Aviva Premiership - Round 9 - Six Nations

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Leicester Tigers vs Harlequins
Welford Road
Sunny Intervals, 6 degrees, 9mph South Westerly Winds

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Leicester Tigers

01. Ellis Genge	09. Sam Harrison
02. Tom Youngs	10. Matt Toomua
03. Pat Cilliers
04. Dominic Barrow	11. Tom Brady
05. Vaea Fifita	12. Matt Smith
06. Mike Williams	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Brad Shields	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Telusa Veainu

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Subs: 16. Harry Thacker 17. Simon McIntyre 18. Chris Baumann 19. Matt Symons 20. Valentino Mapapalangi 21. Jono Kitto 22. Joe Ford 23. Nick Malouf
:-
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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Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Lewis Boyce	09. Will Chudley
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11.  Alex Lewington
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jack Lam	13. Joe Marchant
07. Sam Cane	14. Tim Visser
08. Mat Luamanu	15. James Lowe

:-
16.  Mark Lambert 17.  Dave Ward 18. Will Collier   19. George Merrick  20. Renaldo Bothma 21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. James Lang 23. Charlie Walker

TACTICS

Breakdown

Look to act as a team with aggressive clearing out to support Cane and manipulate an opportunity for Cane to compete one on one at the breakdown where he is world class.

Attack

Look to build together a phase attack with quick recycling and our dynamic big carriers from the pack and Roberts, quickly changing the focus of attacking with our attacking 9-10 until suck players in or make a break then spin out to the rapid back 4 (inc Marchant)

When ball is slow, as always we will carry in units of 3. Licence from 9.

Lowe coming into the line at will. Running back kicks where possible

Very happy to switch to a kick chase game and use chip kicks if they handle our attack

Defence

Blitz led by Roberts, taking their big carriers early, looking to shut down Harrison with Luamanu to put the whole backline under pressure at its weaklink 

Setpiece

Should be a good close contest at the scrum, where we will look to go legal and get out ball quickly. At the lineout, we should be strong and will look to attack Youngs' throwing at the front with Horwill early to throw him off his game.

Summary:

We have dynamic, powerful forwards throughout pack (Coles, Sinckler, Boyce, Horwill, Luamanu) to smash the rucks and enable our top class fetcher
They will also put together carrying phases and we will use Smith to vary point of attack
Solid scrum on the bench to attack scrum late on with carrying from Bothma, turnover skills from Ward, second playmaker in Lang and sheer pace in Walker

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Newcastle Falcons vs Bath Rugby
Kingston Park
Sunny Intervals, 6 degrees, 12mph South Westerly Winds

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Rob Vickers	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Santiago Socino	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Dominic Bird	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Will Witty	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Mark Wilson	13. Vereniki Goneva
07. Nili Latu	14. DTH Van Der Merwe
08. Steven Luatua	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Ben Sowery 17. Sami Mavinga 18. David Wilson 19. Sean Robinson 20. Opeti Fonua  21. Will Welch 22. Joel Hodgson 23. Máxime Mermoz

TACTICS

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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. Max Clark
06. Francois Louw (c)	13. Matt Banahan
07. Zac Mercer	14. Aled Brew
08. Toby Faletau	15. Freddie Burns

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16. Jack Walker, 17.Nick Auterac, 18. Scott Andrews 19. Dave Attwood, 20. James Phillips 21. Chris Cook, 22. Rory Jennings, 23. Tom Homer

Tactics:

• Bath have picked a big physical pack to take on opp and disrupt game.
• Plenty of carriers and work rate in pack, backrow to target isolated runners for the turnover
• Kahn to look for the short runners following his snipe the generate quick ball to slow opp line speed down and isolate runners.
• Freddie Burn’s to chip the ball over the top and in behind wingers specifically to test his positioning out.
• Using a blitz defence when short on numbers to put pressure on opp 10
• Pick and Game will be effective for us today and Burns will look to put us in the corners but moving the ball when its on.
• Burns to punish opp indiscipline’s with shots at goal.
• Attwood/Ewels to go up on opp lineout and put pressure on

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Northampton Saints vs London Irish
Franklin Gardens
Sunny Intervals, 6 degrees, 9mph South Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Christian Day	11. Ben Foden
05. Michael Paterson	12. Luther Burrell
06. Tom Wood	13. Rob Horne
07. Kwagga Smith	14. Ken Pisi
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

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16 Campese Ma'afu, 17 Reece Marshall, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Tom Collins

Tactics
- Use Isa as the main carrier, supported by Wood, Smith, Burrell
- Myler to kick all pens for goal in range, otherwise go for corner
- Goode to act as second playmaker on occasion

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London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi	09. TJ Perenara
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Franco Van Der Merwe	11. Joe Cokanasiga
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Fergus Mulchrone
06. Jack Clifford	13. Johnny Williams
07. Luke Wallace	14. Marland Yarde
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Jordie Barrett

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16. David Paice 17. Alex Lundberg 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Sebastian De Chaves 20. Mike Coman 21. Scott Steele 22. James Grayson 23. Jordan Larmour

Using big carriers to make ground in the wet, going wider in the 22 and backing our backline to have the skills to overcome the conditions - Retallick, Furlong, Conan, Aumua to lead us here

Scrappy breakdown players in Clifford and Wallace to get us surprise turnovers which we'll look to either kick through and chase or put through the hands

Strong kicking game with Perenara, Cruden and Barrett used to the NZ rainstorms, putting kicks on a 6 pence if they want to get into a kicking duel. We'll look to pressure Sanchez and see if their other backs can cope with kicking regularly. Barrett at FB for his kicking game

Don't be afraid to counter attack if they kick poorly.

Barrett and Cruden to act as first receiver options, Perenara snipe if its on

Big carriers and a game breaker in Larmour off the bench late on

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Sale Sharks vs Saracens
AJ Bell Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 6 degrees, 8mph South Westerly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Halani Aulika
04. Josh Beaumont	11. James O'Connor
05. Pieter Steph Du Toit	12. Sam James
06. Judicael Cancoriet	13. Jack Goodhue
07. Tom Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. Mike Haley

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16. Rob Webber 17. Greg Bateman 18. Will Griff John  19. Jono Ross 20 Ben Curry 21. Will Cliff 22. Will Addison 23. Keelan Giles

We will look to use the kicking game of Du Klerk and Sanchez to pin Saracens in their own half and trust our defence and line out to put huge pressure on them to escape from their own territory. We will look to counter attack when Saracens kick loosely and test their kick defence.

Use our pack to get us over the gain line will ball in hand and tire the Saracens defence. Look to get the ball to the backs when their is quick ball and an organised back line ready to strike.

use Sanchez to kick all points on offer. Scoreboard pressure is key to putting Saracens under pressure.

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly
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01. Richard Barrington	09. Ben Spencer
02. Schalk Brits	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Vincent Koch
04. Will Skelton	11. Chris Wyles
05. Eben Etzebeth	12. Brad Barritt
06. Michael Rhodes	13. Damian Penaud
07. Schalk Burger	14. Nathan Earle
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Liam Williams

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16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Hayden Thompson-Stringer 18. Juan Figallo 19. Nick Isiekwe  20. Callum Clark 21. Henry Taylor 22. Max Malins 23. Harry Mallinder
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Tactics:

- Play the Saracens way, keep it tight in the pack and earn the right to go wide.  
- Strong, physical pack to set a tone in the collisions. High intensity rugby, with big carries from numerous options. Will look to dominate the opposition pack and lay a foundation for our backs.
- Target Set piece and go for the jugular if a weakness is seen. Kicking for corners and territory if able to exert pressure in this area.
- Strong impact from the bench to keep intensity up.
- Typical Sarries blitz defence, squeezing the life out opposition and forcing errors.
- Play the game in the right areas of the pitch. Low error rugby and go through the phases when required.

- KEEP THE BALL AWAY FROM SALE - No needless kicks to Sale back 3, keep the ball away and no space for them to run in.
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- GRIND DOWN THE SALE FRONT 5 - throughout game with hugely physical front 5 and quality bench.[/b]

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Wasps vs Exeter Chiefs
Ricoh Arena
Sunny Intervals, 6 degrees, 8mph South Westerly Winds

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Logovi'i Mulipola	09. Dan Robson
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. James Gaskell	11. Elliot Daly
05. Scott Barrett	12. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
06. Sean O'Brienl	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Thomas Young	14. Christian Wade
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

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16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Matt Mullan, 18. Paul Doran-Jones, 19. Kearnen Myhall, 20. Brendon O'Conner, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Kyle Eastmond, 23. Josh Bassett

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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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Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Moon	09. Nic White
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Greg Holmes
04. Jonny Hill	11. Olly Woodburn
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Matt Kvesic	14. James Short
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Lachlan Turner

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16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Carl Rimmer, 18. Marcus Street, 19. Mitch Lees 20. James Chisholm, 21. Jack Maunder 22. Joe Simmonds, 23. Sam Hill



Look to play the real life Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack. Dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore, keeping it narrow until we create quick enough possession to feed our back line.  



- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Waldrom or Armand to launch themselves off the back of mauls. 

- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Wasps of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 

- It will be phases of carrying, running at least in pairs to help maintain a leg drive. This is the standard Chiefs style, and causes the opposition defence to be drawn into the defend through the middle, creating space out wide for our back line to exploit. 

- 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. 

- Devoto 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.

- Wingers to come in off their wings and look for work, and get them 1v1 on a forward to make the most of their footwork and speed to beat the slow Wasps forwards. 

- Not worried about how Wasps will play, we will chop them low and early to allow our back row to compete and slow their ball down. The game is based around us having possession for long periods and forcing Wasps to panic when they have the ball, as they will want to do something immediately with it, if they get it, and this should yield mistakes and forced opportunities for us to capatilise on.

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Worcester Warriors vs Gloucester Rugby
Sixways Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 7 degrees, 8mph South Westerly Winds

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – CJB

01. Ethan Waller	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Jack Singleton	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nick Schonert
04. Will Spencer	11. Bryce Helen
05. Guido Petti	12. Ngani Laumape
06. Blake Gibson	13. Wynard Olivier
07. Michael Hopper	14. Dean Hammond
08. GJ Van Velze	15. Chris Pennell

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16. Ryan Bower 17. Matt Williams 18. Biyi Alo 19. Donnacha O’Callaghan 20. - 21. Jonny Arr 22. Jamie Shilock 23. Ryan Mills

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Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Aaron Smith
02. James Hanson	10. Richie Mo'unga (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Savage (c)	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Franco Mostert	12. Mark Atkinson
06. Lewis Ludlow	13. Jon Davies
07. Ruan Ackerman	14. Henry Purdy
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jason Woodward

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16. Richard Hibbard 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Jake Polledri  21. Ben Vellacott 22. Billy Burns 23. Tom Marshall

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Tactics
*Look to grind them down in the front 5 with a hefty pack not afraid to do dirty work,
*Forwards to work in pods round the corner 2 phases then wide and hit gaps,
*JD2 and Atkinson to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Mo'unga to look to get quick ball out, if it isn't on then tactical kicking to corners,
*We have selected Atkinson as a stronger defensive option to stop Laumape's attack,
*Defence led by JD2 and with a back rower on Mo'unga's shoulder to assist tackle and get over the ball,
*Look to slow them down with a well balanced back row,
*Use bench wisely with experience to come on and pace in the backs to target tired legs especially Vellacott who will be given a run out towards the end,
*Keep the scoreboard ticking over.

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Sorry mate, I was a bit slow at knocking this up

That’s alright mate. Conditions are current!

Saracens
Manager – Pooly
-

01. Richard Barrington	09. Ben Spencer
02. Schalk Brits	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Vincent Koch
04. Will Skelton	11. Chris Wyles
05. Eben Etzebeth	12. Brad Barritt
06. Michael Rhodes	13. Damian Penaud
07. Schalk Burger	14. Nathan Earle
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Liam Williams

:-
16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Hayden Thompson-Stringer 18. Juan Figallo 19. Nick Isiekwe  20. Callum Clark 21. Henry Taylor 22. Max Malins 23. Harry Mallinder
-
Tactics:

- Play the Saracens way, keep it tight in the pack and earn the right to go wide.  
- Strong, physical pack to set a tone in the collisions. High intensity rugby, with big carries from numerous options. Will look to dominate the opposition pack and lay a foundation for our backs.
- Target Set piece and go for the jugular if a weakness is seen. Kicking for corners and territory if able to exert pressure in this area.
- Strong impact from the bench to keep intensity up.
- Typical Sarries blitz defence, squeezing the life out opposition and forcing errors.
- Play the game in the right areas of the pitch. Low error rugby and go through the phases when required.

- KEEP THE BALL AWAY FROM SALE - No needless kicks to Sale back 3, keep the ball away and no space for them to run in.
-
- GRIND DOWN THE SALE FRONT 5 - throughout game with hugely physical front 5 and quality bench.[/b]

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. Max Clark
06. Francois Louw (c)	13. Matt Banahan
07. Zac Mercer	14. Aled Brew
08. Toby Faletau	15. Freddie Burns

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16. Jack Walker, 17.Nick Auterac, 18. Scott Andrews 19. Dave Attwood, 20. James Phillips 21. Chris Cook, 22. Rory Jennings, 23. Tom Homer

Tactics:

• Bath have picked a big physical pack to take on opp and disrupt game.
• Plenty of carriers and work rate in pack, backrow to target isolated runners for the turnover
• Kahn to look for the short runners following his snipe the generate quick ball to slow opp line speed down and isolate runners.
• Freddie Burn’s to chip the ball over the top and in behind wingers specifically to test his positioning out.
• Using a blitz defence when short on numbers to put pressure on opp 10
• Pick and Game will be effective for us today and Burns will look to put us in the corners but moving the ball when its on.
• Burns to punish opp indiscipline’s with shots at goal.
• Attwood/Ewels to go up on opp lineout and put pressure on

Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Lewis Boyce	09. Will Chudley
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11.  Alex Lewington
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Jack Lam	13. Joe Marchant
07. Sam Cane	14. Tim Visser
08. Mat Luamanu	15. James Lowe

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16.  Mark Lambert 17.  Dave Ward 18. Will Collier   19. George Merrick  20. Renaldo Bothma 21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. James Lang 23. Charlie Walker

TACTICS


Breakdown


Look to act as a team with aggressive clearing out to support Cane and manipulate an opportunity for Cane to compete one on one at the breakdown where he is world class.

Attack

Look to build together a phase attack with quick recycling and our dynamic big carriers from the pack and Roberts, quickly changing the focus of attacking with our attacking 9-10 until suck players in or make a break then spin out to the rapid back 4 (inc Marchant)

When ball is slow, as always we will carry in units of 3. Licence from 9.

Lowe coming into the line at will. Running back kicks where possible

Very happy to switch to a kick chase game and use chip kicks if they handle our attack

Defence

Blitz led by Roberts, taking their big carriers early, looking to shut down Harrison with Luamanu to put the whole backline under pressure at its weaklink 

Setpiece

Should be a good close contest at the scrum, where we will look to go legal and get out ball quickly. At the lineout, we should be strong and will look to attack Youngs' throwing at the front with Horwill early to throw him off his game.

Summary:

We have dynamic, powerful forwards throughout pack (Coles, Sinckler, Boyce, Horwill, Luamanu) to smash the rucks and enable our top class fetcher
They will also put together carrying phases and we will use Smith to vary point of attack
Solid scrum on the bench to attack scrum late on with carrying from Bothma, turnover skills from Ward, second playmaker in Lang and sheer pace in Walker

Changed Wigglesworth out.

Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Christian Day	11. Ben Foden
05. Michael Paterson	12. Luther Burrell
06. Tom Wood	13. Rob Horne
07. Kwagga Smith	14. Ken Pisi
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

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16 Campese Ma'afu, 17 Reece Marshall, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Tom Collins

Tactics
- Use Isa as the main carrier, supported by Wood, Smith, Burrell
- Myler to kick all pens for goal in range, otherwise go for corner
- Goode to act as second playmaker on occasion

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Rob Vickers	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Santiago Socino	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Dominic Bird	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Will Witty	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Mark Wilson	13. Vereniki Goneva
07. Nili Latu	14. DTH Van Der Merwe
08. Steven Luatua	15. Simon Hammersley

:-
16. Ben Sowery 17. Sami Mavinga 18. David Wilson 19. Sean Robinson 20. Opeti Fonua  21. Will Welch 22. Joel Hodgson 23. Máxime Mermoz

TACTICS

Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Moon	09. Nic White
02. Luke Cowan-Dickie	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Greg Holmes
04. Jonny Hill	11. Olly Woodburn
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Matt Kvesic	14. James Short
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Lachlan Turner

. 
16. Jack Yeandle, 17. Carl Rimmer, 18. Marcus Street, 19. Mitch Lees 20. James Chisholm, 21. Jack Maunder 22. Joe Simmonds, 23. Sam Hill



Look to play the real life Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack. Dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore, keeping it narrow until we create quick enough possession to feed our back line.  



- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Waldrom or Armand to launch themselves off the back of mauls. 

- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Wasps of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 

- It will be phases of carrying, running at least in pairs to help maintain a leg drive. This is the standard Chiefs style, and causes the opposition defence to be drawn into the defend through the middle, creating space out wide for our back line to exploit. 

- 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. 

- Devoto 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.

- Wingers to come in off their wings and look for work, and get them 1v1 on a forward to make the most of their footwork and speed to beat the slow Wasps forwards. 

- Not worried about how Wasps will play, we will chop them low and early to allow our back row to compete and slow their ball down. The game is based around us having possession for long periods and forcing Wasps to panic when they have the ball, as they will want to do something immediately with it, if they get it, and this should yield mistakes and forced opportunities for us to capatilise on.

London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi	09. TJ Perenara
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Franco Van Der Merwe	11. Joe Cokanasiga
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Fergus Mulchrone
06. Jack Clifford	13. Johnny Williams
07. Luke Wallace	14. Marland Yarde
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Jordie Barrett

:-
16. David Paice 17. Alex Lundberg 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Sebastian De Chaves 20. Mike Coman 21. Scott Steele 22. James Grayson 23. Jordan Larmour

Using big carriers to make ground in the wet, going wider in the 22 and backing our backline to have the skills to overcome the conditions - Retallick, Furlong, Conan, Aumua to lead us here

Scrappy breakdown players in Clifford and Wallace to get us surprise turnovers which we'll look to either kick through and chase or put through the hands

Strong kicking game with Perenara, Cruden and Barrett used to the NZ rainstorms, putting kicks on a 6 pence if they want to get into a kicking duel. We'll look to pressure Sanchez and see if their other backs can cope with kicking regularly. Barrett at FB for his kicking game

Don't be afraid to counter attack if they kick poorly.

Barrett and Cruden to act as first receiver options, Perenara snipe if its on

Big carriers and a game breaker in Larmour off the bench late on

Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Halani Aulika
04. Josh Beaumont	11. James O'Connor
05. Pieter Steph Du Toit	12. Sam James
06. Judicael Cancoriet	13. Jack Goodhue
07. Tom Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. Mike Haley

16. Rob Webber 17. Greg Bateman 18. Will Griff John  19. Jono Ross 20 Ben Curry 21. Will Cliff 22. Will Addison 23. Keelan Giles

We will look to use the kicking game of Du Klerk and Sanchez to pin Saracens in their own half and trust our defence and line out to put huge pressure on them to escape from their own territory. We will look to counter attack when Saracens kick loosely and test their kick defence.

Use our pack to get us over the gain line will ball in hand and tire the Saracens defence. Look to get the ball to the backs when their is quick ball and an organised back line ready to strike.

use Sanchez to kick all points on offer. Scoreboard pressure is key to putting Saracens under pressure.

Worcester Warriors
Manager – CJB

01. Ethan Waller	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Jack Singleton	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nick Schonert
04. Will Spencer	11. Bryce Helen
05. Guido Petti	12. Ngani Laumape
06. Blake Gibson	13. Wynard Olivier
07. Michael Hopper	14. Dean Hammond
08. Dave Denton	15. Chris Pennell

16. Ryan Bower 17. Matt Williams 18. Biyi Alo 19. Donnacha O’Callaghan 20. GJ Van Velze 21. Jonny Arr 22. Jamie Shilock 23. Ryan Mills

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Logovi'i Mulipola	09. Dan Robson
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Jake Cooper-Wooley
04. James Gaskell	11. Elliot Daly
05. Scott Barrett	12. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
06. Sean O'Brienl	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Thomas Young	14. Christian Wade
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

_
16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Matt Mullan, 18. Paul Doran-Jones, 19. Kearnen Myhall, 20. Brendon O'Conner, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Kyle Eastmond, 23. Josh Bassett

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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

Put in Lundberg on my bench and swapped out Conan as he's starting for Ireland

Gloucester Rugby[/b]
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Aaron Smith
02. James Hanson	10. Richie Mo'unga (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Savage (c)	11. Charlie Sharples
05. Franco Mostert	12. Mark Atkinson
06. Lewis Ludlow	13. Jon Davies
07. Ruan Ackerman	14. Henry Purdy
08. Ben Morgan	15. Jason Woodward

_
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Jake Polledri 21. Ben Vellacott 22. Billy Burns 23. Tom Marshall

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Tactics
*Look to grind them down in the front 5 with a hefty pack not afraid to do dirty work,
*Forwards to work in pods round the corner 2 phases then wide and hit gaps,
*JD2 and Atkinson to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Mo'unga to look to get quick ball out, if it isn't on then tactical kicking to corners,
*We have selected Atkinson as a stronger defensive option to stop Laumape's attack,
*Defence led by JD2 and with a back rower on Mo'unga's shoulder to assist tackle and get over the ball,
*Look to slow them down with a well balanced back row,
*Use bench wisely with experience to come on and pace in the backs to target tired legs especially Vellacott who will be given a run out towards the end,
*Keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Will update page tomorrow, circa midday. Get your tactics in before then

when this open?

Sorry guys, was busy this weekend. 

Predictions open, until Thursday 1000, to me please  

Dave Denton on bench for Scotland this weekend and at 8 for worcester

prop_lyd wrote:Dave Denton on bench for Scotland this weekend and at 8 for worcester

Amended

Any more predictions? Would like to get a few more in before 10/1030

Leicester Tigers 23 - 23 Harlequins

Leicester Tigers 27 - 23 Harlequins
Front 5 advantage to Tigers with Matthews a little out of place in a pretty even contest. 8/6 go to the home side with Cane being able to get the better of Shields in the tight exchanges. Leicester take the halfbacks but to be honest, it's pretty even past that. Home advantage and Tigers slightly better pack get them the win. 

Leicester Tigers 22 - 23 Harlequins

Leicester Tigers 24 - 23 Harlequins

Leicester Tigers 28 - 27 Harlequins

Leicester Tiger 24 - 27 Harlequins
Quins look to have a great breakdown presence, and some solid carriers in the team. Tigers look a bit weak in the front row, and I think they'll just lack the platform to get a good set of backs going. With Smith at 10, and plenty of talent around him in the outside backs, Quins take it

Leicester Tigers 25 - 26 Harlequins

Newcastle Falcons 20 - 21 Bath Rugby

Newcastle Falcons 25 - 25 Bath Rugby
Can see Bath getting an edge at the scrum with Vickers getting targeted. Good contest past that, especially the backrow, but Bath just looking a touch stronger. Backlines are close and I can see a slight advantage the home side which will make for a thrilling draw. 

Newcastle Falcons 22 - 22 Bath Rugby

Newcastle Falcons 24 - 25 Bath Rugby

Newcastle Falcons 20 - 21 Bath Rugby 

Newcastle Falcons 17 - 18 Bath Rugby

Newcastle Falcons 17 - 20 Bath Rugby
Bath too strong for a Newcastle side without any direction, and actually look a very good side during the 6N period

Newcastle Falcons 25 - 25 Bath Rugby

Northampton Saints 20 - 21 London Irish

Northampton Saints 23 - 22 London Irish
Close contest but the home side have the edge in the front and backrow. Irish step it up the halfbacks with a quality halfbacks and back 3 but at home I'd see Saints with a narrow win. 


Northampton Saints 24 - 25 London Irish

Northampton Saints 26 - 25 London Irish

Northampton Saints 23 - 24 London Irish

Northampton Saints 26 - 27 London Irish

Northampton Saints 25 - 24 London Irish

Sale Sharks 20 - 19 Sarries

Sale Sharks 27 - 26 Saracens 

Sale Sharks 22 - 22 Saracens 

Sale Sharks 29 - 30 Saracens

Sale Sharks 23 - 25 Saracens
This is actually a really tough one to call. Both sides with strong front 5s, Etzebeth may just help Sarries edge it, similarly with the quality in the back row they edge the youthful Sale flanks. Sale are stronger at halfback, and I think they are stronger from 11-15 too with some very talented players. This one comes down to benches, and Sarries are just a little too strong there, and sneak it

Sale Sharks 22 - 21 Saracens

Wasps 24 - 23 Exeter Chiefs

Wasps 28 - 26 Exeter Chiefs
Really good game with Wasps just getting on top in the scrum but Exeter having more around the park in the locks. Wasps have perhaps the best backrow on show during the 6N and have a classy backline to see things home. 

Wasps 22 - 21 Exeter Chiefs

Wasps 25 - 24 Exeter Chiefs

Wasps 28 - 28 Exeter Chiefs

Wasps 36 - 33 Exeter Chiefs
Wasps look really strong, but I can see this being a great pack battle particularly in the back 5. The difference here is in the backs, Wasps just have a bit more quality and attacking threat, and I see them winning this in a high scoring game

Worcester Warriors 21 - 20 Gloucester Rugby

Worcester Warriors 27 - 25 Gloucester Rugby
Scrum to Gloucester and cracking engine rooms from both sides. Past the pack it's Worcester that take control and even without tactics, can just take the win.

Worcester Warriors 20 - 21 Gloucester Rugby

Worcester Warriors 22 - 23 Gloucester Rugby

Worcester Warriors 20 - 23 Gloucester Rugby
Glos look strong in international periods, and against a Wuss side without tactics I think they can take this one in a strong road performance

Worcester Warriors 23 - 24 Gloucester Rugby