Pre Season Friendly - Week Two

Teamsheets; Teams to be named by - 1800hrs Saturday 14/1/12

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Predictions; Predictions in by - 1800hrs Monday 9/1/12

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ALL GAMES AT NEUTRAL VENUES

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EXETER CHIEFS vs BATH RUGBY

Conditions - Light wind, mild.

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Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Gareth Steenson
03. Hoani Tui
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Nic Sesteret
05. James Hanks	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Tom Johnson	13. Josh Tatupu
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Gonzalo Camacho
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Luke Arscott

16. Simon Alcott 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Craig Mitchell 19. Tommy Hayes 20. James Phillips 21. Junior Poluleuigaga 22. Ignacio Mieres 23. Jason Shoemark

Tactics

Our gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game. We will work as units and play a structured game (as the Chiefs and Saracens do in real life). We will put a lot of emphasis on the set piece, and look to use both as a real platform to play from, whilst not allowing our opponents to do the same. We will also look to use our big ball carriers to attack the gainline whilst having support runners on their shoulders to either take the offload or hit the ruck quickly as appropriate.

Specific Tactics

• Play in the right areas - Steenson to use his boot to ensure we play in the right half of the pitch.
  
  
• Control Possession - When in the right areas our pack, centres and full back to all carry hard and straight and look to get over the gainline and recycle.
  
  
• Slow opposition ball down - Look to legally (do not give penalties away) slow the ball at the breakdown by getting our back row over it to deny Bath any momentum.
  
  
• Take all points on offer - Steenson to take every kickable penalty at goal.
  

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. N.Catt	09. M.Classens
02. R.Batty	10. S.Donald
03. D.Wilson
04. S.Hooper	11. M.Banahan
05. R.Caldwell	12. F.Steyn
06. F.Louw	13. M.Carraro
07. G.Mercer	14. O.Woodburn
08. S.Taylor	15. S.Vesty

16. O.Franks 17. P.Dixon 18. C.Beech 19. D.Attwood 20. B.Skirving 21. C.Cook 22. T.Heathcote 23. K.Eastmond

GENERAL
Look to open up a bit more and play with some freedom, looking for the offload out of contact in good handling conditions, hoping to negate any work by opposition back row and causing fatigue. This week, some players are picked specifically for thier skill set, at key positions of 13 and 7. Carraro picked for defensive qualities, great tackler and leader in defence, which will help Francois in his first game for the club. Runs hard and straight in attack to give Frans an easy passing target. Mercer picked as an out and out 7, will aim to be the first to the breakdown and pressurise the man on the floor. He is given a license to attempt to terrorise and disrupt opposite 7 with his pace

TACTICS
* Use kicking options of Steyn and Vesty to vary point of attack, up and under in particular
* Solid defensive pack picked, not carrying any players in the tackle area. Carraro looks for the man and ball hit at 13 Channel
* Centres run hard and straight to allow space for Donald on wrap around to release Woodburn and back row
* At lineout time, use off the top ball outside our third, with Banahan and Carraro as crash options
* Hooper picked for his lineout prowess, we look to secure our ball first and frequently jump at 2, to encourage oppostion to throw slow, safe front jumper option and discourage off the top ball to their crash runners
* Steyn to use DG option when in opposing third, to ensure we come away with points with each visit to 22
* 12/13 to run straight and hard to draw defenders and ensure a secure base for young, mobile forwards to own the breakdown area. Happy to fight at breakdown to force penalties.
* Vesty looks to give good field position with up and under, to allow Carraro, Banahan and Woodburn to challenge for high ball, all excel at this
* Happy for Steyn and Vesty to interchange. Steyn offers physicality in attack and defence at 12, but a cannon boot
* Fresh legs of Cook and Heathcote develop ongoing partnership, coming on for last 30mins, with eastmond replacing banahan, as another pace man threat, as fatigue plays a part

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SALE SHARKS v LEICESTER TIGERS

Conditions - High winds, mild.

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Sale Sharks
Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01. Sheridan	09. Peel
02. Ward	10. Wilkinson
03. Thomas
04. Schofield	11. Amesbury
05. Myall	12.tuitipou
06.Auva'a	13Burrel.
07.Fourie	14.Brady
08.Powell	15.Miller

16.Jones 17.Imoliek 18.Buckley 20.Gaskell 21.Seymour 22.Mathie 23.Cueto

Tactics

With a new manager the Sale players will be keen to impress. We our going to play a fairly tight game to start with, using Wilko to get us in the right areas, and Myall and Schofield to try and steal the Tigers ball, If Leiecster do kick to our back 3 they will look to run it back, as they can be devestating when they want to be. In the 2nd half we, look to use our solid set piece to get our centres involved in the game.

- We have a pack that is full of grunt. Schofield and Myall in the enginge room means we will not go backwards.

- Wilko, Tuitipou and Burrel are all very good defenders, so Leicester will struggle to get over the gain line in midfield.

-Wilko will kick all points when availiable. He is a top class kicker when using the ball used in european domestic competition.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Marco Ayerza	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rob Hawkins	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Lewis Deacon	11. Horacio Agulla
05. Geoff Parling	12. James O’Connor
06. Tom Croft	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton(c)	14. Christian Wade
08. Thomas Waldroum	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Tom Youngs 17. Dan Cole 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Ed Slater 20. Luke Wallace 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Scott Hamilton

Tactics

Overall we'll be playing a quick tempo safe offloading game with the focus on keeping the ball alive. We'll look to play off the back off a solid set piece with Flood pulling the stings at 10. Youngs will look for the gaps and we'll look to get Waldroum to make gaps in the opposition defence with Croft supporting. We'll use Manu as the go to ball and JOC will act as second kicking option if needed. We'll put the squeeze on in the scrum and refresh midway through the 2nd half. Warburton to Marshall the breakdown and look for turnover ball for Youngs to attack with. JOC will look to float around the park and get hands on as much as possible.

- DOMINATE SCRUM THROUGHOUT
- PLAY OFF SOLID SET PIECE
- FLOOD TO GET BACKS INTO PLAY WITH MANU RUNNING LINES OFF JOC
- JOC TO LOOK FOR THE BALL & CAUSE DAMAGE IN THE LOOSE

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NEWCASTLE FALCONS v WORCESTER WARRIORS

Conditions - Moderate winds, cold

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Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Fluxy

01. Graham Shiells	09. Joel Hodgson
02. William Servat	10. Jimmy Gopperth (K)
03. Tom Mercey
04. James Hudson (C)	11. Paul Diggin
05. Tom Palmer	12. Tom May
06. Magnus Lund	13. Alex Tait
07. Hienrich Brussow	14. Seb Stegmann
08. Tom Guest	15. Jack Cuthbert

16. Euan Murray 17. Joe Graham 18. Tim Swinson 19. Will Welch 20. Jordi Pasqualin 21. Jeremy Manning 22. Luke Fielden 23. Jon Golding

tactics

• Playing the right areas and using our strengths - Using the boots of; Hodgson, Gopperth and May to get the forwards in the oppositions half. We have a very dominant front row at the scrum and at lineout time.
  
  
• Compete at the breakdown - Look to give the opposition no time to settle in to plays or not to take any ruck lightly, as this will lead to mistakes from the forwards an panicked kicks and decisions from the backs. Brussow and Lund should be first to rucks.
  
  
• Defensive line - We shall look to get up as the fast as the slowest man, and then drift the line man on man, in the direction of the play. Scrum-half covers behind as a pendulum.
  
  
• Penalties - When the oppurtunity arises Gopperth shall take all kickable points within his rage.
  
  
• Substitutions - Euan Murray on for Tom Mercey at 60 minutes, likewise Golding on for Shiells at the same time. Welch on for Guest if we were losing in the second half. And finally Fielden on for Stegmann at 65 minutes.
  

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Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Mullan	09. Arr
02. Lutui	10. Carter
03. Taumoepeau
04. Percival	11.Monye
05. Jones	12. Nonu
06. Haskell	13. Hopper
07.Fasa	14.Garvey
08.Morgan	15.Rooney

16. Shervington 17. Jones 18. Porter 19. Gulliver 20. Abbott 21. Perry 22. Goode 23. Allen

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LONDON IRISH vs NORTHAMPTON SAINTS

Conditions - Light winds, light drizzle

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London Irish
Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Darren Allinson
02. David Paice	10. Steve Shingler
03. Paulică Ion
04. Bob Casey (c)	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Shontayne Hape
06. Declan Danaher	13. Jamie Noon
07. David Pocock	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Alex Gray	15. Tom Homer (k)

16. James Buckland, 17. Max Lahiff, 18. Faan Rautenbach, 19. Steve Mafi, 20. Jamie Gibson, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Shane Geraghty, 23 Marland Yarde

Tactics

- Our pack sets the tone in everything we do today, leading from the front. We'll target the set piece to set our platform, particuarly the lineout where we feel we have the advantage.

- Casey to lead the lineout, with specialists Kenney, Casey and Harinordoquy jumping. We'll compete for the Saints ball and look to gain turnovers here.

- Use strong carriers in the loose off 9 and 10 to gain hard yards. Use the piston system of bashing it up, with Shingler behind patroling matters.

- Play rugby in their half. Shingler to pick his marks and put us in the right places.

- Hape and Noon to be strong in defence and look for the opportunity to make big tackles and put them on the back foot.

- Be competitive at the breakdown. Pocock to make a nuisance of himself and look for turnovers. Two passes away from the breakdown, we go from turnovers and try to use our counter attacking prowess.

- Homer to go for points at every opportunity. In Homer we have one of the most consistant kickers in consistent AP.

- Look to get our bench involved after 50 mins. Lahiff to come on to continue our solid scrummaging. Mafi to come on to control the lineout.

- Simpson to come on and change the tempo of the game, taking advantage of the Saints tiring pack. Identify mis matches and take advantage of them late on.

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Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Vasily Artemiev
05. Samu Manoa	12. James Downey
06. Calum Clark	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood (c)	14. Chris Ashton
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. A.Waller 17. Haywood 18. Mujati 19. Day 20. Dowson 21. Roberts 22. Lamb 23. Clarke

General Game Plan:

We will use our strong carriers to attack gaps and half gaps in the Irish line, looking to offload in contact to support runners thus changing the point of attack and keeping our forward momentum going. Sexton will look to attack from first receiver and inject pace to the proceedings committing the Irish defence and leaving space in wider channels for our runners to exploit. If running the ball is not on our halfbacks will look to the boot to put us in the right areas

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the Irish ball carriers before they can get to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown harder. Lee Dickson will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers or chips behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to cover any kicks down the touch lines and counter attack at pace.

With the blitz in operation we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it fast and hard. The first two players on scene will look to ruck past the ball and clear out the Irish players providing quick counter attacking ball to be cleared and used against a disorganised defensive line. If the ball does not look available we will commit less to the ruck and look to strengthen the defensive line

Key Points:

•Scrum

We will look to contest every engagement. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and create extra room for our 8-9-10 axis to work in. While on Irish feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Irish halfbacks.

We feel we have the power to cause Corbs, on current form in particular, real problems and we want to draw plenty of penalties from him

•Lineout

With 5 jumpers on our ball we will look to use the lineout as an attacking platform similar to South Africa in recent years. We will use a full compliment and play the ball off the top allowing our halfbacks to get on the ball at pace with room outside.

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LONDON WASPS vs GLOUCESTER

Conditions - Light drizzle, no wind.

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London Wasps
Manager – Stnick88

01. Tim Payne	09. Micky Young
02. George Chuter	10. Nicky Robinson
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Matt Garvey	11. Tom Varndell
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Riki Flutey
06. Jonathan Poff	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Julien Salvi	14. Alesana Tuilagi
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Hugo Southwell

16. Zak Taulafo 17. Ben Broster 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Richard Birkett 20. Tinus Du Plessis 21. Nic Berry 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Dominic Waldouck

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Gloucester

Manager – prop_lyd

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis
02. Darren Dawiduk	10. Tim Taylor (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Will James	11. JSD
05. Alex Brown	12. Mike Tindall
06. Brett Deacon	13. Henry Trinder
07. Aliasdair Strokosch	14. Jonny May
08. Luke Narraway (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Scott Lawson 17. Dario Chistolini 18. Rupert Harden 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Matt Cox 21. Rory Lawson 22. EFS 23. Pat Lambie

Tactics
*Big pack to gain advantage in the scrums with Jones moving them up on his side,
*Dominate the lineouts,
*Strike runners off 12-13 channel,
*Mess up the breakdown and slow their ball,
*Get quick ball and Tindall to hit up midfield before releasing the dangerous backs,
*Running rugby with a mobile back row,
*Bliz banana defence to stop the ball going past Robinson,
*Sharples and JSD to go looking for ball,
*Test new combos and use Lambie at 15 so he can come on not under as much pressure and learn the lines,
*Hard play up front + exciting play in the backs=Attractive rugby and a win.

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SARACENS vs HARLEQUINS

Conditions - Light winds, chilly.

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SARCENS
Manager – Luke

01. Matt Stevens	09. Morgan Parra (k)
02. Jamie George	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Steve Borthwick (c)	11. David Strettle
05. Mouritz Botha	12. Brad Barritt
06. Kelly Brown	13. Owen Farrell
07. Andy Saull	14. Joe Maddock
08. Jackson Wray	15. Alex Goode

16. Rhys Gill 17. Schalk Brits 18. John Smit 19. Hugh Vyvyan 20. Jacques Burger 21. Ben Spencer 22. Derick Hougaard 23. James Short

Tactics

- We will work as units and play a structured game. We will use the scrum and lineout as weapons.

- Attack the lineout as much as we can using the tactical kicking of Parra, Hodgson and Farrell. Borthwick to lead, supported by Botha, Brown, Saull and Wray.

- Call for scrums when we can if we are getting the advantage we expect to. Wray to control from the base.

- Look to all of our forwards to give us real go-forward with their carrying.

- Mix-up the first reciever options between Hodgson, Barritt and Farrell. All of our midfield are interchangable.

- Saull is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of the opposition.

- Hodgson is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our lineout ability to put pressure on the opposition, so a kicking game will be employed, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - 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.

- Early on Parra to kick all penalites within range, but we won't necessarily go for the 3 points as the game progresses. Borthwick to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.

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Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Joe Marler	09.Danny Care
02.Chris Brooker	10.Nick Evans
03.James Johnstone
04.Ollie Kohn	11.Adam Ashley-Cooper
05.George Robson	12.Jordan Turner Hall
06.Matt Kvesic	13.Tom Casson
07.Will Skinner	14.Miles Benjiman
08.Nick Easter (c)	15.Greg Goosen

16.Matt Cairns 17.Tim Fairbrother 18.Mark Lambert 19.Charlie Matthews 20.Chris Robshaw 21.Karl Dickson 22.Rory Clegg 23.George Lowe


Tactics

- In what is predicted to be a sunny day in Watford Quins have picked a team designed to play at a high tempo and move the ball.
- Evans will look to spread the ball along the line and give Casson , AAC , Benjiman and Goosen time on the ball.
- Plenty of Carrys in the tight from Marler , Brooker , Johnstone , Kohn , Kvesic and Easter to generate quick ball for Danny Care to test Sarries with making snipes , kicks and hitting Evans out wide.
- Plenty of offloads in the opposition half we want to play fast and furious and put them on the back foot.
- Goosen to move the ball on kicks and look to attack holes in the Sarries chase.
- Skinner to target the break down and look to disrupt Saracens ball.

Have we conditions for these games?

I'm guessing we do, but Pooly hasn't revealed to me them as of yet.

Take them from the BBC wether site mate for Friday I think?

Okay dokay

Top work Flux! Cheers fella

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Marco Ayerza	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rob Hawkins	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Lewis Deacon	11. Horacio Agulla
05. Geoff Parling	12. James O’Connor
06. Tom Croft	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton(c)	14. Christian Wade
08. Thomas Waldroum	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Tom Youngs 17. Dan Cole 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Ed Slater 20. Luke Wallace 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Scott Hamilton

Tactics

Overall we'll be playing a quick tempo safe offloading game with the focus on keeping the ball alive. We'll look to play off the back off a solid set piece with Flood pulling the stings at 10. Youngs will look for the gaps and we'll look to get Waldroum to make gaps in the opposition defence with Croft supporting. We'll use Manu as the go to ball and JOC will act as second kicking option if needed. We'll put the squeeze on in the scrum and refresh midway through the 2nd half. Warburton to Marshall the breakdown and look for turnover ball for Youngs to attack with. JOC will look to float around the park and get hands on as much as possible.

- DOMINATE SCRUM THROUGHOUT
- PLAY OFF SOLID SET PIECE
- FLOOD TO GET BACKS INTO PLAY WITH MANU RUNNING LINES OFF JOC
- JOC TO LOOK FOR THE BALL & CAUSE DAMAGE IN THE LOOSE

Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Gareth Steenson
03. Hoani Tui
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Nic Sesteret
05. James Hanks	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Tom Johnson	13. Josh Tatupu
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Gonzalo Camacho
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Luke Arscott

16. Simon Alcott 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Craig Mitchell 19. Tommy Hayes 20. James Phillips 21. Junior Poluleuigaga 22. Ignacio Mieres 23. Jason Shoemark

Tactics to follow...

Our gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game. We will work as units and play a structured game (as the Chiefs and Saracens do in real life). We will put a lot of emphasis on the set piece, and look to use both as a real platform to play from, whilst not allowing our opponents to do the same. We will also look to use our big ball carriers to attack the gainline whilst having support runners on their shoulders to either take the offload or hit the ruck quickly as appropriate.

Specific Tactics

• Play in the right areas - Steenson to use his boot to ensure we play in the right half of the pitch.
  
  
• Control Possession - When in the right areas our pack, centres and full back to all carry hard and straight and look to get over the gainline and recycle.
  
  
• Slow opposition ball down - Look to legally (do not give penalties away) slow the ball at the breakdown by getting our back row over it to deny Bath any momentum.
  
  
• Take all points on offer - Steenson to take every kickable penalty at goal.
  

got yourself a strong pack there pete

Cheers mate.

Always build from the front. Was lucky that the Chiefs have a fairly tough pack to start with really, so just needed a couple of additions to really step it up.

Wasps pack was fairly shocking but hoping Chuter, Mas, Garvey, Salvi and Parisse will sort that out for me.
Think Chris said Tom Rees might be back soon which would be useful.

He's been saying that for 3 years....

Tom Rees was suppose to be back years ago!

You have done some serious dealing Nick! Garvey and Salvi in particular were great signings. They are having fantastic seasons.

Cant wait to get the season going now at this stage!

Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Joe Marler	09.Danny Care
02.Chris Brooker	10.Nick Evans
03.James Johnstone
04.Ollie Kohn	11.Adam Ashley-Cooper
05.George Robson	12.Jordan Turner Hall
06.Matt Kvesic	13.Tom Casson
07.Will Skinner	14.Miles Benjiman
08.Nick Easter (c)	15.Greg Goosen

16.Matt Cairns 17.Tim Fairbrother 18.Mark Lambert 19.Charlie Matthews 20.Chris Robshaw 21.Karl Dickson 22.Rory Clegg 23.George Lowe


Tactics

- In what is predicted to be a sunny day in Watford Quins have picked a team designed to play at a high tempo and move the ball.
- Evans will look to spread the ball along the line and give Casson , AAC , Benjiman and Goosen time on the ball.
- Plenty of Carrys in the tight from Marler , Brooker , Johnstone , Kohn , Kvesic and Easter to generate quick ball for Danny Care to test Sarries with making snipes , kicks and hitting Evans out wide.
- Plenty of offloads in the opposition half we want to play fast and furious and put them on the back foot.
- Goosen to move the ball on kicks and look to attack holes in the Sarries chase.
- Skinner to target the break down and look to disrupt Saracens ball.

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Vasily Artemiev
05. Samu Manoa	12. James Downey
06. Calum Clark	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood (c)	14. Chris Ashton
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. A.Waller 17. Haywood 18. Mujati 19. Day 20. Dowson 21. Roberts 22. Lamb 23. Clarke

General Game Plan:

We will use our strong carriers to attack gaps and half gaps in the Irish line, looking to offload in contact to support runners thus changing the point of attack and keeping our forward momentum going. Sexton will look to attack from first receiver and inject pace to the proceedings committing the Irish defence and leaving space in wider channels for our runners to exploit. If running the ball is not on our halfbacks will look to the boot to put us in the right areas

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the Irish ball carriers before they can get to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown harder. Lee Dickson will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers or chips behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to cover any kicks down the touch lines and counter attack at pace.

With the blitz in operation we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it fast and hard. The first two players on scene will look to ruck past the ball and clear out the Irish players providing quick counter attacking ball to be cleared and used against a disorganised defensive line. If the ball does not look available we will commit less to the ruck and look to strengthen the defensive line

Key Points:

•Scrum

We will look to contest every engagement. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and create extra room for our 8-9-10 axis to work in. While on Irish feeds we will disrupt the put in looking for penalties or to create rushed, poor ball for the Irish halfbacks.

We feel we have the power to cause Corbs, on current form in particular, real problems and we want to draw plenty of penalties from him

•Lineout

With 5 jumpers on our ball we will look to use the lineout as an attacking platform similar to South Africa in recent years. We will use a full compliment and play the ball off the top allowing our halfbacks to get on the ball at pace with room outside.

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I'm going to find it difficult to decide on my line up without weather conditions lads. Unless we can awesome that its a 'normal' day?

I'm working on them, should be updated within the hour

Ok mate, let me know if I can help, didn't mean to pressurise you!

Can just call it cold but sunny if you like Flux, only a friendly

Bath announce their team for the second pre-season friendly



Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. N.Catt	09. M.Classens
02. R.Batty	10. S.Donald
03. D.Wilson
04. S.Hooper	11. M.Banahan
05. R.Caldwell	12. F.Steyn
06. F.Louw	13. M.Carraro
07. G.Mercer	14. O.Woodburn
08. S.Taylor	15. S.Vesty

16. O.Franks 17. P.Dixon 18. C.Beech 19. D.Attwood 20. B.Skirving 21. C.Cook 22. T.Heathcote 23. K.Eastmond

GENERAL
Look to open up a bit more and play with some freedom, looking for the offload out of contact in good handling conditions, hoping to negate any work by opposition back row and causing fatigue. This week, some players are picked specifically for thier skill set, at key positions of 13 and 7. Carraro picked for defensive qualities, great tackler and leader in defence, which will help Francois in his first game for the club. Runs hard and straight in attack to give Frans an easy passing target. Mercer picked as an out and out 7, will aim to be the first to the breakdown and pressurise the man on the floor. He is given a license to attempt to terrorise and disrupt opposite 7 with his pace

TACTICS
* Use kicking options of Steyn and Vesty to vary point of attack, up and under in particular
* Solid defensive pack picked, not carrying any players in the tackle area. Carraro looks for the man and ball hit at 13 Channel
* Centres run hard and straight to allow space for Donald on wrap around to release Woodburn and back row
* At lineout time, use off the top ball outside our third, with Banahan and Carraro as crash options
* Hooper picked for his lineout prowess, we look to secure our ball first and frequently jump at 2, to encourage oppostion to throw slow, safe front jumper option and discourage off the top ball to their crash runners
* Steyn to use DG option when in opposing third, to ensure we come away with points with each visit to 22
* 12/13 to run straight and hard to draw defenders and ensure a secure base for young, mobile forwards to own the breakdown area. Happy to fight at breakdown to force penalties.
* Vesty looks to give good field position with up and under, to allow Carraro, Banahan and Woodburn to challenge for high ball, all excel at this
* Happy for Steyn and Vesty to interchange. Steyn offers physicality in attack and defence at 12, but a cannon boot
* Fresh legs of Cook and Heathcote develop ongoing partnership, coming on for last 30mins, with eastmond replacing banahan, as another pace man threat, as fatigue plays a part

SAME AS BATHITE!

London Wasps
Manager – Stnick88

01. Tim Payne	09. Micky Young
02. George Chuter	10. Nicky Robinson
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Matt Garvey	11. Tom Varndell
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Riki Flutey
06. Jonathan Poff	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Julien Salvi	14. Alesana Tuilagi
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Hugo Southwell

16. Zak Taulafo 17. Ben Broster 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Richard Birkett 20. Tinus Du Plessis 21. Nic Berry 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Dominic Waldouck

The Exiles announce a side which has some new faces involved, most notably the former Western Force skipper David Pocock. The half back duo of Allinson and Shingler will look to impress and continue their good run of form in the Aviva Premiership. Elsewhere, new recruits Steve Mafi and Joe Simpson will be looking to make an impact from the bench, as well as young talents Max Lahiff and Marland Yarde.

London Irish
Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Darren Allinson
02. David Paice	10. Steve Shingler
03. Paulică Ion
04. Bob Casey (c)	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Shontayne Hape
06. Declan Danaher	13. Jamie Noon
07. David Pocock	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Imanol Hariordoquy	15. Tom Homer (k)

16. James Buckland, 17. Max Lahiff, 18. Faan Rautenbach, 19. Steve Mafi, 20. Jamie Gibson, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Shane Geraghty, 23 Marland Yarde

Tactics
- Our pack sets the tone in everything we do today, leading from the front. We'll target the set piece to set our platform, particuarly the lineout where we feel we have the advantage. Casey to lead the lineout, with specialists Kenney, Casey and Harinordoquy jumping. We'll compete for the Saints ball and look to gain turnovers here.

- Use strong carriers in the loose off 9 and 10 to gain hard yards. Use the piston system of bashing it up, with Shingler behind patroling matters.

- Play rugby in their half. Shingler to pick his marks and put us in the right places.

- Hape and Noon to be strong in defence and look for the opportunity to make big tackles and put them on the back foot.

- Be competitive at the breakdown. Pocock to make a nuisance of himself and look for turnovers. Two passes away from the breakdown, we go from turnovers and try to use our counter attacking prowess.

- Homer to go for points at every opportunity. In Homer we have one of the most consistant kickers in consistent AP.

- Look to get our bench involved after 50 mins. Lahiff to come on to continue our solid scrummaging. Mafi to come on to control the lineout. Simpson to come on and change the tempo of the game, taking advantage of the Saints tiring pack. Identify mis matches and take advantage of them late on.

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Gloucester

Manager – prop_lyd

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis
02. Darren Dawiduk	10. Tim Taylor (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Will James	11. JSD
05. Alex Brown	12. Mike Tindall
06. Brett Deacon	13. Henry Trinder
07. Aliasdair Strokosch	14. Jonny May
08. Luke Narraway (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Scott Lawson 17. Dario Chistolini 18. Rupert Harden 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Matt Cox 21. Rory Lawson 22. EFS 23. Pat Lambie

Tactics
*Big pack to gain advantage in the scrums with Jones moving them up on his side,
*Dominate the lineouts,
*Strike runners off 12-13 channel,
*Mess up the breakdown and slow their ball,
*Get quick ball and Tindall to hit up midfield before releasing the dangerous backs,
*Running rugby with a mobile back row,
*Bliz banana defence to stop the ball going past Robinson,
*Sharples and JSD to go looking for ball,
*Test new combos and use Lambie at 15 so he can come on not under as much pressure and learn the lines,
*Hard play up front + exciting play in the backs=Attractive rugby and a win.

tactics updated

SARCENS
Manager – Luke

01. Matt Stevens	09. Morgan Parra (k)
02. Jamie George	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Steve Borthwick (c)	11. David Strettle
05. Mouritz Botha	12. Brad Barritt
06. Kelly Brown	13. Owen Farrell
07. Andy Saull	14. Joe Maddock
08. Jackson Wray	15. Alex Goode

16. Rhys Gill 17. Schalk Brits 18. John Smit 19. Hugh Vyvyan 20. Jacques Burger 21. Ben Spencer 22. Derick Hougaard 23. James Short

Tactics

- We will work as units and play a structured game. We will use the scrum and lineout as weapons.

- Attack the lineout as much as we can using the tactical kicking of Parra, Hodgson and Farrell. Borthwick to lead, supported by Botha, Brown, Saull and Wray.

- Call for scrums when we can if we are getting the advantage we expect to. Wray to control from the base.

- Look to all of our forwards to give us real go-forward with their carrying.

- Mix-up the first reciever options between Hodgson, Barritt and Farrell. All of our midfield are interchangable.

- Saull is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of the opposition.

- Hodgson is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our lineout ability to put pressure on the opposition, so a kicking game will be employed, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - 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.

- Early on Parra to kick all penalites within range, but we won't necessarily go for the 3 points as the game progresses. Borthwick to make the call dependant on the success of the lineout.

Just to warn you Pooly, won't be back until about eight tonight, so the page will be up dated a bit late.

PULL, BATHITE, JOHNNY & LUKE

Tactics are too long, check the rules and resubmit please.

Cheers Flux, no issues mate.

If tactics are over the limits for future games they won't be added

Done, just didn't use the paragraph bit at the start, so have readjusted, pretty sure it comes under the rules now

Main para is still too long and although 10 points some are over the line max mate

1 x 10 line paragraph (on 606)
+
10 x 2 line max bullet points (on 606)

I have a 6 line paragraph and 10 points, only a few are 2 lines. I read it that i'm way inside of the rules, i'm confused.

[

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[/b]Sale Sharks[/b]
Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01. Sheridan	09. Peel
02. Ward	10. Wilkinson
03. Thomas
04. Schofield	11. Amesbury
05. Myall	12.tuitipou
06.Auva'a	13Burrel.
07.Fourie	14.Brady
08.Powell	15.Miller

16.Jones 17.Imoliek 18.Buckley 20.Gaskell 21.Seymour 22.Mathie 23.Cueto

Tactics

With a new manager the Sale players will be keen to impress. We our going to play a fairly tight game to start with, using Wilko to get us in the right areas, and Myall and Schofield to try and steal the Tigers ball, If Leiecster do kick to our back 3 they will look to run it back, as they can be devestating when they want to be. In the 2nd half we, look to use our solid set piece to get our centres involved in the game.

- We have a pack that is full of grunt. Schofield and Myall in the enginge room means we will not go backwards.

- Wilko, Tuitipou and Burrel are all very good defenders, so Leicester will struggle to get over the gain line in midfield.

-Wilko will kick all points when availiable. He is a top class kicker when using the ball used in european domestic competition.



I may add more tactics later when Pooly has done his, but thought i'd do some pretty basic ones now in case, i couldn't get back onm here before 6.

Bathite

You have a 12 line para (on 606) and bullets over the permitted 2 lines on (606)

Mate, I think i'm being really dense, but its only 6 lines on my pc and only bullets 7 8 10 go over 1 line.

(on 606) means how it appears on here mate

Yeah, thats what I mean. Looked at it on 2 pcs now as well

It must be appearing different on IPhone lol, my bad!!!

My tactics are a 10 line paragraph (just broken up for easier reading) and 4 x 2 lines Pooly??

I think it appears differently on my phone SJE

Oh ok mate! Are they ok to leave as they are?

Changing them now to get rid of some of the lineout points as Pull has put Harri into his side now

Lads...once you've named your side you can't change it

London Irish
Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Darren Allinson
02. David Paice	10. Steve Shingler
03. Paulică Ion
04. Bob Casey (c)	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Shontayne Hape
06. Declan Danaher	13. Jamie Noon
07. David Pocock	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Imanol Hariordoquy	15. Tom Homer (k)

16. James Buckland, 17. Max Lahiff, 18. Faan Rautenbach, 19. Steve Mafi, 20. Jamie Gibson, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Shane Geraghty, 23 Marland Yarde

Tactics
- Our pack sets the tone in everything we do today, leading from the front. We'll target the set piece to set our platform, particuarly the lineout where we feel we have the advantage.

- Casey to lead the lineout, with specialists Kenney, Casey and Harinordoquy jumping. We'll compete for the Saints ball and look to gain turnovers here.

- Use strong carriers in the loose off 9 and 10 to gain hard yards. Use the piston system of bashing it up, with Shingler behind patroling matters.

- Play rugby in their half. Shingler to pick his marks and put us in the right places.

- Hape and Noon to be strong in defence and look for the opportunity to make big tackles and put them on the back foot.

- Be competitive at the breakdown. Pocock to make a nuisance of himself and look for turnovers. Two passes away from the breakdown, we go from turnovers and try to use our counter attacking prowess.

- Homer to go for points at every opportunity. In Homer we have one of the most consistant kickers in consistent AP.

- Look to get our bench involved after 50 mins. Lahiff to come on to continue our solid scrummaging. Mafi to come on to control the lineout.

- Simpson to come on and change the tempo of the game, taking advantage of the Saints tiring pack. Identify mis matches and take advantage of them late on.

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Is the above ok?

I can't tell tbh, on phone all weekend

Same as. It should be.

Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Mullan	09. Arr
02. Lutui	10. Carter
03. Taumoepeau
04. Percival	11.Monye
05. Jones	12. Nonu
06. Haskell	13. Hopper
07.Fasa	14.Garvey
08.Morgan	15.Rooney

16. Shervington 17. Jones 18. Porter 19. Gulliver 20. Abbott 21. Perry 22. Goode 23. Allen

Just got home. Will check all of them Pooly should be open by nine guys

Cheers mucka

Exeter Chiefs 16-20 Bath Rugby

Strong front 5 unit for Exeter and I see them putting the squeeze on in the set piece until Franks & Attwood come on and steady the ship. Nothing in the backrows but everything from 9 onwards goes to Bath. See Steyn & Carrero working well and Bath dominating the second half to claim a good win.

Newcastle Falcons 12-14 Worcester Warriors

Again a tasty little front 5 that Flux is putting together and they'll sneak the scrum and lineout. Very competitive backrows, with Brussow causing serious damage at the breakdown but Warriors having numerous carrying options. Falcons let down in the backs and Brussows influence at the breakdown would be nullified by a bit of imbalance. Hodgson isnt a 9 and Tait not really a 13. See Carter/Nonu axis really causing damage and setting Warriors up for a small margin win that would have been bigger if they had a game plan.

London Irish 17-28 Northampton Saints

Serious pack from Saints and they'll give Irish a serious doing over in the scrum. Pocock aside Saints pack is much stronger and prob have the best 8/9/10 axis in the league. Read would leave Gray in tatters. Sexton the form FH in the NH will keep Saints ticking and I just don't see how Irish will get into this game, sorry Pull. Good Irish bench keeps it respectable.

London Wasps 24-22 Gloucester

Massive front row battle with no real give except for Payne. Wasps lack of game plan hinders. It they have an edge in lineout and backrow. Similar in backs really with Wasps making some great signings giving a real quality look and they just sneak this one.

Saracens 24-24 Harlequins

Not a fan of Stevens at LH but Sarries have definate scrum edge, with lineouts holding. Not much in the backrows either with Easter/Brown standouts, pack just shading to Sarries. Great halfbacks and probably best pairings in league.

Sarries with a cracking defensive unit and Quins with AAC addition (one of best backs in world) gives them a real bit of quality. Can't split this one sorry.