Aviva Premiership Round Twenty One

Team & Tactics - 0000hrs Sunday
Predictions - 2000 hrs Tuesday

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Bath v Leicester Tigers
Location - The Rec
Weather - Sunny Intervals, 12 degrees, 4 mph Southerly

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Flux/Pooly

01. Cian Healy	09. Micheal Classens
02. Adrian Strauss	10. James Hook (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Dave Attwood	11. Tom Varndell
05. Johann Muller	12. Francois Steyn
06. Carl Fearns	13. Elliot Daly
07. Francois Louw(c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Israel Dagg

16. John Golding 17. Christophe Tolufua 18. Kane Palmer-Newport 19. Rynhardt Eldsadt 20. Julian Salvi 21. Chris Cook 22. Kyle Eastmond 23. Tom Biggs

Tactics

• Basic game around the big front five, being mobile and strong in contact. The whole pack can carry the ball well, Hook and Claasens will use a simple pod system to get front foot ball.
  
  
• Muller to run lineout, Attwood and Louw as back up jumpers, great advantage and possession to be had here against Tigers. Challenge Youngs darts at lineout and every single lineout of his.
  
  
• Mobile back-row that can carry and be a nuisance at the breakdown, either turning ball over or slowing it down.
  
  
• Claasens and Hook to play a simple game, slow ball goes to forwards to gain momentum. Quick ball shipped into Steyns hand who will look to get the back three and Daly into spaces.
  
  
• Hook to kick, Steyn to kick for long range penalties.
  
  
• Dagg to marshal the back-three and look to counter any poor kicks to him or his back-three.
  
  
• In the decent conditions, simple but small popping of the ball to big carriers coming in at angles will keep Tigers defence going backwards.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Digby Ioane
05. Richie Gray	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willam Alberts	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton	14. Marlon Yarde
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Bismark du Plessis 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Dan Cole 19. Geoff Parling 20. Liam Gill 21. Karl Dickson 22. Jordan Turner-Hall 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics

Normal Tigers tactics....

Big carries from pack, drawing in opposition defence and unleashing backline. Look for Flood/Barnes to dictate tempo and Youngs to play on instinct.

Look to get Tuilagi running down Daly's channel with Ioane and wingers to support.

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Gloucester v Saracens
Location - Kingsholm
Weather - Sunny, 13 degrees, 6 mph South South Westerly

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Gloucester

01. Nick Wood	09. Dimitri Yachvilli
02. Rory Best	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Shane Monahan
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Savage	13. JDJ
07. Sam Cane	14. JSD
08. JVN (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Korree Britton 17. Antoine Guillamon 18. Rubert Harden 19. Akapusi Qera 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dan Robson 22. Freddie Burns 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics

Key Points

Strong-Balanced Backrow
JVN brings a very strong carrying game and can run off our outside backs to hit the gaps and power through. Cane brings his breakdown work and learning from the master McCaw can't be a bad thing at international level he will look to make a nuisance of himself. Savage brings abrasiveness and hard hitting tackles, he will bring impact with his loose play and in the tight. These three will be the backbone to a good win.

Play-makers
In Yachvilli and Lambie we have two big play makers who can play off of JVN and put us into the right places with tactical kicking and using Roberts and JDJ at the right time to get us over the gainline.


Attacking

• We come off the back of a huge win and expect nothing else but another big win.

• Yachvilli and Lambie to play what's in front of them and look to release Roberts or snipe as much as possible. If it isn't on then Lambie will stick it in the corners and, with Hamilton, Whitelock, Cane, JVN 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 JSD and Sharples.

• 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 (Burns) , Robson and Trinder will play fast-in your face-rugby, Qera and Narraway will have a field day against tired legs in the loose.

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 to control the game and will look to sweep and counter attack off any kick through's.

• We will hit the breakdown quick to give Savage and Cane time 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.

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Saracens

Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Morgan Parra (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Bakkies Botha	12. Anthony Allen
06. Kelly Brown	13. Conrad Smith
07. Richie McCaw (c.)	14. Sam Smith
08. Nick Easter	15. Alex Goode

16. Matt Mullen 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Sekope Kepu 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Jordan Burns 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics- Good weather so we will run the ball where possible

Despite our gutting close loss to Worcester, our recent form is excellent and we bring back a few big names including "master" McCaw, the team captain.

Breakdown - the backrow are all strong here and will work together with Easter clearing, McCaw on he floor, Brown switching between the two and other forwards helping out. McCaw taught Cane all he knows and can counter him. Commit numbers to vulnerable opposition ball but otherwise avoid over-commiting

Scrum- we have a fresh unit who can work hard all match knowing their subs are class. Use back row moves where we have momentum as our back row are all great footballers. If Billy comes on, use him to test the blindside wing off the 8 pick up, as they are great attackers but suspect tacklers. If Jones is dropping his bind as has been his wont recently, Richie WILL make sure the referee is notified. He has a way with officials

Lineout- Lots of options, use Botha as the defensive front jumper and keep them guessing on our throw

Attack- McCaw to chase the ball to ensure it is quick. We will send quick out quickly, Hodgson flat and Allen running hard with Smith supporting the break and a forward (Brits, Mako or Ben T) looking for the inside pop out of contact. Goode to come in as 2nd distributor and both wingers looking fo work off their wing.

If they blitz us regularly use the chip and crossfield kick and punish them as our wings and backrow are excellent chasers and Parra and Hodgson are respective world class exponents of those kicks. If it's slow, send the forwards in drives, looking for the locks and Easter to carry.

Defence- blitz defence led by Smith, fringe defence kept tight by Brown. Parra to sweep breaks, McCaw to harry the HBs off setpieces and chase the ball carrier and Brits to sweep chips and run them back. Give JSD no space to work with. If they try and maul it, take them on and use the touchline as a defender

Kicking- take easy points but kick for possession today, with height on it and chase every kick. Run back deep kicks.

Subs- fresh front row to use if necessary plus Burns for pace, Vunipola for impact and Halfpenny for another kicker and to man mark JSD out of the game if he is causing trouble.

In general, play what's on, our HBs specialise in that and aim to monopolise possession.

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London Irish v London Welsh
Location - Madjeski Stadium
Weather - Sunny , 13 degrees, 4 mph East South Easterly

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London Irish

Manager – N/A

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Joe Simpson
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Quade Cooper
03. Euan Murray
04. Simon Shaw	11. Marland Yarde
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Dan Bowden
06. Tom Guest	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. David Strettle
08. Imanol Harinodoquy	15. Delon Armitage (k)

16. Rob Herring, 17. Paulica Ion, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Tom Palmer, 20. Jerome Kaino, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Brock James, 23. Sailosi Tagicakibau

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London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Rhys Gill	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans (K)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. George Kruis	11. Maxime Medard
05. Steve Borthwick (C)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Jackson Wray	13. George Lowe
07. Hienrich Brussow	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Hugo Southwell

16. Paul James 17. David Wilson 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Paul O'Connell 20. Tom Johnson 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Dominic Waldlouck 23. Horacio Agulla

Tactics

With a strong record at home the team will look to build on recent form and set up a strong finish to the campaign. 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 Borthwick Picamoles and Evans, and they know what will be required to get we want from the game - a win. With the decent conditions, we will look to play a simple expansive game in attack and in defence will look to force Irish to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them.

• James and Wilson are solid technicians and will secure our own feed, to provide first phase possession for our backs. A big target for us here is to get under the front-row and make them go backwards with constant pressure.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Borthwick will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Kruis jumping in the middle. If winning own ball Borthwick will look to call full number lineouts to tie in the Irish 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 Irish pack, this will keep Pocock, Shaw, Hari and Guest on the move.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes. Big empahsis on running forwards down the ten channel when there is slow ball. - With the fact that Simpson and Cooper can withdraw into their shells when under pressure.
  
  
• 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 Cooper's options and push him inside towards our backrow.
  
  
• Look for Pickles to run down Cooper's channel off scrums, and big carries down this channel in open play.
  
  
• 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 Irish should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With the decent conditions, a simple territory based game with our strong lineout will provide a strong source of possession for our strong backline to score tries.

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Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks
Location - Franklin Gardens
Weather - Sunny , 12 degrees, 5 mph South South Easterly

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Northampton Saints

Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Chris Ashton
05. Andries Bekker	12. Gael Fickou
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood	14. JP Pieterson
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. Steven Kitshoff 17. Richardt Strauss 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Calum Clark 21. Aaron Smith 22. Stephen Myler 23. Jamie Elliot

Key Points

Tactics

We will look to control territory and apply pressure on Sharks in key areas 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. Offloads will be kept to an absolute minimum as we look to sustain pressure deep in Welsh territory. We will kick all penalties in Sharks territory at goal and take the drop goal option whenever it’s available.

• In these conditions the scrum will be an important weapon. With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep it up and take full advantage drawing penalties from Sharks.

• With handling an issue we want to keep things simple and use Bekker, Wood and Read 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 Wood 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.

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Sale Sharks

Manager – N/A

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Gary Botha	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Henry Thomas
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Cameron Shepard
05. James Gaskell	12. Jonathon Davies
06. Matt Garvey	13. Jonathon Joseph
07. David Seymour	14. Tom Brady
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Rob Miller

16. Nathan Charles, 17. Davit Kubriashvili , 18. Logoviii Mulipola, 19. Kearnan Myall, 20. Schalk Burger, 21. Scott Mathie, 22. Johan Goosen, 23. Charlie Amesbury

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London Wasps v Exeter Chiefs
Location - Adams Park
Weather - Sunny, 12 degrees, 5 mph South Easterly

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London Wasps

Manager – CF

01. Tendai Mtawaria	09. Micky Young
02. Dimitri Swarzeski	10. Owen Farrell (K)
03. Boris Stankovich
04. Louis Deacon (C)	11. Paul Sackey
05. George Skivington	12. Matheiu Basteraud
06. Thierry Dusatoiur	13. Luke Marshall
07. Matt Everard	14. Ugo Monye
08. Jacques Burger	15. Richard haughton

REPLACEMENTS: 16.Chuter 17.Broster 18.Tui 19.Wenztel 20.Weepu 21.Geraghty 22.Mermoz 23.Brown

Yet again a strong-ish looking side, with plenty of class to come on off the bench. Beast and Swarzeski very strong at the front of the pack, looking to really go into the tackle hard. Deacon captains for the first time with Weepu being rested. Dusatoir back in the side, and looking to make an impact. Young and Farrell at 9 and 10 will look to get quick ball to the pacy backs and run the chiefs ragged. Geraghty to come off the bench and kick drop goals, brown will also come on but he will look to run the ball.

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Pooly (Caretaker)

01. John Afoa	09. TJ Perenara
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Pascal Pape	11. Israel Folau
05. James Horwill	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Steve Mafi	13. Richard Kahui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Cory Jane
08. Toby Faletau	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Simon Alcott 18. John Andress 19. James Hanks 20. Ernst Joubert 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Gonzalo Camacho

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

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Worcester Warriors v Harlequins
Location - Sixways Stadium
Weather - Sunny, 13 degrees, 7 mph Southerly

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Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Joe Marler	09. Will Genia
02. Tafata Polota Nau	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. George Robson	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Maa Nonu
06. James Haskell	13. Robbie Freaun
07. Michael Hooper	14. Julien Savea
08. Ben Morgan	15. Tom Homer

16. Will Radburn 17. George Porter 18. Tevita Taumopeau 19. Gerhard Mostert 20. Liam Messam 21. Shaun Perry 22. Matt Hooper 23. Kurtley Beale

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 the conditions we will look to establish set piece dominance and lots of forward carries with nothing too fancy

We have momentum. 11 wins in 14 games, with 2 losses the result of a second string. Our players will be fresh and with the high of winning will be looking to keep the run going

We are expecting to dominate the scrum with a good squeeze and will look to win penalties. If we experience looks of success here look to relentlessly target it.

At the lineout we feel we can hold our own and if we can develop an advantage early we shall look to switch the game plan and look for corners with the boot. Robson, Kitchener, Morgan and Haskell are all quality jumpers and we will look to switch up the lineout.

As well as performing in the set piece we will be looking to get our forwards making some big carries in open play. This will be key in the conditions and with our big runners we feel we can dominate. We will be looking to burst into space and makes gains with the likes of Morgan, TPN, Figallo and Haskell on the ball.

Look to attack the breakdown hard and fast with lots of bodies looking to slow down or turn over Quins ball. We have picked a back row that we feel can really target the breakdown with Hooper our main man.

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, Homer, Cuthbert and Savea will be looking to make use of the spaces with their running

Use a blitz defence with Homer trailing

With Carter, Genia and Homer we have some quality boots and we will look to take advantage. If we experience dominance at the lineout look to put the ball into corners. Genia will also use his box kick abilities to give our players something to chase.

We will look to make full use of our bench. Porter, Radian + Taumoepeau are quality options who will look to get involved around the park and at scrumtime. Mostert will look to come on add Grit. Messam can add his carrying for our pack. Hopper and Beale can be solid against tired legs.

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Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Marcos Ayerza	09.Richard Wrigglesworth
02.Joe Grey	10.Morne Steyn (K)
03.James Johnstone
04.Eben Etzebeth	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Wesley Fofana
06.Iain Henderson	13.Adam Ashley Cooper
07.Chris Robshaw(c)	14.James Short
08.Dave Denton	15.Jared Payne

16.Neil Briggs 17.John Smit 18.Will Collier 19.Mouritz Botha 20.Semisi Taulave 21.Bryn Hall 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Hudson Tonga'uhia

Tactics

- Keep the scrum strong .

- Retain possetion against the North line. Blitz the tackler away in contact to keep the chances of turnover low.

-Steyn to test wuss backs 3s position game with Kicks in behind with North and Short chasing with neither being on the small side.

-Fofana/AAC to take the ball to the gain line and ask questions of the wuss back line with North/Short/Payne coming into the line to cause problems


-Etz to challange the wuss throw from 2 with Hargreaves calling the lineout from the middle mixing it up.

-Jumpers from 4-8 in our pack giving Joe Grey plenty of targets with Etzebeth and Hargreaves targeting the wusss Lineout.

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

-Blitz Defence to stop wuss backs playing with Wrigglesworth sweeping

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Looks good for some decent rugby this week!

hopefully have a good game against the chiefs!

Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Morgan Parra (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Bakkies Botha	12. Anthony Allen
06. Kelly Brown	13. Conrad Smith
07. Richie McCaw (c.)	14. Sam Smith
08. Nick Easter	15. Alex Goode

16. Matt Mullen 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Sekope Kepu 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Jordan Burns 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics- Good weather so we will run the ball where possible

Despite our gutting close loss to Worcester, our recent form is excellent and we bring back a few big names including "master" McCaw, the team captain.

Breakdown - the backrow are all strong here and will work together with Easter clearing, McCaw on he floor, Brown switching between the two and other forwards helping out. McCaw taught Cane all he knows and can counter him. Commit numbers to vulnerable opposition ball but otherwise avoid over-commiting

Scrum- we have a fresh unit who can work hard all match knowing their subs are class. Use back row moves where we have momentum as our back row are all great footballers. If Billy comes on, use him to test the blindside wing off the 8 pick up, as they are great attackers but suspect tacklers. If Jones is dropping his bind as has been his wont recently, Richie WILL make sure the referee is notified. He has a way with officials

Lineout- Lots of options, use Botha as the defensive front jumper and keep them guessing on our throw

Attack- McCaw to chase the ball to ensure it is quick. We will send quick out quickly, Hodgson flat and Allen running hard with Smith supporting the break and a forward (Brits, Mako or Ben T) looking for the inside pop out of contact. Goode to come in as 2nd distributor and both wingers looking fo work off their wing.

If they blitz us regularly use the chip and crossfield kick and punish them as our wings and backrow are excellent chasers and Parra and Hodgson are respective world class exponents of those kicks. If it's slow, send the forwards in drives, looking for the locks and Easter to carry.

Defence- blitz defence led by Smith, fringe defence kept tight by Brown. Parra to sweep breaks, McCaw to harry the HBs off setpieces and chase the ball carrier and Brits to sweep chips and run them back. Give JSD no space to work with. If they try and maul it, take them on and use the touchline as a defender

Kicking- take easy points but kick for possession today, with height on it and chase every kick. Run back deep kicks.

Subs- fresh front row to use if necessary plus Burns for pace, Vunipola for impact and Halfpenny for another kicker and to man mark JSD out of the game if he is causing trouble.

In general, play what's on, our HBs specialise in that and aim to monopolise possession.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Toby Flood
03. Martin Castrogiovani
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Digby Ioane
05. Richie Gray	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willam Alberts	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton	14. Marlon Yarde
08. Sergio Parisse(c)	15. Rob Kearney

16. Bismark du Plessis 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Dan Cole 19. Geoff Parling 20. Liam Gill 21. Karl Dickson 22. Jordan Turner-Hall 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics

Normal Tigers tactics....

Big carries from pack, drawing in opposition defence and unleashing backline. Look for Flood/Barnes to dictate tempo and Youngs to play on instinct.

Look to get Tuilagi running down Daly's channel with Ioane and wingers to support.

01. Nick Wood	09. Dimitri Yachvilli
02. Rory Best	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Shane Monahan
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Savage	13. JDJ
07. Sam Cane	14. JSD
08. JVN (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Korree Britton 17. Antoine Guillamon 18. Rubert Harden 19. Akapusi Qera 20. Luke Narraway 21. Dan Robson 22. Freddie Burns 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics

Key Points

Strong-Balanced Backrow
JVN brings a very strong carrying game and can run off our outside backs to hit the gaps and power through. Cane brings his breakdown work and learning from the master McCaw can't be a bad thing at international level he will look to make a nuisance of himself. Savage brings abrasiveness and hard hitting tackles, he will bring impact with his loose play and in the tight. These three will be the backbone to a good win.

Play-makers
In Yachvilli and Lambie we have two big play makers who can play off of JVN and put us into the right places with tactical kicking and using Roberts and JDJ at the right time to get us over the gainline.


Attacking

• We come off the back of a huge win and expect nothing else but another big win.

• Yachvilli and Lambie to play what's in front of them and look to release Roberts or snipe as much as possible. If it isn't on then Lambie will stick it in the corners and, with Hamilton, Whitelock, Cane, JVN 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 JSD and Sharples.

• 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 (Burns) , Robson and Trinder will play fast-in your face-rugby, Qera and Narraway will have a field day against tired legs in the loose.

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 to control the game and will look to sweep and counter attack off any kick through's.

• We will hit the breakdown quick to give Savage and Cane time 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 Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Joe Marler	09. Will Genia
02. Tafata Polota Nau	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. George Robson	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Maa Nonu
06. James Haskell	13. Robbie Freaun
07. Michael Hooper	14. Julien Savea
08. Ben Morgan	15. Tom Homer

16. Will Radburn 17. George Porter 18. Tevita Taumopeau 19. Gerhard Mostert 20. Liam Messam 21. Shaun Perry 22. Matt Hooper 23. Kurtley Beale

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 the conditions we will look to establish set piece dominance and lots of forward carries with nothing too fancy

We have momentum. 11 wins in 14 games, with 2 losses the result of a second string. Our players will be fresh and with the high of winning will be looking to keep the run going

We are expecting to dominate the scrum with a good squeeze and will look to win penalties. If we experience looks of success here look to relentlessly target it.

At the lineout we feel we can hold our own and if we can develop an advantage early we shall look to switch the game plan and look for corners with the boot. Robson, Kitchener, Morgan and Haskell are all quality jumpers and we will look to switch up the lineout.

As well as performing in the set piece we will be looking to get our forwards making some big carries in open play. This will be key in the conditions and with our big runners we feel we can dominate. We will be looking to burst into space and makes gains with the likes of Morgan, TPN, Figallo and Haskell on the ball.

Look to attack the breakdown hard and fast with lots of bodies looking to slow down or turn over Quins ball. We have picked a back row that we feel can really target the breakdown with Hooper our main man.

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, Homer, Cuthbert and Savea will be looking to make use of the spaces with their running

Use a blitz defence with Homer trailing

With Carter, Genia and Homer we have some quality boots and we will look to take advantage. If we experience dominance at the lineout look to put the ball into corners. Genia will also use his box kick abilities to give our players something to chase.

We will look to make full use of our bench. Porter, Radian + Taumoepeau are quality options who will look to get involved around the park and at scrumtime. Mostert will look to come on add Grit. Messam can add his carrying for our pack. Hopper and Beale can be solid against tired legs.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Pooly (Caretaker)

01. John Afoa	09. TJ Perenara
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Pascal Pape	11. Israel Folau
05. James Horwill	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Steve Mafi	13. Richard Kahui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Cory Jane
08. Toby Faletau	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Simon Alcott 18. John Andress 19. James Hanks 20. Ernst Joubert 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Gonzalo Camacho

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

Bath Rugby
Manager – Flux/Pooly

01. Cian Healy	09. Micheal Classens
02. Adrian Strauss	10. James Hook (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Dave Attwood	11. Tom Varndell
05. Johann Muller	12. Francois Steyn
06. Carl Fearns	13. Elliot Daly
07. Francois Louw(c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Israel Dagg

16. John Golding 17. Christophe Tolufua 18. Kane Palmer-Newport 19. Rynhardt Eldsadt 20. Julian Salvi 21. Chris Cook 22. Kyle Eastmond 23. Tom Biggs

Tactics

• Basic game around the big front five, being mobile and strong in contact. The whole pack can carry the ball well, Hook and Claasens will use a simple pod system to get front foot ball.
  
  
• Muller to run lineout, Attwood and Louw as back up jumpers, great advantage and possession to be had here against Tigers. Challenge Youngs darts at lineout and every single lineout of his.
  
  
• Mobile back-row that can carry and be a nuisance at the breakdown, either turning ball over or slowing it down.
  
  
• Claasens and Hook to play a simple game, slow ball goes to forwards to gain momentum. Quick ball shipped into Steyns hand who will look to get the back three and Daly into spaces.
  
  
• Hook to kick, Steyn to kick for long range penalties.
  
  
• Dagg to marshal the back-three and look to counter any poor kicks to him or his back-three.
  
  
• In the decent conditions, simple but small popping of the ball to big carriers coming in at angles will keep Tigers defence going backwards.

London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Rhys Gill	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans (K)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. George Kruis	11. Maxime Medard
05. Steve Borthwick (C)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Jackson Wray	13. George Lowe
07. Hienrich Brussow	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Hugo Southwell

16. Paul James 17. David Wilson 18. Tom Lindsay 19. Paul O'Connell 20. Tom Johnson 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Dominic Waldlouck 23. Horacio Agulla

Tactics

With a strong record at home the team will look to build on recent form and set up a strong finish to the campaign. 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 Borthwick Picamoles and Evans, and they know what will be required to get we want from the game - a win. With the decent conditions, we will look to play a simple expansive game in attack and in defence will look to force Irish to play from in their 22 and use our strong lineout and kicking game to pressure them.

• James and Wilson are solid technicians and will secure our own feed, to provide first phase possession for our backs. A big target for us here is to get under the front-row and make them go backwards with constant pressure.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Borthwick will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Kruis jumping in the middle. If winning own ball Borthwick will look to call full number lineouts to tie in the Irish 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 Irish pack, this will keep Pocock, Shaw, Hari and Guest on the move.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes. Big empahsis on running forwards down the ten channel when there is slow ball. - With the fact that Simpson and Cooper can withdraw into their shells when under pressure.
  
  
• 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 Cooper's options and push him inside towards our backrow.
  
  
• Look for Pickles to run down Cooper's channel off scrums, and big carries down this channel in open play.
  
  
• 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 Irish should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With the decent conditions, a simple territory based game with our strong lineout will provide a strong source of possession for our strong backline to score tries.

Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Marcos Ayerza	09.Richard Wrigglesworth
02.Joe Grey	10.Morne Steyn (K)
03.James Johnstone
04.Eben Etzebeth	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Wesley Fofana
06.Iain Henderson	13.Adam Ashley Cooper
07.Chris Robshaw(c)	14.James Short
08.Dave Denton	15.Jared Payne

16.Neil Briggs 17.John Smit 18.Will Collier 19.Mouritz Botha 20.Semisi Taulave 21.Bryn Hall 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Hudson Tonga'uhia

Tactics

- Keep the scrum strong .

- Retain possetion against the North line. Blitz the tackler away in contact to keep the chances of turnover low.

-Steyn to test wuss backs 3s position game with Kicks in behind with North and Short chasing with neither being on the small side.

-Fofana/AAC to take the ball to the gain line and ask questions of the wuss back line with North/Short/Payne coming into the line to cause problems


-Etz to challange the wuss throw from 2 with Hargreaves calling the lineout from the middle mixing it up.

-Jumpers from 4-8 in our pack giving Joe Grey plenty of targets with Etzebeth and Hargreaves targeting the wusss Lineout.

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

-Blitz Defence to stop wuss backs playing with Wrigglesworth sweeping

WASPS TACTICS

01.Tendi Mtawaria
02.Dimitri Swarzeski
03.Boris Stankovich
04.Louis Deacon (C)
05.George Skivington
06.Thiery Dusatoir
07.Matt Everard
08.Jaque Burger
09.Micky Young
10.Owen Farrell (K)
11.Ugo Monye
12.Mathieu Basteraud
13.Luke Marshall
14.Paul Sackey
15.Richard Haughton

REPLACEMENTS: 16.Chuter 17.Broster 18.Tui 19.Wenztel 20.Weepu 21.Geraghty 22.Mermoz 23.Brown

Yet again a strong-ish looking side, with plenty of class to come on off the bench. Beast and Swarzeski very strong at the front of the pack, looking to really go into the tackle hard. Deacon captains for the first time with Weepu being rested. Dusatoir back in the side, and looking to make an impact. Young and Farrell at 9 and 10 will look to get quick ball to the pacy backs and run the chiefs ragged. Geraghty to come off the bench and kick drop goals, brown will also come on but he will look to run the ball.

Predos Open

Will try and do feedback and these may change as these are quite quick look views in case I don't have time to do properly. Will look in more detail tomorrow evening if I can.

Bath 28 - 28 Tigers
Very even, Tigers would be a little stronger but as it is at Bath and they have some tasty outbacks and a Louw in great form I've hedged my bets and gone for a draw
Irish 28 - Welsh 33
Welsh a bit stronger all around the park with Nev not kicking well but otherwise running a good game and Care on fire meaning both sides will play attacking rugby but Welsh have a gameplan and thus the edge
Saints 30 - Sale 24
Sale equal Saints up front and run them close in the backs but hurt by no gameplan and Saints backline is starting to find form (even Ashton) and outscores them
Wasps 22 - 25 Chiefs
A pretty good Wasps team actually, but a little weak in a few key positions (9, 15 and Burger is not an 8) which lets a powerful Chiefs side get the win
Worcester 28 - Quins 27
Very close and attacking game, but the halfback class and home form of Worcester secures them the win

Anybody else want to predict?

I will a bit later

Bath 22 Tigers 23
Glaws 24 Saracens 22
Irish 26 Welsh 30
Saints 24 Sale 19
Wasps 20 Chiefs 23

Bath 27 - 26 Leicester Tigers

Very even up front and outwide, as both have players in and out of form. Both benches are strong, and with this at home I want to just edge it to Bath, with Hook kicking a couple of late penalties.

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Gloucester 32 - 34 Saracens

Great contest here. I think that Glos might be able to put a squeeze on sarries at the set-piece, and around the park, but Sarries will get the edge in the tight exchanges. Both have great halfbacks, but sarries just edge the backs with a bit more star quality and cohesion. Both have cracking benches, but with having to plump for one team then Sarries will just edge it with Parra guiding the way.

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Northampton Saints 26 - 20 Sale Sharks

Saints and Sharks are close up front with no real out and out winner. Halfbacks are close with Cruden in cracking form. But Sharks lack a little out wide in comparison to Saints, and in their bench. So at home they secure a decent win.

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London Wasps 17- 29 Exeter Chiefs

Too much quality up front from Chiefs will tear apart Wasps. Starting Stankoich is a big mistake at TH, although Afoa is out of position. The backrow will be outclassed. Too much firepower from Chiefs in the backs see's them get a good few points.

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Worcester Warriors 24 - 25 Harlequins
More power from Quins, but overall quite close. Hooper might give Robshaw a bit of a lesson. Halfbacks edge to Warriors, but wiggles and Steyn in some decent form. Quins have the best centres in the world right now and that will be a telling contribution. Otherwise both team are quite close, but I think Quins might, might just nick it Steyn at the death

Gloucester 28-26 Saracens
Irish 19-25 Welsh
Saints 27-22 Sale
Worcester 25-25 Harlequins

Ah, there go my play-off hopes

Bath 20-21 Tigers
Tigers just edge the pack and think their dangerous backs will get better ball.

Irish 22-24 Welsh
Welsh a bit stronger, Care's form and a better bench sees them over.

Saints 28-22 Sale
Saints much stronger with a good half-back and back three combo.

Wasps 18-23 Chiefs
Afoa and Stanks out of position. Good Wasps side but Chiefs stronger out wide.

Warriors 24-24 Quins
2 great match ups, pack is fairly even, Warriors take half backs but Quins take the centres. Sitting on the fence here.
Pushed for time so not loads of explainations!!

Bath 22-26 Tigers
Glos 29-25 Sarries
Irish 18-23 Welsh
Saints 24-16 Sharks
Wasps 13-24 Exeter

Can someone do these results too please?

RESULTS

Bath 24* -26 Tigers
Gloucester 30* - 27 Saracens*
Irish 23*- 30 Welsh *
Saints 30*- 21 Sale
Wasps 18 - 27 Exeter
Warriors 26 - 26 Quins

Thaaanks. Will update this afternoon. Sorry for the delays!

PREDO BONUS:

Full: Cj, Flux,

Half: Driver, Pooly, Prop, CJB

Page: Flux

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