Aviva Premiership Round Twenty One

---

Sale Sharks v Leicester Tigers
Location - AJ Bell Stadium
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 11 mph NE winds

---

 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 Rokoduguni
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. Beauden Barrett 23. Kyle Eastmond

We will play an expansive, high intensity offloading game looking to create space and break the defensive line. Mobility, physicality and handling is key to our approach.

- Fast ball is crucial. Mobile pack and physical midfield to clear out rucks and ensure quick ball. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to make it easier to do so.

- Commit the defence. Sexton will play flat on the gain line to pull in defenders before releasing runners while Care will look for opportunities to snipe around the base always committing defenders.

- Change the point of attack. Steyn & Zebo in the backline comfortable at coming in at first receiver allow us to change the point of attack and leave the opposition guessing.

- Back three always involved. Wingers to track the ball off their wings looking for the inside ball or offload. Bendy to join the line from fullback looking for mismatches and to create overlaps.

- Attack from the scrum. Strong technical front row backed up by a powerful second row will look to build a platform for Pickles, Care & Sexton. An area we will look to target if winning.

- Mix it up at the lineout. Five genuine jumpers gives us a strong attacking platform. Look to use both the rolling maul and ball off the top to keep the defence guessing. 

- Straight line blitz defence. Focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. Care will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers.

- Target the breakdown. Committed to the breakdown with POM & Todd fetching for the ball, supported by the rest of the pack when needed. We will always look to turn the ball over.

---

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Stephen Moore	10. Brock James
03. Dan Cole
04. Kearnan Myall	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Kurtley Beale
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Tamati Ellison
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Henry Speight
08. Ryan Jones	15. Pat Lambie (k)

:-
16. Harry Thacker 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Tom Price 20.  Steve Mafi 21. Micky Young 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Dom Waldouck

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.

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

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

- Put serious pressure on Kayser's throws with Jones at the front on all Sale's throws.

- Target the breakdown - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With SOB and Scaysbrook, 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 Sale defence. The likes of SOB, Sale 10/12 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 James 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.

---

---

Bath Rugby v Northampton Saints
Location - The Rec
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 13 mph NE winds

---

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Jake Cooper Woolley
04. Luke Romano	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Maa Nonu
06. James Haskell	13. Matthieu Basteraund
07. Chris Robshaw	14. George North
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

|
16. Mikey Haywood 17. Carl Rimmer 18. Ben Tameifuma 19. Graham Kitchener 20. James Gaskell 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Matt Hopper 23. Rob Miller


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: Look to attack an inexperienced scrum, with particular emphasis on Thomas.

Lineout: Whitelock to call with Lobbe and Robshaw as jumpers and Romano 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.

Our half backs will control our rugby. FDP 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.

---

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Mike Phillips
02. Rob Webber	10. Matt Toomua
03. Henry Thomas
04. Jaques du Plessis	11. Jordan Williams
05. Manu Samoa	12. Matt Giteau
06. CJ Stander	13. Elliot Daly
07. Sam Jones	14. Julian Savea
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Ben Foden

:-
16. Dylan Hartley 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Ben Afeaki 19. Dean Mumm 20. Julian Bonnaire 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Oli Deveto

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 and its work at the breakdown. We are going to look to score tries and each of our players is playing for the chance to be in the HC Final team.

Setpiece: Fresh pack after a long hard season, but with form players throughout the forwards. Will look to target Cooper Wooley at every opportunity and place him under pressure from our all international front row. Varied lineout options with Parisse, Jones, Manoa and du Plessis all options and will look to pressure Hibbard's own throw. We will look for quick off the top ball for our backline to attack.

Dynamic Pack/Gainline: We have gone for a very mobile pack to make the most of the conditions and really attack Bath from the off. We've got some very strong gainline breakers, with Webber, Vunipola and from 4-8. We wont look to take on Bath physically, but instead play at a tempo that they struggle to keep up with.

Attack: Perfect conditions to play attacking rugby and look for tries, with Toomua and Giteau we have a great 10/12 combination that can control a game and get us into the right areas to attack. We want to get our back three and Daly into the game as early on as possible and make sure that our tempo is kept very high. We are wanting to score tries and make it a high scoring contest and a very open game - we have a pace advantage over Bath in the backs and will look to exploit this.

Breakdown: We are going to target this area as feel that turnover ball will be key to getting our backline away - we've picked a pack where five players can slot into a backrow and will look to hit the breakdown in numbers and with speed.

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, with fast line speed and looking to double up on Bath's big ball carriers to force handling errors and mistakes to exploit. Have slected Phillips for his extra physicality around the breakdown and defensive ability. We know what is coming in terms of the Bath backline as they are predictable in their play.

Territory: Toomua and Giteau to dictate the game and make sure we play in areas where we can score points - both are in very good form in real life and we want to control the midfield battle and feel we have an advantage in the kicking stakes.

Key points:

Well rested team, wanting to make a big impression to secure a HC Final place.

Perfect conditions to score tries and have the backs who can score from anywhere on the pitch.

Emphasis on speed of pack, high tempo game and ability to get to breakdowns quickly and in numbers - will look for turnovers and attack whenever it is on.

---

---

Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins
Location - Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 13 Degrees, 11 mph NE winds

---

Exeter Chiefs

Manager – Fluxy

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

:-
16. Sean Cronin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Logovii Mulipola 19. Bradley Davies 20. Gus Jones 21. Freddie Michalak 22. Freddie Burns 23. Matt Tait

Use simple forward patterns off the ten, and around the corner to earn the right to simply put the ball through the hands when the space and opportunity arrives from our forward work. Look to tire out a fatigued Quins side in their quest for the play offs and exploit some of the defensive frailties. 

Key Points

• Target the Scrum - Use the power in the props to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Look to set and get the ball hooked cleanly to the back of the scrum. We have more scrummaging power but we don't want to mess around with resets. 
  
• Quick Line outs – lineout leader in Brown 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 Brits throw.
  
• Target the defensive frailty in the 10, 12 and 13 channels -Look to target the shoulders of Cooper with angled runs down his weaker shoulder and look to test pods of forwards down that channel as they won't cope with the sheer numbers coming around the corner. Similar with Roberts and Rougerie, they might be solid in defence, but forcing them to turn and move with runners down their weak shoulders, they will miss tackles.
  
• Look to use blitz defence to cut down the options of Cooper, forcing them back inside to our forwards. Thomas to sweep and marshal the line.
  
• Gang 'choke' Tackle - Look to try and choke tackle Roberts and Rougerie as they will look to run straight lines into our defensive line. Similar with the likes of Gorgodze and Easter. This will yield the turnover of possession.
  
• 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 Quins 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.
  
• Bench - Use the bench to bring on more big ball carriers and also to up the pace of the game with the back replacements. Also to pick up the pace if need be or control the game later on.
  
• Flood to kick all penalties to help build up points and keep the score rolling over.
  

---

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Ruan Pienaar (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. George Kruis	11. Joe Tomane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Tom Wood	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

:-
16. Tatafu Polata-Nau 17. Tony Woodcock 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Steven Myler 23. Jonathan Joseph

Tactics
Look to retain possession and use our pack to tie in defenders with carries of  and 10 before we look to spread the ball into wider channels when we have quick ball and the Exeter defence has become disorganised.

Cooper to stand flat and put others into space. Pienaar to look for gaps around the rucks to keep defenders honest. These two dictate the direction and tempo of our play.

Look for our players to carry in numbers and take the ball at pace. Look to win the initial collision and keep the legs pumping so as to cross the gain line. Look to use agility before contact to unbalance the defenders.

Look to get Roberts and Rougerie running hard lines off Cooper and looking for gaps. Have players in support ready for the offload when they break the line. Always look to have an option out the back in these instances in the form of Kearney, a winger or a back rower so we can go wide if Exeter creep in to defend Roberts and Rougerie.

At the set piece look to get really low at the scrum and get underneath the Exeter props and maintain the initial drive. At the lineout look to really pressure Exeters main jumpers with Borthwick, Wood and Kruis controlling this. In our own line look to shorten between the 22m lines to allow extra carriers in the midfield.

At the ruck we will look to blast Exeter on our own ball getting low and moving their men away from the breakdown so as to get quick, clean ball for Pienaar. On the opposition ball if we haven't he first man we will look to legally compete. Legally slow down after this point.

In defence we will employ a quick line speed targetting the Exeter decision makers and when we can will look to double up in the tackle so we can win the collision or target the turnover.

---

---

Gloucester Rugby v London Irish
Location - Kingsholm
Light Cloud, 12 Degrees, 13 mph NE winds

---

Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt


01. Guthro Steenkamp   09. Connor Murray
02. Jamie George          10. Danny Cipriani
03. Juan Figallo
04. Even Etzbeth          11. Johnny May
05. George Robson        12. Matt Scott
06. Willem Alberts         13. Tevita Kuridrani
07. Akapusi Qera          14. Israel Folau
08. Jamie Heaslip      15. Israel Dagg
:-
16 Wood 17 Luke Cowan Dickie 18 Coenie Ousthuizen 19 Stooke 20 Dickinson 21 Dan Robson 22 Dan Carter 23 Charlie Walker

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 Cips

General forwards

We have picked a pack of ball carriers and see ourselves as having more options to carry than Irish. 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 9 to affect rhythm.

Backs

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

Murray Is in fine form and will keep there backrow and 9 honest but his prime job is to hit cipriani so cipriani 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 Irish.
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

---

London Irish
Manager – Prop

01. Ben Franks	09. Rory Kockott (k)
02. Ken Owens	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. Ben Morgan	15. Rob Cook

;-
16. Tom Lindsay 17. Will Collier 18. Wyatt Crockett 19. Sam Warburton 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Lee Dickson 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics:
Big game today and we want to take points off of Gloucester, we are hurting from the narrow loss last week and see McAlister coming into the team for further kicking and playmaking options.

SET PIECE
We have picked a mobile pack in good conditions and Hooper and Morgan 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.  We will put a lot of pressure on  George's throw which can go  wayward sometimes.

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. Look to target the shoulders of cipriani with angled runs down his weaker shoulder and look to test pods of forwards down that channel as they won't cope with the sheer numbers coming around the corner.

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.

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. We know how dangerous the Glos back three are so will not kick down their throats and will look to slow down their ball in the centre.

BENCH
Strong impact with a strong front row replacements to come on Warburton and Higginbotham looking to run ball against tired legs and targeting the turnover. The bench can up the tempo with Dickson, Williams and Trinder 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.

---

---

London Wasps v Newcastle Falcons
Location - Adams Park
Light Cloud, 11 Degrees, 10 mph NNE winds

---

London Wasps

Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Sebastien Vahaamahina	11. Tim Nanai-Williams
05. Johann Muller	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Siya Kolisi	13. Jaco Taute
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Marland Yarde
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Rob Hawkins 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Ben Alexander 19. Matt Symons 20. Luke Wallace 21.Nick Phipps 22. Pat McCabe 23. Anthony Watson

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 Farrell, 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.  
  

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.
  
• INtensity Falcons have nothing to play for and their players will have half a mind elsewhere thinking about their summer break, or not getting injured for international tours.   There is no way they will be at the same intensity that we will.
  

---

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Driver


01. Matt Mullen        09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best          10. Dan Bigger (K)
03. Matt Stevens
04. Ed Slater (c)      11. Charles Pitatau
05. Geoff Parling      12. Brad Barritt
06. Liam Messem     13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Richie McCaw     14. Cory Jane
08. Ben Mowen    15. Ben Smith
:-
16.Dane Coles 17.Soana Tonga'uhia 18.Scott Wilson 19.Andrew Coombs 20.Will Fraser 21.Dave Lewis 22.Aaron Cruden 23.Alex Goode

Tactics

• Falcons will do a part the bus type of game , big aggresive defence around the fringes , slow ball down and a blitz outwide to pressure the outside backs.
  
• Work through the phases in the pack , taking the game to the Wasps forwards with plenty of carriers throwing traffic at the Wasps pack and working hard to retain the ball.
  
• Bank our ball on the set piece with Slater calling the line and throwing a lot to the front and setting the drive.
  
• Bigger to put him self in the pocket and ping balls in behind the Wasps wing and play for field position.
  
• Jane and Pitatau both to chase the kicks and look to put there man down with big hits.
  
• Bigger to take all points on offer.
  

---

---

Saracens v Worcester Warriors
Location - Allianz Park
Light Cloud, 10 Degrees, 15 mph NNE winds

---

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. Victor Matfield(c)	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Dave Denton	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Chris Henry	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Toby Faletau	15. Lee Byrne

:-
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 Catt and drive in between him and Rees.

TARGET LINE OUT - Look to target line out all game and contest with Matfield leading the charge. No top class leader for Worcester could cause issues.

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/Deacon/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. Blitz defence putting pressure on the opposition back line with the 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.

---

Worcester Warriors
Manager-CJ

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

:-
16.  Samson Lee 17. Dave Ward 18.  Brett Sturgess 19. Mouritz Botha 20.  Tom Guest 21. Tawera Kerr-Barlow  22. Kyle Godwin 23. Ben Ransom

Tactics:

Breakdown-

Approach with the backrow as unit, Barclay targeting the ball, Johnson clearing out, Lapandry mixing roles and the rest of the pack chipping in. Only commit large numbers if the turnover is on either way, otherwise stay out and set the defence/attack

Attack-

Slow ball- either work it around with carrying and moving the focus of attack in groups of 3 in the pack, occasionally mauling and crash balling, or get the halfbacks to kick it high and targeting the wings with a hard chase to regain possession.

Quick ball- spin fast to FTH who stands flat and uses the centres as points of attack, looking to offload or recycle the ball through the breakdown and quickly move it into a second wave of yej back 3 and supporting forwards. If a break is made, offload to keep alive.

Pennell to act as a second fullback rather than winger, looking to come into the line when Le Roux can't especially in the second wave

Defence-

Blitz led by Allen. 9 sweeping, aggressive fringe tackling looking to chop tackle to give the flankers/AWJ a chance to compete for the ball.

Scrum- should hold our own, look to get ball out quickly and run backs moves off it

Lineout- mix up options and compete every throw, mix up the maul and off the top and use as a quick way to start attacks

Kicks- take easy kicks for points, kick high and chase out of hand. Look to mix kicking high and running back with our FB -trained back 3. Press hard for penalties in their 22 but hold back to avoid conceding easy kicks in our 22.

Subs- use players like Guest, Ward and Ransom when the game has broken up later on. Go all out with pack with solid replacements and use the halfback subs to change the gameplan if needed.

Targets -

Try and rush Steyn to put even more pressure on his ability to fire a backline. Look to isolate Denton on the run for penalties. Take JD2 narrow and double him up, and force him to pass under pressure.


Overall-

Look to force pens in their 22 but ease off in ours

Attack in 2 waves, then keep any breaks alive

Don't overcommit to rucks

Pressurise Steyn

Use our dual FBs to win the aerial battle

---

01. Matt Mullen 09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best 10. Dan Bigger (K)
03. Matt Stevens
04. Ed Slater (c) 11. Charles Pitatau
05. Geoff Parling 12. Brad Barritt
06. Liam Messem 13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Richie McCaw 14. Cory Jane
08. Ben Mowen © 15. Ben Smith

16.Dane Coles 17.Soana Tonga'uhia 18.Scott Wilson 19.Andrew Coombs 20.Will Fraser 21.Dave Lewis 22.Aaron Cruden 23.Alex Goode




Tactics

• Falcons will do a part the bus type of game , big aggresive defence around the fringes , slow ball down and a blitz outwide to pressure the outside backs.
  
• Work through the phases in the pack , taking the game to the Wasps forwards with plenty of carriers throwing traffic at the Wasps pack and working hard to retain the ball.
  
• Bank our ball on the set piece with Slater calling the line and throwing a lot to the front and setting the drive.
  
• Bigger to put him self in the pocket and ping balls in behind the Wasps wing and play for field position.
  
• Jane and Pitatau both to chase the kicks and look to put there man down with big hits.
  
• Bigger to take all points on offer.
  

Mark

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

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

16. Sean Cronin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Logovii Mulipola 19. Bradley Davies 20. Gus Jones 21. Freddie Michalak 22. Freddie Burns 23. Matt Tait

Use simple forward patterns off the ten, and around the corner to earn the right to simply put the ball through the hands when the space and opportunity arrives from our forward work. Look to tire out a fatigued Quins side in their quest for the play offs and exploit some of the defensive frailties. 

Key Points

• Target the Scrum - Use the power in the props to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Look to set and get the ball hooked cleanly to the back of the scrum. We have more scrummaging power but we don't want to mess around with resets. 
  
• Quick Line outs – lineout leader in Brown 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 Brits throw.
  
• Target the defensive frailty in the 10, 12 and 13 channels -Look to target the shoulders of Cooper with angled runs down his weaker shoulder and look to test pods of forwards down that channel as they won't cope with the sheer numbers coming around the corner. Similar with Roberts and Rougerie, they might be solid in defence, but forcing them to turn and move with runners down their weak shoulders, they will miss tackles.
  
• Look to use blitz defence to cut down the options of Cooper, forcing them back inside to our forwards. Thomas to sweep and marshal the line.
  
• Gang 'choke' Tackle - Look to try and choke tackle Roberts and Rougerie as they will look to run straight lines into our defensive line. Similar with the likes of Gorgodze and Easter. This will yield the turnover of possession.
  
• 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 Quins 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.
  
• Bench - Use the bench to bring on more big ball carriers and also to up the pace of the game with the back replacements. Also to pick up the pace if need be or control the game later on.
  
• Flood to kick all penalties to help build up points and keep the score rolling over.
  

Worcester Warriors
Manager-CJ

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

16.  Samson Lee 17. Dave Ward 18.  Brett Sturgess 19. Mouritz Botha 20.  Tom Guest 21. Tawera Kerr-Barlow  22. Kyle Godwin 23. Ben Ransom


Tactics:

Breakdown-

Approach with the backrow as unit, Barclay targeting the ball, Johnson clearing out, Lapandry mixing roles and the rest of the pack chipping in. Only commit large numbers if the turnover is on either way, otherwise stay out and set the defence/attack

Attack-

Slow ball- either work it around with carrying and moving the focus of attack in groups of 3 in the pack, occasionally mauling and crash balling, or get the halfbacks to kick it high and targeting the wings with a hard chase to regain possession.

Quick ball- spin fast to FTH who stands flat and uses the centres as points of attack, looking to offload or recycle the ball through the breakdown and quickly move it into a second wave of yej back 3 and supporting forwards. If a break is made, offload to keep alive.

Pennell to act as a second fullback rather than winger, looking to come into the line when Le Roux can't especially in the second wave

Defence-

Blitz led by Allen. 9 sweeping, aggressive fringe tackling looking to chop tackle to give the flankers/AWJ a chance to compete for the ball.

Scrum- should hold our own, look to get ball out quickly and run backs moves off it

Lineout- mix up options and compete every throw, mix up the maul and off the top and use as a quick way to start attacks

Kicks- take easy kicks for points, kick high and chase out of hand. Look to mix kicking high and running back with our FB -trained back 3. Press hard for penalties in their 22 but hold back to avoid conceding easy kicks in our 22.

Subs- use players like Guest, Ward and Ransom when the game has broken up later on. Go all out with pack with solid replacements and use the halfback subs to change the gameplan if needed.

Targets -

Try and rush Steyn to put even more pressure on his ability to fire a backline. Look to isolate Denton on the run for penalties. Take JD2 narrow and double him up, and force him to pass under pressure.


Overall-

Look to force pens in their 22 but ease off in ours

Attack in 2 waves, then keep any breaks alive

Don't overcommit to rucks

Pressurise Steyn

Use our dual FBs to win the aerial battle

You're in early CJ

Need a marker down, hard to keep track of stuff over here otherwise and worried I'll miss the deadlines!

Good luck, chap, may the best side win

Northampton Saints
Manager Dammit Chris

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Rob Webber
3. Henry Thomas
4. Jaques du Plessis
5. Manu Samoa
6. CJ Stander
7. Sam Jones
8. Sergio Parisse (c)
9. Mike Phillips
10. Matt Toomua
11. Jordan Williams
12. Matt Giteau
13. Elliot Daly
14. Julian Savea
15. Ben Foden

16. Dylan Hartley 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Ben Afeaki 19. Dean Mumm 20. Julian Bonnaire 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Oli Deveto

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 and its work at the breakdown. We are going to look to score tries and each of our players is playing for the chance to be in the HC Final team.

Setpiece: Fresh pack after a long hard season, but with form players throughout the forwards. Will look to target Cooper Wooley at every opportunity and place him under pressure from our all international front row. Varied lineout options with Parisse, Jones, Manoa and du Plessis all options and will look to pressure Hibbard's own throw. We will look for quick off the top ball for our backline to attack.

Dynamic Pack/Gainline: We have gone for a very mobile pack to make the most of the conditions and really attack Bath from the off. We've got some very strong gainline breakers, with Webber, Vunipola and from 4-8. We wont look to take on Bath physically, but instead play at a tempo that they struggle to keep up with.

Attack: Perfect conditions to play attacking rugby and look for tries, with Toomua and Giteau we have a great 10/12 combination that can control a game and get us into the right areas to attack. We want to get our back three and Daly into the game as early on as possible and make sure that our tempo is kept very high. We are wanting to score tries and make it a high scoring contest and a very open game - we have a pace advantage over Bath in the backs and will look to exploit this.

Breakdown: We are going to target this area as feel that turnover ball will be key to getting our backline away - we've picked a pack where five players can slot into a backrow and will look to hit the breakdown in numbers and with speed.

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, with fast line speed and looking to double up on Bath's big ball carriers to force handling errors and mistakes to exploit. Have slected Phillips for his extra physicality around the breakdown and defensive ability. We know what is coming in terms of the Bath backline as they are predictable in their play.

Territory: Toomua and Giteau to dictate the game and make sure we play in areas where we can score points - both are in very good form in real life and we want to control the midfield battle and feel we have an advantage in the kicking stakes.

Key points:

Well rested team, wanting to make a big impression to secure a HC Final place.

Perfect conditions to score tries and have the backs who can score from anywhere on the pitch.

Emphasis on speed of pack, high tempo game and ability to get to breakdowns quickly and in numbers - will look for turnovers and attack whenever it is on.

Conditions added   

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Jake Cooper Woolley
04. Luke Romano	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Maa Nonu
06. James Haskell	13. Matthieu Basteraund
07. Chris Robshaw	14. George North
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Stuart Hogg

|
16. Mikey Haywood 17. Carl Rimmer 18. Ben Tameifuma 19. Graham Kitchener 20. James Gaskell 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Matt Hopper 23. Rob Miller


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: Look to attack an inexperienced scrum, with particular emphasis on Thomas.

Lineout: Whitelock to call with Lobbe and Robshaw as jumpers and Romano 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.

Our half backs will control our rugby. FDP 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.

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. Victor Matfield(c)	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Dave Denton	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Chris Henry	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Toby Faletau	15. Lee Byrne

:-
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 Catt and drive in between him and Rees.

TARGET LINE OUT - Look to target line out all game and contest with Matfield leading the charge. No top class leader for Worcester could cause issues.

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/Deacon/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. Blitz defence putting pressure on the opposition back line with the 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.

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 Rokoduguni
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. Beauden Barrett 23. Kyle Eastmond

We will play an expansive, high intensity offloading game looking to create space and break the defensive line. Mobility, physicality and handling is key to our approach.

- Fast ball is crucial. Mobile pack and physical midfield to clear out rucks and ensure quick ball. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to make it easier to do so.

- Commit the defence. Sexton will play flat on the gain line to pull in defenders before releasing runners while Care will look for opportunities to snipe around the base always committing defenders.

- Change the point of attack. Steyn & Zebo in the backline comfortable at coming in at first receiver allow us to change the point of attack and leave the opposition guessing.

- Back three always involved. Wingers to track the ball off their wings looking for the inside ball or offload. Bendy to join the line from fullback looking for mismatches and to create overlaps.

- Attack from the scrum. Strong technical front row backed up by a powerful second row will look to build a platform for Pickles, Care & Sexton. An area we will look to target if winning.

- Mix it up at the lineout. Five genuine jumpers gives us a strong attacking platform. Look to use both the rolling maul and ball off the top to keep the defence guessing. 

- Straight line blitz defence. Focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. Care will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers.

- Target the breakdown. Committed to the breakdown with POM & Todd fetching for the ball, supported by the rest of the pack when needed. We will always look to turn the ball over.

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Paul James	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Sebastien Vahaamahina	11. Tim Nanai-Williams
05. Johann Muller	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Siya Kolisi	13. Jaco Taute
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Marland Yarde
08. Duane Vermeulen ©	15. Delon Armitage

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Ben Alexander 19. Matt Symons 20. Luke Wallace 21.Nick Phipps 22. Pat McCabe 23. Anthony Watson

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 Farrell, 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.  
  

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.
  
• INtensity Falcons have nothing to play for and their players will have half a mind elsewhere thinking about their summer break, or not getting injured for international tours. There is no way they will be at the same intensity that we will.
  

Prop will post team tomorrow. Been in car for best part of
9
Hours today so absolutely knackered.

Will be playing my first team so expect
Lots of changes from last week!

Are we carrying on with tues/wed team deadlines next season Johnny?

Mrs is watching some garbage so thought it easier to get my team in,


01. Guthro Steenkamp 09. Connor Murray
02. Jamie George 10. Danny Cipriani
03. Juan Figallo
04. Even Etzbeth 11. Johnny May
05. George Robson 12. Matt Scott
06. Willem Alberts 13. Tevita Kuridrani
07. Akapusi Qera 14. Israel Folau
08. Jamie Heaslip © 15. Israel Dagg

16 Wood 17 Luke Cowan Dickie 18 Coenie Ousthuizen
19 Stooke 20 Dickinson 21 Dan Robson 22 Dan Carter 23 Charlie Walker

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 Cips

General forwards

We have picked a pack of ball carriers and see ourselves as having more options to carry than Irish. 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 9 to affect rhythm.

Backs

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

Murray Is in fine form and will keep there backrow and 9 honest but his prime job is to hit cipriani so cipriani 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 Irish.
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

01. Ben Franks	09. Rory Kockott (k)
02. Ken Owens	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. Ben Morgan	15. Rob Cook

;-
16. Tom Lindsay 17. Will Collier 18. Wyatt Crockett 19. Sam Warburton 20. Scott Higginbotham 21. Lee Dickson 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics:
Big game today and we want to take points off of Gloucester, we are hurting from the narrow loss last week and see McAlister coming into the team for further kicking and playmaking options.

SET PIECE
We have picked a mobile pack in good conditions and Hooper and Morgan 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. We will put a lot of pressure on George's throw which can go wayward sometimes.

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. Look to target the shoulders of cipriani with angled runs down his weaker shoulder and look to test pods of forwards down that channel as they won't cope with the sheer numbers coming around the corner.

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.

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. We know how dangerous the Glos back three are so will not kick down their throats and will look to slow down their ball in the centre.

BENCH
Strong impact with a strong front row replacements to come on Warburton and Higginbotham looking to run ball against tired legs and targeting the turnover. The bench can up the tempo with Dickson, Williams and Trinder 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.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Are we carrying on with tues/wed team deadlines next season Johnny?

Somebody didn't read the draft rules
Yep with punishments for not meeting them.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Ruan Pienaar (k)
02. Schalk Brits	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. George Kruis	11. Joe Tomane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Tom Wood	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Tatafu Polata-Nau 17. Tony Woodcock 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Steven Myler 23. Jonathan Joseph

Tactics

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Stephen Moore	10. Brock James
03. Dan Cole
04. Kearnan Myall	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Kurtley Beale
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Tamati Ellison
07. James Scaysbrook	14. Henry Speight
08. Ryan Jones	15. Pat Lambie (k)

16. Harry Thacker 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Tom Price 20.  Steve Mafi 21. Micky Young 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Dom Waldouck

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.

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

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

- Put serious pressure on Kayser's throws with Jones at the front on all Sale's throws.

- Target the breakdown - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With SOB and Scaysbrook, 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 Sale defence. The likes of SOB, Sale 10/12 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 James 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.

You've named SOB twice Luke  

He's that good mate.

Will get tactics up ASAP

Quins tactics (sorry their late)

Look to retain possession and use our pack to tie in defenders with carries of and 10 before we look to spread the ball into wider channels when we have quick ball and the Exeter defence has become disorganised.

Cooper to stand flat and put others into space. Pienaar to look for gaps around the rucks to keep defenders honest. These two dictate the direction and tempo of our play.

Look for our players to carry in numbers and take the ball at pace. Look to win the initial collision and keep the legs pumping so as to cross the gain line. Look to use agility before contact to unbalance the defenders.

Look to get Roberts and Rougerie running hard lines off Cooper and looking for gaps. Have players in support ready for the offload when they break the line. Always look to have an option out the back in these instances in the form of Kearney, a winger or a back rower so we can go wide if Exeter creep in to defend Roberts and Rougerie.

At the set piece look to get really low at the scrum and get underneath the Exeter props and maintain the initial drive. At the lineout look to really pressure Exeters main jumpers with Borthwick, Wood and Kruis controlling this. In our own line look to shorten between the 22m lines to allow extra carriers in the midfield.

At the ruck we will look to blast Exeter on our own ball getting low and moving their men away from the breakdown so as to get quick, clean ball for Pienaar. On the opposition ball if we haven't he first man we will look to legally compete. Legally slow down after this point.

In defence we will employ a quick line speed targetting the Exeter decision makers and when we can will look to double up in the tackle so we can win the collision or target the turnover.

Sorry will do asap

Predictions open.

I'll put your tactics in when added CJ   

Done , sorry

At a wedding in Kent what time are predos closing tomorrow SJE? Be back home about 5

Wrote full predos. iPhone deleted. New iOS swipe function on Safari is a massive pain in the arse.

Sale 24 - 23 Tigers
Bath 23- 22 Saints
Chiefs 21 - 22 Quins
Gloucester 29 - 29 Irish
Wasps 25 - 25 Falcons

Will try and justify tomorrow morning. Sorry. Not been as reliable as I'd like on this game due to other circumstances

Done it so many times CJ, drives me mad

Sale 34-30 Leicester

Cracking battle. Some top players in both packs but Sale have form on their side and home advantage. The backs are a similar story, Sale look very strong and carry on with their match up the table.

Bath 37-30 Northampton

Saints looking to rotate and can see Bath taking advantage. Bath have more in pack and dominate the line out with good options. Bath edge halfbacks and physicality of Bath midfield would be a major worry for Daly who's not cut out for the centres. I like the Saints back 3 but they're obviously targeting the HC and Bath get a good win.

Exeter 28-28 Harlequins

Really tight across the board. Quins have an advantage in the half backs but nothing in it everywhere else, very close. Just can't see past a hard fought draw.

Wasps 23-23 Falcons

Another really tight game. Prefer Wasps front row but Falcons edge back 5. Wasps halfbacks in some good form but lack a bit of punch in midfield against a defensive Falcons unit. Falcons back 3 a step up. Falcons set up well to frustrate and not sure Wasps have creativity to break them down.

Sharks 33-30 Tigers
Bit of forms issues up front for Tigers, can see the Sharks making headway in the backrow. Good half back battle but overall across the backs I'd say Sale have the advantage. Tigers trying to go route one but feel that Sale have the defence to stop this. Sale want quick ball and they will get it.

Bath 38=34 Saints
Pack just edged to Bath with the better back 5 on show as a unit. Great outside battle in the outside backs and both back threes looking good so can't split that, Daly could get a bit found out though. A good Saints bench will bring them back into it. Both teams well set out to play their attacking rugby tactics, this is going to be a big scorer but Bath will get the head start.

Chiefs 25-28 Quins
More about the Quins pack with some strong units and carriers. More at half back for Quins but not a lot outside that to separate the teams. Quins playing a simple game looking for the gaps and a controlled match, Chiefs planning on slowing Quins down but won't have enough to deal with it. Good game here.

Wasps 21-20 Falcons
Bit more for Wasps come the scrum and set piece, both teams evens at the breakdown. Out wide there's not a lot in it but can see the Falcons defence holding strong here. Wasps take the half back battle just. Good impact for Falcons off the bench and their aggressive defence will work well. Wasps looking to keep hold and play a quick game which gives them the win.

Sarries 21-20 Worcester
Slight advantage for Sarries at the set pieces. Little edge to the half back pairing for Worcester. Again not a lot to split outwide with Allen and Le Roux hitting form for Warriors. Not a lot from the benches. Warriors looking to be quick in defence and like their plan of having 2 fb's to win the aerial battle. Simple set up from Sarries and the influence of JD on the should could be big.

Driver is struggling to get on, I don't think he'll be able to predict

Sale 27-21 Tigers
Exeter 23-24 Quins
Glos 28-23 Irish
Wasps 25-23 Falcons
Sarries 21-19 Warriors

Any chance of extending predos? Am out and won't be home by 3 to get mine in.

Is t it only 1 point difference if we can't add explainations?

Yea it is Prop, I think Johnny rounds up

Can leave these open till 8 if that suits everyone. There's a few struggling to get on this weekend.

Yeah its 1 point for score only Prop. If its more then that I bring the losing sides score up to the 1 point margin when doing the results.

Ok cool.
I'm happy for them to be open, would rather try to get a full set

Sale Sharks 26 - 24 Leicester Tigers


Great game this one, with serious quality on show from both. Some slight form issues in the Tigers side in comparison to a Sharks team in full flow at the moment, and at the right time of the year for them. Had this been at home for Tigers it might have swung the other way, but Sharks take a big home win.

Bath Rugby 35 - 30 Northampton Saints


A really strong Bath side spring a real physical trap on the visiting Saints. Bath control the game up front depsite the efforts of Manoa and Parisse. This allows wiggles to control the flow of the game and give his outside backs time and space to attack nicely. Saints are set up for an attacking game, but I do see them struggling a little in defence, especially on the back foot. 

Gloucester 29 - 26 London Irish 


Gloucester set their stall out early and work into the Irish pack. Glaws gain a slight advantage in their backs they make use of this cleaner possession and score some points. But can see Irish coming back into the game later on and pushing the home side very close, but the Cherry and Whites will hold on with help from their energetic bench.

London Wasps 38 - 32 Newcastle Falcons 


Two really polar game plans here. Wasps looking to play a quick flowing game and Falcons happy to play for territory. Both work, but some of the selections make it hard in some cases during the game to execute. Upfront both are about even with Falcons just edging the back row battle. I just feel that if Falcons opened the game up a bit more they would get the best out of their attacking back three. Also kicking towards the Wasps wingers is a bit risky. 
At the end of a high scoring affair, Wasps will take all of the points with thanks to an all round performance from Faz. 

Saracens 20 - 19 Worcester Warriors


This game is even throughout and a real tough one to detect who was going to win until late on. The relentless ability of Steyn to kick penalties is the one factor which helps Saracens seal an edgy home win.

Bath 26-25 Saints
Exeter 23-24 Quins
Glos 30-29 Irish
Wasps 25-24 Falcons
Sarries 20-19 Warriors

Sale Sharks 30 Leicester Tigers 22
Big game for Sale, at home, knowing that a win will virtually guarantee their play off place. Not so big for Tigers, having already secured a home semi final, so potential for a difference in intensity from the two sides, although what it does do is give Tigers a bit of freedom. Ultimately this one comes down to a lack of form in some of the Tigers pack, which means Sale will be on the front foot for the majority of the game. If Tigers could get on the front foot, that backline has some serious tries in it, but living off scraps they could struggle, and there are defensive frailties. This could be a different story in the play offs, at Welford Road and with less pack rotation from Tigers, but in this one, it's a pretty comfortable win for Sale.

Bath Rugby 44 Northampton Saints 37
Bath are scrapping to stay up and it's clear from selection that Saints have put their focus on the Heineken Cup. Two teams both going to be going for some fast paced ball in hand rugby, but one will have more focus and intensity and that's Bath. High scoer, with both teams getting a try bonus point.

Exeter Chiefs 33 Harlequins 34
Gloucester 29 London Irish 28
Saracens 25 Worcester Warriors 24

Sale 21 20 Leicester
Bath 32 31 Saints
Gloucester 24 - 23 Irish
Wasps 27 26 falcons
Saracens 25 - 24 Worcester

Sale 22-20 Leicester
A lot of SJEs team are hitting some good form now, the backline is really well balanced with physicality and try scorers and just see the home advantage being another factor. A really strong pack for Tigers, but just don't quite see them having enough to beat Sale.

Exeter 25 - 28 Quins
Steve has some great combinations and in the weather conditions the spark of QC at no10 will have a big impact, as Quins have parity in the front five, but their backrow is going to cause Chiefs all sorts of trouble.

Gloucester 37 - 33 Irish
Can see both teams getting try BP's in this one, both have got some great try scoring threats. A lot of Mat's players are hitting form at the right time and home advantage a big factor too - though the Irish backrow is going to cause a lot of problems and will be a lot of turnovers for both teams.

Wasps 17 - 15 Falcons
Really tough game to call, can see Falcons tactics spoiling the chance of lots of tries as they have some great defenders and can really disrupt the game. At same time a bit too negative and can only see them getting points from Biggar's boot. Wasps are more attack minded and can see them getting the all important try, especialy with their back three.

Saracens 19 - 18 Worcester

Sale 29 28 Leicester
Bath 32 31 Saints
Wasps 27 2 7falcons
Exeter 28-29 quins

RESULTS:

Sale Sharks 32 (T:4 C:3 P:2)
Leicester Tigers 25 (T:1 C:1 P:6)

Bath Rugby 37 (T:5 C:3 P:2)
Northampton Saints 29 (T:2 C:2 P:5)

Exeter Chiefs 25 (T:1 C:1 P:6)
Harlequins 31 (T:4 C:4 P:1)

Gloucester Rugby 33 (T:4 C:2 P:3)
London Irish 28 (T:3 C:2 P:3)

London Wasps 28 (T:3 C:2 P:3)
Newcastle Falcons 24 (T:2 C:1 P:4)

Saracens 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)
Worcester Warriors 20 (T:2 C:2 P:2)

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

Would have thought our game was a lot closer Steve, well done nevertheless!