Anglo Welsh Cup Round 4

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

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Exeter Chiefs v Bath Rugby
White Cloud, 4 Degrees, 9mph Winds

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – driver - RIP 606

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Jimmy Cowen
02. Damian Valey	10.Colin Slade
03. Davit Zirkashvilli
04. Flip Van Der Merwe	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. James Hudson	12. Mike Tindall
06. Ben Skirving	13. George Pisi
07. Lewis Moody	14. Lachie Turner
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19. Simon Shaw 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Josh Matavista 23.Matt Smith

- Keep the ball in the tight and grind Bath down using the boots of Slade , Tindall and Pisi to ping Wasps in there half.

- Use our scrummaging front row to keep the scrum up and driving on when it's Bath's feed.

- Slade will look to take the ball at pace and attack the defensive line and bring our backs into play.

- Cowen to dictate the tempo and test the Bath line with snipes , service and high hanging box kicks.

- Cowen and Slade will play what is in front of them and use what they have outside them with Tindall making the headway in the backs and Fitz, Turner and Balshaw running into the wide channels.

- Slade to tick the board over with penalties and drop goals when in the opposition half.

- Big physical players in our pack will see plenty of big hits to put the pressure on the bath runners early doors.

- Run first , kick second on kick returns.

Key points

*GIVE WILSON HELL AT LOOSEHEAD WITH ZIRKA AND ALEXANDER NOT GIVE HIM A REST AT LOOSEHEAD

*TARGET SKRELA WITH BIG HITS FROM THE OFF AND TRY AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE BEALE INTO 10 TO LIMIT THERE WIDTH

*MIX LINEOUT JUMPERS ABOUT WITH HUDSON , FLIP , SKIRVING AND EASTER ALL OFFERING OPTIONS WITH NO OUT AND OUT JUMPER IN BATH PACK

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Dave Wilson	09.Fourie Du Preez
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. David Skrela
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. Isiah Toeava
05. Tim Swinson	12. Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu
06. Tom Guest	13. Dominic Waldouck
07.Beau Robinson	14.Sean Maitland
08. Gareth Delve	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Jon Golding 17. Joe Ward 18. Richard Skuse 19. Sam Whitelock 20 JMF Lobbe 21. Chris Cook 22. David Marty 23. Tom Varndell

Tactics
One loss in twelve games really means we are psychologically in a brilliant place and hope to continue momentum.
Look to get a footing in the scrum with Mealamu, Kubrashvilli and Wilson big scrummagers
Swinson + Deacon are quality in the lineout and we feel we can really secure our own ball and get a few turnover.
At the breakdown we will look to get numbers in, slowing Exeter ball down and we will look to give Beau Robinson the best chance of forcing the turnover.
FDP + Skrela offer a lot of experience and will make tactical decisions depending on how the match is going.
Look to get our deadly back three running at opponents.
Pressure Tindall so the ball doesn't get further out wide.

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Worcester Warriors v Ospreys
Sunny Intervals, 2 Degrees, 9mph Winds

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. George Porter	09. Byron Kelleher
02. Michael Mayhew	10. Nicky Robinson
03. BJ Botha
04. Leo Cullen	11. Shane Williams
05. Ben Gulliver	12. Sam Vesty (k)
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. Jon Clarke
07. Martyn Williams (c)	14. Josh Drauniniu
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Rob Cook

16. Koree Britton 17. David Flatman 18. John Andress 19. Ollie Kohn 20. Ben McCalman 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Regan King

Tactics
*Big pack to front up,
*Look to dominate lineout,
*Backrow to put pressure at breakdown,
*Godzilla to punch holes,
*Quick ball,
*Robinson to kick territory and Vesty to let out the backs,
*Williams and Josh to look for space and Cook to remain steady at fb,
*Quick, hard rugby,
*Use bench as and when with King providing more creativity to the backline,
*Hard defence blitz-banana, we are looking for a morale boosting win here!

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Ospreys
Manager –

01. Cai Griffiths	09. Tom Habberfield
02. Scott Baldwin	10. Matthew Morgan
03. Aaron Jarvis
04. Lloyd Peers	11. Eli Walker
05. James Goode	12. Stefan Watermeyer
06. Chauncey O'Toole	13. Sonny Parker
07. Sam Lewis	14. Hanno Dirksen
08. Morgan Allen	15. Ross Jones

16 Mefin Davies 17 Joe Rees 18 Jon Thomas 19 Sam Williams 20 Rory Pitman 21 Tom Grabham 22 Sam Davies 23 Luke Morgan

Tactics

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Northampton Saints v London Wasps
Sunny Intervals, 1 Degrees, 9mph Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Matt Mullan	09. Joe Simpson
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Matt Giteau (c)(k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Elliot Daly
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Siti Siviatu
08. Liam Messam	15. Danny Cipriani

16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. James Johnson 19. Ali Williams 20. Joe Launchbury 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jamie Elliott 23. Matt Hopper

Tactics

* Play at a high tempo and look to attack Wasps by dragging them all over the pitch, big ball carriers to suck in tacklers and create space for our back three. Will get Messam, de Villiers and Tuilagi on the ball early and get us over the gainline with Lydiate and Clark securing quick ball for Simpson and co to attack.
* This will see us work through the phases and keep hold of the ball - we just need one opportunity for the likes of Simpson, Tuilagi, and the back three and we are confident with an attacking mindset we will score tries.
* Will adopt usual fierce defence and put pressure on Wasps offence from the outset, got some big tacklers in the forwards and backs, which will make us very hard to breakdown. Have tackling machines in Lawes, Lydiate and Clark and will force Wasps into mistakes.
* Game based on a solid set piece strong scrum and good lineout - will attack the Wasps scrum, and put them under pressure and onto the backfoot. Use it as an attacking platform with Messam flying off the back. Lineout has four good options - Lawes, Albacete, Clark and Messam and we will mix up the throwing and when in the Wasps half look to generate quick ball to attack from.
* Target the breakdown in numbers and clear Wasps away from the contact area - have a mobile pack and strong midfield to achieve this. Will look to disrupt Wasps ball and give them poor attacking ball.
* Key game for Giteau, will need to attack the Wasps midfield and pull Downey and Mortlock out of position, can use Tuilagi and de Villiers as dummy runners and bring in explosive speed of the backthree to attack Wasps. Will be about sucking in Wasps defenders and then hgetting the ball out wide quickly - have forwards to get us the ball and backs to fnish the chances.
* Subs - will bring on new front row around 55-60minute mark, also got a lot of game changers on the bench who will come on and look to up the tempo
* Team getting more confident, espc after drawing at the Rec last week.

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London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Charlie Beech	09. Nick Phipps
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. James Slipper
04. Stuart Hooper	11. Matt Banahan
05. Richard Birkett	12. James Downey
06. Tom Johnson	13. Stirling Mortlock (c)
07. Deon Stegmann	14. Ugo Monye
08. Simon Taylor	15. Chris Wyles

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Perry Freshwater 18. Carlos Nieto 19. Steve Mafi 20. Rocky Elsom 21. James Honeyben 22. Jimmy Gopperth 23. Noah Cato

Tactics

We will look to our forwards to be physically relentless, win the collisions and get us over the gainline. We will look to wear Northampton down by carrying and recylcling the ball through a number of phases. We will look to offload the ball when possible and keep the ball moving.

We will target the scrum and look to gain the upper hand here, at the lineouts we will look to keep things simple and use the maul to suck in Northampton players and create gaps elsewhere for us to exploit.

Our centres will crash the ball in and look to suck in the Northampton players to create space elsewhere for us to make use of. We will look to Myler to kick in behind the Saints wingers and keep them pinned back in their own half, where we can exert pressure upon them.

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Dragons v Saracens
White Cloud, 4 Degrees, 16mph Winds

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Dragons
Manager –

01. Phil Price	09. Joe Bedford
02. Sam Parry	10. Steffan Jones
03. Dan Way
04. Royce Cadman	11. Patrick Leach
05. Jevon Groves	12. Lewis Robling
06. Hugo Ellis	13. Anitele'a Tuilagi
07. Darren Waters	14. Will Harries
08. Ieuen Jones	15. Ashley Smith

16 Rhys Buckley 17 Aaron Coundley 18 Kieron Jenkins 19 Dan Hodge 20 Josh Tyler 21 Jonathan Evans 22 Luke Williams 23 Geraint O'Driscoll

Tactics

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Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Max Lahiff	09. Franoics Hougaard
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Patric Lambie
03. Brok Harris
04. Graham Kitchener	11. James Short
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Damien Traille
06. Tom Wood	13. Nevin Spence
07. George Smith	14. Mark Cueto
08. Luke Narraway	15. Alex Goode

16. Bismarck du Plessis 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Bob Casey 20. James Phillips 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Henry Trinder 23. Tom Homer

Tactics

Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.

In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. If the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.

In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.

At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.

We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and George Smith in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.

We will unload our bench between 40 and 55 minutes and look to really ram home our advantage and run in tries as the game breaks up.

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Cardiff Blues v Harlequins
Sunny Intervals, 4 Degrees, 10mph Winds

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Cardiff Blues
Manager – Justin Burnell

01. Nathan Trevett	09. Rhys Downes
02. Ryan Tyrrell	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Ryan Harford
04. Cory Hill	11. Harry Robinson
05. James Down	12. Cory Allen
06. Josh Navidi	13. Adam Thomas
07. Rhys Shellard	14. Richard Mustoe
08. Luke Hamilton	15. Dan Fish

16 Marc Breeze 17 Jamie Corsi 18 Tom Davies 19 Matthew Screech 20 Ellis Jenkins 21 Lewis Jones 22 Lewis Williams 23 Owen Williams

Tactics

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ceri Jones	09. Karl Dickson
02. Chris Brooker	10. Quade Cooper
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Charlie Matthews	11. Peter Hynes
05. James Gaskell (c)	12. Anthony Faainga
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Johann Sadie
07. Luke Wallace	14. Ross Chisholm
08. Carl Fearns	15. Freddie Burns (k)

16. Schalk Brits 17. Matias Aguero 18. Leo Halavatau 19. Sam Twomney 20. Sam Jones 21. Henry Pyrgos 22. Rory Clegg 22. Olly Lindsey-Hague

Tactics

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Leicester Tigers v Newcastle Falcons
Sunny Intervals, 2 Degrees, 10mph Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Scott Mathie
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Tom Biggs
05. Dan Vickerman	12. Florian Fritz
06. Magnus Lund	13. Casey Laulala
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Cory Jane
08. Ernst Joubert (c)	15. Rob Miller

16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Tom Youngs 18. Johnny Harris 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Neil de Kock 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Napolioni Nalaga

Tactics

- Game is built around our powerful setpiece, strong midfield and flying back three. We will use the scrum and lineout as weapons.

- Attack the lineout as much as we can using the tactical kicking of Wilkinson. We will use Joubert, Manoa and Vickerman primarily as our jumpers.

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

- Look to Joubert, Manoa, Vickerman, Sheridan, Poff and Lund to give us real go-forward with their carrying.

- Use Laulala/Manoa off the shoulder of the half back's crashing down the 10/12 channel.

- 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. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Newcastle can get, and steal as much as we can for our own backs to use.

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

- Use the power we have in our centres to get us over the gain line. Two big runners in Fritz and Laulala, who will interchange to keep Newcastle guessing.

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

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Jonny Arr
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Joel Hodgson
03. Owen Franks(c)
04. Ed Slater	11. Charlie Amesbury
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Ben Williams
06. Duane Vermeulen	13. Dan Hipkiss
07. Guy Mercer	14. Miles Benjamin
08. Chris York	15. Ben Smith

16. Marius Tincu 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Brad Thorn 20. Richie McCaw 21. Sarel Pretorious 22. Nick Evans 23. Adam Ashley-Cooper

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London Irish v Gloucester Rugby
Sunny, 2 Degrees, 7mph Winds

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London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland	10. Butch James
03. WP Nel
04. Dean Mumm	11. Marland Yarde
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Mathieu Bastereaud
06. David Sisi	13. Gonzalo Tiesi
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Bjorn Basson
08. Xavier Rush	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Darren Fearn 19. Matt Garvey 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Matthew Tait 23. Daniel Bowden

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Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Steenkamp	09. Genia
02. Gray	10. Carter
03. Harden
04. Bakkies	11. Gear
05. Robson	12. Hape
06. Burger	13. Horne
07. Saull	14. JSD
08. Alberts	15. Dagg

16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Buxton 20 Fasivalu 21 Lewis 22 Donald 23 May

Tactics

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Sale Sharks v Scarlets
White Cloud, 2 Degrees, 11mph Winds

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Nathan Catt	09. Ben Spencer
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Neemia Tialata
04. Stephen Sykes	11. Sam Smith
05. Christian Day	12. Olly Barkley
06. Victor Vito	13. Yann David
07. Matt Todd	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Nick Abendanoon

16. Imolek 17. Sharman 18. Kruger 19. Jones 20. Kvesic 21. Bezy 22. Goode 23. Earls

General Game Plan

On attack, we will look to control possession with our strong carrying game. We will look to our big carriers to get over the gain line and where possible offload to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. If running the ball is not on we will look to the boots of Spencer, Cruden and Barkley to put us in the right areas.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. Spencer will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to run back any loose kicks.

At the breakdown, if the ball looks available we will look to seriously commit numbers to clear the ruck allowing POM and Todd to come in and secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit 1 or 2 to the breakdown and look to counter ruck legally slowing down Falcons ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.

At scrum time we will look to hold the bind up and get the ball straight out to Palu at the back of the scrum. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hook we will look to attack from the lineout. We will look to mix things up bringing the ball down into the maul or playing the ball of the top and spreading it through the backs.

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Scarlets
Manager – Nigel Davies

01. Phil John	09. Gareth Davies
02. Kirby Myhill	10. Aled Thomas
03. Simon Gardiner
04. Sione Timani	11. Dale Ford
05. Damian Welch	12. Adam Warren
06. Mathew Gilbert	13. Sean Lamont
07. Jonathan Edwards	14. Liam Williams
08. Kieran Murphy	15. Dan Evans

16 Emyr Phillips 17 Rhodri Jones 18 Rhys M. Thomas 19 Dominic Day 20 Richie Pugh 21 Rhodri Williams 22 Daniel Newton 23 Lee Rees

Tactics

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London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Charlie Beech	09. Nick Phipps
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. James Slipper
04. Stuart Hooper	11. Matt Banahan
05. Richard Birkett	12. James Downey
06. Tom Johnson	13. Stirling Mortlock (c)
07. Deon Stegmann	14. Ugo Monye
08. Simon Taylor	15. Chris Wyles

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Perry Freshwater 18. Carlos Nieto 19. Steve Mafi 20. Rocky Elsom 21. James Honeyben 22. Jimmy Gopperth 23. Noah Cato

Tactics

We will look to our forwards to be physically relentless, win the collisions and get us over the gainline. We will look to wear Northampton down by carrying and recylcling the ball through a number of phases. We will look to offload the ball when possible and keep the ball moving.

We will target the scrum and look to gain the upper hand here, at the lineouts we will look to keep things simple and use the maul to suck in Northampton players and create gaps elsewhere for us to exploit.

Our centres will crash the ball in and look to suck in the Northampton players to create space elsewhere for us to make use of. We will look to Myler to kick in behind the Saints wingers and keep them pinned back in their own half, where we can exert pressure upon them.

Am I right in thinking 6n players not available this week ?

If so will go

1 steenkamp
2 gray
3 harden
4 bakkies
5 robson
6 burger
7 saull
8 alberts
9 genia
10 carter
11 gear
12 hape
13 Horne
14 Jsd
15 Dagg
16 wood
17 George
18 white
19 Buxton
20 fasivalu
21 Lewis
22 Donald
23 may

All the chaps have had good rests recently but need to be sharp for next prem game hence run out.

Good team that Arry - I'm going to have to be careful who I put out against you this week now a lot of my England players arent available!

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ceri Jones	09. Karl Dickson
02. Chris Brooker	10. Quade Cooper
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Charlie Matthews	11. Peter Hynes
05. James Gaskell (c)	12. Anthony Faainga
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Johann Sadie
07. Luke Wallace	14. Ross Chisholm
08. Carl Fearns	15. Freddie Burns (k)

16. Schalk Brits 17. Matias Aguero 18. Leo Halavatau 19. Sam Twomney 20. Sam Jones 21. Henry Pyrgos 22. Rory Clegg 22. Olly Lindsey-Hague
Tactics

Exeter make four changes to the side which won away to London Wasps last week for the home encounter with Bath. Ben Alexander , Josh Matavista , Matt Smith and Lachie Turner all come into the side with Alexander , Smith and Matavista named on the bench with Turner starting on the right wing for Vasily Artemyev who takes a break this week.

'Lachie has been pretty impressive since he came into the fold , he's a international finisher and is renown for his try scoring abilities and lightning pace and will cause people problems opposite him , he's along side Balshaw who is in razor sharp form and along with Fitzy they could be the best back 3 in the league in terms of counter attacking'.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – driver - RIP 606

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Jimmy Cowen
02. Damian Valey	10.Colin Slade
03. Davit Zirkashvilli
04. Flip Van Der Merwe	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. James Hudson	12. Mike Tindall
06. Ben Skirving	13. George Pisi
07. Lewis Moody	14. Lachie Turner
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19. Simon Shaw 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Josh Matavista 23.Matt Smith

- Keep the ball in the tight and grind Bath down using the boots of Slade , Tindall and Pisi to ping Wasps in there half.

- Use our scrummaging front row to keep the scrum up and driving on when it's Bath's feed.

- Slade will look to take the ball at pace and attack the defensive line and bring our backs into play.

- Cowen to dictate the tempo and test the Bath line with snipes , service and high hanging box kicks.

- Cowen and Slade will play what is in front of them and use what they have outside them with Tindall making the headway in the backs and Fitz, Turner and Balshaw running into the wide channels.

- Slade to tick the board over with penalties and drop goals when in the opposition half.

- Big physical players in our pack will see plenty of big hits to put the pressure on the bath runners early doors.

- Run first , kick second on kick returns.

Key points

*GIVE WILSON HELL AT LOOSEHEAD WITH ZIRKA AND ALEXANDER NOT GIVE HIM A REST AT LOOSEHEAD

*TARGET SKRELA WITH BIG HITS FROM THE OFF AND TRY AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE BEALE INTO 10 TO LIMIT THERE WIDTH

*MIX LINEOUT JUMPERS ABOUT WITH HUDSON , FLIP , SKIRVING AND EASTER ALL OFFERING OPTIONS WITH NO OUT AND OUT JUMPER IN BATH PACK

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Max Lahiff	09. Franoics Hougaard
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Patric Lambie
03. Brok Harris
04. Graham Kitchener	11. James Short
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Damien Traille
06. Tom Wood	13. Nevin Spence
07. George Smith	14. Mark Cueto
08. Luke Narraway	15. Alex Goode

16. Bismarck du Plessis 17. Tendai Mtwarira 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Bob Casey 20. James Phillips 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Henry Trinder 23. Tom Homer

Tactics

Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.

In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. If the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.

In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.

At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.

We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and George Smith in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.

We will unload our bench between 40 and 55 minutes and look to really ram home our advantage and run in tries as the game breaks up.

Some serious sides this week

Few teams in with a chance of the semis, so no surprise really. Also need to give some big guns gametime having rested them the last couple of weeks.

Ca I just check that Saxons players are available this week?

Yes, Saxons players are available and any players NOT in matchday 22's in the 6 Nations.

I'm torn whether to go for it, or rest players for Quins away next week.

I've been resting loads, and playing players who I knew were going away in international duty, so want to get some of my boys match sharp this week for bigger battles ahead.

Leicester Tigers have named their side to face Newcastle Falcons at Welford Road.

Tigers continue to rotate their squad, and this week they make 11 changes to the side that comprehensively defeated Quins at the Stoop.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Scott Mathie
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Tom Biggs
05. Dan Vickerman	12. Florian Fritz
06. Magnus Lund	13. Casey Laulala
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Cory Jane
08. Ernst Joubert (c)	15. Rob Miller

16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Tom Youngs 18. Johnny Harris 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Neil de Kock 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Napolioni Nalaga

Tactics

- Game is built around our powerful setpiece, strong midfield and flying back three. We will use the scrum and lineout as weapons.

- Attack the lineout as much as we can using the tactical kicking of Wilkinson. We will use Joubert, Manoa and Vickerman primarily as our jumpers.

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

- Look to Joubert, Manoa, Vickerman, Sheridan, Poff and Lund to give us real go-forward with their carrying.

- Use Laulala/Manoa off the shoulder of the half back's crashing down the 10/12 channel.

- 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. We want to seriously disrupt the quality of the ball Newcastle can get, and steal as much as we can for our own backs to use.

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

- Use the power we have in our centres to get us over the gain line. Two big runners in Fritz and Laulala, who will interchange to keep Newcastle guessing.

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

LLL - are you taking this competition quite seriously? Good team you've put out there. Glad I'm not playing you this week.

I've been rotating my squad consistently in the HC and LV Cup. Hardly any of these boys are likely to feature next week for the league game - don't tell them that though....

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Jonny Arr
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Joel Hodgson
03. Owen Franks(c)
04. Ed Slater	11. Charlie Amesbury
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Ben Williams
06. Duane Vermeulen	13. Dan Hipkiss
07. Guy Mercer	14. Miles Benjamin
08. Chris York	15. Ben Smith

16. Marius Tincu 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Boris Stankovich 19. Brad Thorn 20. Richie McCaw 21. Sarel Pretorious 22. Nick Evans 23. Adam Ashley-Cooper

Hodgson

Give the boy a start eh Driver

Dan Carter doesn't deserve to clean his boots

Conditions and welsh opposition up

I didn't realise Stephen Jones had been called into the Wales squad. Can I change him from my line up or do I have to keep in him?

You can change him mate, but he may still be available if Gatland goes with Hook at 10.

Ok nice one mate, I'll change him just incase.

Arry I think Rhodri Jackson should be available for you though, don't think he is going to make the England game.

Saints team versus Wasps

Manager – ‘Dammit Chris

01. Matt Mullan	09. Joe Simpson
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Matt Giteau (c)(k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Patricio Albacete	11. Elliot Daly
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Siti Siviatu
08. Liam Messam	15. Danny Cipriani

16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. James Johnson 19. Ali Williams 20. Joe Launchbury 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jamie Elliott 23. Matt Hopper

Tactics

* Play at a high tempo and look to attack Wasps by dragging them all over the pitch, big ball carriers to suck in tacklers and create space for our back three. Will get Messam, de Villiers and Tuilagi on the ball early and get us over the gainline with Lydiate and Clark securing quick ball for Simpson and co to attack.
* This will see us work through the phases and keep hold of the ball - we just need one opportunity for the likes of Simpson, Tuilagi, and the back three and we are confident with an attacking mindset we will score tries.
* Will adopt usual fierce defence and put pressure on Wasps offence from the outset, got some big tacklers in the forwards and backs, which will make us very hard to breakdown. Have tackling machines in Lawes, Lydiate and Clark and will force Wasps into mistakes.
* Game based on a solid set piece strong scrum and good lineout - will attack the Wasps scrum, and put them under pressure and onto the backfoot. Use it as an attacking platform with Messam flying off the back. Lineout has four good options - Lawes, Albacete, Clark and Messam and we will mix up the throwing and when in the Wasps half look to generate quick ball to attack from.
* Target the breakdown in numbers and clear Wasps away from the contact area - have a mobile pack and strong midfield to achieve this. Will look to disrupt Wasps ball and give them poor attacking ball.
* Key game for Giteau, will need to attack the Wasps midfield and pull Downey and Mortlock out of position, can use Tuilagi and de Villiers as dummy runners and bring in explosive speed of the backthree to attack Wasps. Will be about sucking in Wasps defenders and then hgetting the ball out wide quickly - have forwards to get us the ball and backs to fnish the chances.
* Subs - will bring on new front row around 55-60minute mark, also got a lot of game changers on the bench who will come on and look to up the tempo
* Team getting more confident, espc after drawing at the Rec last week.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Julien Dupuy
02. James Buckland	10. Butch James
03. WP Nel
04. Dean Mumm	11. Marland Yarde
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Mathieu Bastereaud
06. David Sisi	13. Gonzalo Tiesi
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Bjorn Basson
08. Xavier Rush	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Darren Fearn 19. Matt Garvey 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Matthew Tait 23. Daniel Bowden

Look to use our power upfront to secure quick ball for Butch. We want to use the space and get Basson and Yarde running at pace.
Steffon to target breakdown. Hernandez to kick all pens for goal.

01. George Porter	09. Byron Kelleher
02. Michael Mayhew	10. Nicky Robinson
03. BJ Botha
04. Leo Cullen	11. Shane Williams
05. Ben Gulliver	12. Sam Vesty (k)
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. Jon Clarke
07. Martyn Williams (c)	14. Josh Drauniniu
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Rob Cook

16. Koree Britton 17. David Flatman 18. John Andress 19. Ollie Kohn 20. Ben McCalman 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Regan King

Tactics
*Big pack to front up,
*Look to dominate lineout,
*Backrow to put pressure at breakdown,
*Godzilla to punch holes,
*Quick ball,
*Robinson to kick territory and Vesty to let out the backs,
*Williams and Josh to look for space and Cook to remain steady at fb,
*Quick, hard rugby,
*Use bench as and when with King providing more creativity to the backline,
*Hard defence blitz-banana, we are looking for a morale boosting win here!

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Dave Wilson	09.Fourie Du Preez
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. David Skrela
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. Isiah Toeava
05. Tim Swinson	12. Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu
06. Tom Guest	13. Dominic Waldouck
07.Beau Robinson	14.Sean Maitland
08. Gareth Delve	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Jon Golding 17. Joe Ward 18. Richard Skuse 19. Sam Whitelock 20 JMF Lobbe 21. Chris Cook 22. David Marty 23. Tom Varndell

Tactics
One loss in twelve games really means we are psychologically in a brilliant place and hope to continue momentum.
Look to get a footing in the scrum with Mealamu, Kubrashvilli and Wilson big scrummagers
Swinson + Deacon are quality in the lineout and we feel we can really secure our own ball and get a few turnover.
At the breakdown we will look to get numbers in, slowing Exeter ball down and we will look to give Beau Robinson the best chance of forcing the turnover.
FDP + Skrela offer a lot of experience and will make tactical decisions depending on how the match is going.
Look to get our deadly back three running at opponents.
Pressure Tindall so the ball doesn't get further out wide.

Glaws tactics Are to play at high intensity keep the ball alive in what are ideal conditions. We plan on using our back 3 to maximum effect and will be targetting the breakdown with our lightning back row

I will get the ball rolling then...

Exeter 21 - 20 Bath
Fierce battle, Bath are on good form, but Exeter got a great win last week and coming off the back of that I see a home win here. Do really like the Exeter midfield and can't see Bath getting any joy there - going to be incredibly close and Exeter get there at the end.

Worcester 38 - 19 Ospreys
High scoring, attacking game - too much class though for home team.

Dragons 5 - Sarries 30
Few changes for Pete and giving some younger guys a run out - another easy win.

Cardiff 11 - Quins 33
Quade Cooper steals the show and will set up lots of Quins tries.

Tigers 22 - 18 Newcastle
Still a lot of quality on display by Pooly's team, big difference in quality of no10's though in controlling the game - like Hodgson, bright talent but up against Wilko we'll see Tigers win the territory/game management battle. Newcastle have enough to keep it close.

Irish 24 - 24 Gloucester
Big battle here, two teams you want to avoid during the 6Nations (probably means I play them both soon) - can see different battles won and lost all over the park - pack is very even, backrow advantage to Glaws - halfbacks to Glaws, but really like the balance of Irish's midfield. Was going for a small Glaws away win, but like options for Irish off the bench, which makes me think they could chase down near the end to level the game.

Sale 39 - 6 Scarlets
Wouldnt like to be a Welsh team in this competition...

Exeter Chiefs 28-23 Bath Rugby

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Chiefs have a bit of an edge in the pack here and should see some more go forward. Plenty of quality in the Bath backline will see them score a few but Chiefs have enough to take advantage of the pack control.

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Worcester Warriors 27-12 Ospreys

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Warriors with a big advantage in the back row can really dominate the breakdown here now and with Kelleher and Robinson pulling the strings should see a comfortable win.

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Northampton Saints 21-12 London Wasps

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Strong pack from Saints can set the tone here and give good ball for Giteau-JDV-Tuilagi to use and get the ball moving. Lack of an attacking spark to this Wasps side and on the back foot here struggle.

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Dragons 9-34 Saracens

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Just too much on show for Sarries and with some serious bench options as well they should really punish the Dragons late on.

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Cardiff Blues 12-27 Harlequins

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Some serious quality in the backs here for Quins. Pack will give them enough ball to shine

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Leicester Tigers 19-14 Newcastle Falcons

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Decent pack battle here but Tigers with a slight edge in the backrow and not sure how young Hodgson would do up against them. Falcons with a quality bench to bring in but Tigers at home have enough to punish young Hodgson and take advantage

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London Irish 19-21Gloucester Rugby

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Good side from Irish but its a serious Gloucester unit here and they have enough to pick up a good away win

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Exeter 16 - 14 Bath

Good contest but I just about prefer the Exeter pack and the backs are very tight. Exeter set up to play a certain way and I think they will do this very well.

Worcester 27 - 15 Ospreys

Worcester are pretty strong here and Ospreys not so much. Big fan of that back row Prop!! Comfortable 80 mins for the Warriors.

Northampton 28 - 21 Wasps

A bit more across the pitch for Saints here and some very very good players involved. Wasps aren't weak but don't match Saints in to many areas.

Dragons 6 - 32 Saracens

Steffan Jones a particularly talented player but not enough to put any dent in the Saracens machine here. A good balanced side with plenty in the tank to win here.

Leicester 27 - 19 Newcastle

Leicester have put out a very strong side here and get a very decent win. Falcons have some good youngsters but not enough to make things too tricky for the Tigers.

London Irish 24 - 34 Gloucester

Good game here with some very good players on show, Doesn't all go Gloucester's way but they have some real talent here and will score tries.

Sale 42 - 10 Scarlets

Routine is the word that comes to mind. Good win to lead Sale back into the AP games and a nice big win to finish there LV group campaign.

Exeter 22 - 23 Bath

See both TH's getting the advantage, but Mealamu vs Valey very one sided. Slight edge to Exeter in the second rows, quite even back rows - I do like Bath's unit. Not a great deal in the HB's, neither has a great deal of form. Backs again fairly tight, slight edge to Bath with the likes of Beale. Think Bath have just enough quality to get a good win.



Worcester 24 - 12 Ospreys

Quite an easy win here for the home side.



Saints 25 - 17 Wasps

Quite a front row battle that I don't see either side domintaing. But Saints back 5 is significantly stronger than Wasps', and see this having a telling facotr on the game. Step up at HB for Saints, and again at centre with a top combo that is so powerful. Back threes quite tight. Too much from Saints today.



Dragons 15 - 30 Saracens

Extremely one-sided.



Blues 9 - 26 Harlequins

Extremely one-sided.



Irish 24 - 26 Gloucester

Both LH's to get a big advantage which should make for interesting viewing. Edge to Gloucester in the second row, but good lineout from Irish. Two nice back row units, don't see either side gaining a massive advantage. HB's to Gloucester which proves vital. although slight edge to Irish centres. Strong back threes that Gloucester edge. Away side have enough to take a great win.



Sale 32 - 17 Scarlets

Extremely one-sided.

Warriors 26-10 Ospreys
Too much for Warriors here. Think they dominate in the backrow and control the game.

Saints 29-23 Wasps
Saints will dominate the forwards and with their 9-10 axis I think they can control the game. Wasps bench is scary and will narrow the score down a little bit.

Scarlets 8-34 Saracens
Scarlets will not offer hardly any resistance to what is a relatively strong Saracens side.

Blues 12-20 Quins
Steven is using this to put in some youth but I still see them running out convincing winners against Blues.

Leicester 25-23 Falcons
Leicester have named a very strong team whereas Falcons have put out a weaker side and I think Leicester just have too much although a deadly bench from Falcons nearly brings it back

Irish 24-28 Gloucester
Strong teams here from both managers. Huge differences comes in the backs here where Gloucester are sensational while Irish have named a few off form players.

Sale 30-7 Scarlets
Welsh teams just aren't strong enough to compete

Results



Exeter Chiefs 25-21 Bath Rugby

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Worcester Warriors 33-14 Ospreys

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Northampton Saints 30-18 London Wasps

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Dragons 9-37 Saracens

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Cardiff Blues 11-31 Harlequins

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Leicester Tigers 27-19 Newcastle Falcons

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London Irish 23-31 Gloucester Rugby

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Sale Sharks 40-10 Scarlets

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Full bonus for ITFL, Steve, Luke, Chris and SJE
No bonus anyone else. Very poor showing on predictions guys

I thought we had till Sunday this week sorry!!! I'm happy to do mine now, simply slipped my mind being home and all.

Usual cut off as far as I knew Prop?? Hadnt seen it changed anywhere

Must have been me getting confused with other game! Or just that it said results due sun/mon

I thought same prop

An away win over Wasps followed by a win over star studded Bath! Chiefs have found some form!

It's that midfield of yours I think Driver!

Sorry didn't predict