Aviva Premiership Round Eleven

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Bristol Rugby vs Worcester Warriors
Ashton Gate
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 11mph South Westerly Winds

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Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. Loni Uhila	09. Kahn Fotua'li
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Luke Charteris	12. Piers Francis
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Rene Ranger
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. David Kilcoyne 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Mike Ross 19.  Sam Carter 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Rhys Patchell 23. Charlie Sharples 

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- working as a unit as usual, looking for hard clearing and power from Van Der Flier to smash Todd off the ball, with both flankers looking for turnovers when possible and the whole team helping to speed up the ball. Lots of powerful clearers in the side, Robshaw's workrate and an extra flanker in Ryan help this

Attack:
Keeping up incessant phases with our twin playmakers, making the gainline with our purpose selected carriers in the pack (the front row especially) and Ranger, but remaining flexible based on what our experienced in form halfbacks see in front of them.

We will also look to target Naholo on the turn with the chip kick to Gilroy, and send direct runners down Jones' channel to test his defence.

If our attack is struggling, we can revert to a kick chase game with our strong chasers and Gopperth's boot and look to drive in the forwards and snipe the fringes to keep their defence honest.

Defence:
Blitz led by Tompkins, Fotua'li sweeping. Aiming to kick back kicks to test their back 3 in the air with a hard chase. Gilroy a second fullback when needed.

Biggar struggles to provide attacking spark by himself so we will stifle Davies by having Robshaw all over him.

Lineout:
Charteris brought in specially to mark Toner on their throw ins, on the ground to neutralise the maul rather than the air. On our throws we have a multitude of options and will keep them varied

Scrum:
Close looking contest here so look to keep things legal and get the ref onside early then target their sub props with our experience on the bench.

Others:
Take any easy kicks at goal.

Subs- we will look to go very hard with our starting props knowing we have strong backups on the bench. Otherwise, Fearns covers the whole backrow, Patchell 10/15, Sharples wing. Gopperth will cover 12 and Ranger 13

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Lucas Noguera Paz	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Devin Toner	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Anton Leniert-Brown
06. Jackson Wray	13. Huw Jones
07. Matt Todd	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Codie Taylor 17. Joe Moody 18. Henry Thomas 19. Mike Williams 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Mathew Tait

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 Bristol danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Biggar will look for territory where we have Toner and Maestri ready to rule the skies,
-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,
-Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Todd bringing the turnover attribute,
-We have good form and all of our internationals back meaning we can play our full strength squad,
-The breakdown is likely to 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 Bristol 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 Jones allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Bristol playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off L-B and Jones, we will use Thompstone and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
-When nothing is on  go for territory and also use his Biggar's 'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
-We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep Bristol guessing and allow us the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
-We have selected a huge bench which will be used for impact and to maintain a high tempo game running against tired legs,
-Take all kickable penalties.

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Exeter Chiefs vs Leicester Tigers
Sandy Park
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 12mph South Westerly Winds

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Alex Lozoswki
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. JP Pietersen
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Teimana Harrison	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. James Lowe

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Subs: 16. Thomas Domingo, 17. Tom Youngs, 18. Ben Tameifuna, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Charles Ollivon , 21. Nic White, 22. Camille Lopez, 23. Olly Woodburn

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 have picked a big pack and are targeting the forward battle as key to the win. We have a solid scrum to build from and two big locks who are both good lineout options.

The set piece will be important and we will look to use this as a weapon to attack from and gain territory. Our back row are all big carriers and we will use them all to gain hard yards and tire out Tigers defenders. Ewers, Coles, Sinckler, Parisse, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lozowski to work with.

In the backs we will use Nonu as a crash ball option and a decoy runner to open up space for the likes of Mermoz, JP Pietersen and Lowe to exploit. Lozowski will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Stephen Moore	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Dominic Bird	12. Kurtley Beale
06. Don Armand	13. Gael Fickou
07. Sam Jones	14. Sean Maitland
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

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Subs: 16. Hika Elliott 17. Mikheil Nariashvili 18. Brian Mujati 19. Pascal Pape 20. Calum Chick 21. Nick Phipps 22. Francois Trinh-Duc 23. Ben Teo'o

In decent conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, working through the phases. Look to make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly, with offloading and forward inter-play to keep the ball off the ground and moving, preventing a ruck and defensive line being set. Burns will take the ball to the line and tempt the Chiefs defence to jump out of the defensive line, creating holes for our back line to exploit. Multiple play-makers to stand at first receiver, either side of the ruck to stretch the Exeter defence and try and cause and overlap, or to make tactical kicks in behind the wings. Ideally we want to be putting the ball through the hands to stretch the defence. 


In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence. Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us. Houagaard 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 Exeter ball put pressure on through Bird and Armand, who are athletic line-out jumpers. 
  
  
• 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, so that Hougaard can feed the ball quickly to forwards, the first receiver, or snipe through a hole. 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, and only committing men to a winnable ruck. 
  
  
• 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. However this will only be implemented within the opposition half. 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, to keep the defence honest and keep us going forwards all the time.
  
  
• Linking to our tactical kicking, but we only want to play rugby in the Chiefs half. Therefore we look to gain territory, put pressure on the Chiefs wingers to clear their lines and put pressure on their set piece to regain possession. 
  
  
• 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, Beale and Brown can take the ball to the line and kick in behind the defence, to get our wingers either on the end of the grubber, or pin back Chiefs. 
  
  
• Look to use the bench when needing to freshen the impetus of the forwards. 
  

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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Harlequins vs Gloucester Rugby
Twickenham Stoop
Light Cloud, 8 degrees, 11mph South Westerly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Tadhg Furlong
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper(c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

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16. Scott Baldwin 17. Cian Healy 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Ultan Dillane 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Mike Haley  

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

• Play at pace. Look to play at a quick tempo controlled by Youngs and Jantjies with McKenzie also acting as a first receiver. Look for Jantjies to stand flat and bring our pack onto the ball at pace in the midfield
  
  
• Look to use out the back options to get the ball wide into the hands of Henshaw, Joseph and our back three's hands. 
  
  
• Use Jantjies and Mckenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field, but we will always look to run the ball if we have the overlap or an unorganised defence. Use Henshaw's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Gloucester back three under the high ball
  
  
• Look for forwards to carry with support, and look for the offload out of contact if it is on or to recycle the ball quickly for the next attack.
  
  
• Use Du Toit and Kruis to put huge pressure on the Gloucester line out, looking to allow the front but not allow easy ball of the back or the tail of the line out.
  

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Gloucester
Manager - Anonmattyt

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Jonny May
05. Elliott Stooke	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Will Addison
07. Ardie Savea	14. Israel Dagg
08. Jaime Heaslip	15. Israel Folau

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Subs: 16. Rob Evans, 17. Joe Gray, 18. Uini Atonio, 19. Tom Croft, 20. Willem Alberts, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Charlie Walker

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Northampton Saints vs Sale Sharks
Franklin Gardens
Light Cloud, 6 degrees, 15mph South Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Conor Murray
02. Schalk Brits	10. George Ford
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. David Pocock	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

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Replacements
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Jake Cooper Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Faconda Isa 21. Joe Simpson 22. Lima Sopoaga 23. Manu Tuilagi

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Maro Itoje	12. Reece Hodge
06. CJ Stander	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Simon Zebo

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Dave Attwood 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Bernard Foley 23. Nick Abendanon
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. 

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. Zebo & Nadolo 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 Retalick to get up in the air at the front and Itoje to marshall the middle on opposition ball.

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Saracens vs Newcastle Falcons
Allianz Park
Light Cloud, 6 degrees, 16mph South Westerly Winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Ed Slater	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	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. James Haskell 21. Lee Dickson 22. Robbie Fruen 23. Delon Armitage

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

FANTASTIC HOME FORM - We've got great form and are riding high after away wins over the champions and Gloucester in consecutive weeks, got to be one of the hardest places to travel to in the league at the minute.

NEW HALFBACK COMBO, LOOK TO TARGET - It's not been a combo Bam has put out much and we'll look to target from the off. Look to get our flank combo putting pressure on Jackson and get him on the backfoot.

NEW MIDFIELD COMBO - TARGET - First outing for this midfield combo outside a fresh halfback combo. Look to cause disruption with our blitz defence and stop any fluidity. Farrell has the creative Ford inside him(not sexually) for ENgland, we don't think Jackson is at this level so expect the ball to struggle somewhat along the backs with  slight lack of understanding and fluidity. Look to get Hughes running through the 10/12 and 12/13 channels and offloading if on to cause defensive issues.

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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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Owen Farrell
06. Pablo Matera	13. Scott Williams
07. Francois Louw	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Camille Chat 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Elliott Dixon 21. Will Chudley 22. Sam James 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

Use Jackson/Farrell to split the field as alternate first receivers, look to create mismatches on the outside. Use the ball out the back similar to how Ford/Farrell play for England.

We've used Jackson/Farrell as a combo a few times, and the set up is very similar to how Jackson uses Marshall at Ulster and Ford/Farrell for England

Win the pack battle - we think we have the advantage in international quality in the back 5, and are looking to use Matera/Petti/De Jager/George as our heavy carriers, with Louw/Read to help us rule the breakdown.

Target the wings positionally with solid boots at 9/10/12 and our back 3 are all excellent chasers. Kick in behind North get him turning, and put high hanging kicks on Veianu

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

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

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Wasps vs Bath Rugby
Ricoh Arena
Light Cloud, 7 degrees, 14mph South Westerly Winds

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Joe Marler	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Sebastien Vahamahina	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones (c)	12. Henry Slade
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Anthony Watson
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Rob Kearney

_
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Dave Wilson, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Jerome Kaino, 21. Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 22. Brad Barritt, 23. Marland Yarde

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Tactics
Attack:
- Good athleticism in the pack. Looking for them to be mobile and get around the park, ensuring good numbers at every breakdown to give clean ball
- Mix up forward runners off 9 and 10 to give go forward and tie in defence. When space opens up, go wide and utilise pace of back three.
Defence:
- Ensure guards and body guards at every breakdown, no gaps in midfield.
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Steven Kitchoff	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Rory Best	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Samson Lee
04. Will Skelton	11.  Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Damian De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. George Moala
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Liam Williams
08. Toby Falateu	15. Alex Goode

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16. Eddy Ben Arous 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Scott Wilson 19. Josh Beaumont 20. Liam Squire 21. Aaron Smith 22. Sam Hill  23. Jesse Kriel

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Conor Murray
02. Schalk Brits	10. George Ford
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. David Pocock	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

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Replacements
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Jake Cooper Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Faconda Isa 21. Joe Simpson 22. Lima Sopoaga 23. Manu Tuilagi

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
We will play at a high intensity and look to get our big ball carriers on the ball early and putting pressure on the Sale defensive line and win the gain line battle. Our aim is to win the pack battle and place real emphasis on the breakdown where we will have Pocock's experience and form to get the advantage. We have a lot of form players and will really look to make the most of home advantage and Halfpenny's boot.

Set Piece
Lineout - Four good options in the lineout, where we will look to generate quick ball for our backline to attack from, with Gray leading the lineout for Scotland and Glasgow.
Scrum - will use the scrum for Vunipola to launch attacks and get at the Sale midfield to suck in defenders.

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Sale defence to suck in players and create space out wide. Have a very mobile pack, with excellent runners where we will keep the game open and test Sale defensively. With Fofana, Savea and AAC we have some physical runners in the backline and a bench that will allow us to up the intensity and physicality as the game goes on.

Breakdown
See attributes - but look to make this a really physical battle, with Burger and Pocock aiming to dominate this area.

Attack
- Aim to create space for our backline, with Ford picking his passes and bringing all of our backs into the game, each one is a potential match winner.
- Strong kicking game from the 9-10 combination, where we will have the option to play for territory and pin Sale back and force them into mistakes, which can be punished by Halfpenny's boot.
- Test Zebo's positioning at no15, he's a top class winger but with Ford's boot he can really target this.
- Impact bench to up the tempo in final 20/25 minutes.

Defence
Blitz defence, with Murray sweeping behind. Kicking game of 9 and 10 to get us out of trouble.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Tadhg Furlong
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Jack Clifford	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper(c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damian McKenzie (k)

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16. Scott Baldwin 17. Cian Healy 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Ultan Dillane 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Mike Haley  

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

• Play at pace. Look to play at a quick tempo controlled by Youngs and Jantjies with McKenzie also acting as a first receiver. Look for Jantjies to stand flat and bring our pack onto the ball at pace in the midfield
  
  
• Look to use out the back options to get the ball wide into the hands of Henshaw, Joseph and our back three's hands.
  
  
• Use Jantjies and Mckenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field, but we will always look to run the ball if we have the overlap or an unorganised defence. Use Henshaw's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Gloucester back three under the high ball
  
  
• Look for forwards to carry with support, and look for the offload out of contact if it is on or to recycle the ball quickly for the next attack.
  
  
• Use Du Toit and Kruis to put huge pressure on the Gloucester line out, looking to allow the front but not allow easy ball of the back or the tail of the line out.
  

Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. Loni Uhila	09. Kahn Fotua'li
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Donnacha Ryan	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Luke Charteris	12. Piers Francis
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Nick Tompkins
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Rene Ranger
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. David Kilcoyne 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Mike Ross 19.  Sam Carter 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Rhys Patchell 23. Charlie Sharples 

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- working as a unit as usual, looking for hard clearing and power from Van Der Flier to smash Todd off the ball, with both flankers looking for turnovers when possible and the whole team helping to speed up the ball. Lots of powerful clearers in the side, Robshaw's workrate and an extra flanker in Ryan help this

Attack:

Keeping up incessant phases with our twin playmakers, making the gainline with our purpose selected carriers in the pack (the front row especially) and Ranger, but remaining flexible based on what our experienced in form halfbacks see in front of them.

We will also look to target Naholo on the turn with the chip kick to Gilroy, and send direct runners down Jones' channel to test his defence.

If our attack is struggling, we can revert to a kick chase game with our strong chasers and Gopperth's boot and look to drive in the forwards and snipe the fringes to keep their defence honest.

Defence:

Blitz led by Tompkins, Fotua'li sweeping. Aiming to kick back kicks to test their back 3 in the air with a hard chase. Gilroy a second fullback when needed.

Biggar struggles to provide attacking spark by himself so we will stifle Davies by having Robshaw all over him.

Lineout:

Charteris brought in specially to mark Toner on their throw ins, on the ground to neutralise the maul rather than the air. On our throws we have a multitude of options and will keep them varied

Scrum:

Close looking contest here so look to keep things legal and get the ref onside early then target their sub props with our experience on the bench.

Others:

Take any easy kicks at goal.

Subs- we will look to go very hard with our starting props knowing we have strong backups on the bench. Otherwise, Fearns covers the whole backrow, Patchell 10/15, Sharples wing. Gopperth will cover 12 and Ranger 13

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Alex Lozoswki
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. Courtney Lawes	11. JP Pietersen
05. James Horwill	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Teimana Harrison	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. James Lowe

Subs: 16. Thomas Domingo, 17. Tom Youngs, 18. Ben Tameifuna, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Charles Ollivon , 21. Nic White, 22. Camille Lopez, 23. Olly Woodburn

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 have picked a big pack and are targeting the forward battle as key to the win. We have a solid scrum to build from and two big locks who are both good lineout options.

The set piece will be important and we will look to use this as a weapon to attack from and gain territory. Our back row are all big carriers and we will use them all to gain hard yards and tire out Tigers defenders. Ewers, Coles, Sinckler, Parisse, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lozowski to work with.

In the backs we will use Nonu as a crash ball option and a decoy runner to open up space for the likes of Mermoz, JP Pietersen and Lowe to exploit. Lozowski will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

Conditions and page updated

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Dan Cole
04. Ed Slater	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	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. James Haskell 21. Lee Dickson 22. Robbie Fruen 23. Delon Armitage

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

FANTASTIC HOME FORM - We've got great form and are riding high after away wins over the champions and Gloucester in consecutive weeks, got to be one of the hardest places to travel to in the league at the minute.

NEW HALFBACK COMBO, LOOK TO TARGET - It's not been a combo Bam has put out much and we'll look to target from the off. Look to get our flank combo putting pressure on Jackson and get him on the backfoot.

NEW MIDFIELD COMBO - TARGET - First outing for this midfield combo outside a fresh halfback combo. Look to cause disruption with our blitz defence and stop any fluidity. Farrell has the creative Ford inside him(not sexually) for ENgland, we don't think Jackson is at this level so expect the ball to struggle somewhat along the backs with  slight lack of understanding and fluidity. Look to get Hughes running through the 10/12 and 12/13 channels and offloading if on to cause defensive issues.

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.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Rhys Webb
02. Jamie George	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Owen Farrell
06. Pablo Matera	13. Scott Williams
07. Francois Louw	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Camille Chat 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Elliott Dixon 21. Will Chudley 22. Sam James 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

Use Jackson/Farrell to split the field as alternate first receivers, look to create mismatches on the outside. Use the ball out the back similar to how Ford/Farrell play for England.

We've used Jackson/Farrell as a combo a few times, and the set up is very similar to how Jackson uses Marshall at Ulster and Ford/Farrell for England

Win the pack battle - we think we have the advantage in international quality in the back 5, and are looking to use Matera/Petti/De Jager/George as our heavy carriers, with Louw/Read to help us rule the breakdown.

Target the wings positionally with solid boots at 9/10/12 and our back 3 are all excellent chasers. Kick in behind North get him turning, and put high hanging kicks on Veianu

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

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

Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Lucas Noguera Paz	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ross Batty	10. Dan Biggar (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Devin Toner	11. Adam Thompstone
05. Yohann Maestri	12. Anton Leniert-Brown
06. Jackson Wray	13. Huw Jones
07. Matt Todd	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

:-
16. Codie Taylor 17. Joe Moody 18. Henry Thomas 19. Mike Williams 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Sam Harrison 22. Owen Williams 23. Mathew Tait

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 Bristol danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Biggar will look for territory where we have Toner and Maestri ready to rule the skies,
-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,
-Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Todd bringing the turnover attribute,
-We have good form and all of our internationals back meaning we can play our full strength squad,
-The breakdown is likely to 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 Bristol 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 Jones allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Bristol playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off L-B and Jones, we will use Thompstone and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
-When nothing is on  go for territory and also use his Biggar's 'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
-We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep Bristol guessing and allow us the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
-We have selected a huge bench which will be used for impact and to maintain a high tempo game running against tired legs,
-Take all kickable penalties.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Rabah Slimani
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Maro Itoje	12. Reece Hodge
06. CJ Stander	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Simon Zebo

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Davit Zirakishvilli 19. Dave Attwood 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Faf De Klerk 22. Bernard Foley 23. Nick Abendanon
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. 

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. Zebo & Nadolo 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 Retalick to get up in the air at the front and Itoje to marshall the middle on opposition ball.

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Steven Kitchoff	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Rory Best	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Samson Lee
04. Will Skelton	11.  Christian Wade
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Damian De Allende
06. Dan Lydiate	13. George Moala
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Liam Williams
08. Toby Falateu	15. Alex Goode

.
16. Eddy Ben Arous 17. Mikey Haywood 18. Scott Wilson 19. Josh Beaumont 20. Liam Squire 21. Aaron Smith 22. Sam Hill  23. Jesse Kriel

Morning gents, will allow up until 1200 for tactics etc.

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Joe Marler	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Sebastien Vahamahina	11. Bryan Habana
05. Alun Wyn-Jones (c)	12. Henry Slade
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Anthony Watson
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Rob Kearney

_
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Dave Wilson, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Jerome Kaino, 21. Sebastien Tillous-Borde, 22. Brad Barritt, 23. Marland Yarde

---

Tactics
Attack:
- Good athleticism in the pack. Looking for them to be mobile and get around the park, ensuring good numbers at every breakdown to give clean ball
- Mix up forward runners off 9 and 10 to give go forward and tie in defence. When space opens up, go wide and utilise pace of back three.
Defence:
- Ensure guards and body guards at every breakdown, no gaps in midfield.
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence

Gloucester
Manager - Anonmattyt

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. Dan Robson
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Jonny May
05. Elliott Stooke	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Will Addison
07. Ardie Savea	14. Israel Dagg
08. Jaime Heaslip	15. Israel Folau

.
Subs: 16. Rob Evans, 17. Joe Gray, 18. Uini Atonio, 19. Tom Croft, 20. Willem Alberts, 21. TJ Perenara, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Charlie Walker

Half hour warning, before I update the page. All tactics need to be completed by then please.

Predictions Open - to me please!

Merry Christmas 

Not suer what happened with my tactics, added some yesterday but didnt show up, so have reposted now.

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 Wasps under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries and offloading at a high pace looking to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench 

glaws tactics please add



Attributes

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


Huge trip to quins who have some bang in form players and are
A top team.

We aim to play a super high tempo and take advantage of the conditions to attack quins in wider channels.

Initially We will look to build phases and use the likes of Moriarty, etzbeth, savea , heaslip etc to get us across the gain line so we can play with quick ball.

we will look for Robson, Carter and Crotty to control the tempo of the game. Off static ball we will look to use runners off ten or kick for space with a heavy press. However our aim is to play at pace. Our 9,10,12,13 will look to give Create space to target quins wide Backline .

With a back 3 of dagg,may and Folau We have pace to burn and we will look to get it to them as often as possible. We
Will also look to put high ball
On quins back 3 who are small. With May Dagg and Folau being aerial experts we can really win here.

We will also be keen to test their ten channel with jantjes a front foot player only. . We will Target him and look to flood numbers And cut him at source.

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 folau, Dagg or Crotty as a first receiver when we need to change things up.

In our own half when kicking we will use the boots of Robson, Carter and Dagg to gain territory, looking to kick long to Make them play. We want them
To kick to touch so we can use our line out to get quality possession and pressure the quins line on their ball:

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

Carter to kick all penalties in range

Been working Christmas, Flux, can try to get predictions in tomorrow if still open, or may get a chance after I get home to squeeze in scores

Guys, running a bit behind. Will update the thread for this week and will work on the predictions tonight/tomorrow.

Bristol Rugby 24 - 23 Worcester Warriors

Bristol Rugby 23 - 23 Worcester Warriors
Good pack from Bristol and I think they'll get on top early on. Worcester have the stronger backline and sure if Bristol have enough here to take the win.

Bristol Rugby 26 - 23 Worcester Warriors
Bristol as well set up as they always are, and at home are a real tough proposition. Don't think Wuss have quite enough up front to get on top of such a well drilled side, and although stronger in the backs, will just come up short

Bristol Rugby 24 - 25 Worcester Warriors 
Not a lot in front fives, perhaps slight edge to Worcester. Really strong back row from Bristol has the edge. Gopperth at fly half is the big factor in the loss.

Bristol Rugby 20 - 19 Worcester Warriors
Such a close game, loving the backrow of the homeside, together with excellent form at 9/10. Warriors have some very good backs, but home advantage and form of key players gets Bristol the win.

Bristol Rugby 22 - 23 Worcester Warriors

Exeter Chiefs 22 - 21 Leicester Tigers

Exeter Chiefs 25 - 24 Leicester Tigers

Exeter Chiefs 25 - 23 Leicester Tigers
Like how both teams are set out. Exeter the better set piece and step it up in the backrow. Better quality in exeter backs but better form for Tigers, close game.

Exeter Chiefs 23 - 21 Leicester Tigers
Really tough to call. Exeter have a few star individuals in the pack with Coles and Lawes, but the Tigers pack is gritty as any. Exeter back row lacking a bit of form for me too. Exeter stronger in the backs as a whole, and think they'll just have enough to take this one at home

Exeter Chiefs 23 - 21 Leicester Tigers
Once again not much in the front fives. Back row goes to Exeter. Once each in the half backs. Outside of that I prefer the Leicester side but at home Exeter have enough 

Exeter Chiefs 22 - 21 Leicester Tigers

Exeter Chiefs 22 - 25 Leicester Tigers
Tigers have a few players coming into some good form in the backline, the Beale/Fickou combination could be very good, but main thing is a stronger bench with FTD and Teo'o coming on who could both make a huge impact.

Harlequins 28 - 27 Gloucester Rugby

Harlequins 27 - 22 Gloucester Rugby
Tight scrum battle but Quins much stronger in line out and better backrow. Prefer Gloucester hbs but past that mostly Quins. Addison long way from this level. No tactics hurts Gloucester.

Harlequins 29 - 23 Gloucester Rugby
Other than at loosehead, the Quins pack doesnt have a weakness, and I really see them putting the pressure on Glos who have a couple of weaker options in their pack. Halfbacks probably just favour Glos, but not a lot in it with Youngs form, and Quins stronger from 11-15 for me. Quins win at home

Harlequins 31 - 24 Gloucester Rugby
Think the front five of the Quins can get a big advantage here. They also have a stronger back row. Prefer the Gloucester half backs but outside of that Quins are so clinical 

Harlequins 26 - 25 Gloucester Rugby

Harlequins 33 - 30 Gloucester Rugby
Just saw the tactics from Gloucester in the thread. Will be a very open game, Barrington a weakness in the Quins front five and Janjtes isn't in Carter's league, but Gloucester's EQ isn't as strong in some areas, high scoring contest but home side have the edge. 

Harlequins 31 - 30 Gloucester Rugby

Northampton Saints 24 - 24 Sale Sharks

Northampton Saints 29 - 29 Sale Sharks

Northampton Saints 25 - 28 Sale Sharks
Huge game! Some real quality on show. Sale with the set piece but prefer Saints backrow although Pocock losing form. One a piece in hb's and very close backlines. No tactics kill Saints in such a tight game.

Northampton Saints 30 - 30 Sale Sharks
Scrolled down to take Chris's tactics into account. This is unbelievably difficult to call, both sides want to play a similar way, and have the players to match each other all over the field. I prefer the Sale front 5, but think the Saints back row and half backs at the moment are the best around. Backs pretty even, I have to sit on the fence

Northampton Saints 27 - 25 Sale Sharks
Nothing in the front fives. Front row to Northampton and second row to Sale. Back rows I edge to Sale. Northampton have the better half backs and an edge in the outside backs. 

Northampton Saints 22 - 23 Sale Sharks

Northampton Saints 26 - 27 Sale Sharks

Saracens 27 - 27 Newcastle Falcons

Saracens 22 - 21 Newcastle Falcons

Saracens 23 - 25 Newcastle Falcons
I prefer the Newcastle front five. Also give them a bit in the back rows with a huge breakdown battle. One each in the half backs.

Saracens 20 - 21 Newcastle Falcons

Saracens 25 - 27 Newcastle Falcons 
Hard game to call, big edge for Falcons in terms of 6/7 battle and will get a lot of ball. Hughes looking good but Read a big step up. Backlines very even, with Falcons having 2 WC options in their back three. 

Saracens 26 - 25 Newcastle Falcons

Wasps 25 - 24 Bath Rugby

Wasps 22 - 21 Bath Rugby

Wasps 25 - 23 Bath Rugby
Close game with some form issues for Wasps perhaps giving Bath an overall edge. Wasps limited game plan gives them a narrow victory.

Wasps 28 - 22 Bath Rugby
Bath compete well, but the Wasps side is really looking tidy at the moment in the pack. Think the Bath pack is lacking somewhat, with Lydiate and Skelton's lack of form an issue. Barrett makes a difference, but will be playing on the back foot. Williams should be at full back too. Wasps win this one pretty comfortably at home

Wasps 20 - 20 Bath Rugby

Wasps 24 - 20 Bath Rugby
Lack of tactics stop Bath winning (didnt see any on the thread) and give Wasps the win. 

Wasps 22 - 23 Bath Rugby