HC ROUND 3 PREADOS

P1 Munster Rugby v Gloucester

Munster

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Conor Murray
02. Mike Sherry	10. Ian Keatley
03. BJ Botha
04. Donncha O'Callaghan	11. Simon Zebo
05. Paul O'Connell	12. James Downey
06. Donnacha Ryan	13. Casey Laulala
07. Sean Dougall	14. Doug Howlett (c)
08. Peter O'Mahoney	15. Denis Hurley

16. Damien Varley 17. Marcus Horan 18. Stephen Archer 19. Billy Holland 20. Paddy Butler 21. Duncan Williams 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Felix Jones

01. N.Wood	09. D.Robson
02. R.Best	10. F.Burns (c)
03. A.Jones
04. S.Whitelock	11. C.Sharples
05. J.Hamilton (c)	12. J.Roberts
06. A.Qera	13. H.Trinder
07. S.Cane	14. JSD
08. JVN	15. P.Lambie

16. Korree Britton 17. Shaun Knight 18. Dan Murphy 19. Tom Savage 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dimitri Yachvilli 22. Mike Tindall 23. Johnny May

Tactics
Strong set of forwards ready for a battle,
Exciting backs with Burns and Lambie to play off the cuff but keep scoreboard ticking over.


NORTHAMPTON VS TREVISO

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Lee Dickson
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Stephen Myler
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Samu Manoa	11. Vasily Artemiev
05. Christian Day	12. James Downey
06. Phil Dowson	13. JP Pieterson
07. Calum Clark	14. Jamie Elliot
08. Roger Wilson	15. Greig Tonks

16. Alex Waller 17. Mike Haywood 18. Brian Mujati 19. Mark Sorenson 20. Tom Wood 21. Aaron Smith 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Scott Armstrong

Tactics

We will look to control territory and apply pressure on the opposition in the key areas of the field looking to force mistakes. When in possession in the right areas, we will look to play a strong carrying game, attacking in groups so as to win the collisions and get over the gain line. Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload and get us further over the gain line. We will kick all penalties in Treviso territory at goal and take the drop goal option whenever it’s available.

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and take full advantage drawing penalties from Treviso.

• We want to keep things simple and use Day, Clark & Dowson as banker ball at the lineout. We will look to bring the ball down into the maul and use the physicality of our pack to drive us into the right areas.

• 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 opposition momentum before it can get going.

• Dickson will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• The back 3 will sit deep to cover any kicks down the line and will look to counter attack of any loose ball.

• 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 it with Dowson & Clark looking to get their hands on the ball.

[list][*]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.

Benetton Treviso

01. Michele Rizzo	09. Tobias Botes
02. Leonardo Ghiraldini	10. Kristopher Burton
03. Lorenzo Cittadini
04. Antonio Pavanello (c)	11. Tomasso Iannone
05. Francesco Minto	12. Alberto Sgarbi
06. Manoa Vosawai	13. Tomasso Benvenuti
07. Alessandro Zanni	14. Giiulio Toniolatti
08. Robert Barbieri	15. Luke McLean

16. Enrico Ceccato 17. Alberto de Marchi 18. Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet 19. Valerio Bernabo 20. Simone Favaro 21. Marco Filippucci 22. Fabio Semenzato 23. Andrea Pratichetti

TIGERS VS BIRAITTZ

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Jamie George	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Ed Slater	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Richie Gray	12. James O’Connor
06. Willam Alberts	13. Matt Smith
07. Liam Gill	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Rob Kearney

16. Bismark du Plessis 17. Dan Cole 18. Alex Corbisiero 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Maurie Fa’saivalu 21. Karl Dickson 22. Berrick Barnes 23. Digby Ioane

Biarritz Olympique

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Yann Lesgourgues
02. Benoit August	10. Jean-Pascal Barraque
03. Francisco Gomez Kodela
04. Erik Lund	11. Aled Brew
05. Pelu Taele	12. Damien Traille (c)
06. Magnus Lund	13. Seremaia Borotu
07. Wenceslas Lauret	14. Takudza Ngwenya
08. Raphael Lakafia	15. Ian Balshaw

16. Arnaud Heguy 17. Thomas Synaeghel 18. Eugène Van Staden 19. Thibault Dubarry 20. Benoit Guyot 21. Julien Peyrelongue 22. Marcelo Bosch 23. Benoît Baby

BATH VS ULSTER

Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. C.Healy	09. M.Classens (c)
02. R.Batty	10. O.Barkley (k)
03. O.Franks
04. J.Muller	11. K.Eastmond
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn (lk)
06. S.O'Brien	13. E.Daly
07. F.Louw	14. T.Bowe
08. S.Kalamafoni	15. I.Dagg

16. O.Tomascyuk 17. C.Tolufua 18. N.Catt 19. R.Caldwell 20. C.Fearns 21. C.Cook 22. J.Hook 23. T.Biggs

TACTICS

General

- We want to make sure that we play rugby in the opposition half and force handling errors, where we can attack the scrum. Use the physicality of our pack to our advantage, keeping the ball tight in the middle section of the pitch to retain possession and build a platform to attack from. In our third clear to touch and challenge for the ball at lineout.

- With slow ball, look to mix up first receiver between Steyn and Hook and then look for back row runners on inside shoulder

- Steyn to ensure we play sensible rugby in the right areas, kicking long for touch in our 22, using the up and under in the centre of the pitch and delicate grubbers in behind centres to chase and force kickable penalties.

- Steyn leads the rush defence, with SOB flying up to cramp 10 for time and space and ensuring he takes the ball deep behind the gainline and starving their outside backs of ball. Classens sweeps up behind for counter attacks

- Big impact bench, with the likes of Perenise, Catt, Fearns, Caldwell providing ball carrying options up front. Banahan and Fearns will wreak havoc in the last 20 minutes, as the space opens up. Real advantage over the opposition in terms of bench options

Forwards
* In Louw, we have a world class in form flanker to compete at the breakdown. He looks to stay on his feet and slow opposition ball, stealing the turnovers
* Louw and SOB released to play as out and out flankers, linking play. Kalamafoni provides the physicality off the back of the scrum in defence and attack
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline.
* At the lineout, Muller will lead the calls as in real life and look to pressurise opposition hooker and compete at every throw.
* Use ball carriers of Catt, Attwood, O'Brien, Kalamafoni to make hard yards up the pitch and draw defenders into the ruck area, looking to create space around the fringes for Laulala to exploit

Backs
* Eastmond given free rein in attack, looking to come into the line either side of Laulala. Laulala to look for the half gap with power and offload (only if on), with the pace of Biggs and Cook on their shoulder to make the break
* Barkley to take the ball flat on the gainline, drawing defenders and buying time and space for Steyn. Steyn often used as dummy runner to keep it unpredictable
* Use the inside pass with forward runners of SOB, Attwood, Fearns to keep the inside shoulder honest and force the 10 to make tackles.
* Get Laulala on the ball early on and encourage a very pacy back three to run off his shoulder. Only offload if it is on, otherwise, crash it up and use SOB and Healy to clear out and Fearns to secure

Ulster Rugby

01. Tom Court	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Paddy Jackson
03. John Afoa
04. Johann Muller (c)	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Dan Tuohy	12. Paddy Wallace
06. Iain Henderson	13. Darren Cave
07. Chris Henry	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Nick Williams	15. Jared Payne

16. Rob Herring 17. Callum Black 18. Adam Macklin 19. Lewis Stevenson 20. Mike McComish 21. Paul Marshall 22. Luke Marshall 23. Andy Trimble

Scarlets vs Wasps

Scarlets

01. Phil John	09. Tavis Knoyle
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Priestland
03. Samson lee
04. George Earle	11. Andrew Fenby
05. Johan Snyman	12. Scott Williams
06. Aaron Shingler	13. Gareth Maule
07. Josh Turnbull	14. George North
08. Rob McCusker (c)	15. Liam Williams

16. Ken Owens 17. Shaun Hopkins 18. Deacon Manu 19. Tomas Vallejos 20. Jon Edwards 21. Gareth Davies 22. Aled Thomas 23. Morgan Stoddart

Wasps

1.Tim Payne 09.Dany Care
2.Dimitri Swarzeski 10.Owen Farrell
3.Nicolas Mas 11.Ugo Monye
4.George Skivvington 12.Maxime Mermoz
5.Marco Wentzel 13.Billy Twelvetrees
6.Theirry Dusatoir (c) 14.Tom Varndell
7.Julien Salvi 15.Mike Brown
8.Thomas Waldrom

LONDON IRISH VS TOULON

London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Joe Simpson
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Quade Cooper
03. Euan Murray
04. Tom Palmer	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Liam Messam	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Tom Homer (k)
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Delon Armitage

16. James Buckland, 17. Leo Halavatau, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Brock James, 23. Regan King

Tactics
- Play in their half all day - there are few sides that can score against us from 60+ metres so it limits their threat straight away.

- Set a decent platform to attack from and gain some confidence. Quick ball to Quade if we're stable, Harinordoquy to pick and go if it's messy.

- In the lineout, we have plenty of options. Opt for full lineouts mostly in their half to tie in their pack, leaving more space out wide. Compete for their ball.

- Target the breakdown for possible turnovers, with Pocock staying strong on his feet. When they arise, lets use them to our advantage. If the back three are sparse, look to kick for territory. If there are mis-matches, lets have a go.

- Be disciplined at the breakdown, with a guard and bodyguard at every breakdown to stop those easy yards around the fringes. No excuses here.

- Simpson to keep the tempo high, getting the ball quickly away from the breakdown and releasing the backs. The back three to be hungry and look to get involved.

- Big efforts in defence, particularly from Bowden and Rougerie. Pocock to work his socks off getting across and chopping them down before they get momentum.

- For slow ball, look to get outside their guards and bodyguards to suck in more and more forwards at each breakdown. This will give more time to the backs.

- Homer to go for points at every opportunity.We can have a pop from anywhere in their half. Make them scared to give away penalties in their half, thus giving us more time at the breakdown.

- Bench is full of impact players to keep the intensity high and have a run at the Toulon's tired legs.

Toulon

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Frederic Michalak
02. Mickael Ivaldi	10. Jonny Wilkinson (c)
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Bakkie Botha	11. David Smith
05. Jocelino Suta	12. Matt Giteau
06. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Vincent Martin
08. Chris Masoe	15. Delon Armitage

16. Jean-Charles Orioli 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Carl Hayman 19. Pierrick Gunther 20. Maxime Mermoz 21. Nick Kennedy 22. Nicolas Durand 23. Simon Shaw

Munster 15 Gloucester 20
Northampton 23 Treviso 20
Tigers 26 Biarittz 20
Scarlets 23 London Wasps 15

Not sure what the craic is on Johan Muller and Tommy Bowe in the Bath vs. Ulster fixture so i will predict that one later.

As far as I know foreigns brought from Euro opposition aren't available same as in the other game now but not 100% sure

Saints 26-20 Treviso
Tigers 28-21 Biarritz

Bath 24-25 Ulster
Scarlets 18-18 Wasps

Iirsh 22-21 Toulon

Munster 21-23 Gloucester
Saints 33-12 Treviso
Bath 24-28 Ulster
Scarlets 20-25 Wasps
Irish 18-18 Toulon

We never made it concrete I don't think boys, will bring it in for next season

Munster 22-21 Gloucester
Saints 42-9 Treviso
Tigers 26-14 Biarritz
Ulster 28-32 Ulster
Scarlets 16-22 Wasps
Irish 20-18 Toulon

Munster 15-17 Gloucester
Saints 39-3 Treviso
Tigers 18-18 Biarritz
Scarlets 10-23 Wasps
Irish 22-21 Toulon

Munster 16 - Gloucester 17
Saints 32 - Treviso 12
Leicester 25 - Biarritz 10
Bath 20 - Ulster 20
Scarlets 18 - Wasps 21
Irish 25 - Toulon 23

Munster 17-20 Gloucester
Tigers 20-15 Biarritz
Bath 22-24 Ulster
Scarlets 21-24 Wasps
Irish 17-20 Toulon

Munster 16-Gloucster 17
Saints 40-Treviso15
Lecister 25-Biarritz 18
Irish 21-Toulon23
Bath 24-Ulster-27

Munster 24 - 22 Gloucester
Northampton Saints 47 - 12 Treviso
Leicester Tigers 31 - 13 Biarritz Olympique
Bath 25 - 27 Ulster
Scarlets 19 - 23 London Wasps
London Irish 22 - 25 Toulon

Munster 23 Gloucester 22
Saints 34 Treviso 7
Tigers 21 Biarittz 9
Bath 21 Ulster 25
Scarlets 19 Wasps 24
Irish 25 Toulon 25

Good skills boys.

Can Flux/SJE do the resulta for this and the amlin?

I'll do them in the next hour. Back to work and on a nice go slow before christmass

How'd exams go Johnny?

Reckon I passed 1 failed 1. First exam was nice but the one yesterday was a c***! Won't know till Feb but a pass is worth a payrise so fingers crossed!

Doing Results now

Results:

Munster Rugby 20-23 Gloucester Rugby
Northampton Saints 40-12 Benetton Treviso
Leicester Tigers 28-15 Biarritz Olympique
Bath Rugby 24-30 Ulster Rugby
Scarlets 19-25 London Wasps
London Irish 23-23 Toulon

Really surprised i've lost that one at home. I know Ulster are a top side in great form, but can't see any areas of huge advantage. I reckon only Pienaar, Best and Gilroy would get in my side (i've got Bowe and Muller already!)

Half back a big step up for me Bathite.

They have front 5 with Batty a big weakness and Tuohy better than Attwood.

Backrow nothing in it, centres again similar but Ulster prob better as a pair. Back 3 Ulster.

I didn't see many areas you took. Ulster strong throughout but you have a big drop down in some key positions such as 2, 8, 10, 13, 11.

Not smashed but Ulster stronger

Bathite wrote:Really surprised i've lost that one at home. I know Ulster are a top side in great form, but can't see any areas of huge advantage. I reckon only Pienaar, Best and Gilroy would get in my side (i've got Bowe and Muller already!)

Cave, Jackson, Williams & Tuohy would walk into your 15 you've put out imo

Fair, but in other positions I think i'm way on top, Franks, Healy, SOB, Louw, Steyn, Dagg all considerably better than opposite numbers and think bench is better as well.

It's a but about combo's.

Ulsters front row combo is better as Batty drags you right down.

I don't see a whole lot between Dagg/Payne whilst Gilroy/Eastmond is pretty big. Similar Cave is much better than Daley and Jackson much better than Barkley.

As I said, not a lot in it but Ulster a better side.

Is it within 5 or 7 points for a LBP?

7

All is not lost then!

UNBEATEN IN HC CUP

Full: Driver, Prop, Pooly, CJB, Bathite, CF, CJ, SJE, Flux, Ollie

MARK