Anglo Welsh Cup Round 2

First topic message reminder :

Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon

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Saracens v Exeter Chiefs
Sunny, 9 Degrees, 9mph Winds

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Saracens
Manager – LDCPete

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Scott Lawson	10. Patric Lambie
03. Phil Swainston
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Rene Ranger
05. George Kruis	12. Owen Farrell
06. Tom Wood	13. Henry Trinder
07. Will Fraser	14. Tim Visser
08. Rodney So'oialo	15. Tom Homer

16. Bismarck du Plessis 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Addison Lockley 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Chris Bell 23. Marcus Watson

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver

01.Andrew Sheridan	09.Junior Polliuegga
02.John Smit	10.Ronan O'Gara
03.Hoani Tui
04.Simon Shaw(c)	11.Iain Balshaw
05.Peter Short	12.Andrea Masi
06.Ben Skirving	13.George Pisi
07.Dave Wallace	14.David Lemi
08.Aaron Carpenter	15.Sep Visser

16.Neil Clark 17.Alistair Dickinson 18.Tom Mercy 19.Tommy Hayes 20.Marty Holah 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Steven Myler 23.Luke Arscott

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London Wasps v Dragons
Sunny Intervals, 10 Degrees, 9mph Winds

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London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Charlie Beech	09. Martin Roberts
02. Joe Gray	10. Rory Clegg
03. Juan Gomez
04. Peter Elder	11. Noah Cato
05. Richard Birkett	12. James Downey
06. James Haskell	13. Mike Tindall (c)
07. Deon Stegmann	14. Tom Williams
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Chris Wyles

16. Andy Titterell 17. Tom French 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Steve Mafi 20. Alex Fan 21. Mike Blair 22. Will Fulton 23. Tom May

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Dragons

01. Phill Price	09. Wayne Evans
02. Tom Willis (capt)	10. Matthew Jones
03. Nathan Buck
04. Adam Jones	11. Tonderai Chavhanga
05. Rob Sidoli	12. Lewis Robling
06. Jevon Groves	13. Tom Riley
07. Gavin Thomas	14. Mike Poole
08. Andrew Coombs	15. Martyn Thomas

16 Rhys Buckley, 17 Nathan Williams, 18 Kieron Jenkins, 19 Lewis Evans, 20 Hugo Ellis, 21 Joe Bedford, 22 Geraint O'Driscoll, 23 Jason Tovey.

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Bath Rugby v Worcester Warriors
White Cloud, 10 Degrees, 7mph Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Matt Thompson	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Euan Murray
04. Louis Deacon	11. Tim Nanai Williams
05. James Cannon	12. Dominic Waldouck
06. Sean O’Brien	13. Ben Williams
07. Will Skinner	14. Tom Varndell
08. Gareth Delve	15. Richard Haughton

16 Joe Ward 17 Jon Golding 18 Davit Kubrashvilli 19 Yoann Maestri 20 Tom Guest 21 Byron Kelleher 22 Francois Steyn 23 Anthony Allen

Tactics

Just look to use forwards to constantly get over gain line and eventually release backs. Forward based plan

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. George Porter	09. Jordi Pasqualin
02. Koree Britton	10. Joe Ford
03. John Andress
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Bryan Habana
05. Dom Barrow	12. Gavin Henson
06. Ollie Stedman	13. Sean Lamont
07. Craig Newby (c)	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Sebastian Chabal	15. Greig Tonks

16. Chris Fortey 17. Gareth Denman 18. Sylvain Marconnet 19. Danie Russouw 20. Ben Morgan 21. Eoin Reddan 22. Morne Steyn 23. Julien Malzieu

Tactics

Forwards rugby for first 20 minutes with Hamilton and Chabal the main runners,
Henson to bring the backs into play as much as possible and, if young Ford struggles he'll switch to 10 for decision making skills,
Habana to go looking for the ball and Lamont to look to take the gaps provided by Henson,
Quick ball wanted from Pasqualin,
We have a strong lineout here and feel our young front row should be able to steady the scrum to allow Chabal to pick and drag the opposing 8 wide,
We will take all points available,
Tonks to hit any gaps he can see which he has done all season for Saints,
Bring on our big hitters to play the final 30 with a backline of Steyn-Henson-Malzieu!
Russouw to swap with Hamilton to give Barrow full 80,
Hard fast rugby is going to be played with quite a few youngsters out to prove a point.

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Ospreys v Northampton Saints
White Cloud, 11 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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Ospreys

01. Duncan Jones	09. Rhys Webb
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Dan Biggar
03. Cai Griffiths
04. Ian Gough	11. Richard Fussell
05. Ian Evans	12. Andrew Bishop
06. Joe Bearman	13. Tom Isaacs
07. Justin Tipuric (c)	14. Hanno Dirksen
08. Jonathan Thomas	15. Barry Davies

16 Mefin Davies, 17 Aaron Jarvis, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Tom Smith, 20 James King, 21 Matthew Morgan, 22 Sonny Parker, 23 Kristian Phillips.

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Northampton Saints[/b]
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Matt Stevens	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Henry Thomas
04. Dave Attwood	11. Christian Wade
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Max Evans
06. Jackson Wray	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Liam Gill	14. Elliot Daly
08. Ryan Kankowski	15. Rory Lamont

16. Rob Webber 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Zak Taulaufo 19. Patricio Albacete 20. Joe Launchberry 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jack Wallace 23. Jamie Elliot

Tactics:

Overview:
To follow on from two large wins in recent weeks and carry on playing fast, high-tempo, attacking rugby and looking to score tries, through an approach of using powerful ball runners and then using our halfbacks to up the tempo and attack. We've got some of the best young players in the game and have a lot of experience to help them through the game.

Forwards:
Strong unit selected to batter Ospreys in the set piece, particularly the scrum and will be looking to use Attwood, Lawes and Kankowski as main lineout jumpers to generate quick ball for our backline.

We will look to go through phases and use our big ball carriers to target the Ospreys backline - Kankowski, Lawes, Hartley and Stevens will all be used for this. We will aim to punch holes in the Ospreys defence and get over the gainline.

At the breakdown we have Gill and Wray to get there at speed and we will target this in numbers to generate quick ball for Simpson.

Backs:
With the weeather condiitons and Simpson and Cipriani we are only ever going to look to attack and play the game at a speed. Cips will mix it up by brining runners like Lawes, Kankowski, Tuilagi and Lamont into the game and get us over the gainline. If we set our backline loose then we have Ospreys there for the taking.

We have selected Evans and Tuilagi to play in the midfield and they will interchange in attack to give us more options, whether that is Tuilagi crash ball in the 12 channel and a little bit of creative magic from Evans in the 13 shirt.

Once we have punched holes in the Ospreys defence we will look to get the ball out wide as fast as possible and give the ball to our backthree. We will score tries in this game and have more firepower than Ospreys all over the park.

Defence:
We will look to play an aggressive defensive line, that targets the Ospreys 10. Putting Biggar under pressure and forcing him into mistakes or a kicking game to our backthree.

We will look to try and hold the Ospreys midfield up on their feet in the tackle area and force the ref to give us a scrum.

We will bring Kankowski into the backline at defensive lineouts, with Simpson marking the 5metre channel - again emphasis on putting pressure on Biggar.

Substitutions:
We are carefully managing our England players back from the World Cup
Webber for Hartley 40mins
Vunipola for Stevens 40mins
Wallace for Tuilagi 40mins (with Daly reverting to 13)
Albacete for Lawes 50mins
Taulaufo for Thomas 60mins
Launchberry for Attwood 60mins
Harrison for Simpson 60mins
Elliot for Wade 70mins

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London Irish v Newcastle Falcons
Sunny Intervals, 10 Degrees, 3mph Winds

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London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Neal De Kock
02. James Buckland	10. Ruan Pienaar
03. Duncan Bell
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Marland Yarde
05. Matt Garvey	12. Gonzalo Tiesi
06. David Sisi	13. Matthew Tait
07. Jacques Botes	14. J.P Pieterson
08. Xavier Rush	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16. WP Nel 17. Neil Briggs 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Pierre Spies 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Sireli Naqalevuki 23. Delon Armitage

Tactics

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Lionel Faure	09. Ben Youngs
02. Marius Tincu	10. Nick Evans
03. Oliver Tomaszczyk
04. Dean Schofield	11. Charlie Amesbury
05. Geoff Parling	12. Ben Smith
06. Kelly Brown(c)	13. Brad Barritt
07. Ben Woods	14. Sean Maitland
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Jared Payne

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Rodrigo Roncero 19. Juandre Kruger 20. Chris York 21. Sarel Pretorious 22. Toby Flood 23. Tom Catterick

Tactics:

Overall - Fast paced, high intensity rugby. Look to contol possesion and make Irish work for any ball. Woods & Brown will look to make it a mess at the breakdown and slow and Irish attacks down.

Set piece - Look to get nudge on come scrum time and force that home if a weakness seen. Strong front 5 bench to be phased in early in the second. Parling to lead the lineout with all 3 backrowers strong options.

Breakdown - Look to get Brown & Woods into the Irish attack and slow play down. Barritt will look to hold up the attacker to allow pack to join in maul.

Halfbacks - Our pack will look to provide quick ball to Youngs who will look for gaps with Evans hanging off his shoulder. We'll look to use the pace of these two to attack Irish around the fringes.

Backs - Ben Smith at 12 to provide 2nd ball player and Barritt at 13 to sure up outside defence. We'll look to get Payne coming into the line at pace also. Look to use Power/Pace in the back 3 at any chance.

Subs - Replace Youngs/Evans with Pretorious/Flood at halftime. Forwards phased in from early in the second, we'll look to get through full bench.

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Sale Sharks v Harlequins
Sunny Intervals, 11 Degrees, 6mph Winds

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Nicholas Bezy
02. Brett Sharman	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Werner Kruger
04. Steven Sykes	11. Sam Smith
05. Chris Jones	12. Olly Barkley
06. Julien Salvi	13. Yann David
07. Michael Lipman	14. Keith Earls
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Nick Abendanoon

16. Imolek 17. Creevy 18. Knight 19. Day 20. Horstman 21. Spencer 22. Goode 23. Camacho

Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Ayerza and Kruger will look to get at their man and really disrupt Quins putting the nudge on and providing us with a solid platform all game. At the lineout, we will look to Jones to lead the line. He will call the line and will have Sykes, at the front, and our entire back row to support him as jumpers to mix things up. Our jumpers will look to either play the ball of the top quickly and look to our backline to move it or bring it down into a maul and make the hard yards through the pack, sucking in the Quins forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Quins ball we will look for Sykes to get up in the air at the front of the line and Jones to follow Matthews in the line and disrupt the Quins lineout. If we really start to get on top of the lineout we will look to Sexton to kick for the corners a few times and really put the pressure on.

Breakdown
We have a very mobile and quick pack to really target the breakdown. On our own ball we will look to our forwards to get numbers to the breakdown quickly rucking past the ball and clearing out the Harlequins boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if we are first to the breakdown or the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Salvi and Lipman to secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit lighter numbers to the breakdown but look to counter ruck slowing down Quins ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.

General Attacking Play
We will look to play a strong carrying game using our big carriers to hit the gain line offloading in or just before the tackle (when it's on) to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. Earls will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our bigger carriers looking for the ball on the offload. If running the ball is not on we will look to Sexton or Barkley to kick in behind the Quins back 3.

Bezy will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Harlequins back row to the breakdown. Sexton and Barkley have been instructed to play heads up rugby and if overlaps or gaps appear they will look to get the ball moving and take advantage. They will look to rotate at first receiver and provide a different threat to the opposition defence. Abendanoon will look to come up from fullback from time to time and offer an extra ball carrying threat while looking to create these overlaps out wide.

Sexton will look to kick for goal when in Quins territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. Bezy though will look for the quick tap when the Quins defence is slow to organise.

General Defensive Play
In defence we will be using a blitz defence and will look to get up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any Quins momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Harlequins on the back foot forcing the kick. Bezy will act as a sweeper and look to cover any chips in behind the line. Our wingers will look to sit deeper on defence then the rest of the line ready for any kicks. Our back three have been instructed to play to their strengths and look for the counter attack, running the ball back with serious pace.

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"Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ceri Jones	09. Ryan Glynn
02. Rob Vickers	10. Gareth Steenson
03. Leo Halavatau
04. Sam Twomney	11. Peter Hynes
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Riki Flutey
06. Luke Wallace	13. Ross Chisholm
07. David Seymour (c)	14. Ollie Lindsey-Hague
08. Jamie Gibson	15. Freddie Burns

16. Olly Hayes 17. Aston Croall 18. Will Collier 19. James Gaskell 20. Sam Jones 21. Phil Burgess 22. Sam Stuart 23. George Lowe

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Leicester Tigers v Gloucester Rugby
Sunny Intervals, 9 Degrees, 9mph Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Chris Cusiter
02. Lee Mears	10. Brock James (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Chris Jack	11. Alesana Tuilagi
05. Nathan Hines	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Johnathan Poff	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. John Barclay	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Rob Miller

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Tom Youngs 18. Jonny Harris 19. Tom Croft 20. Nick Easter 21. Scott Mathie 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Napolioni Nalaga


Tactics

GENERAL:

- We have picked a massive carrying pack to give us a platform for our dangerous backs to build upon. We will look to carry the hard yards through the middle, and then pick the right moments to unleash the pace we have out wide.

- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the line to deal with any short kicks. BOD to defend the 12 channel on set pieces to cover Hape's crash ball, and Twelvetrees to move to 13 to cover May's pace.

- B.James to kick all penalties in range.

- Utilise our powerful bench to win the game for us in the last quarter. Wilkinson to come on and close the game out for us, Nalaga to give us pace and power out wide, and Dermody, Croft and Easter to strengthen our set piece and pack.

FORWARDS:

- We will look to maintain a strong set-piece all game, with two massively powerful props in Crockett and Johnston to get the shove on come scrum time. Both Crockett and Johnston are tall props, so they are told to hold their bind and keep their body and back straight in an effort to stop them being done underneath. Hines and Jack to lead our lineout, with Poff and Barclay as options too, who will all look to steal from Strauss's throw. From attacking scrums, Waldrom to look for the pick-and-go if it is on to test Gloucester's defence.

- Every one of our forwards brings a carrying game, and we feel we can really tire Gloucester's defence with this before unleashing our pacey back line. Our big carriers are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring. With the ball in hand we want to attack together in groups so as not to become isolated, and if it is on we will look to offload in or just before the tackle. All players are to act as support runners when they can.

- We are playing with a left and right flanker - we will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Gloucester have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here. Both Poff and Barclay are told to hit the breakdown area hard and fast looking to get their hands on turnover ball. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Gloucester can get, and steal as much as we can for our own backs to use.

- Get after a tired back five for Gloucester, who appreared in 21 World Cup matches between them in the last 6 weeks.

- Poff and Barclay to really get after Lamb early on and hit him hard.

BACKS:

- Cusiter is asked to play his natural game. Give B.James great quick service, snipe round the fringes looking for gaps, and feed our ball carriers into the right areas.

- With B.James at pivot we are looking for a balanced game. He is tasked with getting our strike runners into the game, testing Gloucester's back three with kicks and getting our back line moving. He is given license to play what is in front of him - his long range passes and cross field kicks should keep Gloucester's defensive line guessing. If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, he will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

- Tuilagi/Waldrom/Crockett/Johnston to be used off the shoulder of the half backs, inside or out, and look to crash through the defence.

- Twelvetrees can act as our second receiver, and brings another kicking option if we are looking for territory - and he can also hit the gain line hard to make yards. BOD to play his natural game, be the leader in our midfield, and look to get our back three into the game.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. All have good boots to rely on if it isn't on or they are isolated, but the counter is what we ask them to look for. Tuilagi, Ojo, and Miller provide us with explosive pace and this is a weapon we will look to use as much as possible.

- Tuilagi to look to isolate JSD in attack and test his defence.


KEY POINTS:

- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at home since the start of last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.

- A massive carrying pack that should tire Gloucester down to allow our pacey back line room to cause damage with their pace.

- Get after a tired back five in Gloucester's pack, who appreared in 21 World Cup matches between them in the last 6 weeks.

- Target the breakdown and get after Lamb - Both Poff and Barclay to do all they can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use - Gloucester have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here - and both players to get some big hits on Lamb early on.

- If the game is tight, B.James will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

- Utilise our powerful bench to win the game for us in the last quarter.

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Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Steenkamp	09. Lawson
02. Strauss	10. Lamb
03. White
04. Bakkies	11. Carraro
05. Palmer	12. Hape
06. Ferris	13. Ferris
07. Burger	14. JSD
08. Alberts	15. Hamilton

16 Wood 17 Fourie 18 Harden 19 Gray 20 AJ 21 Lewis 22 Ryan Davis 23 Vainokolo

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Cardiff Blues v Scarlets
Sunny Intervals, 12 Degrees, 4mph Winds

No Prediction Needed

Yeah mate we'll close them at 1

Wasps 32 - 22 Dragons
Saracens 25 - 20 Chiefs
Bath 24 - 18 Worcester
Ospreys 15 - 23 Saints
Irish 26 - 24 Newcastle
Sale 22 - 19 Quins

Saracens 23-19 Exeter Chiefs

Good even match. Sarries stronger in the back row and Chiefs the front 5. Home advantage swings the result.


London Wasps 30-10 Dragons

English sides just have too much for their welsh counterparts


Bath 27 - 21 Worcester Warriors

Bit more quality throughout the Bath side and with home advantage they should pick up the win



Ospreys 18 - 26 Northampton Saints

Just way too much on offer from Saints here. Evans at 12 wouldnt work against better sides though for me Chris



London Irish 28 - 24 Newcastle Falcons

Both sides with quality throughout. Newcastle maybe shading the starting 15 but Irish with home advanatage and a fantastic bench to bring on will pick up the win.



Leicester Tigers 23 - 21 Gloucester

Very tight game here. Gloucester shading the carrying game but Tigers will get some joy at the breakdown which Luke has specifically targetted. Home advantage and a good game plan see Tigers take this one.

Sure I was winning there Johnny! Lol

Had the scores wrong way around sorry mate

No probs fella, think I meant yours as a 50-0 loss, just typed it wrong lol

Wasps 33 - 13 Dragons
Mismatches all over the park - would have been a cricket score if Wasps could find some better players in their backthree.

Saracens 19 - 17 Chiefs
Driver has a team that will stiffle people out of games, that scrum is going to cause people problems and stop getting Saracens any fluidity - but at home, and with some good form behind them I can see Sarries narrowly edging this one - Driver's not far away from turning the coner though, good team there!

Bath 33 - 28 Worcester
Wow Bath have put out a monster of a team this week - really impressed with the lineup that ITFL has put out - strong pack, good half back combination and a back three that can score tries. For me they are going to get a BP - but at the same time I see them as defensively frail in the backline, so Worcester could get some tries themselves, espceially with Henson's passing game.

Leicester 23 - 23 Gloucester
Incredibly hard to call this one - there are so many battles all over the park, think Glaws will absilutely dominate in terms of ball carrying forwards and smashing their way over the gainline, which will get them territory and into poiints scoring chances. In saying that not 100% sure if Ryan Lamb is the 10 who will get them those points, Then the game changes when Leicester can bring on their subs, with Easter, Croft and Wilko all able to bolster their team - I think Glaws dominate the first 60mins, but then dont have the chance to build up a big enough lead to stop the Tigers come back. Really tough tackling, hard hitting draw.

Irish 27 - 24 Newcastle
Pooly has his tactics spot on but I think its clear that his team selections in the LV Cup show that he is prioritorising the league and HC - Nick's got more star names and a bench that will really see him through the game - though with Evans at 10 he's always going to keep your side right in the game until the end. Good game this one!

Sale 35 - 32 Quins
World of difference for Sale now that they arent playing Goode at 10, really frees up the team and lets them attack a lot more and although he's had a disappointing WC, I think he's influence will be the decisive factor in this game. Do like the looks of the Quins team and the young players they have, gives them a freedom and they'll go out and attack, which makes it a good, high scoring game. For me both will get a BP.

Pooly!

Will get results done up now guys

Results

Saracens 30-19 Exeter Chiefs

London Wasps 48-15 Dragons

Bath Rugby 33-22 Worcester Warriors

Ospreys 16-36 Northampton Saints

London Irish 26-25 Newcastle Falcons

Sale Sharks 36-21 Harlequins

Leicester Tigers 32-23 Gloucester Rugby

Well done Nick, finished with a flourish!

Irish looking good for the LV

i dono mate they're's alot of strong teams out this week, leicester and bath especially.

LV isnt my priority but be nice to try and defend my trophy whilst getting youngsters like sisi and yarde game time.