European Champions Cup - Round Three

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Ulster Rugby vs Harlequins
Principality Stadium
Light Rain - 10 degrees, 12mph South Westerly Winds

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Ulster Rugby

01. Kyle McCall	09. John Cooney
02. Rory Best (c)	10. Christian Lealiifano
03. Rodney Ah You
04. Alan O’Connor	11. Jacob Stockdale
05. Kieran Treadwell	12. Stuart McCloskey
06. Iain Henderson	13. Darren Cave
07. Sean Reidy	14. Louis Ludik
08. Nathan Timoney	15. Charles Piutau

:-
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Wiehahn Herbst, 19 Matt Rea, 20 Chris Henry, 21 David Shanahan, 22 Jonny McPhillips, 23 Rob Lyttle

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Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Lewis Boyce	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Demetri Catrakalis
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11.  Alex Lewington
05. Johnny Gray	12. James Lang
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Joe Marchant
07. Sam Cane	14. Tim Visser
08. Renaldo Bothma	15. Mike Brown

:-
16.  Cameron Holenstein 17.  Dave Ward 18. Josh McNulty   19. Stan South 20. Dino Lamb  21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. Tim Swiel 23. Napolioni Nalaga

TACTICS

After our narrow loss last week we cannot qualify but want to go out with a bang amd set up our internationals for a great 6N and our other players for good form without them.

Our pack is hard carrying, and we will look to bash holes in a defensively dodgy Ulster back line with our front row, all massive carriers, Bothma and Brown, then decimate the broken field with Care leading the charge but 2 more playmakers in 10 and 12 to manipulate the ball to the defense’s weakest point, then send our deadly back 3 and Marchant through the gaps. If they narrow to cover us and leave space outside, we will chip kick at it.

This will be facilitated by a breakdown effort from world leading number 7 Cane and our pest and harrier in a Robshaw, with the powerful pack clearing out hard led by Horwill and Coles, Robshaw slowing ball and clearing up and Cane turning it over and keeping ours fast.

As always, we will blitz in defence and trust our sweeper and Brown to clear up any kicks, with an aggressively tight fringe defence

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La Rochelle vs Wasps
Murrayfield Stadium
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 13mph South Westerly Winds

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La Rochelle

01. Dany Priso	09. Alexi Bales
02. Pierre Bourgarit	10. Jérémy Sinzelle
03. Uini Atonio
04. Jason Eaton (c)	11. Vincent Rattez
05. Mathieu Tanguy	12. Pierre Aguillon
06. Levani Botia	13. Paul Jordaan
07. Afaesetiti Amosa	14. Rene Ranger
08. Victor Vito	15. Kini Murimurivalu

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Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Lekso Kaulashvili, 18 Mohamed Boughanmi, 19 William Demotte, 20 Romain Sazy, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Benjamin Noble, 23 Eliott Roudil

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Logovi'i Mulipola	09. Dan Robson
02. Tom Cruse	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Christian Wade
05. Scott Barrett	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. James Haskell	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Thomas Young	14. Steff Evans
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

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16. Tommy Taylor, 17. Alex Lundberg, 18. Paul Doran-Jones, 19. James Gaskell, 20. Sean O'Brien, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Elliot Daly

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Tactics
Attack:
- Mix up our lines of attack, sometimes with two lines with forwards as options
- Loose forwards to offer extra pair of hands in the backline when required
- 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:
- Quick line speed, getting up to the 10 and putting pressure on.
- Only step out of the line for big hit opportunities.
Breakdown:
- Be disciplined at the breakdown and do not give away penalties in our half
- Compete for the turnover if it's on, even if it's only too slow down the ball
- If ruck is lost, don't compete and fan out in defence
Territory:
- Use box kicks from 9 and nudges from 10 out of hand to pin them back.
- Play rugby in their half and make them attack from deep
- Full back to marshall the back 3 and make sure our positioning is spot on for kick returns

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Leinster Rugby vs Exeter Chiefs
Stade Marcel Michelin
Rain and Snow - 7 degrees, 11mph North Easterly Winds

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Leinster Rugby

01. Cian Healy	09. Jamison Gibson-Park
02. Seán Cronin	10. Ross Byrne
03. Tadhg Furlong
04. Devin Toner	11. James Lowe
05. James Ryan	12. Isa Nacewa (c)
06. Dan Leavy	13. Robbie Henshaw
07. Josh van der Flier	14. Jordan Larmour
08. Jack Conan	15. Rob Kearney

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Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Jack McGrath, 18 Andrew Porter, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Joey Carbery, 23 Fergus McFadden

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Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Conor Murray
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Harry Williams
04. Jonny Hill	11. Olly Woodburn
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Henry Slade
06. Dave Ewers	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Don Armand (c)	14. Jacob Stockdale
08. Sam Simmonds	15. Jack Nowell

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16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Tomas Francis, 19. Mitch Lees 20. James Chisholm, 21. Nic White 22. Anthony Belleau, 23. James Short

Play in the standard Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack, with dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore. We want to control possession and go through the phases. 

- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Simoonds or Armand attached at the back. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Leinster of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 
- Half-backs to dictate the game and play for territory. Steenson to also kick available points when on offer - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 
- Slade to act as the second playmaker and look to spread the ball wide to back three when the space is available to attack or to take pressure off Steenson on clearances.

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Bath Rugby vs RC Toulon
RDS Arena
Light Cloud - 12 degrees, 14mph South Westerly Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Driver

01. Beno Obano	09. Kahn Fotuali
02. Tom Dunn	10. Rhys Priestland (k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Luke Charteris	11. Semesa Rokoduguni
05. Matt Garvey	12. Robbie Henshaw
06. Francois Louw (c)	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Underhill	14. Matt Banahan
08. Toby Faletau	15. Anthony Watson

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16. Jack Walker, 17. Nick Auterac, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Dave Attwood, 20. Zac Mecer, 21. Chris Cook, 22. Freddie Burns, 23. Max Clark

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RC Toulon

01. Florian Fresia	09. Alby Mathewson
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Anthony Belleau
03. Marcel van der Merwe
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Chris Ashton
05. Romain Taofifenua	12. Ma’a Nonu
06. Facundo Isa	13. Semi Radradra
07. Raphael Lakafia	14. JP Pietersen
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Hugo Bonneval

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Replacements: 16 Anthony Etrillard, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Juan Fernandez Lobbe, 20 Francois Trinh-Duc, 21 Jean Monribot, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Samu Manoa

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Ospreys vs Northampton Saints
Thomond Park
Light Cloud - 13 degrees, 14mph Westerly Winds

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Ospreys

01. Nicky Smith	09. Rhys Webb
02. Scott Baldwin	10. Dan Biggar
03. Dmitri Arhip
04. Bradley Davies	11. Jeff Hassler
05. Alun Wyn Jones	12. Owen Watkin
06. Olly Cracknell	13. Ashley Beck
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Hanno Dirksen
08. Rob McCusker	15. Dan Evans

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Replacements: 16 Scott Otten, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Ma'afu Fia, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Will Jones, 21 Thomas Habberfield, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Kieron Fonotia

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Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Campese Ma'afu	09. Nic Groom
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Paul Hill
04. Api Ratuniyarawa	11. Ben Foden
05. Christian Day	12. Piers Francis
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Bundee Aki
07. Kwagga Smith	14. Ken Pisi
08. Teimana Harrison	15. Ahsee Tuala

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16 Alex Waller, 17 Reece Marshall, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Tom Stephenson, 23 Alex Goode

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ASM Clermont Auvernge vs Saracens
Liberty Stadium
Light Rain - 10 degrees, 13mph South Westerly Winds

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ASM Clermont Auvergne

01. Raphael Chaume	09. Morgan Parra
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Luke McAlister
03. Davit Zirakashvili
04. Arthur Iturria	11. Remi Grosso
05. Sébastien Vahaamahina	12. Rémi Lamerat
06. Peceli Yato	13. Peter Betham
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Nick Abendanon
08. Fritz Lee	15. Isaia Toeava

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Replacements: 16 Yohan Beheregaray, 17 Etienne Falgoux, 18 Rabah Slimani, 19 Paul Jedrasiak, 20 Damien Chouly, 21 Greig Laidlaw, 22 Noa Nakaitaci, 23 Scott Spedding

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Richard Barrington	09. Ben Spencer
02. Schalk Brits	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Juan Figallo
04. Will Skelton	11. Chris Wyles
05. Nick Isiekwe	12. Brad Barritt
06. Michael Rhodes	13. Damian Penaud
07. Callum Clark	14. Nathan Earle
08. Jackson Wray	15. Harry Maillinder

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16. Jamie George 17. Hayden Thompson-Stringer 18. Titi Lamositele 19. Dominic Day  20. Joe Conlon 21. Henry Taylor 22. Duncan Taylor 23. Rotimi Segun
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Tactics:

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Leicester Tigers vs Munster Rugby
Stade Jean-Bouin
Sunny - 9 degrees, 7mph South Westerly Winds

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Leicester Tigers

01. Simon McIntyre	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. George Ford
03. Pat Cilliers
04. Matt Symons	11. Jonny May
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Matt Smith
06. Will Evans	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Harry Thacker	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Mike William	15. Telusa Veainu

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Subs: 16. George McGuigan 17. Ellis Genge 18. Dan Cole 19. Harry Wells 20. N/A 21. Sam Harrison 22. Joe Ford 23. Jonah Holmes
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Tactics:
- Solid set piece to set tone and provide solid platform
- Look to play high intensity rugby with a drift defence, not allowing for space for the opp
- Attack the breakdown when it's on with numerous option
- Physical pack to win collision and numerous carrying options to get us over the gain line
- Keep the intensity up with a strong bench
- Get Telusa Veainu into the game whenever possible, he's a match winner in these conditions

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Munster Rugby

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Conor Murray
02. Rhys Marshall	10. Ian Keatley
03. Stephen Archer
04. Jean Kleyn	11. Keith Earls
05. Billy Holland	12. Rory Scannell
06. Peter O’Mahony (c)	13. Chris Farrell
07. Chris Cloete	14. Andrew Conway
08. CJ Stander	15. Simon Zebo

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Replacements: 16 Niall Scannell, 17 James Cronin, 18 John Ryan, 19 Darren O’Shea, 20 Jack O’Donoghue, 21 Duncan Williams, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Alex Wootton

Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Lewis Boyce	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Demetri Catrakalis
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11.  Alex Lewington
05. Johnny Gray	12. James Lang
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Joe Marchant
07. Sam Cane	14. Tim Visser
08. Renaldo Bothma	15. Mike Brown

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16.  Cameron Holenstein 17.  Dave Ward 18. Josh McNulty   19. Stan South 20. Dino Lamb  21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. Tim Swiel 23. Napolioni Nalaga

TACTICS



After our narrow loss last week we cannot qualify but want to go out with a bang amd set up our internationals for a great 6N and our other players for good form without them.

Our pack is hard carrying, and we will look to bash holes in a defensively dodgy Ulster back line with our front row, all massive carriers, Bothma and Brown, then decimate the broken field with Care leading the charge but 2 more playmakers in 10 and 12 to manipulate the ball to the defense’s weakest point, then send our deadly back 3 and Marchant through the gaps. If they narrow to cover us and leave space outside, we will chip kick at it.

This will be facilitated by a breakdown effort from world leading number 7 Cane and our pest and harrier in a Robshaw, with the powerful pack clearing out hard led by Horwill and Coles, Robshaw slowing ball and clearing up and Cane turning it over and keeping ours fast.

As always, we will blitz in defence and trust our sweeper and Brown to clear up any kicks, with an aggressively tight fringe defence

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Richard Barrington	09. Ben Spencer
02. Schalk Brits	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Juan Figallo
04. Will Skelton	11. Chris Wyles
05. Nick Isiekwe	12. Brad Barritt
06. Michael Rhodes	13. Damian Penaud
07. Callum Clark	14. Nathan Earle
08. Jackson Wray	15. Harry Maillinder

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16. Jamie George 17. Hayden Thompson-Stringer 18. Titi Lamositele 19. Dominic Day  20. Joe Conlon 21. Henry Taylor 22. Duncan Taylor 23. Rotimi Segun
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Tactics:

Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Campese Ma'afu	09. Nic Groom
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Paul Hill
04. Api Ratuniyarawa	11. Ben Foden
05. Christian Day	12. Piers Francis
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Bundee Aki
07. Kwagga Smith	14. Ken Pisi
08. Teimana Harrison	15. Ahsee Tuala

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16 Alex Waller, 17 Reece Marshall, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 David Ribbans, 20 Tom Wood, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Tom Stephenson, 23 Alex Goode

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Logovi'i Mulipola	09. Dan Robson
02. Tom Cruse	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Christian Wade
05. Scott Barrett	12. Kyle Eastmond
06. James Haskell	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Thomas Young	14. Steff Evans
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

_
16. Tommy Taylor, 17. Alex Lundberg, 18. Paul Doran-Jones, 19. James Gaskell, 20. Sean O'Brien, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Elliot Daly

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Tactics
Attack:
- Mix up our lines of attack, sometimes with two lines with forwards as options
- Loose forwards to offer extra pair of hands in the backline when required
- 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:
- Quick line speed, getting up to the 10 and putting pressure on.
- Only step out of the line for big hit opportunities.
Breakdown:
- Be disciplined at the breakdown and do not give away penalties in our half
- Compete for the turnover if it's on, even if it's only too slow down the ball
- If ruck is lost, don't compete and fan out in defence
Territory:
- Use box kicks from 9 and nudges from 10 out of hand to pin them back.
- Play rugby in their half and make them attack from deep
- Full back to marshall the back 3 and make sure our positioning is spot on for kick returns

Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Conor Murray
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Harry Williams
04. Jonny Hill	11. Olly Woodburn
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Henry Slade
06. Dave Ewers	13. Michele Campagnaro
07. Don Armand (c)	14. Jacob Stockdale
08. Sam Simmonds	15. Jack Nowell

. 
16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Ben Moon, 18. Tomas Francis, 19. Mitch Lees 20. James Chisholm, 21. Nic White 22. Anthony Belleau, 23. James Short

Play in the standard Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack, with dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore. We want to control possession and go through the phases. 

- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Simoonds or Armand attached at the back. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Leinster of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 
- Half-backs to dictate the game and play for territory. Steenson to also kick available points when on offer - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 
- Slade to act as the second playmaker and look to spread the ball wide to back three when the space is available to attack or to take pressure off Steenson on clearances.

Any news from Driver?

His done his normal disappearing act CJ.

Happens every time, don't know why he even volunteers

BamBam wrote:Happens every time, don't know why he even volunteers

Ive spoken to him, won’t say more but understandably he’s had other more important stuff on, sure he’ll share what if he wants to. Implication that he is coming back, but don’t judge him harshly for volunteering, life is unpredictable

European Champions Cup - Round Three Results


Ulster Rugby - 21
Harlequins - 26


La Rochelle - 24
Wasps - 26


Leinster Rugby - 30
Exeter Chiefs - 26


Bath Rugby - 19
Toulon - 29


Ospreys - 21
Northampton Saints - 27


ASM Clermont Auvergne - 27
Saracens - 26


Leicester Tigers - 23
Munster - 29


Prediction Bonuses:
Full - Bam, Pooly, CJ
Score - Fluxy
None - Everyone else