Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round One

---

Newcastle Falcons vs. Sale Sharks
Light rain, 15 degrees, 10mph winds.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Toby Faletau	15. Alex Goode

16. Lee Mears 17. Clement Ric 18. Alex Waller 19. Geoff Parling 20.Kelly Brown 21. Luke Burgess 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics

HOME ADVANTAGE – HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES, PACK FOR CONDITIONS

WE’VE WON EVERY GAME AT HOME FOR OVER 2 SEASONS

Gameplan – Simple rugby, High intensity.......With the game in damp conditions we’ll be looking to control the set piece, pack and look to play in the right areas of the pitch. Flood will dictate play and will look to clear his lines from our own 22. We’ll look to put pressure on the opposition set piece throughout the game and we think we can get the upperhand in both scrum & lineout.

Defence – We’ll be deploying the rush defence looking to narrow the options for the oposition. Brussow will look to put pressure on Sexton throughout and force him to rush his game.

Set piece – Greasy conditions usually means plenty of knock ons which means plenty of scrums. We’ve went for a hefty scrummaging unit to really tear into Sale from the off. PDJ & Tonga will look to get secure a good platform and attack opposite numbers if on.

Engine room - Perfect combo for the damp conditions with both locks adding serious grunt to the scrum and massive physicality around the park. We'll look for pick and drives to punch holes in the Sale defence and tie in the oppsotion.

We’ll look for the take and drive on our own ball with Best/Thorn being the key men here. With 4 good jumpers and Paul O’Connell (one of the premier lineout locks in world rugby) pulling the strings we’ll keep things solid on our own throw whilst looking to target the opposition throw all game.

Pack – We’ve went for numerous carrying options in the pack and will look to use short pick and drives and keep things simple. Brussow & Robshaw will lead the assault and will also look to make a bit of a mess of the breakdown. With the poor conditions they’ll be plenty of opportunity to get hands in rucks and force turnover ball which will be used to force Sale retreating back.

Backs – Massive backline to help get us over the game line and punch holes in the opposition defence (SBW & Cuthbet in particular) SBW will look for flat straight simple passes from the halfbacks and get between the Sale 10/12 combo.

Goode will add a top draw tactical kicking option in the back 3 and look to hit the corners if weakness seen in the Sale lineout.

Subs – we’ll look to keep the pack refreshed and

KEY POINTS:

Front 5 - For the conditions to add physicality in the damp conditions
Carrying option - Numerous throughout side to get us over the game line
HOME RECORD - We have won every game for over two years at home
Impact bench - To see us home (Goode to cover 10 if needed)
Rolling maul - Look to use this to good effect throughout the game with our physical front 5

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. Darren Dawidiuk	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner-Hall
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin

16. Lee Imolek 17. Tommy Taylor 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Dave Attwood 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Keith Earls

Attack

• We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball.

• Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload to keep the ball moving and get us further over the gain line.

• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload.

Set Piece

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much more room as possible to attack from.

• In Falcons territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs.

• In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

Defense

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Newcastle momentum before it can get going.

• Danny Care will play sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose kicks.

Breakdown

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with POM and Quedragao looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

---

---

Attack The Breakdown

• We have selected a mobile front 5 to get around the park and clear the ruck leaving our two specialist flankers, POM and Quedragao, to attack the breakdown.

2nd Half Scrums

• With the traditional front row substitutions to come on, Ducalcon will look to get at the link between Waller and Mears and really turn the screw in the final quarter.

Playing It Smart

• With no sweeper on the Falcons defense Sexton and Care will look to play it smartly and put grubbers in behind the Newcastle midfield and take advantage of the turn.

---

Gloucester vs. Northampton Saints
Sunny Intervals, 17 degrees, 10mph winds.

Gloucester
Manager – Mat

01. Gurthro Steenkamp	09. Connor Murray
02. Joe Gray	10. Johan Goosen
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Tom Palmer	11. James Simpson-Daniel
05. Richie Grey	12. Juan de Jongh
06. Stephen Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Imanol Harinordoqouy	15. Jonny May

16. Nick Wood 17. Jamie George 18. Rupert Harden 19. Julien Pierre 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. TJ Perenara 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Ian Balshaw

Glaws welcomes saints to our fortress. We are not in the habit of losing here and aim to maintain our proud record.

Tactics

- glaws to target scrum with mas and steenkamp huge scrummagers. Steenkamp in great form from end of last season and start of this one
- glaws to target lineout with hari gray and palmer looking to seize this as a key source of possession.
- glaws to use balk carriers to get on front foot. We aim to control the ball and our packs carrying is key to this. All are big carriers and in ferris gray hari and steenkamp we have some super dynamic ball carriers who will aim to put big dents in.
- by controlling the ball we control possession and we will be using this to get field position
- when forwards have got ball into good positon the ball will be released.
- in first half goosen will be looking to kick anything in his own half. We want to try and get at their lineout and want to either roll it in to touch or for them to kick and is gain possession.
- he will also look to send kahui down the centre channel and get forwards running around the corner to keep momentum going forward.
- as game progresses and gaps appear goosen will be looking to get our strike runners going and trying to isolate so may Guildford sharples etc can show their magic
- we will look to counter loose kicks and speed up play with quick throw ins when necessary-
-backrow will be looking to get at Phillips and gits who rarely plays ten theses days. We think his lack of length of kick will help us pressure them.
- goosen to kick at goal anywhere within 60 he has a huge boot. He will also look to occasionally take gits on as he is a great runner
- impact bench to keep the carrying measures game going.

- we will go wide when we have earned the right to
- HOME ADVANTAGE IS HUGE

Northampton Saints
Manager - Dammit Chris

01. Sona Taumalolo	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Bradley Davies	11. Leigh Halfpenny (k)
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Julien Bonnaire 21. Joe Simpson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Siti Siviatu

Overall

Saints to play an expansive, powerful game with a view of putting Gloucester on the backfoot and providing our backs with opportunities to attack space. Salvi, Lawes and Tuilagi all picked to get good turnover ball to turn into attack.

Aggressive defence to force Gloucester into mistakes and seek turnovers.

Get our forwards to work through the phases, tie in the Gloucester pack and use Fofana and Tuilagi to punch holes in the midfield to create space for our backthree to exploit.

Bench picked so can up the tempo in the final twenty minutes if needed.

Offence

The team remains virtually unchanged from the team that scored over 40 tries in the final ten games of last season – the only addition is Sona Taumalolo who is another try scorer. Will look for the forwards to get us over the gainline (Taumalolo, Lawes, Davies and Parisse) and the backs to up the tempo of the game and create chances.

Saints backline has been picked to play attacking rugby and take the game to Gloucester. Giteau is in very good form for Toulon (2tries at the weekend) and has been picked ahead of Cips and Ford because of the link up play he will bring with Fofana and Tuilagi.

Salvi picked as no7 to provide the link between forwards and backs – with the whole backline showing good form at the end of last season (Ashton also got a hattrick versus Stade Francais last week).

Defence

Stopping Gloucester gainline breakers is key – Lydiate to marshall Richie Gray from the off and just knock him down each time he gets the ball.

Look to put in an aggressive, controlled defence with Lawes, Lydiate the main force in the pack and Fofana and Tuilagi creating a wall in the midfield. Aim to pressurise Gloucester and push for handling errors and seek turnovers to attack from.

Set Piece

Really strong scrum, improved on last season – try and put a lot of pressure on Joe Grey here and use the scrum as an attacking platform for Parisse and Phillips.

Lineout is very functional and will hold its own, but we have picked Bonnaire on the bench to come on if Gloucester’s lineout gains an edge, but should be even due to difference in Joe Grey and Dylan Hartley’s experience at hooker.

Key Points

- Very settled team, only one new addition to the starting lineup from last season.

- Look to see whether we can exploit Joe Grey as hooker for Gloucester with experience of Hartley and then Rob Webber from the bench.

- Aim to dominate the breakdown with Salvi and with Lawes, Lydiate and Tuilagi clearing out the Gloucester players and play aggressively trying to force mistakes.

- Use big ball carriers to get us over the gainline and then get the ball to our backline, each player is a potential match winner from 9-15 and conditions will suit us very well.

- Take all points on offer with Halfpenny’s boot from halfway line.

---

London Welsh vs. Leicester Tigers
Sunny Intervals, 16 degrees, 10mph winds.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. Adam Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. George Skivington	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Thierry Dusautoir ©	13. Darren Cave
07. Maurie Fa’asavalu	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Tom Homer

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. David Wilson 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Tom Johnson 21. Tomas O’Leary 22. Gavin Henson 23. Ross Chisholm

Tactics

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisons in both attack and defence. In order to do this we have picked a very big pack to try to physically dominate this area of the game. We will look to apply pressure to Tigers by keeping the ball for long periods and wearing them down defensively, and also by maintaining a solid defence and denying them opportunities to get on the score board. Pressure forces mistakes, and we will look to capitalise on any that Leicester make.

Attacking specifics

• Play off 9. Parra to pull the strings and get big carriers hitting the gainline at pace.
  
• Carriers to look to hit gaps and keep the ball alive by offloading to support runners.
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• All opportunities for points with the boot to be taken by Parra, Farrell or Homer as appropriate (penalties or drop goals).
  
• If at any time we feel that we are in danger of conceding a turnover then Parra or Farrell will use their boot to kick for touch deep in Tigers territory.
  

Defensive specifics

• Darren Cave will be defensive captain (he fulfils this role for Ulster)
  
• We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, otherwise we will legally slow the ball and maintain a solid defensive line to blitz from.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  
• We will look to get our forwards who are defending the fringes through onto Yachvili and Wilkinson quickly to pressurize them into mistakes.
  

Set Piece specifics

• Dean Schofield to pack down behind Adam Jones to provide a solid base.
  
• George Skivington to call the lineout and look to vary it up calling short ones in attacking areas with big runners coming into midfield.
  

Key Points

• Home advantage. I cannot stress this enough. It would be a big day for the club and that in itself tends to raise performance levels a few percent from players.
  
• We have a massive, but mobile pack in order to effect our gameplan of controlling the gainline.
  
• We have a backline that is extremely solid defensively in the belief that if we can stop the opposition from scoring points it will build pressure on them which causes mistakes that we can capitalise on.
  
• We have less star names than Tigers, but rugby is not always about star names, it's about honest hard work and cohesive units, which we have across the board.
  
• Our defensive system at the breakdown allows us to be strong around the fringes and get through quickly to pressurise Yachvili and Wilkinson, neither of whom offer a particular running threat these days. If we can do this and force Wilkinson to sit deep away from the gainline, then it negates a lot of the attacking threat from the Tigers backline, who all thrive playing outside of a 10 that sits flat and creates space for them.
  
• By our tactics we are in effect turning this into a big physical battle, which we believe we have the players to win.
  
• If we are going well, we will not just unload our bench for the sake of it. Fresh legs will be brought on if required, or replacements would be tactical. If we are on top we want to maintain continuity rather than risk losing the flow of the game by making changes.
  
• I know people will highlight two areas as weakensses, the engine room and lack of attacking threat out wide. Clearly you will make up your own minds on that, but I will just say this. Schofield and Skivington are not glamourous, but they are very good players. Skivington has 3 Premiership and 2 Heineken Cup winners medals, and this engine room has grunt and lineout ability and will do the dirty work all day long. Trimble and Fitzgerald out wide, whilst not as pacy or flashy as people like Bryan Habana or Cory Jane, can, and do score tries and are experienced international wingers. Defensively they are also both fantastic and have the ability to negate their opposite numbers attacking threat.
  

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Tom Croft	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Tom Youngs 18. Brian Mujati 19. Simon Shaw 20. Francois Louw 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Rene Ranger

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's moving us into the right areas and the strength of our lineout in an effort to get our electric backline into space

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - Cole and Bruno to really look to get the shove on against Corbs and BdP.

- Target the lineout all game. Our lineout is led by Horwill, using Croft as our banker ball, and with Pape and SOB as our other options.
With Yachvili and Wilkinson, we will look to get the ball deep in Welsh territory and contest all lineouts.

- Use the massive line-breakers we have to tire down the Welsh defence.
The likes of Waldrom and SOB used off the shoulder at pace off 9/10 crashing through the Welsh defence.

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. We want Yach and Wilko to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs. Mermoz to use his razor sharp running to pick holes. We want to give BOD time on the ball to release Nacewa, Clerc and Monye into space.
Croft to look to link with our backs and get into space to cause trouble out wide.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the last 20/30 minutes.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Lineout:

With two of the best tactical HB's around in Yachvili and Wilkinson, we will tirelessly target the lineout throughout the game. Croft is one of the best banker balls in world rugby, and we have a true lineout leader in Horwill that Welsh significantly lack.

Home advantage:

This usually counts for some points in my eyes. But today Welsh are playing their first game at the Kassam Stadium, so there is no familiarity to the surroundings for the Welsh players. One end of the stadium is open, and this extra wind will take time to get used to.

Continuity and familiarity:

London Welsh have just undergone a huge overhaul, with countless new players and a new manager. And a new stadium. In all honesty this sort of transition takes time, and the players will need a while to settle into their team and their environment. Our side sees just 3 changes to one that could have played last season.

---

Saracens vs. London Irish
Cloudy, 18 degrees, 9mph winds.

Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Paul Hodgson
02.George Chuter	10.Paddy Jackson (K)
03.Ben Tameifuna
04.Lionel Nallet	11.Tim Visser
05.Ali Williams	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Allesandro Zanni	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Mark Cueto
08.Joe Van Nikirk (c)	15.Rory Lamount

16.John Smit 17.Max Lahiff 18.Hoani Tui 18.Phil Dowson 19.Luke Narraway 20.Lloyd Williams 21.Tom Catterick 22.Chris Bell

Tactics

Saracens will play an aggresive game with a experienced front 5 with plenty of power coming from the back 5 in the scrum and a front row with plenty of nouse. Our game will be build around a high intensity carrying game with Mullen , Chuter , Big Ben , Nallet , Zanni , Rennie and JVN all strong ball carriers and will look to carry off Hodgson at the base of rucks and force Irish to defend the fringes and give Hodgson and Jackson time on the ball to make the right decision whether to bring his backs into play or punt the ball for territory.

• In the contact we will look to ruck past the ball instead of going for the typical fetcher at 7 to allow Rennie to focus on his carrying game and work in the loose.
  
  
• Ali Williams is widely recognized as one of the best lineout operators in the world with JVN and Zanni pretty handy in the air and will look to put plenty of pressure on Muller in the Irish lineout with Elsom the other jumper having no real life form to speak of.
  
  
• drift defence with Jauzion leading this with the fringe defense forcing the attack wide and the ball to there wingers in narrow space and surrounded by defenders

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matt Stevens	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Grant Shiells 17. James Buckland 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

Tactics

- Play a fast paced, attacking game

- Get as much good ball to our backs and get them running at Saracens.

- Target the breakdown, get Armitage in there quickly to snaffle opposition ball and secure our own ball

- Use Muller as our main lineout jumper, supported by Garvey and Spies. Muller to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible.

- Stevens has been selected for his mobility round the park. We dont expect too many scrums in good conditions so we want to be lively in the loose and use big carriers like Stevens, Lindsay, Elsom, Spies, Armitage to smash over the gain line.

- Evans to pull the strings and use Mac as a 2nd playmaker.

- Evans to kick all in range pens for goal to keep score board ticking over.

- Put pressure on young Jackson. We will look to put pressure on him and try and force him in to mistakes to disrupt Sarries rhythm.

- Look to spread the ball out wide and get our back 3 involved. We want to get JP, Tagi and Delon 1 on 1 v there opposing numbers as we have the pace and finishing abilities to score tries.

---

London Wasps vs. Harlequins
Cloudy, 16 degrees, 7mph winds.

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Ben Daley	09. Mike Blair
02. Sean Cronin	10. Rhys Preistland (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Steve Mafi	13. George Pisi
07. Dewald Potgieter	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Samu Manoa 20. Jonathan Poff 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Steven Myler 23. Dan Hipkiss

Tactics
In attack we will look to our forwards to carry hard, attacking gaps in the Quins defensive line, getting us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We will ensure our carriers have plenty of support to offload to, so we can continue our attacks and keep Quins working in defence. We will look to hit the contact area hard and win the collisions, we intend to carry with plenty of intensity and have high physicality levels so we can get onto the front foot and set out a platform for our backs to build from.

Line speed and aggression is key for us in defence, we will try and prevent Quins from having time on the ball by having quick line speed and tackling their carriers before they reach the gain line, knocking them back and forcing them into mistakes, where we can try and get turnovers and exert pressure on them. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get good numbers to the breakdown, with the first few players rucking past the ball to clear out the Quins players. Barritt and Pisi will be the focal point in defence looking to quell the Quins attacks by knocking them backwards.

We will look to use the set piece as a platform to build from, on our own ball we will look to turn the scrum legally to erase the Quins back row from helping out in defence before starting our own attacks. We will look to exert pressure on the Quins scrum on their ball and look to win penalties. At the lineout Wentzel will be our main go to man, we will also look to use Mafi at the tail of the lineout where we can launch attacks from and get our big centers running down the Quins fly half channel.

We will look to control possession and be patient, recycling the ball through several phases with Blair controlling our play. If there is space behind the Quins wingers we will look to kick in behind them and put pressure on them with a good chase game. Barritt will look to take contact and give us potential line breaking options with Pisi running good outside lines, we will attack gaps and half gaps in the Quins defensive line with Banahan coming in off his wing as a second crash ball option, looking to suck in Quins defenders to open up gaps elsewhere for our backs to exploit.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Greg Laidlaw (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Yoann Huget
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Taku Ngwenya
08. Dave Denton	15. Rob Kearney

16. Matthew Rees 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Kieran Brookes 19. James Gaskell 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. Florian Fritz

Tactics


Game Plan

Patience with ball in hand and play what is in front of us. Use big carriers to break holes in the Wasps defence off 9, 10 and in the midfield. Once we have attracted defenders in the midfield we can look to put JJ and our wingers into space as they have pace to burn in the wide channels.

We will look to play at a quick tempo, controlled by Dickson and Laidlaw, as this will play into our hands with our big yet mobile pack. This will make it very difficult for wasps to organise there defence and we can take advantage of this disorganisation. We will not look to rush things but will look to play a quick tempo when we can. Huge difference between rushing and playing at tempo. A quick tempo requires us to be honest at rucks and hit them hard therefore meaning we don't have to over commit at ruck time. We feel we have the men to do that

Forwards

Pack to carry at pace and to hit their lines on different angles and at depth. We will look to carry with support so as to offload if the option is there and to recycle the ball quickly after contact. We will look to go into contact on our terms (in both attack and defence). This means driving the legs after the initial collision to keep momentum. This gives our other players an easier target to hit at ruck time. If the offload is on then we will look for it but will not be looking for miracle balls.

At the set piece we will look to control. Steve Borthwick will call our lineout in both defence and attack. We will look to use short lineouts when we can as to release Denton and Warburton to attack the midfield. In defence we will use Borthwick to mark their prime jumper and Wood and bakkies to mark the front and back of the lineout. At the scrum we will look to put squeeze on. Two powerful scrummagers at prop looking to milk Wasps for penalties. With Bakkies behind Afoa we can really look to get under the Wasps loosehead.

At rucks we want quick ball. We will look for all of our players to ruck if they are in the vicinity (ie 1-15 will ruck should they be required and they are the first men there). Quick ball is vital to us so we need to be effective at the ruck.

Aggression in our pack is vital. We need to really knock the Wasps pack backwards so as to affect there attacking game and slow down there ball.

Backs

Half backs perfect for controlling the game. Both perfectly able to play at a quick or slow tempo and able to play a running or a tactical kicking game. They will make sure we are playing the right rugby at the right time in the right part of the pitch. In the midfield Roberts will look to attack the inside shoulders of the Wasps defence and look to offload to JJ who will be running support lines. In Roberts we have a man who will attract defenders and outside him we have the men to exploit the gaps which will be created. Our blindside winger will come looking for work and to exploit gaps that may be there in the broken field. Kearney to join the line at pace and to look to cut different angles.

Defence

Quick line speed, two men tackles when we have the numbers. One man takes the legs and the other looks to get the ball. We are really looking to build pressure on Wasps by being physical in defence and pressing at speed.

Warburton to look to dominate the breakdown and milk it for pens and turnovers.

Key Points

- Quick ball. When we get it we look to play at a fast tempo. Use big carriers in the pack and backline to punch holes and make it hard for the Wasps defence to reorganize at our quick tempo.

- When we have committed Wasps defenders we will look to get the ball wide. Quick ball and our danger runners outside should see us get some tries.

- Aggressive and disruptive upfront. Get in the faces of the Wasps pack which we think lacks aggression. Pressure on at scrum and lineout with Borthwick marking Wentzel and Wood and Botha looking to pick off other jumpers.

- Carrying in numbers is vital so as to win the ruck quickly or to have support ready to receive an offload to continue our attacking momentum.

- Keep our discipline. Vital to not give away penalties and relieve pressure on Wasps.

- Take points when we get the chance. We want to score tries but we need to win the game first.

---

Worcester Warriors vs. Bath Rugby
Cloudy, 16 degrees, 10mph winds.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd

01. Nathan Catt	09. Dwayne Peel (c)
02. Gary Botha	10. Tom Heathcote
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. James Short
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Regan King
06. Ryan Jones	13. Matt Hopper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Julien Malzieu
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Richardt Strauss 17. Paul James 18. Chris Budgen 19. Tom Savage 20. Ben Morgan 21. Eion Reddan 22. Olly Barkley 23. Rob Cook

Tactics

We are aiming to hit the ground running this season with a new and exciting brand of confrontational forwards with pace and flair in the backs. Peel is an apt captain with the experience and go-forward drive in his game


Forwards

*Heavy front row who will look to dominate the set piece and we have experience on the bench to come on and do similar.

*2^nd rows are two confrontational characters who will look to get on top of the breakdown and battle hard when it comes to the lineout. We won’t go backwards with these two.

*Backrow are breakdown specialists with Jones and Tips both terrorising here and Gordogzde providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more go forward with Morgan.


Backs

*Peel to marshall and Heathcote to aim for corners when under pressure but to release King when possible, he will go for goal when in range.

*King to release Hopper who will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for Gorgodze to break through the defence, Hopper is an exciting runner and will look to take it close off King then drag the defence wide.

*A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball, on the bench we have Cook who is an excellent goal kicker and steady in defence.


Defence

*King to lead this.

*Jones/Higgs to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up.

*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece.

*No silly penalties anymore!

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Chris Brooker	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. George North
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock	14. Maxime Medard
08. James Haskell	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Charlie Faumuania 17. Will Tanner 18. Euan Murray 19. Tom Donnelly 20. David Seymour 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Rob Miller 23. Isiah Toeava

Overall: Look to dominate in the scrum and use that as a platform to really bring our backs in who will be looking to run at the defence with bad intentions.

Forwards: We will really look to attack and come out on top of the scrum. We have two of the best props in Europe in Kubrashvilli and Healy and we feel we can really punish the Warriors scrum, pushing them backwards. Haskell with look to control it at the back. With our second row partnership we are looking at Louis Deacon to provide the grunt necessary and offering the banker ball while Graham Kitchener will be trying to retain our lineout something we feel he is very capable of doing.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Shields, Haskell and Healy dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. At the breakdown we will look for David Pocock and Brad Shields to win turnover ball or manage to slow down opposition ball. They will both be looking to cause as much trouble as possible. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited.

Backs: We will be looking to play running rugby with the ball in our hands. Using our forwards to create space we will look for quick ball and get the likes of Medard, Hogg and North who are all deadly runners, running at the Worcester defences. Wigglesworth will control the tempo of the backs and will look to keep the backs calm and composed.. Hodgson will also be looking to get involved in the play along with Allen + Rougerie all of who can dangerously run.

Defence: Look to wrap the defensive line and try to put pressure onto King who we feel is their key playmaker. If he is stopped a lot of the pressure will go onto the young shoulders of Tom Heathcote.

Substitutes: We have some really good options on the bench who we feel can really add to the game. Faumuania is one of the most exciting props in the world who can add power to the scrum as well as being a threat in open play. He will backed on the other side of the scrum by Murray who can do some damage.. Donnelly Is another option who can sure up our lineout. Seymour another if he comes on will look to really get at the breakdown and use his energy. FDP is another quality player who will look to control our tempo. Miller + Toeava will look to come on late and add to our running game.

---

I should be around Pete, have net in hotel.

Good, good. Shame prop is away really, would be better to have everyone on board for the start of the season but can't be helped.

We're back!

Some absolute crackers to start the season.

Who will be first to post their team I wonder.

Not me, im in my caravan drinking stella and eating bbq food

Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd

01. Nathan Catt	09. Dwayne Peel (c)
02. Gary Botha	10. Tom Heathcote
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. James Short
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Regan King
06. Ryan Jones	13. Matt Hopper
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Julien Malzieu
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Richardt Strauss 17. Paul James 18. Chris Budgen 19. Tom Savage 20. Ben Morgan 21. Eion Reddan 22. Olly Barkley 23. Rob Cook

Tactics

We are aiming to hit the ground running this season with a new and exciting brand of confrontational forwards with pace and flair in the backs. Peel is an apt captain with the experience and go-forward drive in his game


Forwards

*Heavy front row who will look to dominate the set piece and we have experience on the bench to come on and do similar.

*2^nd rows are two confrontational characters who will look to get on top of the breakdown and battle hard when it comes to the lineout. We won’t go backwards with these two.

*Backrow are breakdown specialists with Jones and Tips both terrorising here and Gordogzde providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more go forward with Morgan.


Backs

*Peel to marshall and Heathcote to aim for corners when under pressure but to release King when possible, he will go for goal when in range.

*King to release Hopper who will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for Gorgodze to break through the defence, Hopper is an exciting runner and will look to take it close off King then drag the defence wide.

*A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball, on the bench we have Cook who is an excellent goal kicker and steady in defence.


Defence

*King to lead this.

*Jones/Higgs to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up.

*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece.

*No silly penalties anymore!

Does anyone have the Bath formatting codes they were on my laptop.

Northampton Saints
Manager - Dammit Chris

"Without a doubt we will go out and attack Gloucester this weekend" stated Saints manager Dammit Chris "we want to carry on where we left off from last season and lay down a big marker. We've chosen to give Sona Taumalolo his debut for the team, but otherwise it is a really settled team and one which I have full confidence in".

01. Sona Taumalolo	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Matt Giteau
03. Carl Hayman
04. Bradley Davies	11. Leigh Halfpenny (k)
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Julien Bonnaire 21. Joe Simpson 22. Danny Cipriani 23. Siti Siviatu

Overall

Saints to play an expansive, powerful game with a view of putting Gloucester on the backfoot and providing our backs with opportunities to attack space. Salvi, Lawes and Tuilagi all picked to get good turnover ball to turn into attack.

Aggressive defence to force Gloucester into mistakes and seek turnovers.

Get our forwards to work through the phases, tie in the Gloucester pack and use Fofana and Tuilagi to punch holes in the midfield to create space for our backthree to exploit.

Bench picked so can up the tempo in the final twenty minutes if needed.

Offence

The team remains virtually unchanged from the team that scored over 40 tries in the final ten games of last season – the only addition is Sona Taumalolo who is another try scorer. Will look for the forwards to get us over the gainline (Taumalolo, Lawes, Davies and Parisse) and the backs to up the tempo of the game and create chances.

Saints backline has been picked to play attacking rugby and take the game to Gloucester. Giteau is in very good form for Toulon (2tries at the weekend) and has been picked ahead of Cips and Ford because of the link up play he will bring with Fofana and Tuilagi.

Salvi picked as no7 to provide the link between forwards and backs – with the whole backline showing good form at the end of last season (Ashton also got a hattrick versus Stade Francais last week).

Defence

Stopping Gloucester gainline breakers is key – Lydiate to marshall Richie Gray from the off and just knock him down each time he gets the ball.

Look to put in an aggressive, controlled defence with Lawes, Lydiate the main force in the pack and Fofana and Tuilagi creating a wall in the midfield. Aim to pressurise Gloucester and push for handling errors and seek turnovers to attack from.

Set Piece

Really strong scrum, improved on last season – try and put a lot of pressure on Joe Grey here and use the scrum as an attacking platform for Parisse and Phillips.

Lineout is very functional and will hold its own, but we have picked Bonnaire on the bench to come on if Gloucester’s lineout gains an edge, but should be even due to difference in Joe Grey and Dylan Hartley’s experience at hooker.

Key Points

- Very settled team, only one new addition to the starting lineup from last season.

- Look to see whether we can exploit Joe Grey as hooker for Gloucester with experience of Hartley and then Rob Webber from the bench.

- Aim to dominate the breakdown with Salvi and with Lawes, Lydiate and Tuilagi clearing out the Gloucester players and play aggressively trying to force mistakes.

- Use big ball carriers to get us over the gainline and then get the ball to our backline, each player is a potential match winner from 9-15 and conditions will suit us very well.

- Take all points on offer with Halfpenny’s boot from halfway line.

Saracens name side for Exiles encounter.

A new coaching set up names a new looking Saracens side for the Twickenham double header. Ben Tameifuna , Yannick Jauzion and Paddy Jackson all get there first starts in a Saracens jersey. The experience of Paul Hodgson will steer the ship from 9 through his well know game management skills in a experienced back line.


Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Paul Hodgson
02.George Chuter	10.Paddy Jackson (K)
03.Ben Tameifuna
04.Lionel Nallet	11.Tim Visser
05.Ali Williams	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Allesandro Zanni	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Mark Cueto
08.Joe Van Nikirk (c)	15.Rory Lamount

16.John Smit 17.Max Lahiff 18.Hoani Tui 18.Phil Dowson 19.Luke Narraway 20.Lloyd Williams 21.Tom Catterick 22.Chris Bell

Tactics

Saracens will play an aggresive game with a experienced front 5 with plenty of power coming from the back 5 in the scrum and a front row with plenty of nouse. Our game will be build around a high intensity carrying game with Mullen , Chuter , Big Ben , Nallet , Zanni , Rennie and JVN all strong ball carriers and will look to carry off Hodgson at the base of rucks and force Irish to defend the fringes and give Hodgson and Jackson time on the ball to make the right decision whether to bring his backs into play or punt the ball for territory.

• In the contact we will look to ruck past the ball instead of going for the typical fetcher at 7 to allow Rennie to focus on his carrying game and work in the loose.
  
  
• Ali Williams is widely recognized as one of the best lineout operators in the world with JVN and Zanni pretty handy in the air and will look to put plenty of pressure on Muller in the Irish lineout with Elsom the other jumper having no real life form to speak of.
  
  
• drift defence with Jauzion leading this with the fringe defense forcing the attack wide and the ball to there wingers in narrow space and surrounded by defenders

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Cian Healy	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Chris Brooker	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. George North
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock	14. Maxime Medard
08. James Haskell	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Charlie Faumuania 17. Will Tanner 18. Euan Murray 19. Tom Donnelly 20. David Seymour 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. Rob Miller 23. Isiah Toeava

Overall: Look to dominate in the scrum and use that as a platform to really bring our backs in who will be looking to run at the defence with bad intentions.

Forwards: We will really look to attack and come out on top of the scrum. We have two of the best props in Europe in Kubrashvilli and Healy and we feel we can really punish the Warriors scrum, pushing them backwards. Haskell with look to control it at the back. With our second row partnership we are looking at Louis Deacon to provide the grunt necessary and offering the banker ball while Graham Kitchener will be trying to retain our lineout something we feel he is very capable of doing.

We will be looking for big carries from the forwards with the likes of Shields, Haskell and Healy dangerous runners who can really create gaps for our backs. At the breakdown we will look for David Pocock and Brad Shields to win turnover ball or manage to slow down opposition ball. They will both be looking to cause as much trouble as possible. We will be looking for lots of energy from our forwards to open up holes to be exploited.

Backs: We will be looking to play running rugby with the ball in our hands. Using our forwards to create space we will look for quick ball and get the likes of Medard, Hogg and North who are all deadly runners, running at the Worcester defences. Wigglesworth will control the tempo of the backs and will look to keep the backs calm and composed.. Hodgson will also be looking to get involved in the play along with Allen + Rougerie all of who can dangerously run.

Defence: Look to wrap the defensive line and try to put pressure onto King who we feel is their key playmaker. If he is stopped a lot of the pressure will go onto the young shoulders of Tom Heathcote.

Substitutes: We have some really good options on the bench who we feel can really add to the game. Faumuania is one of the most exciting props in the world who can add power to the scrum as well as being a threat in open play. He will backed on the other side of the scrum by Murray who can do some damage.. Donnelly Is another option who can sure up our lineout. Seymour another if he comes on will look to really get at the breakdown and use his energy. FDP is another quality player who will look to control our tempo. Miller + Toeava will look to come on late and add to our running game.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Ugo Monye
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Tom Croft	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Tom Youngs 18. Brian Mujati 19. Simon Shaw 20. Francois Louw 21. Micky Young 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Rene Ranger

Tactics:

We will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's moving us into the right areas and the strength of our lineout in an effort to get our electric backline into space

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - Cole and Bruno to really look to get the shove on against Corbs and BdP.

- Target the lineout all game. Our lineout is led by Horwill, using Croft as our banker ball, and with Pape and SOB as our other options.
With Yachvili and Wilkinson, we will look to get the ball deep in Welsh territory and contest all lineouts.

- Use the massive line-breakers we have to tire down the Welsh defence.
The likes of Waldrom and SOB used off the shoulder at pace off 9/10 crashing through the Welsh defence.

- In general attacking play, we will play off 9 with Yachvili our general pulling the strings. We want Yach and Wilko to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs. Mermoz to use his razor sharp running to pick holes. We want to give BOD time on the ball to release Nacewa, Clerc and Monye into space.
Croft to look to link with our backs and get into space to cause trouble out wide.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the last 20/30 minutes.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Lineout:

With two of the best tactical HB's around in Yachvili and Wilkinson, we will tirelessly target the lineout throughout the game. Croft is one of the best banker balls in world rugby, and we have a true lineout leader in Horwill that Welsh significantly lack.

Home advantage:

This usually counts for some points in my eyes. But today Welsh are playing their first game at the Kassam Stadium, so there is no familiarity to the surroundings for the Welsh players. One end of the stadium is open, and this extra wind will take time to get used to.

Continuity and familiarity:

London Welsh have just undergone a huge overhaul, with countless new players and a new manager. And a new stadium. In all honesty this sort of transition takes time, and the players will need a while to settle into their team and their environment. Our side sees just 3 changes to one that could have played last season.

London Welsh head coach Ozzy3213 has named his side for the clubs first ever Aviva Premiership fixture, at home to Leicester Tigers. The starting XV contains 12 full internationals, with more ont he bench to come on if required. When asked about the game by reporters, Ozzy3213 said simply this;-

"It will be a tough fixture, Leicester Tigers are a good side. But so are we. We have a gameplan that we will look to execute and I am sure that the sellout crown will be very vocally behind us. Hopefully we can give them an opening win, and a platform to build from as we go through the season."


London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. Adam Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. George Skivington	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Thierry Dusautoir ©	13. Darren Cave
07. Maurie Fa’asavalu	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Tom Homer

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. David Wilson 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Tom Johnson 21. Tomas O’Leary 22. Gavin Henson 23. Ross Chisholm

Tactics

Basic Game Plan

Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisons in both attack and defence. In order to do this we have picked a very big pack to try to physically dominate this area of the game. We will look to apply pressure to Tigers by keeping the ball for long periods and wearing them down defensively, and also by maintaining a solid defence and denying them opportunities to get on the score board. Pressure forces mistakes, and we will look to capitalise on any that Leicester make.

Attacking specifics

• Play off 9. Parra to pull the strings and get big carriers hitting the gainline at pace.
  
• Carriers to look to hit gaps and keep the ball alive by offloading to support runners.
  
• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• All opportunities for points with the boot to be taken by Parra, Farrell or Homer as appropriate (penalties or drop goals).
  
• If at any time we feel that we are in danger of conceding a turnover then Parra or Farrell will use their boot to kick for touch deep in Tigers territory.
  

Defensive specifics

• Darren Cave will be defensive captain (he fulfils this role for Ulster)
  
• We will look to play a blitz defence with quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline and knock him back even further.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, otherwise we will legally slow the ball and maintain a solid defensive line to blitz from.
  
• Maintain discipline and do not give away penalties.
  
• We will look to get our forwards who are defending the fringes through onto Yachvili and Wilkinson quickly to pressurize them into mistakes.
  

Set Piece specifics

• Dean Schofield to pack down behind Adam Jones to provide a solid base.
  
• George Skivington to call the lineout and look to vary it up calling short ones in attacking areas with big runners coming into midfield.
  

Key Points

• Home advantage. I cannot stress this enough. It would be a big day for the club and that in itself tends to raise performance levels a few percent from players.
  
• We have a massive, but mobile pack in order to effect our gameplan of controlling the gainline.
  
• We have a backline that is extremely solid defensively in the belief that if we can stop the opposition from scoring points it will build pressure on them which causes mistakes that we can capitalise on.
  
• We have less star names than Tigers, but rugby is not always about star names, it's about honest hard work and cohesive units, which we have across the board.
  
• Our defensive system at the breakdown allows us to be strong around the fringes and get through quickly to pressurise Yachvili and Wilkinson, neither of whom offer a particular running threat these days. If we can do this and force Wilkinson to sit deep away from the gainline, then it negates a lot of the attacking threat from the Tigers backline, who all thrive playing outside of a 10 that sits flat and creates space for them.
  
• By our tactics we are in effect turning this into a big physical battle, which we believe we have the players to win.
  
• If we are going well, we will not just unload our bench for the sake of it. Fresh legs will be brought on if required, or replacements would be tactical. If we are on top we want to maintain continuity rather than risk losing the flow of the game by making changes.
  
• I know people will highlight two areas as weakensses, the engine room and lack of attacking threat out wide. Clearly you will make up your own minds on that, but I will just say this. Schofield and Skivington are not glamourous, but they are very good players. Skivington has 3 Premiership and 2 Heineken Cup winners medals, and this engine room has grunt and lineout ability and will do the dirty work all day long. Trimble and Fitzgerald out wide, whilst not as pacy or flashy as people like Bryan Habana or Cory Jane, can, and do score tries and are experienced international wingers. Defensively they are also both fantastic and have the ability to negate their opposite numbers attacking threat.
  

Best of luck Luke. I am so glad that the new season is finally here.

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Ben Daley	09. Mike Blair
02. Sean Cronin	10. Rhys Preistland (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Steve Mafi	13. George Pisi
07. Dewald Potgieter	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. CJ Van Der Linde 19. Samu Manoa 20. Jonathan Poff 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Steven Myler 23. Dan Hipkiss

Tactics
In attack we will look to our forwards to carry hard, attacking gaps in the Quins defensive line, getting us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We will ensure our carriers have plenty of support to offload to, so we can continue our attacks and keep Quins working in defence. We will look to hit the contact area hard and win the collisions, we intend to carry with plenty of intensity and have high physicality levels so we can get onto the front foot and set out a platform for our backs to build from.

Line speed and aggression is key for us in defence, we will try and prevent Quins from having time on the ball by having quick line speed and tackling their carriers before they reach the gain line, knocking them back and forcing them into mistakes, where we can try and get turnovers and exert pressure on them. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get good numbers to the breakdown, with the first few players rucking past the ball to clear out the Quins players. Barritt and Pisi will be the focal point in defence looking to quell the Quins attacks by knocking them backwards.

We will look to use the set piece as a platform to build from, on our own ball we will look to turn the scrum legally to erase the Quins back row from helping out in defence before starting our own attacks. We will look to exert pressure on the Quins scrum on their ball and look to win penalties. At the lineout Wentzel will be our main go to man, we will also look to use Mafi at the tail of the lineout where we can launch attacks from and get our big centers running down the Quins fly half channel.

We will look to control possession and be patient, recycling the ball through several phases with Blair controlling our play. If there is space behind the Quins wingers we will look to kick in behind them and put pressure on them with a good chase game. Barritt will look to take contact and give us potential line breaking options with Pisi running good outside lines, we will attack gaps and half gaps in the Quins defensive line with Banahan coming in off his wing as a second crash ball option, looking to suck in Quins defenders to open up gaps elsewhere for our backs to exploit.

Harlequins

Harlequins begin there season with a new look side which has Top 4 aspirations for the season ahead. Without our southern hemisphere starts we look to head to Twickenham to start our season off with a win against London Wasps. Sam Warburton captains the side with Laidlaw, Botha, Denton, Wood, Roberts and Ngwenya making there first competitive starts for the club with Steve Borthwick making his first competitive in his 2nd spell with the club.

Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Greg Laidlaw (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Yoann Huget
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Taku Ngwenya
08. Dave Denton	15. Rob Kearney

16. Matthew Rees 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Kieran Brookes 19. James Gaskell 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Felipe Contepomi 23. Florian Fritz

Tactics


Game Plan

Patience with ball in hand and play what is in front of us. Use big carriers to break holes in the Wasps defence off 9, 10 and in the midfield. Once we have attracted defenders in the midfield we can look to put JJ and our wingers into space as they have pace to burn in the wide channels.

We will look to play at a quick tempo, controlled by Dickson and Laidlaw, as this will play into our hands with our big yet mobile pack. This will make it very difficult for wasps to organise there defence and we can take advantage of this disorganisation. We will not look to rush things but will look to play a quick tempo when we can. Huge difference between rushing and playing at tempo. A quick tempo requires us to be honest at rucks and hit them hard therefore meaning we don't have to over commit at ruck time. We feel we have the men to do that

Forwards

Pack to carry at pace and to hit their lines on different angles and at depth. We will look to carry with support so as to offload if the option is there and to recycle the ball quickly after contact. We will look to go into contact on our terms (in both attack and defence). This means driving the legs after the initial collision to keep momentum. This gives our other players an easier target to hit at ruck time. If the offload is on then we will look for it but will not be looking for miracle balls.

At the set piece we will look to control. Steve Borthwick will call our lineout in both defence and attack. We will look to use short lineouts when we can as to release Denton and Warburton to attack the midfield. In defence we will use Borthwick to mark their prime jumper and Wood and bakkies to mark the front and back of the lineout. At the scrum we will look to put squeeze on. Two powerful scrummagers at prop looking to milk Wasps for penalties. With Bakkies behind Afoa we can really look to get under the Wasps loosehead.

At rucks we want quick ball. We will look for all of our players to ruck if they are in the vicinity (ie 1-15 will ruck should they be required and they are the first men there). Quick ball is vital to us so we need to be effective at the ruck.

Aggression in our pack is vital. We need to really knock the Wasps pack backwards so as to affect there attacking game and slow down there ball.

Backs

Half backs perfect for controlling the game. Both perfectly able to play at a quick or slow tempo and able to play a running or a tactical kicking game. They will make sure we are playing the right rugby at the right time in the right part of the pitch. In the midfield Roberts will look to attack the inside shoulders of the Wasps defence and look to offload to JJ who will be running support lines. In Roberts we have a man who will attract defenders and outside him we have the men to exploit the gaps which will be created. Our blindside winger will come looking for work and to exploit gaps that may be there in the broken field. Kearney to join the line at pace and to look to cut different angles.

Defence

Quick line speed, two men tackles when we have the numbers. One man takes the legs and the other looks to get the ball. We are really looking to build pressure on Wasps by being physical in defence and pressing at speed.

Warburton to look to dominate the breakdown and milk it for pens and turnovers.

Key Points

- Quick ball. When we get it we look to play at a fast tempo. Use big carriers in the pack and backline to punch holes and make it hard for the Wasps defence to reorganize at our quick tempo.

- When we have committed Wasps defenders we will look to get the ball wide. Quick ball and our danger runners outside should see us get some tries.

- Aggressive and disruptive upfront. Get in the faces of the Wasps pack which we think lacks aggression. Pressure on at scrum and lineout with Borthwick marking Wentzel and Wood and Botha looking to pick off other jumpers.

- Carrying in numbers is vital so as to win the ruck quickly or to have support ready to receive an offload to continue our attacking momentum.

- Keep our discipline. Vital to not give away penalties and relieve pressure on Wasps.

- Take points when we get the chance. We want to score tries but we need to win the game first.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matt Stevens	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Grant Shiells 17. James Buckland 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

Tactics

- Play a fast paced, attacking game

- Get as much good ball to our backs and get them running at Saracens.

- Target the breakdown, get Armitage in there quickly to snaffle opposition ball and secure our own ball

- Use Muller as our main lineout jumper, supported by Garvey and Spies. Muller to disrupt as much opposition ball as possible.

- Stevens has been selected for his mobility round the park. We dont expect too many scrums in good conditions so we want to be lively in the loose and use big carriers like Stevens, Lindsay, Elsom, Spies, Armitage to smash over the gain line.

- Evans to pull the strings and use Mac as a 2nd playmaker.

- Evans to kick all in range pens for goal to keep score board ticking over.

- Put pressure on young Jackson. We will look to put pressure on him and try and force him in to mistakes to disrupt Sarries rhythm.

- Look to spread the ball out wide and get our back 3 involved. We want to get JP, Tagi and Delon 1 on 1 v there opposing numbers as we have the pace and finishing abilities to score tries.

Gloucester
Manager – Mat

01. Gurthro Steenkamp	09. Connor Murray
02. Joe Gray	10. Johan Goosen
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Tom Palmer	11. James Simpson-Daniel
05. Richie Grey	12. Juan de Jongh
06. Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Imanol Harinordoqouy	15. Jonny May

16. Nick Wood 17. Jamie George 18. Rupert Harden 19. Julien Pierre 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. TJ Perenara 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Ian Balshaw

Glaws welcomes saints to our fortress. We are not in the habit of losing here and aim to maintain our proud record.

Tactics

- glaws to target scrum with mas and steenkamp huge scrummagers. Steenkamp in great form from end of last season and start of this one
- glaws to target lineout with hari gray and palmer looking to seize this as a key source of possession.
- glaws to use balk carriers to get on front foot. We aim to control the ball and our packs carrying is key to this. All are big carriers and in ferris gray hari and steenkamp we have some super dynamic ball carriers who will aim to put big dents in.
- by controlling the ball we control possession and we will be using this to get field position
- when forwards have got ball into good positon the ball will be released.
- in first half goosen will be looking to kick anything in his own half. We want to try and get at their lineout and want to either roll it in to touch or for them to kick and is gain possession.
- he will also look to send kahui down the centre channel and get forwards running around the corner to keep momentum going forward.
- as game progresses and gaps appear goosen will be looking to get our strike runners going and trying to isolate so may Guildford sharples etc can show their magic
- we will look to counter loose kicks and speed up play with quick throw ins when necessary-
-backrow will be looking to get at Phillips and gits who rarely plays ten theses days. We think his lack of length of kick will help us pressure them.
- goosen to kick at goal anywhere within 60 he has a huge boot. He will also look to occasionally take gits on as he is a great runner
- impact bench to keep the carrying measures game going.

- we will go wide when we have earned the right to
- HOME ADVANTAGE IS HUGE

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner-Hall
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Jean-Marcellin Buttin

16. Lee Imolek 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Dave Attwood 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Beauden Barrett 23. Keith Earls

Attack

• We will look to play a fast paced attacking game using big carriers running of the 9/10/12 axis to get us over the gain line and generate quick ball.

• Keeping the ball alive is crucial so our carriers will be looking for support runners to hit on the offload to keep the ball moving and get us further over the gain line.

• Our back three will look to get involved as much as possible running support lines of the halfbacks and midfield looking for the inside ball or offload.

Set Piece

• With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep the scrum up and use it as a weapon. On our own feed we will look to get the wheel on and give our 8-9-10 axis as much more room as possible to attack from.

• In Falcons territory, with 5 jumping options to use, we will look to play off the top and move the ball out to Sexton and the backs.

• In our own territory, we will look to take the ball down into the maul and drive ourselves into the right areas.

Defense

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Newcastle momentum before it can get going.

• Danny Care will play sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• We will leave two players sitting deep to cover any kicks and they will look to counter attack of any loose kicks.

Breakdown

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood the breakdown with POM and Quedragao looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

---

---

Attack The Breakdown

• We have selected a mobile front 5 to get around the park and clear the ruck leaving our two specialist flankers, POM and Quedragao, to attack the breakdown.

2nd Half Scrums

• With the traditional front row substitutions to come on, Ducalcon will look to get at the link between Waller and Mears and really turn the screw in the final quarter.

Playing It Smart

• With no sweeper on the Falcons defense Sexton and Care will look to play it smartly and put grubbers in behind the Newcastle midfield and take advantage of the turn.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Ben Youngs
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Toby Faletau	15. Alex Goode

16. Lee Mears 17. Clement Ric 18. Alex Waller 19. Geoff Parling 20.Kelly Brown 21. Luke Burgess 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics

HOME ADVANTAGE – HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES, PACK FOR CONDITIONS

WE’VE WON EVERY GAME AT HOME FOR OVER 2 SEASONS

Gameplan – Simple rugby, High intensity.......With the game in damp conditions we’ll be looking to control the set piece, pack and look to play in the right areas of the pitch. Flood will dictate play and will look to clear his lines from our own 22. We’ll look to put pressure on the opposition set piece throughout the game and we think we can get the upperhand in both scrum & lineout.

Defence – We’ll be deploying the rush defence looking to narrow the options for the oposition. Brussow will look to put pressure on Sexton throughout and force him to rush his game.

Set piece – Greasy conditions usually means plenty of knock ons which means plenty of scrums. We’ve went for a hefty scrummaging unit to really tear into Sale from the off. PDJ & Tonga will look to get secure a good platform and attack opposite numbers if on.

Engine room - Perfect combo for the damp conditions with both locks adding serious grunt to the scrum and massive physicality around the park. We'll look for pick and drives to punch holes in the Sale defence and tie in the oppsotion.

We’ll look for the take and drive on our own ball with Best/Thorn being the key men here. With 4 good jumpers and Paul O’Connell (one of the premier lineout locks in world rugby) pulling the strings we’ll keep things solid on our own throw whilst looking to target the opposition throw all game.

Pack – We’ve went for numerous carrying options in the pack and will look to use short pick and drives and keep things simple. Brussow & Robshaw will lead the assault and will also look to make a bit of a mess of the breakdown. With the poor conditions they’ll be plenty of opportunity to get hands in rucks and force turnover ball which will be used to force Sale retreating back.

Backs – Massive backline to help get us over the game line and punch holes in the opposition defence (SBW & Cuthbet in particular) SBW will look for flat straight simple passes from the halfbacks and get between the Sale 10/12 combo.

Goode will add a top draw tactical kicking option in the back 3 and look to hit the corners if weakness seen in the Sale lineout.

Subs – we’ll look to keep the pack refreshed and

KEY POINTS:

Front 5 - For the conditions to add physicality in the damp conditions
Carrying option - Numerous throughout side to get us over the game line
HOME RECORD - We have won every game for over two years at home
Impact bench - To see us home (Goode to cover 10 if needed)
Rolling maul - Look to use this to good effect throughout the game with our physical front 5

What happened to people having shorter tactics this year lads. To be honest some of them are so long I may not get round to reading them.

What say we put a limit or make them bullet point ?

What happened to people having shorter tactics this year lads. To be honest some of them are so long I may not get round to reading them.

What say we put a limit or make them bullet point ?

I thought we had a ten point limit (Although saying that think mine is 11...)?

Matt think you only have 4 EQ players?

Do people read them anyway?

If there's a limit being enforced I must have missed it.

I wasn't aware of any limit.

I don't think we set any limit, but most people said they were going to try to cut it down a bit.

I have to be honest and say I didn't realise how long mine looked until I just had a look at them, although when you actually read them, as they are bullet points mainly, they're not actually that long.

I guess people just run the risk of people not reading them if they are to long.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Do people read them anyway?

If there's a limit being enforced I must have missed it.

I nearly always read them. Give up if they are too long though

Everyone has there team and tactics in, so that being the case, predictions are now OPEN!!!

Newcastle 19 - 19 Sale

front rows a decent contest with all props struggling for a bit of form at the end of last season. Schuster and PDJ the lesser props on show but will be against each other. Best has a little more than Paice. Locks go to Newcastle. Overall Newcastle should get some joy in the front 5. Think Sale have the stronger back row with Picamoles making some big holes in the Newcastle defence. Better balance in the Sale backrow with more go forward than the Newcastle trio.

Both half backs to Sale as with Care and Sexton they have a very fine combo which will threaten with ball in hand and will control the game well. Centres as a combo probably just to Sale but think SBW will play a big part (even though he will be fatigued after two games and a round world trip and will used a lot if Newcastle are to make the gainline regularly) he is still the standout in the midfield. Back 3's to Newcastle but not by much

I think a key thing he will be the gainline. I don't see too many players breaking the gainline on a regular basis (Pica and SBW not included) so think it will be a pretty scrappy game. Breakdown will be fairly even.

Very tough game to call. Backrow and halfbacks get Sale a very impressive draw here.

Gloucester 23 - 26 Northampton

Front 5's pretty even. Think that Saints have the better carrying options but Richie Grey is the best player on show. Two solid TH's and two all action looseheads. Hartley well above Joe Gray. Backrows also pretty even. Parisse and Read are top top players and Lydiate v Ferris is a mammoth Clash. Salvi edging Lapandry. Overall the packs are tight, if not slightly going to Saints.

Half backs just to Saints. Goosen good but not yet at Giteau's level, Phillips ahead of Murray. Outside backs also go to Saints. Centres pretty close but Wesley and Manu just have it I think. Saints back 3 also better man for man.

Great win for Saints. Gloucester unlucky to face Saints during RC as Saints don't really lose anyone.

London Welsh 24 - 27 Leicester

Bruno the weaklink in the front rows which gives the advantage to Welsh. Leicester take the locks, not too much wrong with your combo pete but Leicester's is top class. Back row also to Leicester, but not by too much.

Not much for me in the half backs. Wilko's extra experience pushes the advantage in Leicester favour with Parra and Yach evens. Centres to Leicester. I prefer JD at 13 but Cave also a fine option but Mermoz/Bod has the better balance. Back 3's to Leicester by a difference.

Saracens 24 - 28 London Irish

Both front rows could be stronger. Castro is the man who gives the advantage to irish. Both back 5's are very strong. Locks marginally to Saracens. Can't call the backrow battles. Packs come out pretty even.

Huge advantage to Irish here. Jackson not up to this level whereas Evans is top class. Dupuy much better option than Hodgson. Irish outside backs are much stronger than there counterparts. They win Irish the game.

Worcester 23 - 24 Bath

I think across the board Worcester have the stronger pack. The back row is formidable and the locks nasty and the front row strong. Bath aren't weak but not even Pocock can bring Bath into the forward battle.

Bath however have the much much better backs. They have class across the board. its a tough call, but I think the Bath pack is closer to the Worcester forwards than the Worcester backs are to the Bath backs.

Such a tight game.

Falcons v Sale
- Close scrum battle but Best at hooker gives Falcons advantage over Dawidiuk. Back five slightly goes to Falcons. Youngs/Flood solid combo but Care/Sexton is excellent also. Prefer Falcons backline and the SBW factor gets them the win.
28-25

Glos v Saints
- Pretty even in the front fives. Similiar story in backrow. The backlines are also difficult to split. At home Saints nick a win but at the Shed its even stevens.
30-30

Welsh v Tigers
- Tough start for Pete v a strong Tigers side. Pape/Horwill combo is v.strong and better than Welsh combo. Neither side has a real fetcher but both have powerful units with strong tacklers and carriers. Farrell v Wilko will be interesting, can see a lot of kicking. Little bit more spark in Tigers backline and on the bench gets them an away win.
18-20

Wasps v Quins
- Think Quins can get a nudge on upfront with some good powerful forwards in the loose as well as set piece. Not much to choose between the backs. form of kearney and JJ may just sneak it for Quins
24-25

Worc v Bath
- Bath have a bit more quality and experience in the pack and think hodgson at 10 v heathcote gives them an edge. strong runners like rougerie and north will be dangerous and cause worc problems.
24-27

Guys as per normal I put a lot of emphasis on positions 2, 8, 9 and 10 so teams can get control, less on set piece as its good open running conditions and look at impact from the benches.

Newcastle 23 - 23 Sale

A stronger front five and Sale would have come away with a famous victory here. I see a few Newcastle players in bad form in real life, injuries effecting a few too, but big issue for me is picking SBW, he will be jet lagged, smashed after playing two internationals and I will be making a big deal about this next week Falcons should do well upfront in the setpiece, but this time of the season that isn't as important, whilst I give advantage to Sale in the loose.

But, for a team to win away I think they have to be able to get the upper hand upfront and I just don't think Sale can manage this - though the control that Care (form no9 in the AP) and Sexton bring is up there with the best in this league and is very close to getting Sale an away win.

Wasps 19 - 20 Quins
So tight this one, the thing that swings it for me is that I think that Quins have the slightly better pack for the conditions, Brits will be a huge game changer for Steve. Would have him in my match day squad.

I think Roberts in the midfield for Quins changes their dynamics a lot and gives them a go to man, whilst I think the Wasps backline perhaps misses a world class star of the same nature.

Do like Mafi in the pack, but do the second row offer enough ball carrying options?

London Welsh 16-16 Leicester
An interesting game this, from Lukes tactics I get the impression that Yachvilli and Wilko will be kicking a lot of ball, e.g. moving Tigers into the right areas - I would have gone to play expansive rugby against a team that hasn't had much time to gel together, and tried to expose their backthree, as I dont think Welsh have gainline breakers there at present.

Pete's pack is very good, a lot of people that can stop runners getting over the gainline and will be strong in the setpiece - with Farrell able to kick the points I think a slight tactical issue from Tigers costs them the game.

Saracens 23-25 London Irish

Is a tough start with Driver's team not having played together that often, whilst Nick's is very settled. I give the edge to Sarries in the pack, espc with Lindsay's throwing in, but the bench changes that for me and evens out towards the end - though see the Irish hooker being an issue.

The area where I think Irish win this is their strike runners in the midfield, they can target Trinder who I said last year to Pete needed to show some form and can get an advantage at no9 and no10, which is key for me. Am a huge Nick Evans fan, think he's the best 10 in Europe (apart from George Ford...)

Worcester 15-17 Bath
Worcester have a really strong pack here and will cause Bath a lot of problems especially with Brooker at no2. But Bath also have Catt against a very good opposite number, so the real difference will be at the lineout and conditions again mean that set piece isn't as vital as it will be later in the season.

Bath have loads of strikerunners in their backline and that is going to really even up the whole gainline breakers issue with the Bath pack - but the real difference for me is having Heathcote at no10 - he's a very good youngster, but that is in the AP and this game is now really international level week in week out, decisions will be rushed and personally would have started Barkley.

Will be a brutal game!

Newcastle 26-21 Sale
Really like Newcastle front 5, think they have an advantage here. Not much in the backrow, overall forwards will offer solid platform for Newcastle. Two of the best half back combinations in the league, think Sexton is the stand-out and will give the edge to Sale. The big advantage for me is the Newcastle backs where I can see them running Sale ragged. Both benches are solid.

Gloucester 26-27 Saints
Great front row battle. About equal, Steenkamp and Hartley dominate respective opposition. Second rows also very strong, backrows also even. Gloucester will probably have an advantage in the lineout but don't see that being a major factor. Prefer the Saints backs though pretty much position for position and a strong bench means they nick an opening day away win.

Welsh 18-23 Tigers
Really interesting front row battle, slight edge to Welsh. Leicester have a really good second row combo and along with a better backrow have the better set of forwards. Really like both half-backs, think the experience factor gives Tigers the edge especially in a tight game. The back five for Tigers also is quality and a good bench seals the win for me.


Sarries 16-20 Irish
Think overall Irish have a better set of forwards to gain a decent advantage. Better front row, not much in second row but better back row. Irish have the stand-out in the half backs in Nick Evans. Slightly better centre combination as well and I feel that the back three is more dangerous.

Wasps 20-22 Quins
Really strong set of forwards from Quins. Give them the edge in the forwards. Half backs go to wasps but another small edge to Quins in the back five. Strong set of subs will nick it for them

CJB - how did you change your name?

Pete....just got in from work (2200 here) and in first thing tomorrow morning so might struggle to predict for 12 deadline, is it def 12??

Newcastle 22 - 20 Sale

Advantage Falcons in the front row with a strong unit. Do see Sale's bench getting on top as the game goes on though. Similar story in the 2nd row too with a better duo from the home side. Back row is fairly even, Sale just edge on form though. Sale take the HBs with their strong combo. See SBW not being his usual self having played last week on the other side of the world, but not a lot in the centres. Falcons edge the back three. Tight game - home advantage see Falcons sneak it. 

Gloucester 23 - 24 Saints

Slight advantage to the home side in the front row, but not a lot in it. Good second row battle, one apiece for me.  Back rows are really tight. I think I prefer Saints as a unit. Difficult to call HBs - don't see a lot in it. Two good centre pairings, prefer Saints duo though. Just edge to saints back three. Home advantage keeps this close but I think Saints have enough for a massive win.

Gloucester 23–19 Northampton

Great start to the season from two great sides. Gloucester edge pack overall and will get edge on in both set pieces, especially lineout with no good operator for Saints. Struggle to rate Lawes with him hardly playing all year. Parisse/Hari cracking battle but Gloucester big step up in the flanks see them control the pack overall. I like the Glocuester combo’s and can’t really see a weakness. Past the packs Saints look tasty but Gloucester have strong halfbacks and better centre combo to trouble Saints. Saints a class above in the back 3 but not enough to take the points depsite good impact from Saints bench.

Welsh 16–20 Leicester

V strong front row unit for Welsh but Tigers no mugs and will contest well. Complete step up in the engine room and Welsh will struggle with the physicality that Tigers bring. Not much in the backrows, Welsh a little unbalanced but strong and Tigers nicely balanced but possibly not as strong individually. Great 9 battle but Welsh lose their way a little with Farrell at 10 and will struggle in attack. Tigers edge the centres and back 3 and have enough to record a strong win on the road.

Driver, PM Adam D he does it for you

Will try and do rest before work tomorrow

Gloucester 21-22 Northampton Saints

See Saints getting a slight edge at the scrum in this one. No out and out lineout leader for either side but Glaws with the better jumping options should win a few more balls. In the back row Saints set up to disrupt but Parisse and the centres will have to pick up a lot of carrying. Halfbacks fairly tight but more quality for Saints outside of that. Not overly sure on the Glaws game plan of kicking to this Saints back 3 and with the extra threat in the backs see Saints nicking a massive win early on in the season.

---

London Welsh 17-14 Leicester Tigers

See a slight edge to Welsh at scrum time with Jones anchoring the scrum well. Tigers with a bit more in the row but Welsh have enough to hold their own at the lineout. Good back row battle. Tigers have the better carrying game but Welsh will get through an awful lot of work and disrupt Tigers ball. Halfbacks are identikits to be honest and can’t see either dominating proceedings. More attacking intent from the Tigers back 3 but Welsh sound defensively. In midfield going on names Tigers with more but on most recent form Welsh shades. This is a very tight affair but the deciding factor for me is the work the Welsh back row will get through. See both sides playing a similar style but see the Welsh back row giving cleaner ball to the halfbacks for it.

---

Saracens 15-22 London Irish

See both LH’s being got at in this one while at the lineout see Sarries nicking the odd errand throw. In the back row see 7 and 8 pretty even but Elsom at BS doesn’t hold much rating so edge to Sarries. More of a carrying game across the pack to Irish though. Halfbacks are a step up to Irish as is the rest of the back line. Good options for Sarries to bring into the pack from the bench but Catterick covering 10 is an issue if Jackson struggles. Sarries will see a little bit more ball in this one but not sure the backs will open up Irish while Irish have serious form in the backline.

---

London Wasps 12-20 Harlequins

Can see both THs seeing some joy in this one but the lineout will be a decent weapon for Quins with a few more quality jumpers. More in the back row for Quins. Not a lot of carrying from the flankers but can see them doing the better work around the park for Steve. Across the pack as a whole more of a carrying game for Quins. In the half backs more form for Quins. Back 3s fairly even. Banahan could be got at with the Harlequins halfbacks kicking game though. Centres are one a piece but as a combo Quins shade it slightly. Think Wasps will struggle with their game plan as I don’t always see their forwards getting them over the gain line off scrappy ball in this one while Quins have enough to get a few tries.

---

Worcester Warriors 26-27 Bath Rugby

Not much shift in the set piece in this one but some fantastic form for Worcester in the back row and see them getting some real go forward here. Heathcote at flyhalf not up to the standard of the league yet. Back 3 on name goes to Bath but neither winger in great form levels it up. Great attacking centre combo for Worcester but defensively think they could be got at. Can see Worcester doing really well ball in hand but defensivly they are going to get caught through 10-13.

Hari and gray not lineout leaders ????????????

Will predo tomorrow reading tactics on phone a git. Much more even this year should be a cracker lads

Lads, it appears I'm going to lose my first game, I can already tell from the pre season tournament and now this that my side hasn't improved much and I haven't closed the gap with the better sides in this league. I'm fed up of losing in all honesty and don't remember the last time I won in the league, I don't want to go the whole season to only win four or five games all season and finish near the bottom as has been the case with the previous few seasons, I'm going to leave as I feel I have taken Wasps as far as I can, unless anyone wants to do something similar to what Pete and Driver did then I'm going to leave.

We had the conversation on Grey already. He doesn't lead. Scratch my comment though as forgot all about Harri!

No worries bud would not have commented but hari along with matfield is the king of lineout leaders. Someone picked paice put for you when you have dawiduik. I do it all the time get so used to certain players being in teams !

If anyone has any ideas as to what can be done let me know please

Arry are you asking re your team. I am yet to predict but overall I would say manoa and poff should start. Would add to carrying and breakdown.

Your backs are predictable all big runners but little creativity. Priest land had a mare last season. Give it 3 weeks and loads
Of your team could get form.

Daley is a weakness and burgess should never been released. You have better players than your playing in my opinion and miss some players during rc. 6 n you will be stronger than most

Falcons 15-15 sale

Bloody hard to predict.

Both tactics different. Pooly playing on damp But light rain is natural in England and sale bigger scrummagers in front row maybe. Very even front row. People may pick on dawiduik but he is a massive scrummager and has good darts. Work rate and fitness are his issues and the 2 related he lasts 50 which is where tommy taylor will be a concern. I have no idea who he is and even though I think Mears is dreadful he will school taylor as he is ex international and luckiest lion ever with Tim Payne lol.

Second row to falcons. Thorn has a few months grace and then hard to rate but he did help Leinster and did a job.POC best on show but needs to play and get form. Like burger for me has been missing often and could lose ratings.

Backrow sale at a canter

Pooly missing some top talent at rc. Sale unit has balance and power. Could swap pom and quadrogo at 6 and 7.

Faletau been off
And brussow poor season so sale take.

Sale walk 9 and 10 care form 9 and should be England 9. Sexton after carter best 10 and gets better all the time.

Centres a weird one. Jth and freaun an odd pair. Lots of bash but zero craft. Sbw a liability played this week. Jetlag from nz/aus a 4 day thing. After a test more like ten days. Playing this after 2 tests means he cannot play next week surely?

Lowe ok for me but out of his depth.

Falcons take back 3 by not much. Not much craft but big and direct. Love sale fb a real threat

Should have played earls.

To win away need to win front 5 and home advantage also sees falcons get a lucky draw. SBW would have lost it If sje played hook or someone more tricky at 12. Jetlag is nuts when trying to play its like you have cement in your head

luckiest lion ever with Tim Payne lol.

Really think that Matt? Was best hook in British Isles in 09 so deserved his craic of the whip , Payne baffled me when he got called up. I'd of took Paul Wallace from the sky studio ahead of Payne.

His scrummaging is awful (Mears) I followed that tour and think maybe Payne Mears and Peter wright( Scottish prop awful both sides years ago) are worst lions of my time. Earls close but was taken as a bolted and had a mare and is a quality player.


Several players in Australia gave up on the tour as they were midweek dirt trackers and one of the reasons was Peter wright.

Mears has great darts and is a good sub as long as the opposition can't scrum.