Fixtures - 8

Team Sheets due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon

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Bath v London Irish

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Will Tanner	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. James Currie
04. Rob Simmons	11. Tom Varndell
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Wynard Oliver
06. Sean O’Brien	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Dan Lydiate	14. Richard Haughton
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Kurtley Beale

16.Lee Mears 17.Kane Newport 18.Davit Kubrashvilli 19.Louis Deacon 20. Will Skuse 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Anthony Allen 23. Maxime Medard

Tactics

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London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Mattias Aguero	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Rory Best	10. Daniel Bowden
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Paul Sackey
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Mathieu Bastereaud
06. Jacques Botes	13. Matthew Tait
07. Hendrie Fourie	14. Bjorn Basson
08. Keegan Daniel	15. Joe Maddock

16 Soane Tonga'uhia 17 James Buckland 18 Duncan Bell 19 Kieren Roche 20 Joe Worsley 21 Guy Armitage 22 Neal De Kock 23 Juan Martin Hernandez

Tactics

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Exeter Chiefs v Sale Sharks

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver

01. Efion Lewis-Roberts	09. Nick Phipps
02. Neil Clark	10. Ronan O'Gara
03. Tom Mercy
04. James Hudson (c)	11. David Lemi
05. George Skivington	12. Gordan D'Arcy
06. Ben Skirving	13. Alex Grove
07. Shane Jennings	14. Horace Aguella
08. Raphaël Lakafia	15. Andrea Masi

Tactics

Phipps and ROG to play what's in front of them and control the game building phases along with momentum as well as slowing any Sale Momentum. If nothing is on ROG to pin Sale in there 22 and use Hudson/Skivs/Skirving to pressure Sale lineout

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Steven Sykes	11. David Strettle
05. Christia Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Adam Thomson	13. James Hook
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Keith Earls
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Luke Rooney

16. Lee Imolek 17. David Paice 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Chris Jones 20. Matt Todd 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Nick Abendanoon

Tactics

Look to play a strong ball carrying game with plenty of offloading constantly looking to change the point of attack and keep the opposition on the back foot. Target the scrum with a strong french front row. Target the lineout with 5 good jumpers and look to hit the breakdown hard with both Thomson and Quedragao excelling there.

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Gloucester v Newcastle Falcons

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Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Ousthieuzen	09. Lewis
02. Strauss	10. Donald
03. Johnstone
04. Roussouw	11. Sharples
05. Robson	12. Barnes
06. Bonnaire	13. Horne
07. Saull	14. Simpson Daniels
08. Johnson	15. Dagg

16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Hanks 20 Alberts 21 Genia 22 Lamb 23 Guildford.

Tactics

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Boris Stankovich	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. William Servat	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell	12. James O’Connor
06. Juan Smith	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Richie McCaw(c)	14. Sean Maitland
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Smith

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Fabien Barcella 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Colin Slade 23. Topsy Ojo


Tactics
Normal Falcons high intensity tactics......compete in pack and target lineout with numerous jumpers. Control breakdown and look to attack with turnover ball. Attack with pace and get wings and fb’s into line. JOC to alternate 12 with Smith and get hands on ball at every opertunity.

Just trying out a few combo's.....Thoughts on backrow against full strength teams, general thoughts on centre partnership (I know AAC hasn't been in the form of last year but if he was fully firing would he work well with JOC?) and general thoughts on back 3 and tactic of alternating Smith/JOC (Smith plays a fair bit at 12 too)

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Saracens v Harlequins

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Saracens
Manager – LDCPete

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Paul Hodgson
02. George Chuter	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Rynhard Elstadt	11. Rene Ranger
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Jonathon Davies
06. Alessandro Zanni	13. Henry Trinder
07. George Smith	14. Tim Visser
08. Luke Narraway	15. Isaia Toeava

16. Bismarck du Plessis 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Adam Jones 19. Steve Borthwick 20. Tom Wood 21. Francois Hougaard 22. Owen Farrell 23. James Short

Tactics

No tactics as such, just that I would be instructing all of these players to play their normal game.

Could I have feedback on the team overall please as I am now trying to work out my best post World Cup line up.

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson (c)
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Preistland
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Nathan Sharpe	11. Peter Hynes
05. James Gaskell	12. Riki Flutey
06. Francois Louw	13. Anthony Faainga
07. Sam Warburton	14. Luke Morahan
08. Phil Dowson	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Vickers 17. Joe Marler 18. John Afoa 19. Tom Donnelly 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Henry Pyrgos 22. Freddie Burns 23. George Lowe

Tactics

Play an open game. Feel that we have a strong side in the loose and will look to punch holes in Saracens defence then we will spread the ball wide. We will look to pressure the Saracens set piece paricularly the lineout.

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London Wasps v Worcester Warriors

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London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Benn Robinson	09. Michael Claassens
02. Steve Thompson	10. Jimmy Gopperth
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Stuart Hooper	11. Noah Cato
05. Mark Chisholm	12. James Downey
06. Tom Johnson	13. Stirling Mortlock (c)
07. Deon Stegmann	14. Tom Williams
08. James Haskell	15. Mike Brown

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Perry Freshwater 18. Charlie Beech 19. Marco Wentzel 20. Dan Ward-Smith 21. Martin Roberts 22. Rory Clegg 23. Drew Mitchell

Tactics

Usual high intensity game with plenty of powerful carries from our pack to get us onto the front foot early on. We will look to play with speed and precision and ensure that Claassens gets quick ball. Use our crash ball centres to smash holes in the Worcester defence and drive them over the gain line, and recycle the ball quickly and attack the gaps we have created. We will try to keep the ball alive when we can with offloads.

Looking for feedback on:
My back line as a whole.
My second row
And any strengths and weaknesses my team have..

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. David Flatman	09. Jimmy Cowan
02. Richard Strauss	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. Sylvain Marconnet
04. Ali Williams	11. Shane Williams
05. Leo Cullen (c)	12. Pat McCabe
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. Jon Clarke
07. Craig Newby	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Olly Morgan

16. Koree Britton* 17. George Porter* 18. BJ Botha 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Sebastian Chabal 21. Jordi Pasqualin* 22. Sam Vesty* 23. Julien Malzieu.

Tactics

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Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers

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Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01.Andrew Sheridan	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Matt Stevens
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Liam Messam	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15.Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Carl Hayman 18. Thomas Domingo 19. Bradley Davies 20. Rocky Elsom 21. Joe Simpson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics

secure good ball from the set piece and use forwards to work through the phases - with Lapandry, Messam, Lawes in the team confident of generating quick ball. will look to tire Tigers and then bring on impact players to overpower them in final 20mins.

Giteau to target putting ball behind both of Tigers wings, and work on getting runners directly at Biggs. Will also target Poitrenaud at 12 with de Villiers and Tuilagi running at his channel.

Play tight game for first 50-60mins and then bring on subs to see out the game.

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Leicester
Manager – Luke

01. Ben Franks	09. Ben Youngs
02. Stephen Moore	10. David Skrela (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Alesana Tuilagi
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Clement Poitrenaud
06. Thomas Waldrom	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. John Barclay	14. Tom Biggs
08. Nick Easter	15. Cory Jane

16. Wyatt Crockett 17. Matt Thompson 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Micky Young 22. Rob Miller 23. Aurelien Rougerie

Tactics

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Markeroooooo

Saracens change their entire starting XV for this weeks fixture with Harlequins

Saracens
Manager – LDCPete

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Paul Hodgson
02. George Chuter	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Rynhard Elstadt	11. Rene Ranger
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Jonathon Davies
06. Alessandro Zanni	13. Henry Trinder
07. George Smith	14. Tim Visser
08. Luke Narraway	15. Isaia Toeava

16. Bismarck du Plessis 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Adam Jones 19. Steve Borthwick 20. Tom Wood 21. Francois Hougaard 22. Owen Farrell 23. James Short

Tactics

No tactics as such, just that I would be instructing all of these players to play their normal game.

Could I have feedback on the team overall please as I am now trying to work out my best post World Cup line up.

Chris - will be playing a strong team this week, giving my WC players a rest.

I'd start Corbs mate as i'm not 100% sure everyone rates beast and it lets you start Bismark! Also think Jones is miles better than JDP.

If i was you i'd line up with this post RWC

1.Corbs 2.BDP 3.Jones 4.Elstadt 5.Matfield/Nallet 6.Wood 7.Dusitoir 8.Narraway 9.Parra 10.FTD 11.Cueto 12.Nonu 13.Davies 14.Ranger 15.Goode

Harlequins

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson (c)
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Preistland
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Nathan Sharpe	11. Peter Hynes
05. James Gaskell	12. Riki Flutey
06. Francois Louw	13. Anthony Faainga
07. Sam Warburton	14. Luke Morahan
08. Phil Dowson	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Vickers 17. Joe Marler 18. John Afoa 19. Tom Donnelly 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Henry Pyrgos 22. Freddie Burns 23. George Lowe

Tactics

Play an open game. Feel that we have a strong side in the loose and will look to punch holes in Saracens defence then we will spread the ball wide. We will look to pressure the Saracens set piece paricularly the lineout.

1.Efion Lewis-Roberts
2.Neil Clark
3.Tom Mercy
4.James Hudson (c)
5.George Skivington
6.Ben Skirving
7.Shane Jennings
8.Raphaël Lakafia

9.Nick Phipps
10.Ronan O'Gara
11.David Lemi
12.Gordan D'Arcy
13.Alex Grove
14.Horace Aguella
15.Andrea Masi

16.John Smit 17.Cian Healy 18.Jack Forster 19.Simon Shaw 20.Carl Fearns 21.Tomas O'Leary 22.Steven Myler 23.Matt Smith

Tactics

Phipps and ROG to play what's in front of them and control the game building phases along with momentum as well as slowing any Sale Momentum. If nothing is on ROG to pin Sale in there 22 and use Hudson/Skivs/Skirving to pressure Sale lineout.

Best of luck SJE

cheers LLL - will be playing a stong side myself then!

Saints team to face Tigers:

1. Andrew Sheridan
2. Dylan Hartley
3. Matt Stevens
4. Courtney Lawes
5. Patricio Albacete
6. Liam Messam
7. Alexandre Lapandry
8. Sergio Parisse (c)
9. Mike Phillips
10. Matt Giteau
11. Siti Siviatu
12. Jean de Villiers
13. Manu Tuilagi
14. Chris Ashton
15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Carl Hayman 19. Bradley Davies 20. Rocky Elsom 21. Joe Simpson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Irish team for Bath

1 Matias Aguero
2 Rory Best
3 WP Nel
4 Matt Garvey
5 Nick Kennedy
6 Jacques Botes
7 Hendrie Fourie
8 Keegan Daniel
9 Julien Dupuy
10 Daniel Bowden
11 Paul Sackey
12 Mathieu Bastereaud
13 Matthew Tait
14 Bjorn Basson
15 Joe Maddock

16 Soane Tonga'uhia
17 James Buckland
18 Duncan Bell
19 Kieren Roche
20 Joe Worsley
21 Guy Armitage
22 Neal De Kock
23 Juan Martin Hernandez

1 Coonie
2 Strauss
3 Johnstone
4 Roussouw
5 Robson
6 Bonnaire
7 Saull
8 Ashley Johnson
9 Lewis
10 Donald
11 JSD
12 Barnes
13 Horne
14 Sharples
15 Dagg
16 Wood
17 Britton
18 White
19 Hanks
20 Alberts
21 Genia
22 Lamb
23 Guildford

Wasps team to face Worcester Warriors

1. Benn Robinson
2. Steve Thompson
3. Carlos Nieto
4. Stuart Hooper
5. Mark Chisholm
6. Tom Johnson
7. Deon Stegmann
8. James Haskell

9. Michael Claassens
10. Jimmy Gopperth
11. Noah Cato
12. James Downey
13. Stirling Mortlock (c)
14. Tom Williams
15. Mike Brown

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau
17. Perry Freshwater
18. Charlie Beech
19. Marco Wentzel
20. Dan Ward-Smith
21. Martin Roberts
22. Rory Clegg
23. Drew Mitchell

Leicester
Manager – Luke

01. Ben Franks	09. Ben Youngs
02. Stephen Moore	10. David Skrela (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Alesana Tuilagi
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Clement Poitrenaud
06. Thomas Waldrom	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. John Barclay	14. Tom Biggs
08. Nick Easter	15. Cory Jane

16. Wyatt Crockett 17. Matt Thompson 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Tom Denton 20. Jordan Crane 21. Micky Young 22. Rob Miller 23. Aurelien Rougerie

In the correct format sorry i forgot

01. Coonie 09. Lewis
02. Strauss 10. Donald
03. James Johnstone
04. Roussouw 11. Sharples
05. Robson 12. Berrick barnes
06. Bonnaire 13. Rob Horne
07. Saull 14. Sharples
08. AJ 15. Dagg

16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Hanks 20 Alberts 21 Genia 22 Lamb 23 Guildford

Got Sharples twice Matt, should have team up later

Wish i had 2 sharples in my team pooly!!!

01. Coonie 09. Lewis
02. Strauss 10. Donald
03. James Johnstone
04. Roussouw 11. Sharples
05. Robson 12. Berrick barnes
06. Bonnaire 13. Rob Horne
07. Saull 14. JSD
08. AJ 15. Dagg

16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Hanks 20 Alberts 21 Genia 22 Lamb 23 Guildford

Want to try that formatting using the coding on your page Matt?

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
01.Jon Golding 09. Richard Wigglesworth
02.Will Tanner 10. Charlie Hodgson
03.James Currie
04.Rob Simmons 11. Tom Varndell
05.Sam Whitelock 12. Wynard Oliver
06. Sean O’Brien 13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Dan Lydiate 14. Richard Haughton
08. Johnnie Beattie 15. Kurtley Beale

16.Lee Mears 17.Kane Newport 18.Davit Kubrashvilli 19.Louis Deacon 20. Will Skuse 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Anthony Allen 23. Maxime Medard

Guys for future reference can you use the actual coding please?
If you hit the quote button on my comments earlier you can see it all and just fill your team into it

Just copying the format with plain text unfortunately doesn't work for the match thread. You need to fill the actual coding out please

[quote="SirJohnnyEnglish"]Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01.Andrew Sheridan	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Matt Stevens
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Liam Messam	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15.Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Carl Hayman 18. Thomas Domingo 19. Patricio Albacete 20. Rocky Elsom 21. Joe Simpson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics

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Cheers for the code SJE!

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Steven Sykes	11. David Strettle
05. Christia Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Adam Thomson	13. James Hook
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Keith Earls
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Luke Rooney

16. Lee Imolek 17. David Paice 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Chris Jones 20. Matt Todd 21. Nicholas Bezy 22. Olly Barkley 23. Nick Abendanoon

Tactics

Look to play a strong ball carrying game with plenty of offloading constantly looking to change the point of attack and keep the opposition on the back foot. Target the scrum with a strong french front row. Target the lineout with 5 good jumpers and look to hit the breakdown hard with both Thomson and Quedragao excelling there.

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Chris you have Albacete twice.

I cloned him during pre-season...

Was so close to gettng it right this week - meant to have Bradley Davies on the bench!

Worcester name a changed side with players off to the world cup involved for their last match.

01. David Flatman* 09. Jimmy Cowan
02. Richard Strauss 10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. Sylvain Marconnet
04. Ali Williams 11. Shane Williams
05. Leo Cullen (c) 12. Pat McCabe
06. Scott Higginbotham 13. Jon Clarke *
07. Craig Newby 14. Matt Banahan *
08. Ben Morgan* 15. Olly Morgan *


16. Koree Britton* 17. George Porter* 18. BJ Botha 19. Jim Hamilton 20. Kearnan Myall 21. Jordi Pasqualin* 22. Sam Vesty* 23. Julien Malzieu

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Boris Stankovich	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. William Servat	10. Jonny Wilkinson
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell	12. James O’Connor
06. Juan Smith	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. Richie McCaw(c)	14. Sean Maitland
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Smith

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Fabien Barcella 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Colin Slade 23. Topsy Ojo


Tactics
Normal Falcons high intensity tactics......compete in pack and target lineout with numerous jumpers. Control breakdown and look to attack with turnover ball. Attack with pace and get wings and fb’s into line. JOC to alternate 12 with Smith and get hands on ball at every opertunity.

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Just trying out a few combo's.....Thoughts on backrow against full strength teams, general thoughts on centre partnership (I know AAC hasn't been in the form of last year but if he was fully firing would he work well with JOC?) and general thoughts on back 3 and tactic of alternating Smith/JOC (Smith plays a fair bit at 12 too)

Looking for feedback if players fit and in decent form etc....cheers

There you go Johnny

Wasps tactics

Usual high intensity game with plenty of powerful carries from our pack to get us onto the front foot early on. We will look to play with speed and precision and ensure that Claassens gets quick ball. Use our crash ball centres to smash holes in the Worcester defence and drive them over the gain line, and recycle the ball quickly and attack the gaps we have created. We will try to keep the ball alive when we can with offloads.

Looking for feedback on:
My back line as a whole.
My second row
And any strengths and weaknesses my team have.

P.S Prop you've got Banahan playing for you and he's my player lol

Pooly rolling out the big guns for the match against me!!!.

Just trying out some combo's mate, not fussed about results etc. I know my WC team so looking for post WC

Sorry change Banahan to Garvey!!

Bath 19 19 London Irish

In the front 5 I see Irish on top at scrum time.Serious lack of experience in the Bath front row. (Nel not the strongest scrummager but shouldn’t really be challenged here). At lineout time both sides have enough jumping options but Tanner at hooker can’t really be rated and Irish may well pick a few balls off. The Bath engine room is a step up in quality though for me and will do a lot more around the park for me. In the back row can see Irish really working over the breakdown but lacking in power. Bath a class above when it comes to carrying.

Halfbacks 1 apiece for me but Bath shading it as a combo. In the backs Beale is the outstanding player on show by some bit. Question marks over the form of both midfields although I think the Irish combo has a better balance. In the back 3 Bath stronger with ball in hand but defensively Irish much stronger. On the bench Bath have a bit more impact overall. (Nick on Hernandez I will find it very hard to rate him next year now that he’s definitely missing the world cup. A top player when on form but has missed so much rugby now over the last few years).

Interesting game here. Can see Irish causing Bath a lot of problems at the set piece and breakdown. There will be a lot of scrappy ball but then Bath have some top carriers and will be able to get on the front foot at times. If this was in the wet conditions I’d have Irish winning by 5-7 points but in the dry it’s a lot closer with Bath able to get some go forward. I’m going to call it a draw. During the season a good set of tactics would have definitely swung this game.

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Gloucester 12 24 Newcastle Falcons

In the front 5 scrum battle to Newcastle here for me. At the lineout battle I can see both sides holding their own. Bonnaire is one of the best back row lineout options in the world and should help to see of the POC challenge. In terms of mobility its fairly tight but Coonie is a big plus for Matt. Newcastle win the back row battle here! Arguably the 3 best players in the world in their own respective positions.

Halfbacks are a step up for Newcastle here. With better form and a level above as well. In the backs, the back 3 is fairly tight with good form on both sides. In midfield an on form Barnes would be the main man but JOC in better form currently. On the bench some good impact for Glaws in Genia and Alberts but Newcastle definitely have a bench that can see the game out.

Mismatch here with Newcastle going with a lot of their big guns in this match. Stronger in every area nearly, Falcons will pick up a routine win here.

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Saracens 16 19 Harlequins

In the front 5, Can see Sarries getting some joy from Beast against Brookes whom is untested at this level. At the lineout I can see Quins with the upper hand. No out and out jumping option for Sarries and would expect the Quins locks to get their hands on plenty of ball. Good back row battle here. Fairly even battle for me and can’t see either side really getting on top here. Quins may get a bit more success at the breakdown though with Louw offering extra expertise there.

In the half backs, two very good young 10s on show. Lambie shading the battle here having played at a better standard in the Super 15. Dickson stronger at 9 though. In the backs Sarries edging the back 3 for form for me currently. Would change if Kearney goes through the world cup playing as good as last weekend. Quins have some good kicking options though to try and take advantage of their lineout dominance. Midfield is a step up to Quins with Fainga a big step up to Trinder currently. On the bench much stronger forwards to come in for Sarries who could really squeeze Quins for the last 20 minutes.

Good game here for me. Think with Dickson, Priestland, Flutey and a strong kicking back 3 Quins have the side to really punish the Darries lineout and with that extra step up in midfield they should pick up the win here.

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London Wasps 12 15 Worcester Warriors

In the front 5, Good even battle at the scrum here. Nieto may get on top of Flatman at times but the same can be said for Marconnet on Robinson currently. At the lineout though Worcester are a big step up. Williams and Cullen have had great seasons while Chisholm seems to be fading away slightly. Hooper good prem standard but not upto the Worcester pairings standard. In the back row battle, much better balance to the Worcester selection then recent weeks. Currently Worcester stronger on the flanks but will change a month or two down the line with Newby’s rating dropping due to injury. Haskell a big step up at 8 though.

In the half backs, Steyns form is an issue for Prop but in this match the Worcester combo are a class above. (Worcester won’t be able to play much of a backs game this season at all with Steyn’s current form but with the midfield on show that won’t be too much of an issue). In the backs, very strong defensive midfields from both sides. Worcester maybe slightly stronger currently ball in hand. Back 3’s for both sides are solid but Williams is the star attraction. On the bench Wasps shading it for quality but not tellingly so.

Worcester are that bit stronger here in the pack and with the better half back combo controlling things they should pick up a very narrow win here. Not a great game for running rugby. Home advantage and/or tactics may have seen a draw here

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Northampton Saints 19 19 Leicester Tigers

In the front 5, Good even battle at the scrum with neither side getting on top at any stage. Both sides should have enough options to hold their own ball although Horwill could get a hand to 1 or 2 Saints balls. Back row battle is Northampton’s here. Slightly better balance to Saints with Messam more likely to do the dirty work at BS while at OS Barclay is the better player overall but not had the best of season’s.

Halfback battle is tigers for me by some way. Youngs maybe not in best form but still has the service to keep his side moving. Phillips however takes an hour to clear the ball! Cannot see any quick ball here at all for Saints with Phillips playing. In the backs, Saints are a class above in the back 3 but Tigers with a stronger midfield. BOD can get some success from Tuilagi positionally. On the bench more impact for Saints.

It’s a good pack battle here. Can see the Saints back row winning out here but the massive issue is Phillips at 9. His slow service allows the Tigers defense to get up on the ball carriers before the gain line. Saints will need to rely on their dangerous back 3 and in particular Ashtons tracking runs to a lot to get go forward ball. Tigers will target Manu positionally when on the attack and can get some joy here. It’s a very hard game to call and I’m going to opt for the draw here. Tactics/Home advantage would be the deciding factor here during the main season.

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tactics for game versus Tigers.

secure good ball from the set piece and use forwards to work through the phases - with Lapandry, Messam, Lawes in the team confident of generating quick ball. will look to tire Tigers and then bring on impact players to overpower them in final 20mins.

Giteau to target putting ball behind both of Tigers wings, and work on getting runners directly at Biggs. Will also target Poitrenaud at 12 with de Villiers and Tuilagi running at his channel.

Play tight game for first 50-60mins and then bring on subs to see out the game.

Bath Rugby 23-21 London Irish

More up front for Irish and can see them putting a fair bit of pressure come scrum time. Very nice engine room from Bath and will dominate the Irish pair esp around the park. Bit more in the backrow
at 6/8 for bath. Lydiate and Fourie would compete well but don't really see Daniel as an 8.

Not much in the halfbacks or centres and nice combo's if lacking a little form. Slightest edge for Bath in back 3 with Beale the standout.

Bath have the edge but see Irish getting joy in the scrum. Close game.

Exeter 19-23 Sale

Serious Sale front row that would dominate the scrum. Good engine room battle, I like the Exeter pair for the hard matches. 2 good balanced backrows slight edge for Sale and think they edge the pack.

Good halfback battle, Sale have a bit more in the centres and 2 good back 3's that will offer different styles.

Tight game that is seen off with a slight edge in the pack for Sale.

Sarries 26-27 Quins

Wrote this out twice and lost it...sorry lads. Any explanation give me a shout.

Wasps 22-24 Worcester
Northampton 17-16 Leicester

Bath 18 - 21 Irish

I have Irish down as stronger everywhere but half back. Don't see the Bath back row working well wherease I like the Irish backrows balance.

Exeter 24 - 28 Sale

I think sale are stronger in all areas hear except perhaps the 2nd row and lineout where I could see some dominance for Exeter. I don't see anyreal weaknesses in either side if in the world cup period.

Gloucester 20 - 27 Newcastle

Newcastle far stronger overall although I prefer the Gloucester back 3. Not convinced by the Newcastle props against first choice opposition. Pooly can only really improve on his English options but I'm sure he knows this. Matt's side would be okay during the world cup.

Wasps 18 - 20 Worcester

Two very competitive sides but I think Worcester have a little more class at half backs. Really like the Wasps front row and I think the Worcester lock combo is excellent.

Saints 22 - 21 Leicester

Two very strong sides out. I much prefer the Saints back 3 and am not entirely convinced by either back row. Overall its very close and it does come down to the Saints bench.

Bath 16 Irish 21

Gloucester 19 - 24 Newcastle

Wasps 15 Worcester 16

Saints 20 Leicester 20

Saracens 12 Quins 14

Tough games this week!

Bath 16 Irish 21

Wasps 16 Worcester 16

Saints 20 Leicester 20

Saracens 16 17 quins

Exeter vs sale. 11-19


Tough to call hence the draws

Sorry, I forgot to predict!!