Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Three

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Bath Rugby vs. Northampton Saints
Sunny Intervals, 18 degrees, 17mph winds

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Chris Brooker	10. David Skrela
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Nopolioni Nalaga
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Akapusi Qera	14. George North
08. Tom Guest	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Kane Palmer Newport 17. Will Tanner 18. Jon Golding 19. Tom Donnelly 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Rob Miller 23. Michael Harris

Overall: Look to dominate in the scrum and use that as a platform to really bring our backs in who will be looking to run at the defence with bad intentions.

Psychological: We have had two wins in a row, a really solid start to the season and will be looking to build on it. I also feel we have an advantage as a team who has lots of form players whilst Saints players such as Lawes, who has hardly played this year, and Giteau who hasn’t played 10 in two years.

Forwards: We will really look to attack and come out on top of the scrum. We have two of the best props in Europe in Kubrashvilli and Healy and we feel we can really punish the Saints scrum, pushing them backwards. With our second row partnership we are looking at Jarrad Hoeata to provide the grunt necessary and offering the banker ball while Graham Kitchener will be trying to retain our lineout something we feel he is very capable of doing.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Guest, Haskell and Healy dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. At the breakdown we will look for Akapusi Qera and James Haskell to win turnover ball or manage to slow down opposition ball by going through opponents.. They will both be looking to cause as much trouble as possible. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited.

Backs: We will be looking to play running rugby with the ball in our hands. Using our forwards to create space we will look for quick ball and get the likes of Nalaga, Hogg and North who are all deadly runners, running at the Worcester defences. Wigglesworth will control the tempo of the backs and will look to keep the backs calm and composed.. Skrela will also be looking to get involved in the play along with Allen + Rougerie all of who can dangerously run.

Defence: Look to wrap the defensive line and stop them running in from deep

Substitutes: We have some really good options on the bench who we feel can really add to the game. Golding and Palmer Newport can come in and help strengthen our front row. Donnelly will look to come on and shore up the lineout. Jamie Gibson is a quality player who can really cause trouble around the park. FDP will look to control our tempo late in the game. Harris is another option who can come on and use his boot effectively to put the ball in good positions. Rob Miller is another dangerous runner who can use his boot.


Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Leigh Halfpenny
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Ashley Beck
06. Julien Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Ryan Grant 18. Logovi'i Mulipola 19. Billy Vunipola 20. Alun Wyn Jones 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Siti Siviatu

Tactics (very short ones too!)

Overview - To play a game based on power, speed, pressure and aggression. To work the ball through the phases with our forwards who will use the setpiece to gain an upper hand and then launch our backline on Bath, looking to spread the ball wide, get Tuilagi over the gainline and then secure quick ball and attack with pace. Playing an aggressive defence, led by Launchbury and Lawes in the pack (Lawes is back for Saints Friday night). Halfpenny to take all of the points on offer and confident we can score more tries than Bath due to advantage in the pack.

Pack/SetPiece

- to target Brooker for the full 80mins, get an advantage in both set pieces and use this to get more ball than Bath and turn into points. Have a full international set of front row subs and will use this to tighten the screw in the second half. Can gain real dominance in the scrum.

- use Bonnaire's lineout skills to get quick ball and get fast attacks. feel we have an advantage here.

- Salvi is the key figure at the breakdown, Bath do not have an out and out fetcher, so will look to gain advantage here too. With Parisse and Bonnaire making up the rest of the backrow we've got more control and experience to win away from home.

- if the ball is there to be won at the breakdown we will put numbers in and get the fast ball to launch attacks from.

Attack -

- will obtain more ball with our pack and with our backline is capable of scoring tries. Got good ball carriers in Hayman, Hartley, Launchbury and Parisse to get us over the gainline.

- exploit turnovers, Phillips to pressurise Wigglesworth, lineout attacked by Bonnaire/Parisse, force mistakes and then attack outwide quickly.

- put kicks in behind North and Nalaga and turn the big men, Ashton and Halfpenny great chasers and put pressure on them.

Defence -

- aggressive defence that is led by Lawes and Launchbury in the forwards who are there to stop Bath's big runners going. Put pressure on Wigglesworth and stop good ball to Skrela. Backline all defensively sound, backthree probably best defensive unit in AP. Put down big Bath runners first time and then go for turnover ball.

- will implement a blitz defence, with Tuilagi looking to smash Rougerie in the tackle area and stopping the ball getting out to the Bath backthree.

Key points -

- advantage in key positions 2, 8, 9 and 10.

- can secure advantage in the pack, vital for away win.

- strong bench, impact players.

- great form in real life - Hartley, Launchbury, Bonnaire, Parisse, Phillips, Giteau, Tuilagi and all back three!

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Harlequins vs. Sale Sharks
Sunny Intervals, 20 degrees, 14mph winds

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Greig Laidlaw (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Taku Ngwenya
08. Dave Denton	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Jerome Thion 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. Luke Morahan

Tactics

Game Plan

We want to play the game at a quick tempo and strong carrying from our players. We will look for quick ruck ball and then look to punch holes and make yards in the midfield before getting the ball into wider channels. Our decision makers at 9 and 10 will control the game for us and to make sure we are playing in the right areas and tieing in defenders. We are also going to look to retain possession in attack, not looking to kick the ball back to Sale.

When carrying we want our players to carry the ball at pace, win the collisions, keep the legs pumping after contact and look for the offload when it's on. We are looking to carry off 9 and 10 in the initial phases of play and then spread the ball wider as we tie in defenders and make yards.

We are looking to get plenty of turnovers in this game and when we do we will look for our backs to spot the weaknesses in the Sale defence and get the ball there so we can exploit the weakness.

Forwards

Our forwards are going to look to enforce the ruck area so we can give quick ball to Lee Dickson and our backs. This means rucking past the ball and being aggressive at the ruck. Our forwards will also be doing a lot of carrying and we want them to do it in numbers so that we have men at the ruck quickly.

At the set piece we really want to put the pressure on Sale. Borthwick and Wood to look to control the lineout with Botha, Warburton and Denton supporting as capable jumpers. We will look to use the shorter line out in the middle of the pitch with Denton and Warburton in the midfield as carrying options. At the scrum we will look to put pressure on the Sale front row..

Backs

We want the men at 9,10, 12 to take the ball flat and take the ball to the line before attempting to offload to support who they've put into gaps. We will look to get the ball into the hands of JJ and our back 3 when we have tied in defenders so they can exploit the gaps. Our 11, 13, 14 and 15 are absolutely rapid, and we expect them to enjoy the open spaces and the conditions. JJ will also to look to cut lines of 10 and 12 during early phases.

Defence

Quick line speed and aggression are key to our defence. Looking to put particular pressure on key decision makers. When we can we put two men into a tackle with one man taking the legs and the other looking to get onto the ball. Warburton to look to slow down the ball at the rucks and turn it over if he can. We will look to be tight around the rucks so as to make Sale's 9 less effective when sniping.

Key Points

- Quick Tempo
- Ball retention
- Strong carriers
- Mobile Pack
- Offload game
- Discipline


Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Danny Care
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. David Attwood	11. Keith Earls
05. Christian Day	12. James Hook
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Lee Imolek 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Stephen Sykes 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Yann David 23. Kyle Eastmond

Key Points

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Playing The Fringes

• With the lack of sniping thrat from the Quins 9 we can afford to fan out a little more on defence and cramp Laidlaws space. This isn’t an issue for Sexton.

High Balls

• Sexton and Hook will look to put high hanging balls into Ngwenya’s corner were we will look to take advantage of Keith Earls Gaelic football skills

Easy Metres

• Our 9/10/12 will look to take advantage of the apparent lack of a sweeper on the Quins defence and use the grubber kick in behind the aggresive blitz and gain easy metres.

Game Plan

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Attack

• We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball.

• Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload to keep the ball moving and get us further over the gain line.

• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload.

• If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Sexton & Hook and force Quins to come at us from deep.

Set Piece

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much more room as possible to attack from.

• In Quins territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs.

• In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

Defense

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Quins momentum before it can get going.

• Danny Care will play sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose kicks.

Breakdown

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with POM and Quedragao looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

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London Welsh vs. Newcastle Falcons
Sunny Intervals, 18 degrees, 15mph winds

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. Adam Jones
04. Nathan Hines	11. Christian Wade
05. George Skivington	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Maurie Fa’asavalu	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir ©	14. Matt Jess
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Louis Ludik

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Steven Kitschoff 18. David Wilson 19. James Hanks 20. Luke Wallace 21. Charlie Davies 22. Butch James 23. Andrew Trimble

Tactics

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisons in both attack and defence. In order to do this we have picked a very big pack to try to physically dominate this area of the game. We will look to apply pressure to Falcons by keeping the ball for long periods and wearing them down defensively, and also by maintaining a solid defence and denying them opportunities to get on the score board. Pressure forces mistakes, and we will look to capitalise on any that Newcastle make. Fa’asavalu and Dusautoir will play right/left on the flanks as opposed to open and blindside.

Attacking specifics

• Play off 9. Parra to be the key decision maker in the backs.
  
• Big carriers to run hard and stright in midfield off ealry phase ball to suck defenders in and create space out wide for Wade, Jess and Ludik.
  
• Carriers to look to hit gaps rather than defenders and keep the ball alive by offloading to support runners.
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• All opportunities for points with the boot to be taken by Parra or Farrell as appropriate (penalties or drop goals).
  
• If at any time we feel that we are in danger of conceding a turnover then Parra or Farrell will use their boot to kick for touch deep in Falcons territory.
  

Defensive specifics

• Darren Cave will be defensive captain.
  
• We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, otherwise we will legally slow the ball and maintain a solid defensive line to blitz from.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  

Key Points

• Home advantage.
  
• Gameplan is ideally suited to the players we have selected. Our pack is well balanced with carriers, tacklers and players who are good in the set piece.
  
• Solid defensively in midfield with real attacking threat out wide (Jess and Wade scoring for fun so far this season).
  
• We have no traditional fetcher, but with BdP in the side the balance of our pack is good as he is better at the breakdown than most opensides.
  
• Our focus is on us not on Falcons, I've not mentioned any of their players specifically as you can all make your own mind up on players form and the arguments about them have been done to death recently anyway.
  

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Clement RIc
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O’Connor

16. Lee Mears 17. Scott Wilson 18. Alex Waller 19. Geoff Parling 20. Kelly Brown 21. Luke Burgess 22. Colin Slade 23. Ben Williams

Tactics:

HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES.....GAME CHANGERS IN BACKLINE IN JOC, SBW, YOUNGS

NUMEROUS NEW PLAYERS/LOANS IN WELSH SIDE SO WILL BE LITTLE COHESION.

WE HAVE SETTLED SIDE AND ARE BANG IN FORM WHILST WELSH HAVE LOST BOTH OF THEIR OPENING GAMES

Fast paced, high intensity, offloading, dynamic rugby. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off. We’ll be aiming to control possession and go through phases. Flood will play flat and look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.

Set piece:

Look to get the ball out to Youngs so he has fast ball to attack with. They’ll be few scrums in the conditions so we’ll look to get plenty of work around the park with our more mobile front row.
POC/Parling will marshal the lineout and look to get fast ball off the top with numerous jumpers.

Target Welsh lineout if weakness seen.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot.

DEFENCE:

Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow out backrow to dominate affairs. Thorn/POC in particular will look to hit the ruck hard and remove attempted turnovers from the equation allowing us to ruck over the ball and control the breakdown. Robshaw will look to target the opposition fly half early on and pressure his kicking. Youngs to sweep in behind the defensive line.

Backs:

Get the backs into play whenever possible with Flood, SBW & JOC the spark. JOC will go looking for the ball in midfield and SBW will come into the line to give us a direct hard runner and alternative/decoy to Lowe. Youngs will eye the gaps and look for the taps to keep us moving. Pace, power and flair in the back 3 to play off the chaos SBW will cause when he smashes through.


POINTS:

SCRUM – With the good conditions they’ll be few scrums, we’ve went for a mobile front row to give us a solid platform and work around the park
LINEOUT – Hines will struggle with the calls due to his first start and only at club a week or so
BREAKDOWN – Brussow/Robshaw to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball. Brussow to play the ref early on
FORM – We are have just beat one of the form teams in the AP from last season in their own backyard and are in great form. Welsh are yet to record a win
8/9/10 – The backbone of decisons but limited game time for Welsh will hinder play

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Saracens vs. Leicester Tigers
Sunny Intervals, 20 degrees, 14mph winds

Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Jean-Marc Doussain
02.George Chuter	10.Francois Trinh-Duc (K)
03.Craig Mitchell
04.Lionel Nallet	11.Tim Visser
05.Ali Williams	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Phil Dowson	13.Chris Bell
07.Ross Rennie	14.Mark Cueto
08.Joe Van Nikirk(c)	15.Rory Lamount

16.John Smit 17.Max Lahiff 18.Phil Swainstone 18.Tim Swinson 19.Luke Narraway 20.Paul Hodgson 21.Paddy Jackson 22.Adam Thompstone


Saracens will be on the hunt for there first victory against Leicester Tigers at Wembly and will be aiming to put on a show with a high tempo game plan and some running rugby to match.

- JMD will look to keep the opposition defence working mixing his game up at 9 with some razor sharp passing and sniping round the fringes with FTD playing the percentages

Saracens will play an aggresive game with a experienced front 5 with plenty of power coming from the back 5 in the scrum and a front row with plenty of nouse. Our game will be build around a high intensity carrying game with Mullen , Chuter , Mitchell , Nallet , Dowson , Rennie and JVN all strong ball carriers and will look to carry off JMD at the base of rucks and force Tigers to defend the fringes and give JMD and FTD time on the ball to make the right decision whether to bring his backs into play or punt the ball for territory.

In the contact we will look to ruck past the ball instead of going for the typical fetcher at 7 to allow Rennie to focus on his carrying game and work in the loose.

Ali Williams is widely recognized as one of the best lineout operators in the world with JVN and Zanni pretty handy in the air and will look to put plenty of pressure on Horwill.

drift defence with Jauzion leading this with the fringe defense forcing the attack wide and the ball to there wingers in narrow space and surrounded by defenders


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Jacques Burger	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Christopher Tolofua 18. Brian Mujati 19. Simon Shaw 20. Tom Croft 21. Michael Claasens 22. Rory Clegg 23. Dominic Waldouck


Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's moving us into the right areas and the power in our pack in an effort to get our electric backline into space

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - Cole and Jenkins to look to really get the shove on against Mullen and Mitchell.

- Target Sarries back three - with Yachvili and Wilkinson, we will look to get the ball deep in Sarries territory and test their back three with a mixture of kicks.

- Target the lineout. Our lineout is led by Horwill, using Joubert as our banker ball, and with Pape and SOB as our other options.

- Use the massive line-breakers we have to tire down the Sarries defence. The likes of SOB, Burger, Joubert, Youngs, Pape and Horwill used off the shoulder at pace of 9/10 crashing through the Sarries defence. Ask our forwards to play an offloading game in good conditions.

- Burger is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball. With Burger, Cole and Jenkins, we feel our breakdown play will be crucial today.

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. We want Yach and Wilko to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs. 36 to play his natural game with so much experience around him. We want to give BOD time on the ball to release Nacewa, Clerc and Monye into space. Joubert to look to link with our backs and get into space to cause trouble out wide.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the last 20/30 minutes.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Momentum
We have started this season on fire, winning both games - in contrast to Sarries who have lost both of their openeing games:

Leicester Tigers 29 Worcester Warriors 20
London Welsh 20 Leicester Tigers 23

Saracens 22 London Irish 25
Sale Sharks 31 Saracens 21

We aim to start the game at 100mph, get some points on the board and get Sarries' heads down.

Weaknees in Sarries kicking
Sarries kicker is FTD, who is not a renowned goal kicker. In contrast, we have Wilko backed up by Yachvili, two of Europe's most consistent kickers in recent years. If it comes down to tight margins, we believe we have the personnel to get those crucial extra points.

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London Wasps vs. London Irish
Sunny Intervals, 18 degrees, 10mph winds

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Ben Daley	09. Mike Blair
02. Sean Cronin	10. Rhys Preistland (k)
03. CJ Van Der Linde
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Jamie Elliott
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Steve Mafi	13. George Pisi
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Matt Banahan
08. Ben Mowen	15. Mike Brown

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Dan Tuohy 20. Jackson Wray 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Steven Myler 23. Dan Bowden

Tactics
We will look to play at a high tempo with pace and intensity. Our forwards will carry hard, attacking gaps in the London Irish defensive line, getting us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We will ensure our carriers have plenty of support to offload to, so we can continue our attacks.

We will look to recycle the ball quickly by getting good numbers to the breakdown, with the first few players rucking past the ball to clear out the London Irish players, allowing Blair to get quick, clean ball for us to get out wide and attack the space on offer. We will look to create mismatches in midfield and target the outside shoulder of the London Irish players.

Line speed and aggression is key for us in defence, we will try and prevent London Irish from having time on the ball by having quick line speed and tackling their carriers before they reach the gain line, knocking them back and forcing them into mistakes, where we can try and get turnovers and exert pressure on them.

At the scrum, on our own ball, we will look to turn the scrum legally to erase the London Irish back row from helping out in defence before starting our own attacks.

Preistland will look to kick in behind the Irish wingers and put us deep into their territory where we will look to pressurize the Irish lineout and look to get after Matu'us throws. Wentzel will be our main go to man, we will also look to use Mafi and Mowen at the tail of the lineout where we can launch attacks from and get our big centers running at the Irish fly half channel.

With the ball in hand, we will look to isolate Bastareaud and exploit the lack of understanding in defence between him and Max Evans who haven’t played together this season. Barritt will look to take the contact and give us line breaking options with Pisi running good outside lines, we will attack gaps and half gaps in the London Irish defensive line.

We will look to control possession and be patient, recycling the ball through several phases with Blair controlling our play. We aim to move the ball around, changing the point of attack to tire out the hefty London Irish pack and also target Kaino who has not played rugby in real life for a while.


London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matt Stevens	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Motu Matu'u	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Mathieu Bastereaud
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Max Evans
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Grant Shiells 17. James Buckland 18. Jean-Baptiste Poux 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

- Look to play a fast, attacking and expansive running game.
- Counter any loose kicks with Armitage, Yarde, JP.
- Evans to control the game and use his experience to get us in the right areas of the pitch.
- Put pressure on young Jamie Elliott. We will look to get JP 1 on 1 with him.
- Target the breakdown, get Armitage in quick to force turnovers and secure our own ball quickly.
- Muller is our main lineout jumper, with Garvey, Kaino and Spies all good options.
- Evans to kick all pens for goal, if out of range go for touch.
- Use Bastereaud as both a crash ball option and decoy runner. We will look to him to get us over the gain line and suck in defenders such as Barrett, before getting quick ball out wide to the likes of Evans, JP, Delon and Yarde.

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Worcester Warriors vs. Gloucester
Sunny Intervals, 17 degrees, 15mph winds

b]Worcester Warriors[/b]
Manager - prop_lyd

01. Paul James	09. Eoin Reddan
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Olly Barkley (k)
03. Chris Budgen
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Julien Malzieu
05. Tom Savage	12. Fergus McFadden
06. Ryan Jones (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Sean Maitland
08. Ben Morgan	15. Rob Cook

16. Korree Britton 17. Samson Lee 18. Nathan Catt 19. Kearnen Myall 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Kerr-Barlow 22. Sam Vesty 23. Olly Morgan

Tactics

We have a squad full of experienced internationals who will look to control the game and we have an exciting back line who will look to run everything unless under severe pressure. Jones takes the regins as captain.

Forwards

*Experienced front row who will look to dominate the set piece and we have youngsters who have proven their worth prior to come on and do similar,

*2nd rows are two players who will look to dominate the lineouts they will also look to wind up the Glos pack and with Gorgodze we can bring on the confrontation in the 2nd half to switch our style of play,

*Target the lineout with Hamilton, Savage, Tips and Jones all capable of being abrasive and strong here,

*Backrow has Tips and Jones for the breakdown and Morgan providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more breakdown control with Myall,

*We will look to slow down alot of Glos ball at the breakdown to prevent them releasing their backs who we admit can be dangerous, this is where Tips and Jones can use their turnover skills and also live on the edge.

Backs

* Reddan to marshall and Barkley to aim for corners when under pressure but to release McFadden when possible, Barkley will go for goal when in range,

* McFadden to release Whitten who is an exciting runner and who will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for Morgan to break through the defence, Whitten is an exciting runner and will look to take it close off McFadden then drag the defence wide,

* A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball, on the bench we have Morgan to come on to steady the ship.

Defence

*McFadden to lead this,

*Tips to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up,

*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece,

*No silly penalties anymore!



Gloucester
Manager: Mat

01. Gutro Steenkamp	09. TJ perenara
02. Gray	10. Ryan Lamb
03. Nicola Mas
04. George Robson	11. Zac Guildford
05. Richie Grey	12. Matt Scott
06. CJ Stander	13. Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. JSD
08. Harinordoqouy (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Nick Wood 17. Jamie George18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. Will Genia 22. Sharples 23. Rob Horne[/quote]

Glaws tactics

-Attack scrum with huge front 5. Mas and steenkamp to target their opposite numbers
-Target lineout massively. Glos have 5 jumpers and in grey and hari 2 of worlds best. We see lineout as way of starving Worcester and also allowing us to play our quick wide game.
- use our heavy carriers to break gain line. Our mission is to produce quick ball for perenara
- look to send number in to rucks to generate quick ball and neutralise tipuric
- challenge any restarts with grey, hari and Lapandry being experts at winning ball.
- look to get cj stander into game early on his debut
- aim is for quick ball fOr TJ and lamb to ignite the backline.
- lamb to look to go wide and hot runners at holes.
- kahui to hit direct lines and test opposite numbers defence
- look to hit runners coming around the corner from when centre has trucked it up
- Scott to play second distributor
- look to keep going the same way and wear numbers down before whipping it back the other way for
Our quick men to be running at forwards
- when we have won the forward battle up the tempo and use strike
Moves, quick throw ins and countering loose kicks
- impact bench with genia sharples heaslip etc

Will get my team in today. off on Wednesday. not sure i can predo this week

Northampton Saints team to play Bath

After a disappointing home defeat to Newcastle Falcons, Dammit Chris has made three changes to the starting lineup, which sees Courtney Lawes recalled to the second row and both Julien Bonnaire and Ashley Beck make their debuts. "I felt we lost a little bit of physicality last week, so wanted to give our forward pack a little bit more power and bite in the tackle area, and have opted to play Julien Bonnaire from the start and see what damage we can cause with some quick lineout ball" stated Dammit Chris, who continued "hopefully we can get back on track and win away at the Rec again, we had some good games there last season, we just need to tighten up our defence again".

Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Leigh Halfpenny
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Ashley Beck
06. Julien Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Ryan Grant 18. Logovi'i Mulipola 19. Billy Vunipola 20. Alun Wyn Jones 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Siti Siviatu

Tactics (very short ones too!)

Overview - To play a game based on power, speed, pressure and aggression. To work the ball through the phases with our forwards who will use the setpiece to gain an upper hand and then launch our backline on Bath, looking to spread the ball wide, get Tuilagi over the gainline and then secure quick ball and attack with pace. Playing an aggressive defence, led by Launchbury and Lawes in the pack (Lawes is back for Saints Friday night). Halfpenny to take all of the points on offer and confident we can score more tries than Bath due to advantage in the pack.

Pack/SetPiece

- to target Brooker for the full 80mins, get an advantage in both set pieces and use this to get more ball than Bath and turn into points. Have a full international set of front row subs and will use this to tighten the screw in the second half. Can gain real dominance in the scrum.

- use Bonnaire's lineout skills to get quick ball and get fast attacks. feel we have an advantage here.

- Salvi is the key figure at the breakdown, Bath do not have an out and out fetcher, so will look to gain advantage here too. With Parisse and Bonnaire making up the rest of the backrow we've got more control and experience to win away from home.

- if the ball is there to be won at the breakdown we will put numbers in and get the fast ball to launch attacks from.

Attack -

- will obtain more ball with our pack and with our backline is capable of scoring tries. Got good ball carriers in Hayman, Hartley, Launchbury and Parisse to get us over the gainline.

- exploit turnovers, Phillips to pressurise Wigglesworth, lineout attacked by Bonnaire/Parisse, force mistakes and then attack outwide quickly.

- put kicks in behind North and Nalaga and turn the big men, Ashton and Halfpenny great chasers and put pressure on them.

Defence -

- aggressive defence that is led by Lawes and Launchbury in the forwards who are there to stop Bath's big runners going. Put pressure on Wigglesworth and stop good ball to Skrela. Backline all defensively sound, backthree probably best defensive unit in AP. Put down big Bath runners first time and then go for turnover ball.

- will implement a blitz defence, with Tuilagi looking to smash Rougerie in the tackle area and stopping the ball getting out to the Bath backthree.

Key points -

- advantage in key positions 2, 8, 9 and 10.

- can secure advantage in the pack, vital for away win.

- strong bench, impact players.

- great form in real life - Hartley, Launchbury, Bonnaire, Parisse, Phillips, Giteau, Tuilagi and all back three!

Good games this week

Manager: Mat

01. Gutro Steenkamp	09. TJ perenara
02. Gray	10. Ryan Lamb
03. Nicola Mas
04. George Robson	11. Zac Guildford
05. Richie Grey	12. Matt Scott
06. CJ Stander	13. Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. JSD
08. Harinordoqouy (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Nick Wood 17. Jamie George18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. Will Genia 22. Sharples 23. Rob Horne[/quote]

Glaws tactics

-Attack scrum with huge front 5. Mas and steenkamp to target their opposite numbers
-Target lineout massively. Glos have 5 jumpers and in grey and hari 2 of worlds best. We see lineout as way of starving Worcester and also allowing us to play our quick wide game.
- use our heavy carriers to break gain line. Our mission is to produce quick ball for perenara
- look to send number in to rucks to generate quick ball and neutralise tipuric
- challenge any restarts with grey, hari and Lapandry being experts at winning ball.
- look to get cj stander into game early on his debut
- aim is for quick ball fOr TJ and lamb to ignite the backline.
- lamb to look to go wide and hot runners at holes.
- kahui to hit direct lines and test opposite numbers defence
- look to hit runners coming around the corner from when centre has trucked it up
- Scott to play second distributor
- look to keep going the same way and wear numbers down before whipping it back the other way for
Our quick men to be running at forwards
- when we have won the forward battle up the tempo and use strike
Moves, quick throw ins and countering loose kicks
- impact bench with genia sharples heaslip etc

London Welsh make 2 changes to the matchday 23 for this weeks visit of Newcastle Falcons to the Kassam Stadium. James Hanks replaces Dean Schofield on the bench, with new signing Matt Jess coming into the side on the right wing, with Andrew Trimble dropping to the bench and Tom Homer out of the squad. In the only other change within the 23 Bismarck du Plessis starts at hooker with Chris Whitehead replacing him on the bench afer starting last week. Head coach Ozzy3213 had this to say.

"We want to get some continuity within the side so have gone for minimal changes this week. Bismarck (du Plessis) rotates back in at hooker after being on the bench last week, and Matt Jess comes in on the wing. He has only been here a week but has looked sharp in training and was in cracking form for Exeter Chiefs with 3 tries in their opening 2 games in the Championship, which was the reason we brought him here. We know it will be a tough game again this week against Falcons, but we will still look to play some attacking rugby, whilst working hard at ensuring that we keep the points against column down."

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. Adam Jones
04. Nathan Hines	11. Christian Wade
05. George Skivington	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Maurie Fa’asavalu	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir ©	14. Matt Jess
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Louis Ludik

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Steven Kitschoff 18. David Wilson 19. James Hanks 20. Luke Wallace 21. Charlie Davies 22. Butch James 23. Andrew Trimble

Tactics

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisons in both attack and defence. In order to do this we have picked a very big pack to try to physically dominate this area of the game. We will look to apply pressure to Falcons by keeping the ball for long periods and wearing them down defensively, and also by maintaining a solid defence and denying them opportunities to get on the score board. Pressure forces mistakes, and we will look to capitalise on any that Newcastle make. Fa’asavalu and Dusautoir will play right/left on the flanks as opposed to open and blindside.

Attacking specifics

• Play off 9. Parra to be the key decision maker in the backs.
  
• Big carriers to run hard and stright in midfield off ealry phase ball to suck defenders in and create space out wide for Wade, Jess and Ludik.
  
• Carriers to look to hit gaps rather than defenders and keep the ball alive by offloading to support runners.
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• All opportunities for points with the boot to be taken by Parra or Farrell as appropriate (penalties or drop goals).
  
• If at any time we feel that we are in danger of conceding a turnover then Parra or Farrell will use their boot to kick for touch deep in Falcons territory.
  

Defensive specifics

• Darren Cave will be defensive captain.
  
• We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, otherwise we will legally slow the ball and maintain a solid defensive line to blitz from.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  

Key Points

• Home advantage.
  
• Gameplan is ideally suited to the players we have selected. Our pack is well balanced with carriers, tacklers and players who are good in the set piece.
  
• Solid defensively in midfield with real attacking threat out wide (Jess and Wade scoring for fun so far this season).
  
• We have no traditional fetcher, but with BdP in the side the balance of our pack is good as he is better at the breakdown than most opensides.
  
• Our focus is on us not on Falcons, I've not mentioned any of their players specifically as you can all make your own mind up on players form and the arguments about them have been done to death recently anyway.
  

Saracens release the team to play Leicester Tigers.

Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Jean-Marc Doussain
02.George Chuter	10.Francois Trinh-Duc (K)
03.Craig Mitchell
04.Lionel Nallet	11.Tim Visser
05.Ali Williams	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Phil Dowson	13.Chris Bell
07.Ross Rennie	14.Mark Cueto
08.Joe Van Nikirk(c)	15.Rory Lamount

16.John Smit 17.Max Lahiff 18.Phil Swainstone 18.Tim Swinson 19.Luke Narraway 20.Paul Hodgson 21.Paddy Jackson 22.Adam Thompstone


Saracens will be on the hunt for there first victory against Leicester Tigers at Wembly and will be aiming to put on a show with a high tempo game plan and some running rugby to match.

- JMD will look to keep the opposition defence working mixing his game up at 9 with some razor sharp passing and sniping round the fringes with FTD playing the percentages

Saracens will play an aggresive game with a experienced front 5 with plenty of power coming from the back 5 in the scrum and a front row with plenty of nouse. Our game will be build around a high intensity carrying game with Mullen , Chuter , Mitchell , Nallet , Dowson , Rennie and JVN all strong ball carriers and will look to carry off JMD at the base of rucks and force Tigers to defend the fringes and give JMD and FTD time on the ball to make the right decision whether to bring his backs into play or punt the ball for territory.

In the contact we will look to ruck past the ball instead of going for the typical fetcher at 7 to allow Rennie to focus on his carrying game and work in the loose.

Ali Williams is widely recognized as one of the best lineout operators in the world with JVN and Zanni pretty handy in the air and will look to put plenty of pressure on Horwill.

drift defence with Jauzion leading this with the fringe defense forcing the attack wide and the ball to there wingers in narrow space and surrounded by defenders

Joe Van Niekerk........

So close Driver

It's what Manor Comp does for you lol

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Greig Laidlaw (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Taku Ngwenya
08. Dave Denton	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Jerome Thion 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. Luke Morahan

Tactics

Game Plan

We want to play the game at a quick tempo and strong carrying from our players. We will look for quick ruck ball and then look to punch holes and make yards in the midfield before getting the ball into wider channels. Our decision makers at 9 and 10 will control the game for us and to make sure we are playing in the right areas and tieing in defenders. We are also going to look to retain possession in attack, not looking to kick the ball back to Sale.

When carrying we want our players to carry the ball at pace, win the collisions, keep the legs pumping after contact and look for the offload when it's on. We are looking to carry off 9 and 10 in the initial phases of play and then spread the ball wider as we tie in defenders and make yards.

We are looking to get plenty of turnovers in this game and when we do we will look for our backs to spot the weaknesses in the Sale defence and get the ball there so we can exploit the weakness.

Forwards

Our forwards are going to look to enforce the ruck area so we can give quick ball to Lee Dickson and our backs. This means rucking past the ball and being aggressive at the ruck. Our forwards will also be doing a lot of carrying and we want them to do it in numbers so that we have men at the ruck quickly.

At the set piece we really want to put the pressure on Sale. Borthwick and Wood to look to control the lineout with Botha, Warburton and Denton supporting as capable jumpers. We will look to use the shorter line out in the middle of the pitch with Denton and Warburton in the midfield as carrying options. At the scrum we will look to put pressure on the Sale front row..

Backs

We want the men at 9,10, 12 to take the ball flat and take the ball to the line before attempting to offload to support who they've put into gaps. We will look to get the ball into the hands of JJ and our back 3 when we have tied in defenders so they can exploit the gaps. Our 11, 13, 14 and 15 are absolutely rapid, and we expect them to enjoy the open spaces and the conditions. JJ will also to look to cut lines of 10 and 12 during early phases.

Defence

Quick line speed and aggression are key to our defence. Looking to put particular pressure on key decision makers. When we can we put two men into a tackle with one man taking the legs and the other looking to get onto the ball. Warburton to look to slow down the ball at the rucks and turn it over if he can. We will look to be tight around the rucks so as to make Sale's 9 less effective when sniping.

Key Points

- Quick Tempo
- Ball retention
- Strong carriers
- Mobile Pack
- Offload game
- Discipline

(tactics are 521 words by my count Pete, with 19 of them being key points or sub-headings)

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Ben Daley	09. Mike Blair
02. Sean Cronin	10. Rhys Preistland (k)
03. CJ Van Der Linde
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Jamie Elliott
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Steve Mafi	13. George Pisi
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Matt Banahan
08. Ben Mowen	15. Mike Brown

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Dan Tuohy 20. Jackson Wray 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Steven Myler 23. Dan Bowden

Tactics
We will look to play at a high tempo with pace and intensity. Our forwards will carry hard, attacking gaps in the London Irish defensive line, getting us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We will ensure our carriers have plenty of support to offload to, so we can continue our attacks.

We will look to recycle the ball quickly by getting good numbers to the breakdown, with the first few players rucking past the ball to clear out the London Irish players, allowing Blair to get quick, clean ball for us to get out wide and attack the space on offer. We will look to create mismatches in midfield and target the outside shoulder of the London Irish players.

Line speed and aggression is key for us in defence, we will try and prevent London Irish from having time on the ball by having quick line speed and tackling their carriers before they reach the gain line, knocking them back and forcing them into mistakes, where we can try and get turnovers and exert pressure on them.

At the scrum, on our own ball, we will look to turn the scrum legally to erase the London Irish back row from helping out in defence before starting our own attacks.

Preistland will look to kick in behind the Irish wingers and put us deep into their territory where we will look to pressurize the Irish lineout and look to get after Matu'us throws. Wentzel will be our main go to man, we will also look to use Mafi and Mowen at the tail of the lineout where we can launch attacks from and get our big centers running at the Irish fly half channel.

With the ball in hand, we will look to isolate Bastareaud and exploit the lack of understanding in defence between him and Max Evans who haven’t played together this season. Barritt will look to take the contact and give us line breaking options with Pisi running good outside lines, we will attack gaps and half gaps in the London Irish defensive line.

We will look to control possession and be patient, recycling the ball through several phases with Blair controlling our play. We aim to move the ball around, changing the point of attack to tire out the hefty London Irish pack and also target Kaino who has not played rugby in real life for a while.

Steve bakkies one of the greatest front jumpers of all time up there with Johnno. A lot more than capable. Bakkies is an all time great In almost every aspect of playing 4. Between him and Johnson in my lifetime

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Tom Youngs	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Jacques Burger	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Christopher Tolofua 18. Brian Mujati 19. Simon Shaw 20. Tom Croft 21. Michael Claasens 22. Rory Clegg 23. Dominic Waldouck


Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's moving us into the right areas and the power in our pack in an effort to get our electric backline into space

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - Cole and Jenkins to look to really get the shove on against Mullen and Mitchell.

- Target Sarries back three - with Yachvili and Wilkinson, we will look to get the ball deep in Sarries territory and test their back three with a mixture of kicks.

- Target the lineout. Our lineout is led by Horwill, using Joubert as our banker ball, and with Pape and SOB as our other options.

- Use the massive line-breakers we have to tire down the Sarries defence. The likes of SOB, Burger, Joubert, Youngs, Pape and Horwill used off the shoulder at pace of 9/10 crashing through the Sarries defence. Ask our forwards to play an offloading game in good conditions.

- Burger is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball. With Burger, Cole and Jenkins, we feel our breakdown play will be crucial today.

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. We want Yach and Wilko to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs. 36 to play his natural game with so much experience around him. We want to give BOD time on the ball to release Nacewa, Clerc and Monye into space. Joubert to look to link with our backs and get into space to cause trouble out wide.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the last 20/30 minutes.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Momentum
We have started this season on fire, winning both games - in contrast to Sarries who have lost both of their openeing games:

Leicester Tigers 29 Worcester Warriors 20
London Welsh 20 Leicester Tigers 23

Saracens 22 London Irish 25
Sale Sharks 31 Saracens 21

We aim to start the game at 100mph, get some points on the board and get Sarries' heads down.

Weaknees in Sarries kicking
Sarries kicker is FTD, who is not a renowned goal kicker. In contrast, we have Wilko backed up by Yachvili, two of Europe's most consistent kickers in recent years. If it comes down to tight margins, we believe we have the personnel to get those crucial extra points.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matt Stevens	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Motu Matu'u	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Mathieu Bastereaud
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Max Evans
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Grant Shiells 17. James Buckland 18. Jean-Baptiste Poux 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

- Look to play a fast, attacking and expansive running game.
- Counter any loose kicks with Armitage, Yarde, JP.
- Evans to control the game and use his experience to get us in the right areas of the pitch.
- Put pressure on young Jamie Elliott. We will look to get JP 1 on 1 with him.
- Target the breakdown, get Armitage in quick to force turnovers and secure our own ball quickly.
- Muller is our main lineout jumper, with Garvey, Kaino and Spies all good options.
- Evans to kick all pens for goal, if out of range go for touch.
- Use Bastereaud as both a crash ball option and decoy runner. We will look to him to get us over the gain line and suck in defenders such as Barrett, before getting quick ball out wide to the likes of Evans, JP, Delon and Yarde.

Mark, will get my squad in after training

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Chris Brooker	10. David Skrela
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Nopolioni Nalaga
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Akapusi Qera	14. George North
08. Tom Guest	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Kane Palmer Newport 17. Will Tanner 18. Jon Golding 19. Tom Donnelly 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Rob Miller 23. Michael Harris

Overall: Look to dominate in the scrum and use that as a platform to really bring our backs in who will be looking to run at the defence with bad intentions.

Psychological: We have had two wins in a row, a really solid start to the season and will be looking to build on it. I also feel we have an advantage as a team who has lots of form players whilst Saints players such as Lawes, who has hardly played this year, and Giteau who hasn’t played 10 in two years.

Forwards: We will really look to attack and come out on top of the scrum. We have two of the best props in Europe in Kubrashvilli and Healy and we feel we can really punish the Saints scrum, pushing them backwards. With our second row partnership we are looking at Jarrad Hoeata to provide the grunt necessary and offering the banker ball while Graham Kitchener will be trying to retain our lineout something we feel he is very capable of doing.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Guest, Haskell and Healy dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. At the breakdown we will look for Akapusi Qera and James Haskell to win turnover ball or manage to slow down opposition ball by going through opponents.. They will both be looking to cause as much trouble as possible. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited.

Backs: We will be looking to play running rugby with the ball in our hands. Using our forwards to create space we will look for quick ball and get the likes of Nalaga, Hogg and North who are all deadly runners, running at the Worcester defences. Wigglesworth will control the tempo of the backs and will look to keep the backs calm and composed.. Skrela will also be looking to get involved in the play along with Allen + Rougerie all of who can dangerously run.

Defence: Look to wrap the defensive line and stop them running in from deep

Substitutes: We have some really good options on the bench who we feel can really add to the game. Golding and Palmer Newport can come in and help strengthen our front row. Donnelly will look to come on and shore up the lineout. Jamie Gibson is a quality player who can really cause trouble around the park. FDP will look to control our tempo late in the game. Harris is another option who can come on and use his boot effectively to put the ball in good positions. Rob Miller is another dangerous runner who can use his boot.

[/i]

01. Paul James	09. Eoin Reddan
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Olly Barkley (k)
03. Chris Budgen
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Julien Malzieu
05. Tom Savage	12. Fergus McFadden
06. Ryan Jones (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Sean Maitland
08. Ben Morgan	15. Rob Cook

16. Korree Britton 17. Samson Lee 18. Nathan Catt 19. Kearnen Myall 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Kerr-Barlow 22. Sam Vesty 23. Olly Morgan


Tactics

We have a squad full of experienced internationals who will look to control the game and we have an exciting back line who will look to run everything unless under severe pressure. Jones takes the regins as captain.



Forwards

*Experienced front row who will look to dominate the set piece and we have youngsters who have proven their worth prior to come on and do similar,

*2nd rows are two players who will look to dominate the lineouts they will also look to wind up the Glos pack and with Gorgodze we can bring on the confrontation in the 2nd half to switch our style of play,

*Target the lineout with Hamilton, Savage, Tips and Jones all capable of being abrasive and strong here,

*Backrow has Tips and Jones for the breakdown and Morgan providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more breakdown control with Myall,

*We will look to slow down alot of Glos ball at the breakdown to prevent them releasing their backs who we admit can be dangerous, this is where Tips and Jones can use their turnover skills and also live on the edge.



Backs

* Reddan to marshall and Barkley to aim for corners when under pressure but to release McFadden when possible, Barkley will go for goal when in range,

* McFadden to release Whitten who is an exciting runner and who will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for Morgan to break through the defence, Whitten is an exciting runner and will look to take it close off McFadden then drag the defence wide,

* A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball, on the bench we have Morgan to come on to steady the ship.



Defence

*McFadden to lead this,

*Tips to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up,

*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece,

*No silly penalties anymore!

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Clement RIc
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O’Connor

16. Lee Mears 17. Scott Wilson 18. Alex Waller 19. Geoff Parling 20. Kelly Brown 21. Luke Burgess 22. Colin Slade 23. Ben Williams

Tactics:

HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES.....GAME CHANGERS IN BACKLINE IN JOC, SBW, YOUNGS

NUMEROUS NEW PLAYERS/LOANS IN WELSH SIDE SO WILL BE LITTLE COHESION.

WE HAVE SETTLED SIDE AND ARE BANG IN FORM WHILST WELSH HAVE LOST BOTH OF THEIR OPENING GAMES

Fast paced, high intensity, offloading, dynamic rugby. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off. We’ll be aiming to control possession and go through phases. Flood will play flat and look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.

Set piece:

Look to get the ball out to Youngs so he has fast ball to attack with. They’ll be few scrums in the conditions so we’ll look to get plenty of work around the park with our more mobile front row.
POC/Parling will marshal the lineout and look to get fast ball off the top with numerous jumpers.

Target Welsh lineout if weakness seen.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot.

DEFENCE:

Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow out backrow to dominate affairs. Thorn/POC in particular will look to hit the ruck hard and remove attempted turnovers from the equation allowing us to ruck over the ball and control the breakdown. Robshaw will look to target the opposition fly half early on and pressure his kicking. Youngs to sweep in behind the defensive line.

Backs:

Get the backs into play whenever possible with Flood, SBW & JOC the spark. JOC will go looking for the ball in midfield and SBW will come into the line to give us a direct hard runner and alternative/decoy to Lowe. Youngs will eye the gaps and look for the taps to keep us moving. Pace, power and flair in the back 3 to play off the chaos SBW will cause when he smashes through.


POINTS:

SCRUM – With the good conditions they’ll be few scrums, we’ve went for a mobile front row to give us a solid platform and work around the park
LINEOUT – Hines will struggle with the calls due to his first start and only at club a week or so
BREAKDOWN – Brussow/Robshaw to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball. Brussow to play the ref early on
FORM – We are have just beat one of the form teams in the AP from last season in their own backyard and are in great form. Welsh are yet to record a win
8/9/10 – The backbone of decisons but limited game time for Welsh will hinder play

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Vasil Kakovin	09. Danny Care
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. David Attwood	11. Keith Earls
05. Christian Day	12. James Hook
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Lee Imolek 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Stephen Sykes 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Yann David 23. Kyle Eastmond

Key Points

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Playing The Fringes

• With the lack of sniping thrat from the Quins 9 we can afford to fan out a little more on defence and cramp Laidlaws space. This isn’t an issue for Sexton.

High Balls

• Sexton and Hook will look to put high hanging balls into Ngwenya’s corner were we will look to take advantage of Keith Earls Gaelic football skills

Easy Metres

• Our 9/10/12 will look to take advantage of the apparent lack of a sweeper on the Quins defence and use the grubber kick in behind the aggresive blitz and gain easy metres.

Game Plan

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Attack

• We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball.

• Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload to keep the ball moving and get us further over the gain line.

• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload.

• If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Sexton & Hook and force Quins to come at us from deep.

Set Piece

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much more room as possible to attack from.

• In Quins territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs.

• In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

Defense

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Quins momentum before it can get going.

• Danny Care will play sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose kicks.

Breakdown

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with POM and Quedragao looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

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(Word Count: 456)

Not looking for an argument so saying nothing about tactics, but just to correct a factual inaccuracy in Pooly's key points it is not Nathan Hines first start for us, he started last week as well. The only debutant for us is Matt Jess on the wing.

Predictions are OPEN

Quins 26 - 24 Sale
Really interesting game, the combinations in Steve's pack makes a big difference for me, I think as a unit they would work very well and compliment each other, the backrow balance is brilliant. Away I look for teams that can beat the oppositions pack, and I think Sale just fall short (though that could be my lack of forward knowledge as never seen either prop play for Sale). The scores will stay close as I think Sale have a better back three overall, but Quins will get tries out of them.

Welsh 19 - 17 Falcons
A monster of a pack for the home team, very similar to how Exeter have constantly been surprising teams over the last few seasons. Can see more ball coming Welsh's way and then the control of the 9/10 kicks in. The result would normally be completely different, but I have issues with the form of quite a few Newcastle players in real life. e.g. a tactic is that they have game changers in guys like JOC, I can't remember the last time he changed a game because of form. A lot also seems to come through POC, who again isn't in good form and with his injuries I seriously struggle to see how he can now play 3 games back to back at this intensity and also SBW, he's played five massive games in a row (2 internationals, then 3 back-to-back AP games, which again similar to internationals) - for me a rugby player can't cope with that level of physicality without rest. If there weren't form issues and others I highlighted then Newcastle would win by 5+ points, but reading Pete's tactics I think he's got them spot on this week.

Sarries 23 - 23 Tigers
Great battle this one, really like the look of the Saracens team and a bit more spark to them outwide. But Tigers are one of those annoying teams and the control they get at 9 and 10 is very important for them and they've got a huge pack too - one issue is I'm not 100% convinced with Tom Youngs yet, especially his lineout throwing, so that might cost them. Is a very close game and can't split them.

Wasps 28 - 27 Irish
ANother tough game to predict, was close to giving a draw, but thinK Wasps at home and their starting lineup is going to be so hard to beat and think that the form of Poff makes a huge difference and he can really front up to Armitage, which not many can. Mafi is great to have at no6 and makes up for a lack of ball carrying lock. Wentzel has been on top form for Wasps and lineout presence will be some important. To beat Irish I think you need to front up defensively in midfield and BArritt/Pisi combination is a going to be hard to get through. Think Wasps will get into the lead early on and the Irish bench swings momentum back, but not quite enough.

Worcester 23 - 23 Gloucester
I'm torn on this one, if it was the winter then I think Warriors would walk it by about 5+ points because that is one of the toughest wet weather packs I think I have come across, where as Mat's pack is more suited to the conditions and can play a bit more expansively. Would prefer to play behind the Warriors pack, but I think Gloucester can do more damage with the ball they have, whilst Warriors will get more ball. One area I am unsure about is the no9 battle, as I havent seen Mat's no9 play, which does count against Gloucester. I don't like calling draws, but in this instance I can't pick a winner as two contrasting teams, both have better areas.

Bath 27-24 Saints

Close packs and set piece (Bonnaire helps Saints lineout no end). Saints really miss ball carriers though and can see them struggling to get any momentum. Struggle to rate Lawes too with him being out since Jan/Feb. Great backs but just see Bath having home advantage and better platform.

Bath 18-23 Saints

Front row to Saints with Brooker struggling against the pressure. 2^nd rows I see as even but, once Lawes completes 80 it will change. Backrow edged to Saints but Bath aren’t any jokers here and will get the hits in. Hb’s to Saints as well as their centres who will make inroads but Bath will gain some advantage through the boot of Skrela when under pressure. Back three for both teams are pretty dangerous but I can see Saints getting better ball to their group.

Home advantage helps but Saints to win this one.



Quins 18-17 Sharks

Quins will take the front row with only Marler struggling a bit under pressure. Very experienced 2^nd row from Quins who will take lineout ball all day. Again in the backrow Quins’ll get the quick ball for their backs.

In the backs it’s a bit of a different story with Sharks having the in form 9-10 and like the tactic of the high balls for Earls to pressure. Different styles in the centres with Roberts struggling a bit for form (back tomorrow) but holding enough to run over Hook. Hook will put up good pressure balls though. Back three even with Strettle struggling against Biggs but Earls getting the upper hand (feel Earls is more suited to the centre though).

Overall I’m giving this to Quins simply because forwards win matches and Sale won’t get enough clean ball to win, only a close victory though.



Welsh 15-15 Falcons

Two strong front rows here with Welsh gaining the upper hand and with good strength on the bench. 2^nd row goes to Falcons with the back row I’m calling even with a couple of out of form players. Kala has been in good form for Glos and will outplay Faletau at present. Prefer Falcons’ 9-10 and can see SBW getting good clean ball here to attack with. In the centres I think JD2 will do ok against SBW however, I do prefer to see him at 13. Welsh have steady players in the back 3 but I can only see Wade as a gamechanger whereas Falcons have Bowe and JOC here.

Playing the tight game will help Welsh keep the Falcons close and, I am going to say that: the Welsh tactics up against the Falcons quality will nullify this match. First draw of the season here.



Sarries 20-24 Tigers

Tigers will be able to get a very good shunt on in the front row but Sarries do have strength in their locks to prevent this being too bad. Can see Sarries getting some joy at the lineout but Tigers take the back row battle with strong runners and fetchers. Both have good hb’s but Tigers just have that little extra quality here. Centres again to Tigers but the back three is even with Visser guaranteed to get a try a game at the moment and Cueto may struggle against him here. BOD does need a bit of form and Jauzion may exploit this. I’d place the benches as even. A nice win for Tigers who just, like Newcastle, have that little extra quality in their side.



Wasps 15-14 Irish

Front row to Irish with Castro leading the way. 2^nd row to Wasps who will just edge the lineout battle. I’m going to just give Irish the backrow but will pick up on what Arry’s said about Kaino not playing for a while. I feel Armitage will make up for this. 9-10 just to Wasps but think 11 and 14 will be where Irish will take advantage. Having Brown at fullback means that this game will be very very tight and not many scores here. It’s the centre combo of Pisi and Barrit which will get Wasps this win.

Bath 24 - 24 Saints

Advantage Saints in the scrum and in the lineout sees them with a strong advanatge in the set piece. They just take the back 5, but not by a great margin. Not much in the HB's, centres just edge to Bath, two good units. Fairly even back threes with two good units,. Think Saints do well in the pack, but maybe don't have the hard yards that Bath have, and think Bath, with home advanatge, have enough in the backs to draw against a strong Saints side.


Harlequins 28 - 26 Sale

Quins just take the front row but not by a great deal with a grizzly uint from Sale. Botha the standout with the other three being similar sees edge to Quins in the 2nd row. Two top back rows, not a lot in it really. Sale take the HB's, with the centres being pretty tight, Sale edge the back threes too. Quins pack vs Sale backs - home advanatge the main difference.


Welsh 25 - 27 Newcastle

Big advantage for Welsh up front with one of the leagues best units just now. Hines vs Thorn similar, POC still just edges Skivs so slight edge to Newcastle here. Massive carriers from Welsh, great breakdown for Newcastle - tough to split. One apiece in the HB's, Parra the standout. Very tight centres - i'd be looking to give SBW a rest personally. Edge to Newcastle in the back threes. Really tough to call this one - I think Newcastle just have the little bit too much, but so close.


Wasps 25 - 23 Irish

Advanatge both TH's so not a great deal in the scrum. Not much in the 2nd rows either. Slight edge to Irish in the back row but Mafi playing well over Kaino now for me. Two good HB pairings with Evans the stand out. One apiece in the centres, really tight in the back threes too. I don't think there is a great deal between these two. Irish maybe a tad more quality, but at home think Wasps have just enough.


Worcester 18 - 20 Gloucester

Slight edge to Gloucester up front, and also in the 2nd row, but not a lot in that area. I like Worcester's back row and think they take a slight advantage here. Not much in the HB's, neither unit has enough to dominate. Bit more in Gloucester's centres, and a tad more in the back three's too. I think in the wet Worcester take this, but in the dry Gloucester just sneak it.

Bath 12-14 Northampton

Honours even at scrum time but (unusual I know!) Saints can see some joy at the lineout. Bath have no one who really call the line and can see some miscommunication there. Back rows fairly tight and can’t really separate as units. There is definitely a better carrying game to the Bath pack though and Tuilagi will have to be used a lot. At halfback I prefer Gits at 12 but the threat of Phillips around the base will give him some extra room to work in. Again like last week not sure the Bath halfbacks are the combo to play the running rugby CJB wants in his tactics. Back 3s side to Saints. Good attacking threat from both sides but Saints more capable defensively for me and Chris is right to use the kick in behind. Midfield is fairly even quality and form wise. Not much difference between the benches although the Saints replacement forwards will add some needed carrying threat to the pack. Can see Saints doing well with the kicking in behind game with the stronger lineout on show but they won’t always get over the gain line ball in hand. Bath no problems getting carriers over the gain line but won’t get the attacking game going. See Saints just nicking this by the slimest of margins in what won’t be a very high scoring affair.

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London Welsh 19-19 Newcastle Falcons

See Welsh getting an edge at scrum time here but Falcons can get at the lineout with Skivs having to take a lot on himself in this one. In the backrow maybe some form issues for Falcons but they have an extra bit of quality and can prevent Welsh from spoiling as much as usual. Halfbacks due to the proven combo edge to Falcons. Midfield battle is fairly even though. Think Davies/Cave is something that would work really well in real life. Back 3s go to Falcons with an extra bit of class there. On the benches I’m not overly sure on Slade and think Falcons could take a bit of rollicking at scrum time in the final quarter. Tough one to call. Both sides will see decent ball which I see Falcons doing better with but Welsh at home and I expect a strong finish. Going to opt for the draw here.

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Saracens 19-23 Leicester

Don’t see anything between the sides at the scrum. Youngs throwing could be got at but Tigers have the better jumping options and this will help him out. See the Tigers front 5 getting through a lot more work ball in hand and at the breakdown though. Backrows as a unit shade to Tigers with SOB a class above Dowson. At halfback see more attacking flair from Sarries but Tigers with much better game management. Think the lack of a top class goal kicker hurts Sarries a bit. Pointed it out last week in my tactics as I feel it allows the opposition to get away with a bit more. More class overall for Tigers in the back 3. Midfield shades to Tigers but not by an awful lot. On the bench see both back up 10s capable of being got at but Tigers have more quality to bring on in the pack. Tigers have enough quality in the key areas to win away.

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Wasps 21-19 London Irish

Can see a slight edge to Irish at scrum time here but I expect Wentzal to pick Matu’u off a bit in the lineout. There is an extra bit of quality to the Irish backrow but Kaino can’t be rated nowadays with no rugby since the world cup which levels this out. Half backs to Irish with some decent form on show. The back three goes to Irish too. The Wasps wings can be got at a bit defensively. Midfield goes to Wasps though. Not sure on how the midfield unit would get on defensively and Arry is right to target. Feel Wasps give a clearer picture of their game plan with not a lot of detail to the Irish tactics so a slight mark down there for Irish. Not a lot in the pack think Irish have a bit more threat in the backs but a good set of tactics and home advantage is enough to see Wasps sneak it.

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Worcester 23-28 Gloucester

See Glaws edging the scrum here but aren’t as dominant as they could be with a light weight 2nd row on show. They can dominate the lineout though. Backrow battle just goes to Worcester but isn’t a major advantage. See them edging it out on the flanks with the all-Welsh unit. Halfbacks fairly tight. Perenea electric at 9 but Reddan gives the better base while both 10s have started the Prem of fairly well but could be got at defensively. Midfield goes to Glaws. McFadden stronger at 12 but Kahui a class above at 13. Like the look of both back threes though and very hard to split. Much more impact from the Gloucester bench. On the tactics front Glaws have highlighted the lineout ascendancy but I see no mention what so ever of how they will bring that into play? Good game here with Worcester giving as good as they get but when the benches come into play Gloucester should see the game out.

Bath 19 - 20 Saints

Overall I prefer the Saints pack. I feel it has stronger individuals and will probably work better as a unit. The front row goes to Bath though, although Brooker long term injury hurts him as he is a fine player (in my opinion better than Joe Grey). Saints stronger in the row with the back rows to Saints.

Half backs to Saints by a distance. Outside backs pretty even with some huge collisions going in. Think Saints will control the game better up front and from halfback so they will get more from their outside backs.

London Welsh 18 - 18 Newcastle

Real belter this. I think Welsh have a much stronger front row both in the tight and in the loose. I disagree with Pooly in as much that I feel Welsh have the better mobility in the front row. Newcastle have the same advantage in the second row. Back rows are a great contest. Newcastle will have joy and the breakdown but Welsh have three bruisers who will make there presence known. Overall there is no doubt for me that London Welsh will win the collisions in the pack and will have more joy getting over the gainline.

Half backs to Newcastle. Youngs and Parra at a similar level but Flood a bit ahead of Farrell. Centres are pretty even. SBW ahead of Davies (as a 12) and Cave ahead of Lowe. BAck 3's to Newcastle, but I prefer Wade to Benjamin but the other positions are very one sided.

Tales of Welsh's pack against the Newcastle backs. Can't call this sorry.

Saracens 16 - 20 Leicester

Packs go to Leicester. They have a stronger front 5 and are well balanced and has plenty of carriers. I do however think Saracens will rule the lineout which isn't great with Yachvili and Wilkinson as Leicester's half backs who's main strength is kicking in my eyes.

That said, half backs to Leicester. Doussain just having arrived will really disrupt Saracens flow, but will be a good addition in weeks to come. Jauzion and Bell will struggle I think and Leicester shade the back 3's.

Overall Leicester are a fair way stronger and they take the win.

Wasps 24 - 22 Irish

Overall not much seperates the packs. Both Th's will do a job and the lineouts will be a fine battle. I like the Wasps back row and think it will match Irish.

One a piece at half back but the Wasps unit is stronger for me as I struggle to rate Dupuy. Think Barritt and Pisi offer more than Bast and Evans in the centres, and Irish edge the back 3's.

Both tactics are good. Home win for Wasps.

Worcester 21 - 21 Gloucester

Scrum will be a good battle but Gloucester should just come out on top. Lineouts will be evens. Prop you need to Gorgodze in your starting side (for Tipuric for me). Overall the packs are pretty even.

Backs are a tight. I think the half backs are pretty even. Barkley has the better of Lamb with Reddan just behind TJ. Centres just to Gloucester. Back 3's just about to Worcester, Malzieu a class act.

Very hard one to call. Has to be another draw I'm afraid.

Will get predos in tomorrow morning first thing, am off out for a leaving do

Quins 22–19 Sale
Welsh 21–23 Falcons
Saracens 17-24 Tigers
Wasps 24-25 Irish
Worcester 23-25 Gloucester

Bath Rugby 25 – 25 Northampton Saints
Very close game, scrum just goes to Bath but with Bonnaire I can see the Saints gaining the upper hand at the lineout. Not Skrelas biggest fan, I think with Salvi the Saints will be able to slow down the Bath ball and disrupt the quality of service to Skrela who I think can be got at.

I do think Bath have more carriers than the Saints, think the Bath back row provides plenty of physicality and I can see them getting over the gain line and setting out a good platform.

Bath have some exciting runners and so do the Saints, backlines very even. I think with the conditions this one will be a really open and exciting game. Too close to call, two very evenly matched sides.

Harlequins 27 – 24 Sale Sharks
Scrum is interesting, very powerful front row from Johnny, I think Quins will hold their own though with the power of Bakkies Botha in the engine room. Plenty of carriers in the Quins pack, apart from Picamoles I don’t see that many players breaking the gain line for Sale.

Prefer the Sale half backs think they will provide control and think Care is the man you want to play a fast paced game. I can see Sale getting the upper hand at the lineout, with several good jumpers able to attack Rees’s throws.

Roberts/Joseph combo is excellent, good balance and can see Quins winning the collisions and getting their offloading game going. Serious pace out wide to finish off chances that come their way. Home advantage and the physical edge in the forwards gives Quins a home victory.

London Welsh 23 – 21 Newcastle Falcons
Really like the London Welsh pack, so physical and powerful. Can see them getting the upper hand at the scrum which will provide a platform for them to build from.

Good breakdown battle, I think Robshaw and Brussow will come out on top though and manage to slow down the London Welsh ball. Quite a few players injured in real life for the Falcons, so form is difficult to judge.

I think that Parra will make the best of what he is given and I can see Farrell using his options well, Wade in scintillating form, London Welsh have so much physicality and carriers, I can see them just sneaking this one.

Saracens 18 – 23 Leicester Tigers
I see Tigers controlling the set piece nicely here, good attacking options for both sides but I think the Tigers half backs will control the play and put them in the right areas to exert pressure on Sarries.

Good balanced back row for Saracens, I think Rennie will win plenty of penalties for them with his breakdown work. Can see Jauzion getting them over the gain line with his powerful running.

I think that the Tigers will control the key aspects of the game and be marshalled well by Yachvili. Well balanced side and I think they will manage to overcome a good Saracens side.

Worcester Warriors 22 – 22 Gloucester Rugby
Prefer the Gloucester front five, very powerful. Excellent back row for Worcester, can see the in form Morgan getting them over the gain line. Can see Barkley scoring most of the Warriors points from the boot.

Lamb is not my cup of tea. I think he can be got at here as I don’t see the Gloucester pack giving him an easy front foot game. Exciting runners in the Gloucester back line but how much of the ball they will see I don’t know.

Worcester to control the game until Gloucester bench is unloaded that will bring them right back into the reckoning. Can see it being a very nervy last few minutes and I think with the impact of the Gloucester bench they it’ll be enough to secure a draw.

Quins 22–21 Sale
Welsh 21–23 Falcons
Saracens 17-19Tigers
Wasps 24-24Irish
Bath 22-22 saints

Bath Rugby 22 Northampton Saints 23
Harlequins 24 Sale Sharks 24
Saracens 20 Leicester Tigers 24
London Wasps 23 London Irish 23
Worcester Warriors 22 Gloucester 23

Looks like there is gonna be a few fines this week.

Annoying when all don't predict as it reduces chances of bonus points for sides.

Man I thought I may have nicked a draw this week!! Need McCabe and Beast back asap!!!!

Predictions CLOSED

Sorry lads was in hospital last night so didn't have time.

I am happy to let stnick predo late if nobody has any objections?

I don't think it is fair really Pete.

I am happy for him not to be fined as it is obviously a good reason why he hasn't been able to predicit, but Chris's predo's weren't allowed to stand a few weeks back.

Makes it difficult in future weeks in my opinion. If Nicks results affect games then its tough on those who suffer from them.

I would suggest perhaps a longer window to Predict, perhaps all day Saturday.

Issue for me then is getting the results up, as generally Sundays are a very busy day for me.

Ok, no fine for nick for not predicting but predos closed.

Doing the results now.

RESULTS

Bath Rugby 21 Northampton Saints 24
Harlequins 27 Sale Sharks 22
London Welsh 21 Newcastle Falcons 22
Saracens 19 Leicester Tigers 26
London Wasps 26 London Irish 23
Worcester Warriors 22 Gloucester 25

gutted.com

Prediction bonuses:

Full

Chris, Prop, Luke, SJE Steve, Arry

£0.25m

CJB, Mat, Ozzy


Pooly gets £0.3m for 1 full prediction.

stnick is exempt being fined due to being in hospital.

driver is fined for not predicting.

Sorry lads, can only get net in hotel and been confined to camp with the protests. Bloody Yanks

Sorry for not predicting lads been in bed all day dying.

Scorers

Bath Rugby 21 (T: North 2 C: Skrela 2 P: Skrela 3)
Northampton Saints 24 (T: Parisse, Tuilagi, Simpson C: Halfpenny 3 P: Halfpenny)

Harlequins 27 (T: Wood, Ngwenya, Laidlaw C: Laidlaw 3 P: Laidlaw 2)
Sale Sharks 22 (T: Kakovin, Care P: Sexton 4)

London Welsh 21 (T: Jess, Wade C: Farrell P: Farrell 3)
Newcastle Falcons 22 (T: Flood, Robshaw P: Flood 4)

Saracens 19 (T: Visser C: Trinh-Duc P: Trinh-Duc 4)
Leicester Tigers 26 (T: Monye, Joubert, Youngs C: Wilkinson P: Wilkinson 3)

London Wasps 26 (T: Pisi, Daley, Brown C: Priestland P: Priestland 3)
London Irish 23 (T: Yarde, Matu’u C: Evans 2 P: Evans 3)

Worcester Warriors 22 (T: Whitten, Morgan P: Barkley 4)
Gloucester 25 (T: Stander, Simpson-Daniel, Perenara C: Lamb 2 P: Lamb 2)

Sky Sports team of the round

1.Ben Daley (London Wasps)
2.Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers)
3.Clement Ric (Newcastle Falcons)
4.Bakkies Botha (Harlequins)
5.Marco Wentzel (London Wasps)
6.CJ Stander (Gloucester)
7.Hienrich Brussouw (Newcastle Falcons)
8.Sergio Parrise (Northampton Saints)

9.Dimitri Yachvilli (Leicester Tigers)
10.Rhys Priestland (London Wasps)
11.Tim Visser (Saracens)
12.Ashley Beck (Northampton Saints)
13.Manu Tuilagi (Northampton Saints)
14.George North (Bath Rugby)
15.Stuart Hogg (Bath Rugby)