. Greg Bateman 18. Halani Aulika  19. Jono Ross 20 TJ Ioane 21. Antoine |Dupont 22. Will Addison 23. Keelan Giles

Tactics

- Fast paced rugby when we have quick ball. Led by Du Klerk at 9. Look to get behind the defence then get the ball wide to McGuigan and Solomona.

- Use a quick line speed to put decision makers under pressure. Look to win collisions when they are on the back foot otherwise chop and get the first man over (Curry,Cancoriet, Strauss, Marx)

- Use the boots of Du Klerk, Sanchez , James and O'Connor to turn Gloucester when we are deep in our own territory or they have limited cover.

- Pressure on line out from Beaumont and Du Toit.

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Harlequins vs Northampton Saints
Twickenham Stoop
Light Cloud - 6 degrees, 15mph North Easterly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Joe Marler	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith (k)
03. Will Collier
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Tim Visser
05. Johnny Gray	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mat Luamanu	13. Francis Saili
07. Jack Clifford	14. Charlie Walker
08. Renaldo Bothma	15. Mike Brown

:-
16.  Lewis Boyce 17. Dave Ward 18. Phil Swainston   19. George Merrick 20. Jack Lam 21. Will Chudley 22. Demetri Catrakalis  23. Marlon Yarde

TACTICS

Breakdown:

The backrow is an area we can attack, with Lawes not a real 6 and a slight imbalance for Saints, and we will split our breakdown approach. When the ball is wide from the last breakdown, we will really attack for the turnover with Clifford much faster than other forwards and good on the floor. Tighter in, we will look more to use a unit and rucking power from our powerful forwards and slow down ball and counterruck to disrupt. If the turnover tight in looks on, we will commit numbers. In attack, we will look to offload wide and recycle with our dynamic rucking in tight.

Attack:
Offloading wide, recycling phases from the ground in tight, earn right to go wide. 
Attacking the line off Smith, looking to use powerful forward carriers inside off the pop and Roberts the carrier at 12 to take pressure off Smith and allow him to use his passing game to put players in space once we have sucked defenders in, then keep racking up incessant phases before the defence can set. Brown coming into the line inside 13 an option to get go ahead as well.
If the blitz tries to get in our face, Care and Smith to use kicking game to our dangerous sniping wings, something we will do as a surprise in their 22 anyway. 
If they try to bully Smith, Care has licence to snipe and we will playmake off him.
Back up options of sending highballs on the run at Goode, chased by Walker and Brown, grinding through the pack led by Horwill

Defence:
Blitz, led by Roberts, Care sweeping
Saints main carrying threat is Isa, so look to man mark him with Luamanu and take that away from them

Setpiece:
Saints have a very good lineout, but ours will be safe as houses with Coles and Horwill. Mix our options up, switching up maul and tap down, and look to defend their lineout on the ground as we won't steal much in the air
In the scrum, Hartley is out of form, so look to pop him up. Looking for steady scrum on our ball.

Other:
Take any easy kicks on offer, but happy to take risks and go for tries. 
Kicking, we will look to kick high and chase for possession. Happy to mix up running and kicking back in back 3.
Subs - Bring on Lam and Ward in last 20 after all out games from backrow and Coles, and use that to really attack breakdown.

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Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. David Ribbans	11. Tom Collins
05. Michael Paterson	12. Luther Burrell
06. Courtney Lawes	13. Rob Horne
07. Tom Wood	14. George North
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

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16 Campese Ma'afu, 17 Mikey Haywood, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Christian Day, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Steven Myler, 23 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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London Irish vs Newcastle Falcons
Madjeski Stadium
Light Cloud - 5 degrees, 17mph North Easterly Winds

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London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Gordon Reid	09. TJ Perenara
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Josh McNally	11. Joe Cokanasiga
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Jordie Barrett
06. Blair Cowan	13. Johnny Williams
07. Sam Cane	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordan Larmour

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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. Fergus Mulchrone

Carriers throughout the pack - Aumua out wide, Retallick in close leading the way to smash through their defensive line

Run back from deep with Larmour, Lewington and Cokanasiga leading the counter

Use Jordie and Cruden to split the field - Jordie can line up anywhere from fly half to full back, use him to create mismatches in the defensive line

TJ to snipe from scrum half whenever its on, they'll be looking to pressure our 10/12 combo

Cane slow down ball at every opportunity

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Rob Vickers	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Kyle Cooper	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Dominic Bird	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Iain Henderson	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Mark Wilson	13. Maxine Mermoz
07. Nili Latu	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Opeti Fonua	15. Alex Tait

:-
16. Ben Sowery 17. Sami Mavinga 18. David Wilson 19. Sean Robinson 20. Will Welch 21. Micky Young 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.
- Fast paced game with high tempo offloading game

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Saracens vs Worcester Warriors
Allianz Park
Light Cloud - 5 degrees, 18mph North Easterly Winds

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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. Jackson Wray	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Schalk Burger	14. Sean Maitland
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Liam Williams

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16. Schalk Brits  17. Hayden Thompson-Stringer 18. Juan Figallo 19. Will Skelton  20. Maro Itoje 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Damian Penaud
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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.
-TARGET LINEOUT - Numerous world class jumpers and excellent defensive line out options. Look to mark Spencer and push pressure on the Wuss throw. Think we can get a lot of joy in this area with Etzebeth and Kruis either side of Spencer. If weakness seen look to pin Wuss back in own half and force pressure.

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Worcester Warriors
Manager: CJB

01. Ethan Waller	09. Jonny Arr
02. Joe Taufete'e	10. Jamie Shillcock
03. Biyi Alo
04. Will Spencer	11. Dean Hammond
05. Christian Scotland-Williamson	12. Ngani Laumape
06. David Denton	13. Wynard Olivier
07. Sam Lewis	14. Bryce Heem
08. GJ Van Velze	15. Perry Humphreys

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16. Jack Singleton, 17. Gareth Milanosivich, 18. Nick Schonert, 19. Guido Petti, 20. Peter O’Mahony, 21. Francois Hougaard, 22. Beauden Barrett, 23. Ben Te'o

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Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Richie Mo'unga (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Jeremy Thrush (c)	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Franco Mostert	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Lewis Ludlow	13. Jon Davies
07. Ruan Ackerman	14. Ollie Thorley
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jason Woodward

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16. James Hanson 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Jake Polledri 21. Ben Vellacott 22. Billy Burns 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 12T to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Mo'unga 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 Mo'unga's 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.

Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Josh Beaumont	11. Byron McGuigan
05. Pieter Steph Du Toit	12. Sam James
06. Judicael Cancoriet	13. Jack Goodhue
07. Ben Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. James O'Connor

16. Rob Webber 17. Greg Bateman 18. Halani Aulika  19. Jono Ross 20 TJ Ioane 21. Antoine |Dupont 22. Will Addison 23. Keelan Giles

Tactics

- Fast paced rugby when we have quick ball. Led by Du Klerk at 9. Look to get behind the defence then get the ball wide to McGuigan and Solomona.

- Use a quick line speed to put decision makers under pressure. Look to win collisions when they are on the back foot otherwise chop and get the first man over (Curry,Cancoriet, Strauss, Marx)

- Use the boots of Du Klerk, Sanchez , James and O'Connor to turn Gloucester when we are deep in our own territory or they have limited cover.

- Pressure on line out from Beaumont and Du Toit.

Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. David Ribbans	11. Tom Collins
05. Michael Paterson	12. Luther Burrell
06. Courtney Lawes	13. Rob Horne
07. Tom Wood	14. George North
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

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16 Campese Ma'afu, 17 Mikey Haywood, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Christian Day, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Steven Myler, 23 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

Have these in Thurs if ok

Conditions updated

1. Ethan Waller
2. Joe Tau’fete
3. Biyi Alo
4. Will Spencer
5. Christian Scotland Williamson
6. David Denton
7. Sam Lewis
8. GJ Van Velzs
9. Jonny Arr
10. Jamie Shilock
11. Dean Hammond
12. Ngani Laumape
13. Wynard Olivier
14. Bryce Heln
15. Perry Humphreys

16. Jack Singleton
17. Gareth Milanosivich
18. Nick Schonert
19. Guido Petti
20. Peter O’Mahoney
21. Francois Hougaard
22. Beauden Barrett
23. Ben Teo

Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Joe Marler	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith (k)
03. Will Collier
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Tim Visser
05. Johnny Gray	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mat Luamanu	13. Francis Saili
07. Jack Clifford	14. Charlie Walker
08. Renaldo Bothma	15. Mike Brown

:-
16.  Lewis Boyce 17. Dave Ward 18. Phil Swainston   19. George Merrick 20. Jack Lam 21. Will Chudley 22. Demetri Catrakalis  23. Marlon Yarde

TACTICS

Breakdown:

The backrow is an area we can attack, with Lawes not a real 6 and a slight imbalance for Saints, and we will split our breakdown approach. When the ball is wide from the last breakdown, we will really attack for the turnover with Clifford much faster than other forwards and good on the floor. Tighter in, we will look more to use a unit and rucking power from our powerful forwards and slow down ball and counterruck to disrupt. If the turnover tight in looks on, we will commit numbers. In attack, we will look to offload wide and recycle with our dynamic rucking in tight.

Attack:
Offloading wide, recycling phases from the ground in tight, earn right to go wide. 
Attacking the line off Smith, looking to use powerful forward carriers inside off the pop and Roberts the carrier at 12 to take pressure off Smith and allow him to use his passing game to put players in space once we have sucked defenders in, then keep racking up incessant phases before the defence can set. Brown coming into the line inside 13 an option to get go ahead as well.
If the blitz tries to get in our face, Care and Smith to use kicking game to our dangerous sniping wings, something we will do as a surprise in their 22 anyway. 
If they try to bully Smith, Care has licence to snipe and we will playmake off him.
Back up options of sending highballs on the run at Goode, chased by Walker and Brown, grinding through the pack led by Horwill

Defence:
Blitz, led by Roberts, Care sweeping
Saints main carrying threat is Isa, so look to man mark him with Luamanu and take that away from them

Setpiece:
Saints have a very good lineout, but ours will be safe as houses with Coles and Horwill. Mix our options up, switching up maul and tap down, and look to defend their lineout on the ground as we won't steal much in the air
In the scrum, Hartley is out of form, so look to pop him up. Looking for steady scrum on our ball.

Other:
Take any easy kicks on offer, but happy to take risks and go for tries. 
Kicking, we will look to kick high and chase for possession. Happy to mix up running and kicking back in back 3.
Subs - Bring on Lam and Ward in last 20 after all out games from backrow and Coles, and use that to really attack breakdown.

Doing my team now, been pretty ill last few days.

1.Beno Obano
2.Tom Dunn
3.Ramiro Herrera
4.Luke Charteris
5.Matt Garvey
6.Francois Louw (C)
7.Sam Underhill
8.Toby Falatau

9.Kahn Fotaluti
10.Rhys Priestland (K)
11.Semusa Rokodoguni
12.Robbie Henshaw
13.Johnathan Joseph
14.Matt Banahan
15.Anthony Watson

16.Jack Walker 17.Nick Auterac 18.Henry Thomas 19.Dave Attwood 20.Zac Mercer 21.Chris Cook 22.Freddie Burns 23.Max Clark

Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Nic White
02. Jack Yeandle (c)	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Harry Williams
04. Jonny Hill	11. Jack Nowell
05. Sam Skinner	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Dave Ewers	13. Sam Hill
07. Matt Kvesic	14. James Short
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Lachlan Turner

. 
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Greg Holmes, 19. Mitch Lees 20. James Chisholm, 21. Jack Maunder 22. Anthony Belleau, 23. Jacob Stockdale

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 Waldrom or Ewers to launch themselves off the back of mauls. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Leicester 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 Tigers forwards. 
- Not worried about how Leicester 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 Tigers 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.

London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Gordon Reid	09. TJ Perenara
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Josh McNally	11. Joe Cokanasiga
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Jordie Barrett
06. Blair Cowan	13. Johnny Williams
07. Sam Cane	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordan Larmour

:-
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. Fergus Mulchrone

Carriers throughout the pack - Aumua out wide, Retallick in close leading the way to smash through their defensive line

Run back from deep with Larmour, Lewington and Cokanasiga leading the counter

Use Jordie and Cruden to split the field - Jordie can line up anywhere from fly half to full back, use him to create mismatches in the defensive line

TJ to snipe from scrum half whenever its on, they'll be looking to pressure our 10/12 combo

Cane slow down ball at every opportunity

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. Jackson Wray	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Schalk Burger	14. Sean Maitland
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Liam Williams

:-
16. Schalk Brits  17. Hayden Thompson-Stringer 18. Juan Figallo 19. Will Skelton  20. Maro Itoje 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Damian Penaud
-
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.
-TARGET LINEOUT - Numerous world class jumpers and excellent defensive line out options. Look to mark Spencer and push pressure on the Wuss throw. Think we can get a lot of joy in this area with Etzebeth and Kruis either side of Spencer. If weakness seen look to pin Wuss back in own half and force pressure.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Rob Vickers	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Kyle Cooper	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Dominic Bird	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Iain Henderson	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Mark Wilson	13. Maxine Mermoz
07. Nili Latu	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Opeti Fonua	15. Alex Tait

:-
16. Ben Sowery 17. Sami Mavinga 18. David Wilson 19. Sean Robinson 20. Will Welch 21. Micky Young 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.
- Fast paced game with high tempo offloading game

Predictions Open - to me by midday Monday - this week!

If Pull can get a side in, within the next few hours I will put it up. Likewise, Driver you have to injuries in your 23, you can amend within the next few hours, otherwise, teams will be locked in, as they are.

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Logovi'i Mulipola	09. Dan Robson
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. James Gaskell	11. Elliot Daly
05. Scott Barrett	12. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
06. James Haskell	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Thomas Young	14. Christian Wade
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

_
16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Alex Lundberg, 18. Paul Doran-Jones, 19. Kearnan Myall, 20. Sean O'Brien, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Kyle Eastmond, 23. Josh Bassett

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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

Sorry - I 'edited' last weeks post by mistake rather than copying across

Any last minute predictions get them to me

Mine coming in 10, completely forgot

Bath Rugby 21 - 25 Wasps
Bath with 2 players down and no tactics hurts them just a bit too much against the league leaders. The game is pretty close with 2 full strength outfits but hard to not award Wasps the win with a good bench. 

Bath Rugby 22 - 22 Wasps

Bath Rugby 20 - 25 Wasps
2 promising front rows and a close scrum battle, but Bath have the edge in the second row and probably lineout. 2 very good backrows, but breakdown edged by Wasps. Then the big difference is the attacking flair, which is good for both sides but exceptional for Wasps, and with good attacking tactics as well, Wasps can take the away victory

Bath Rugby 25 - 25 Wasps

Bath Rugby 27 - 24 Wasps
Close game, but think Bath have enough in their pack to hold off Wasps in the front 5, then the back rows compete well. Wasps stronger in the backs, but at home think it will take a very good side to beat Bath

Bath Rugby 22 - 25 Wasps
Bath will put up a good fight here and cause the league leaders some issues around the park. There is a very good contest between both sets of back rows which would be international quality. The form of the Wasps half backs and their ability to turn up the wick is one part of the difference between the two sides. The other is the benches. With a full complement and some tactics, Bath could have taken this one. But a good Wasps side win here.

Exeter Chiefs 24 - 24 Leicester Tigers
Cracking contest this one and arguably the game of the round. Tigers have a hefty pack and one of few that can match the Exeter outfit with muscle. In the backs, Tigers are a little stronger and certainly have enough for the draw although not quite enough for the win. 

Exeter Chiefs 21 - 20 Leicester Tigers

Exeter Chiefs 24 - 20 Leicester Tigers
As usual, Exeter come with a very coherent and organised gameplan and backline. They also have a very good front and back row and work very well as an entire team. Tigers have a slightly better pack, with an advantage in the lineout and second row, a weakness at 9 but huge attacking potential in individuals outwide. However, Exeter's bench and home advantage see them home.

Exeter Chiefs 26 - 25 Leicester Tigers

Exeter Chiefs 27 - 22 Leicester Tigers
Exeter look strong, lock would be my next area of improvement but other than that will be a real threat to Sarries. Too strong for a Leicester side that is making progress, Fifita was my target too.

Gloucester Rugby 27 - 27 Sale Sharks 
Another game which is so hard to call. Slae with perhaps a very small edge in the backrow but Gloucester might just get the front 5 advantage despite Slimani doing a stellar job in the scrum. Very little in the backs but with Mo'unga straight into the team, I think Gloucester may struggle with a bit of fluency.

Gloucester Rugby 19 - 20 Sale Sharks
Gloucester have a lot of work in the pack but lack the link play and carrying that Sale can bring with a flying backrow. Evens in two very good halfback pairs, and a good clash of backlines that are better in attack than defence for me, but Gloucester more controlled. I just think the Sale plan and pace in the pack steals them an away win

Gloucester Rugby 28 - 28 Sale Sharks

Gloucester Rugby 24 - 22 Sale Sharks 
Gloucester pack looks good, but Sale have reinforced the right areas and will threaten them. I think both backlines are good, with international quality at half back on both sides. Difficult to call, but at home Glos have enough

Gloucester Rugby 26 - 25 Sale Sharks 
Very solid contest between these two forward packs. Slimani anchors the Sale pack nicely and provides a secure stream of possession from the scrum. Equally, Mostert provides the Glos pack with good line out ball and is a real workhorse around the park, to allow the bigger hitters to carry more freely. Smith's ability to provide quick ball is a factor here for the Gloucester back line, and will allow JD2 to thrive. For me Sale are a more counter-attacking side with that back line, not to say they won't attack at all, but much more suited to open spaces, which they will be denied by Gloucester here.

Harlequins 23 - 24 Northampton Saints
A good front 5 unit for Quins will allow them to exert some pressure but the Saints backrow is quite impressive and Isa is the perfect fit to drive them forward and get into the game. Sexton being the deciding player in the backline will just play to Saints strengths and give them the narrowest of wins. 

Harlequins 24 - 25 Northampton Saints

Harlequins 28 - 23 Northampton Saints
On paper this is tight with some good matchups all over the field, but CJ has set up his side really well and I can see exactly how they'll attack Saints effectively. Saints tactics are a bit vague, and when the line ups are this close, the tactical play wins out

Harlequins 32 - 30 Northampton Saints
A good match up between the two sets of forwards, despite the Saints suffering a little in real life form. I like the Coles/Gray combination at line out and can see them ruling the skies here. Isa was probably the best signing Saints could have made, apart from Goode. He gives them a focal point and the go forward that they are desperate for. Care and Smith will cause the Saints defensive systems issues all day, and getting Walker and Visser onto the end of plays for scores. The Sexton and Goode effect on the Saints back line is crucial as they bring a level of control and creativity that is needed in real life! For me, there is a better impact off the Quins bench, and this will help them seal the home win.

London Irish 28 - 27 Newcastle Falcons
Another good contest upfront and the Falcons front 5 is looking grizzly and a match for most. In the backs it's very tight and so hard to separate. Very tight affair, Irish just have enough to magic to see them through.

London Irish 26 - 25 Newcastle Falcons

London Irish 27 - 27 Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle have the slightly tougher pack and will edge the breakdown and scrum, though Retallick will give them a lineout lead. Falcons also have a very good backline, but the sheer attacking class of Irish is a step above. Overall, we end with a draw

London Irish 27 - 26 Newcastle Falcons

London Irish 25 - 24 Newcastle Falcons
Falcons are typically quite strong up front and there is a good battle come line out time here. The back row battle is quite close, although the sheer graft the Irish unit will get through is a difference maker. I'm not sold on Jordie at 12, and he will get caught out a few times defensively for me, as it is not his best position. However, the gamble will pay off, as it will allow him a few more touches on the ball to create something from nothing and help Irish on the way to a solid home victory.

Saracens 29 - 28 Worcester Warriors

Saracens 30 - 20 Worcester Warriors
Sarries are such a complete side, no weaknesses in the pack at all and efficiency through the backline, though their 9-10 link can be exploited to kill their backline momentum, I think. They then have an insanely good bench. Worcester lack this class, but have a gritty pack that will frustrate most teams, but will struggle to compete with the raw power Sarries have. They aren't starting their top halfbacks , so even with new boy Ngani's power they will struggle

Saracens 26 - 25 Worcester Warriors

Saracens 30 - 3 Worcester Warriors
Would have been a big ask anyway, but resting the stars on the road means Worcester take a spanking

Saracens 33 - 20 Worcester Warriors
Saracens are too strong here for the visiting Warriors. Up front, the much-changed Warriors will present a challenge, but the quality of the Sarries is too much, and they will, in turn, provide an armchair ride for their back line. I do fear that Sarries may start wearing themselves out, especially ahead of the Six Nations and would need to bear in mind some combinations. Worcester fighting for another day.