Challenge Cup Quarter Finals

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Gloucester Rugby v Connacht Rugby
Kingsholm Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 9 degrees, 10mph South South Westerly Winds

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Gloucester
         
Manager – Anonmattyt

01. Rob Evans	09. TJ Perenara
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Coenie Oosthuizen
04. Elliott Stooke	11. Johnny May
05. Romain Taofifénua	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Tom Croft	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Julian Salvi	14. Charlie Walker
08. Ross Moriarty	15. Israel Folau

_
16. Nick Wood 17. Joe Grey 18. Uli Antonio 19. Tomas Lavanini 20. Willem Alberts 21. Will Genia 22. Handre Pollard 23. Andre Esterhuizen

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Connacht

01. Denis Buckley	09. John Cooney
02. Tom McCartney	10. Shane O'Leary
03. Rodney Ah You
04. Andrew Browne	11. Matt Healy
05. Aly Muldowney	12. Peter Robb
06. John Muldoon (c)	13. Bundee Aki
07. James Connolly	14. Niyi Adeolokun
08. Eoin McKeon	15. Robbie Henshaw

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Cormac Brennan, 23 Danie Poolman

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Exeter Chiefs v Cardiff Blues
Sandy Park
Light Rain Showers, 10 degrees, 12mph South Westerly Winds

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Exeter Chiefs 
         
Manager – Fluxy

01. Nick Auterac	09. Nick White
02. Rob Webber	10. Camille Lopez
03. Mike Ross
04. Courtney Lawes	11. James Lowe
05. Lood de Jager	12. Ma'a Nonu (c)
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Sam James
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Mike Haley

_
16. Tom Youngs 17. Jefferson Poirot 18. Harry Williams 19. Jake Ball 20. Marcell Coetzee 21. Chris Cook 22. Alex Losowksi 23. Teddy Thomas

Key Points

• Home Advantage - Sandy Park is one of the hardest places to come and play. With the imposing atmosphere and lack of experience in the conditions, we will catch Blues off guard
  
• Physicality & Dynamism – Look to dominate Blues physically. Blow through the breakdown and make the rucks quick to prevent Cardiff flanks getting over the ball. Huge emphasis on dynamic carrying to keep momentum going.
  
• Breakdown – The back row have been selected to cover the breakdown as well as for their dynamic carrying.
  
• Build a Score - Lopez to build a score and take opportunities given to us within their ten metre. 
  

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Cardiff Blues

01. Gethin Jenkins (c)	09. Lloyd Williams
02. Matthew Rees	10. Gareth Anscombe
03. Taufa'ao Filise
04. Josh Turnbull	11. Tom James
05. James Down	12. Rey Lee-Lo
06. Sam Warburton	13. Garyn Smith
07. Ellis Jenkins	14. Dan Fish
08. Josh Navidi	15. Rhys Patchell

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Aled Summerhill

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Newcastle Falcons v Bordeaux Begles
Kingston Park
Light Rain Showers, 8 degrees, 13mph South South Westerly Winds

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Greig Laidlaw (k)
02. Dane Coles (c)	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Dom Barrow	11. Tom Collins
05. Guido Petti	12. Francis Saili
06. Callum Clark	13. Vince Aso
07. Chris Henry	14. David Strettle
08. Jack O'Donaghue	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.George McGuigan 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Jacques Potgeiter 20. David Ewers 21. Will Chudley 22. Gareth Anscombe  23. Stuart McCloskey

Game plan - Use the big pack to really put their front 5 under pressure, compete hard for the ball at the ruck to get on top of their back row, and challenge Beauxis. Look to put their number 8 and scrum half combo under pressure at every set piece and ruck, we think they can be targeted

Set piece - Look to really put their props under maximum pressure with Mullan and Big Ben, we've got a great scrummaging lock pairing to help. If no weakness, use as restart. Petti to call lineout, mark their second rows and force long throws . On our ball, use the back row options to mix it up

Breakdown - Clark, Henry and Coles to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. Coles  able to split staying close to the ruck, or turning the ball over in wider areas . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. 

Kicking - Laidlaw and Jackson as primary kickers, Miller and Saili to offer options outside with their accurate boots. Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man

Attack - Laidlaw to get the ball out quickly to the in form Jackson, and get our exciting centre combo through gaps. Challenge them defensively with Saili's footwork running hard lines at their channel with the back 3 coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at Beauxis to put them on the back foot off first phase

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use a blitz in their territory, in ours use the drift to maintain the line and challenge them to beat us one on one

Bench - Big carrying forwards throughout and talented, pacy backs to see us home

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Bordeaux Begles

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Yann Lesgourgues
02. Ole Avei	10. Lionel Beauxis
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Julien Ledevedec	11. Blair Connor
05. Berend Botha	12. Julien Rey
06. Louis-Benoit Madaule	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Hugh Chalmers	14. Metuisela Talebula
08. Peter Saili	15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin

Replacements: 16. Clement Maynardier, 17. Sebastien Taofifenua 18. Jean Baptiste Poux 19. Cyril Cazeaux 20 Loann Goujon 21. Baptiste Senin 22. Pierre Bernard 23. Felix Le Bourhis

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Wasps Rugby v Worcester Warriors
Ricoh Arena
Light Rain Showers, 9 degrees, 10mph South Westerly Winds

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London Wasps
Manager: CJ

01. James Slipper	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Scott Spurling	10. Finn Russell
03. Sekope Kepu
04. George Merrick	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. John Barclay	14. Nick Cummins
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Nathan Catt 17. Richardt Strauss, 18. Tom West 19. Donnacha Ryan, 20 Sekou Malacau, 21. Niko Matawalu , 22. Quade Cooper 23.  Duncan Taylor

Tactics:

Breakdown: minimal numbers especially in defence, two flankers working in tandem with one always shadowing the ball to ensure we are first there and get quick ball in attack and deciding whether to play the ball (for the slowing or turnover) or hold off and pressurise the 9 in defence.

Attack: Keep an eye open for space behind their wings, especially on the turnover, to kick at and attack with our strong chasers
Build up slow ball with the forwards
Look to use Lealiifano to commit Roberts and pivot and loop off him as a playmaker (offloading if needed with the flankers there as a clean up option), meaning we get a reset attack against a now shortened defence with a one man advantage - like Sexton-loop with Ireland
Look to attack both wingers off the blind side with short passes to big carriers and the back 3, as well as snipes off 9
If their blitz is too fast up to bypass playing off 12 as above, start to use the snipe, chip and inside offloads. Keep them guessing.

Defence: Blitz led by Lealiifano, with 9 sweeping, run back kicks, tight fringe defence led by Myall.
With this set up, the Welsh 9-10-12 axis, we know what to expect. Double man Roberts to hold him up and use the likes of Robshaw to hit him early and tackle his momentum-making carries out of the game. Pressurise the 9 to stop him having the space to snipe. Little running from Biggar so press Roberts harder and expect a lot of kicking that we will run back.

Setpiece: Should be a good frontrow battle, look to scrummage fairly and get our ball out quickly to avoid tiring our props too much. Mix up options at the lineout, using the driving maul in their 22 and compete on the ground not in the air.

Other: Huge impact and cover of all positions on the bench for if the game breaks up - we have gamechangers in the backs and dynamism/athletiscism in the forwards. However, if we don't NEED to change the game, and the starting XV aren't too tired, we won't make changes.
Take any points on offer in this drizzle

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. Alisdair Dickinson	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Tom Savage	11. Waisake Naholo
05. Leone Nakawara	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jackson Wray	13. Huw Jones
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. James Short
08. Warren Whiteley	15. Mathew Tait

:-
16. Ken Owens 17. Joe Moody 18. Henry Thomas 19. Devin Toner 20. Jordan Taufua 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jules Plisson 23. Jonah Placid

*Use strong carriers to make initial bust and look to snipe down the fringes,
*Play an up tempo offloading game with 2 initial carriers before looking to go wide,
*Blitz defence led by Roberts,
*Use Warbs to slow down their ball,
*Impact bench to take on tired defences,
*We are safe in the league and are targeting the cup for silverware.

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After suffering a painfully narrow defeat at home against Worcester Warriors, Director of Rugby Fluxy, has had to reshuffle his squad for the upcoming Challenge Cup game, when his Exeter Chiefs welcome Cardiff Blues to Sandy Park. 

With a number of injuries inflicted on the squad from the weekend, Fluxy has rotated his team for Saturday's Cup tie. Nick Auterac and Mike Ross come into the front row, with Thomas Domingo sustaining an injury last weekend. There are starts for new signings Courtney Lawes and Sergio Parisse, who look to add new impetus to the Chiefs. After the departure of Conor Murray and the injury sustained to Nick Evans, Nick White and Camille Lopez step into the 9 & 10 shirts respectively, resuming a partnership from earlier in the season for the Chiefs. The return from injury for Mike Haley, allows him to swap the shirt of the impressive Maxime Medard, who has been in good form since the end of the Six Nations. From the bench there will also be Sandy Park debuts for young energetic prop Harry Williams, and all action flanker Marcell Coetzee. 


Exeter Chiefs 
         
Manager – Fluxy

01. Nick Auterac	09. Nick White
02. Rob Webber	10. Camille Lopez
03. Mike Ross
04. Courtney Lawes	11. James Lowe
05. Lood de Jager	12. Ma'a Nonu (c)
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Sam James
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Mike Haley

_
16. Tom Youngs 17. Jefferson Poirot 18. Harry Williams 19. Jake Ball 20. Marcell Coetzee 21. Chris Cook 22. Alex Losowksi 23. Teddy Thomas

Key Points

• Home Advantage - Sandy Park is one of the hardest places to come and play. With the imposing atmosphere and lack of experience in the conditions, we will catch Blues off guard
  
• Physicality & Dynamism – Look to dominate Blues physically. Blow through the breakdown and make the rucks quick to prevent Cardiff flanks getting over the ball. Huge emphasis on dynamic carrying to keep momentum going.
  
• Breakdown – The back row have been selected to cover the breakdown as well as for their dynamic carrying.
  
• Build a Score - Lopez to build a score and take opportunities given to us within their ten metre. 
  

Gloucester
       
Manager – Mat

01. Rob Evans 09. TJ Perenara
02. LCD 10. Danny Cipriani
03. Coenie Ousthuizen
04. Elliot Stooke 11. Johnny May
05. Roman Taofufina 12. Ryan Crotty
06. Tom Croft 13. Juan De Jongh
07. Julian Salvi 14. Charlie Walker
08. Ross Moriarty 15. Israel Folau

16 Nick Wood 17 Joe Grey 18 Uli Antonio 19 Tomas Lavani 20 Willem Alberts 21 Will Genia 22 Handre Pollard 23 Andre Esterhuizen


Take it is 6 starting English?

It is mate

Check your injuries please: https://www.606v2.com/t55473-injuries

Cheers Johnny amended now

London Wasps
Manager: CJ

01. James Slipper	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Scott Spurling	10. Finn Russell
03. Sekope Kepu
04. George Merrick	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Kearnan Myall	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. John Barclay	14.  Nick Cummins
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Nathan Catt 17. Richardt Strauss, 18. Tom West 19. Donnacha Ryan, 20 Sekou Malacau, 21. Niko Matawalu , 22. Quade Cooper 23.  Duncan Taylor

Tactics:

Breakdown: minimal numbers especially in defence, two flankers working in tandem with one always shadowing the ball to ensure we are first there and get quick ball in attack and deciding whether to play the ball (for the slowing or turnover) or hold off and pressurise the 9 in defence.

Attack: Keep an eye open for space behind their wings, especially on the turnover, to kick at and attack with our strong chasers
Build up slow ball with the forwards
Look to use Lealiifano to commit Roberts and pivot and loop off him as a playmaker (offloading if needed with the flankers there as a clean up option), meaning we get a reset attack against a now shortened defence with a one man advantage - like Sexton-loop with Ireland
Look to attack both wingers off the blind side with short passes to big carriers and the back 3, as well as snipes off 9
If their blitz is too fast up to bypass playing off 12 as above, start to use the snipe, chip and inside offloads. Keep them guessing.

Defence: Blitz led by Lealiifano, with 9 sweeping, run back kicks, tight fringe defence led by Myall.
With this set up, the Welsh 9-10-12 axis, we know what to expect. Double man Roberts to hold him up and use the likes of Robshaw to hit him early and tackle his momentum-making carries out of the game. Pressurise the 9 to stop him having the space to snipe. Little running from Biggar so press Roberts harder and expect a lot of kicking that we will run back.

Setpiece: Should be a good frontrow battle, look to scrummage fairly and get our ball out quickly to avoid tiring our props too much. Mix up options at the lineout, using the driving maul in their 22 and compete on the ground not in the air.

Other: Huge impact and cover of all positions on the bench for if the game breaks up - we have gamechangers in the backs and dynamism/athletiscism in the forwards. However, if we don't NEED to change the game, and the starting XV aren't too tired, we won't make changes.
Take any points on offer in this drizzle

Conditions updated

Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. Alisdair Dickinson	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Tom Savage	11. Waisake Naholo
05. Leone Nakawara	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jackson Wray	13. Huw Jones
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. James Short
08. Warren Whiteley	15. Mathew Tait

:-
16. Ken Owens 17. Joe Moody 18. Henry Thomas 19. Devin Toner 20. Jordan Taufua 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jules Plisson 23. Jonah Placid

*Use strong carriers to make initial bust and look to snipe down the fringes,
*Play an up tempo offloading game with 2 initial carriers before looking to go wide,
*Blitz defence led by Roberts,
*Use Warbs to slow down their ball,
*Impact bench to take on tired defences,
*We are safe in the league and are targeting the cup for silverware.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Greig Laidlaw (k)
02. Dane Coles (c)	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Dom Barrow	11. Tom Collins
05. Guido Petti	12. Francis Saili
06. Callum Clark	13. Vince Aso
07. Chris Henry	14. David Strettle
08. Jack O'Donaghue	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.George McGuigan 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Jacques Potgeiter 20. David Ewers 21. Will Chudley 22. Gareth Anscombe  23. Stuart McCloskey

Game plan - Use the big pack to really put their front 5 under pressure, compete hard for the ball at the ruck to get on top of their back row, and challenge Beauxis. Look to put their number 8 and scrum half combo under pressure at every set piece and ruck, we think they can be targeted

Set piece - Look to really put their props under maximum pressure with Mullan and Big Ben, we've got a great scrummaging lock pairing to help. If no weakness, use as restart. Petti to call lineout, mark their second rows and force long throws . On our ball, use the back row options to mix it up

Breakdown - Clark, Henry and Coles to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. Coles able to split staying close to the ruck, or turning the ball over in wider areas . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success.

Kicking - Laidlaw and Jackson as primary kickers, Miller and Saili to offer options outside with their accurate boots. Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man

Attack - Laidlaw to get the ball out quickly to the in form Jackson, and get our exciting centre combo through gaps. Challenge them defensively with Saili's footwork running hard lines at their channel with the back 3 coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at Beauxis to put them on the back foot off first phase

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use a blitz in their territory, in ours use the drift to maintain the line and challenge them to beat us one on one

Bench - Big carrying forwards throughout and talented, pacy backs to see us home

Connacht:  

15 Robbie Henshaw, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Peter Robb, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Shane O'Leary, 9 John Cooney, 8 Eoin McKeon, 7 James Connolly, 6 John Muldoon (c), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Andrew Browne, 3 Rodney Ah You, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Denis Buckley

Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Sean O'Brien, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Cormac Brennan, 23 Danie Poolman

Cardiff Blues:

15 Rhys Patchell, 14 Dan Fish, 13 Garyn Smith, 12 Rey Lee-Lo, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Lloyd Williams, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Sam Warburton, 5 James Down, 4 Josh Turnbull, 3 Taufa'ao Filise, 2 Matthew Rees, 1 Gethin Jenkins (c)

Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Brad Thyer, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Jarrad Hoeata, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Lewis Jones, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Aled Summerhill

Bordeaux

15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin, 14. Metuisela Talebula, 13. Adam Ashley-Cooper 12. Julien Rey, 11. Blair Connor, 10. Lionel Beauxis, 9. Yann Lesgourgues, 8. Peter Saili, 7. Hugh Chalmers, 6. Louis-Benoit Madaule, 5. Berend Botha, 4. Julien Ledevedec, 3. Sekope Kepu, 2. Ole Avei, 1. Steven Kitshoff

Replacements: 16. Clement Maynardier, 17. Sebastien Taofifenua 18. Jean Baptiste Poux 19. Cyril Cazeaux 20 Loann Goujon 21. Baptiste Senin 22. Pierre Bernard 23. Felix Le Bourhis

Predictions Open

Not to sure who they are going to, I believe Pooly!

Predictions to SJE please

RESULTS:

Gloucester 33 (T:4 C:2 P:3)
Connacht 22 (T:1 C:1 P:5)

Exeter Chiefs 34 (T:4 C:4 P:2)
Cardiff Blues 19 (T:1 C:1 P:4)

Newcastle Falcons 30 (T:4 C:3 P:2)
Bordeaux 20 (T:1 P:5)

Wasps 27 (T:3 C:3 P:2)
Worcester 23 (T:2 C:2 P:3)

Gloucester 28 - 20 Connacht

Connacht have some very good players, but can't see them getting a foothold in the game with the quality and power up front from the Glos side. Back row will dominate, then their halfbacks have the class to get those quality backs moving. Fairly comfortable home win

Glos 28-24 Connacht
Glos lucky that Connacht have been hit hard by recent half back injuries. Connacht have a lot of grunt about them and could cause issues in the back row with only Moriarty performing well for Glos. Think Glos do have enough off the bench and their half backs are the step up they need against Connacht. It's a win but won't be easy.

Gloucester 24 - 17 Connacht

Connacht are greater than the sum of their parts and cannot be underestimated. But Individually Gloucester are far ahead, on top in every position including subs. Comfortable win for the home team.

Gloucester 35-20 Connacht
Gloucester put out a strong team and at home they dominate all over

Gloucester 32 - 24 Connaught
Better pack, set piece ball and backs for the home side.

Gloucester 32-24 Connacht

Not the strongest Connacht side and with some good form for Glaws in the backs this should be comfortable

Exeter 32 - 19 Cardiff

The Welsh sides are poor, and can't see them threatening the Exeter pack at all, who look pretty strong. Cardiff better in the backs, but still can't match up to Chiefs outside of 10 and 15 where they're arguably stronger. Easy home win

Chiefs 30-24 Blues
Chiefs 2nd row and back row can get on top of the Blues here. Blues back row been performing well recently but, Warbs aside, Chiefs are a step up in quality and a lot of grunt. Out wide and on the bench Chiefs will keep the pressure on leaving the Blues behind with a much stronger bench. Tactics from Chiefs targeting right areas and short and simple to understand too!!

Chiefs 30 - 21 Blues

Chiefs can attack Jenkins at the scrum. They look to impose themselves physically and grind Cardiff down, and I think their pack gets well on top to manage that. That backrow is very physical and will make yards against the Blues, and although Cardiff have decent backs, esp 9-10 and 15, the Exeter control at halfback and power through Nonu makes this an easy win

Exeter 30-22 Cardiff

Unsure on the Exeter front row but past that they control the pack contest. It's a similar story in the backs with Exeter not fully firing but having enough to come away with a decent home win.

Exeter 28-23 Cardiff
Exeter have a few more issues as they bed in new players and Cardiff have a bit of quality but they get the job done.

Exeter Chiefs 33 - 12 Cardiff
Welsh teams have been pretty poor this year and just too much quality for Chiefs at home.

Exeter Chiefs 23-9 Cardiff Blues

any sides from our league win easy in challenge. Cardiff poor Chiefs Have firepower easy win

Chiefs 33-18 Cardiff

Quality through the Chiefs side and his is a good chance for them to integrate a few new players

Some in depth explanations for my game towards the end 

Do we know who is playing who in the semi's?

Just checking now Fluxy. Draw will be up in next 5 mins

 Cool beans!

Semi Finals:

Gloucester v Wasps
Exeter Chiefs v Newcastle Falcons

Home advantage still applies

Well won Cj, any chance.of the feedback from our game.please?

And mine!

Falcons 29-23 Bordeaux
Front row battle will be close but back 5 to Falcons especially with their breakdown tactics to create good ball for them and how they are using 3 key players to slow down their ball. Good half back pairing for Falcons will see the pressure they want on Beauxis and getting quick ball away. Outside of this and on the bench Falcons can make headway and pull away for a good win.

Newcastle 24 - 20 Bordeaux

Bordeaux are a good side, with a very strong scrum which can match Falcons', and class in a few positions, namely 1, 3, 13 and 15 with a decent 10. However, outside of the front row, Falcons have a much better pack, the back 5 of it full of grit but also athleticism. Add in fairly equal backs, though nobody quite as good as AAC, and Laidlaw's kicking expertise and Newcastle grind out a win

Newcastle 27-22 Bordeaux

If this was at Bordeaux I'd fancy them to take this one. Falcons slightly underestimating a good French side and have a real arm wrestle in the pack. Halfbacks for Bordeaux are pretty dire and stop much momentum building, tight game but Falcons have enough.

Newcastle 27-20 Bordeaux
The French do not travel well and that means that Newcastle do not really need to get out of first gear.

Newcastle 30 - 21 Bordeaux
Home advantage, some real quality and the pack gives Newcastle a great home win.

Newcastle Falcons 25-13 Bordeaux Begles

good Side Bordeaux but French sides away and pace of Falcons win it

Falcons 26-22 Bordeaux

French don't usually travel well but Bordeaux tend to take these games a bit more seriously and will runa depleted Falcons side close.

Wasps 30 - 27 Worcester

Set piece looks pretty even, both tightheads should hold their own and can see it being a stalemate, Wasps perhaps slightly edge lineout. Back row battle looks great, think CJ will get the edge at the breakdown with the Robshaw/Barclay partnership. Cubelli a massive signing for Wasps, one a piece at halfback now. On paper the backlines are pretty even, but CJ has an excellent tactical setup to counter Roberts influence, and shows how he wants to attack. At home, Wasps win this despite a late rally from the Wuss bench

Wasps 24-26 Worcester

Worcester get a bit of control in the front 5's, Arous a miss for Wasps. Not much in the backrows, perhaps a slight advanatge for the home side with a good unit. Slight advantage in the Wuss halfbacks and similar in the centres with both sides having a player who can be targeted. Bit more again in the Wuss back 3 and they have enough to get a tough win.

Wasps 24-22 Warriors
Front five to Wasps. Back rows are tight to call, Wray is the weakness. Both the half back pairings are strong but I'd go to Warriors with the benefit of seeing it in real life. Outside of that it is probably Warriors but Wasps have enough at home in the forwards to get a big win.

Wasps 23 - 21 Worcester Warriors
Hardest game to predict on during the week, Spurling could be seen as a weak area for Wasps but the rest of their pack just has a great balance and liking the look of their backline too, especially 9-12 combination. Home advantage is just about decisive in this one.

London Wasps v Worcester Warriors19-18

Wasps sneak this with their backrow more street wise. Great half back battle. Wuss Rest some players And lose away. Vito and crews experience shade this

Wasps 24-23 Worc

Slight scrum edge for Worc but the backrow battle shades to Wasps. Halfbacks and midfield edge to Worc and feel they have more coming on from the bench. Real lack of a game plan is an issue though and prevents them from winning away for me.

Sorry guys thought I'd put it all up for some reason!

Cheers sirj