Summer Tournament Round 4

First topic message reminder :

Round 4 (teams to be named by midnight on Thursday 17th July, predictions by 1800 hours on Sunday 20th July)


Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins  (Stade Jean-Bouin, Paris)

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Driver

01. Soana Tonga'uhia	09. Nic Phipps
02. Dane Coles	10. Dan Biggar
03. Owen Franks
04. Ed Slater	11. Charles Pitatau
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Jean De Villers
06. Ben Mowen	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Richie McCaw	14. Cory Jane
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Smith

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Schalk Brits	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Frank Halai
08. Nick Easter	15. Juan Martin Hernandez

16. Tatafu Polata-Nau 17. Steven Kitchoff 18. Kyle Sinckler 19. Charlie Matthews 20. Luke Braid 21. Karl Dickson 22. Steven Myler 23. Aurelien Rougerie

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Bath Rugby v Sale Sharks  (Stade Mayol, Toulon)


Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Peter Dooley	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Mike Haywood	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Ben Tameifuma
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sam Hill
06. Liam Squire	13. Rob Horne
07. Will Welch	14. Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. James Haskell	15. Alex Goode

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16. Tom Dunn 17. Benn Robinson 18. Jake Cooper Wollsey 19. George Merrick 20. Edwin Maka 21. George Di Cothi 22. Matt Hopper 23. Hallan Amos

- Thoughts on AI team?

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Faf De Klerk
02. David Paice	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Semesa Rokoduguni
05. Will Skelton	12. Francois Steyn
06. Matt Garvey	13. George Pisi
07. Sam Cane	14. Willie Le Roux
08. Steven Lutua	15. Nick Abendanon

:-
16. Vasil Kakovin 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Dayan Van Der Westhuizen 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Todd 21. Calum Braley 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Kyle Eastmond

 - Thoughts on backrow balance re Luatua at 8 and how Skelton is rated please

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Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers  (Stade Ernest-Wallon, Toulouse)

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Ryan Grant	09. Nic White
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Toby Flood
03. James Johnston
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. David Strettle
05. Paul O'Connell	12. Luther Burrell
06. Calum Clark	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Maxime Medard
08. Toby Faletau	15. James O'Connor (k)

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16. Dimitri Szarzewski 17. Richard Barrington 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Kane Douglas 20. Carl Fearns 21. Chris Cook 22. Marnitz Boshoff 23. Tom Varndell

Tactics:

• Use of heavy carriers, and mobile support runners in the pack to create forward momentum. 
  
• Phase play with half backs dictating play. Look for territory when need to gain field position.
  
• Counter attack whenever possible.
  

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Micky Young
02. Stephen Moore	10. Billy Twelvetrees (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Pat McCabe
06. Tom Johnson	13. Matthieu Basteraud
07. Francois Louw	14. Napolini Nalaga
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Jaco Taute

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16. Chiliboy Ralapelle 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Dan Cole 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Ryan Jones 21. Kahn Fotauli'i 22. Brock James 23. Dom Waldouck

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London Wasps v London Irish  (Stade Aime Giral, Perpignan)

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Ben Moon	09. Sebastien Tillouse-Borde
02. Deon Fourie	10. Camille Lopez
03. Fraser Balmain
04. Paul Willemse	11. Digby Ioane
05. Ruan Botha	12. Paul Jordaan
06. Rynhardt Elstadt	13. Samu Kerevi
07. Luke Wallace	14. Tim Nanai-Williams
08. Luke Narraway	15. Gareth Anscombe

16. Harry Thacker 17. Thomas du Toit 18. Wilco Louw 19. Matt Symons 20. Hayden Thompson-Stringer 21. Mitchell Drummond 22. Berrick Barnes 23. Tom Collins

Tactics

• Standard tactics of a possession based game and looking to through the phases with pace and intesity.
  
• Offloading in or just before the tackle to keep the ball alive and move the opposition defence around.
  
• Blitz defence with scrum half sweeping to cover.
  

Predictions
Would like to know thoughts on the following please.

• Are either of the locks ready for a starting place in this game? (Both have started regularly in Super Rugby this season)
  
• Is Camille good enough to cover when Cruden is unavailable?
  
• Is Jordaan ok as back up to Nonu at 12?
  
• Does Kerevi have enough attacking threat to outweigh his defensive inexperience?
  

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London Irish
Manager - Prop

01. Tom Smallbone	09. Lee Dickson
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Sam Olver
03. Will Collier
04. Stuart Hooper	11. JSD
05. Tom Savage	12. Shane Geraghty
06. Jackson Wray	13. Henry Trinder
07. David Sisi	14.Adam Thompstone
08. Ben Morgan	15. Rob Cook (k)

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16. Gerard Ellis 17. Josh Ibuanopke  18. Richard Palframann 19. Kieran Tredwell 20. Laurence Pearce 21. Jack Moates 22. Chris Bell 23. Mark Jennings

Just a mainly eq side bar Ellis and Palframann. Who would be the better ones as my eq picks and who could make the step up this season?

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Gloucester v London Welsh  (Stade Yves-du-Manoir, Montpellier)

Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Matt

01. Beast	09. Tj Perenara
02. Adriaan Strauss	10. Danny Cipriani (k)
03. Coenie Ousthuizen
04. Elliot Stooke	11. Johnny May
05. Rlchie Grey	12. Dan Carter
06. Willem Alberts	13. Tevita Kurindrani
07. Ardie Savea	14. Hosea Gear
08. Sam Dickinson	15. Israel Folau

:-
16. Nick Wood 17. Joe Grey18. Juan Figallo19. Eben Etzbeth 20. Qera 21. Dan Robson 22. Masi 23. Charlie Walker

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London Welsh
Manager - CJ

01. David Kilcoyne	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
02. Dave Ward	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Brian Mujati
04. George Skivington (c)	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Blade Thompson	12. Jordan Turner-Hall
06. Victor Vito	13. Casey Laulala
07. John Barclay	14. Ben Ransom
08. Tom Guest	15. Chris Pennell (k)

:-
16. Richardt Strauss 17. Nathan Catt 18. BJ Botha 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Ashley Johnson 21. Ben Spencer 22. Kyle Godwin 23. Jesse Mogg

Would like to know- do the centres work? Is Ransom ready for LV level? Pennell's kicking ok? Is the pack hardy enough

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Northampton Saints v Saracens  (Parc des Sports Marcel Michelen, Clermont-Ferrand)

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Gareth Davies
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. Matt Toomua (k)
03. Henry Thomas
04. Lood de Jager	11. Julian Savea
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Chris Robshaw	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Elliot Daly

Subs:
16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rhys Marshall 18. Carl Hayman 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Verenki Goneva 22. George Ford 23. Joe Simpson

Feedback very useful on whether Davies is seen as someone who can get me quick ball from setpiece to launch the backline - also how people view Toomua as a no10 and whether Marshall is rated from the bench as a hooker.

Lot of my tactics next year will be trying to get a powerful backline to get over the gainline, wear down opposition and then bring on an impact bench to try and exploit tiring defences - so is the balance of the backline suited for that?

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Morne Steyn
03. Jannie Du Plessis
04. Bradley Davies	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Victor Matfield	12. Scott Williams
06. Dave Denton	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Thierry Dusatoir	14. Chris Ashton
08. Jonnie Beattie	15. Matt Tait

:-
16. Jamie George 17. Max Lahiff 18. Luc Ducalon 19. Louis Deacon 20. Nathan Hughes 21. Henry Taylor 22. Bernard Foley 23. George Lowe

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Falcons 25-25 Quins
Nothing between the packs really. Prefer Quins half backs although Phipps has had a good super 15. Centres even but think Falcons are slightly more dangerous out wide. Again no bench from Falcons though which makes this a draw.

Bath 20-25 Sale
I quite rate Skelton SirJ, prefer Luatua at 6 but think he can do the job at 8 if needed. More from Sale here up front and like the way their backrow works. Same really out wide and I can see Hill getting targeted by the Sale backline.

Chiefs 20-22 Tigers
Two pretty good packs on show, feel Moore has a bit more than Yeandle and Louw slightly over Tips. Like the balance of both back rows though. Not loads in the 9-10 axis’ maybe White a bit better at 9. Two pretty steady backlines on show. A slight edge for Tigers’ bench with Fotuali’i coming on.

Glos 26-21 Welsh
Welsh coming up against a strong Glos side, don’t know much about Blade Johnson sorry CJ! FTD going to work well for Welsh with good ball. Think out wide Glos have brought out the big guns but I am intrigued about how Laulaua does in the Top14. Some nice impact from Godwin and Mogg for Welsh but Glos have too much here. Ransom should be ok for LV level Pennell fine for kicking but depends how well rated he will be in Championship.

Saints 32-31 Sarries
Can see Waller getting the edge on Thomas here. Evens when looking at two great backrows. I personally rate Davies as a 9 and think he’ll be starting for Wales very soon. Toomua ok at 10. Maybe a small edge to Sarries with more international experience helping. Two great centre pairings on show, probably my favourite 2 in this game! Saints looking a little more dangerous in the back three. Slightly more on Saints bench too but a great game!

Are we all done?

Will leave it open till tomorrow lunch time to give any late stragglers a chance  

Jonny on nights can predict tomorrow afternoon when I get up?

RESULTS:

Newcastle Falcons 29 (T:3 C:1 P:4)
Harlequins 28 (T:3 C:1 P:3)

Bath Rugby 23 (T:2 C:2 P:3)
Sale Sharks 30 (T:4 C:2 P:2)

Exeter Chiefs 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)
Leicester Tigers 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)

London Wasps 30 (T:4 C:2 P:2)
London Irish 24 (T:2 C:1 P:4)

Gloucester Rugby 36 (T:4 C:2 P:4)
London Welsh 25 (T:3 C:1 P:2)

Northampton Saints 32 (T:5 C:2 P:1)
Saracens 28 (T:3 C:1 P:3)

BONUS:

Full: CJB, Fluxy, Matt, Luke, Prop, Chris, SJE, Pooly & CJ

Good game Luke!