Fantasy Aviva Round 15

First topic message reminder :

Aviva Premiership Round Fifteen
Bath v London Irish
Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. N.Catt	09. M.Classens
02. C.Tolufua	10. O.Barkley (k)
03. O.Franks
04. J.Muller (c)	11. T.Biggs
05. F. VD Merwe	12. F.Steyn
06. F.Louw	13. E.Daly
07. J.Salvi	14. T.Bowe
08. S.Kalamafoni	15. I.Dagg

16. O.Tomascyuk 17. R.Batty 18. J.Golding 19. R.Eldsadt 20. M.Lund 21. C.Cook 22. S.Donald 23. C.Lualala

TACTICS TBC
As always, look to secure a platform up front. Two big scrummaging locks picked, along with world class Franks at cornerstone. Look to secure breakdown with two proven 7s. Great options off the bench with Eldstadt and Lund offering big physical impact against tired legs. Cook to inject some pace around the fringes and Lualala and Donald there if some experience is required.

Forwards
- Picked two opensides to dominate the breakdown. Both Salvi and Louw are great at the contact area
- Kalamafoni to provide ball carrying threat, Louw operates as link man, Salvi first to every ruck to compete
- Muller will continue to make the lineout calls and look to challenge opposition throws for the steal

Backs
- Look to play in the opposition half, use the boots of Barkley, Steyn and Daly to gain yardage. If nothing on / slow ball, use Steyn, Tolufua, Louw and Kalamafoni on the crash

London Irish

Manager – Mad for Chelsea

01. Dean Greyling	09. Joe Simpson
02. Scott Lawson	10. Quade Cooper
03. Paulica Ion
04. Bryn Evans	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Tom Guest	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. David Strettle
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Matt Tait

16. Rob Herring, 17. Fraan Rautenbach, 18. Gethin Jenkins, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Andy Saull, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Brock James, 23. Anthony Watson

Tactics:

Mediacl joker Dean Greyling makes his debut, his scrummaging power needed to match a powerful Bath scrum. Similarly, Bryn Evans comes into the second row (Shaw has started a few games recently and at his age can't keep doing that all year). Meanwhile Dan Bowden takes over the IC role to act as a second play-maker to Quade Cooper, who makes his return at FH as we put out an ultra attacking backline. Scott Lawson starts at hooker, his work around the park should be a bonus. The gist of the tactics is pretty simple: secure a platform with quick ball, and if it's on, go for it.

- look to dominate the breakdown. Bath has picked two open-sides to try to negate the Pocock effect but we're backing Pocock to deal with this and there's a possibility Bath's backrow may be unbalanced as a consequence. If things are going very badly we can always fight fire with fire with Saull on the bench.

- Bath look set to play a kicking game, so have a few men back to field the kicks. Our back three are all great open field runners, so if the Bath kick-chase isn't spot on we'll look to counter-attack.

- plenty of line-out options, both to secure our own ball and to put pressure on theirs (Kennedy one of the best readers of the opposition line-out in the game).

- Bowden as a second play-maker alongside Cooper, as has worked well for Australia in the past (Beale and/or Barnes). Him and Tait can also take some of the pressure off Cooper with their kicking games.

- If slow ball, use the big ball carriers (Greyling, Evans, Harinordoquy in the forwards, Rougerie on the crash ball in the backs) to get over the gain line and secure quick ball on the following phases.

- The backrow are all good handlers and should provide a good link between forwards and backs

Harlequins v Leicester
Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Marcos Ayerza	09.Richard Wrigglesworth
02.John Smit	10.Morne Steyn (K)
03.James Johnstone
04.Eben Etzebeth	11.Bryan Habana
05.Mouritz Botha	12.Hudson Tonga'uhia
06.Tom Croft (c)	13.Adam Ashley Cooper
07.Marcell Coatzee	14.Mark Cueto
08.Dave Denton	15.Jared Payne

16.Joe Grey 17.Chris Budgen 18.Will Collier 19.James Percival 20.Semisi Taulava 21.Bryn Hall 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Nick Abendonan

Tactics

Big pack to get ontop the Wasps front 5 and put them under the cosh at the Scrum and rucks with plenty of impact from the bench.

Scrummage for 80 minutes with strong scrummagers on the bench to come on if need

Steyn to test Tigers backs 3s position game with Kicks in behind with Habana and Cueto chasing with neither being on the small side.

Tonga/AAC to take the ball to the gain line and ask questions of the Tigers back line with Habana/Cueto/Payne coming into the line to cause problems

Croft to run our lineout whilst Coatzee and Croft will look to smash rucks to slow down and Wasps ball.

Jumpers from 4-8 in our pack giving John Smit plenty of targets with Etzebeth and Corft targeting the Tigers Lineout.

Wrigglesworth to control the tempo , feeding Morne Steyn the ball at the right times and using his own vision to snipe and put the ball in behind Tigera.

Blitz Defence to stop Tigers backs playing with Wrigglesworth sweeping behind

Impact from the bench will see this game through Grey will keep things calm up front , Taulava will come on and smash everything in front of him. . Hall and Heatcote are a exciting half back pair and will put plenty of pace onto the game.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Karl Dickson
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Luke Romano	11. Digby Ioane
05. Geoff Parling	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Siya Kolisi	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton(c)	14. Christian Wade
08. Jacque Cronje	15. James O’Connor

16. Jamie George 17. Aaron Jarvis 18. Luke Cowan-Dickie 19. Tom Price 20. Maurie Fa’saivalu 21. Ben Youngs 22. George Ford 23. Marlon Yarde

We will base our game around high tempo, high intensity rugby. We’ll look to use the set piece as a foundation to work from and turn the screw on the opposition if a weakness is seen. We’ll look for big carries from our pack to give us go forward ball which Youngs thrives upon.

In the damp conditions look to target scrum and keep ball in so can get squeeze on opposition. See us having a big advantage here so will look to exploit.

We’ll look to target the lineout throughout with numerous options and attack the opposition throw, esp in the opp half.

Flood/Barnes will dictate tempo and look to get Manu running angles to either punch holes in the opposition midfield or draw the decoy and allow our back 3 into the game.

When the 3 is on in front of the posts we’ll take and the captain will make the call on set piece if an advantage is seen.



- Turn screw in set piece if weakness seen
- Youngs to attack the gaps and allow Flood time to hit the line
- Manu to be used as crash and decoy with back 3 coming into the line
- Warburton/Kolisi to marshal breakdown and slow/turnover opp ball
- Target scrum all game and take points on offer
- Look to give 6n players a half and refresh pack
- Look to get backs into game whenever possible
- Kolisi tasked with cutting Steyn down and putting him under pressure. If we we can stifle Quins play we can see their backs struggling
- With Steyn favouring to kick for corners will look to Parling to take apart Quins lineout as they have no lineout leader

London Welsh v Sale
London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Rhys Gill	09. Will Chudley
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans(k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Dean Mumm	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Paul O'Connell (C)	12. Dominic Waldlouck
06. Tim Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Hienrich Brussow	14. Horacio Agulla
08. Nick Easter	15. Maxime Medard

16. Tom French 17. Dave Wilson 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Steve Borthwick 20. Louis Picamoles 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Tom Casson 23. Adam Thompstone

Tactics

We look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every opportunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, and Evans knows when to attack and when we need to clear the lines. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. We have brilliant leaders all other the pitch in POC, Easter and Evans, and they know what will be required to get we want from the game - a win. With the terrible conditions, they also know how we will want to play our game. We will look to force Sharks to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them. After good form in Europe, we will continue to build on our great position in the league.

Tactics

• Gill and Malherbe are solid technicians and will secure our own feed, to provide first phase possession for our backs. We have strong props on the bench as well, so we should not be outclassed throughout the game.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, O'Connell will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Mumm jumping in the middle. If winning own ball POC will look to call full number lineouts to tie in the Sharks fowards.
  
  
• Our whole pack is mobile and capable of snaffling ball at the breakdown. We will look to offload in the tackle to keep moving the point of attack and tire out the big Sharks pack.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks, allowing them no time on the ball, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes.
  
  
• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines. Evans will direct traffic with the use of quick pods systems outside the guards of the rucks, and target any of our forwards against their backs.
  
  
• We will use a banana drift line in defence to cut down Cruden's options and push him inside towards our backrow.
  
  
• Evans has some dangerous backs out side him, and will look to use them at every valid opportunity after we have tied in forwards or created mismatches in the defensive line.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game. To get an advantage in the scrum, and collisions with big impact players.
  
  
• Evans will kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Sharks should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• At home we make it a struggle for anyone to even get a LBP at our fortress.

NO SALE TEAM

Saracens v Exeter Chiefs

Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Jordan Burns
02. Schalk Brits	10. Charlie Hodgson (k)
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Ollie Kohn	11. Tom Williams
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Anthony Allen
06. Jackson Wray	13. Conrad Smith
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Chris Wyles

16. Jared Saunders 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Sekope Kepu 19. Bakkies Botha 20. Will Fraser. 21. Joe Robinson 22. Julien Dupuy 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics-

Exeter are putting a big pack out against us, our pack will have a reasonable amount of bulk to hold them off in the tight but will all be comfortable ball in hand and at passing the ball too. We will use our mobility to run their forwards (and backs) off their feet and then try to punch holes once exhaustion kicks in. We will hit the breakdown as a unit, with McCaw stealing/slowing the ball, Vunipola clearing out and Wray doing both, but we will offload when appropriate and when supported to switch the direction of attack to tire the defenders. We will move quick ball as quickly as possible and switch between series of picks with the forwards in alternating directions with getting the ball to the backs. Nobody be afraid to pass or recycle the ball today, and I need McCaw (or if he can't make it, Brits) to chase the ball, to act either as the first man at the ruck or as a linkman between pack and backs. If we need to kick slow ball, kick it high and chase it all day. Once the ball gets to our backs, in the first half I want players to offer an inside line for the pass, especially the wingers, and look to pass whenever they have drawn the man. Burns will be looking to sweep up any loose ball this high octane style might lead to. Even if there are mistakes this will tire the opposition and we will look to make them run in defence whenever possible. In the second half we will capitalise on any tiredness shown and run straight at any gaps in the backline or at the fringes of rucks, in the knowledge that if our pack gets tired we have big carriers on the bench in Kepu, Buchanan, Both and Robinson, another breakdown man who will allow McCaw to play a more carry/linking focused game, 2 kickers who can slow the game down if attack doesn't pay and it is too loose, one of whom is a strike winger who can take advantage of fatigue.

Defence- blitz led by Smith, stop the Exeter backline making any momentum. Wray to harry TJ, Billy target their backrow and McCaw to put Wilko under pressure. Must be guards at every ruck.

Scrum- We will get parity at least in the scrum, the Ex pack may be bigger but ours is technically very sound. If we get a shove on, use the momentum as a platform for Billy to run, with Wray and the winger (blind) or McCaw and Allen(open) on his shoulders to keep the move going.

Lineout- jump at the front on Ex's throw to put the inexperienced Spurling off. Be ready for a lot of mauling, and I'd expect a lot of ball to go to Mafi. On our throw, alternate the options a lot, we have 4 good options but no stand out jumper which means they'll struggle to guess where we are throwing. Brits to call it in.

Kicking- unless there is a lot of space to exploit behind the back 3, run back kicks, and kick with height.

Attack- as above, but in essence keep the ball moving and get the wingers switching inside Smith or coming in off the blind wing.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Pooly (Caretaker)

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. TJ Perenara
02. Scott Spurling	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Loius Deacon	11. Matt Jess
05. Pascal Pape(c)	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Steve Mafi	13. Richard Kahui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Cory Jane
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Simon Alcott 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Horwill 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Israel Folau

Tactics

- Look to set a tone in the set piece with big front 5 unit & two big scrummaging locks
- Dominate collisions and allow TJ fast ball to attack with
- Look to ruck over the ball and allow Steffon to get in amongst things
- Wilko to take 3 points on offer
- Look to keep ball in hand and work through the phases

Wasps v Gloucester
WASPS TACTICS


01.Zak Taulfao 09.Piri Weepu
02.Dimitri Swarzeski 10.Shane Geraghty
03.Nicolas Mas 11.Tom Varndell
04.James Cannon 12.Billy Twelvetrees
05.Ross Flippio 13.Chris Bell
06.Tinis Du Plessis 14.Ugo Monye
07.Matt Everard 15.Richard Haughton
08.Pedrie Wannerburg

REPLACEMENTS: 16.Tim Payne 17.Chris Brooker 18.Boris Stankovich 19.George Skivington 20.Jaque Burger 21.Danny Care 22.Jimmy Gopperth 23.Charlie Ingall

TACTICS: We're looking to play more of a physical game today, with the bench mainly being forwards to come on.....have taken a bit of a gamble by playing some of my 6 nations players but not all of them...they wont play the full game and will be replaced in the 2nd half. The forwards will look to gain ground with the ball, and look to tire the opposition defence. When the opposition gets tired, the backs will look to gain the ball and run at the defence, and score points. Geraghty will look to kick drop goals when given the opportunity.

Gloucester

01. A.Guillamon	09. D.Yachvilli
02. D.Dawiduk	10. F.Burns (k)
03. R.Harden
04. S.Whitelock	11. C.Sharples
05. W.James	12. R.Mills
06. A.Strokosch	13. R.Horne
07. S.Cane	14. J.May
08. JVN (c)	15. I.Balshaw

16. K.Britton 17. D.Murphy 18. A.Jones 19. A.Qera 20. L.Narraway 21. D.Robson 22. P.Lambie 23. J.De Jongh

Key Points

Power Pack
We have fielded a huge pack looking to bring the extra grunt needed to give us quick ball and to put pressure on their ball. The forwards will be looking to do alot of damage today running off Mills and Burns with their offloading game and also keep our set piece on top.

Excitement Outwide
Proven scorers from 9-15 all who can make something out of nothing (see May's 2nd try vs Saints). They will look to capitalise on Wasps' errors and utilise the overlap which the forwards will bring to the game.

Impact Bench
We have: Qera, Narraway, Robson, Lambie and JDJ to come off the bench and all are game changers who can continue our abrasive and energetic style of play to push us towards the big win.

Attacking

• We want to force errors from Wasps and will be targetting Geraghty by sending big runners down his channel.

• Yachvilli and Burns to play what's in front of them and look to release Mills or snipe as much as possible. If it isn't on then Lambie will stick it in the corners and, with Whitelock, Cane, JVN, Strokosch and Savage we have a number of jumpers to gain the ball back.

• Look for runners off of 10 and 12 channel to make the initial break before sending the ball out wide to Sharples and May.

• We will look to use our big pack to carry alot of ball and, if it isn't on then run off of 9 and take a couple of 'up the jumper' phases to drag defenders in.

• Our back three will look to come off their wings and hit the right angles.

• Impact bench to shore up our victory and to keep the scoreboard ticking, Narraway brings extra grunt and Qera will have a field day against tired legs at the breakdown, JONES WILL ONLY COME ON IF NEEDED AND FOR A MAX OF 10MINS IMPACT.

Set Piece

• Strong scrum which will get the edge up on the tighthead side and a good bench to come on as well to continue the pressure, 8-9-10 is a move we will use alot.

• We will use the maul to get ourselves up the pitch quickly and power over from short distance.

• Lineout has been mentioned previously where we have many strong jumpers here who will look to control attacking and defensive ones.

Defending

• Banana blitz defence targetting 10 so he has no time to kick or give quick ball to the centres, we will protect the channels to stop 9 sniping.

• Yachvilli will look to sweep and counter attack off any kick through's.

• We will hit the breakdown quick to give Canetime to get over the ball and obliterate any protection they have in place.

• If the turnover isn't on we won't commit and will fan out defending inside-out.

Worcester v Northampton

Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. George Porter	09. Will Genia
02. Stephen Moore	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Gerhard Mostert	11. Tom Homer
05. George Robson	12. Ma’a Nonu
06. Liam Messam	13. Robbie Freaun
07. Michael Hooper	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Will Radian 17. Joe Marler 18. Tevita Taumoepeau 19. Nile Dacres 20. James Haskell 21. Shaun Perry 22. Alex Cuthbert 23. Matt Hopper

Overall: Look for strong running rugby led by our half back combination who will look to control our tempo and keep us playing in the right areas.

In these conditions we don’t expect to experience many scrums. However when we do scrum look for Figallo and Moore especially to put pressure on Kischoff and Strauss.

At the lineout we will look to secure our own ball and challenge the Saints throw. Robson, Morga and Messam will be challenging in the air while Mostert will offer solid banker ball at the front.

As well as performing in the set piece we will be looking to get our forwards making some big carries in open play. We will be looking to burst into space and makes gains with the likes of Morgan, Mostert, Moore and Messam on the ball.

Look to attack the breakdown hard and fast with lots of bodies looking to slow down or turn over Saints ball. Hooper is absolutely brilliant at getting over the ball and he will be backed up by Messam and Morgan looking to nuisance of themselves.

Strong half back combination will be looking to control the tempo of our game. Will Genia will play his natural game mixing it up with his passing and his sniping runs. Dan Carter is our main playmaker and will look to use his vast array of talents to adapt to the game. He will look to get his running and passing game involved while his kicking offers another option.

The back five will be looking to make inroads with their attacking running. Nonu will be look to make strong runs, crashing through defences. He will look to draw in defences to offer more space for our other runners. Freaun is a player in a similar vain to Nonu and will be used for his ability to get over the gainline. Homer, Beale and Garvey will be looking to make use of the spaces with their movement.

Use a blitz defence with huge intensity to put pressure on Bath decision makers. Kurtley Beale will sweep in behind for any grubbers which we will either counter generously or have a run at the defence. Messam is gonna really look to get after Myler who we feel will struggle under the pressure of a tight game.

We will look to make full use of our bench. Marler + Taumoepeau are quality options who will look to get involved around the park and at scrumtime. Haskell will also come on and look to get involved in all facets of play against tired legs. Cuthbert + Hopper are players who can make something out of nothing and we will look to get their hands on the ball

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Aaron Smith
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Stephen Myler
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Samu Manoa	11. Jamie Elliot
05. Andries Bekker	12. Gael Fickou
06. Phil Dowson	13. George Pisi
07. Calum Clark	14. Vasily Artemiev
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. A. Waller 17. D. Hartley 18. B. Mujati 19. C. Lawes 20. S. Ferris 21. L. Dickson 22. R. Lamb 23. S. Armstrong

Tactics

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 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 Smith & Myler and force Worcester to come at us from deep.

• 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 room as possible to attack from.

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

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, 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.

• Smith will act as a 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 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 the breakdown with Clark looking to get his 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.

Bath 25–22 Irish
Up front I prefer Bath with a very strong front five but the back row goes to Irish. Irish also have a stronger set of halfbacks, espesh on the front foot. In the outside backs I prefer Bath and at home they have enough

Quins 21–19 Tigers
Tigers have the better front five but Castro + Parling have had two huge games while Romano is a fresh signing. Usually a big advantage to Tigers but not today. Back row also to Quins. 1 each in the halfbacks. Outside backs are too Tigers with a great lineup.

Welsh 30-0 Sale (walkover)

Sarries 24-23 Exeter
Tough to call the front five, just about a slight advantage to Exeter with a much better second row imo. Back row does go to Sarries though. Exeter have the advantage in the half backs and just about in the outside backs. Sarries do have subs that can come on and change things.

Wasps 19–27 Gloucester
The Wasps forwards just won’t be able to compete with Gloucester. Mas and Swar should not be starting today. Think the advantage in the half backs is to Gloucester whilst fatigue on the part of 36 gives the outside backs to Glaws.

RESULTS

Bath 25 London Irish 22
Harlequins 28 Leicester Tigers 22
London Welsh 30 Sale Sharks 0
Saracens 26 Exeter Chiefs 19
London Wasps 17 Gloucester 30
Worcester Warriors 31 Northampton Saints 24

I don't think those are right Driver, 0.5 for win yea?

Don't say that...

Says in the rules its 1 point....

Give me 2 secs

I've done them

they right now?

I'm getting Bath 24-20 Irish but rest are good

Sweet , now i can relax and wait for the new series of Geordie Shore.

It's:

Bath 24-20 Irish

But rest good.

Full bonus to:

Prop, Driver, Pooly, Chelsea, Flux, SJE, CJB, Bath

Page bonus:

Driver

Bonus points to:

Irish, Leicester, Welsh, Exeter, Gloucester, Worcester, Saints.

Impressive wins for Worcester & Quins

Well done Quins and Worcs, well deserved. Wonder what effect on the table that might have?

Sorry I didn't predict, nightmare day yesterday