Aviva Premiership Round Twenty

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Bath Rugby vs Worcester Warriors
Location - The Rec
Sunny, 14 degrees, 12 mph North Easterly winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Jake Cooper Woolley
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Paddy Jackson
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Matthieu Basteraund
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Rob Miller
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Mikey Haywood 17. Carl Rimmer 18. Ben Tameifuma 19. Luke Romano 20. James Haskell 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Matt Hopper 23. Jamie Elliot

Overall: With the weather conditions as they are, we are looking to play flowing, attacking rugby. Look to pass the ball around with a high tempo offloading game.

Scrum: We don't expect many scrums but we will look to exert pressure on Catt if it happens.

Lineout: Whitelock to call with Lobbe and Robshaw as jumpers and Kitchener as a banker ball option. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul

Breakdown: Not looking to be over committed at the breakdown but if a turnover is possible then be aggressive. Robshaw will be supported by the pack at breakdown.

Defence: Drift Defence looking to slow down the ball. FDP to sweep in behind. Lydiate to get after the half backs

Our half backs will control our rugby. FDP, Patchell and Jackson can play what they see and put the rest of the back line in strong positions. We have strong runners who can get over the gainline throughout the side with a very dynamic pack and a big back line. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Look for chances to offload.

Kicking: With Jackson, Patchell, FDP, Miller and Hogg all having big boots we can look for touch if we are enjoying a significant advantage here

Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo.

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Worcester Warriors
Manager-CJ

01.  Nathan Catt	09. Dimitri Yachvilli (k)
02.  Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. BJ Botha
04. George Skivington	11. Willie Le Roux
05. Alun Wynn-Jones (c)	12. Anthony Allen
06.  Alexandre Lapandry	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Tom Guest	15. Chris Pennell

16.  Samson Lee 17. Matthew Rees 18.  Brett Sturgess 19. Mouritz Botha 20.  Danie Roussouw 21.Tawera Kerr-Barlow  22. Ollie Barkley 23. Sean Maitland

Tactics:

Breakdown- use Ward and Barclay as fetchers chasing the ball helped by the rest of the pack when it's needed. Don't overcommit unless the turnover is on and press hard to the edge of the laws in their 22 to look for penalties and turnovers. Hold back in our own half.

Attack- use mobile pack to set up drives in groups in varying directions to speed up slow ball. Quicker ball to be spread wide, as dictated by Yachvilli, where FTH will play flat with forwards coming into the line and varying the focus of attack. Back 3 to come looking for work in the line and Allen and Campagnaro used as main attacking runners. Look to use them to draw defenders then rwcycle and use FTH plus back 3 and back row to exploit space. Ward and Barclay acting as linkmen in chasing the ball.

Closer to the fringes, use more offloads to keep the ball alive within Robshaw's range (his work rate is huge but he's still slow and thus less of a threat wider out) and to negate Lydiate's chop tackle into a weakness not a strength. If Cuthbert is mal-positioned at all, chip kick from 9 or crossfield from 10 to isolate and test him against our FB-trained Back 3.

Defence- blitz led by Allen, Yachvilli sweeping, ward and Barclay chasing ball. Fringes led by AWJ. Guest look to pressurise Patchell who lacks experience even now

Lineout- lots of options so mix it up in the line and play quick off the top. Jump at middle and longer to pressurise and give them the front then defend the maul and 12 channel knowing they can't play wide

Scrum- pressurise Cooper Wooley. Look to get ball out quickly and use as a platform to run moves off.

Kicking- take easy shots at goal. Kick high for possession targeting Cuthbert and run back kicks where possible

Subs- use only if needed but lots of utility cover here.

Other- look to frustrate Hogg by not kicking to him. With our 2 fetchers chasing ball, look to isolate Bastateaud knowing he can't pass and force penalties

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Exeter Chiefs vs Sale Sharks
Location - Sandy Park
Sunny, 14 degrees, 11 mph Easterly winds

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Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira	09. Hadyn Thomas
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Toby Flood
03. Logovii Mulipola
04. Brad Thorn	11. David Strettle
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Eamonn Sheridan
06. Mike Williams	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Kelly Brown (c)	14. James O'Connor (k)
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Matt Tait

16. Sean Cronin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Bradley Davies 20. Nick Williams 21. Freddie Michalak 22. Freddie Burns 23. Tom Varndell

Key Points

• Target the Scrum - Us the power in the props to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Get both the LH and Hooker to target Zriak and try to get between him and Kayser to allow Mulipola to work on Ayerza. 
  
• Quick Line outs – lineout leader in Albacete along with top operators like Beattie and Thorn to mix the movement up. Look to turn the screw in the line out and put pressure on the Kayser throw, and man mark Attwood and POM in the line out.
  
• Target the defensive frailty in the 12 and 13 channels -Look to target the shoulders of Steyn with angled runs down his weaker shoulder and look to test pods of forwards down Pisi's channel who won't cope with the sheer numbers coming around the corner. 
  
• Look to use blitz defence to cut down the options of Care and Sexton, forcing them back inside to our forwards. Thomas to sweep and marshaqll the line.
  
• Flood the Breakdown – With the physicality in our backrow, front five and centres we will look to just blow out any ruck to create quick ball. Even in defence in we will target one or two rucks where there are no men and clean through past the ball they won't cope. Similar with the first man in the ruck to drive through and clear any on coming opposition players to create clean quick ball.
  
• Defence at the Rucks - if we can't win the ruck or flood it, we will 'ice'the ruck and fan numbers into our defence. This will force Sharks to put less and less numbers into rucks and once they look frail or have put in low numbers we will blow the ruck out; clean, low, and hard - creating turnover ball which will instantly go wide. 
  
• Carrying options - Loads of big carrying options to get us over the gain line and allow the backs to get into the game. Look to get options outside the ten mostly or outside 12 to target the defensive line outside their guards where the line is weakest.
  
• Playmakers - look to bring in JOC and Tait at ten and off 12 to create overlaps and mix up the point attack. Two of the best counter attackers in the game, so they will look to return lose kicks by running back and punishing mistakes. 
  
• Bench - Use the bench to bring on more big ball carriers and alos to up the pace of the game with the back replacements. 
  
• JOC to kick all penalties to help build up points and keep the score rolling over. 
  

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Brodie Retalick	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. George Pisi
07. Matt Todd	14. Semesa Rokodugini
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Jack McGrath 17. David Paice 18. Phil Swainston 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

We will play a fast paced, high intensity offloading game using big carriers to get over the gain line and create space and quick ball for our halfbacks to use. Back three to get involved as much as possible.

- Disorganized Chiefs! Chiefs make 9 changes from last week including 3 debutants. They have lost their lineout leader (Parling) and defensive leader (Bosch). This should cause a lot of disjointed play on attack and plenty of gaps on defence.

- Target the scrum. Good technical front row supported by plenty of grunt will look to get on top and win penalties.

- Attack from the lineout. Five genuine jumping options allows us to mix it up and really use the lineout as an attacking platform. Look to get the ball to Care & Sexton with space outside.

- Look to mix up play. Sexton will look to dictate the game playing flat on the gain line, committing the defence before bringing the big carriers in to play. However Care provides a threat snipping around the fringes and can change the point of attack instantly.

- Keep the tempo high. Committed to the breakdown today to ensure  quick recycling of the ball. Care & Sexton will look to keep pace on the game to prevent the Chiefs defence from organising.

- Get the wingers involved. Zebo & Roko to track the ball off their wings looking for the inside ball or offload to get in behind the opposition defence.

- Hit the breakdown hard. Look to our dynamic front five to clear the ruck and allow the likes of POM & Todd to really attack the breakdown.

- Straight line blitz defence focusing on a quick line speed to isolate the ball carrier before the gain line. Care to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

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Harlequins vs Leicester Tigers
Location - Twickenham Stoop
Sunny, 13 degrees, 12 mph North Easterly winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Ruan Pienaar (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. Pieter-Steph Du Toit	11. Joe Tomane
05. Steve Borthwick (c)	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Jamie Gibson	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Gjorgi Jgenti 18. Euan Murray 19. George Kruis 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Steven Myler 23. Tom Brady

Tactics

Use our pack running off 9 and 10 to get use across the gain line and get us quick ball from which to attack with our back line. Look for lots of options running off Cooper who will stand flat to create gaps and pull in defenders. Use  Roberts crashing at pace running directly at Kurtley Beale to test his defence and to tie in other defenders. Cooper will stand flat and look to put other runners into space. This running off of Cooper will hopefully create space for our elusive back three to take advantage of the spaces.

Look for our pack to carry in numbers and concentrate on using agility before contact to wrong foot defenders and get us across the gain line and hopefully offload to support runners or recycle quick ball to go again. The likes of Gorgodze and Easter will draw defenders and create gaps for other runners around them.

At the set piece we will really look to pressure the lineout. In Borthwick, PSDT and Gibson we have three jumpers not only to win clean ball for ourselves but to really get after the Leicester ball and put huge pressure on Rallapelle's arrows. At the scrum we have two props dealing very well with the new rules and will look to really get at Leicester.

In defence we will look to use a up and out defence where the first few steps are straight forwards and then if the ball is spread wide we then drift out as a team. Key to this is a quick initial linespeed and everybody keeping their discipline going up then out rather than going straight out and creating dog legs.

At the breakdown we are simply going to blast it. In attack and defence we will get low and look to ruck Leicester off the ball. We've not gone with a natural breakdown man and we are going to effectively ruck SOB and Louw of the ball and off their feet so they are out of the game.

When in our own halfs we wil look for Pienaar and Cooper to kick into space if it is on otherwise we retain possession or look to test out Speight and Mitchell's positioning. Pienaar to kick all points.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins (c)	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Chiliboy Ralepelle	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Kernan Myall	12. Kurtley Beale
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Francois Louw	14. Henry Speight
08. Joe van Niekerk	15. Drew Mitchell

16. Harry Thacker 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Pascal Pape 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Micky Young 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Mike Brown

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game and the power and strength of our side.

- Target Cooper all game with SOB and Louw breathing down his neck at every opportunity. Big runners through his channel - looking to win the Lambie vs Cooper contest.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Ralapelle to look to really get into Brits, with two huge props backed up by Hines and Myall. An area we will look to target if winning.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Hines or JvN at the front and Myall off the top as our three key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option.

- Put serious pressure on Brits' throws with Hines at the front on all Quins' throws.

- Target the breakdown - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With SOB and Louw, and the likes of Cole too, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Quins defence. The likes of SOB, JvN, Louw, Ralapelle and Hines to be used to target the Quins 10 channel.

- In attacking play, we will look to get runners attacking the gain line looking for gaps. We do want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first receivers in Lambie and Beale. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Peel to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Lambie to kick all penalties.

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London Wasps vs Gloucester Rugby
Location - Adams Park
Sunny, 13 degrees, 9 mph North Easterly winds

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London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Rob Hawkins	10. Gareth Anscombe
03. David Wilson
04. Sebastien Vahaamahina	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Luke Wallace	13. Tim Nanai-Williams
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Jack Nowell
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Delon Armitage

16. Deon Fourie 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Ben Alexander 19. Matt Symons 20. Tom Johnson 21.Nick Phipps 22. Pat McCabe 23. Digby Ioane

Basic Game Plan
In dry conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, going through the phases and continually shifting the point of attack.  We will play sensibly in our own half though, and will use the boots of Anscombe, Lealiifano and Armitage if it is not on to run the ball.  When using the boot we will kicking for touch and looking to contest the lineout.  We WILL NOT kick to their back three.

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.  Smith will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics

• Lineout.  On our ball we will mix things up, utilising all of a back 5 forwards.  We will at times go with a shortened line and use Steffon Armitage either on the crash ball off first phase or as a decoy in midfield.  We will use the driving maul from the lineout when close to the Tigers try line
  
• Breakdown.  When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence, if we have made a passive tackle and the carrier has momentum we will not overcommit, but will maintain a strong defensive line.  If we win the collision and knock the carrier back we will look to get the second man in hard over the ball to turn it over.  Key for us is being selective.
  
• Attacking Play.  We will be looking to play a Super Rugby type offloading game, with the ball shifted on to the support runner just prior to the point of the tackle with the defender already committed.  We will constantly look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps.  Smith to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  
  
• Big Carriers.  We will put big carriers down Ryan Mills' channel and force others to help him defend creating space out wide where we will look to shift the ball quickly.
  

Key Points

• Home Advantage We are unbeaten at home all season and it is tough to win away, particularly at the business end of the season.
  
• Defensive Frailties From 11-14 Gloucester can be got at defensively and we will really try shift them around to create gaps to get runners like TNW through.
  

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Gloucester

01. Guthro Steenkamp 09. Connor Murray
02. Jamie George 10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth 11. Jonny May
05. George Robson 12. Ryan Mills
06. Willem Alberts 13. Tevita Kurindrani
07. Akapusi Qera 14. Israel Folau
08. Jamie Heaslip 15. Israel Dagg

16 Nick Wood 17 Joe Grey 18 Coenie Ousthuizen 19 Elliot Stooke 20 Sam Dickinson 21 Dan Robson 22 Danny Cipriani 23 Hosea Gear

Glos travel to wasps in great form and targeting a try BP win.
In great conditions and both teams throwing it around it should be a high scoring affair

Tactics

Set piece

Scrum: we have a big front 5 with heaps of technical ability and will be using the scrum on our ball to launch attacks. There will not be that many scrums but on our ball we will be looking to get on the front foot between our 22 and their 10 metre we will look to pick up and
Get on the front foot to launch our big ball carriers to get that front foot ball needed to play open rugby. On their ball we will try and disrupt

Lineout

We have 5 jumpers and see the lineout as a great source of attacking ball. We will be mixing drive and off the top and will challenge their ball unless in our 22 where only 2 jumper will be put up. When we are driving the lineout we will be looking to move the ball away whilst the maul is moving. This can be either to one of our big forward runners or straight to carter

General forwards

We have picked a pack of ball carriers and see ourselves as having more options to carry than bath. We want to carry relentlessly and get over the gainline and either offload or create quick ball for Murray to move. We have backs to score lots of tries and we want to give them ball to attack,

Breakdown wise we will send numbers in if we
Can turn it
Over and look to counter ruck.

Attack wise we will be looking for aggressive clear outs to generate that quick ball that is necessary.

Around the fringes we will really target smith as he can be got at and it can affect there whole rhythm.

Our backrow will really be concentrating on the 9,10,12 channel as it is a combo that has not played much rugby together as a unit
Backs

We are aiming to really play at tempo and stretch bath outwide.
We want to create one on ones and mismatches for folau, Dagg, May and co to exploit.

We see ourselves as able to get a lot of joy from the 10-13 channel. None of them are known for their defence and they have not played together much as a unit so we will be trying a few inside balls and footwork on this channel to test it.

Murray is in fine form and will keep there backrow and 9 honest but his prime job is to hit carter so carter can take the options. We will play a
Mixed game and kick where necessary.
But when in the right area or when we spot a gap we will go for it.

We will use the cross kick for folau and will look to up the pace as the game goes on.


With a back 3
Like ours we will look to counter attack any loose kicks from wasps. They say they will not kick to our back 3 but I have never seen a game where a team has not kicked ball to an oppositions back 3.

We will also utilise quick throw ins and quick taps as the game progresses


Playing at this pace takes it's toll so benches are very important. We will utilise all of our bench to keep the pace up.

We will look to selectively blitz in defence. In conditions like this if you blitz all the time the grubber and chip are easy to utilise so it will be used sparingly. However we will be looking for very quick line speed. As ever Murray will sweep.


All kicks at goal to be taken.

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Northampton Saints vs London Irish
Location - Franklin Gardens
Sunny Intervals, 12 degrees, 12mph North Easterly

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Northampton Saints

01. Sona Taumalolo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. George Ford
03. Ben Afeaki
04. Manu Samoa	11. Jordan Williams
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Matt Giteau
06. CJ Stander	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Jacques du Plessis	14. Niko Matawulu
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Substitutes: 16. Rhys Marshall 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Elliot Daly 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Ben Foden

Tactics: Weather conditions are perfect for attacking rugby and we will look to play an expansive, high tempo off loading game that looks to put our players into space and create try scoring opportunities. We will aim to generate quick ball from the breakdown area, with our pack selected for dynamism and speed, while we have picked Matawulu on the wing to also get to breakdowns quick and get the ball in hand to launch more attacks and spread the ball.

Again big emphasis on unloading our bench and looking to finish the game very strongly and keep the tempo high in the final 20-30 minutes.

Setpiece: Recalled Hartley from a rest last week and will look to use his understanding with Lawes to generate a lot of quality attacking ball - Manoa, Parisse and du Plessis provide a lot of options. Will target Jones' throwing with Lawes competing on Irish throws. We've picked a big front five to put pressure on Irish at scrum time and give a platform for Parisse to attack off the base of the scrum.

Dynamic Pack/Gainline: We have a pack that has a lot of strong ball carriers and dynamism, we will look to get the likes of Taumalalo and Afeaki on the ball early on, while the pace of everyone from 4-8 will be used to get us over the gainline, hit rucks and breakdowns in numbers and put Irish onto the backfoot. We want to get our pack playing at speed and setting the tempo for the game and making it difficult for Irish to defend.

Attack: Perfect conditions to play attacking rugby and look for tries, we will look to move the ball wide whenever there is something on and will get Ford standing flat to bring two of Europe's most in form players into the game in the 12/13 channel. Will look to give Tuilagi a great attacking platform and suck in Irish defenders before recycling ball and going wide. Ford will look to suck in defenders and provide Simpson with the opportunity to snipe around the fringes.

Breakdown: We will look to target this area to generate quick ball - we have a pack that is very mobile and strong at hitting breakdowns. We will look to target Tipuric at every breakdown, with our players looking to clear him out of any ruck as quickly as possible. With any turnovers we will counter, with Simpson and Matawulu both able to reach breakdowns and get their hands on the ball.

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, with fast line speed and looking to double up on Irish big ball carriers to force handling errors and mistakes to exploit. Simpson is one of the best defensive sweeping no9s (he gets enough practice with Wasps) so will look to cover any breaks.

Territory: We have good kicking options with Simpson's box kick, Ford,  Giteau and Halfpenny, so can push Irish back in their own half when needed. We are looking to keep the ball in hand and attack.

Key points:

Home advantage and form of key players at business end of the season.

Strong bench to keep tempo high and finish final 20-30 minutes very strongly.

Picked a team that is ideally suited to the conditions, and will play a high tempo game from the offset. Believe we have more pace and dynamism than Irish and will look to utilise this.

We are going to go for tries and a style that will create opportunities, but have Halfpenny's boot to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

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London Irish

01. Ben Franks	09. Rory Kockott (k)
02. Marc Jones	10. Nick Evans
03. Adam Jones
04. Stuart Hooper (c)	11. Nick Cummins
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Luke McAlister
06. Matt Garvey	13. Conrad Smith
07. Justin Tipuric	14. JP Pieterson
08. Scott Higginbotham	15. Rob Cook

;-
16. Tom Lindsay 17. Will Collier 18. Tom Court 19. Sam Warburton 20. Ben Morgan 21. Lee  Dickson 22. Shane Geraghty 23. JSD

Tactics:
Having beaten Falcons twice and making it into the Amlin Semi Finals we come into this game full of confidence and looking for the win to secure our league status.

SET PIECE
We have picked a mobile pack in good conditions and Hooper and Higginbotham will provide grunt. We have four lineout jumpers and will keep it simple today, we will jack 2 up in their half on opposition ball. With Manoa generally playing at 8 IRL then we will look to target the 2nd row in the scrum.

BREAKDOWN
looking to control our BREAKDOWN and give Kockott time on the ball. Tipuric and Garvey will only compete if available but we will aim to fan out. In attack we will look for quick ball and play a pod system with the forwards taking on tight ball for a couple of phases then out wide.

HALF BACKS
Controlled ball with good tactical players looking to use the conditions to their advantage, they will start with a tight game for THREE phases then spread. If it's not on we will look to pin them back with kicks to touch.

ATTACK
Evans will stand flat giving McAlister good ball to run onto and look for the offloads. Controlled with strong runners and will look for simple passes and our back three cutting back on inside shoulder at times, our pack will give options off of 10 and 12 to get over the gainline. We will look to use our strong carriers to get us over the gainline and recycle quick ball. Our wingers will look for one on one's with Willams and Malawatu both playing in secondary positions.

DEFENCE
Controlled and hard hitting. Look to snag 9 to stop quick ball and for Tips and Garvey to get into 10's face to stop quick ball, any high balls will be secured and kicked back into space or off the park, if it's on we run. Blitz defence looking to get into Ford's face, Kockott will sweep.

BENCH
Strong impact with a strong front row replacements to come on Dus and Morgan looking to run ball against tired legs. The bench can up the tempo with Dickson and Geraghty playing heads up rugby in the last quarter to drag open a tired defence, Dickson will bring late control and game management.

OVERALL
Open game initially keeping the weather in mind and look for quick ball and strong direct runners, take the points when available but back ourselves if it's on. We are getting into the run in of the end of  the season and want to get good form going with good international experience all over the park.

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Newcastle Falcons vs Saracens
Location - Kingston Park
Sunny, 11 degrees, 9 mph Easterly winds

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Newcastle Falcons

01. Matt Mullen	09. Dave Lewis
02. Rory Best	10. Henry Slade
03. Owen Franks
04. Ed Slater(C)	11. Tim Visser
05. Geoff Parling	12. Luke Marshall
06. Ben Mowen	13. Marcelo Bosch (K)
07. Will Fraser	14. Cory Jane
08. Dave Ewers	15. Ben Smith

16. Dane Coles 17.Matt Stevens 18.Scott Wilson 19.Andrew Coombs 20.Richie McCaw 21.Frans Houghard 22.Dan Bigger 23.Brad Barritt

KISS - Keep it short and simple ,don't over complecate things. Slater to call the line and look to throw to himself and Mowen and ease Parling into it. Slade to move the ball into the wide channels with Marshall and Bosch simply straightening the line.

Lewis to keep tempo high with tap and go and sniping round the fringes.

Blitz defence with Lewis sweeping behind , Fraser to jackle over the ball.

Unload our bench in the last 30 with Lions and World cup winners to enter the fray.

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly
 

01. Alex Waller	09. Nick White
02. Keven Mealamu	10. Morne Steyn
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Louis Deacon	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Dave Denton	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Chris Henry	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Toby Faletau	15. Luke Fitzgerald

:-
16. Ross Batty 17. Max Lahiff 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Dom Barrow 20. Carl Fearns 21. Henry Taylor 22. Tom Taylor 23. George Lowe
 


Tactics:

TARGET SCRUM - Look to put pressure on Franks and drive in between him and Best.

TARGET NEW ADDITIONS - 3 new signings for Falcons in the starting XV. Look to catch out their defensive structure and possibly issues off quick ball.

TARGET LINE OUT - Look to target Parling who had only just joined the club and will be their main target man, look to disrupt and starve Falcons of good ball.

HUGE CARRYING OPTIONS- Loads of big carrying options to get us over the gain line and allow the backs to get into the game. Look to get options up at 1st and 2nd reciever at pace to draw in defence. Faletau/Denton/FvdM/Mealamu give us great options and varied carriers.

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. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work.

Scrum - Look to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Strong front 5 with big locks will look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back. Our LH and Hooker will look to target TH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow TH to work on LH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out - Target all game. Look to mix it up on own throw 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'll look to contest on opp throw especially when sub get on the pitch as we feel we can really pressure him. Flip will look mastermind taking the opposition throw apart throughout the game.

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 Henry/Mealamu 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 JD on his shoulder. Huge carrying backrow to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform.

---

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Jake Cooper Woolley
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Paddy Jackson
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Matthieu Basteraund
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Rob Miller
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

|
16. Mikey Haywood 17. Carl Rimmer 18. Ben Tameifuma 19. Luke Romano 20. James Haskell 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Matt Hopper 23. Jamie Elliot

Mark

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Rob Hawkins	10. Gareth Anscombe
03. David Wilson
04. Sebastien Vahaamahina	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Luke Wallace	13. Tim Nanai-Williams
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Jack Nowell
08. Duane Vermeulen ©	15. Delon Armitage

16. Deon Fourie 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Ben Alexander 19. Matt Symons 20. Tom Johnson 21.Nick Phipps 22. Pat McCabe 23. Digby Ioane

Basic Game Plan
In dry conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, going through the phases and continually shifting the point of attack.  We will play sensibly in our own half though, and will use the boots of Anscombe, Lealiifano and Armitage if it is not on to run the ball.  When using the boot we will kicking for touch and looking to contest the lineout.  We WILL NOT kick to their back three.

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.  Smith will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics

• Lineout.  On our ball we will mix things up, utilising all of a back 5 forwards.  We will at times go with a shortened line and use Steffon Armitage either on the crash ball off first phase or as a decoy in midfield.  We will use the driving maul from the lineout when close to the Tigers try line
  
• Breakdown.  When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly and go again.  In defence, if we have made a passive tackle and the carrier has momentum we will not overcommit, but will maintain a strong defensive line.  If we win the collision and knock the carrier back we will look to get the second man in hard over the ball to turn it over.  Key for us is being selective.
  
• Attacking Play.  We will be looking to play a Super Rugby type offloading game, with the ball shifted on to the support runner just prior to the point of the tackle with the defender already committed.  We will constantly look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps.  Smith to look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time.  
  
• Big Carriers.  We will put big carriers down Ryan Mills' channel and force others to help him defend creating space out wide where we will look to shift the ball quickly.
  

Key Points

• Home Advantage We are unbeaten at home all season and it is tough to win away, particularly at the business end of the season.
  
• Defensive Frailties From 11-14 Gloucester can be got at defensively and we will really try shift them around to create gaps to get runners like TNW through.
  

01. Matt Mullen	09. Dave Lewis
02. Rory Best	10. Henry Slade
03. Owen Franks
04. Ed Slater(C)	11. Tim Visser
05. Geoff Parling	12. Luke Marshall
06. Ben Mowen	13. Marcelo Bosch (K)
07. Will Fraser	14. Cory Jane
08. Dave Ewers	15. Ben Smith

16. Dane Coles 17.Matt Stevens 18.Scott Wilson 19.Andrew Coombs 20.Richie McCaw 21.Frans Houghard 22.Dan Bigger 23.Brad Barritt


KISS - Keep it short and simple ,don't over complecate things. Slater to call the line and look to throw to himself and Mowen and ease Parling into it. Slade to move the ball into the wide channels with Marshall and Bosch simply straightening the line.

Lewis to keep tempo high with tap and go and sniping round the fringes.

Blitz defence with Lewis sweeping behind , Fraser to jackle over the ball.

Unload our bench in the last 30 with Lions and World cup winners to enter the fray.

Northampton Saints:

01. Sona Taumalolo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. George Ford
03. Ben Afeaki
04. Manu Samoa	11. Jordan Williams
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Matt Giteau
06. CJ Stander	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Jacques du Plessis	14. Niko Matawulu
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Substitutes: 16. Rhys Marshall 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Elliot Daly 22. Weslie Fofana 23. Ben Foden

Tactics: Weather conditions are perfect for attacking rugby and we will look to play an expansive, high tempo off loading game that looks to put our players into space and create try scoring opportunities. We will aim to generate quick ball from the breakdown area, with our pack selected for dynamism and speed, while we have picked Matawulu on the wing to also get to breakdowns quick and get the ball in hand to launch more attacks and spread the ball.

Again big emphasis on unloading our bench and looking to finish the game very strongly and keep the tempo high in the final 20-30 minutes.

Setpiece: Recalled Hartley from a rest last week and will look to use his understanding with Lawes to generate a lot of quality attacking ball - Manoa, Parisse and du Plessis provide a lot of options. Will target Jones' throwing with Lawes competing on Irish throws. We've picked a big front five to put pressure on Irish at scrum time and give a platform for Parisse to attack off the base of the scrum.

Dynamic Pack/Gainline: We have a pack that has a lot of strong ball carriers and dynamism, we will look to get the likes of Taumalalo and Afeaki on the ball early on, while the pace of everyone from 4-8 will be used to get us over the gainline, hit rucks and breakdowns in numbers and put Irish onto the backfoot. We want to get our pack playing at speed and setting the tempo for the game and making it difficult for Irish to defend.

Attack: Perfect conditions to play attacking rugby and look for tries, we will look to move the ball wide whenever there is something on and will get Ford standing flat to bring two of Europe's most in form players into the game in the 12/13 channel. Will look to give Tuilagi a great attacking platform and suck in Irish defenders before recycling ball and going wide. Ford will look to suck in defenders and provide Simpson with the opportunity to snipe around the fringes.

Breakdown: We will look to target this area to generate quick ball - we have a pack that is very mobile and strong at hitting breakdowns. We will look to target Tipuric at every breakdown, with our players looking to clear him out of any ruck as quickly as possible. With any turnovers we will counter, with Simpson and Matawulu both able to reach breakdowns and get their hands on the ball.

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, with fast line speed and looking to double up on Irish big ball carriers to force handling errors and mistakes to exploit. Simpson is one of the best defensive sweeping no9s (he gets enough practice with Wasps) so will look to cover any breaks.

Territory: We have good kicking options with Simpson's box kick, Ford, Giteau and Halfpenny, so can push Irish back in their own half when needed. We are looking to keep the ball in hand and attack.

Key points:

Home advantage and form of key players at business end of the season.

Strong bench to keep tempo high and finish final 20-30 minutes very strongly.

Picked a team that is ideally suited to the conditions, and will play a high tempo game from the offset. Believe we have more pace and dynamism than Irish and will look to utilise this.

We are going to go for tries and a style that will create opportunities, but have Halfpenny's boot to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly
 

01. Alex Waller	09. Nick White
02. Keven Mealamu	10. Morne Steyn
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Louis Deacon	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Flip van der Merwe	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Dave Denton	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Chris Henry	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Toby Faletau	15. Luke Fitzgerald

:-
16. Ross Batty 17. Max Lahiff 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Dom Barrow 20. Carl Fearns 21. Henry Taylor 22. Tom Taylor 23. George Lowe
 


Tactics:

TARGET SCRUM - Look to put pressure on Franks and drive in between him and Best.

TARGET NEW ADDITIONS - 3 new signings for Falcons in the starting XV. Look to catch out their defensive structure and possibly issues off quick ball.

TARGET LINE OUT - Look to target Parling who had only just joined the club and will be their main target man, look to disrupt and starve Falcons of good ball.

HUGE CARRYING OPTIONS- Loads of big carrying options to get us over the gain line and allow the backs to get into the game. Look to get options up at 1st and 2nd reciever at pace to draw in defence. Faletau/Denton/FvdM/Mealamu give us great options and varied carriers.

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. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work.

Scrum - Look to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Strong front 5 with big locks will look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back. Our LH and Hooker will look to target TH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow TH to work on LH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out - Target all game. Look to mix it up on own throw 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'll look to contest on opp throw especially when sub get on the pitch as we feel we can really pressure him. Flip will look mastermind taking the opposition throw apart throughout the game.

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 Henry/Mealamu 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 JD on his shoulder. Huge carrying backrow to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Ruan Pienaar (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. Pieter-Steph Du Toit	11. Joe Tomane
05. Steve Borthwick (c)	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Jamie Gibson	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Gjorgi Jgenti 18. Euan Murray 19. George Kruis 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Steven Myler 23. Tom Brady

Tactics

Use our pack running off 9 and 10 to get use across the gain line and get us quick ball from which to attack with our back line. Look for lots of options running off Cooper who will stand flat to create gaps and pull in defenders. Use Roberts crashing at pace running directly at Kurtley Beale to test his defence and to tie in other defenders. Cooper will stand flat and look to put other runners into space. This running off of Cooper will hopefully create space for our elusive back three to take advantage of the spaces.

Look for our pack to carry in numbers and concentrate on using agility before contact to wrong foot defenders and get us across the gain line and hopefully offload to support runners or recycle quick ball to go again. The likes of Gorgodze and Easter will draw defenders and create gaps for other runners around them.

At the set piece we will really look to pressure the lineout. In Borthwick, PSDT and Gibson we have three jumpers not only to win clean ball for ourselves but to really get after the Leicester ball and put huge pressure on Rallapelle's arrows. At the scrum we have two props dealing very well with the new rules and will look to really get at Leicester.

In defence we will look to use a up and out defence where the first few steps are straight forwards and then if the ball is spread wide we then drift out as a team. Key to this is a quick initial linespeed and everybody keeping their discipline going up then out rather than going straight out and creating dog legs.

At the breakdown we are simply going to blast it. In attack and defence we will get low and look to ruck Leicester off the ball. We've not gone with a natural breakdown man and we are going to effectively ruck SOB and Louw of the ball and off their feet so they are out of the game.

When in our own halfs we wil look for Pienaar and Cooper to kick into space if it is on otherwise we retain possession or look to test out Speight and Mitchell's positioning. Pienaar to kick all points.

Worcester Warriors
Manager-CJ

01.  Nathan Catt	09. Dimitri Yachvilli (k)
02.  Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. BJ Botha
04. George Skivington	11. Willie Le Roux
05. Alun Wynn-Jones (c)	12. Anthony Allen
06.  Alexandre Lapandry	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. John Barclay	14. Mark Cueto
08. Tom Guest	15. Chris Pennell

16.  Samson Lee 17. Matthew Rees 18.  Brett Sturgess 19. Mouritz Botha 20.  Danie Roussouw 21.Tawera Kerr-Barlow  22. Ollie Barkley 23. Sean Maitland

Tactics:

Breakdown- use Ward and Barclay as fetchers chasing the ball helped by the rest of the pack when it's needed. Don't overcommit unless the turnover is on and press hard to the edge of the laws in their 22 to look for penalties and turnovers. Hold back in our own half.

Attack- use mobile pack to set up drives in groups in varying directions to speed up slow ball. Quicker ball to be spread wide, as dictated by Yachvilli, where FTH will play flat with forwards coming into the line and varying the focus of attack. Back 3 to come looking for work in the line and Allen and Campagnaro used as main attacking runners. Look to use them to draw defenders then rwcycle and use FTH plus back 3 and back row to exploit space. Ward and Barclay acting as linkmen in chasing the ball.

Closer to the fringes, use more offloads to keep the ball alive within Robshaw's range (his work rate is huge but he's still slow and thus less of a threat wider out) and to negate Lydiate's chop tackle into a weakness not a strength. If Cuthbert is mal-positioned at all, chip kick from 9 or crossfield from 10 to isolate and test him against our FB-trained Back 3.

Defence- blitz led by Allen, Yachvilli sweeping, ward and Barclay chasing ball. Fringes led by AWJ. Guest look to pressurise Patchell who lacks experience even now

Lineout- lots of options so mix it up in the line and play quick off the top. Jump at middle and longer to pressurise and give them the front then defend the maul and 12 channel knowing they can't play wide

Scrum- pressurise Cooper Wooley. Look to get ball out quickly and use as a platform to run moves off.

Kicking- take easy shots at goal. Kick high for possession targeting Cuthbert and run back kicks where possible

Subs- use only if needed but lots of utility cover here.

Other- look to frustrate Hogg by not kicking to him. With our 2 fetchers chasing ball, look to isolate Bastateaud knowing he can't pass and force penalties

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins (c)	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Chiliboy Ralepelle	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Kernan Myall	12. Kurtley Beale
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Francois Louw	14. Henry Speight
08. Joe van Niekerk	15. Drew Mitchell

16. Harry Thacker 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Pascal Pape 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Micky Young 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Mike Brown

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game and the power and strength of our side.

- Target Cooper all game with SOB and Louw breathing down his neck at every opportunity. Big runners through his channel - looking to win the Lambie vs Cooper contest.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Ralapelle to look to really get into Brits, with two huge props backed up by Hines and Myall. An area we will look to target if winning.

- Attack at all lineouts. Use Hines or JvN at the front and Myall off the top as our three key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option.

- Put serious pressure on Brits' throws with Hines at the front on all Quins' throws.

- Target the breakdown - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With SOB and Louw, and the likes of Cole too, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Quins defence. The likes of SOB, JvN, Louw, Ralapelle and Hines to be used to target the Quins 10 channel.

- In attacking play, we will look to get runners attacking the gain line looking for gaps. We do want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first receivers in Lambie and Beale. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Peel to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Lambie to kick all penalties.

Pete will get mine in later. Will not be many changes.

Can we leave the predos open until Monday afternoon ? I know I have a lot of commitments over Easter

01. Ben Franks	09. Rory Kockott (k)
02. Marc Jones	10. Nick Evans
03. Adam Jones
04. Stuart Hooper (c)	11. Nick Cummins
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Luke McAlister
06. Matt Garvey	13. Conrad Smith
07. Justin Tipuric	14. JP Pieterson
08. Scott Higginbotham	15. Rob Cook

;-
16. Tom Lindsay 17. Will Collier 18. Tom Court 19. Sam Warburton 20. Ben Morgan 21. Lee Dickson 22. Shane Geraghty 23. JSD

Tactics:
Having beaten Falcons twice and making it into the Amlin Semi Finals we come into this game full of confidence and looking for the win to secure our league status.

SET PIECE
We have picked a mobile pack in good conditions and Hooper and Higginbotham will provide grunt. We have four lineout jumpers and will keep it simple today, we will jack 2 up in their half on opposition ball. With Manoa generally playing at 8 IRL then we will look to target the 2nd row in the scrum.

BREAKDOWN
looking to control our BREAKDOWN and give Kockott time on the ball. Tipuric and Garvey will only compete if available but we will aim to fan out. In attack we will look for quick ball and play a pod system with the forwards taking on tight ball for a couple of phases then out wide.

HALF BACKS
Controlled ball with good tactical players looking to use the conditions to their advantage, they will start with a tight game for THREE phases then spread. If it's not on we will look to pin them back with kicks to touch.

ATTACK
Evans will stand flat giving McAlister good ball to run onto and look for the offloads. Controlled with strong runners and will look for simple passes and our back three cutting back on inside shoulder at times, our pack will give options off of 10 and 12 to get over the gainline. We will look to use our strong carriers to get us over the gainline and recycle quick ball. Our wingers will look for one on one's with Willams and Malawatu both playing in secondary positions.

DEFENCE
Controlled and hard hitting. Look to snag 9 to stop quick ball and for Tips and Garvey to get into 10's face to stop quick ball, any high balls will be secured and kicked back into space or off the park, if it's on we run. Blitz defence looking to get into Ford's face, Kockott will sweep.

BENCH
Strong impact with a strong front row replacements to come on Dus and Morgan looking to run ball against tired legs. The bench can up the tempo with Dickson and Geraghty playing heads up rugby in the last quarter to drag open a tired defence, Dickson will bring late control and game management.

OVERALL
Open game initially keeping the weather in mind and look for quick ball and strong direct runners, take the points when available but back ourselves if it's on. We are getting into the run in of the end of the season and want to get good form going with good international experience all over the park.

That works for me Matt. Predictions can stay open till 5pm Monday  

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira	09. Hadyn Thomas
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Toby Flood
03. Logovii Mulipola
04. Brad Thorn	11. David Strettle
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Eamonn Sheridan
06. Mike Williams	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Kelly Brown (c)	14. James O'Connor (k)
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Matt Tait

16. Sean Cronin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Bradley Davies 20. Nick Williams 21. Freddie Michalak 22. Freddie Burns 23. Tom Varndell

Key Points

• Target the Scrum - Us the power in the props to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Get both the LH and Hooker to target Zriak and try to get between him and Kayser to allow Mulipola to work on Ayerza. 
  
• Quick Line outs – lineout leader in Albacete along with top operators like Beattie and Thorn to mix the movement up. Look to turn the screw in the line out and put pressure on the Kayser throw, and man mark Attwood and POM in the line out.
  
• Target the defensive frailty in the 12 and 13 channels -Look to target the shoulders of Steyn with angled runs down his weaker shoulder and look to test pods of forwards down Pisi's channel who won't cope with the sheer numbers coming around the corner. 
  
• Look to use blitz defence to cut down the options of Care and Sexton, forcing them back inside to our forwards. Thomas to sweep and marshaqll the line.
  
• Flood the Breakdown – With the physicality in our backrow, front five and centres we will look to just blow out any ruck to create quick ball. Even in defence in we will target one or two rucks where there are no men and clean through past the ball they won't cope. Similar with the first man in the ruck to drive through and clear any on coming opposition players to create clean quick ball.
  
• Defence at the Rucks - if we can't win the ruck or flood it, we will 'ice'the ruck and fan numbers into our defence. This will force Sharks to put less and less numbers into rucks and once they look frail or have put in low numbers we will blow the ruck out; clean, low, and hard - creating turnover ball which will instantly go wide. 
  
• Carrying options - Loads of big carrying options to get us over the gain line and allow the backs to get into the game. Look to get options outside the ten mostly or outside 12 to target the defensive line outside their guards where the line is weakest.
  
• Playmakers - look to bring in JOC and Tait at ten and off 12 to create overlaps and mix up the point attack. Two of the best counter attackers in the game, so they will look to return lose kicks by running back and punishing mistakes. 
  
• Bench - Use the bench to bring on more big ball carriers and alos to up the pace of the game with the back replacements. 
  
• JOC to kick all penalties to help build up points and keep the score rolling over. 
  

Will get conditions up this evening

anonmattyt wrote:Pete will get mine in later. Will not be many changes.

Can we leave the predos open until Monday afternoon ? I know I have a lot of commitments over Easter

No worries mate.

Will update tactics when conditions are up.

Hoping for some fine weather to allow my kids to run it.

Just done conditions, seems your wish was met Driver!

01. Guthro Steenkamp 09. Connor Murray
02. Jamie George 10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth 11. Jonny May
05. George Robson 12. Ryan Mills
06. Willem Alberts 13. Tevita Kurindrani
07. Akapusi Qera 14. Israel Folau
08. Jamie Heaslip 15. Israel Dagg

16 Nick Wood 17 Joe Grey 18 Coenie Ousthuizen 19 Elliot Stooke 20 Sam Dickinson 21 Dan Robson 22 Danny Cipriani 23 Hosea Gear

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Brodie Retalick	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. George Pisi
07. Matt Todd	14. Semesa Rokodugini
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Jack McGrath 17. David Paice 18. Phil Swainston 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

We will play a fast paced, high intensity offloading game using big carriers to get over the gain line and create space and quick ball for our halfbacks to use. Back three to get involved as much as possible.

- Disorganized Chiefs! Chiefs make 9 changes from last week including 3 debutants. They have lost their lineout leader (Parling) and defensive leader (Bosch). This should cause a lot of disjointed play on attack and plenty of gaps on defence.

- Target the scrum. Good technical front row supported by plenty of grunt will look to get on top and win penalties.

- Attack from the lineout. Five genuine jumping options allows us to mix it up and really use the lineout as an attacking platform. Look to get the ball to Care & Sexton with space outside.

- Look to mix up play. Sexton will look to dictate the game playing flat on the gain line, committing the defence before bringing the big carriers in to play. However Care provides a threat snipping around the fringes and can change the point of attack instantly.

- Keep the tempo high. Committed to the breakdown today to ensure  quick recycling of the ball. Care & Sexton will look to keep pace on the game to prevent the Chiefs defence from organising.

- Get the wingers involved. Zebo & Roko to track the ball off their wings looking for the inside ball or offload to get in behind the opposition defence.

- Hit the breakdown hard. Look to our dynamic front five to clear the ruck and allow the likes of POM & Todd to really attack the breakdown.

- Straight line blitz defence focusing on a quick line speed to isolate the ball carrier before the gain line. Care to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

match Thread updated - predos open (unless SJE has any objections)

Quite a few tactics missing, shame to not give them a few hours slack come the business end of the season.

Glos travel to wasps in great form and targeting a try BP win.
In great conditions and both teams throwing it around it should be a high scoring affair

Tactics

Set piece

Scrum: we have a big front 5 with heaps of technical ability and will be using the scrum on our ball to launch attacks. There will not be that many scrums but on our ball we will be looking to get on the front foot between our 22 and their 10 metre we will look to pick up and
Get on the front foot to launch our big ball carriers to get that front foot ball needed to play open rugby. On their ball we will try and disrupt

Lineout

We have 5 jumpers and see the lineout as a great source of attacking ball. We will be mixing drive and off the top and will challenge their ball unless in our 22 where only 2 jumper will be put up. When we are driving the lineout we will be looking to move the ball away whilst the maul is moving. This can be either to one of our big forward runners or straight to carter

General forwards

We have picked a pack of ball carriers and see ourselves as having more options to carry than bath. We want to carry relentlessly and get over the gainline and either offload or create quick ball for Murray to move. We have backs to score lots of tries and we want to give them ball to attack,

Breakdown wise we will send numbers in if we
Can turn it
Over and look to counter ruck.

Attack wise we will be looking for aggressive clear outs to generate that quick ball that is necessary.

Around the fringes we will really target smith as he can be got at and it can affect there whole rhythm.

Our backrow will really be concentrating on the 9,10,12 channel as it is a combo that has not played much rugby together as a unit
Backs

We are aiming to really play at tempo and stretch bath outwide.
We want to create one on ones and mismatches for folau, Dagg, May and co to exploit.

We see ourselves as able to get a lot of joy from the 10-13 channel. None of them are known for their defence and they have not played together much as a unit so we will be trying a few inside balls and footwork on this channel to test it.

Murray is in fine form and will keep there backrow and 9 honest but his prime job is to hit carter so carter can take the options. We will play a
Mixed game and kick where necessary.
But when in the right area or when we spot a gap we will go for it.

We will use the cross kick for folau and will look to up the pace as the game goes on.


With a back 3
Like ours we will look to counter attack any loose kicks from wasps. They say they will not kick to our back 3 but I have never seen a game where a team has not kicked ball to an oppositions back 3.

We will also utilise quick throw ins and quick taps as the game progresses


Playing at this pace takes it's toll so benches are very important. We will utilise all of our bench to keep the pace up.

We will look to selectively blitz in defence. In conditions like this if you blitz all the time the grubber and chip are easy to utilise so it will be used sparingly. However we will be looking for very quick line speed. As ever Murray will sweep.


All kicks at goal to be taken.

Good luck Pete it will be an open high scoring game for sure

Bath 22-21 Warriors
SP: Bath should be stronger come scrum time, lineouts even.
BK: Feel Robshaw and Lobbe bring more than Guest and Barclay but Ward helps even this.
HB: 9 to Bath 10 to Warriors.
AT: Evens, tough to split.
BE: Evens.
TA: Kicking game from Bath, feel they should gave targeted the scrum a bit more, Warriors playing it right and keeping it simple, feel Bath just mess up Warriors ball more.

Chiefs 20-23 Sharks
SP: Yeandle doing well but Kayser could cause issues, feel Sharks are more of a settle unit here.
BK: Not sure about Williams on the blindside, again, Sharks more settled.
HB: Care in sublime form at the moment.
AT: Chiefs much improved here but again, Sharks more settled and I feel their back 3 could be very dangerous.
BE: Chiefs bench could bring them back into the game.
TA: Sharks using their wingers well and targeting the right areas, Chiefs should get better ball at the breakdown by flooding it but not sure how many options they'll have after that.

Quins 25-24 Tigers
SP: On current form, Quins have one of the strongest in the league here.
BK: Tigers will be stronger at breakdown.
HB: Tough to split these pairings, maybe a little more to Pienaar.
AT: Neither 13 have really hit great form, evens.
BE: Tigers stronger with Wilko and Brown to come on.
TA: Quins rightly targeting the lineout and set piece, Tigers using their big runners to make the breaks. Very tough game to split with both teams looking strong, I feel that I'm just going to edge it to Quins for their set piece. Great match up.

Wasps 25-25 Glos
SP: Two good scrummaging set ups here. Lineouts even.
BK: Slight edge to Glos here.
HB: Carter not playing at the moment, 9's even, Anscombe playing and doing well.
AT: With good ball both teams will get their speedsters going.
BE: Nothing in it really, hard to rate Corbs as he's been out for a while but benches even.
TA: Wasps playing right targeting Mills and not kicking to Glos back 3. Glos won't get the tbp they are targeting but set out well to use their speedsters. Sitting on the fence here sorry.

Falcons 18-20 Sarries
SP: Mullen the weak link here, Falcons state well that Parling won't be used much in lineout.
BK: Two good back rows, bit more for Sarries with Heny and Faletau.
HB: Sarries bringing more.
AT: 2 steady outside backs on show today, not a lot of gain for either side.
BE: Great bench from Falcons.
TA: Not enough from Falcons but the simple game with ball in hand will steady it. Sarries targeting well and using their power play sensibly. Tactics don't help Falcons, bench will bring them right back into it, Sarries pack will get the points needed.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Quite a few tactics missing, shame to not give them a few hours slack come the business end of the season.

I can add tactics as and when people put them up, just thought some may have busy weekends so would want to get their predos in early today.

I'v just put mine in.

Was going to do them last night , but you know how 1 pint turns into 5 down the rugby club....

Top work Pete. Work away with predictions guys.

Just CJB without tactics now. If you add them to your teamsheet just leave a comment so Pete/Fluxy know and can add them to the thread.

Overall: With the weather conditions as they are, we are looking to play flowing, attacking rugby. Look to pass the ball around with a high tempo offloading game.

Scrum: We don't expect many scrums but we will look to exert pressure on Catt if it happens.

Lineout: Whitelock to call with Lobbe and Robshaw as jumpers and Kitchener as a banker ball option. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul

Breakdown: Not looking to be over committed at the breakdown but if a turnover is possible then be aggressive. Robshaw will be supported by the pack at breakdown.

Defence: Drift Defence looking to slow down the ball. FDP to sweep in behind. Lydiate to get after the half backs

Our half backs will control our rugby. FDP, Patchell and Jackson can play what they see and put the rest of the back line in strong positions. We have strong runners who can get over the gainline throughout the side with a very dynamic pack and a big back line. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Look for chances to offload.

Kicking: With Jackson, Patchell, FDP, Miller and Hogg all having big boots we can look for touch if we are enjoying a significant advantage here

Substitutes: Our subs will look to keep a high tempo.

Bath Rugby 37 Worcester Warriors 35
Bath stronger up front for me, and get a bit more go forward ball than Worcester, which they are going to need with their 10-12 combination.  I don't think I have ever seen Jackson at 12, and certainly wouldn't want him defending there, so it's an area I can see Worcester getting some joy.  High scorer for me, with Bath good in attack, but defensively all over the place in the backs.  Stronger pack and home advantage see them to a narrow win.

Exeter Chiefs 22 Sale Sharks 26
Massive changes for the Chiefs, which will not help the flow of their game.  There is quality in the side, but they'll need time to settle.  Sale are settled and come with a strong technical pack.  Targeting the scrum is right, as I don't rate Mulipola scrummaging at tighthead, and I can see a fair few penalties coming Sale's way.  Behind their pack their backline is a mix of solidity and attacking threat and I can see them taking this away from home.

Harlequins 30 Leicester Tigers 26
On paper it's two really strong packs, but I think Quins just have more form with their players with key men for Tigers, like Cole and O'Brien having been out injured for while now in the real world. Both backlines have got tries in them, and Roberts vs. Beale at 12 is a fascinating match up of power vs. skill. I see both getting some joy when they have the ball and this being another high scorer. Really not much in this one, but home advantage and a small advantage up front gives it to Quins.

Northampton Saints 26 London Irish 24
Not sure about the Saints set piece here, but their pack is very mobile and seriously physical. Irish better in the half backs for me, Saints centre pairing well balanced and strong and Irish back three the better combination. If it was wet, I think I would fancy Irish getting a real platform at scrum time and this would be a tough call. In good conditions though, and at home, I think the power in the Saints side is enough to see them through.

Newcastle Falcons 19 Saracens 21
Driver appears to have given up on the play off dream with this selection, and what stands out for me is the inexperience of the half backs in comparison to Saracens. The packs are pretty even, but I just think that the Saracens pair at 9 & 10 will have them in the right areas and see them nick a close one on the road.

Bath 24 - 22 Worcester

What stands out is that I like the set up of the Bath 3/4's with two play makers and kicking options and then a cannonball in Basteraud. I think the personnel in those positions could be stronger and I fear for Jackson at 12 defensively. However I am a huge fan of Patchell and his and FDP's boots will not lose any kicking battle. Different ploy from the Worcester 3/4's with a set up more more suited to running rugby and I think they will get some joy. Back threes are pretty even with a bit more x-factor in the Bath trio.

Upfront will be a close contest but I feel Bath have the edge in most areas except for at TH prop. The Bath back row is going to make everything that Worcester try to do difficult with a excellent unit that perhaps lacks a bit of carrying,but this is made up for by Healy and Hibbard's work rate up front.

This is a very important win for Bath and the inexperience at 10/12 in such a big game prevents a bigger winning margin.

Exeter 23 - 23 Sale
Wasps 43 - 42 Gloucester
Saints 26 - 27 Irish
Newcastle 22 - 21 Saracens

Essay due tomorrow at 8am. Once more apologies missing explanations on final 4.

Exeter 26 - 27 Sale
Quins 28 - 27 Tigers
Wasps 29 - 28 Gloucester
Saints 31 - 30 Irish
Falcons 27 - 27 Saracens

When are predos open till?

Three o'clock I believe Steve.

5pm Monday Pete/Steve

I can't keep up with the changes, was going by what it says at the top of the match thread.

Johnny posted on Thurs/Friday, it's just for the bank holiday

Bath 19-18 Worcester  

Can imagine this been a real nervous    affair. Not much in set pieces, slight line out advantage to Bath, good battle. Bath have a slight advantage in the backrow with a strong trio but a good contest. Worcester edge the halfbacks and Jackson could be an issue in the Bath centres although they have the better back 3. Real close one, I think this goes down to home advantage and pack.


Exeter 23-26 Sale  

Little advantage in the scrum for Sale but nothing in line outs. Sale get some control in the backrow and half backs and will be tough to stop. I like the set up of Exeter's backline but too many changes hinder them and Sale will take advantage.

Harlequins 25-23 Leicester  

Quins edge upfront but not much in engine room. Tigers flanks a step up but overall pretty tight in the pack. Past the pack it's mostly Quins with Tigers resting some of the big guns, Quins strong at home.

Northampton 20-20 Irish

Good scrum advantage for Irish but Saints offer more around the park in the engine room although line out to Irish. Irish stronger in the back row with a good balance. Irish stronger in the half backs but nothing in the centres (great battle). Irish just the stronger team but Saints bench will snatch them a hard fought draw.

Bath Rugby 35 - 33 Worcester Warriors
High scoring game, completely agree with Pete's summary of how the game would pan out.

Exeter Cheifs 26 - 29 Sale Sharks
SJE is putting a really good run in at the business end of the season, quite a few changes for Chiefs in the team and will take them a little while to settle. For me Sale edge the set piece and have a strong enough forward pack to get them a platform to win the game. Care and Sexton currently the best half back combination in the league.

Harlequins 28 - 26 Leicester Tigers
If weather conditions were different I'd edge the game for Tigers due to their pack, but ideal for Quins today and can see Roberts being the game changer and with QC at 10 he will be able to get him running lines that can damage the Tigers 12/13 combination defensively.

Falcons 17 - 18 Saracens
Close game, more tactics from Pooly just get the win, though can't see the away team being able to score that many tries in the backline, so will need to rely on Steyn's boot.

London Wasps 31 - 30 Gloucester
Both teams looking to make the best of the conditions and have players who can score a lot of tries. Can see Gloucester getting an edge in front five, but not by a massive margin to make a difference due to the weather. See Mills as a bit of a weakness, even though he's a very talented player and just see the win for the home side.

Still missing a few predos. Only two hours to get them in boys.

Bath Rugby 39Worcester Warriors 37[/b]
Bath stronger up front and will get a huge amount of joy from Jackson at 12. Open game with lots of points

Exeter Chiefs 22 Sale Sharks 26
Massive changes for the Chiefs made some great signings but will take time to bed in.
Sale in good form and having a great run in. Chiefs will be better for their recent signings once bedded in
Harlequins 30 Leicester Tigers 29
In different weather this would be Leicester win however in conditions that suit Quade cooper can see Quins nicking It. Think Beale could struggle defensively against Roberts


Northampton Saints 29 London Irish 27
A bit more pace dynamism and physicality set saints up for the win here. Irish half backs keep it close and in different conditions would have helped them to a win. Great saints centre pairing

Bath Rugby 38 - 37 Worcester Warriors

London Wasps 29 - 28 Gloucester Rugby

Harlequins 25 - 24 Leicester Tigers

Newcastle Falcons 26 - 27 Saracens

Northampton Saints 24 - 23 London Irish

I've done the results if SJE is happy for me to post them?

Sorry gents. Hopes to get them in today but just got back home.

I'll leave resulting, as SJE may say you can get them in now Luke.

Well done Pete.

If your still around Pete will you throw results up please?   

BONUS:

Full: Matt, Prop, Pete, Chris, SJE & Pooly
Score: Fluxy, Steve, Driver & CJ
Fined: CJB & Luke