About v2AP Round 4
+7
Sgt_Pooly
prop_lyd
dammit_chris
Driver
LukeLovesLuka
Ozzy3213
SirJohnnyEnglish
11 posters
Page 1 of 4
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AP Round 4
by SirJohnnyEnglish Mon 19 Sep 2011, 2:46 pm
Team Sheets and tactics due by COB Thur
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
Sunny Intervals, 18 Degrees, 13mph Winds
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
16. Imolek 17. Sharman 18. Kruger 19. Day 20. Horstmann 21. Bezy 22. Barkley 23. Abendanoon
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata will look to get at their man and really disrupt Northampton looking to force them up to get the nudge on. At the lineout, we will look to Bekker to be our talisman. He will call the line and will have Sykes, at the front, and our entire back row to support him as jumpers to mix things up. Our jumpers will look to either play the ball of the top quickly and look to our backline to move it or bring it down into a maul and make the hard yards through the pack, sucking in the Saints forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Northampton ball we will look for Bekker to follow Taylor in the line and get up in challenge and disrupt the Saints lineout. If we really start to get on top of the lineout we will look to Cruden to kick for the corners a few times and really put the pressure on.
Breakdown
We have a very mobile and quick pack to really target the breakdown. On our own ball we will look to our forwards to get numbers to the breakdown quickly rucking past the ball and clearing out the Saints boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Todd to secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit lighter numbers to the breakdown but look to counter ruck slowing down Saints ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
General Attacking Play
We will look to play a strong carrying game using our big carriers to hit the gain line offloading in or just before the tackle (when its on) to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. Masaga will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our bigger carriers looking for the ball on the offload. If running the ball is not on we will look to Cruden to kick in behind the Saints back 3.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Saints back row to the breakdown. Care and Cruden have been instructed to play heads up rugby and if overlaps or gaps appear they will look to get the ball moving and take advantage. Rooney will look to come up from fullback from time to time and offer an extra ball carrying threat while looking to create these overlaps out wide.
Cruden will look to kick for goal when in Saints territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. Danny Care though will look for the quick tap when the Northampton defence is slow to organise.
General Defensive Play
In defence we will be using a blitz defence and will look to get up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any Saints momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Northampton on the back foot forcing the kick. Danny Care will act as a sweeper and look to cover any chips in behind the line. Our wingers will look to sit deeper on defence then the rest of the line ready for these kicks. Our back three have been instructed to play to their strengths and look for the counter attack, running the ball back with serious pace.
Key Points
• Home advantage: We are undefeated at home since the start of last season now having won all our league games at Edgeley Park in the last year!
• Scrum: Schuster at 5’8 will look to get in under the out of form 6’4 Hayman who is known to struggle against short technical loose heads. We will look to turn the screw here and force a few penalties our way.
• Lineout: We will look to Bekker to mark Saints get out ball Taylor in the line and disrupt the Saints throw ins. Sykes will look to get at Attwood whom is not known for his prowess in the air. Cruden will look to kick for the corners and really put the pressure on here.
• 2nd row: Taylor is an 8 asked to play in the engine room up against Sykes and Bekker today. We feel we can take advantage of this lack of grunt from Saints
• Battle of the 7s: We feel Gill, whom is not physically ready yet as seen in the Super 15, can be knocked back in the breakdown area. Matt Todd, the star 7 of the super 15, found this out himself in their cameo’s in the Super 15 final and will look to take advantage of this and get us ahead in the breakdown battle.
• Commins at 9: Neil Best has been instructed to go out and rough up young Stuart Commins early doors. We will look to rile the youngster up and force mistakes out of him causing disjointed play for Saints
• Defensive Frailitys: We will target the 10/12 axis throughout the match. There is a defensive frailty to the Saints backline as a whole but particularly the 10/12 axis. Beaxuis makes his first start for the club after a brief cameo debut in last week’s draw at Franklin Gardens while Giteau is shifted to 12 after only playing 10 so far to date this season. We will look to our backrow to get up fast in the blitz defense and really put pressure on these two in defence while on attack we will be sending the big carriers down this channel to really rough up the Saints pair and break the line leaving the worst tackler of this years Super 15 as the last man
• Final Quarter: With the relentless targetting of the 10/12 axis there is more then a possibilty that 1 of Beaxuis or Gits will need to come off. If its Gits that sees Cipriani going to centre a position he is not accustomed too. More disjointed play from Saints will ensue. If its Beauxis, Cips can go 10 but either way that leaves a back 3 of Wade and Sivi on the wings and an out of position Savea at FB. None of whom are fans of the highball and two who have suspect positioning. We will really look to target this late on with Cruden looking to use the boot and Bezy and Barkley coming on from the bench with great kicking games as well..
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris
16. Chris Whitehead 17. Henry Thomas 18. Mako Vunipola 19. Calum Clark 20. Alexandre Lapandy 20. Luke Watson 21. Charlie Davies 22. Julian Savea
Tactics
Tactics
Overview:
The conditions mean that the ball will be in hand for a lot of the game, with less emphasis on the set piece, and more on attacking rugby. We are going to target the breakdown throughout the 80minutes and have picked a 5-2 split on the bench, with the potential to bring on three players from the bench who can play in the backrow and ensure that Saints can dominate this important area of the game. Winning the breakdown means winning the game in running rugby conditions.
* Target the breakdown area as the point where Saints can win the game – see this as a huge advantage over Sale and have three very good backrow replacements we can bring on (Lapandy, Watson & Clark) and really tighten the game and win this battle for the full 80mins.
* Winning the breakdown is key (see the WC so far!) – we will use Gill’s pace and speed to make the breakdown first, and then support him with Messam and Kankowski’s power to drive the Sale players off. We also have Attwood and Taylor’s mobility to ensure that we can get to the breakdown in numbers, especially for Sale ball where we will aim to generate turnover ball whenever it presents itself.
* Ps Matt Todd, ‘star of the super 15’s’ – is that why he is lining up for NZ this weekend? ;-)
* Moving Giteau to 12 will ensure that our midfield has more experience and is not as defensively frail as when Geraghty plays. He adds experience and we will look to use him to pull the Sale defensive line out of place and bring Siviatu into the game.
* Picked a back three that has Cipriani and Wade in it, we have purposefully selected these two because we have seen that Sale are very keen to kick the ball away, and these two have running games that will cause Sale problems.
* Stuart Commins has played in a Heinken Cup final, and is playing behind an experienced pack and Beauxis and Giteau. He will not be troubled by Neil Best.
* Defensively we will look to use our backrow to pressurise Sale ball carriers and use Lualala to push up on Freun and stop that attacking channel. Jordon Turner-Hall is a smash-them up type of player, and lacks the speed to exploit Lualala stepping out of position. We will then try and force Turner-Hall and Cruden to turn back into the pack and then isolate them with our backrow.
* The emphasis on the breakdown is because we want to provide our backline with turnover ball, and give Beauxis, Giteau the chance to pull the strings and give Cipriani and Wade attacking ball in space.
Forwards:
Firstly we have a 5-2 split on the bench, we especially want to utilise the three backrowers that we have on the bench.
We feel that Saints have an advantage in the front row with Domingo and Hayman our anchors, and we have selected Webber who has started the Premiership for Wasps extremely well. We will look to use the power to target the Sale front row and put pressure on them from the off. We’ve gone for Attwood and Taylor in the engine room.
(N.b the whole Carl Hayman out of form comments should really stop, he’s still one of the most destructive scrummagers in world rugby – if we are talking about out of form players then please note that Jordan Crane, Danny Care, Neil Best (Matt Kvesvic has been preferred to him at Worcester)).
In the lineout we will look to use this area to set up phases and will look for simple ball in the opening 20-30minutes to get our hands on the ball and work our way through the phases. We will go for banker ball at the front of the lineout with Attwood and Taylor alternating in this area. After we have played ourselves into the game we will start using faster ball at the tail of the lineout, off Kankowski and Messam.
We will have Messam, Kankowski and Gill at the back of the lineout, with Messam to mark Care’s runs and Kankowski and Gill to go directly at the 10-12 channel on any fast ball. We aim to pressurise the Sale midfield and isolate them at the breakdown.
Backs:
We are expecting Sale to play a blitz defence and have picked Beauxis and Giteau to play the 10 and 12 shirts, both have exceptional handling and we will use Giteau to suck in defenders and offload to Lualala and Siviatu to punch through holes. The attention that the Sale backline are placing on stopping our two dangermen is going to leave gaping holes to exploit. Will also result in penalties and yellow cards if they target them too much and try and injure them.
We will also look to use the grubber kick as an attacking weapon, with Sale pushing up fast a well placed kick behind the midfield will give us the chance to attack. For defenders this will be far more effective then chip kicks as the bounce will slow them down and if they reach the ball before we do then the chasers will look to isolate the Sale player and force penalties.
For us, it is all about generating quick ball and attacking Sale at pace, exploiting the holes in the rush blitz defence (Beauxis and Giteau are perfect at exploiting this). We will look to counter attack when we can.
Leicester Tigers v Saracens
White Cloud, 16 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Clarke Dermody 17. Tom Youngs 18. Johhny Harris 19. Tom Denton 20. Andy Hazell 20. Scott Mathie 21. Brock James 22. Topsy Ojo
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown and get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game. We will look to get the likes of Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Sarries' back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- We will target the set-piece all game, in particular the scrum. We will look to Crockett and Bruno to target Swainston and Chuter, and really get the shove on. Crockett can be so destructive, and Bruno so powerful in the scrum. We will also target Chuter's throwing, with Brown and Joubert both looking to steal. Brown and Joubert will be our go-to men on our throw, along with Jack. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our mobile back row, and the likes of Crockett and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring, and we will look to drive on through tackles as much as possible to get over the gain line. We are playing with a left and right flanker. We will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to tackle all day, disrupt Sarries flow, get over the ball and make turnovers, and link with the backs when possible.
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. We will look to counter attack Sarries' kicks if it is on, and look to the likes of Nacewa, Fritz and Poitrenaud to cause damage with their speed.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for our backs. Working in tandem with Joubert and co, we want him to fire passes as quickly as he can to stop the opposition getting set defensively.
- Walder is tasked with bringing our dangerous back line into play. With Jauzion outside him he has experience and class to rely upon, and we will use Jauzion as our guide. Sarries' 10-12-13 combo is very young and inexperienced. We will look to Walder and Jauzion to test them with the likes of Crockett, Jack and Joubert into these channels, as well as our pacy back three off the shoulder.
- We see the centres as crucial for us today, and will be looking to get the ball in this area as much as possible. We want Jauzion and Fritz on the ball as much as we can, looking for gaps in the Sarries' defence, and looking to get our back three into the game. Sarries have very little experience in this area, and we see this as a mismatch in our favour.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. The weather is perfect for running rugby, and we hope to see some great breaks. All have good boots to rely on if it isn't on, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Sarries back line, and believe if we can blitz them they will be forced into kicking the ball back to us or making mistakes.
- We will look to use Brock James, Topsy Ojo, Clarke Dermody and Andy Hazell early in the second half to give us fresh impetous throughout our side.
- Walder to kick all penalties in range.
KEY POINTS:
- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at home since the start of last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.
- Target the breakdown - Lund and Poff are told to get over the ball and make turnovers, setting us up for the counter attack.
- Get after the Sarries scrum with Crockett and Bruno getting the shove on.
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Crockett, Poff, Joubert, Jauzion, Fritz, Nacewa and Poitrenaud.
- Look to get the ball into our centres quickly where they can spot gaps in the Sarries backline and get the ball to our dangerous back three.
- Very experienced side with an average age of 30 - 11 full internationals starting with 267 caps between them. Sarries have 6 players aged 21 or younger. Use this experience and know-how to our advantage.
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
16. Gary Botha 17. Matt Mullan 18. Brok Harris 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Alex Goode 23. James Short
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Leicester Tigers
1. Play in the right areas. We will be using a kicking game moreso than normal this week. We feel the key to winning tough away games is to play in the right areas of the pitch. In general terms, if we are in our own half, we will look to use the kicking games of Farrell, Twelvetrees and Homer to kick for the corners. This will be low kicks skidding in behind the wingers and wide of the full back looking for touch, where we will contest the lineout and look to force Leicester to either run from deep, or kick back to us. If we are in the Leicester half with possession we will look to play our normal running/offloading game. At all times we will play what is front of us and if there is a clear opportunity running the ball from deep we will take it, but overall our gameplan is for our kicking backs to put us in the right areas of the pitch.
2. Target the scrum, in particular the props. Yes Crockett has improved at the set piece, but he showed on numerous occasions that he still has a weakness against shorter props. Big Faan is also susceptable to being gotten underneath, and both of our props are considerably shorter than their opponents. We will look to get right underneath and really try to disrupt them. Yes both of our props are relatively young, but they have an experienced hooker who is an excellent scrum technician between them. If we gain dominance then we will look to vary our attacking options and potentially use a back to pack down as the blindside flanker and JvN into the first receiver position to either use as a decoy runner or to get us far over the gainline off first phase.
3. Target Micky Young at scrum half. Our back row will look to specifically target Young, playing on the limit of being onside and looking to hassle and hurry him at the base of the ruck and cause him to give Walder poor ball to work with. We do not see Walder as a running threat so want to force him to play his kicking/passing game off of poor ball from his 9.
4. Jauzion and Rautenbach defensively using pace. Rautenbach does little around the field these days, and we will look to get him isolated against one of our pacier players like Ranger or Visser in order to get well beyond the gainline and really disorganise the Tigers defence. Likewise Jauzion is not getting any younger or quicker and if on we will look to get one of our wingers coming inside at the right time and really attacking his outside shoulder at pace to try to draw Fritz in to provide defensive support and create gaps and overlaps outside.
5. Unload the bench. Sounds simple, but we have selected a bench that can provide an impact and we will look to introduce players from the 50 minute mark onwards. Obviously if we are all playing well and on top and everyone is looking fresh we won't make changes for changes sake, but players will be used to make an impact as and when required.
Key Points
1. In game form/momentum
Whilst yes it is early season, we have form, momentum and confidence coming into this game, having won 3 on the trot. Leicester are off the back of 2 defeats, including losing after a massive effort against Newcastle last time out. Confidence cannot be high for them and there could be some nervy performances from players wondering if they are for the chop if they lose again. Defensively we have the best record in the league conceding just 57 points in 3 matches, and only conceding 2 tries. Defence is key to winning games away from home, and it is an area in which we excel.
2. Real life form
The players we have brought in this week have all been in good form since the start of the season. Waller has looked strong for Saints and took the London Irish front row apart last week, Shaun Perry very experienced and in good form for Worcester. Spence is flying for Ulster, and Homer has shown that he is calm under pressure at the back.
3. Balance
We have tried to select a balanced team, with a pack that can compete in the set piece, but also will be effective in the loose, and backs who can effect our tactical plan of kicking for territory, whilst also having the ability to provide a running threat. We see a lack of balance in the Tigers, where in the back row both flankers are players that like to compete for the ball at the breakdown rather than clear players out, and neither is a big carrying option, which will make our defensive job a lot easier.
Gloucester Rugby v Bath Rugby
White Cloud, 17 Degrees, 11mph Winds
Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt
16 Coonie 17 Fourie 18 Johnstone 19 Hanks 20 Buxton 21 Lamb 22 Vainokolo 23 Carraro
Tactics
SET PIECE-
We see ourselves as having a set piece consisting of in form dynamic players. We see Bath as having a much weaker set piece and struggling for parity up front
SCRUM
We see this as a huge advantage for Gloucester. We have gone for 3 players in wood Strauss and White who are all bang in form and who are beasts in the scrum. Wood is there to go hard for 40 minutes before Coonie comes on to really take the game up a level
We have coonie, Fourie and johnsotone on the bench. 3 dynamos to really take bath apart and to add even more ball carriers. white will be aiming to destroy bath early doors and to lay a marke down.
LINEOUT
We have 5 jumpers and one of the most accurate hookers in world rugby. This will allow us to vary our play and keep Bath guessing. We will vary our play and will look to drive lots of the first half ball to tire out the Bath pack and to allow us to launch people like Aj off the back of them to target the 10/12 channel and to really put us on the front foot. We will also look to go off the top as we start to gain more possesion and to free up our backs.
Target Breakdown & Rucks
Fast ball is key during the summer months and we'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on.
We have a seriously mobile pack and wood and Strauss are like flankers. We see this mobility as the key to continuity and for generating quick ball. Saull who is an out and out 7 will be looking to link the play and keep the high tempo which we are looking to play at.
to play at a high tempo you need mobility and you also need huge carriers. Gloucester have this in abundance and wood, Strauss, Deacon, Aj and RObson etc will look to keep saints on the back foot with their carrying and offloading. the carrying continues when glaws bench is dispersed with coonie, fourie, johnson , and buxton come on.
Our backrow will also be looking to target scrum half to disrupt him and put pressure on 10. all 10s thrive on front foot ball and we will make sure they do not get any
BACKS
HALF BACKS
The key to playing at tempo comes from the half backs and Lewis and Donald has a better balance to it for me. Lewis is a proven performer and a great organiser of a team and will look to take it on when necessary and to provide Donald the ball to create. on the rare times we have bad ball Donald is great at taking in to contact on account of how big he is. Donald will play flat to the line and look to get our centres over the gain line and then look to hit wide off the second phase.
BACK PLAY GENERALLY
Donald will also be looking to target drainiu as we see this as a crucial failing in the back 3. he does not fancy the high ball and we will be looking to use the bomb on him with our super quick backs chasing we see this as a hugely profitable.
Off first phase ball off the top Donald will be keen to send Tuitopu or may into the 10/12 channel. we will be looking to either bust the tackle or to get through and offload to the players going through.
Our back 3 is probably the best you will see from any team over the WC and we will look to use them as much as possible. Gear will be used coming off his wing or in midfield and JSD will pop up at first or second receiver as he does in real life with massive threat.
We will look to take quick throw ins and really keep the tempo high. Sharples will be looking to pick lines off the big runner and target the offloads so he can use his searing pace which has seen him rise thru the england ranks
Generally we will be looking to play at a higher tempo than BATH. we have a big heavy front 5 and dynamism in other positions and we will be looking to play rapidly and expose them through mismatches.
Key points
1. mobility- glos have the aility to blow them off the park
2 bench- our bench we believe is much stronger and will have more impact replacing White and wood on 40-50 minutes with coonie and johnstone will be significant
3 lineout- clear advantage with lots of jumpers to hit.
4 home advantage- glaws do not lose at home.
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
16 Matt Thompson 17 Richard Skuse 18 James Currie 19 Jarred Hoeata 20 Guy Mercer 21 James Grindal 22 Steven Shingler 23 Ollie Phillips
Tactics
Main Points:
•Look to go through lots of phases with big carries
•Starve Gloucester of possession
•Get men into the breakdown and look to either secure our own ball or win turnovers
•Target Julian White in the loose.
•Look for our faster players to make quick little breaks
London Irish v Newcastle Falcons
Sunny Intervals, 17 Degrees, 11mph Winds
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
16. Darren Fearn 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Matt Garvey 20. Joe Worsley 21. Neal De Kock 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Matthew Tait
Tactics
London Irish make 3 changes from last week’s game at Northampton, with James Buckland, Nick Kennedy and Mathieu Bastereaud coming in to the side for Neil Briggs, Dean Mumm and Matthew Tait.
The conditions are OK and will allow us to play a bit of rugby, though we will look to keep things tight at first and build up possession before spreading play too much. This involves using the big ball carriers like Rush, Fourie, Nel, Bast and Naqalevuki.
We will look to have a solid scrum to attack off and see the lineout as an area we can get some joy. Kennedy will be our main jumper with Botha and Daniel also providing options. We will really target opposition ball and Kennedy will do his best to disrupt.
We are targeting the breakdown in this game as an area we can gain an upper hand. If we sense a turnover, Fourie will be in there to try and steal the ball so we can hit the Falcons on the counter. We want to get as much quick ball to Bowden as possible, as in space with ball in hand he is lethal and is excellent at putting people in space.
Dupuy and Bowden will continue their good partnership and look to control the game and play what is in front of them. Dupuy will use his kicking to get us in the right areas of the pitch and Bowden use his creativity to create space for our runners. We will look to get the on-form Naqalevuki involved and running in to space.
We have picked Naqa and Bast, not only for their form, but to neutralise the threat of Barritt and Payne, who are both strong runners who like to straighten up the line. Bastereaud will often act as a decoy runner as he is very good at attracting attention from the defence and opening up gaps for us to exploit. We will look to get Basson in space and one on one with opposition defenders.
We won’t be kicking loose ball away and will look to run the ball back if it’s on. Dupuy will kick all kickable penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking over, anything out of range we will kick deep to touch and use our lineout to good effect.
JMH will come on in the 2nd half for Bastereaud, with Bowden switching to 12. This provides us more creativity and gives us more kicking options and control. We will look to push the Falcons back and play in the right areas of the pitch. Once we have control, Bowden and Naqalevuki will look to carve the Falcons defence open.
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
16. Joe Duffey 17. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Dan Hipkiss
We travel to Reading full of confidence and looking for the win. We’ve been in some superb form already this season with Evans and Pretorious terrorising defences. We’ll be aiming to keep things tight in the forwards and let Evans dictate play around the park.
Tactics
General play - It's all about a high tempo and controlling the ball. Our team has self belief and attitude running through it's core. We'll be looking to intimidate up front and attack with pace and guile in the backs with Evans being key. If 3 point is on we'll look to take it and until we have a clear lead. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch, controlling the tempo and looking for gaps in the Irish backline.
Forwards
Set Piece
We'll be looking to use the set piece as a platform to set up attacks during the summer especially. Our tactics during each game may change if we spot a weakness in the oppposition set piece during the 80mins. This is the role of the team captain.
Scrum - We'll be looking to set a platform and use the scrum to get get fast ball to out 9/10 axis. PDJ and Stankovich are excellent technical scrummagers who will give us a sound foundation and look to get at their opposite numbers from the off. If a weakness is seen we’ll look to keep the push on and drive the opposition back, taking scrum options at pens if totally on top. If not we’ll be using the scrum as restart and getting the ball in and out so we can attack the opposition 9/10 axis.
We think we might get the push on come scrum time with our props having the edge on the Irish pair. We’ll be aiming to get a big hit on with an 8 man effort (on own scrum) and really force Irish back at a rate of knots. Our engine room will be key in this one with two excellent scummaging locks.
Lineout - Lindsay has had a few up and down games in the past with his throwing but he's never had a target in a poor Wasps set piece. We've brought in some world class operators to secure our own ball and target opposition throw. Vermeulen and Smith give us massive options in the back row. If a weakness is seen in the opposition throw we'll look to hit some corners and test their lineout out. We’ll look to vary the options at the through with Kruger calling the shots from the middle of the lineout. Flip will look to give us banker ball at the front when needed, whilst Juan Smith will marshall the rear of the lineout. Vermeulen will look to alternate middle/back depending on call. Kennedy & Botha are primary Irish targets so we’ll look to have 3 jumpers around them.
Target Breakdown & Rucks
Fast ball is key during the summer months and we'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on. With a huge back 5 we'll be look to get round the park and hits rucks hard, forcing the opposition back and giving us the chance of a takeover. Robshaw will look to make a nuisance of himself and slow down opposition ball on the floor. Flip & Smith will marshall the rucks, they will look to target any attempted slowing of our own ball and give Pretorious fast ball to feed Evans. Our big Boks will keep an eye on Fourie at the breakdon, as soon as he enters we’ll look to take him out.
ISOLATED RUNNERS – We expect the Irish midfield to put it up their jumpers and charge. To counter this Barritt and our pack will be key. Barritt will look to make the hit and keep the runner on his feet. Our pack will look to get the contact area asap and join the tackle thus making a maul. With us in control of the tackle area or ruck as it is now, we’ll look to keep the runner up until the ref awards a scrum in our advantage. This is a system we used to success numerous times last season and deployed by the Irish (recently seen against Austrailia).
Huge carrying
We have huge carrying options in the pack and we'll look to use them throughout the game to wear the opposition down and give us a point of attack. We'll look to mix this up with Vermeulen coming off the scrum and Juan Smith, Robshaw, Lindsay, Vermeulen, Kruger giving us numerous options in tight and loose. We’ll look to vary the angles of attack with Evans using the reverse ball now and again with Smith and Vermeulen coming in. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the Leciester defence in. We’ll look to draw in the Leicester pack as much as possible to exploit possible one on ones in the backline where we have some serious gas.
Backs
Halfbacks
Halfbacks win you games on the hard pitches and in Pretorious/Evans we have two of the best about. With a solid platform Sarel will look to snipe around and find gaps in the opposion defense, especially at 2/3rd phase attacks when defenses start to fray. Pretorious gives us a massive threat and will look to mix his game up throughgout the game. Evans will play his natural game and come into the line flat. He’ll look to mix the play up with varying passes and look to hit behind the back 3 if on. Pretorious will sweep up behind a blitz defense with Barritt leading the line.
With two bruising Irish centres we’ll look to alternate our attacks. Payne will look to hold back and attack the line late with Evans attempting the grubber in behind the Irish centres. We’ll look to use this tactic to our advantage with Maitland/Smith being used also. This will be a planned move off set piece ball, once behind the Irish midfield Maitland/Benjamin/Pretorius will be on the shoulders of the break and looking to attack the FB
Backline balance
We have numerous running options and the option to mix things up in the backline. Barritt gives Evans go to ball if needed and we'll look to get Ben Smith in as second receiver to give us a different focal point. Payne will look to come off the shoulder of attacks (similar to Conrad) and inject pace into the midfield. He'll look to alternate at FB with Smith. Benjamin/Maitland give us pace and power on the flanks and we'll look to bring to bring them into the game whenever possible.
Subs - We'll look to freshen up throughout the second half and keep the intensity up
Points to target against opposition
After studying the opposition over a number of weeks we’ll be looking to specifically target these areas:
- The Irish scrum is there for the taking, if we can get an early nudge on we’ll look to dominate
- BREAKDOW – Use our holding up tactic as mentioned earlier to nullify attacks and slow ball down
- Real life form – Both teams suffer from this with Xavier Rush, Juan Smith, JMH, Parling not playing much
- Lack of carrying in the Irish pack – we see a lot of work being put on the likes of Rush and Fourie as their isn’t many carrying options in the Irish pack. If we target these two with big hits and marshall them around the park we think Irish might not get much go forward and be forced to kick
- We’ll look to starve Irish of possession throughout the game. Evans will keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch
MAJOR POINT
MOMENTUM – Confidence must be low in the Irish camp after starting the season with 3 defeats. We’ll look to take advantage of this early on by getting points on the board and seeing if we can make the Irish heads drop.
Exeter Chiefs v London Wasps
Sunny Intervals, 17 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
16.Neil Clark 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Juan Orlandi 19.Peter Short 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Tomas O'Leary 22.George Ford 23.Luke Arscott.
Tactics
Big pack with mobility
Up front Exeter will look to play at a high tempo getting a strong first surge at scrum time letting us get the ball back quickly to the 8’s feet with Skirving looking to control the ball at the base and secure clean ball for Thomas to use.
We will play a lot of rugby off 10 and our pack suits this with a mobile back row carrying off Myler who will look to get our backs moving in this condition with the outside backs picking lines short and wide off him and King.
Playing in front of us
Thomas will look to tie the Wasps back row in making snipes from the base of the contact and marshalling his pack into series of pick and drives to tire Wasps forwards out.
Myler will initially play with width switching the play from one wing to another and stretching the Wasps defence making there heavier front 5 run round the pitch and tire out.
We will look to create chances down the short side and draw Cato and Williams into a 2 on 1 scenario .
Testing Wasps players
We will aim to test our certain aspects of Wasps players games.
Forwards mobility - We know Joe Grey and Tom Johnson can run around a rugby pitch but can the other 6 forwards? Playing at a HIGH TEMPO and MOVING THE BALL INTO WIDE CHANNELS STRETCHING THE DEFENCE
Mike Brown lacks out and out pace and Myler will kick into the corners forcing Brown to cover across with our pacy backs chasing
[London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
16. Andy Titterell 17. Benn Robinson 18. Juan Gomez 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Steve Mafi 21. Martin Roberts 22. Rory Clegg 23. Tom May
Tactics
Our game plan is based around using the power we have in our team. We will look to use the set piece as a platform for attacks. Our front row is a very good scrummaging unit and we will hopefully be able to build attacks from there and earn some penalties for Gopperth to make use of. Our pack will be physical and relentless up front, we will play with controlled aggression. Early on we will look to our forwards to get us onto the front foot by attacking in groups with some grunt and powerful carrying, getting us over the gain line. We will start as we mean to go on with a high intensity, hitting the collision area hard and driving our players over the gain line. We will look to recycle the ball efficiently within the pack working Exeter hard in defence in the early stages.
We have three excellent kicking options in Gopperth, McAlister and Mortlock, we will look to kick in behind the Exeter wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and pressurise them into making mistakes in their own half. We will look to hit the rucks hard and compete when we can, Stegmann is our out and out fetcher and with his low centre of gravity he will be our main competitor at the breakdown area. Any turnovers we do make, we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Claassens with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Exeter defence.
We will look to compete at the breakdown if we have the numbers there, however if the ball is clearly there’s we will not commit numbers to the ruck, instead we will look to organize our defence ready to deal with the next Exeter carrier. In the forwards we will look to drive our carriers over the gain line and really look to win the collisions. We have plenty of dynamic carriers including the explosive Tom Johnson. Gopperth will look to bring in our strike runners in McAlister and Mortlock. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Exeter working off the ball in defence. We will look for Mortlock to stay strong in the contact area and either offload if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks.
With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Exeter players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Exeter defence, hopefully opening them up. As the game goes on and we are hopefully on the front foot if possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Exeter working off the ball in defence and pierce the gaps we have created. With quick ball and offloading we will look to create and expose mismatches in the midfield.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Exeter’s throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Exeter by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Exeter defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to create a platform from the scrum, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep Exeter going backwards.
We will look to attack in numbers, we have plenty of powerful and dynamic carriers in our pack who will get us over the gain line and set us out a solid platform to build from. We have plenty of grit in our team and feel that if we can push Exeter onto the back foot we will be able to unsettle them. We have won our last two games against two very good sides and feel that we are building up momentum, confidence is high and the team is settled, we feel that if we can execute the game plan we have in place we will be able to come away from Exeter with a hard fought victory. .
Worcester Warriors v Harlequins
White Cloud, 17 Degrees, 11mph Winds
Worcester Warriors
Manager – Prop_Lyd
16. Chris Fortey 17. George Porter 18. Sylvain Marconnet 19. Dom Barrow 20. Julien Salvi 20. Jordi Pasqualin 21. Gavin Henson 22. Julien Malzieu
Tactics
Forwards
We have picked a very mobile pack to counteract the power which is coming at us. This means we will be quicker to the loose and have 3 flankers starting (Myall) and 1 on the bench all who are trained to steal ball. Quins will not get a quick ball off of us and we will look to use Morgan running off of 12 and 13.
In the lineouts we have many options and will use them all to keep Quins guessing. Our forwards will focus on the lineouts to steal ball and with our tactics of pinning them back we should add pressure to their lineouts. Strauss is a confident hooker who will look to steal from the scrums and we will look to move up on Botha's side.
Backs
We have gone for the Robinson-Vesty axis again receiving quick ball from both Peel and Pasqualin and kicking to both corners. Our kicks will not be aimed towards the Quins back 3 but to behind them and to touch to put pressure on. The rest of the backs have big strong runners who will mainly go route A with both Morgan's and Strauss of their shoulders for the quick ball. Vesty will look to kick penalties as much as possible to keep us in the game. Our backs have played a few games together now and Vesty and Robinson can interchange to keep Quins guessing.
On the bench we have Henson and Malzieu who are both game changers and can add their magic from 60 minutes. Throughout the start of this season we have brought Henson on meaning he is being prepared to start a match soon.
In defence we will use the banana rush defence with either Newby or Williams stood on Robinson's inside shoulder whilst the other is slowing down the ball.
Overall
Kicking for corners for the first 60 minutes.
Pin Quins back.
Pressure on lineout.
Slow down Quins ball.
Bring on the magic on 60 minutes.
Play for points.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
16. Rob Vickers 17. Aston Croall 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Skivington 20. Chris Henry 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Freddie Burns 23. Steve Kefu
We make a few changes this week to travel to Worcester but we keep most of the side which has worked well for us in the first 3 weeks.
Key Points
• Win collisions in attack and defence. Gives us the advantage being able to hit a rucks going forwards.
• Play with patience and wait for quick ball before increasing tempo of the game.
• Move the point of attack and play at pace. Have players cutting different angles off of Dickson, Steenson and Flutey.
• Put on big pressure at the set piece. Front 5 to turn the screw at the scrum and back 5 to turn screw at lineout.
• Use Steenson’s kicking game to get field position when we are struggling for go forward or Worcester’s back 3 are out of position.
• Increase tempo when Worcester defence disorganised.
• Kick all points when there on offer. Keep building score board pressure.
Tactics
As in previous weeks we will be looking to build pressure on the opposition and force errors in there games. Our front 5 has been deliberately picked to disrupt the Worcester forwards. They are 5 experienced and hardened players who have seen it all before. In the loose we will look for them to do the bulk of the carrying off 9 and to make yards around the fringes and hit the rucks hard as well as work hard and exert pressure at the set piece.
We will look for our back row to work really hard in attack, defence and at the breakdown. All three of our back row carry well, tackle well and can make a real difference at the break down. As a team we will look to compete only when we have the first man there or Worcester aren’t committing large numbers to the rucks. Robinson however can compete for the ball whenever her feel he has the chance to win it.
We will look to use Brits and Dowson carrying in the midfield and they will look to run angles off of 10 and 12 along with Lowe. They will hit the ball at pace and continue to drive the legs after they’ve hit contact.
Our half backs will control the pace, direction and field position of our play and they will play patiently as they have in our opening games. Dickson will look to snipe to keep the fringe defenders honest and give quick clean ball out to the backs. Steenson will feed runners of his shoulder and will use attacking kicks to our advantage with crossfields, up and unders and grubbers all being used if they opportunity arises.
Our outside backs will look attack with pace and test both the outside and inside shoulder defence of there opposite man. We have a very quick 11. 13, 14 and 15 and will look for them to use there pace to attack the gaps as they come. We also feel with Brits and our back 3 we are dangerous on the counter attack if Worcester kick loosely to us.
At the set piece we are looking to put pressure on Worcester whilst getting quick clean ball ourselves. On our scrums we will look to get the ball out quickly unless we are getting an advantage which can lead us to use the scrum to milk penalties. On our line out we will look to use a shortened line which will allow 2 or 3 of our back row to be first receivers or to carry off of Steenson’s shoulder. We will also compete for every Worcester lineout with Thion, Lund and Dowson looking to compete on the middle and back ball as this is the best type of ball to get from a lineout.
In defence we will look to have a quick line speed and will look to double up in the tackle when we can. We will look to win collisions so as to halt Worcester momentum. We will look to remain very disciplined in attack and defence so as to not give Worcester an easy get out of jail card whilst we are trying to build pressure.
Our subs will be introduced as and when they are needed throughout the 2nd half.
Predictions open Fri. Results due Sun/Mon
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
Sunny Intervals, 18 Degrees, 13mph Winds
Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE
| 01. Jerome Schuster | 09. Danny Care |
| 02. David Paice | 10. Aaron Cruden |
| 03. Neemia Tialata | |
| 04. Steven Sykes | 11. David Strettle |
| 05. Andries Bekker | 12. Jordan Turner Hall |
| 06. Neil Best | 13. Robbie Freuen |
| 07. Matt Todd | 14. Lelia Masaga |
| 08. Jordan Crane | 15. Luke Rooney |
16. Imolek 17. Sharman 18. Kruger 19. Day 20. Horstmann 21. Bezy 22. Barkley 23. Abendanoon
Setpiece
At scrum time we will be looking to really turn the screw. Schuster and Tialata will look to get at their man and really disrupt Northampton looking to force them up to get the nudge on. At the lineout, we will look to Bekker to be our talisman. He will call the line and will have Sykes, at the front, and our entire back row to support him as jumpers to mix things up. Our jumpers will look to either play the ball of the top quickly and look to our backline to move it or bring it down into a maul and make the hard yards through the pack, sucking in the Saints forwards to leave space out wide for our backs. On Northampton ball we will look for Bekker to follow Taylor in the line and get up in challenge and disrupt the Saints lineout. If we really start to get on top of the lineout we will look to Cruden to kick for the corners a few times and really put the pressure on.
Breakdown
We have a very mobile and quick pack to really target the breakdown. On our own ball we will look to our forwards to get numbers to the breakdown quickly rucking past the ball and clearing out the Saints boys looking to recycle clean fast ball. On defence, if the ball carrier is isolated we will look to seriously commit numbers and will look to Todd to secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit lighter numbers to the breakdown but look to counter ruck slowing down Saints ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.
General Attacking Play
We will look to play a strong carrying game using our big carriers to hit the gain line offloading in or just before the tackle (when its on) to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. Masaga will look to come in field at different times tracking the runs of our bigger carriers looking for the ball on the offload. If running the ball is not on we will look to Cruden to kick in behind the Saints back 3.
Danny Care will look to play around the fringes of the breakdown and make his usual snipping runs when it’s on, tying the Saints back row to the breakdown. Care and Cruden have been instructed to play heads up rugby and if overlaps or gaps appear they will look to get the ball moving and take advantage. Rooney will look to come up from fullback from time to time and offer an extra ball carrying threat while looking to create these overlaps out wide.
Cruden will look to kick for goal when in Saints territory and take the drop goal option when it’s available to keep the score board moving. Danny Care though will look for the quick tap when the Northampton defence is slow to organise.
General Defensive Play
In defence we will be using a blitz defence and will look to get up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any Saints momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. We will look to keep Northampton on the back foot forcing the kick. Danny Care will act as a sweeper and look to cover any chips in behind the line. Our wingers will look to sit deeper on defence then the rest of the line ready for these kicks. Our back three have been instructed to play to their strengths and look for the counter attack, running the ball back with serious pace.
Key Points
• Home advantage: We are undefeated at home since the start of last season now having won all our league games at Edgeley Park in the last year!
• Scrum: Schuster at 5’8 will look to get in under the out of form 6’4 Hayman who is known to struggle against short technical loose heads. We will look to turn the screw here and force a few penalties our way.
• Lineout: We will look to Bekker to mark Saints get out ball Taylor in the line and disrupt the Saints throw ins. Sykes will look to get at Attwood whom is not known for his prowess in the air. Cruden will look to kick for the corners and really put the pressure on here.
• 2nd row: Taylor is an 8 asked to play in the engine room up against Sykes and Bekker today. We feel we can take advantage of this lack of grunt from Saints
• Battle of the 7s: We feel Gill, whom is not physically ready yet as seen in the Super 15, can be knocked back in the breakdown area. Matt Todd, the star 7 of the super 15, found this out himself in their cameo’s in the Super 15 final and will look to take advantage of this and get us ahead in the breakdown battle.
• Commins at 9: Neil Best has been instructed to go out and rough up young Stuart Commins early doors. We will look to rile the youngster up and force mistakes out of him causing disjointed play for Saints
• Defensive Frailitys: We will target the 10/12 axis throughout the match. There is a defensive frailty to the Saints backline as a whole but particularly the 10/12 axis. Beaxuis makes his first start for the club after a brief cameo debut in last week’s draw at Franklin Gardens while Giteau is shifted to 12 after only playing 10 so far to date this season. We will look to our backrow to get up fast in the blitz defense and really put pressure on these two in defence while on attack we will be sending the big carriers down this channel to really rough up the Saints pair and break the line leaving the worst tackler of this years Super 15 as the last man
• Final Quarter: With the relentless targetting of the 10/12 axis there is more then a possibilty that 1 of Beaxuis or Gits will need to come off. If its Gits that sees Cipriani going to centre a position he is not accustomed too. More disjointed play from Saints will ensue. If its Beauxis, Cips can go 10 but either way that leaves a back 3 of Wade and Sivi on the wings and an out of position Savea at FB. None of whom are fans of the highball and two who have suspect positioning. We will really look to target this late on with Cruden looking to use the boot and Bezy and Barkley coming on from the bench with great kicking games as well..
Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris
| 01. Thomas Domingo | 09. Stuart Commins |
| 02. Rob Webber | 10. Lionel Beauxis (k) |
| 03. Carl Hayman | |
| 04. Dave Attwood | 11. Siti Siviatu |
| 05. Simon Taylor | 12. Matt Giteau |
| 06. Liam Messam | 13. Casey Lualala |
| 07. Liam Gill | 14. Christian Wade |
| 08. Ryan Kankowski | 15. Danny Cipriani |
16. Chris Whitehead 17. Henry Thomas 18. Mako Vunipola 19. Calum Clark 20. Alexandre Lapandy 20. Luke Watson 21. Charlie Davies 22. Julian Savea
Tactics
Tactics
Overview:
The conditions mean that the ball will be in hand for a lot of the game, with less emphasis on the set piece, and more on attacking rugby. We are going to target the breakdown throughout the 80minutes and have picked a 5-2 split on the bench, with the potential to bring on three players from the bench who can play in the backrow and ensure that Saints can dominate this important area of the game. Winning the breakdown means winning the game in running rugby conditions.
* Target the breakdown area as the point where Saints can win the game – see this as a huge advantage over Sale and have three very good backrow replacements we can bring on (Lapandy, Watson & Clark) and really tighten the game and win this battle for the full 80mins.
* Winning the breakdown is key (see the WC so far!) – we will use Gill’s pace and speed to make the breakdown first, and then support him with Messam and Kankowski’s power to drive the Sale players off. We also have Attwood and Taylor’s mobility to ensure that we can get to the breakdown in numbers, especially for Sale ball where we will aim to generate turnover ball whenever it presents itself.
* Ps Matt Todd, ‘star of the super 15’s’ – is that why he is lining up for NZ this weekend? ;-)
* Moving Giteau to 12 will ensure that our midfield has more experience and is not as defensively frail as when Geraghty plays. He adds experience and we will look to use him to pull the Sale defensive line out of place and bring Siviatu into the game.
* Picked a back three that has Cipriani and Wade in it, we have purposefully selected these two because we have seen that Sale are very keen to kick the ball away, and these two have running games that will cause Sale problems.
* Stuart Commins has played in a Heinken Cup final, and is playing behind an experienced pack and Beauxis and Giteau. He will not be troubled by Neil Best.
* Defensively we will look to use our backrow to pressurise Sale ball carriers and use Lualala to push up on Freun and stop that attacking channel. Jordon Turner-Hall is a smash-them up type of player, and lacks the speed to exploit Lualala stepping out of position. We will then try and force Turner-Hall and Cruden to turn back into the pack and then isolate them with our backrow.
* The emphasis on the breakdown is because we want to provide our backline with turnover ball, and give Beauxis, Giteau the chance to pull the strings and give Cipriani and Wade attacking ball in space.
Forwards:
Firstly we have a 5-2 split on the bench, we especially want to utilise the three backrowers that we have on the bench.
We feel that Saints have an advantage in the front row with Domingo and Hayman our anchors, and we have selected Webber who has started the Premiership for Wasps extremely well. We will look to use the power to target the Sale front row and put pressure on them from the off. We’ve gone for Attwood and Taylor in the engine room.
(N.b the whole Carl Hayman out of form comments should really stop, he’s still one of the most destructive scrummagers in world rugby – if we are talking about out of form players then please note that Jordan Crane, Danny Care, Neil Best (Matt Kvesvic has been preferred to him at Worcester)).
In the lineout we will look to use this area to set up phases and will look for simple ball in the opening 20-30minutes to get our hands on the ball and work our way through the phases. We will go for banker ball at the front of the lineout with Attwood and Taylor alternating in this area. After we have played ourselves into the game we will start using faster ball at the tail of the lineout, off Kankowski and Messam.
We will have Messam, Kankowski and Gill at the back of the lineout, with Messam to mark Care’s runs and Kankowski and Gill to go directly at the 10-12 channel on any fast ball. We aim to pressurise the Sale midfield and isolate them at the breakdown.
Backs:
We are expecting Sale to play a blitz defence and have picked Beauxis and Giteau to play the 10 and 12 shirts, both have exceptional handling and we will use Giteau to suck in defenders and offload to Lualala and Siviatu to punch through holes. The attention that the Sale backline are placing on stopping our two dangermen is going to leave gaping holes to exploit. Will also result in penalties and yellow cards if they target them too much and try and injure them.
We will also look to use the grubber kick as an attacking weapon, with Sale pushing up fast a well placed kick behind the midfield will give us the chance to attack. For defenders this will be far more effective then chip kicks as the bounce will slow them down and if they reach the ball before we do then the chasers will look to isolate the Sale player and force penalties.
For us, it is all about generating quick ball and attacking Sale at pace, exploiting the holes in the rush blitz defence (Beauxis and Giteau are perfect at exploiting this). We will look to counter attack when we can.
Leicester Tigers v Saracens
White Cloud, 16 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Wyatt Crockett | 09. Micky Young |
| 02. Sebastian Bruno | 10. Dave Walder (k) |
| 03. Faan Rautenbach | |
| 04. Chris Jack (c) | 11. Tom Biggs |
| 05. Alex Brown | 12. Yannick Jauzion |
| 06. Magnus Lund | 13. Florian Fritz |
| 07. Jonathan Poff | 14. Isa Nacewa |
| 08. Ernst Joubert (c) | 15. Clement Poitrenaud |
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown and get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game. We will look to get the likes of Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Sarries' back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- We will target the set-piece all game, in particular the scrum. We will look to Crockett and Bruno to target Swainston and Chuter, and really get the shove on. Crockett can be so destructive, and Bruno so powerful in the scrum. We will also target Chuter's throwing, with Brown and Joubert both looking to steal. Brown and Joubert will be our go-to men on our throw, along with Jack. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our mobile back row, and the likes of Crockett and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring, and we will look to drive on through tackles as much as possible to get over the gain line. We are playing with a left and right flanker. We will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to tackle all day, disrupt Sarries flow, get over the ball and make turnovers, and link with the backs when possible.
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. We will look to counter attack Sarries' kicks if it is on, and look to the likes of Nacewa, Fritz and Poitrenaud to cause damage with their speed.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for our backs. Working in tandem with Joubert and co, we want him to fire passes as quickly as he can to stop the opposition getting set defensively.
- Walder is tasked with bringing our dangerous back line into play. With Jauzion outside him he has experience and class to rely upon, and we will use Jauzion as our guide. Sarries' 10-12-13 combo is very young and inexperienced. We will look to Walder and Jauzion to test them with the likes of Crockett, Jack and Joubert into these channels, as well as our pacy back three off the shoulder.
- We see the centres as crucial for us today, and will be looking to get the ball in this area as much as possible. We want Jauzion and Fritz on the ball as much as we can, looking for gaps in the Sarries' defence, and looking to get our back three into the game. Sarries have very little experience in this area, and we see this as a mismatch in our favour.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. The weather is perfect for running rugby, and we hope to see some great breaks. All have good boots to rely on if it isn't on, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Sarries back line, and believe if we can blitz them they will be forced into kicking the ball back to us or making mistakes.
- We will look to use Brock James, Topsy Ojo, Clarke Dermody and Andy Hazell early in the second half to give us fresh impetous throughout our side.
- Walder to kick all penalties in range.
KEY POINTS:
- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at home since the start of last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.
- Target the breakdown - Lund and Poff are told to get over the ball and make turnovers, setting us up for the counter attack.
- Get after the Sarries scrum with Crockett and Bruno getting the shove on.
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Crockett, Poff, Joubert, Jauzion, Fritz, Nacewa and Poitrenaud.
- Look to get the ball into our centres quickly where they can spot gaps in the Sarries backline and get the ball to our dangerous back three.
- Very experienced side with an average age of 30 - 11 full internationals starting with 267 caps between them. Sarries have 6 players aged 21 or younger. Use this experience and know-how to our advantage.
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
| 01. Alex Waller | 09. Shaun Perry |
| 02. George Chuter | 10. Owen Farrell |
| 03. Phil Swainston | |
| 04. Rynhard Elstadt | 11. Rene Ranger |
| 05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Billy Twelvetrees |
| 06. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 13. Nevin Spence |
| 07. George Smith | 14. Tim Visser |
| 08. Rodney So'oialo | 15. Tom Homer |
16. Gary Botha 17. Matt Mullan 18. Brok Harris 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Alex Goode 23. James Short
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Leicester Tigers
1. Play in the right areas. We will be using a kicking game moreso than normal this week. We feel the key to winning tough away games is to play in the right areas of the pitch. In general terms, if we are in our own half, we will look to use the kicking games of Farrell, Twelvetrees and Homer to kick for the corners. This will be low kicks skidding in behind the wingers and wide of the full back looking for touch, where we will contest the lineout and look to force Leicester to either run from deep, or kick back to us. If we are in the Leicester half with possession we will look to play our normal running/offloading game. At all times we will play what is front of us and if there is a clear opportunity running the ball from deep we will take it, but overall our gameplan is for our kicking backs to put us in the right areas of the pitch.
2. Target the scrum, in particular the props. Yes Crockett has improved at the set piece, but he showed on numerous occasions that he still has a weakness against shorter props. Big Faan is also susceptable to being gotten underneath, and both of our props are considerably shorter than their opponents. We will look to get right underneath and really try to disrupt them. Yes both of our props are relatively young, but they have an experienced hooker who is an excellent scrum technician between them. If we gain dominance then we will look to vary our attacking options and potentially use a back to pack down as the blindside flanker and JvN into the first receiver position to either use as a decoy runner or to get us far over the gainline off first phase.
3. Target Micky Young at scrum half. Our back row will look to specifically target Young, playing on the limit of being onside and looking to hassle and hurry him at the base of the ruck and cause him to give Walder poor ball to work with. We do not see Walder as a running threat so want to force him to play his kicking/passing game off of poor ball from his 9.
4. Jauzion and Rautenbach defensively using pace. Rautenbach does little around the field these days, and we will look to get him isolated against one of our pacier players like Ranger or Visser in order to get well beyond the gainline and really disorganise the Tigers defence. Likewise Jauzion is not getting any younger or quicker and if on we will look to get one of our wingers coming inside at the right time and really attacking his outside shoulder at pace to try to draw Fritz in to provide defensive support and create gaps and overlaps outside.
5. Unload the bench. Sounds simple, but we have selected a bench that can provide an impact and we will look to introduce players from the 50 minute mark onwards. Obviously if we are all playing well and on top and everyone is looking fresh we won't make changes for changes sake, but players will be used to make an impact as and when required.
Key Points
1. In game form/momentum
Whilst yes it is early season, we have form, momentum and confidence coming into this game, having won 3 on the trot. Leicester are off the back of 2 defeats, including losing after a massive effort against Newcastle last time out. Confidence cannot be high for them and there could be some nervy performances from players wondering if they are for the chop if they lose again. Defensively we have the best record in the league conceding just 57 points in 3 matches, and only conceding 2 tries. Defence is key to winning games away from home, and it is an area in which we excel.
2. Real life form
The players we have brought in this week have all been in good form since the start of the season. Waller has looked strong for Saints and took the London Irish front row apart last week, Shaun Perry very experienced and in good form for Worcester. Spence is flying for Ulster, and Homer has shown that he is calm under pressure at the back.
3. Balance
We have tried to select a balanced team, with a pack that can compete in the set piece, but also will be effective in the loose, and backs who can effect our tactical plan of kicking for territory, whilst also having the ability to provide a running threat. We see a lack of balance in the Tigers, where in the back row both flankers are players that like to compete for the ball at the breakdown rather than clear players out, and neither is a big carrying option, which will make our defensive job a lot easier.
Gloucester Rugby v Bath Rugby
White Cloud, 17 Degrees, 11mph Winds
Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt
| 01. Nick Wood | 09. Dave Lewis (c) |
| 02. Strauss | 10. Steven Donald (c) (k) |
| 03. Julian White | |
| 04. Dean Schofield | 11. Hosea Gear |
| 05. George Robson | 12. Tuitopu |
| 06. Ashley Johnson | 13. Johnny May |
| 07. Andy Saull | 14. Simpson Daniels |
| 08. Deacon | 15. Charlie Sharples |
Tactics
SET PIECE-
We see ourselves as having a set piece consisting of in form dynamic players. We see Bath as having a much weaker set piece and struggling for parity up front
SCRUM
We see this as a huge advantage for Gloucester. We have gone for 3 players in wood Strauss and White who are all bang in form and who are beasts in the scrum. Wood is there to go hard for 40 minutes before Coonie comes on to really take the game up a level
We have coonie, Fourie and johnsotone on the bench. 3 dynamos to really take bath apart and to add even more ball carriers. white will be aiming to destroy bath early doors and to lay a marke down.
LINEOUT
We have 5 jumpers and one of the most accurate hookers in world rugby. This will allow us to vary our play and keep Bath guessing. We will vary our play and will look to drive lots of the first half ball to tire out the Bath pack and to allow us to launch people like Aj off the back of them to target the 10/12 channel and to really put us on the front foot. We will also look to go off the top as we start to gain more possesion and to free up our backs.
Target Breakdown & Rucks
Fast ball is key during the summer months and we'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on.
We have a seriously mobile pack and wood and Strauss are like flankers. We see this mobility as the key to continuity and for generating quick ball. Saull who is an out and out 7 will be looking to link the play and keep the high tempo which we are looking to play at.
to play at a high tempo you need mobility and you also need huge carriers. Gloucester have this in abundance and wood, Strauss, Deacon, Aj and RObson etc will look to keep saints on the back foot with their carrying and offloading. the carrying continues when glaws bench is dispersed with coonie, fourie, johnson , and buxton come on.
Our backrow will also be looking to target scrum half to disrupt him and put pressure on 10. all 10s thrive on front foot ball and we will make sure they do not get any
BACKS
HALF BACKS
The key to playing at tempo comes from the half backs and Lewis and Donald has a better balance to it for me. Lewis is a proven performer and a great organiser of a team and will look to take it on when necessary and to provide Donald the ball to create. on the rare times we have bad ball Donald is great at taking in to contact on account of how big he is. Donald will play flat to the line and look to get our centres over the gain line and then look to hit wide off the second phase.
BACK PLAY GENERALLY
Donald will also be looking to target drainiu as we see this as a crucial failing in the back 3. he does not fancy the high ball and we will be looking to use the bomb on him with our super quick backs chasing we see this as a hugely profitable.
Off first phase ball off the top Donald will be keen to send Tuitopu or may into the 10/12 channel. we will be looking to either bust the tackle or to get through and offload to the players going through.
Our back 3 is probably the best you will see from any team over the WC and we will look to use them as much as possible. Gear will be used coming off his wing or in midfield and JSD will pop up at first or second receiver as he does in real life with massive threat.
We will look to take quick throw ins and really keep the tempo high. Sharples will be looking to pick lines off the big runner and target the offloads so he can use his searing pace which has seen him rise thru the england ranks
Generally we will be looking to play at a higher tempo than BATH. we have a big heavy front 5 and dynamism in other positions and we will be looking to play rapidly and expose them through mismatches.
Key points
1. mobility- glos have the aility to blow them off the park
2 bench- our bench we believe is much stronger and will have more impact replacing White and wood on 40-50 minutes with coonie and johnstone will be significant
3 lineout- clear advantage with lots of jumpers to hit.
4 home advantage- glaws do not lose at home.
Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane
| 01. Jon Golding | 09. Byron Kelleher |
| 02. Joe Ward | 10. Charlie Hodgson |
| 03. Petrus Du Plessis | |
| 04. Yoann Maestri | 11. Ugo Monye |
| 05. Tim Swinson | 12. Anthony Allen |
| 06. Tom Guest | 13. Wynard Oliver |
| 07. Steffon Armitage | 14. Gehard Van Der Heever |
| 08. Gareth Delve | 15. Tim Nanai Williams |
16 Matt Thompson 17 Richard Skuse 18 James Currie 19 Jarred Hoeata 20 Guy Mercer 21 James Grindal 22 Steven Shingler 23 Ollie Phillips
Tactics
Main Points:
•Look to go through lots of phases with big carries
•Starve Gloucester of possession
•Get men into the breakdown and look to either secure our own ball or win turnovers
•Target Julian White in the loose.
•Look for our faster players to make quick little breaks
London Irish v Newcastle Falcons
Sunny Intervals, 17 Degrees, 11mph Winds
London Irish
Manager – stnick88
| 01. Matias Aguero | 09. Julien Dupuy |
| 02. James Buckland | 10. Daniel Bowden |
| 03. WP Nel | |
| 04. Mouritz Botha | 11. Bjorn Basson |
| 05. Nick Kennedy | 12. Sireli Naqalevuki |
| 06. Keegan Daniel | 13. Mathieu Bastereaud |
| 07. Hendrie Fourie | 14. Paul Sackey |
| 08. Xavier Rush | 15. Zane Kirchner |
16. Darren Fearn 17. Neil Briggs 18. Duncan Bell 19. Matt Garvey 20. Joe Worsley 21. Neal De Kock 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Matthew Tait
Tactics
London Irish make 3 changes from last week’s game at Northampton, with James Buckland, Nick Kennedy and Mathieu Bastereaud coming in to the side for Neil Briggs, Dean Mumm and Matthew Tait.
The conditions are OK and will allow us to play a bit of rugby, though we will look to keep things tight at first and build up possession before spreading play too much. This involves using the big ball carriers like Rush, Fourie, Nel, Bast and Naqalevuki.
We will look to have a solid scrum to attack off and see the lineout as an area we can get some joy. Kennedy will be our main jumper with Botha and Daniel also providing options. We will really target opposition ball and Kennedy will do his best to disrupt.
We are targeting the breakdown in this game as an area we can gain an upper hand. If we sense a turnover, Fourie will be in there to try and steal the ball so we can hit the Falcons on the counter. We want to get as much quick ball to Bowden as possible, as in space with ball in hand he is lethal and is excellent at putting people in space.
Dupuy and Bowden will continue their good partnership and look to control the game and play what is in front of them. Dupuy will use his kicking to get us in the right areas of the pitch and Bowden use his creativity to create space for our runners. We will look to get the on-form Naqalevuki involved and running in to space.
We have picked Naqa and Bast, not only for their form, but to neutralise the threat of Barritt and Payne, who are both strong runners who like to straighten up the line. Bastereaud will often act as a decoy runner as he is very good at attracting attention from the defence and opening up gaps for us to exploit. We will look to get Basson in space and one on one with opposition defenders.
We won’t be kicking loose ball away and will look to run the ball back if it’s on. Dupuy will kick all kickable penalties to keep the scoreboard ticking over, anything out of range we will kick deep to touch and use our lineout to good effect.
JMH will come on in the 2nd half for Bastereaud, with Bowden switching to 12. This provides us more creativity and gives us more kicking options and control. We will look to push the Falcons back and play in the right areas of the pitch. Once we have control, Bowden and Naqalevuki will look to carve the Falcons defence open.
Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly
| 01. Boris Stankovich | 09. Sarel Pretorious |
| 02. Tom Lindsay | 10. Nick Evans |
| 03. Paul Doran-Jones | |
| 04. Flip van der Merwe | 11. Sean Maitland |
| 05. Juandre Kruger | 12. Brad Barritt |
| 06. Juan Smith(c) | 13. Jared Payne |
| 07. Chris Robshaw | 14. Miles Benjamin |
| 08. Duane Vermeulen | 15. Ben Smith |
16. Joe Duffey 17. Oliver Tomaszczyk 18. Grant Shiells 19. Geoff Parling 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Tom Catterick 23. Dan Hipkiss
We travel to Reading full of confidence and looking for the win. We’ve been in some superb form already this season with Evans and Pretorious terrorising defences. We’ll be aiming to keep things tight in the forwards and let Evans dictate play around the park.
Tactics
General play - It's all about a high tempo and controlling the ball. Our team has self belief and attitude running through it's core. We'll be looking to intimidate up front and attack with pace and guile in the backs with Evans being key. If 3 point is on we'll look to take it and until we have a clear lead. Evans will pull the strings at 10 and keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch, controlling the tempo and looking for gaps in the Irish backline.
Forwards
Set Piece
We'll be looking to use the set piece as a platform to set up attacks during the summer especially. Our tactics during each game may change if we spot a weakness in the oppposition set piece during the 80mins. This is the role of the team captain.
Scrum - We'll be looking to set a platform and use the scrum to get get fast ball to out 9/10 axis. PDJ and Stankovich are excellent technical scrummagers who will give us a sound foundation and look to get at their opposite numbers from the off. If a weakness is seen we’ll look to keep the push on and drive the opposition back, taking scrum options at pens if totally on top. If not we’ll be using the scrum as restart and getting the ball in and out so we can attack the opposition 9/10 axis.
We think we might get the push on come scrum time with our props having the edge on the Irish pair. We’ll be aiming to get a big hit on with an 8 man effort (on own scrum) and really force Irish back at a rate of knots. Our engine room will be key in this one with two excellent scummaging locks.
Lineout - Lindsay has had a few up and down games in the past with his throwing but he's never had a target in a poor Wasps set piece. We've brought in some world class operators to secure our own ball and target opposition throw. Vermeulen and Smith give us massive options in the back row. If a weakness is seen in the opposition throw we'll look to hit some corners and test their lineout out. We’ll look to vary the options at the through with Kruger calling the shots from the middle of the lineout. Flip will look to give us banker ball at the front when needed, whilst Juan Smith will marshall the rear of the lineout. Vermeulen will look to alternate middle/back depending on call. Kennedy & Botha are primary Irish targets so we’ll look to have 3 jumpers around them.
Target Breakdown & Rucks
Fast ball is key during the summer months and we'll look to commit to rucks to secure our own ball whilst targetting the opposition when it's on. With a huge back 5 we'll be look to get round the park and hits rucks hard, forcing the opposition back and giving us the chance of a takeover. Robshaw will look to make a nuisance of himself and slow down opposition ball on the floor. Flip & Smith will marshall the rucks, they will look to target any attempted slowing of our own ball and give Pretorious fast ball to feed Evans. Our big Boks will keep an eye on Fourie at the breakdon, as soon as he enters we’ll look to take him out.
ISOLATED RUNNERS – We expect the Irish midfield to put it up their jumpers and charge. To counter this Barritt and our pack will be key. Barritt will look to make the hit and keep the runner on his feet. Our pack will look to get the contact area asap and join the tackle thus making a maul. With us in control of the tackle area or ruck as it is now, we’ll look to keep the runner up until the ref awards a scrum in our advantage. This is a system we used to success numerous times last season and deployed by the Irish (recently seen against Austrailia).
Huge carrying
We have huge carrying options in the pack and we'll look to use them throughout the game to wear the opposition down and give us a point of attack. We'll look to mix this up with Vermeulen coming off the scrum and Juan Smith, Robshaw, Lindsay, Vermeulen, Kruger giving us numerous options in tight and loose. We’ll look to vary the angles of attack with Evans using the reverse ball now and again with Smith and Vermeulen coming in. The 9/10 axis will hit early on and if successful will be used to draw the Leciester defence in. We’ll look to draw in the Leicester pack as much as possible to exploit possible one on ones in the backline where we have some serious gas.
Backs
Halfbacks
Halfbacks win you games on the hard pitches and in Pretorious/Evans we have two of the best about. With a solid platform Sarel will look to snipe around and find gaps in the opposion defense, especially at 2/3rd phase attacks when defenses start to fray. Pretorious gives us a massive threat and will look to mix his game up throughgout the game. Evans will play his natural game and come into the line flat. He’ll look to mix the play up with varying passes and look to hit behind the back 3 if on. Pretorious will sweep up behind a blitz defense with Barritt leading the line.
With two bruising Irish centres we’ll look to alternate our attacks. Payne will look to hold back and attack the line late with Evans attempting the grubber in behind the Irish centres. We’ll look to use this tactic to our advantage with Maitland/Smith being used also. This will be a planned move off set piece ball, once behind the Irish midfield Maitland/Benjamin/Pretorius will be on the shoulders of the break and looking to attack the FB
Backline balance
We have numerous running options and the option to mix things up in the backline. Barritt gives Evans go to ball if needed and we'll look to get Ben Smith in as second receiver to give us a different focal point. Payne will look to come off the shoulder of attacks (similar to Conrad) and inject pace into the midfield. He'll look to alternate at FB with Smith. Benjamin/Maitland give us pace and power on the flanks and we'll look to bring to bring them into the game whenever possible.
Subs - We'll look to freshen up throughout the second half and keep the intensity up
Points to target against opposition
After studying the opposition over a number of weeks we’ll be looking to specifically target these areas:
- The Irish scrum is there for the taking, if we can get an early nudge on we’ll look to dominate
- BREAKDOW – Use our holding up tactic as mentioned earlier to nullify attacks and slow ball down
- Real life form – Both teams suffer from this with Xavier Rush, Juan Smith, JMH, Parling not playing much
- Lack of carrying in the Irish pack – we see a lot of work being put on the likes of Rush and Fourie as their isn’t many carrying options in the Irish pack. If we target these two with big hits and marshall them around the park we think Irish might not get much go forward and be forced to kick
- We’ll look to starve Irish of possession throughout the game. Evans will keep us playing in the right areas of the pitch
MAJOR POINT
MOMENTUM – Confidence must be low in the Irish camp after starting the season with 3 defeats. We’ll look to take advantage of this early on by getting points on the board and seeing if we can make the Irish heads drop.
Exeter Chiefs v London Wasps
Sunny Intervals, 17 Degrees, 12mph Winds
Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver
| 01. Brett Sturgess | 09. Haydn Thomas |
| 02. Ben Kayser | 10. Steven Myler |
| 03. Tom Mercy | |
| 04. Tommy Hayes | 11. Luke Fitzgerald |
| 05. James Hudson (c) | 12. Adam Powell |
| 06. Declan Danahar | 13. Regan King |
| 07. Carl Fearns | 14. Adam Thompstone |
| 08. Ben Skirving | 15. Ben Blair (k) |
16.Neil Clark 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Juan Orlandi 19.Peter Short 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Tomas O'Leary 22.George Ford 23.Luke Arscott.
Tactics
Big pack with mobility
Up front Exeter will look to play at a high tempo getting a strong first surge at scrum time letting us get the ball back quickly to the 8’s feet with Skirving looking to control the ball at the base and secure clean ball for Thomas to use.
We will play a lot of rugby off 10 and our pack suits this with a mobile back row carrying off Myler who will look to get our backs moving in this condition with the outside backs picking lines short and wide off him and King.
Playing in front of us
Thomas will look to tie the Wasps back row in making snipes from the base of the contact and marshalling his pack into series of pick and drives to tire Wasps forwards out.
Myler will initially play with width switching the play from one wing to another and stretching the Wasps defence making there heavier front 5 run round the pitch and tire out.
We will look to create chances down the short side and draw Cato and Williams into a 2 on 1 scenario .
Testing Wasps players
We will aim to test our certain aspects of Wasps players games.
Forwards mobility - We know Joe Grey and Tom Johnson can run around a rugby pitch but can the other 6 forwards? Playing at a HIGH TEMPO and MOVING THE BALL INTO WIDE CHANNELS STRETCHING THE DEFENCE
Mike Brown lacks out and out pace and Myler will kick into the corners forcing Brown to cover across with our pacy backs chasing
[London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry
| 01. Perry Freshwater | 09. Michael Claassens |
| 02. Joe Gray | 10. Jimmy Gopperth |
| 03. Carlos Nieto | |
| 04. Mark Chisholm | 11. Noah Cato |
| 05. Marco Wentzel | 12. Luke McAlister |
| 06. Tom Johnson | 13. Stirling Mortlock (c) |
| 07. Deon Stegmann | 14. Tom Williams |
| 08. Roger Wilson | 15. Mike Brown |
16. Andy Titterell 17. Benn Robinson 18. Juan Gomez 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Steve Mafi 21. Martin Roberts 22. Rory Clegg 23. Tom May
Tactics
Our game plan is based around using the power we have in our team. We will look to use the set piece as a platform for attacks. Our front row is a very good scrummaging unit and we will hopefully be able to build attacks from there and earn some penalties for Gopperth to make use of. Our pack will be physical and relentless up front, we will play with controlled aggression. Early on we will look to our forwards to get us onto the front foot by attacking in groups with some grunt and powerful carrying, getting us over the gain line. We will start as we mean to go on with a high intensity, hitting the collision area hard and driving our players over the gain line. We will look to recycle the ball efficiently within the pack working Exeter hard in defence in the early stages.
We have three excellent kicking options in Gopperth, McAlister and Mortlock, we will look to kick in behind the Exeter wingers and keep them pinned back where we will look to isolate and pressurise them into making mistakes in their own half. We will look to hit the rucks hard and compete when we can, Stegmann is our out and out fetcher and with his low centre of gravity he will be our main competitor at the breakdown area. Any turnovers we do make, we will look to get the ball out wide and attack the space available. At rucks on our own ball we will look to secure the ball by coming from low to high to present Claassens with clean, quick ball and get our forwards running onto the ball at different angles to pierce the Exeter defence.
We will look to compete at the breakdown if we have the numbers there, however if the ball is clearly there’s we will not commit numbers to the ruck, instead we will look to organize our defence ready to deal with the next Exeter carrier. In the forwards we will look to drive our carriers over the gain line and really look to win the collisions. We have plenty of dynamic carriers including the explosive Tom Johnson. Gopperth will look to bring in our strike runners in McAlister and Mortlock. If it is on we will look to offload the ball to the supporting players and keep Exeter working off the ball in defence. We will look for Mortlock to stay strong in the contact area and either offload if he wins the collision, or the support players will keep driving him on, building up momentum and speed in our attacks.
With the ball in hand we will look to our strike runners to attack gaps and half gaps in their defence targeting the outside shoulder of the Exeter players and will look to attack the fly half channel in the Exeter defence, hopefully opening them up. As the game goes on and we are hopefully on the front foot if possible we will look to get our offloading game going to alternate the point of attack and keep Exeter working off the ball in defence and pierce the gaps we have created. With quick ball and offloading we will look to create and expose mismatches in the midfield.
At lineouts we will look to exert as much pressure as possible on Exeter’s throws with Wentzel looking to steal some opposition throws. On our own throw we will use Wentzel as our main go to man but will mix it up by using Chisholm, Johnson and Stegmann. From there we will look to slowly sap the energy out of Exeter by using the rolling maul. We will look to suck in as many Exeter defenders to open up spaces elsewhere for us to attack. We’ll look to create a platform from the scrum, if we get a nudge on we will look to keep Exeter going backwards.
We will look to attack in numbers, we have plenty of powerful and dynamic carriers in our pack who will get us over the gain line and set us out a solid platform to build from. We have plenty of grit in our team and feel that if we can push Exeter onto the back foot we will be able to unsettle them. We have won our last two games against two very good sides and feel that we are building up momentum, confidence is high and the team is settled, we feel that if we can execute the game plan we have in place we will be able to come away from Exeter with a hard fought victory. .
Worcester Warriors v Harlequins
White Cloud, 17 Degrees, 11mph Winds
Worcester Warriors
Manager – Prop_Lyd
| 01. David Flatman | 09. Dwayne Peel |
| 02. Richardt Strauss | 10. Nicky Robinson |
| 03. BJ Botha | |
| 04. Ollie Kohn | 11. Jack Cuthbert |
| 05. Kearnen Myall | 12. Sam Vesty (k) |
| 06. Craig Newby | 13. John Clarke |
| 07. Martyn Williams | 14. Anitelia Tuilagi |
| 08. Ben Morgan | 15. Olly Morgan |
Tactics
Forwards
We have picked a very mobile pack to counteract the power which is coming at us. This means we will be quicker to the loose and have 3 flankers starting (Myall) and 1 on the bench all who are trained to steal ball. Quins will not get a quick ball off of us and we will look to use Morgan running off of 12 and 13.
In the lineouts we have many options and will use them all to keep Quins guessing. Our forwards will focus on the lineouts to steal ball and with our tactics of pinning them back we should add pressure to their lineouts. Strauss is a confident hooker who will look to steal from the scrums and we will look to move up on Botha's side.
Backs
We have gone for the Robinson-Vesty axis again receiving quick ball from both Peel and Pasqualin and kicking to both corners. Our kicks will not be aimed towards the Quins back 3 but to behind them and to touch to put pressure on. The rest of the backs have big strong runners who will mainly go route A with both Morgan's and Strauss of their shoulders for the quick ball. Vesty will look to kick penalties as much as possible to keep us in the game. Our backs have played a few games together now and Vesty and Robinson can interchange to keep Quins guessing.
On the bench we have Henson and Malzieu who are both game changers and can add their magic from 60 minutes. Throughout the start of this season we have brought Henson on meaning he is being prepared to start a match soon.
In defence we will use the banana rush defence with either Newby or Williams stood on Robinson's inside shoulder whilst the other is slowing down the ball.
Overall
Kicking for corners for the first 60 minutes.
Pin Quins back.
Pressure on lineout.
Slow down Quins ball.
Bring on the magic on 60 minutes.
Play for points.
Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks
| 01. Ceri Jones | 09. Lee Dickson  |
| 02. Matthew Rees | 10. Gareth Steenson |
| 03. Brian Mujati | |
| 04. Jerome Thion | 11. Joe Rokocoko |
| 05. Erik Lund | 12. Riki Flutey |
| 06. Schalk Brits | 13. George Lowe |
| 07. Beau Robinson | 14. Jonathan Joseph |
| 08. Phil Dowson | 15. Luke Morahan |
16. Rob Vickers 17. Aston Croall 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Skivington 20. Chris Henry 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Freddie Burns 23. Steve Kefu
We make a few changes this week to travel to Worcester but we keep most of the side which has worked well for us in the first 3 weeks.
Key Points
• Win collisions in attack and defence. Gives us the advantage being able to hit a rucks going forwards.
• Play with patience and wait for quick ball before increasing tempo of the game.
• Move the point of attack and play at pace. Have players cutting different angles off of Dickson, Steenson and Flutey.
• Put on big pressure at the set piece. Front 5 to turn the screw at the scrum and back 5 to turn screw at lineout.
• Use Steenson’s kicking game to get field position when we are struggling for go forward or Worcester’s back 3 are out of position.
• Increase tempo when Worcester defence disorganised.
• Kick all points when there on offer. Keep building score board pressure.
Tactics
As in previous weeks we will be looking to build pressure on the opposition and force errors in there games. Our front 5 has been deliberately picked to disrupt the Worcester forwards. They are 5 experienced and hardened players who have seen it all before. In the loose we will look for them to do the bulk of the carrying off 9 and to make yards around the fringes and hit the rucks hard as well as work hard and exert pressure at the set piece.
We will look for our back row to work really hard in attack, defence and at the breakdown. All three of our back row carry well, tackle well and can make a real difference at the break down. As a team we will look to compete only when we have the first man there or Worcester aren’t committing large numbers to the rucks. Robinson however can compete for the ball whenever her feel he has the chance to win it.
We will look to use Brits and Dowson carrying in the midfield and they will look to run angles off of 10 and 12 along with Lowe. They will hit the ball at pace and continue to drive the legs after they’ve hit contact.
Our half backs will control the pace, direction and field position of our play and they will play patiently as they have in our opening games. Dickson will look to snipe to keep the fringe defenders honest and give quick clean ball out to the backs. Steenson will feed runners of his shoulder and will use attacking kicks to our advantage with crossfields, up and unders and grubbers all being used if they opportunity arises.
Our outside backs will look attack with pace and test both the outside and inside shoulder defence of there opposite man. We have a very quick 11. 13, 14 and 15 and will look for them to use there pace to attack the gaps as they come. We also feel with Brits and our back 3 we are dangerous on the counter attack if Worcester kick loosely to us.
At the set piece we are looking to put pressure on Worcester whilst getting quick clean ball ourselves. On our scrums we will look to get the ball out quickly unless we are getting an advantage which can lead us to use the scrum to milk penalties. On our line out we will look to use a shortened line which will allow 2 or 3 of our back row to be first receivers or to carry off of Steenson’s shoulder. We will also compete for every Worcester lineout with Thion, Lund and Dowson looking to compete on the middle and back ball as this is the best type of ball to get from a lineout.
In defence we will look to have a quick line speed and will look to double up in the tackle when we can. We will look to win collisions so as to halt Worcester momentum. We will look to remain very disciplined in attack and defence so as to not give Worcester an easy get out of jail card whilst we are trying to build pressure.
Our subs will be introduced as and when they are needed throughout the 2nd half.
Last edited by SirJohnnyEnglish on Fri 23 Sep 2011, 8:54 am; edited 7 times in total
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Mon 19 Sep 2011, 2:55 pm
After making it 3 wins from 3 last week against Worcester Warriors, Saracens make a number of changes for the trip to Welford Road to face Leicester Tigers this week. Up front Alex Waller, George Chuter and Phil Swainston step up from the bench to replace the front row as a unit, and Rodney So'oialo comes into the back row at the expense of James Scaysbrook, with Joe van Niekerk moving to the blindside and George Smith back to his regular position on the openside. There is a complete change at halfback where Shaun Perry steps up from the bench and partners Owen Farrell who moves inside one space from the 12 jersey. His place in midfield is taken by Nevin Spence, and Tom Homer steps up from the bench to replace Alex Goode at fullback.
Head coach LDCPete had this to say about his team selection for this week..
"We've made 7 changes to the starting line up this week as we believe it gives us the best chance of winning the game. We've made a good start to the season, and are operating with a limited number of players due to the World Cup, so it is important the keep people fresh, and ensure that people don't start getting complacent. You want that continuity as well, so it is a delicate balancing act. Players that have come into the teams this week are those who have looked good and hungry in training, and those who bring a certain skill set that will enable us to effect our gameplan efficiently."
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
16. Gary Botha 17. Matt Mullan 18. Brok Harris 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Alex Goode 23. James Short
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Leicester Tigers
1. Play in the right areas. We will be using a kicking game moreso than normal this week. We feel the key to winning tough away games is to play in the right areas of the pitch. In general terms, if we are in our own half, we will look to use the kicking games of Farrell, Twelvetrees and Homer to kick for the corners. This will be low kicks skidding in behind the wingers and wide of the full back looking for touch, where we will contest the lineout and look to force Leicester to either run from deep, or kick back to us. If we are in the Leicester half with possession we will look to play our normal running/offloading game. At all times we will play what is front of us and if there is a clear opportunity running the ball from deep we will take it, but overall our gameplan is for our kicking backs to put us in the right areas of the pitch.
2. Target the scrum, in particular the props. Yes Crockett has improved at the set piece, but he showed on numerous occasions that he still has a weakness against shorter props. Big Faan is also susceptable to being gotten underneath, and both of our props are considerably shorter than their opponents. We will look to get right underneath and really try to disrupt them. Yes both of our props are relatively young, but they have an experienced hooker who is an excellent scrum technician between them. If we gain dominance then we will look to vary our attacking options and potentially use a back to pack down as the blindside flanker and JvN into the first receiver position to either use as a decoy runner or to get us far over the gainline off first phase.
3. Target Micky Young at scrum half. Our back row will look to specifically target Young, playing on the limit of being onside and looking to hassle and hurry him at the base of the ruck and cause him to give Walder poor ball to work with. We do not see Walder as a running threat so want to force him to play his kicking/passing game off of poor ball from his 9.
4. Jauzion and Rautenbach defensively using pace. Rautenbach does little around the field these days, and we will look to get him isolated against one of our pacier players like Ranger or Visser in order to get well beyond the gainline and really disorganise the Tigers defence. Likewise Jauzion is not getting any younger or quicker and if on we will look to get one of our wingers coming inside at the right time and really attacking his outside shoulder at pace to try to draw Fritz in to provide defensive support and create gaps and overlaps outside.
5. Unload the bench. Sounds simple, but we have selected a bench that can provide an impact and we will look to introduce players from the 50 minute mark onwards. Obviously if we are all playing well and on top and everyone is looking fresh we won't make changes for changes sake, but players will be used to make an impact as and when required.
Key Points
1. In game form/momentum
Whilst yes it is early season, we have form, momentum and confidence coming into this game, having won 3 on the trot. Leicester are off the back of 2 defeats, including losing after a massive effort against Newcastle last time out. Confidence cannot be high for them and there could be some nervy performances from players wondering if they are for the chop if they lose again. Defensively we have the best record in the league conceding just 57 points in 3 matches, and only conceding 2 tries. Defence is key to winning games away from home, and it is an area in which we excel.
2. Real life form
The players we have brought in this week have all been in good form since the start of the season. Waller has looked strong for Saints and took the London Irish front row apart last week, Shaun Perry very experienced and in good form for Worcester. Spence is flying for Ulster, and Homer has shown that he is calm under pressure at the back.
3. Balance
We have tried to select a balanced team, with a pack that can compete in the set piece, but also will be effective in the loose, and backs who can effect our tactical plan of kicking for territory, whilst also having the ability to provide a running threat. We see a lack of balance in the Tigers, where in the back row both flankers are players that like to compete for the ball at the breakdown rather than clear players out, and neither is a big carrying option, which will make our defensive job a lot easier.
Best of luck lukelovesluka, looking forward to the banter over the next couple of days!
Head coach LDCPete had this to say about his team selection for this week..
"We've made 7 changes to the starting line up this week as we believe it gives us the best chance of winning the game. We've made a good start to the season, and are operating with a limited number of players due to the World Cup, so it is important the keep people fresh, and ensure that people don't start getting complacent. You want that continuity as well, so it is a delicate balancing act. Players that have come into the teams this week are those who have looked good and hungry in training, and those who bring a certain skill set that will enable us to effect our gameplan efficiently."
Saracens
Manager – LDCPete
| 01. Alex Waller | 09. Shaun Perry |
| 02. George Chuter | 10. Owen Farrell |
| 03. Phil Swainston | |
| 04. Rynhard Elstadt | 11. Rene Ranger |
| 05. Steve Borthwick | 12. Billy Twelvetrees |
| 06. Joe van Niekerk (c) | 13. Nevin Spence |
| 07. George Smith | 14. Tim Visser |
| 08. Rodney So'oialo | 15. Tom Homer |
16. Gary Botha 17. Matt Mullan 18. Brok Harris 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Luke Narraway 21.Paul Hodgson 22. Alex Goode 23. James Short
Tactics
Our generic tactics centre around 4 key areas.
1. The Set Piece
Target the scrum as a weapon rather than a restart.
Off the lineout we will mix things up with Borthwick calling the shots, but utilizing all of our back 5 forwards as jumpers.
2. The Breakdown
Be smart. If it is on to win the contest we will get numbers there quickly and ruck hard and fast beyond the ball freeing it up to play quickly. If it is clearly not on to win the ball, we will look to slow it down legally and maintain a strong defensive line.
3. Defence
Blitz defence, ultilizing a quick line speed, with the scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line.
4. Attack
Play what is in front of us. Ball carriers to look for gaps as opposed to contact and look to keep the ball alive by offloading to supporting runners. Everything to be done at pace and with intensity.
Game specific tactics vs. Leicester Tigers
1. Play in the right areas. We will be using a kicking game moreso than normal this week. We feel the key to winning tough away games is to play in the right areas of the pitch. In general terms, if we are in our own half, we will look to use the kicking games of Farrell, Twelvetrees and Homer to kick for the corners. This will be low kicks skidding in behind the wingers and wide of the full back looking for touch, where we will contest the lineout and look to force Leicester to either run from deep, or kick back to us. If we are in the Leicester half with possession we will look to play our normal running/offloading game. At all times we will play what is front of us and if there is a clear opportunity running the ball from deep we will take it, but overall our gameplan is for our kicking backs to put us in the right areas of the pitch.
2. Target the scrum, in particular the props. Yes Crockett has improved at the set piece, but he showed on numerous occasions that he still has a weakness against shorter props. Big Faan is also susceptable to being gotten underneath, and both of our props are considerably shorter than their opponents. We will look to get right underneath and really try to disrupt them. Yes both of our props are relatively young, but they have an experienced hooker who is an excellent scrum technician between them. If we gain dominance then we will look to vary our attacking options and potentially use a back to pack down as the blindside flanker and JvN into the first receiver position to either use as a decoy runner or to get us far over the gainline off first phase.
3. Target Micky Young at scrum half. Our back row will look to specifically target Young, playing on the limit of being onside and looking to hassle and hurry him at the base of the ruck and cause him to give Walder poor ball to work with. We do not see Walder as a running threat so want to force him to play his kicking/passing game off of poor ball from his 9.
4. Jauzion and Rautenbach defensively using pace. Rautenbach does little around the field these days, and we will look to get him isolated against one of our pacier players like Ranger or Visser in order to get well beyond the gainline and really disorganise the Tigers defence. Likewise Jauzion is not getting any younger or quicker and if on we will look to get one of our wingers coming inside at the right time and really attacking his outside shoulder at pace to try to draw Fritz in to provide defensive support and create gaps and overlaps outside.
5. Unload the bench. Sounds simple, but we have selected a bench that can provide an impact and we will look to introduce players from the 50 minute mark onwards. Obviously if we are all playing well and on top and everyone is looking fresh we won't make changes for changes sake, but players will be used to make an impact as and when required.
Key Points
1. In game form/momentum
Whilst yes it is early season, we have form, momentum and confidence coming into this game, having won 3 on the trot. Leicester are off the back of 2 defeats, including losing after a massive effort against Newcastle last time out. Confidence cannot be high for them and there could be some nervy performances from players wondering if they are for the chop if they lose again. Defensively we have the best record in the league conceding just 57 points in 3 matches, and only conceding 2 tries. Defence is key to winning games away from home, and it is an area in which we excel.
2. Real life form
The players we have brought in this week have all been in good form since the start of the season. Waller has looked strong for Saints and took the London Irish front row apart last week, Shaun Perry very experienced and in good form for Worcester. Spence is flying for Ulster, and Homer has shown that he is calm under pressure at the back.
3. Balance
We have tried to select a balanced team, with a pack that can compete in the set piece, but also will be effective in the loose, and backs who can effect our tactical plan of kicking for territory, whilst also having the ability to provide a running threat. We see a lack of balance in the Tigers, where in the back row both flankers are players that like to compete for the ball at the breakdown rather than clear players out, and neither is a big carrying option, which will make our defensive job a lot easier.
Best of luck lukelovesluka, looking forward to the banter over the next couple of days!
Last edited by LDCPete on Tue 20 Sep 2011, 1:36 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Mon 19 Sep 2011, 3:18 pm
What makes you say that mate? I have every confidence in my side, hence sticking my team in so early, don't need to wait to see what players you're sticking out to know we can come away with the points!
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Re: AP Round 4
by LukeLovesLuka Mon 19 Sep 2011, 3:21 pm
Looks like your giving the boys a rest for a maybe more-winnable game next week, that's all.
I had a similar thing typed up last week for my game with Pooly. But then convinced myself to go for the points and grabbed a BP in the end.
I had a similar thing typed up last week for my game with Pooly. But then convinced myself to go for the points and grabbed a BP in the end.
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Mon 19 Sep 2011, 3:26 pm
Horses for courses to be honest mate. Waller has looked good for Saints so far, So'oialo is an experienced All Black, albeit not carrying great form (doesn't seem to have effected the rating of some other big names in this game so thought I'd give him a go as Scaysbrook didn't seem to work last week), Perry started well for Worcester and experienced international, and Spence and Homer both made good starts to their seasons in the real world.
We're coming for the points mate, hope your new boys are all training well and not struggling learning set piece calls or backs moves!
We're coming for the points mate, hope your new boys are all training well and not struggling learning set piece calls or backs moves!
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Re: AP Round 4
by LukeLovesLuka Mon 19 Sep 2011, 3:31 pm
Might unleash Ojo and Brock second half to up the pace a bit.
Undecided yet.
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Mon 19 Sep 2011, 3:33 pm
Ah, Brock, yes we remember him, I think he was unleashed second half against us at The Rec the week before last. Now, let me just check how that game finished...
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Re: AP Round 4
by LukeLovesLuka Mon 19 Sep 2011, 3:36 pm
Bath's home form no concern of ours.....until next week anyway.
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Re: AP Round 4
by dammit_chris Mon 19 Sep 2011, 6:35 pm
Saints determined to beat Sale
Today's Rugby Paper included an interview with Saints attack coach Alex King, who spoke of his disappointment with the home draw against London Irish at the weekend 'Of course the lads are disappointed, we had the chances to win the game, I'm not sure what it is but if our attack clicks then we are going to run up a big score against someone soon enough.
King continued 'we actually rested a few players in the last game, so will be bringing in a new backrow against Sale to really freshen this important area, Ryan (Kankowski) is raring to go and his power at the back of the scrum was missed last week, the weather is perfectly suited to his game and we'll probably be giving Liam Gill his first start of the season - the boys breakdown work is up there with the best in this league already.
We're going to make a few changes to our backline and really make the best of the running rugby conditions, its been a tough couple of weeks and we havent played our best, but there is no reason why we can't travel up to Sale and come back with at least four points.
Saints expected team:
1. Thomas Domingo
2. Rob Webber
3. Carl Hayman
4. Dave Attwood
5. Simon Taylor
6. Luke Watson
7. Liam Gill
8. Ryan Kankowski
9. Stuart Commins
10. Danny Cipriani
11. Christian Wallace
12. Matt Giteau
13. Casey Lualala
14. Siti Siviatu
15. Errie Claasens
Today's Rugby Paper included an interview with Saints attack coach Alex King, who spoke of his disappointment with the home draw against London Irish at the weekend 'Of course the lads are disappointed, we had the chances to win the game, I'm not sure what it is but if our attack clicks then we are going to run up a big score against someone soon enough.
King continued 'we actually rested a few players in the last game, so will be bringing in a new backrow against Sale to really freshen this important area, Ryan (Kankowski) is raring to go and his power at the back of the scrum was missed last week, the weather is perfectly suited to his game and we'll probably be giving Liam Gill his first start of the season - the boys breakdown work is up there with the best in this league already.
We're going to make a few changes to our backline and really make the best of the running rugby conditions, its been a tough couple of weeks and we havent played our best, but there is no reason why we can't travel up to Sale and come back with at least four points.
Saints expected team:
1. Thomas Domingo
2. Rob Webber
3. Carl Hayman
4. Dave Attwood
5. Simon Taylor
6. Luke Watson
7. Liam Gill
8. Ryan Kankowski
9. Stuart Commins
10. Danny Cipriani
11. Christian Wallace
12. Matt Giteau
13. Casey Lualala
14. Siti Siviatu
15. Errie Claasens
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Re: AP Round 4
by dammit_chris Mon 19 Sep 2011, 7:12 pm
That's just the expected Saints team mat - might be very different to that by Wednesday!
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Re: AP Round 4
by prop_lyd Tue 20 Sep 2011, 10:08 am
Worcester to name their squad tonight along with their tactics.
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Re: AP Round 4
by LukeLovesLuka Tue 20 Sep 2011, 11:53 am
Leicester Tigers have made one change to the side that played Newcastle last week. In comes Chris Jack in place of Jarrad Hoeata in the second row. New signings Brock James and Topsy Ojo earn their place on the bench after a full week's training.
Manager LukeLovesLuka said "Chris returns as our captain in the only change this week. I thought we were excellent against Newcastle at Kingston Park, and we outscored them 3 tries to 2. Brock and Topsy come into the squad and give us real attacking options for the second half.
The team is fully fit and raring to go. I spoke to one or two of the boys about having a rest, but no-one wants to give up their place in the side. The team I have selected is again, a powerful and experienced one. We are back at Welford Road, and, as always when we play at home, we are determined to keep winning."
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
16. Clarke Dermody 17. Tom Youngs 18. Johhny Harris 19. Tom Denton 20. Andy Hazell 20. Scott Mathie 21. Brock James 22. Topsy Ojo
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown and get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game. We will look to get the likes of Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Sarries' back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- We will target the set-piece all game, in particular the scrum. We will look to Crockett and Bruno to target Swainston and Chuter, and really get the shove on. Crockett can be so destructive, and Bruno so powerful in the scrum. We will also target Chuter's throwing, with Brown and Joubert both looking to steal. Brown and Joubert will be our go-to men on our throw, along with Jack. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our mobile back row, and the likes of Crockett and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring, and we will look to drive on through tackles as much as possible to get over the gain line. We are playing with a left and right flanker. We will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to tackle all day, disrupt Sarries flow, get over the ball and make turnovers, and link with the backs when possible.
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. We will look to counter attack Sarries' kicks if it is on, and look to the likes of Nacewa, Fritz and Poitrenaud to cause damage with their speed.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for our backs. Working in tandem with Joubert and co, we want him to fire passes as quickly as he can to stop the opposition getting set defensively.
- Walder is tasked with bringing our dangerous back line into play. With Jauzion outside him he has experience and class to rely upon, and we will use Jauzion as our guide. Sarries' 10-12-13 combo is very young and inexperienced. We will look to Walder and Jauzion to test them with the likes of Crockett, Jack and Joubert into these channels, as well as our pacy back three off the shoulder.
- We see the centres as crucial for us today, and will be looking to get the ball in this area as much as possible. We want Jauzion and Fritz on the ball as much as we can, looking for gaps in the Sarries' defence, and looking to get our back three into the game. Sarries have very little experience in this area, and we see this as a mismatch in our favour.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. The weather is perfect for running rugby, and we hope to see some great breaks. All have good boots to rely on if it isn't on, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Sarries back line, and believe if we can blitz them they will be forced into kicking the ball back to us or making mistakes.
- We will look to use Brock James, Topsy Ojo, Clarke Dermody and Andy Hazell early in the second half to give us fresh impetous throughout our side.
- Walder to kick all penalties in range.
KEY POINTS:
- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at home since the start of last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.
- Target the breakdown - Lund and Poff are told to get over the ball and make turnovers, setting us up for the counter attack.
- Get after the Sarries scrum with Crockett and Bruno getting the shove on.
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Crockett, Poff, Joubert, Jauzion, Fritz, Nacewa and Poitrenaud.
- Look to get the ball into our centres quickly where they can spot gaps in the Sarries backline and get the ball to our dangerous back three.
- Very experienced side with an average age of 30 - 11 full internationals starting with 267 caps between them. Sarries have 6 players aged 21 or younger. Use this experience and know-how to our advantage.
Manager LukeLovesLuka said "Chris returns as our captain in the only change this week. I thought we were excellent against Newcastle at Kingston Park, and we outscored them 3 tries to 2. Brock and Topsy come into the squad and give us real attacking options for the second half.
The team is fully fit and raring to go. I spoke to one or two of the boys about having a rest, but no-one wants to give up their place in the side. The team I have selected is again, a powerful and experienced one. We are back at Welford Road, and, as always when we play at home, we are determined to keep winning."
Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka
| 01. Wyatt Crockett | 09. Micky Young |
| 02. Sebastian Bruno | 10. Dave Walder (k) |
| 03. Faan Rautenbach | |
| 04. Chris Jack (c) | 11. Tom Biggs |
| 05. Alex Brown | 12. Yannick Jauzion |
| 06. Magnus Lund | 13. Florian Fritz |
| 07. Jonathan Poff | 14. Isa Nacewa |
| 08. Ernst Joubert (c) | 15. Clement Poitrenaud |
Tactics
GENERAL:
- We are looking to get hold of the ball at the breakdown and get our backs into the game as much as possible with a running game. We will look to get the likes of Nacewa and Poitrenaud on the ball and causing Sarries' back line problems defensively. We will be physical and relentless up front and pacey and clinical in attack.
- We will target the set-piece all game, in particular the scrum. We will look to Crockett and Bruno to target Swainston and Chuter, and really get the shove on. Crockett can be so destructive, and Bruno so powerful in the scrum. We will also target Chuter's throwing, with Brown and Joubert both looking to steal. Brown and Joubert will be our go-to men on our throw, along with Jack. With Joubert marshalling the base, we will look to use attacking scrums as a platform to get us going forward at every opportunity.
- Our mobile back row, and the likes of Crockett and Jack, are encouraged to run straight to best utilise the carrying options they bring, and we will look to drive on through tackles as much as possible to get over the gain line. We are playing with a left and right flanker. We will target the breakdown massively, with two players who can play openside on our flanks. Both Lund and Poff are told to tackle all day, disrupt Sarries flow, get over the ball and make turnovers, and link with the backs when possible.
- With the ball in hand we want to get the ball wide and get our dangerous runners on the ball. We will look to counter attack Sarries' kicks if it is on, and look to the likes of Nacewa, Fritz and Poitrenaud to cause damage with their speed.
- Young is tasked with simple instructions - quick ball for our backs. Working in tandem with Joubert and co, we want him to fire passes as quickly as he can to stop the opposition getting set defensively.
- Walder is tasked with bringing our dangerous back line into play. With Jauzion outside him he has experience and class to rely upon, and we will use Jauzion as our guide. Sarries' 10-12-13 combo is very young and inexperienced. We will look to Walder and Jauzion to test them with the likes of Crockett, Jack and Joubert into these channels, as well as our pacy back three off the shoulder.
- We see the centres as crucial for us today, and will be looking to get the ball in this area as much as possible. We want Jauzion and Fritz on the ball as much as we can, looking for gaps in the Sarries' defence, and looking to get our back three into the game. Sarries have very little experience in this area, and we see this as a mismatch in our favour.
- Our back three are encouraged to do what comes naturally to all of them - counter attacking and running the ball back. The weather is perfect for running rugby, and we hope to see some great breaks. All have good boots to rely on if it isn't on, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.
- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Young sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any kicks. We see a lack of spark in the Sarries back line, and believe if we can blitz them they will be forced into kicking the ball back to us or making mistakes.
- We will look to use Brock James, Topsy Ojo, Clarke Dermody and Andy Hazell early in the second half to give us fresh impetous throughout our side.
- Walder to kick all penalties in range.
KEY POINTS:
- Home Advantage - Unbeaten at home since the start of last season. Welford Road is once again the fortress that we all know.
- Target the breakdown - Lund and Poff are told to get over the ball and make turnovers, setting us up for the counter attack.
- Get after the Sarries scrum with Crockett and Bruno getting the shove on.
- Play attacking, running rugby from quick ball. The dry conditions suit our players, especially the likes of Crockett, Poff, Joubert, Jauzion, Fritz, Nacewa and Poitrenaud.
- Look to get the ball into our centres quickly where they can spot gaps in the Sarries backline and get the ball to our dangerous back three.
- Very experienced side with an average age of 30 - 11 full internationals starting with 267 caps between them. Sarries have 6 players aged 21 or younger. Use this experience and know-how to our advantage.
Last edited by LukeLovesLuka on Tue 20 Sep 2011, 4:17 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 12:20 pm
Game on so it is. When did Ojo and James sign again?
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Re: AP Round 4
by LukeLovesLuka Tue 20 Sep 2011, 12:24 pm
LukeLovesLuka wrote:New signings Brock James and Topsy Ojo earn their place on the bench after a full week's training.
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 12:31 pm
Ojo - 9.30 Saturday morning (76 1/2 hours ago)
James - 12:20 Sunday lunchtime (48 hours ago)
https://www.606v2.com/t4624p200-domestics-confirmation
Not quite 'a full weeks training' now is it!
James - 12:20 Sunday lunchtime (48 hours ago)
https://www.606v2.com/t4624p200-domestics-confirmation
Not quite 'a full weeks training' now is it!
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 12:33 pm
Not sure what you mean by that question. They have only been at your club for 2/3 days, so whether you train the day after a match is irrelevant.
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Re: AP Round 4
by LukeLovesLuka Tue 20 Sep 2011, 12:37 pm
You asked if it was a full week's training.
The boys have Saturday off, and come in lunchtime Sunday, when they are still in recovery phase as the game was only 48 hours ago.
The team then trains full on, Monday through Thursday.
Both players were signed by Sunday lunchtime - I just don't see your point?
The boys have Saturday off, and come in lunchtime Sunday, when they are still in recovery phase as the game was only 48 hours ago.
The team then trains full on, Monday through Thursday.
Both players were signed by Sunday lunchtime - I just don't see your point?
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 12:40 pm
It's Tuesday, by your logic, they have had 1 training day yesterday and this morning, and you are banking on them being ready to go by Friday.
They must have been looking pretty good in their day and half on the training paddock so far!
They must have been looking pretty good in their day and half on the training paddock so far!
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Re: AP Round 4
by LukeLovesLuka Tue 20 Sep 2011, 12:44 pm
LDCPete wrote:It's Tuesday, by your logic, they have had 1 training day yesterday and this morning
I make that logic fairly accurate, not exactly rocket science is it?
By Friday they will have had 1 week's full training.
This is what I said and what I stand by.
And yes, both have looked very sharp so far
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Re: AP Round 4
by Sgt_Pooly Tue 20 Sep 2011, 2:29 pm
I wonder which match is going to have the most banter this week...
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Re: AP Round 4
by stnick88 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 2:35 pm
not ours pooly! too much respect for each other! lol
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 2:38 pm
stnick88 wrote:not ours pooly! too much respect for each other! lol
Hmmm, there's a funny smell round here, reminds me off a field with male bovine animals in, now what could it be!!!
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Re: AP Round 4
by dammit_chris Tue 20 Sep 2011, 2:46 pm
SJE I am not going to be bantering with you this week...you big girl...
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Re: AP Round 4
by SirJohnnyEnglish Tue 20 Sep 2011, 2:49 pm
Will be getting my side in tomorrow with tactics
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Re: AP Round 4
by dammit_chris Tue 20 Sep 2011, 3:06 pm
My side is pretty much the one that was leaked above, with probably two changes, but not 100% sure yet!
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Re: AP Round 4
by Sgt_Pooly Tue 20 Sep 2011, 3:21 pm
I thought we'd stopped putting out "preview" squads. Once your team was named that was it, no need to put out leaked teams.
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 3:23 pm
If you are going to do a press 'leaked' team, maybe better to do it on the press releases page than the match thread. 
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Re: AP Round 4
by dammit_chris Tue 20 Sep 2011, 3:24 pm
Havent named my team though Pooly - haven't put the format out at all and its only Tuesday.
Think that teams should be named by Weds, and tactics then done by Thurs - would make things easier. Is that already a rule?
Think that teams should be named by Weds, and tactics then done by Thurs - would make things easier. Is that already a rule?
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 3:27 pm
To be fair, it doesn't need to be a rule really does it, people could just do it rather than waiting until the last minute to name their teams.
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Re: AP Round 4
by dammit_chris Tue 20 Sep 2011, 3:56 pm
In that case will always try and get my team in on Weds and tactics by Thurs - think its fairer for everyone that way - though never going to be as quick as you Pete!
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 3:59 pm
I generally know what team I am going to put out straight after results are done for the previous round. The only thing that sometimes changes it is the weather forecast, so I just post it once SJE has got the thread up, no point in trying to delay it to gain an advantage of the other team not knowing my side.
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Re: AP Round 4
by Guest Tue 20 Sep 2011, 4:20 pm
My team goes in as and when some time first some time last. My issue is time. You would know my side pretty much anyhow.
Often like now i am on my phone in Canada and will have to literally find 30 minutes to put in a team on laptop. If we moved it to wednesday I would struggle massively
Often like now i am on my phone in Canada and will have to literally find 30 minutes to put in a team on laptop. If we moved it to wednesday I would struggle massively
Guest- Guest
Re: AP Round 4
by Driver Tue 20 Sep 2011, 7:32 pm
Exeter Chiefs team to host London Wasps at Sandy Park
1.Brett Sturgess
2.Ben Kayser
3.Tom Mercy
4.Tommy Hayes
5.James Hudson (c)
6.Declan Danahar
7.Carl Fearns
8.Ben Skirving
9.Haydn Thomas
10.Steven Myler
11.Luke Fitzgerald
12.Adam Powell
13.Regan King
14.Adam Thompstone
15.Ben Blair (k)
16.Neil Clark 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Juan Orlandi 19.Peter Short 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Tomas O'Leary 22.George Ford 23.Luke Arscott
1.Brett Sturgess
2.Ben Kayser
3.Tom Mercy
4.Tommy Hayes
5.James Hudson (c)
6.Declan Danahar
7.Carl Fearns
8.Ben Skirving
9.Haydn Thomas
10.Steven Myler
11.Luke Fitzgerald
12.Adam Powell
13.Regan King
14.Adam Thompstone
15.Ben Blair (k)
16.Neil Clark 17.Efion Lewis-Roberts 18.Juan Orlandi 19.Peter Short 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Tomas O'Leary 22.George Ford 23.Luke Arscott
Last edited by Driver - RIP 606 on Tue 20 Sep 2011, 7:36 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Arscott for Smith)
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Re: AP Round 4
by prop_lyd Tue 20 Sep 2011, 8:04 pm
Manager – Prop_Lyd
16. Chris Fortey 17. George Porter 18. Sylvain Marconnet 19. Dom Barrow 20. Julien Salvi 20. Jordi Pasqualin 21. Gavin Henson 22. Julien Malzieu
Tactics
Forwards
We have picked a very mobile pack to counteract the power which is coming at us. This means we will be quicker to the loose and have 3 flankers starting (Myall) and 1 on the bench all who are trained to steal ball. Quins will not get a quick ball off of us and we will look to use Morgan running off of 12 and 13.
In the lineouts we have many options and will use them all to keep Quins guessing. Our forwards will focus on the lineouts to steal ball and with our tactics of pinning them back we should add pressure to their lineouts. Strauss is a confident hooker who will look to steal from the scrums and we will look to move up on Botha's side.
Backs
We have gone for the Robinson-Vesty axis again receiving quick ball from both Peel and Pasqualin and kicking to both corners. Our kicks will not be aimed towards the Quins back 3 but to behind them and to touch to put pressure on. The rest of the backs have big strong runners who will mainly go route A with both Morgan's and Strauss of their shoulders for the quick ball. Vesty will look to kick penalties as much as possible to keep us in the game. Our backs have played a few games together now and Vesty and Robinson can interchange to keep Quins guessing.
On the bench we have Henson and Malzieu who are both game changers and can add their magic from 60 minutes. Throughout the start of this season we have brought Henson on meaning he is being prepared to start a match soon.
In defence we will use the banana rush defence with either Newby or Williams stood on Robinson's inside shoulder whilst the other is slowing down the ball.
Overall
Kicking for corners for the first 60 minutes.
Pin Quins back.
Pressure on lineout.
Slow down Quins ball.
Bring on the magic on 60 minutes.
Play for points.
Good luck Steve
| 01. David Flatman | 09. Dwayne Peel |
| 02. Richardt Strauss | 10. Nicky Robinson |
| 03. BJ Botha | |
| 04. Ollie Kohn | 11. Jack Cuthbert |
| 05. Kearnen Myall | 12. Sam Vesty (k) |
| 06. Craig Newby | 13. John Clarke |
| 07. Martyn Williams | 14. Anitelia Tuilagi |
| 08. Ben Morgan | 15. Olly Morgan |
Tactics
Forwards
We have picked a very mobile pack to counteract the power which is coming at us. This means we will be quicker to the loose and have 3 flankers starting (Myall) and 1 on the bench all who are trained to steal ball. Quins will not get a quick ball off of us and we will look to use Morgan running off of 12 and 13.
In the lineouts we have many options and will use them all to keep Quins guessing. Our forwards will focus on the lineouts to steal ball and with our tactics of pinning them back we should add pressure to their lineouts. Strauss is a confident hooker who will look to steal from the scrums and we will look to move up on Botha's side.
Backs
We have gone for the Robinson-Vesty axis again receiving quick ball from both Peel and Pasqualin and kicking to both corners. Our kicks will not be aimed towards the Quins back 3 but to behind them and to touch to put pressure on. The rest of the backs have big strong runners who will mainly go route A with both Morgan's and Strauss of their shoulders for the quick ball. Vesty will look to kick penalties as much as possible to keep us in the game. Our backs have played a few games together now and Vesty and Robinson can interchange to keep Quins guessing.
On the bench we have Henson and Malzieu who are both game changers and can add their magic from 60 minutes. Throughout the start of this season we have brought Henson on meaning he is being prepared to start a match soon.
In defence we will use the banana rush defence with either Newby or Williams stood on Robinson's inside shoulder whilst the other is slowing down the ball.
Overall
Kicking for corners for the first 60 minutes.
Pin Quins back.
Pressure on lineout.
Slow down Quins ball.
Bring on the magic on 60 minutes.
Play for points.
Good luck Steve
Last edited by prop_lyd on Wed 21 Sep 2011, 8:58 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Re: AP Round 4
by Ozzy3213 Tue 20 Sep 2011, 8:06 pm
I'm loving that 267 caps makes your team experienced Luke, my pack have more caps than that between them!
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Re: AP Round 4
by prop_lyd Tue 20 Sep 2011, 8:24 pm
Did you guys know that my team have 340 teeth in the whole squad and that the front row each own 20 shirts of various colours......beat that.
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Re: AP Round 4
by Driver Tue 20 Sep 2011, 8:31 pm
Wonder what Chris's 'Chris Facts' are this week lol
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