Anglo-Welsh Cup Round One

 

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Cardiff Blues vs Worcester Warriors
Location - Cardiff Arms Park
Light Rain Showers, 9 Degrees, 12 mph North Westerly Winds

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Cardiff Blues
 

01. Sam Hobbs	09. Lewis Jones
02. Kevin Dacey	10. Gareth Davies
03. Fau Felise
04. Lou Reed	11. Chris Czekaj
05. Filo Paulo	12. Dafydd Hewitt
06. Andries Pretorious	13. Richard Smith
07. Josh Navidi (c)	14. Tom Williams
08. Robin Copeland	15. Dan Fish

Replacements: 16 Marc Breeze, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Benoit Bourrust, 19 James Down, 20 Rory Watts-Jones, 21 Alex Walker, 22 Aled Summerhill, 23 Harry Robinson

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - stnick88
 

01. Nathan Catt	09. Michael Classens
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Olly Barkley
03. Halani Aulika
04. James Percival	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Dominic Barrow	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Casey Laulala
07. Shane Jennings	14. Mark Cueto
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Ben Ransom

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Dave Ward 18. BJ Botha 19. James Hudson 20. Phil Dowson 21. Dimitri Yachvili 22. - 23. Tom Casson
 
Tusi Pisi called into the Samoa XV

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Exeter Chiefs vs Harlequins
Location - Cardiff Arms Park
Light Rain Showers, 10 Degrees, 14mph NorthWesterly Winds

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Exeter Chiefs 
 
Manager – Fluxy
 
 

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Stephen Myler (k)
03. Will Collier
04. Mike Williams	11. Tom Varndell
05. Alistair Hargreaves	12. Bundee Aki
06. Maurie Fa'asavalu	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Sam Jones (c)	14. Zac Guildford
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Matt Tait

16. Jack Yeandle 17. - 18. Ben Afeaki 19. Brad Thorn 20. Nick Williams 21. Bryn Hall 22. Freddie Michalak 23. Dom Shipperly
 
Logovii Mulipola in the Samoa XV

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
 

01. Gjorgi Jgenti	09. Karl Dickson
02. Gary Botha	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Hugh Pyle	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Lappies Labushagne	13. Ben Tapuai
07. Luke Braid	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Kieran Brookes 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. George Kruis 20 Jamie Gibson 21. Luke McGrath 22. Dan Bowden 23. Anthony Faainga
 
Tactics
 
Use the pack to get us across the gain line with the aim of getting us quick ball to release our backs.
 
Look to control the set piece with a strong scrum and a lineout. Experience upfront will aid us in the area. 
 
Look to be aggressive in defence with a quick line speed. Aim to double up in the tackle when we get the chance.
 
Target the breakdown with Braid doing the damage here. Look for all our back row to carry in the midfield alongside our powerful midfield of Serfontein and Tapuai. 
 
Dickson to control the tempo and Burns to stand flat and bring our big carriers into the game when we have quick ball. 
 
In our own half we will look to kick for territory with Burns and Serfontein but in the opposition half we will retain possession and attempt to tire out Exeter and then take advantage of a unorganised defence. 
 
 

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Leicester Tigers vs Ospreys
Location - Welford Road
Heavy Rain Showers, 7 Degrees, 10 mph Southerly Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
 

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Chiliboy Ralepelle	10. Brock James (k)
03. Craig Mitchell
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Clement Poitrenaud
06. Steve Mafi	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Jacques Burger (c)	14. Henry Speight
08. Edwin Maka	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Charlie Clare 17. Harry Rudkin 18. Neale Farthing 19. Romain Taofifenua 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Micky Young 22. Tamati Ellison 23. Paul Sackey
 
Tactics:

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Ospreys
 

01. Marc Thomas	09. Tito Tibaldi
02. Scott Baldwin	10. Matthew Morgan
03. Joe Rees
04. Lloyd Peers	11. Ben John
05. James King	12. Andrew Bishop
06. Joe Bearman	13. Jonathon Spratt (c)
07. Sam Lewis	14. Aisea Natoga
08. Morgan Allen	15. Richard Fussell

Replacements: 16 Matthew Dwyer, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Dan Suter, 19 Rhodri Hughes, 20 Arthur Ellis, 21 Tom Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Hanno Dirksen

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Sale Sharks vs Bath Rugby
Location - AJ Bell Stadium
Heavy Rain Showers, 7 Degrees, 7 mph South Westerly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
 

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Kieran Marmion
02. David Paice	10. JJ Hanrahan
03. Phil Swainston
04. Iain Henderson	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Alex Tulou	13. Robbie Fruean
07. Matt Todd	14. Keith Earls
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Jean Marcellin-Buttin

16. Jefferson Poiret 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Ross Harrison 19. Tom Savage 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Timo Swiel 23. Will Addison

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Bath - no side

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London Wasps vs Saracens
Location - Adams Park
Light Rain Showers, 12 Degrees, 8 mph South Westerly Winds

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London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213
 

01. Steven Kitschoff	09. Nick Phipps
02. Deon Fourie	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Tom Mercey
04. Romain Millo-Chluski	11. Tom Collins
05. George Skivington	12. Michelle Campagnaro
06. Tom Johnson	13. Tim Nanai-William
07. Luke Wallace	14. Jack Nowell
08. Fotu Auelua	15. Anthony Watson

 
 
16. Rob Hawkins 17. Scott Sio 18. Fraser Balmain 19. James Hanks 20. Marcel Coetzee 21. Nathan Fowles 22. Gareth Anscombe 23. Tom Fowlie
 
Basic Game Plan
Despite the light rain, we will be looking to play a fast paced game targetting areas where we feel there are defensive weaknesses to get across the gainline at pace.  We will look to shift the point of attack and keep the ball moving.  Our back row will look to support and hit rucks hard to free up quick ball.  Our intention is to utilize our strength, which is pace, and move the Saracens pack around to tire them and create space for our runners.
 
In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence.  Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle.  Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us.  Tillouse-Borde will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.
 
Specifics 

• Breakdown. In attack we will flood it rucking past the ball at pace to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence we will not commit to the breakdown unless carrier is isolated and the turnover is on.  If that is not the case we will look to slow the ball and maintain a strong defensive line, giving them no ground and forcing a mistake.
  
  
• Lineout. We will look to really attack Whitehead’s throwing, with Skivington jumping at the front and the athletic Johnson jumping in the middle.  In attack we will look for banker ball and play from there.
  
  
• Scrums. We will strike for it on our own ball and get it out quickly and look to go at pace (as the Reds did the year they won the Super XV).  On their ball we will employ an 8 man shove and try to drive over it rather than trying to win against the head by striking for it.
  
  
• Open Play. Big emphasis keeping the ball alive.  Watson to come into the line early to create the extra man and try to release Nanai Williams through gaps.  .
  
  
• Bench. We will use the bench tactically as when required rather than just unloading it as a matter of course.  Not all replacements will necessarily come on.
  
  

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly
 

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Luke Burgess
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Gareth Steenson
03. Clement Ric
04. Julian Pierre	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Louis Deacon(c)	12. Luther Burrell
06. Brad Shields	13. George Lowe
07. Andy Saull	14. Tim Visser
08. Dave Ewers	15. Gio Aplon

16. Tiaan Liebenberg  17. Max Lahiff  18. Biyi Alo  19. Matt Hankin  20. Tom Guest  21. Chris Cook  22. Adam Thompstone  23. Lee Byrne
 
Tactics:
 
General - We've selected a team packed with power and physicality and will look to dominate the contact and get over the gain line. We'll be playing a high tempo physical game from the off, look to smash the opposition back and get into the rucks/maul's and drive through. We'll look to tie the opposition in and then get at their backline, more so in the their half.
 
Scrum - Look to get a platform and keep the ball in on attacking ball if a weakness is seen in the opposition set piece. With our big locks look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back. 
 
Line out - Look to play it safe and use the rolling maul to good effect. Our big pack should have a lot of joy here and will tie in the opposition defence. We won't be going for the rear of the line out much and will be content with securing our own ball and getting a push on. We'll look to contest on opp throw and target their hooker to see if we can disrupt him early on.
 
Defence - High intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player. Huge physical pack that can look to dominate the collision and breakdown allowing Saull etc a chance to slow down/steal ball. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.
 
Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp territory. Scrum half to inject pace from the breakdown and have Lowe on his shoulder. Burrell to run at 9/10 channel and target possible weakness. Burrell to be used as decoy running at opp 12 looking to take him out of the defensive line to free up space for Lowe.
 
Points:
 
- Get the ball to our big wingers and target youngsters defence
- Target Fourie throw throughout
- look to put big legal hit in Janjtes and put him on back foot
 
 

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Newcastle Falcons vs London Irish
Location - Kingston Park
Sunny Intervals, 6 Degrees, 9 mph South Westerly Winds

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Newcastle Falcons
 
Manager – Driver
 

01.Alex Waller	09.Francois Houghaard
02.Darren Dawiduak	10.James O'Connor(k)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.Ed Slater	11.Charlie Sharples
05.Juandre Kruger	12.Brad Barritt
06.Juan Smith	13.Rene Ranger
07.Hienrich Brussouw	14.Alex Cuthbert
08.Chris Masoe(c)	15.Jared Payne

16.George McGuigan 17.Rhoidi Jones 18.Scott Wilson 19.Ali Williams 20.Joel Conelon 21.Sam Harrison 22.Jimmy Goppereth 23.Chris Farrell
 
 
Newcastle Falcons tactics 
 
Falcons to play a high tempo game based around tieing Irish in around the ruck area and moveing the ball into wide channel to try and stretch the Irish defence aross the field.
 
Use our big carriers in the pack to get over the gainline and allow a platform for our half backs to attack the line and put Irish onto the back foot using our explosive runners in the back line such as Ranger , Sharples, Cuthbert and Payne to cause havoc in 1 on 1 situations.
 
We will look to use a strong set piece to pressure the opposition using Kruger to target the Irish throw and target Kennedy who isn’t have the best of times of late. Waller has scrummed really well of late and will look to pull Stevens away and isolate the Irish hooker to allow Dawiduiak and PDJ to really scrimmage on him and force him up.
 
Houghaard will look to carry the ball at the fringes and snipe before launching a delayed pass to JOC
 
JOC will share the play making duties allowing us to change to point of attack to target the weak points in the Irish defence line. 
 
Guy Armitage on the Irish right wing isn’t know for his pace and we’ll look to put the ball outwide and isolate him with Sharples and Payne looking to take him on the outside.
 
We’re going to bomb behind the Irish wings early on to test there kicking game out to catch them out of position and exploit the space behind them.
 
A big aggressive line let by Barrett who will look to stop Naqa in his tracks to prevent any Irish momentum from building.
 
KEY POINTS
 
BIG HITS AND CARRIES – These will dictate the tempo and we’ll use these to give ourselves momentum and carry us forward.
 
PLAYER NOUS- We’ve got plenty of intelligent players operating on the park for us. Juan Smith will look to dictate the tempo of the breakdown and shut the short runners down.
 
TARGET NICK EVANS – He’s been moved to 15 by Quins in real life because of his poor decision making and we’ll look to take full advantage of this.
 
 

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London Irish
 
Manager - Prop
 

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Jack Moates
02. Hika Elliott	10. Nick Evans
03. Matt Stevens
04. Nick Kennedy	11. Sergeal Petersen
05. Craig Clarke (c)	12. Sereli Naqalevuki
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13.  Henry Trinder
07. Will Fraser	14. Guy Armitage
08. Scott Higginbotham	15. Robbie Henshaw

16. T.Lindsay 17. T.Smallbone 18. A.Guillamon 19. M.Garvey 20. E.Jackson 21. R.Kockott 22. Owen Williams 23. Conrad Smith
 
Key Points
 
Balanced Backrow
We have picked a big backrow who are well balanced. Gorgodze will look to be abrasive and run at 10 looking to put him off his game. Fraser will look to dismantle the breakdown. Higginbotham will look to carry the ball all day and be the link man.
 
8-9-10-12-13
We want quick ball for our half-backs to tactically put us into territory (off the pitch). Our 8-9-10-12-13 will look to be influential and all have played together in this game alot so know each other well. These can all be standout playmakers who will look to control the game at our tempo in the light rain we will not expect attractive rugby.
 
International Quality
We have international quality players in all positions and, after having our defence picked on a little recently we feel that bringing Higginbotham, Smith and Gorgodze will help the cover tackles here.
 
Impact Bench
With the likes of Conrad Smith, Owen Williams and Rory Kockott coming off the bench we feel that the last 20 minutes we will be able to open up Falcons here.
 
Positional Play
Strong pack who will look to be abrasive but defend inside-out and not have any gaps in midfield here. Our back three will look to use their power to get through tackles and run off their oppositions shoulders.
 
Halfbacks
We have selected experience and youth here with moates looking to snipe, Naqa will use his power to make the gaps for the runners off of his shoulder.
 

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Northampton Saints vs Gloucester
Location - Franlin Gardens
Light Rain, 10 Degrees, 9 mph Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints
 
 
 
 

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Mike Haywood	10. George Ford
03. Ben Teimafano
04. Cadeyn Neville	11. Siti Siviatu
05. James Gaskell	12. Matt Giteau (c)(k)
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilgai
07. Calum Clark	14. Jordan Williams
08. Opeti Fonua	15. Elliot Daly

16. Scott Spurling 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Henry Thomas 19. Samo Manoa 20. Jacques du Plessis 21. Nikola Matawulu 22. Mark Bennett 23. Jamie Elliott
 
Tactics:
Saints will play a high intensity/tempo'd game from the outset and take the game to Gloucester. We will look to place them under pressure with a really physical, aggressive approach and defence to force errors and mistakes to exploit. We will look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to get space for our backthree.  
 
Setpiece: With the conditions we have selected four strong jumpers, Neveill, Gaskell, Clark and Bonnaire to give Haywood options. But will look for safe ball early on and getting the ball to Fonua on second phase to get us over the gainline and set up quick ball from that. Once the game goes on we will look for quick ball from the lineout. Very strong scrum, will look to use this as an attacking platform and place Gloucester under pressure. 
 
Breakdown/Backrow: Picked a powerful backrow to target Salvi and keep him from slowing down our ball, will look to clear him out in numbers and attack the fringes at the breakdown. Look to hit Gloucester back in the tackle area and stop their forward momentum and give us the advantage of hitting the rucks going forward. 
 
Possession/Territory: Selected Ford at no10 for his kicking game and ability to unlock defences with his passing - especially to get Tuilagi into one on ones and bring our back three into play. Ford and Giteau's kicking game can get us into key areas to pressurise Gloucester and into point scoring range. 
 
Attack the Gainline/Win Collisions: Again look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to provide our backs with the platform to attack, big ball carriers in the pack - will give Fonoa 50mins before he's replaced with Manoa. We have an attacking platform from both setpieces and will use Giteua, Tuilagi and Siviatu as players to get us over the gainline and then look to get Daly and Williams into space. 
 
Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, putting pressure onto Barnes and making it hard for Gloucester to get over the gainline and generate quick ball. Simpson to sweep behind. Strong midfield to stop GLoucester having joy up the middle and dangerous back three to counter any misplaced kicks. 
 
Impact Bench: Strong bench to really up the intensity in final 20-25minutes. 
 
Key selection points:
Target the set piece and collisions as key areas of the gain.
Home advantage and current Anglo Welsh Champions
Get the ball to our big runners early on and punch through the gainline - use Fonoa a lot early on to suck in defenders, before replacing him with Manoa.
Look for quick ball and to give Williams and Daly space to attack.
 
 

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Gloucester
 
 

01. Nick Wood	09. TJ Perenara
02. Joe Grey	10. Berrick Barnes
03. Juan Figallo
04. Tom Palmer	11. Johnny May
05. Dominic Bird	12. Robert Ebersohn
06. Tom Croft	13. Andrea Masi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Hosea Gear
08. Imanol Harinordoquoy	15. Iain Balshaw

16. - 17. Jaimie George 18. Rupert Harden 19. George Robson 20. Sam Dickinson 21. Dan Robson22. Johan Goosen 23. Charlie Walker

James Johnstone in the Samoa XV
 
We will be looking to use a power game to get on the front foot and utilise our bigger pack to dominate saints to allow us to release our backs.
Scrum
 
We have a powerful unit with World class Figallo really looking to dominate. Backed up by a powerful engine room we will look to use scrum to wheel in or favour and try and nick their ball.
 
Line out
 
We will be using this as a platform to attack with Palmer Croft Hari and Bird serious operators. We will look to vary between driving and off the top.
 
Croft Hari and Bird will look to dominate Haywood throwing in and starve saints of ball.
 
Breakdown
 
Our pack is bigger more experienced and more skilled at breakdown.
Salvi will be sent in to steal ball.
 
Backs
 
We will be aiming to go off any quick ball generated by the forwards. TJ Pernara is a high tempo player and will keep them honest but more often than not hit Barnes and let Barnes dictate.
 
Barnes has option of ebersohn as second playmaker or the direct Masi. The aim is to get in behind them and generate quick ball to create Mia
Matches and overlaps.
 
We will look to get gear and may involved and stretch saints.
 
If a move stalls then forwards will look to rebuild and get on front foot again.
 
Key points
 
Experience and size of pack
2,8,9,10 shirts all to Glos
Line out dominance
Bench

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I will update weather a little closer to the time.

Is it last weeks sides for the Welsh teams?

Yeah Flux mate same as Heino. Cheers for doing this!

No problem mate



I get a free foreign right? 

Chiefs name a provisional side ahead of their LV cup clash against Harlequins. They have has the chance to rotate a large number of their squad, but with a number of potential call ups for the Autumn Internationals, the Chiefs Director of Rugby stated that 'things could still change' 


Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Charlie Beech	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Stephen Myler (k)
03. Will Collier
04. Mike Williams	11. Tom Varndell
05. Alistair Hargreaves	12. Bundee Aki
06. Maurie Fa'asavalu	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Sam Jones (c)	14. Zac Guildford
08. Semisi Taulava	15. Matt Tait

16. Jack Yeandle 17. Alec Hepburn 18. Ben Afeaki 19. Brad Thorn 20. Nick Williams 21. Bryn Hall 22. Freddie Michalak 23. Dom Shipperly

Northampton Saints v Gloucester
Manager Dammit Chris

N

Newcastle Falcons]

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Waller	09.Francois Houghaard
02.Darren Dawiduak	10.James O'Connor(k)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.Ed Slater	11.Charlie Sharples
05.Juandre Kruger	12.Brad Barritt
06.Juan Smith	13.Rene Ranger
07.Hienrich Brussouw	14.Alex Cuthbert
08.Chris Masoe(c)	15.Jared Payne

16.George McGuigan 17.Rhoidi Jones 18.Scott Wilson 19.Ali Williams 20.Joel Conelon 21.Sam Harrison 22.Jimmy Goppereth 23.Chris Farrell


Newcastle Falcons tactics

Falcons to play a high tempo game based around tieing Irish in around the ruck area and moveing the ball into wide channel to try and stretch the Irish defence aross the field.

Use our big carriers in the pack to get over the gainline and allow a platform for our half backs to attack the line and put Irish onto the back foot using our explosive runners in the back line such as Ranger , Sharples, Cuthbert and Payne to cause havoc in 1 on 1 situations.

We will look to use a strong set piece to pressure the opposition using Kruger to target the Irish throw and target Kennedy who isn’t have the best of times of late. Waller has scrummed really well of late and will look to pull Stevens away and isolate the Irish hooker to allow Dawiduiak and PDJ to really scrimmage on him and force him up.

Houghaard will look to carry the ball at the fringes and snipe before launching a delayed pass to JOC

JOC will share the play making duties allowing us to change to point of attack to target the weak points in the Irish defence line.

Guy Armitage on the Irish right wing isn’t know for his pace and we’ll look to put the ball outwide and isolate him with Sharples and Payne looking to take him on the outside.

We’re going to bomb behind the Irish wings early on to test there kicking game out to catch them out of position and exploit the space behind them.

A big aggressive line let by Barrett who will look to stop Naqa in his tracks to prevent any Irish momentum from building.

KEY POINTS

BIG HITS AND CARRIES – These will dictate the tempo and we’ll use these to give ourselves momentum and carry us forward.

PLAYER NOUS- We’ve got plenty of intelligent players operating on the park for us. Juan Smith will look to dictate the tempo of the breakdown and shut the short runners down.

TARGET NICK EVANS – He’s been moved to 15 by Quins in real life because of his poor decision making and we’ll look to take full advantage of this.

Think that's my most attacking half backs i've picked in a while!

How many EQ required?

Same as league.

Some good games

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Chiliboy Ralepelle	10. Brock James (k)
03. Craig Mitchell
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Clement Poitrenaud
06. Steve Mafi	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Jacques Burger (c)	14. Henry Speight
08. Edwin Maka	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Charlie Clare 17. Harry Rudkin 18. Neale Farthing 19. Romain Taofifenua 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Micky Young 22. Tamati Ellison 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics:

TBC

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Kieran Marmion
02. David Paice	10. JJ Hanrahan
03. Phil Swainston
04. Iain Henderson	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Alex Tulou	13. Robbie Fruean
07. Matt Todd	14. Keith Earls
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Jean Marcellin-Buttin

16. Jefferson Poiret 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Ross Harrison 19. Tom Savage 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Timo Swiel 23. Will Addison

01. Nick Wood	09. TJ Perenara
02. Joe Grey	10. Berrick Barnes
03. Juan Figallo
04. Tom Palmer	11. Johnny May
05. Dominic Bird	12. Ebersohn
06. Tom Croft	13. Andreas Masi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Hosea Gear
08. Immanol Harinordoquoy	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Jaimie Johnstone 17. Jaimie George 18. Rupert Harden 19. George Robson 20. Dickinson 21. Dan Robson22. Johan Goosen23. Charlie Walker[/quote]
Glos tactics

We will be looking to use a power game to get on the front foot and utilise our bigger pack to dominate saints to allow us to release our backs.
Scrum

We have a powerful unit with World class Figallo really looking to dominate. Backed up by a powerful engine room we will look to use scrum to wheel in or favour and try and nick their ball.

Line out

We will be using this as a platform to attack with Palmer Croft Hari and Bird serious operators. We will look to vary between driving and off the top.

Croft Hari and Bird will look to dominate Haywood throwing in and starve saints of ball.

Breakdown

Our pack is bigger more experienced and more skilled at breakdown.
Salvi will be sent in to steal ball.

Backs

We will be aiming to go off any quick ball generated by the forwards. TJ Pernara is a high tempo player and will keep them honest but more often than not hit Barnes and let Barnes dictate.

Barnes has option of ebersohn as second playmaker or the direct Masi. The aim is to get in behind them and generate quick ball to create Mia
Matches and overlaps.

We will look to get gear and may involved and stretch saints.

If a move stalls then forwards will look to rebuild and get on front foot again.

Key points

Experience and size of pack
2,8,9,10 shirts all to Glos
Line out dominance
Bench

Your missing no. 16 Matt

Manager - Prop

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Jack Moates
02. Hika Elliott	10. Nick Evans
03. Matt Stevens
04. Nick Kennedy	11. Sergeal Petersen
05. Craig Clarke (c)	12. Sereli Naqalevuki
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13.  Henry Trinder
07. Will Fraser	14. Guy Armitage
08. Scott Higginbotham	15. Robbie Henshaw

16. T.Lindsay 17. T.Smallbone 18. A.Guillamon 19. M.Garvey 20. E.Jackson 21. R.Kockott 22. Owen Williams 23. Conrad Smith

Key Points

Balanced Backrow
We have picked a big backrow who are well balanced. Gorgodze will look to be abrasive and run at 10 looking to put him off his game. Fraser will look to dismantle the breakdown. Higginbotham will look to carry the ball all day and be the link man.

8-9-10-12-13
We want quick ball for our half-backs to tactically put us into territory (off the pitch). Our 8-9-10-12-13 will look to be influential and all have played together in this game alot so know each other well. These can all be standout playmakers who will look to control the game at our tempo in the light rain we will not expect attractive rugby.

International Quality
We have international quality players in all positions and, after having our defence picked on a little recently we feel that bringing Higginbotham, Smith and Gorgodze will help the cover tackles here.

Impact Bench
With the likes of Conrad Smith, Owen Williams and Rory Kockott coming off the bench we feel that the last 20 minutes we will be able to open up Falcons here.

Positional Play
Strong pack who will look to be abrasive but defend inside-out and not have any gaps in midfield here. Our back three will look to use their power to get through tackles and run off their oppositions shoulders.

Halfbacks
We have selected experience and youth here with moates looking to snipe, Naqa will use his power to make the gaps for the runners off of his shoulder.

Northampton Saints team versus Gloucester

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Mike Haywood	10. George Ford
03. Ben Teimafano
04. Cadeyn Neville	11. Siti Siviatu
05. James Gaskell	12. Matt Giteau (c)(k)
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilgai
07. Calum Clark	14. Jordan Williams
08. Opeti Fonua	15. Elliot Daly

16. Scott Spurling 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Henry Thomas 19. Samo Manoa 20. Jacques du Plessis 21. Nikola Matawulu 22. Mark Bennett 23. Jamie Elliott

Tactics:
Saints will play a high intensity/tempo'd game from the outset and take the game to Gloucester. We will look to place them under pressure with a really physical, aggressive approach and defence to force errors and mistakes to exploit. We will look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to get space for our backthree.  

Setpiece: With the conditions we have selected four strong jumpers, Neveill, Gaskell, Clark and Bonnaire to give Haywood options. But will look for safe ball early on and getting the ball to Fonua on second phase to get us over the gainline and set up quick ball from that. Once the game goes on we will look for quick ball from the lineout. Very strong scrum, will look to use this as an attacking platform and place Gloucester under pressure.

Breakdown/Backrow: Picked a powerful backrow to target Salvi and keep him from slowing down our ball, will look to clear him out in numbers and attack the fringes at the breakdown. Look to hit Gloucester back in the tackle area and stop their forward momentum and give us the advantage of hitting the rucks going forward.

Possession/Territory: Selected Ford at no10 for his kicking game and ability to unlock defences with his passing - especially to get Tuilagi into one on ones and bring our back three into play. Ford and Giteau's kicking game can get us into key areas to pressurise Gloucester and into point scoring range.

Attack the Gainline/Win Collisions: Again look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to provide our backs with the platform to attack, big ball carriers in the pack - will give Fonoa 50mins before he's replaced with Manoa. We have an attacking platform from both setpieces and will use Giteua, Tuilagi and Siviatu as players to get us over the gainline and then look to get Daly and Williams into space.

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, putting pressure onto Barnes and making it hard for Gloucester to get over the gainline and generate quick ball. Simpson to sweep behind. Strong midfield to stop GLoucester having joy up the middle and dangerous back three to counter any misplaced kicks.

Impact Bench: Strong bench to really up the intensity in final 20-25minutes.

Key selection points:
Target the set piece and collisions as key areas of the gain.
Home advantage and current Anglo Welsh Champions
Get the ball to our big runners early on and punch through the gainline - use Fonoa a lot early on to suck in defenders, before replacing him with Manoa.
Look for quick ball and to give Williams and Daly space to attack.

Have you not got James Wilson Chris? He looks a talent.

He's from Auckland mate, about 26/27 too. Good player was originally meant to be Saints no10 but more of a utility back.

Really? Thought he was another one off the saints belt.

Come to think of it they don't produce many of there own do the saints.

No they don't.

Dam these big clubs nicking all the good youngens! I know you have suffered in the past Driver just like we are these days. If Yarde goes I will be royally f ucked off.

They got some good ones coming through, Jamie Elliott, Tom Collins (who Pete got the bugger!), Tom Stephenson are all very good and playing first team rugby. They've had a great academy since they got Dusty Hare from Tigers and snap up loads of good talent. You've got the Waller brothers, Mike Haywood and guys like Sam Olver and Will Hooley.

Bath on the other hand...

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213
 

01. Steven Kitschoff	09. Nick Phipps
02. Deon Fourie	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Tom Mercey
04. Romain Millo-Chluski	11. Tom Collins
05. George Skivington ©	12. Michelle Campagnaro
06. Tom Johnson	13. Tim Nanai-William
07. Luke Wallace	14. Jack Nowell
08. Fotu Auelua	15. Anthony Watson

 

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Scott Sio 18. Fraser Balmain 19. James Hanks 20. Marcel Coetzee 21. Nathan Fowles 22. Gareth Anscombe 23. Tom Fowlie

Basic Game Plan
Despite the light rain, we will be looking to play a fast paced game targetting areas where we feel there are defensive weaknesses to get across the gainline at pace.  We will look to shift the point of attack and keep the ball moving.  Our back row will look to support and hit rucks hard to free up quick ball.  Our intention is to utilize our strength, which is pace, and move the Saracens pack around to tire them and create space for our runners.

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence.  Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle.  Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us.  Tillouse-Borde will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics

• Breakdown. In attack we will flood it rucking past the ball at pace to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence we will not commit to the breakdown unless carrier is isolated and the turnover is on.  If that is not the case we will look to slow the ball and maintain a strong defensive line, giving them no ground and forcing a mistake.
  
• Lineout. We will look to really attack Whitehead’s throwing, with Skivington jumping at the front and the athletic Johnson jumping in the middle.  In attack we will look for banker ball and play from there.
  
• Scrums. We will strike for it on our own ball and get it out quickly and look to go at pace (as the Reds did the year they won the Super XV).  On their ball we will employ an 8 man shove and try to drive over it rather than trying to win against the head by striking for it.
  
• Open Play. Big emphasis keeping the ball alive.  Watson to come into the line early to create the extra man and try to release Nanai Williams through gaps.  .
  
• Bench. We will use the bench tactically as when required rather than just unloading it as a matter of course.  Not all replacements will necessarily come on.
  

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Luke Burgess
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Gareth Steenson
03. Clement Ric
04. Julian Pierre	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Louis Deacon(c)	12. Luther Burrell
06. Brad Shields	13. George Lowe
07. Andy Saull	14. Tim Visser
08. Dave Ewers	15. Gio Aplon

16. Tiaan Liebenberg  17. Max Lahiff  18. Biyi Alo  19. Matt Hankin  20. Tom Guest  21. Chris Cook  22. Adam Thompstone  23. Lee Byrne

Tactics:

General - We've selected a team packed with power and physicality and will look to dominate the contact and get over the gain line. We'll be playing a high tempo physical game from the off, look to smash the opposition back and get into the rucks/maul's and drive through. We'll look to tie the opposition in and then get at their backline, more so in the their half.

Scrum - Look to get a platform and keep the ball in on attacking ball if a weakness is seen in the opposition set piece. With our big locks look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back.

Line out - Look to play it safe and use the rolling maul to good effect. Our big pack should have a lot of joy here and will tie in the opposition defence. We won't be going for the rear of the line out much and will be content with securing our own ball and getting a push on. We'll look to contest on opp throw and target their hooker to see if we can disrupt him early on.

Defence - High intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player. Huge physical pack that can look to dominate the collision and breakdown allowing Saull etc a chance to slow down/steal ball. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp territory. Scrum half to inject pace from the breakdown and have Lowe on his shoulder. Burrell to run at 9/10 channel and target possible weakness. Burrell to be used as decoy running at opp 12 looking to take him out of the defensive line to free up space for Lowe.

Points:

- Get the ball to our big wingers and target youngsters defence
- Target Fourie throw throughout
- look to put big legal hit in Janjtes and put him on back foot

Worcester Warriors
Manager - stnick88

01. Nathan Catt	09. Michael Classens
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Tusi Pisi
03. Halani Aulika
04. James Percival	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Dominic Barrow	12. Kyle Godwin
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Casey Laulala
07. Shane Jennings	14. Mark Cueto
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Ben Ransom

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Dave Ward 18. BJ Botha 19. James Hudson 20. Phil Dowson 21. Dimitri Yachvili 22. Olly Barkley 23. Tom Casson

Tales in france team maye

changed it to Pisi but he will probably be in Samoa team wont he!

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Gjorgi Jgenti	09. Karl Dickson
02. Gary Botha	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Hugh Pyle	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Lappies Labushagne	13. Ben Tapuai
07. Luke Braid	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Kieran Brookes 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. George Kruis 20 Jamie Gibson 21. Luke McGrath 22. Dan Bowden 23. Anthony Faainga

Tactics

Use the pack to get us across the gain line with the aim of getting us quick ball to release our backs.

Look to control the set piece with a strong scrum and a lineout. Experience upfront will aid us in the area.

Look to be aggressive in defence with a quick line speed. Aim to double up in the tackle when we get the chance.

Target the breakdown with Braid doing the damage here. Look for all our back row to carry in the midfield alongside our powerful midfield of Serfontein and Tapuai.

Dickson to control the tempo and Burns to stand flat and bring our big carriers into the game when we have quick ball.

In our own half we will look to kick for territory with Burns and Serfontein but in the opposition half we will retain possession and attempt to tire out Exeter and then take advantage of a unorganised defence.

Due to Alex Goode's late addition to the England 23, Welsh and Lions wing Alex Cuthbert comes into the side with Jared Payne moving to full back and Chris Masoe taking the armband.

Updated, with some amendments

Can yoi put hemry slade in for goppy flux?

Im going to be a stickler for the rules Driver. Only said this last week and was happy to take the punishment myself. Same applies to being under EQ limits.

SirJohnnyEnglish wrote:If a player is called up you can change him up till Thursday midnight. No changes allowed after that and usual punishments for ineligibles will apply.

I was going to change it last night but fell asleep on couch

Sorry mate thems the rules.

It's cool dude.

Cardiff 16-23 Worc
Worc front 5 can get an edge here and Worc midfield is such a step up they should get a muchbetter platform on attacking ball.
 
Chiefs 14-30 Quins
Chiefs front 5 will take a serious hammering here and the front row is two short on the bench (Yeandle named twice). Much closer battle elsewhere and Chiefs have some great impact off the bench but just won’t get anywhere in this one.
 
Tigers 25-18 Ospreys
Os solid if unspectacular this season lose out a bit in the forward pack but Tigers a step up in the backs should see a few tries.
 
Wasps 16-17 Sarries
Very tight affair in the packs and neither side edges it. Prefer the power of the Sarries midfield and bit more about the back three. Jantjes form this year lets Wasps down at flyhalf a little. Just see Sarries managing the game a bit better and taking advantage of the inexperience in the Wasps back three.
 
Falcons 20-20 Irish
Irish can get an edge at the scrum with a decent front row but else where the packs are fairly even. Halfbacks are one a piece. O’Connors game management is poor though and without someone else to help him in the backline this hinders Falcons a bit. They edge the backlines though. Tight affair and opting out with a draw.
 
Saints 19-18 Glaws
Decent pack battle here that neither edges and again there isn’t an awful lot between the back lines either. On current form neither bench is going to get on top. Very even game here and home advantage is the deciding factor.
 
 
NOTE: I know it’s only the LV but there are punishments for not fielding a full front row on the bench and these will apply.

Also theres some pretty strong teams out this week. Hope people are taking rotation into account for later in the season 

SirJohnnyEnglish wrote:Also theres some pretty strong teams out this week. Hope people are taking rotation into account for later in the season 

I will be!  

Can I just say, when I put my team and tactics in my game said light rain showers, and has now been changed to heavy rain. Never seen it be changed before and not sure what that's about.

Samoa have named Pisi on their side but only today i think. what happens here.

Ozzy3213 wrote:

SirJohnnyEnglish wrote:Also theres some pretty strong teams out this week. Hope people are taking rotation into account for later in the season

I will be!

I knew you would! 

Can't comment on that Pete as not running the thread. Once conditions are up they stay up Flux even if the forecast changes in real life. Did you change the conditions?

Chris was docked a point for the same thing happening in the Heino Nick so same will happen here.

Yes I did. As I only realised I had done half of them at the time. Want me to change them back?

Nick the Samoa team was announced yesterday.

Yes please Flux. I'll re-adjust my predo in a bit Pete

Cheers bud.

Apologies guys

Done

Cardiff Blues 12 Worcester Warriors 24

Exeter Chiefs 15 Harlequins 22

Chiefs have some good squad players in there side but Jack Yeandle will struggle playing 1 never mind 16 awell Lol. Quins front 5 is massive and Botha and Pyle will get a big big shove on which would lead to the Chiefs pack back pedalling a few times and would punish Chiefs more here if it wasn't for Burns off season with the boot. Back row will try there hardest to get chiefs on front foot and will get a bit of joy from Taulava and Jones who are big carriers but the balance of Quins is a big boost for me. Half backs at 1 a piece with Chiefs taking the 10 with Myler in great nick. Centres are tough to call so a draw there. Back 3 Quins are a lot more dangerous than there Chief counterparts. Both benchs have good benchs. Quins tactics and a set piece advantage seal the win.

Do you need to give descriptive predo's on non AP v AP games to get full bonus?

No point on non ap in my opinion

Cardiff Blues 11 Worcester Warriors 21

Exeter Chiefs 15 Harlequins 27
This is won and lost in the front 5. Both teams have good backlines, but the Chiefs will have no platform to launch them from.

Leicester Tigers 34 Ospreys 16

Sale Sharks 30 Bath Rugby 0
No Bath side.

Newcastle Falcons 26 London Irish 25
Falcons weaknesses at 2 and 3 give the scrum to Irish. At the moment at 10 JOC needs a better controlling scrum half than Houghaard and I can see Nick Evans putting his team in better areas. In the wet I would have Irish winning this, but in decent conditions Falcons have enough in their backline to snatch it at home.