Heineken Cup Semi Finals

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Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks
Location - Twickenham
Sunny Intervals, 15 Degrees, 8 mph WSW Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager - Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. George Ford
03. Carl Hayman
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Ben Foden
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Samu Manoa	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Julian Savea
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Subs: 16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Sam Jones 20. Sergio Parrise 21. Mike Phillips 22. Matt Giteau 23 Elliot Daly

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 and make use of Twickenham's massive pitch. We will aim to generate quick ball from the breakdown area, with our pack selected for dynamism and speed.

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: Feel we have an advantage upfront over Sale and will look to make the most of this in the set piece. Varied lineout options with Launch, Lawes and Manoa so we can generate a lot of off the top ball for our backline. Will look for Lawes to put pressure on Paice's throw. Big front five to give Billy Vunipola a great attacking platform off the base of scrums.

Dynamic Pack/Gainline: We have a pack that has a lot of strong ball carriers and dynamism, very mobile pack and will look at getting Lawes, Launch, Vunipola and Manoa on the ball and over the gainline. 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 Fofana, Tuilagi and Savea into the game and attacking Eastmond. Confident to attack from deep and will look for tries.

Breakdown: We will look to target this area to generate quick ball, Launch, Lawes and Manoa all very quick and can hit breakdown in numbers, will look at Cane to target Kvesvic and win the turnover battle. Any quick ball we will attack from.

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: It is a semi-final and we wont be running everything so will get Ford to mix up his game and when necessary pin Sale back in their own half. We've got Halfpenny's boot to rely on too.

Key points:

Well rested team, have been changing the starting lineup regularly so everyone is fresh for the HC.

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.

Undefeated in Europe for nearly 2 seasons now, so will go into the game with confidence.

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Ben Spencer
02. David Paice	10. James Hook
03. Martin Moore
04. Will Skelton	11. Jean-Marcellin Buttin
05. Christian Day	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Alex Tulou	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Dave Kilcoyne 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Kane Douglas 20. Iain Henderson 21. Calum Braley 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Will Addison

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

- Look to mix up play. Hook & Eastmond to interchange at first receiver and change the point of attack. Spencer provides a threat snipping around the base.

- Get the wingers involved. Buttin and 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 Nyanga & 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. Todd will defend on Eastmonds shoulder to double up and also be first on the scene at the breakdown. Spencer to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

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Leicester Tigers v Clermont Auvergne
Location - Twickenham
Sunny Intervals, 15 Degrees, 8 mph WSW Winds

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Chiliboy Ralepelle	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Francois Louw	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Jacques Burger	14. Sitivenu Sivavatu
08. Ryan Jones	15. Mike Brown

16. Harry Thacker 17. Benn Robinson 18. Cencus Johnston 19. James Horwill 20. Sean O'Brien 21. Micky Young 22. Pat Lambie 23. Dom Waldouck

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Clermount Auvergne

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Morgan Parra
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Brock James
03. David Zirakashvili
04. Jamie Cudmore	11. Napolioni Nalaga
05. Nathan Hines	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Damien Chouly	14. Seru Nakaitaci
08. Fritz Lee	15. Jean-Marcelin Buttin

16 Ti'i Paulo 17 Vincent Debaty 18 Clement Ric 19 Julien Pierre 20 Julien Bardy 21 Thierry Lacrampe 22 Mike Delany 23 Benson Stanley

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Ben Spencer
02. David Paice	10. James Hook
03. Martin Moore
04. Will Skelton	11. Jean-Marcellin Buttin
05. Christian Day	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Alex Tulou	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Dave Kilcoyne 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Kane Douglas 20. Iain Henderson 21. Calum Braley 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Will Addison

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

- Look to mix up play. Hook & Eastmond to interchange at first receiver and change the point of attack. Spencer provides a threat snipping around the base.

- Get the wingers involved. Buttin and 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 Nyanga & 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. Todd will defend on Eastmonds shoulder to double up and also be first on the scene at the breakdown. Spencer to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

mark

Northampton SaintsManager - Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. George Ford
03. Carl Hayman
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Ben Foden
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Samu Manoa	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Julian Savea
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Subs: 16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Sam Jones 20. Sergio Parrise 21. Mike Phillips 22. Matt Giteau 23 Elliot Daly

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 and make use of Twickenham's massive pitch. We will aim to generate quick ball from the breakdown area, with our pack selected for dynamism and speed.

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: Feel we have an advantage upfront over Sale and will look to make the most of this in the set piece. Varied lineout options with Launch, Lawes and Manoa so we can generate a lot of off the top ball for our backline. Will look for Lawes to put pressure on Paice's throw. Big front five to give Billy Vunipola a great attacking platform off the base of scrums.

Dynamic Pack/Gainline: We have a pack that has a lot of strong ball carriers and dynamism, very mobile pack and will look at getting Lawes, Launch, Vunipola and Manoa on the ball and over the gainline. 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 Fofana, Tuilagi and Savea into the game and attacking Eastmond. Confident to attack from deep and will look for tries.

Breakdown: We will look to target this area to generate quick ball, Launch, Lawes and Manoa all very quick and can hit breakdown in numbers, will look at Cane to target Kvesvic and win the turnover battle. Any quick ball we will attack from.

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: It is a semi-final and we wont be running everything so will get Ford to mix up his game and when necessary pin Sale back in their own half. We've got Halfpenny's boot to rely on too.

Key points:

Well rested team, have been changing the starting lineup regularly so everyone is fresh for the HC.

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.

Undefeated in Europe for nearly 2 seasons now, so will go into the game with confidence.

Good luck SJE!

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Chiliboy Ralepelle	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Francois Louw	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Jacques Burger	14. Sitivenu Sivavatu
08. Ryan Jones	15. Mike Brown

16. Harry Thacker 17. Benn Robinson 18. Cencus Johnston 19. James Horwill 20. Sean O'Brien 21. Micky Young 22. Pat Lambie 23. Dom Waldouck

Tactics:

TBC

Predictions open.

Will put Tigers tactics up if they come in.

[B]Saints 24-20 Sharks/b]
SP: Can see Saints getting on top here with Hartley in good form before injury.
BK: Tough to split, feel Saints have a better carrying option.
HB: Bit more to Saints but Hook on his day can create great opportunities.
AT: Sharks look good here but so do Saints and feel Saints may get better ball.
BE: Good again from Saints.
TA: Not sure Sharks 2nd row will backup the front row enough for the tactics, wingers will be dangerous hitting various lines. Saints targeting this match and their carrying game and bench sees them over the line.

[B]Tigers 28-24 Clermont/b]
SP: Clermont take this with Tigers' form not great in front row.
BK: Can see Tigers doing a bit more here.
HB: Tigers take this.
AT: Clermont better in the centres, just but think Tigers bring more to the wings.
BE: Can see SOB and Lambie making a bit impact.
TA: N/A. Tigers just edge this game with their backrow and half backs controlling the tempo.

Tigers 17 - 16 Clermont
Will be a really close game with Clermont starting to hit some really good form, but the Tigers have a great 6-7 combination and half backs are top class. With the game outside of France and being at Twickenham the edge goes to Tigers. Can't see many tries in it.

Saints 27-22 Sale

Saints on top in most positions except maybe halfback. Johnny obviously looking to rotate and Saints go into the final with a good performance.

Leicester 21-20 Clermont

Skin of their teeth!

Northampton Saints 33 - 24 Sale Sharks

You can see who is taking this one more seriously and the all round quality of the Saints side sees them seal a place in the final. 

Leicester Tigers 28 - 20 Clermont Auvergne

Will be a close game for the first 50 minutes, but Clermont will look shaky through out as Tigers wear them down. Away from home Tigers will take this win and continue their march in the league and now for the Heineken Cup

Saints 31-23 Sale
The European specialists have named a strong lineup whereas Sale are prioritising league. Too much all over from Saints.

Tigers 25-22 Clermont
Bench comes on and seals a close game

Northampton 34 - 27 Sale

Saints set up much stronger. Win the battle upfront and have the backs to ease to a win.

Leicester Tigers 25 - 25 Clermont

Can't call this one. Both very strong in all areas but feel Clermont are that bit more physical, especially in the backs.

Northampton Saints 26 Sale Sharks 25
Leicester Tigers 25 ASM Clermont Auvergne 24

Saints 29 - 23 Sale

Saints ahead on the pack with an excellent set of forwards in all areas. HBs and backs closer but with a nearly full side out, Saints are just too strong. I like the attacking nature of Sale's back 3 especially though

Tigers 26 - 23 ASM

Clermont just had a shocker away and are vulnerable here. They can edge Tigers in the front 5 but Tigers take the back 3 with an excellent combo and Burger in fine fettle. Close in the backs but with Tigers' players largely in form and ASM's loss to Sarries, have to go with Tigers

Northampton 28 Sale Sharks 27
Leicester 30 Clermount 29

Saints 33 - 24 Sale

Decent front row contest, tad more quality from saints. They dominate in the second row though where they look much stronger. Saints edge the back row although lack a bit if balance, and overall take the pack. Decent HB contest where neither side looks much stronger than the other, but saints look great at centre, and stronger in the back three too. Saints fairly comfortable for me.

Saints 30-2 4 Sale

Sale targeting league playoff and are beaten up front fairly easily making this fairly routine

Leicester 26-20 Clermont

Clermont have been shaky this year away from home have looked a bit disinterested at times this year. Yesterday was a complete malfunction from them. Easy win

RESULTS:

Northampton Saints 35 (T:4 C:3 P:3)
Sale Sharks 24 (T:2 C:1 P:4)

Leicester Tigers 30
Clermont Auvergne 22 (T:1 C:1 P:5)

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