Aviva Premiership Round Seven

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Northampton Saints vs Gloucester Rugby
Franklin Gardens
Thick Cloud, 13 degrees, 7mph South Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Connor Murray
02. Dylan Hartley	10. George Ford
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Rieko Ioane
05. Jonny Gray	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Elliot Daly
07. Schalk Burger	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

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Replacements
16. Schalk Brits 17. Logi Mulipola 18. Zander Fagerson 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Facunda Isa 21. Joe Simpson 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Manuel Montero

Attributes:
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.  

Tactics
Play this game at speed and a real high intensity from the outset and look to test the Gloucester defence and make the most of the attacking conditions. We want to dominate the breakdown battle and impose our physicality on the Gloucester pack. We've picked a team with a lot of gain-line breakers and want to give our backline opportunities to exploit space.

With the conditions we will keep the ball in play and go on the offensive and have a bench picked for its impact in 2nd half.

Set Piece
Lineout - Hartley's throwing looking for quick ball with Launchbury, Gray, Pocock and Burger all options, aim to put LCD's throwing under pressure.
Scrum - Vunipola to use any opportunity to launch attacks on Cipriani and get us over the gain-line.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Gloucester defence to suck in players and create space outwide. Have picked a very abrasive backrow to add a real physical approach to the game and get an advantage in that area to force mistakes from the away side.

Breakdown
See attributes.

Attack
- Everything goes through Ford, he's in good form and we'll get him standing flat and bringing forwards and backs into the game and really attack Gloucester, especially looking to bring Ioane and AAC into the game.
- Target the Foloua/Dagg link at the back early on, see whether they are affected by the travel back from NZ and aim to catch them out early.
- Lot of good form in the backs in real life, will look for tries and getting the ball outwide to exploit space from gain-line success.  
- Impact bench to up the tempo in final 20/25 minutes, open up the game and look for tries.  

Defence
Blitz defence, with Murray sweeping behind. Murray, Ford and Daly to kick us out of trouble.

Keep scoreboard ticking over
Halfpenny to kick all penalties, with Daly going for 3 points 50+ metres out.

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Gloucester 
Manager – Matt

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Danny Cipriani (k)
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Jonny May
05. Tomas Lavanini	12. Matt Toomua
06. Willem Alberts	13. Will Addison
07. Julian Salvi	14. Israel Dagg
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Israel Folau

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Subs: 16. Rob Evans , 17. Joe Grey, 18. Uini Atonio, 19. Elliott Stooke, 20. Ross Moriarty, 21. Will Genia, 22. Billy Burns, 23. Charlie Walker

Glos go to saints with a lot of players back from int duty and

We will look tonbuild momentum until an opportunity arises. We will also look to take it to saints physically with our front 5.

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Breakdown (Turnover Possession) - Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Choke tackle: Tacklers look where possible to hold the opposition up and force the turnover

Great to be at home with conditions for running rugby. Our game plan will be based around winning quick ball and moving the ball. We aim to take advantage of the weather and play at pace.
We will look to build phases and use the likes of Alberts , Heaslip, etzbeth, lavanini etc to get us across the gain line so we can play with quick ball.

we will look for Robson, Cipriani and Toomua to control the tempo of the game. Off static ball we will look to truck it up or kick for space but our aim is to play at pace. Addison has  has been on fire at 13 for Sale we will look to give him space to target daly's defence. With a back 3 of May, Dagg and folau they have to have all and we will look to get it to them as often as possible.

We will also be keen to test their ten channel with ford very willing but a small Man. We will Target him and look to flood numbers for the offload.

When we generate quick ball we will look to utilise our extreme gas out wide and create one on ones. Our wings are quick and elusive and can play.

Having ball players in 9-15 means we are able to slot in on any turnover and counter attack at pace.

We are looking to create space for our outside backs with  looking to exploit the space outwide. We will use toomua or Folau as a first receiver when we need to change things up.

In our own half when kicking we will use the boots of Robson, Cips and dagg to gain territory, looking to kick to touch so we can use our line out to steal possession and pressure the saints line out with Hartley rusty.

In defence And with such a physical pack we will be using the choke tackle to slow down and turnover ball. When it gets to deck we will look to attack the breakdown with the first man there looking to win the penalty or the turnover.

We will look to use the up then out drift defence on the call of the scrum half or full back as in conditions like this it's harder to use as the ball player has more time on the ball. It's a day when blitz is ineffective

Cipriani to kick all penalties in range

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Bristol Rugby vs Sale Sharks
Ashton Gate
Light Cloud, 13 degrees, 5mph South Easterly Winds 

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Bristol Rugby
Manager: CJ

01. James Slipper	09. Kahn Fotua'li
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Mike Ross
04. Sam Carter	11. Rene Ranger
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Piers Francis
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van der Flier	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

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16. Loni Uhila 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Sekope Kepu 19. Kearnan Myall 20  Carl Fearns, 21. Tomas Cubelli, 22. Nick Tompkins 23. Craig Gilroy

Tactics:

Attributes:
Attacking:
1) Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
2)  Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Defending:
1) Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. 
2) Breakdown - Organised Ruck defence: with guards and body guards set, allowing the rest of the line to set off them.

Tactics

Breakdown- Team approach at the breakdown with twin fetchers and support with high impact, group work clearing from the rest of the pack.

Sale are strong here in the Second row backing up their flankers, but we can bully Cane and POM off the ball with good body position and the team approach above, taking them early. We focus hard on spoiling, speeding up and turning over ball off first phase, when the extra breakdown risks of Itoje and Henderson will still be bound up, looking to slam their flankers off the ball and get our back 3 in there quickly. We think we can make a lot from this targeted, calculated approach. We will also look to use our big players to counterruck to disrupt Sale ball.

Attack- as usual we have twin playmakers at 10-12 and will be playing an incessant phase attack game, bridling up speed, using simple passes onto our power carriers like Uhila, Vito, Der Flier and Ranger and keeping the tempo up until a crack forms and our quicker players can make the break.

With Care not known for fringe defence, we will also look to carry around the corner of the ruck with our larger players and snipe with Fotuali'i.

We will also look to chip behind Nadolo, with his wide turning circle, with Ranger chasing at pace

Defence- blitz led by Francis, who will look to rush Eastmond with Vito also targeting Eastmond. This does 3 things-1) pressurises the key component in the loop plays that Sexton's sides love to use. 2) stops Eastmond from getting go forward and using his footwork to break the line and 3) knocks him back with more physical players, leading to gainline loss and ball we can attack at the breakdown. 

We will Run back kicks where possible and have a tight fringe defence looking out for Danny Care

Scrum- Sale are very tough here, So we will try to hold out against their front row and go hard expecting early subs with a strong bench to get some time against their tiring front row with our great bench options.

Lineout- we will mix up our throws to make it hard for Itoje to man mark anyone, and know that he is the clear main target for them. We won't target him in the air but look to wrap him up as he lands and kill the maul legally.

Other- we have a gamebreaking bench for once and I expect to use them all. 
Take all kickable points

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Iain Henderson	11. Ruan Combrinck
05. Maro Itoje	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Seta Taminavula
07. Sam Cane	14. Nemani Nadolo
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Dave Attwood 20. CJ Stander 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Curwin Bosch 23. Simon Zebo


Attributes:
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it.
Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.  

Attack: We will be playing a high intensity phased attacking game. Look to use a rugby league shape with runners on the gain line and out the back door to force the opposition into making defensive decisions. Numerous playmakers across the back line allows us to constantly change the point of attack and restructure our attacking phases. Care to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

Breakdown: Quick ball is the aim on attack. Mobile pack and physical back line to clear out rucks and ensure we get it. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to give a target to hit. Defensively when the initial contact is won we will look to commit numbers and get over the ball turning it over or at least slowing opposition ball up. Otherwise we will strengthen the line. Double team of POM & Cane will look to target the ball with support of Itoje, Hendo and McGrath.

Defence: 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. Combrinck & Bendy to cover the background dropping deep to cut off the green grass available to kick into.

Scrum: Strong scrummaging unit in the front row with the support of a powerful 4-8 will look to get the better of the opposition and build a strong attacking platform. We will look to put a slight wheel on where possible to take the opposition backrow out of play and then attack the space available and look for one on ones in the backline.

Lineout: Five mobile, athletic jumpers allows us to genuinely mix it up on attacking ball. Primarily looking to get the backs on the ball in space. Defensively Itoje to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball while POM marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

Lineout: Genuine game changing impact from the bench with Marx, Attwood & Stander adding power and De Klerk & Zebo adding pace to the game.

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Harlequins v Worcester Warriors
Twickenham Stoop
Mist, 14 degrees, 4mph South Easterly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cian Healy	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy (c)	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Bundee Aki
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Jaco Kriel	14. Yoann Huget
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damien McKenzie (k)

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16. Scott Baldwin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Damien Chouly 20. Steffon Armitage 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Robbie Henshaw

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

Look to use the boots of Jantjies and McKenzie clear us out of our 22m and aim for tough. Outside our 22, we will look to build phases using Aki and our pack to get us go forward before bringing in our backs to exploit the spaces out wide but will mix this with attacking up and under's and cross field kicks with the aim of retaining possession.

In the opposition half, we will look to keep the ball and play at a quick tempo. We will aim to get over the gain line before looking to get our back line involved.

In defence we will look use the drift defence and the chop tackle to stop Worcester gaining momentum and to allow us to pick off turn overs through Kriel, Clifford and Creevy in particular.

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Ali Dickinson	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Leone Nakawara	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Jaime Roberts
06. Mike Williams	13. Huw Jones
07. Sam Warburton ©	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jarrad Payne

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16. Ken Owens 17. Val Ruskin 18. Henry Thomas 19. Devin Toner 20. Jackson Wray 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Sergeal Petersen
Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle

• We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Quins danger from their big carriers and set piece.
  
• We will play a controlled game, not looking to overly use the offloading-only when on. Biggar will look for territory with Nakawara and Maestri looking to put pressure on the Quins lineout.
  
• Big carriers up front looking to offload if the conditions allow possible although being mindful of the encroaching defence and we will have support runners on their shoulders, we have brought in Maestri for the added weight,
  
• Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Warburton bringing the turnover attribute,
  
• We have Wray and Toner to add energy into the second half and will look to use his link play against tired legs,
  
• In these conditions the breakdown will be scrappy and the first man there will look to go for the ball using our turnover attribute. If it is obviously lost we will fan out. If Quins under-commit we will look to drive through them for the turnover,
  
• Look to not commit too much to their breakdown if the ball is lost and use blitz defence led by Roberts allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Quins playing a quick tempo game,
  
• Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off Roberts and Jones, we will use Dulin and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
  
• When nothing is on Biggar will go for territory and also use  his 'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
  
• We will use Payne and the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep Quins guessing and allow Roberts the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
  
• Thompstone is in great form and has scored against top class defences in the Prem,
  
• Take all kickable penalties
  

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Saracens vs Leicester Tigers
Allianz Park
Light Cloud, 13 degrees, 5mph Southerly Winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. George North
05. Ed Slater	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. John Hardie	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

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16. Richard Hibbard 17. Alex Waller 18. Paul Hill 19. Geoff Parling 20. Will Fraser 21. Lee Dickson 22. Pat Lambie 23. Lionel Mapoe

Tactics:

Defensive:

Blitz Defence - Get in the face of the opposition and allow them very little time on the ball.
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Attacking:


Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch
Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid

TARGET BREAKDOWN & OUT MUSCLE THE Tigers BACKROW - Look for turnover or slowing down ball with numerous options in Cole, Guirado, Hardie, Thompson and Hughes. 

TARGET SCRUM - MUJATI - Look to isolate Mujati and allow Smith to work on him.

PUT PRESSURE ON HALFBACKS & PURDY - Look to send big runners down Burns channel as well as giving him very little time on the ball. Once on the back foot we'll look to keep the tempo up. Look to swap wingers and really target Purdy in defence. Get North running at him early on and put him off his game.

USE THE ROLLING MAUL - Big pack put out by us today. Look to use this to our advantage and get the rolling maul on, eating up the yards in the Tigers half.

OUTSTANDING HOME FORM - We're building a fortress at home, look to keep the intensity and pressure on throughout the game.

General - We'll be playing a structured physical game from the off, look to get at the opposition and target the breakdown. We'll look to tie the opposition in with our physical pack/carrying options and then get at their outisde backs, more so in their half. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work. Looking to bring in the opposition pack and then use big carrying options to punch holes through their defence. Look to control the tempo and areas we play with kicking options at halfback.

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 TH and Hooker will look to target LH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow LH to work on TH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out – Look for safe ball with world class line out options and experience. Will allow SH good clean ball and have big carriers running off the 9 at angles. Look to target opposition throw and put pressure on the hooker.

Defence - Blitz defence with high intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player if the ball hits the deck. physical pack that can look to get at the collision and breakdown allowing a chance to slow down/steal ball. Put pressure on SH's basics and force him into errors. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp 22 territory. Scrum half to dictate play from the breakdown and runners on his shoulder. Huge carrying pack to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Midfield to run angles off the 9/10, allowing us gain line breakers. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Wingers will look to track the midfield combo.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Mikheil Nariashvili	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Hika Elliott	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Dominic Bird	12. Francois Steyn
06. Sam Jones	13. Gaël Fickou
07. Juan Martin Fernadez Lobbe	14. Sean Maitland
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

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Subs: 16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Dave Ward 18. Lasha Tibadze 19. Pascal Pape 20. Don Armand 21. Antoine Dupont 22. James Lang 23. Ben Teo'o

In reasonable 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 however, and will use the boots of Steyn, Burns and Brown 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. Look to make use of quick rucks and recycling quickly, to prevent the big Sarries pack from effecting the game and running them off their feet. Burns will take the ball to the line and tempt someone to rush out of the line, creating holes for our back line to exploit. Look to emphasize our attributes this week, which play against how Saracens negate a game and secure victories. 

In defence, as always we will be utilising our effective blitz defence. Our focus will be on the gain line collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us, to prevent the big Sarries carries momentum and forcing their support to give away penalties, because the tackle has been made behind the gain line. Hougaard will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics 

• Line-out: Nothing flash. Hit our front and middle jumpers and ensure that we secure our ball. We will also mix it up, shortening the line-out and using our back row as crash ball options off the top. On Saracens ball put pressure on through Bird and Lobbe, who are athletic line-out jumpers and man mark Slater.
  
• Scrum: Get low and underneath their props and drive straight. Really test their props technical abilities rather than get in to a battle of strength.
  
• 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 over commit, 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 slow up momentum, or turn over possession. Key for us is being selective. This week, we want men to get to the breakdown quickly and take the space which will make Sarries ball either slow, or infringe. We have the pace in our back five to beat the Sarries back five to most breakdowns.
  
• Attacking Play: We will be looking to play a fast 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 also utilise the pick and go, meaning their defensive line cannot blitz efficiently. We will then we will look to exploit the delay in their blitz that results. We will then look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps. Hougaard to also look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time, with his quick feet and delivery.
  
• Tactical Kicking:  If we kick, we will look to kick in behind their wingers and get them on the turn going back towards their own line, with our wingers on the kick chase to really target them defensively. Burns and Steyn can take the ball to the line and kick in behind the defense, to get our wingers either on the end of the grubber, or pin back Saracens. 
  
  

Tigers Attributes
Defensive Traits

• Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
  
• Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. 
  

Attacking Traits

• Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid.
  
• Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
  

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Wasps v Newcastle Falcons
Ricoh Arena
Light Cloud, 13 degrees, 7mph South Westerly Winds

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Wasps
Manager - Driver

01. Joe Marler	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Frans Malherbe
04. RG Snyman	11. Marland Yarde
05. Alun Wyn Jones (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Luther Burrell
07. Tom Wood	14. Jesse Kriel
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Anthony Watson

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16. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Davey Wilson, 19. Dom Barrow, 20. Louis Picamoles, 21. Mitchell Drummond, 22. Henry Slade, 23. Tim Nanai Williams

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Luke Morahan
05. Lood De Jager	12. Scott Williams
06. Pablo Matera	13. Luke Marshall
07. Francois Louw	14. David Strettle
08. Elliott Dixon	15. Charles Piutau

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16.Camille Chat 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Matt Symons 20. Callum Clark 21. Will Chudley 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Rob Miller

Attributes
Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown: Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it

Game plan

Target Malherbe - He hasn't had a lot of rugby, and will look to pile on the pressure behind Mullan's technique

Target Cruden - Look to get our big carriers going at him, put them on the back foot with Serfontein's power in attack, and Farrell putting the pressure on him with the blitz. He's been away with the ABs, and we think they lack an alternative playmaker outside of Cruden, and if we can bottle him up we'll have the advantage

Alternate playmakers Use Marshall/Piutau to split the field as alternate first receivers, look to create mismatches on the outside

Target the 13 channel and Kriel's wing , we've got the pace to target them with Piutau to come into the line and attack the 13 channel to test Burrell in defence, he has been playing a lot of 12 for Saints. Kriel not a natural winger, test his positioning

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

Breakdown - Back row and hooker to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. Our openside is charged with keeping their main breakdown threat off our ball, and target turnovers if one of their carriers gets isolated

Kicking - Options throughout the backs . Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man. Challenge wings positioning, Wings free to drop back for the counter off their kicks

Attack - Run our attack off 9 who sets the tempo, constantly change the point of attack and get our 10 quick ball.. Challenge their 10 defensively with our power backs cutting in running hard lines at his channel with the full back coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at 10/12 all day long to put them on the back foot off first phase, see how they handle it.  

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use the blitz defence to put them on the back foot,  Farrell to set the tone in defence with Campagnaro putting pressure on their midfield

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

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Exeter Chiefs v Bath Rugby
Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 13 degrees, 6mph South Easterly Winds

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw (k)
02. Tom Youngs	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Noa Nakaitaci
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Teimana Harrison	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parisse	15. James Lowe

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Subs: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Juandre Kruger, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Nic White, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Maxime Medard

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch.
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line.

We will play a territory game and use Laidlaw and Lozowski to get us in the right areas. Nakaitaci can come in off his wing to look for work and Nonu to be used as a crash ball option.

Laidlaw to kick all pens in range to keep score ticking over.

We will use Youngs, Lawes, Ewers, Sinckler, Harrison and Nonu as our main carriers to tire out Bath defenders. Harrison will be a nuisance at the breakdown to slow their ball down. We have not gone with a specialist fetcher 7 but will look to be physical at the breakdown and slow down opposition ball and look to drive through.

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Rory Best	10. Finn Russell
03. Samson Lee
04. Will Skelton	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Damian De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Christian Wade
08. Toby Falateu	15. Andy Goode

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16. Ellis Genge 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Mitch Lees 20. Josh Beaumont 21. Takera Kerr Barlow 22. Gwoegw Moala 23. Liam Williams

Attributes:
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby and put Exeter under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench. Our kicking attack will look to win the territory battle.

Scrum: Use the set piece to get quick ball to restart our play. Skelton really gives our scrum extra power. Falateu will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Skelton and Kitchener options in the lineout. Kitchener will run the line out. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul. We think we can dominate here against a poor set of jumpers. Skelton will vary the throw by offering a quick ball option at the front. 

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Gill is brilliant at the breakdown and we will also look to get the rest of the pack looking to help and clear out. 

Defence: Run a blitz defence. Wigglesworth to drift behind expecting kicks.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wiggles will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Russell will play flat and use his creativity to bring in the back line and make plays. He will be given a freedom to be creative. Look to bring in the rest of the back line, especially JD2 who we would like to get running at defenders. Williams and  Imhoff are very skilful and if the ball gets to them will look to draw in defenders. The pack will also be involved when we have the ball for a prolonged period. We have strong carriers who excel in the loose. Look to get the ball in the hands of EBA, Lee and Falateu in order to break the line and make yards. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Exploit the holes we create and look to tire out Warriors which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

Kicking: Russell will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Russell, Wigglesworth, Williams and Goode all have the boots necessary to try and put us in a good position territorially if need. 

Substitutes: Keep a high tempo with all our internationals off the bench.

---

Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Connor Murray
02. Dylan Hartley	10. George Ford
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Rieko Ioane
05. Jonny Gray	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Ashley Johnson	13. Elliot Daly
07. Schalk Burger	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

|
Replacements
16. Schalk Brits 17. Logi Mulipola 18. Zander Fagerson 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Facunda Isa 21. Joe Simpson 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Manuel Montero

Attributes:
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.

Tactics
Play this game at speed and a real high intensity from the outset and look to test the Gloucester defence and make the most of the attacking conditions. We want to dominate the breakdown battle and impose our physicality on the Gloucester pack. We've picked a team with a lot of gain-line breakers and want to give our backline opportunities to exploit space.

With the conditions we will keep the ball in play and go on the offensive and have a bench picked for its impact in 2nd half.

Set Piece
Lineout - Hartley's throwing looking for quick ball with Launchbury, Gray, Pocock and Burger all options, aim to put LCD's throwing under pressure.
Scrum - Vunipola to use any opportunity to launch attacks on Cipriani and get us over the gain-line.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Gloucester defence to suck in players and create space outwide. Have picked a very abrasive backrow to add a real physical approach to the game and get an advantage in that area to force mistakes from the away side.

Breakdown
See attributes.

Attack
- Everything goes through Ford, he's in good form and we'll get him standing flat and bringing forwards and backs into the game and really attack Gloucester, especially looking to bring Ioane and AAC into the game.
- Target the Foloua/Dagg link at the back early on, see whether they are affected by the travel back from NZ and aim to catch them out early.
- Lot of good form in the backs in real life, will look for tries and getting the ball outwide to exploit space from gain-line success.
- Impact bench to up the tempo in final 20/25 minutes, open up the game and look for tries.

Defence
Blitz defence, with Murray sweeping behind. Murray, Ford and Daly to kick us out of trouble.

Keep scoreboard ticking over
Halfpenny to kick all penalties, with Daly going for 3 points 50+ metres out.

I'm Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. James Slipper	09. Kahn Fotua'li
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Mike Ross
04. Sam Carter	11. Rene Ranger
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Piers Francis
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van der Flier	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Loni Uhila 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Sekope Kepu 19. Kearnan Myall 20  Carl Fearns, 21. Tomas Cubelli, 22. Nick Tompkins 23. Craig Gilroy

Tactics:

Attributes:

Attacking:
1) Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
2)  Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Defending:
1) Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. 
2) Breakdown - Organised Ruck defence: with guards and body guards set, allowing the rest of the line to set off them.

Tactics

Breakdown-

Team approach at the breakdown with twin fetchers and support with high impact, group work clearing from the rest of the pack.

Sale are strong here in the Second row backing up their flankers, but we can bully Cane and POM off the ball with good body position and the team approach above, taking them early. We focus hard on spoiling, speeding up and turning over ball off first phase, when the extra breakdown risks of Itoje and Henderson will still be bound up, looking to slam their flankers off the ball and get our back 3 in there quickly. We think we can make a lot from this targeted, calculated approach. We will also look to use our big players to counterruck to disrupt Sale ball.

Attack- as usual we have twin playmakers at 10-12 and will be playing an incessant phase attack game, bridling up speed, using simple passes onto our power carriers like Uhila, Vito, Der Flier and Ranger and keeping the tempo up until a crack forms and our quicker players can make the break.

With Care not known for fringe defence, we will also look to carry around the corner of the ruck with our larger players and snipe with Fotuali'i.

We will also look to chip behind Nadolo, with his wide turning circle, with Ranger chasing at pace

Defence- blitz led by Francis, who will look to rush Eastmond with Vito also targeting Eastmond. This does 3 things-1) pressurises the key component in the loop plays that Sexton's sides love to use. 2) stops Eastmond from getting go forward and using his footwork to break the line and 3) knocks him back with more physical players, leading to gainline loss and ball we can attack at the breakdown. 

We will Run back kicks where possible and have a tight fringe defence looking out for Danny Care

Scrum- Sale are very tough here, So we will try to hold out against their front row and go hard expecting early subs with a strong bench to get some time against their tiring front row with our great bench options.

Lineout- we will mix up our throws to make it hard for Itoje to man mark anyone, and know that he is the clear main target for them. We won't target him in the air but look to wrap him up as he lands and kill the maul legally.

Other- we have a gamebreaking bench for once and I expect to use them all. 
Take all kickable points

Didn't realise it was AP games again, I could have done this week Flux.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Patrick Tuipulotu	11. George North
05. Ed Slater	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. John Hardie	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Stuart Hogg

:-
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Alex Waller 18. Paul Hill 19. Geoff Parling 20. Will Fraser 21. Lee Dickson 22. Pat Lambie 23. Lionel Mapoe

Tactics:

Defensive:

Blitz Defence - Get in the face of the opposition and allow them very little time on the ball.

Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Attacking:

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch

Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid

TARGET BREAKDOWN & OUT MUSCLE THE Tigers BACKROW - Look for turnover or slowing down ball with numerous options in Cole, Guirado, Hardie, Thompson and Hughes.

TARGET SCRUM - MUJATI - Look to isolate Mujati and allow Smith to work on him.

PUT PRESSURE ON HALFBACKS & PURDY - Look to send big runners down Burns channel as well as giving him very little time on the ball. Once on the back foot we'll look to keep the tempo up. Look to swap wingers and really target Purdy in defence. Get North running at him early on and put him off his game.

USE THE ROLLING MAUL - Big pack put out by us today. Look to use this to our advantage and get the rolling maul on, eating up the yards in the Tigers half.

OUTSTANDING HOME FORM - We're building a fortress at home, look to keep the intensity and pressure on throughout the game.

General - We'll be playing a structured physical game from the off, look to get at the opposition and target the breakdown. We'll look to tie the opposition in with our physical pack/carrying options and then get at their outisde backs, more so in their half. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work. Looking to bring in the opposition pack and then use big carrying options to punch holes through their defence. Look to control the tempo and areas we play with kicking options at halfback.

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 TH and Hooker will look to target LH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow LH to work on TH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out – Look for safe ball with world class line out options and experience. Will allow SH good clean ball and have big carriers running off the 9 at angles. Look to target opposition throw and put pressure on the hooker.

Defence - Blitz defence with high intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player if the ball hits the deck. physical pack that can look to get at the collision and breakdown allowing a chance to slow down/steal ball. Put pressure on SH's basics and force him into errors. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp 22 territory. Scrum half to dictate play from the breakdown and runners on his shoulder. Huge carrying pack to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Midfield to run angles off the 9/10, allowing us gain line breakers. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Wingers will look to track the midfield combo.

Conditions updated

Pooly, not to worry mate, wanted to get the thread up to allow as much time as possible for everyone!

Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Mikheil Nariashvili	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Hika Elliott	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Brian Mujati
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Dominic Bird	12. Francois Steyn
06. Sam Jones	13. Gaël Fickou
07. Juan Martin Fernadez Lobbe	14. Sean Maitland
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

.
Subs: 16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Dave Ward 18. Lasha Tibadze 19. Pascal Pape 20. Don Armand 21. Antoine Dupont 22. James Lang 23. Ben Teo'o


In reasonable 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 however, and will use the boots of Steyn, Burns and Brown 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. Look to make use of quick rucks and recycling quickly, to prevent the big Sarries pack from effecting the game and running them off their feet. Burns will take the ball to the line and tempt someone to rush out of the line, creating holes for our back line to exploit. Look to emphasize our attributes this week, which play against how Saracens negate a game and secure victories. 

In defence, as always we will be utilising our effective blitz defence. Our focus will be on the gain line collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us, to prevent the big Sarries carries momentum and forcing their support to give away penalties, because the tackle has been made behind the gain line. Hougaard will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics 

• Line-out: Nothing flash. Hit our front and middle jumpers and ensure that we secure our ball. We will also mix it up, shortening the line-out and using our back row as crash ball options off the top. On Saracens ball put pressure on through Bird and Lobbe, who are athletic line-out jumpers and man mark Slater.
  
• Scrum: Get low and underneath their props and drive straight. Really test their props technical abilities rather than get in to a battle of strength.
  
• 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 over commit, 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 slow up momentum, or turn over possession. Key for us is being selective. This week, we want men to get to the breakdown quickly and take the space which will make Sarries ball either slow, or infringe. We have the pace in our back five to beat the Sarries back five to most breakdowns.
  
• Attacking Play: We will be looking to play a fast 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 also utilise the pick and go, meaning their defensive line cannot blitz efficiently. We will then we will look to exploit the delay in their blitz that results. We will then look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps. Hougaard to also look to snipe around the fringes and keep us going forwards all the time, with his quick feet and delivery.
  
• Tactical Kicking:  If we kick, we will look to kick in behind their wingers and get them on the turn going back towards their own line, with our wingers on the kick chase to really target them defensively. Burns and Steyn can take the ball to the line and kick in behind the defense, to get our wingers either on the end of the grubber, or pin back Wasps. 
  
  

Tigers Attributes
Defensive Traits

• Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
  
• Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. 
  

Attacking Traits

• Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid.
  
• Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
  

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cian Healy	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy (c)	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Bundee Aki
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Jaco Kriel	14. Yoann Huget
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damien McKenzie (k)

16. Scott Baldwin 17. Richard Barrington 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Damien Chouly 20. Steffon Armitage 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Robbie Henshaw

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

Look to use the boots of Jantjies and McKenzie clear us out of our 22m and aim for tough. Outside our 22, we will look to build phases using Aki and our pack to get us go forward before bringing in our backs to exploit the spaces out wide but will mix this with attacking up and under's and cross field kicks with the aim of retaining possession.

In the opposition half, we will look to keep the ball and play at a quick tempo. We will aim to get over the gain line before looking to get our back line involved.

In defence we will look use the drift defence and the chop tackle to stop Worcester gaining momentum and to allow us to pick off turn overs through Kriel, Clifford and Creevy in particular.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Luke Morahan
05. Lood De Jager	12. Scott Williams
06. Pablo Matera	13. Luke Marshall
07. Francois Louw	14. David Strettle
08. Elliott Dixon	15. Charles Piutau

:-
16.Camille Chat 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Matt Symons 20. Callum Clark 21. Will Chudley 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Rob Miller

Attributes
Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown: Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it

Game plan

Target Malherbe - He hasn't had a lot of rugby, and will look to pile on the pressure behind Mullan's technique

Target Cruden - Look to get our big carriers going at him, put them on the back foot with Serfontein's power in attack, and Farrell putting the pressure on him with the blitz. He's been away with the ABs, and we think they lack an alternative playmaker outside of Cruden, and if we can bottle him up we'll have the advantage

Alternate playmakers Use Marshall/Piutau to split the field as alternate first receivers, look to create mismatches on the outside

Target the 13 channel and Kriel's wing , we've got the pace to target them with Piutau to come into the line and attack the 13 channel to test Burrell in defence, he has been playing a lot of 12 for Saints. Kriel not a natural winger, test his positioning

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

Breakdown - Back row and hooker to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. Our openside is charged with keeping their main breakdown threat off our ball, and target turnovers if one of their carriers gets isolated

Kicking - Options throughout the backs . Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man. Challenge wings positioning, Wings free to drop back for the counter off their kicks

Attack - Run our attack off 9 who sets the tempo, constantly change the point of attack and get our 10 quick ball.. Challenge their 10 defensively with our power backs cutting in running hard lines at his channel with the full back coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at 10/12 all day long to put them on the back foot off first phase, see how they handle it.  

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use the blitz defence to put them on the back foot,  Farrell to set the tone in defence with Campagnaro putting pressure on their midfield

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

Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw (k)
02. Tom Youngs	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Noa Nakaitaci
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Teimana Harrison	14. JP Pietersen
08. Sergio Parisse	15. James Lowe

|
Subs: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Juandre Kruger, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Nic White, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Maxime Medard

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch.
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line.

We will play a territory game and use Laidlaw and Lozowski to get us in the right areas. Nakaitaci can come in off his wing to look for work and Nonu to be used as a crash ball option.

Laidlaw to kick all pens in range to keep score ticking over.

We will use Youngs, Lawes, Ewers, Sinckler, Harrison and Nonu as our main carriers to tire out Bath defenders. Harrison will be a nuisance at the breakdown to slow their ball down. We have not gone with a specialist fetcher 7 but will look to be physical at the breakdown and slow down opposition ball and look to drive through.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Ali Dickinson	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Leone Nakawara	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Jaime Roberts
06. Mike Williams	13. Huw Jones
07. Sam Warburton ©	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jarrad Payne

:-
16. Ken Owens 17. Val Ruskin 18. Henry Thomas 19. Devin Toner 20. Jackson Wray 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Sergeal Petersen
Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle

• We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Quins danger from their big carriers and set piece.
  
• We will play a controlled game, not looking to overly use the offloading-only when on. Biggar will look for territory with Nakawara and Maestri looking to put pressure on the Quins lineout.
  
• Big carriers up front looking to offload if the conditions allow possible although being mindful of the encroaching defence and we will have support runners on their shoulders, we have brought in Maestri for the added weight,
  
• Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Warburton bringing the turnover attribute,
  
• We have Wray and Toner to add energy into the second half and will look to use his link play against tired legs,
  
• In these conditions the breakdown will be scrappy and the first man there will look to go for the ball using our turnover attribute. If it is obviously lost we will fan out. If Quins under-commit we will look to drive through them for the turnover,
  
• Look to not commit too much to their breakdown if the ball is lost and use blitz defence led by Roberts allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Quins playing a quick tempo game,
  
• Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off Roberts and Jones, we will use Dulin and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
  
• When nothing is on Biggar will go for territory and also use his 'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
  
• We will use Payne and the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep Quins guessing and allow Roberts the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
  
• Thompstone is in great form and has scored against top class defences in the Prem,
  
• Take all kickable penalties.
  

Please delete the earlier team Fluxy.

Take this one as gospel

Wasps
Manager - Driver

01. Joe Marler	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Frans Malherbe
04. RG Snyman	11. Marland Yarde
05. Alun Wyn Jones (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Luther Burrell
07. Tom Wood	14. Jesse Kriel
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Anthony Watson

|
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Davey Wilson, 19. Dom Barrow, 20. Louis Picamoles, 21. Mitchell Drummond, 22. Henry Slade, 23. Tim Nanai Williams

Will do mate

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Iain Henderson	11. Ruan Combrinck
05. Maro Itoje	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Seta Taminavula
07. Sam Cane	14. Nemani Nadolo
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Dave Attwood 20. CJ Stander 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Curwin Bosch 23. Simon Zebo


Attributes:
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it.
Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.  

Attack: We will be playing a high intensity phased attacking game. Look to use a rugby league shape with runners on the gain line and out the back door to force the opposition into making defensive decisions. Numerous playmakers across the back line allows us to constantly change the point of attack and restructure our attacking phases. Care to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

Breakdown: Quick ball is the aim on attack. Mobile pack and physical back line to clear out rucks and ensure we get it. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to give a target to hit. Defensively when the initial contact is won we will look to commit numbers and get over the ball turning it over or at least slowing opposition ball up. Otherwise we will strengthen the line. Double team of POM & Cane will look to target the ball with support of Itoje, Hendo and McGrath.

Defence: 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. Combrinck & Bendy to cover the background dropping deep to cut off the green grass available to kick into.

Scrum: Strong scrummaging unit in the front row with the support of a powerful 4-8 will look to get the better of the opposition and build a strong attacking platform. We will look to put a slight wheel on where possible to take the opposition backrow out of play and then attack the space available and look for one on ones in the backline.

Lineout: Five mobile, athletic jumpers allows us to genuinely mix it up on attacking ball. Primarily looking to get the backs on the ball in space. Defensively Itoje to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball while POM marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

Lineout: Genuine game changing impact from the bench with Marx, Attwood & Stander adding power and De Klerk & Zebo adding pace to the game.

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Rory Best	10. Finn Russell
03. Samson Lee
04. Will Skelton	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Damian De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Christian Wade
08. Toby Falateu	15. Andy Goode

16. Ellis Genge 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Mitch Lees 20. Josh Beaumont 21. Takera Kerr Barlow 22. Gwoegw Moala 23. Liam Williams

Attributes:
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby and put Exeter under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench. Our kicking attack will look to win the territory battle.

Scrum: Use the set piece to get quick ball to restart our play. Skelton really gives our scrum extra power. Falateu will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Skelton and Kitchener options in the lineout. Kitchener will run the line out. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul. We think we can dominate here against a poor set of jumpers. Skelton will vary the throw by offering a quick ball option at the front. 

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Gill is brilliant at the breakdown and we will also look to get the rest of the pack looking to help and clear out. 

Defence: Run a blitz defence. Wigglesworth to drift behind expecting kicks.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Wiggles will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Russell will play flat and use his creativity to bring in the back line and make plays. He will be given a freedom to be creative. Look to bring in the rest of the back line, especially JD2 who we would like to get running at defenders. Williams and Imhoff are very skilful and if the ball gets to them will look to draw in defenders. The pack will also be involved when we have the ball for a prolonged period. We have strong carriers who excel in the loose. Look to get the ball in the hands of EBA, Lee and Falateu in order to break the line and make yards. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Exploit the holes we create and look to tire out Warriors which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

Kicking: Russell will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Russell, Wigglesworth, Williams and Goode all have the boots necessary to try and put us in a good position territorially if need. 

Substitutes: Keep a high tempo with all our internationals off the bench.

Gloucester 
Manager – Matt

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Danny Cipriani (k)
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Jonny May
05. Tomas Lavanini	12. Matt Toomua
06. Willem Alberts	13. Will Addison
07. Julian Salvi	14. Israel Dagg
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Israel Folau

|
Subs: 16. Rob Evans , 17. Joe Grey, 18. Uini Atonio, 19. Elliott Stooke, 20. Ross Moriarty, 21. Will Genia, 22. Billy Burns, 23. Charlie Walker

Glos go to saints with a lot of players back from int duty and

We will look tonbuild momentum until an opportunity arises. We will also look to take it to saints physically with our front 5.

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Breakdown (Turnover Possession) - Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Choke tackle : Tacklers look where possible to hold the opposition up and force the turnover
Great to be at home with conditions for running rugby. Our game plan will be based around winning quick ball and moving the ball.

We aim to take advantage of the weather and play at pace.

We will look to build phases and use the likes of Alberts , Heaslip, etzbeth, lavanini etc to get us across the gain line so we can play with quick ball.

we will look for Robson, Cipriani and Toomua to control the tempo of the game. Off static ball we will look to truck it up or kick for space but our aim is to play at pace. Addison has  has been on fire at 13 for Sale   we will look to give him space to target daly's defence.  With a back 3 of may dagg and folau they have to have all and we will look to get it to them as often as possible.

We will also be keen to test their ten channel with ford very willing but a small
Man . We will Target him and look to flood numbers for the offload.

When we generate quick ball we will look to utilise our extreme gas out wide and create one on ones. Our wings are quick and elusive and can play.

Having ball players in 9-15 means we are able to slot in on any turnover and counter attack at pace.

We are looking to create space for our outside backs with  looking to exploit the space outwide. We will use toomua or Folau as a first receiver when we need to change things up.

In our own half when kicking we will use the boots of Robson, Cips and dagg to gain territory, looking to kick to touch so we can use our line out to steal possession and pressure the saints line out with Hartley rusty.

In defence And with such a physical pack we will be using the choke tackle to slow down and turnover ball. When it gets to deck we will look to attack the breakdown with the first man there looking to win the penalty or the turnover.

We will look to use the up then out drift defence on the call of the scrum half or full back as in conditions like this it's harder to use as the ball player has more time on the ball. It's a day when blitz is ineffective

Cipriani to kick all penalties in range

Will update the page tomorrow morning if tactics need to be added

Will add tactics before
12 just back off flight and been long day

Round Seven Results:

Northampton Saints - 29 
(T: Murray, Herrera, Simpson C: Halfpenny [x1] P: Halfpenny [x3] DG: Ford [x1])
Gloucester Rugby - 22
(T: Folua, Stooke C: - P: Cipriani [x4])


Bristol Rugby - 22 
(T: Vito, Ryan C: - P: Gopperth [x3] DG: Gopperth [x1])
Sale Sharks - 26 *
(T: O'Mahony, Henderson, de Klerk C: Sexton [x1] P: Sexton [x3])


Harlequins - 26
(T: Clifford [x2], Baldwin C: McKenzie [x1] P: McKenzie [x3])
Worcester Warriors - 24
(T: Maestri, M Williams, Wray C: - P: Biggar [x3])


Saracens 26
(T: Thompson, North, Hill C: Sanchez [x1] P: Sanchez [x3])
Leicester Tigers - 21
(T: Elliott, Fickou C: Burns [x1] P: Burns[x3])


Wasps - 22
(T: Kriel, Wyn Jones C: - P: Cruden [x4] )
Newcastle Falcons - 28
(T: Louw, Dixon, Jackson C: Farrell [x2] P: Farrell [x3])


Exeter Chiefs 27
(T: Poirot, Ewers, White C: Laidlaw [x3] P: Laidlaw [x2])
Bath Rugby - 25
(T: Imhoff, Faletau, Best C: Russell [x2] P: Russell [x2])

Bonuses:
Full: Steve, Fluxy, Nick, Bam, Chris, Pooly, CJ
Scores: Prop

Much closer vs Johnny than I expect! Good game, mate. Still getting points from every match

I played Bath, not Newcastle!

Happy with another win regardless.

Northampton Saints 27 - 22 Gloucester Rugby
Saints pack has the form of Mako, Launch, Vunipola and the backs with the likes of Ford, Fofana, Daly playing so well, they will just have too much for Glos, who's pack keeps them competitive but away they come up short.

Northampton Saints 25 - 20 Gloucester Rugby
Saints look to bully a Gloucester side who probably have a bit more fetching work on the floor off the ball in the ruck, and have the physical pack to do so. Both sides work hard in the loose but the sheer power carrying in the Saints forwards gives them a big edge and they also edge the scrum and right to target LCD in lineout. The duel between contrasting 9-10 combos is fascinating and hard to call, both set ups reliant on the fluency of those combos. Gloucester have a better (lethal) back 3 and use them well but Saints' are solid and helped by classy centres. Saints have too much power

Northampton Saints 24 - 18 Gloucester Rugby
Saints with a front row edge with some good from from Mako giving them a scrum and outfield advantage. No real line out leader for either side but Saints more solid with LCD's throw unreliable, overall set piece to the home side. Not much in the 6's but a good step up for Saints at 7/8 giving them the backrow, especially in the carrying department. Both sets of halfbacks are exciting and threaten the fringes throughout the game. Saints raise it a level in the centres with some good form against a struggling Toomua and Addison, who is way out of his depth in this game. Really like Gloucester's back 3 but they'll just struggle to get into this one with Saints in control. Gloucester just lacking form in some key positions stops them really taking the game to the home side. 

Northampton Saints 26 - 25 Gloucester Rugby

Northampton Saints 24 - 22 Gloucester Rugby
A formidable Saints pack in the loose isn't matched by Gloucester who lack a bit of form for some key players in their pack. Saints behind the pack have a enough to make the most of the dominance up front though the Gloucester backs are stronger than their Saints counterparts which will allow Gloucester to keep it close.

Northampton Saints 26 - 24 Gloucester Rugby
This is the time of the season where Saints start to hit their straps, as their RC players come back into the fold and bolster the squad. Similar story with Gloucester, however the players that have been there since the start of the season are starting to feeling it a bit. It is just an edge toward the big Saints pack and to provide their backs with decent ball.

Northampton Saints 29 - 23 Gloucester Rugby
Mako's form gives Saints the scrum advantage, and I think they are stronger in the back row, locks pretty decent on both sides. Pretty even at halfback, possibly slight edge to Saints, think Glos have made an error by having Dagg/Folau straight back in a week on from playing down under, and against the quality of the Saints outside backs I can see them being carved open a couple of times, Saints win at home

Bristol Rugby 19 - 22 Sale Sharks
Quite a few injured players for Sale in real life, could be v good for them during AIs. Much prefer form of Bristol halfbacks, but more finishers in the Sale backline and strong pack gets them the away win.

Bristol Rugby 20 - 24 Sale Sharks
Sale are on good form and have a very strong pack that most teams will struggle with. Solid HB combo to get the likes of Nadolo front foot ball. I like the Bristol HB combo and they are both form players. But the pack and backline just comes up short against Sale.

Bristol Rugby 22 - 23 Sale Sharks

Bristol Rugby 21 - 25 Sale Sharks
Tough outing for Bristol after some moral boosting Euro games. Sale with a front 5 control and a strong backrow to compliment. I like the Bristol backrow and they'll certainly be competitive throughout the game, they just can't get much footing in the set piece. Quality against form in the halfbacks with me shading more towards the form on this occasion. A bit more in the centres for the away side and a stronger back 3 gives them a good away win with the Sale machine marching on. 

Bristol Rugby 22 - 23 Sale Sharks
Bristol are improving week by week with the squad coming together well and small changes and tweaks making a big difference. Sale are always strong in every game and are no different here. They need Care and Sexton to find some form quickly as their back line is struggling a bit with form and real life injuries. A very tight game.

Bristol Rugby 22 - 24 Sale Sharks
The Bristol pack has really come together in recent weeks and is a real tough task for the Sharks to break down. After the 60 minute mark the Sharks can start bringing on their bench and will get the better of the valiant Bristol side.

Bristol Rugby 20 - 24 Sale Sharks
Bristol have a pack that competes gamely, but the Sale pack is just so dominant at the moment, and the only possible weakness is a true lineout caller, which is tough for any side to exploit. Bristol set up well as always, but the backs just lack a little quality up against this Sale side, the tactical set up will spoil plenty of Sale attacks keeping this close, but Sale will get home in the end

Harlequins 24 - 21 Worcester Warriors
Not sure about the Quins halfback combination, but outside of them they have an amazing backline with three centres who are in exceptional form. The away team will get at the Quins pack, they could have some joy in the backrow battle as offer more grit and Morgan has got back into playing some good rugby. 

Harlequins 25 - 24 Worcester Warriors
lose game here that Quins shade. Not convinced by Jantjes at 10 but Aki helps out at 12 and McKenzie kicking takes some pressure off. Worc have a solid side but Quins edge it.

Harlequins 24 - 25 Worcester Warriors
With Brookes not at his best, Worcester edge the scrum. Quins are brilliant in the lineout and breakdown and win these however and have a lot of mobility and dangerous carrying in their pack. Worcester acknowledge this and work hard to counter it. Worcester also have a pack that works well within their overall attack. The attacking ability of Quins in the backs exceeds Worcester but Worcester have some more pragmatic players and make their approach far more clear and just steal a win

Harlequins 22 - 23 Worcester Warriors
Healy's lack of form is really hurting Quins and I need to side with the away side in the scrum due to this. Athletic v bruising in the locks with more lineout ability for the home side allowing them to gain some superiority in that department. Clifford's woeful form this season allows Worcester to apply some pressure in the backrow and get at the breakdown. Advantage to Worcester in the halfbacks but it's very close after that in a real close contest. I just think some big Quins form issues give Worcester the chance to steal a win. 

Harlequins 22 - 21 Worcester Warriors
One of the toughest contests this week to split. Both sides are strong at the set piece and have a good blend in the back lines to really attack and hold the defensive line. The seperating factor between boths sides is the pace of the Quins back five and their ability to get to the breakdown quickly, which allows them to keep the pressure on Warriors - and earn a late penalty to secure victory.

Harlequins 29 - 24 Worcester Warriors
The top sides are getting back their RC players now, and Quins look a lot stronger with the likes of Creevy and PDST back in the side, giving a real edge to their front 5. Worcester have a good set of props, but think their tight 5 lacks the quality to set a real platform, and will struggle from here. Worcester stronger at halfback, but the Quins outside backs will get enough ball, and think they can score the tries to get Quins home

Saracens 27 - 25 Leicester Tigers
Dan Cole aside, Sarries pack just lacks a world class option but it is strong enough to hold out against Tigers. Can see quite a few points scored in the backlines, with Sarries having a tremendous back three and Parra's kicking at the moment is world class, so they have a way of keeping the scoreboard moving there too. 

Saracens 18 - 16 Leicester Tigers
Can see this being a low scoring game. Packs are pretty even, both have good benches too. Sarries have more in the backline though to get them a home win.

Saracens 24 - 23 Leicester Tigers

Saracens 21 - 20 Leicester Tigers
Clever game plans playing to negate each other's strengths and exploit their weaknesses this week. Tigers try to remove Sarries strength at the breakdown, and may be partially successful but it's a hard pack to stop there. Saracens do edge the scrum. Tigers definitely win the lineout and the cat and mouse game between the packs will ebb and flow throughout the match. Some of Tigers' backs, namely Maitland, Burns and Brown, are finding form and making them a much more formidable side, but Saracens centres have a lot of class with canny operators at 9-10 and Hogg in form. This match goes with home advantage, just

Saracens 22 - 18 Leicester Tigers
Never easy to go to Saracens and Leicester lack a little bit of quality across their 23 to cause the upset away from home. Packs edge to Saracens with the backs a little more even but still a Saracens advantage. Good Home win.

Saracens 28 - 23 Leicester Tigers
Saracens pack looks to have the advantage in every area, and its a struggle to see how Leicester can really get a foothold in the game. I'd fancy Tigers pace to nick a couple of breakdowns, but eventually Sarries will wear them down in the pack, and have the backs to take advantage, especially against Purdy, who isnt up to this level. Sarries win

Wasps 20 - 25 Newcastle Falcons
No tactics from the home side, gives Falcons the win in what would have been a v close game. 

Wasps 23 - 23 Newcastle Falcons
Cannot split this one. Webb/Farrell will control the game nicely but Wasps have some good backs to score tries and level things up. packs are close, Wasps needs a few more form from some players.

Wasps 23 - 27 Newcastle Falcons
Wasps and Falcons have a very close match in the set piece, And I like both backrows. I think Falcons just edge te backrow though with a great balance and slightly better form. Wasps have picked the best backline I've seen from them in ages, and have a very solid centre pairing with a devastating back 3 outside 2 of the best attacking halfbacks in the world. Falcons have tactics though, and form in the HBs with a touch of class from Piutau and will win this

Wasps 22 - 27 Newcastle Falcons
No tactics for Wasps makes this a routine win for Falcons. 

Wasps 23 - 25 Newcastle Falcons
No tactics hinders Wasps as does the very one dimensional midfield outside Cruden who is not in his finest form. Newcastle are stronger from 1-15 and have the players able to manage the win away from home. A important away result.

Wasps 23 - 25 Newcastle Falcons
A tough one for Wasps, who are a little rudderless as of late, but their personnel are top class and will make a game of this against the Falcons. The organisation of Bam's pack is the difference in this game, with their ability to get up in the face of the big wasps pack quickly, enough to slow them down and halt their momentum.

Exeter Chiefs 32 - 31 Bath Rugby
Hardest game of the round to pick a winner. The Chiefs pack is really looking good and is ideally suited for the conditions. Both backlines will score tries for fun in the game, like the Chiefs no10 and power runners. The home side gets the narrowest of wins.

Exeter Chiefs 22 - 22 Bath Rugby
Bath have the slight edge in the scrum and the breakdown, and do offer a lot in the loose. Exeter seem less well specialised in these battles but exceptional in the loose, with Nonu too meaning they can make tons of yards with their power. Laidlaw-Lozowski works well together and Wriggles takes pressure off Finn Russell. There are sparks in each backline but the pack battle is really what decides this and the two focuses cancel out

Exeter Chiefs 25 - 25 Bath Rugby
Two cracking front rows on show and another good contest in the engine room, very little in the contest. Fantastic backrow tussle and again I find it very hard to separate the sides. Bath a little stronger in the 9-13 but not too much in it and similar story in the back 3. Great game and very hard to split. At home Bath would take it but Exeter strong and will be tough to turn over at home.

Exeter Chiefs 25 - 23 Bath Rugby
Probably the game of the round. The battle upfront is fascinating as they are two young and powerful packs. Half backs are edged to Exeter who have two guys in great form and not a lot in the outside backs with maybe an edge to Bath. A close game which is edged by the home side who have take a great win as we head into the Anglo Welsh and AI's.

Exeter Chiefs 26 - 26 Bath Rugby
Toughest fixture of the round to predict on. A really intriguing contest between the packs up front is a joy to watch. The number of dynamic carriers from Chiefs will keep the Bath defence on hits toes and a real challenge to keep them at bay. The difference for Bath is that their spine of their back line depsite some form issues, is more clinical and can create the chance from nothing out wide. A tough one to split, and just the Bath midfield help Bath hold out for the draw.

Exeter Chiefs 24 - 23 Bath Rugby
Exeter stronger up front with Lee lacking form and rest being pretty close, think the second rows are even too. Ewers is lacking form and Parisse has been banned, makes it tough for their back row against a good Bath unit. Bath have stronger centres, and I reckon Andy is at least as much of a threat at full back as Alex Goode is, so not penalising Bath there, either way Chiefs stronger in the back 3. Benches even, this is really tight and goes with home advantage