Summer Tournament Round Eight - Pools A & B

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Pool A

Crusaders vs. Reds




Saracens vs. Newcastle Falcons


Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Sam Harrison
02. Rory Best	10. Beuden Barrett
03. Dan Cole
04. Will Skelton	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. James Haskell	13. Henry Trinder
07. Will Fraser	14. Chris Ashton
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Guiam Guarido 17. Ben Franks 18. Tom Francis 19. Patrick Tuipolotu 20. Thierry Dusatoir 21. Morgan  Parra 22. Pat Lambie 23. Hosea Gear

Tactics:

Normal Sarries game plan.

Best Starting EQ if you don't mind 


 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Matt Stevens
04. Ed Slater (c)	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Flip Van Der Merwe	12. Tom Stephenson
06. David Ewers	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Callum Clark	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Dane Coles 17.Vincent Debaty 18.Luc Ducalcon 19. Yohan Maestri 20. Richie McCaw 21.Nick Phipps 22. Ian Madigan 23. Charles Piutau

Please could I have feedback on the best starting EQ options for the league and Europe?


London Irish vs. Stormers

London Irish
Manager: Ozzy3213        

01. Scott Sio	09. Aaron Smith
02. Liam Coltman	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Matt Symons	11. Anthony Watson
05. James Broadhurst	12. Samu Kerevi
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Jesse Kriel
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Marland Yarde
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Delon Armitage

16. Tom Youngs 17. Joe Marler 18. David Wilson 19. Sebastien Vahaamahina 20. Fulgence Ouedraogo 21. Ben Youngs 22. Henry Slade 23. Tim Nanai-Williams


Stormers
Manager – Allister Coetzee

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Nic Groom
02. Scarra Ntubeni	10. Demetri Catrakilis
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Seabelo Senatla
05. Manuel Carizza	12. Damien de Allende
06. Siya Kolisi	13. Juan de Jongh
07. Schalk Burger	14. Cheslin Kolbe
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Jaco Taute

Subs:
16 Bongi Mbonambi 17 Oli Kebble 18 Vincent Koch 19 Ruan Botha 20 Nizaam Carr 21 Louis Schreuder 22 Kurt Coleman 23 Kobus van Wyk

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Pool B


Gloucester vs. Lions


Gloucester

1 Wood
2 Strauss
3 Antonio
4 Tapfufina
5 Gray
6 Alberts
7 Savea
8 Heaslip
9 TJ Perenara
10 Carter
11 May
12 Toomua
13 Kurindrani
14 Walker
15 Folau
16 Beast
17 LCD
18 Mas
19 Robson
20 Croft
21 Robson
22 Pollard
23 Naiyavaro

Lions
Manager – Johan Ackermann

01. Schalk van der Merwe	09. Francois de Klerk
02. Armand van der Merwe	10. Elton Jantjes
03. Julian Redelinghuys
04. Martin Muller	11. Courtnall Skosan
05. Franco Mostert	12. Alwyn Hollenbach
06. Jaco Kriel	13. Harold Vorster
07. Warwick Tecklenburg	14. Ruan Combrinck
08. Warren Whiteley	15. Andries Coetzee

Subs:
16 Malcolm Marx 17 Corne Fourie 18 Ruan Dreyer 19 Robert Kruger 20 Kwagga Smith 21 Dillon Smit 22 Marnitz Boshoff 23 Howard Mnisi


Highlanders vs. Rebels




Exeter Chiefs vs. Sale Sharks

Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Nic Auterac	09. Connor Murray
02. Camille Chat	10. Otere Black (k)
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Jake Ball	11. James Lowe
05. Lood De Jager	12. Ma'a Nonu (c)
06. Brad Shields	13. Sean Wainui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. James O'Connor
08. Joe Edwards	15. Mike Haley

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16. Jack Yeandle 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Mike Ross 19. James Horwill 20. Luke Wallace 21. Chris Cook 22. Will Hooley 23. Cory Jane

 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Nicky Smith	09. Danny Care
02. Julien Marchand	10. Bernard Foley
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Maro Itoje	12. Jonathan Danty
06. Sean McMahon	13. Gael Fickou
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Josua Tuisova
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Willie Le Roux

Subs:
16. Ross Harrison 17. Malcolm Marx 18. Martin Moore 19. Iain Henderson 20. Matt Garvey 21. Callum Braley 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Kyle Eastmond

Mark

Exeter Chiefs 

Manager – Fluxy

01. Nic Auterac	09. Connor Murray
02. Camille Chat	10. Otere Black (k)
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Jake Ball	11. James Lowe
05. Lood De Jager	12. Ma'a Nonu (c)
06. Brad Shields	13. Sean Wainui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. James O'Connor
08. Joe Edwards	15. Mike Haley

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16. Jack Yeandle 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Mike Ross 19. James Horwill 20. Luke Wallace 21. Chris Cook 22. Will Hooley 23. Cory Jane

Just back from holiday, will get team in tonight or tomorrow Bam

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Sam Harrison
02. Rory Best	10. Beuden Barrett
03. Dan Cole
04. Will Skelton	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. James Haskell	13. Henry Trinder
07. Will Fraser	14. Chris Ashton
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Guiam Guarido 17. Ben Franks 18. Tom Francis 19. Patrick Tuipolotu 20. Thierry Dusatoir 21. Morgan  Parra 22. Pat Lambie 23. Hosea Gear

Tactics:

Normal Sarries game plan.

Best Starting EQ if you don't mind

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell (k)
03. Matt Stevens
04. Ed Slater (c)	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Flip Van Der Merwe	12. Tom Stephenson
06. David Ewers	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Callum Clark	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Dane Coles 17.Vincent Debaty 18.Luc Ducalcon 19. Yohan Maestri 20. Richie McCaw 21.Nick Phipps 22. Ian Madigan 23. Charles Piutau

Please could I have feedback on the best starting EQ options for the league and Europe?

1 Wood
2 Strauss
3 Antonio
4 Tapfufina
5 Gray
6 Alberts
7 Savea
8 Heaslip
9 TJ Perenara
10 Carter
11 May
12 Toomua
13 Kurindrani
14 Walker
15 Folau
16 Beast
17 LCD
18 Mas
19 Robson
20 Croft
21 Robson
22 Pollard
23 Naiyavaro

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Nicky Smith	09. Danny Care
02. Julien Marchand	10. Bernard Foley
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Maro Itoje	12. Jonathan Danty
06. Sean McMahon	13. Gael Fickou
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Josua Tuisova
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Willie Le Roux

16. Ross Harrison 17. Malcolm Marx 18. Martin Moore 19. Iain Henderson 20. Matt Garvey 21. Callum Braley 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Kyle Eastmond

PREDICTIONS OPEN

Pms to me please.

RESULTS:

Saracens 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)
Newcastle Falcons 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)

London Irish 32 (T:4 C:3 P:2)
Stormers 24 (T:2 C:1 P:4)

Gloucester 37 (T:5 C:3 P:2)
Lions 25 (T:1 C:1 P:6)

Exeter Chiefs 23 (T:2 C:2 P:3)
Sale Sharks 29 (T:3 C:1 P:4)

RESULTS:

Full: Matt, Steve, Prop, Ba, Chris, SJE & Pooly
Score: CJB

Saracens 25 - 27 Newcastle
EQ wise any combo that doesn't include Harrison, Hammersley and Benjamin looks decent. Maybe add Trinder in there. If it could fit in I'd love to see the Skelton/Tui combo with stronger line out options in the back row. All EQ fine besides Stephenson for me for Newcastle. Both sides well balanced but might but both back lines (SBW aside) lack a bit of Beef and go forward. 

Saracens 25 - 25 Newcastle Falcons
Not sure that Sam Harrison is quite right to get Sarries moving forward, while a mis-match in the centres. Prefer the 8,9,10 combination of the away team but SBW will punch holes in the Falcons defence. Strong bench from Falcons and can't quite see the home side getting a win. 

Sarries 27-24 Newcastle

Saracens 23-22 Newcastle
Nothing between the sides really overall with a good scrap at the breakdown. Home advantage and Barrett offering more at 10 wins this.

Sarries 24-26 Falcons
Sarries just get the nudge on in the scrum and come the lineout. Back row a bit closer, prefer Clark at 6 and like the Sarries balance here. Bit more for the Falcons at half back and 1 a piece when looking at the centres, strong back 3 for Falcons. Great impact from both benches and I feel that Falcons will nick this one with the half back pairing and back 3. Eq wise Sarries-Waller, Cole, Parling,Haskell. Falcons-George, Ewers, Sharples, Strettle.

London Irish 32 - 30 Stormers
Not sure if Malherbe can play both sides, have assumed Wilson starts and bench is a man short. Fancy Irish to just have an edge at the scrum, while prefer Stormers second row. Very close at the breakdown, SOB is not an 8 for me, but think Irish will just have enough here. Irish far stronger at halfback, and at the rest of the outside backs man for man, other than De Allende. With home advantage, despite the bench being a man down, think Irish just have enough

London Irish 28 - 25 Stormers
Jury still out for me on Symons, Coltman and Kerevi. Sio also needs to show a bit more to be a top class option. Cruden's lack of rugby becoming an issue. Fantastic back row with impressive physicality but I'd prefer Kaino as the 8. Kriel and Watson look in superb nick and offer real excitement in the back line.

Stormers 24-29 Irish 
Even up front with stormers a great pack. Irish half backs streets apart and off same amount of ball kill it 

Irish 21-23 Stormers
Front row and engine room stronger for Stormers and can see them getting on top in the set piece. Similar story in the backrow with Stormers strong again. Irish halfbacks a step up but Stormers better in the centres with Kerevi not the best. Strong back 3 for Irish. Stormers pack and decent in the backs gets win.

Irish 23 - 17 Stormers
Still need to see the second rows for Irish a bit more as at the moment they still seem a little underpowered compared to other teams in the league. Otherwise an excellent team, strong carriers in the backrow and threats all over the backline. Just need that platform to secure a lot of ball and not 100% sure SOB is the best no8. 

Irish 29-24 Stormers 

Irish 30-23 Stormers
Will let Malherbe slide but still thibk Irish struggle at the scrum a little. Breakdown work of the backrow is top notch though and gives the halfbacks all the time in the world

Irish 28-24 Stormers
Close in the front row and Stormers stronger in 2nd row. Again, back row not much between them but Irish much stronger at half back which will give a potent back line better ball, Stormers strong defensively but Irish have enough out wide. Bench naturally pulls Irish away.

Gloucester 34 - 20 Lions
Glos gone with a full strength line up, and the Lions just can't compete up front. Too much pace and power throughout the Gloucester side, although I think they may find it tough at the odd set piece, in open play they have far too much for Lions. With the quality in the backline of Carter and Folau, they'll run riot, and win this one with plenty in hand.

Gloucester 35 - 20 Lions
Solid Gloucester side and excellent in the dry conditions. Good, mobile pack and a strong back line with plenty of threats and good pace/power balance. Some good options off the bench as well.

Gloucester 33 - 19 Lions
i can't see a single Lions player making the Gloucester match day 23 so it is a routine win here. 

Gloucester 32-24 Lions

Gloucester 35-26 Lions
Routine for Gloucester although Walker does look out of place in that back line.

Glos 32-25 Lions
Glos much stronger at the set piece but Lions could challenge in the back row, Heaslip a big difference here. Half backs and out wide Glos have way too much for Lions to cope with. Bench will see Glos take the bonus point win.

Exeter 24 - 29 Sale
Sale have a bit more experience up front, and think they'll be able to put the pressure on against a green looking Chiefs front row. Very close at lock, but Sale gone with more in the back row, and will have the breakdown advantage as a result. Sale have stronger halfbacks, while the outside backs are very close, but think i'd just favour Sale. Even though they are on the road, think Sale have more quality in key areas, and will have enough for the win in this

Exeter 22 - 25 Sale
Couple of players in each side who I think could only be used off the bench for me but some very promising young talent. Think the Sale side is stronger and will win the game but both sides have a nice balance but just a few more experienced men marshalling Sale around.

Exeter 22-23 sale
Hard to call Exeter shade front row but both hookers unproven and smith not ready yet for me. Exeter shade second row and backrow even until you get to 8. Sale take half backs easily. As bad as Foley has been in RC and latter stages of s15 he is another planet to black. Fairly even elsewhere apart from Exeter centre I have not heard of who will struggle vs Danty and co

Exeter 24-25 Sale
Little in the front rows but a bit more for Exeter in the engine room with Itoje better at 6 for me. Not sure who Edwards is but Sale stronger as a unit.Black not at this level so gives Sale the half backs and centres. Sale back 3 a touch better too. Sale strong 6-10 spine give close win.

Exeter Chiefs 22 - 25 Sale Sharks
Good balance to both teams. Need to see more of Edwards and Black for Chiefs as they are both cracking prospects but up against their Sale counterparts they are lacking in experience and Picamoles looks like he could be one of the players of the WC. Other than that two very even teams.

Exeter 23-25 Sale

Chiefs 26-29 Sale
Front row to Sale here, 2nd row would be a good battle, personally prefer Itoje at 6 but he does the job in the row too. Good backrow battle but Edwards may struggle against Picamoles, Armitage will cause more problems than Kvesic though. One a piece at half backs and, looking at centres I think Chiefs may have Nonu's experience but Sale's pairing are exciting and dangerous. Back 3 Sale have danger all over and will be getting the better ball. A strong Chiefs bench brings it closer.