Fantasy Heineken Cup Round Two

P1 Gloucester v Racing Métro 92

Gloucester
Manager - Matt the format king

01. Nick Wood	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Johan Goosen(k)
03. Nicola Mas
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. JSD
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willem Alberts	13. Richard Kahui
07. Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy	15. Johnny May

16. Guthro Steenkamp 17. Adriaan Strauss. 18. Rupert Harden 19. Richie Gray 20. Steven Ferris 21. Dan Robson 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Zac Guildford

Glos look to play high intensity and target BP win.

Packed with carriers and dynamism. Glos will look to win forward
Battle before opening up. Goosen will look to interchange with Barnes and ignite backline.

Glos will use their awesome bench to close out BP win


Racing Metro 92
Manager – xxx

01. Andrea Lo Cicero Vaina	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Dimitri Szarzewski	10. Olly Barkley
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Karim Ghezal	11. Julien Saubade
05. Francois van der Merwe	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Antoine Battut	13. Mirco Bergamasco
07. Jacques Cronje	14. Julien Jane
08. Masi Matadigo	15. Benjamin Fall

16. Thomas Bianchin 17. Eddy Ben Arous 18. Benjamin Salemane Sa 19. Fabrice Metz 20. Bernard Le Roux 21. Camille Gerondeau 22. Sebastien Descons 23.Virimi Vakatawa

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P1 Munster Rugby v Edinburgh Rugby

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P2 Saracens v Ospreys

SARACENS

01.Efion Lewis Roberts	09.Will Chudley
02.George Chuter	10.Paddy Jackson(k)
03.Ben Tameifuna
04.Tim Swinson	11.Tim Visser
05.Flip Van Der Merwe	12.Gael Fickou
06.Phil Dowson (c)	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Adam Thompstone
08.Luke Narraway	15.Rory Lamont

16.Scott Spurling 17.Matt Mullen 18.Phil Swainstone 19.Bryn Evans 20.Rhys Ruddock 21.Jean Marc Doussain 22.Iain Humphreys 23.Mark Cueto


Ospreys
Manager – xxx

01. Ryan Bevington	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Dan Biggar
03. Adam Jones
04. Alun-Wyn Jones	11. Eli Walker
05. Ian Evans	12. Ashley Beck
06. Ryan Jones	13. Andrew Bishop
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Hanno Dirksen
08. Jonathan Thomas	15. Richard Fussell

16. Matthew Dwyer 17. Duncan Jones 18. Aaron Jarvis 19. George Stowers 20. Sam Lewis 21. Rhys Webb 22. Matthew Morgan 23.Thomas Isaacs

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P2 Benetton Treviso v Toulouse

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P3 Northampton Saints v Newcastle Falcons

Northampton Saints
Manager - dammit_chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. Juan Martin Hernandez (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Christian Wade
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Sam Cane 21. Mike Phillips 22. Matt Giteau 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics:

- Conditions cloud and sunshine, so will play a high tempo, aggressive game and look to get over the gainline and provide our backline with plenty of attacking ball. We will look to build on recent good form and take the game to a Newcastle team that is playing quite a few squad players.

- Look to use the set piece as a platform to attack - especially the lineout now we have Lawes, Albacete, Bonnaire and Parisse as options. Will look at Lawes to disrupt Falcons throw ins, like he has been doing so well for Saints in real life.

- See Saints having an advantage in terms of ball carriers in the pack and can gain a lot of good front foot ball for backs to exploit. Especially as we rested a lot of the forwards for the trip to Zebre last week.

- Simpson to snipe around the fringes and set a high tempo for backline.

- Will look at getting backthree running off the midfield and getting into space, Wade and Ashton on great try scoring form. Will look to score tries and put Newcastle under pressure.

- Target breakdown with form player in the AP Julian Salvi, plus using Lawes, Bonnaire, Parisse, Fofana and Tuilagi to clear out Falcons players and get Saints quick ball. Important area so selected Sam Cane and Joe Launchbury on the bench to keep pressure on 2nd half.

- Look to put Flood on the backfoot where he isn't anywhere near as effective and this could impact upon the whole Falcons backline.

- Selected strong defensive 10-12-13 to stop the threat of SBW. Tuilagi to target Lowe and force mistakes.

- Look to swap Wade and Ashton around on the wings, give them both a chance to run at Benjamin, who hasn't played in months and could be a defensive weakness to exploit.

- Home advantage, form of key players and strong bench gives opportunity to lay down a big marker against Newcastle and get some revenge for home defeat earlier in the season.


Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Ed Slater	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Kelly Brown(c)	13. George Lowe
07. John Barclay	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. Alex Goode

16. Lee Mears 17. Clement Ric 18. Alex Waller 19. Juandre Kruger 20. Heinrich Brussow 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Ben Williams

Tactics:

(Think the weather is cloudy and chance of rain???)

- Look to keep ball alive, fast tempo and high intensity (if weather allows)

- If Starts raining look to go through phases and put ball in corner to target lineout

- Target Wade with crossfield ball with Cuthbert

- SBW to run angles of Flood and target Saints defensive issues in midfield (positional rather than individual)

- Look to get Cuthbert 1 on 1 against Wade and target defence

- Flood to play flat and get SBW into line to set up quick ball for Burgess, use Decoy as game opens up

- Target breakdown with strong backrow. Look to ruck past ball and allow Barclay hands on the ball.

- Look to hinder Saints lineout with Parling reading calls.

- Use rolling maul to tie forwards in and give space to attacking back line

- Use Goode as 2nd intelligent kicking option if needed to mix game up

POINTS:

- Hernandez isn't the FH to set Saints back alight with him usually opting to kick
- Non passing midfield.....with two centres who play similar games as in running the ball, we'll look to narrow up the defence and look for the turnovers

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P3 Biarritz Olympique v Zebre

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P4 Castres Olympique v Leicester Tigers

Castres Olympique
Manager – xxx

01. Yannick Forestier	09. Thierry Lacrampe
02. Mathieu Bonello	10. Pierre Bernard
03. Michael Coetzee
04. Matthias Rolland	11. Marc Andreu
05. Rodrigo Capo Ortega	12. Seremaia Baikeinuku
06. Piula Faasalele	13. Daniel Kirkpatrick
07. Yannick Caballero	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Pedrie Wannenburg	15. Romain Teulet

16. Marc-Antione Rallier 17. Gregory Marmoiton 18. Mihai Lazar 19. Joe Tekori 20. Rory Kockott 21. Antoine Claassen 22. Paul Bonnefond 23.Thomas Sanchou


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Michael Claasens
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Census Johnston
04. Simon Shaw	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Alistair Hargreaves	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Francois Louw	14. Rene Ranger
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Jared Saunders 17. Tom Youngs 18. Dan Cole 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Ernst Joubert 21. Sarel Pretorius 22. Rory Clegg 23. Maxime Mermoz

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P4 Glasgow Warriors v Ulster Rugby

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P5 London Irish v ASM Clermont Auvergne

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matt Stevens	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Luke McAlister
06. Marcel Coetzee	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Sailosi Tagicakibau
08. Keegan Daniel	15. Delon Armitage

16. Jen-Baptiste Poux 17. James Buckland 18. WP Nel 19. Dean Mumm 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Julien Dupuy 22. Shane Geraghty 23. JP Pietersen


ASM Clermont Auvergne
Manager – xxx

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Morgan Parra
02. Benjamin Kayser	10. Brock James
03. David Zirakashvili
04. Jamie Cudmore	11. Napolioni Nalaga
05. Nathan Hines	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. Gerhard Vosoo	14. Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. Damien Chouly	15. Lee Byrne

16. Ti'i Paulo 17. Vincent Debaty 18. Daniel Kotze 19. Julien Pierre 20. Elvis Vermeulen 21. Ludovic Radosavljevic 22. David Skrela 23. Benson Stanley

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P5 Scarlets v Leinster Rugby

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P6 Montpellier v Harlequins

Montpellier
Manager – xxx

01. Yvan Watremez	09. Julien Tomas
02. Mickael Ladhuie	10. Ilian Perraux
03. Maximiliano Bustos
04. Drikus Hancke	11. Yoan Audrin
05. Mickael de Marco	12. Paul Bosch
06. Alexandre Bias	13. Matt Carraro
07. Remy Martin	14. Yohann Artru
08. Johnnie Beattie	15. Pierre Berard

16. Augustin Creevy 17. Nahuel Lobo 18. Giogo Jgenti 19. Aliki Fakate 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Benoit Paillaugue 22. Lucas Amorosino 23. Timoci Nagusa


Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Karl Dickson
02. Matthew Rees (c)	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Jerome Thion	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Carl Fearns	13. Florian Fritz
07. Chris Henry	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Joe Marler 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Hugh Pyle 20. Will Welch 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Quade Cooper 23. Taku Ngwenya

Tactics

Side packed with experience to win a tough away European fixture. We will look to dominate up front and then allow our backs to score the points. Look for all our players to carry hard and look to get across the gain line. Quick effective rucking to then get Karl Dickson quick ball to play with.

Look to control the scrum and lineout with Borthwick calling to shots at the lineout. At the breakdown we expect Fearns and Henry to control the show. In the loose our pack has plenty of strong carriers to get us across the gainline.

In the backs we have the in form Dickson and Burns to control the game with Contepomi adding the experience. We have Fritz to get us across the gainline and threaten the outside break. Outwide we have a dangerous back 3 to score us some tries.

In defence we will look to double up in the tackle and control the collisions, and look for the turnover.

Strong bench to bring us through in the last half an hour.

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P6 Cardiff Blues v Toulon

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Couple of bg fixtures this week.

Pete am I playiong the Montpellier side which played Toulon last night or is it in your view there best side?

For all teams I will be using the sides that they put out in round one in real life.

Saracens name a side with plenty of grunt and power which is based around a simple yet effective game plan. Industrious 8 Luke Narraway comes into the side along with the dynamic Ben Tameifuna at tight head. Calm heads Duvenage and Humphreys start at 9 and 10.

SARACENS

01.Matt Mullen	09.Dewaldt Duvenage
02.John Smit(c)	10.Iain Humphreys
03.Ben Tameifuna
04.Lionel Nallet	11.Tim Visser
05.Ali Williams	12.Chris Bell
06.Joe Van Niekerk	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Adam Thompstone
08.Luke Narraway	15.Ben Smith

16.George Chuter 17.Max Lahiff 18.Jannie Du Plessie 19.Tim Swinson 20.Phil Dowson 21.Will Chudley 22.Francois Trinh-Duc 23.Mark Cueto

Pete - do we know what the weather will be for the games? Looks like I'm going to be doing a fair bit of work these next few days so don't know how long I will be getting on for and want to get my team up so Pooly can get his in, as otherwise I might be putting it up very late Thursday!

Weather will be whatever the BBC is saying for 1600 hours on Friday for the place that you are playing at.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Karl Dickson
02. Matthew Rees (c)	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Ben Franks
04. Jerome Thion	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Carl Fearns	13. Florian Fritz
07. Chris Henry	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Joe Marler 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Hugh Pyle 20. Will Welch 21. Jano Vermaak 22. Quade Cooper 23. Taku Ngwenya

Tactics

Side packed with experience to win a tough away European fixture. We will look to dominate up front and then allow our backs to score the points. Look for all our players to carry hard and look to get across the gain line. Quick effective rucking to then get Karl Dickson quick ball to play with.

Look to control the scrum and lineout with Borthwick calling to shots at the lineout. At the breakdown we expect Fearns and Henry to control the show. In the loose our pack has plenty of strong carriers to get us across the gainline.

In the backs we have the in form Dickson and Burns to control the game with Contepomi adding the experience. We have Fritz to get us across the gainline and threaten the outside break. Outwide we have a dangerous back 3 to score us some tries.

In defence we will look to double up in the tackle and control the collisions, and look for the turnover.

Strong bench to bring us through in the last half an hour.

cheers Pete

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Michael Claasens
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Census Johnston
04. Simon Shaw	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Alistair Hargreaves	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Dominic Waldouck
07. Francois Louw	14. Rene Ranger
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Jared Saunders 17. Tom Youngs 18. Dan Cole 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Ernst Joubert 21. Sarel Pretorius 22. Rory Clegg 23. Maxime Mermoz

Have weather as nice and sunny for the game - will get my team in later today hopefully, but having issues with internet, so may have to be via iphone in unformatted style!

for some reason 606v2 isnt working on my phone or at work. very odd. having to do team quickly on mates laptop so cant format it im afraid.

1 Matt Stevens
2 Tom Lindsay
3 Martin Castrogiovanni
4 Matt Garvey
5 Nick Kennedy
6 Marcell Coetzee
7 Steffon Armitage
8 Keegan Daniel
9 Ruan Pienaar
10 Elton Jantjies
11 Marland Yarde
12 Luke McAllister
13 Mathieu Bastereaud
14 Sailosi Tagicakibau
15 Delon Armitage

16 Jean Baptiste Poux
17 James Buckland
18 WP Nel
19 Dean Mumm
20 Hendrie Fourie
21 Julien Dupuy
22 Shane Geraghty
23 JP Pieterson

I'm having similar problems mate. On 3G says cant connect to server or something. Only working on wifi at the minute which is really annoying.

My 3G has been a bit iffy of late.

Northampton Saints v Newcastle

Having being given last week off Dylan Hartley, Sergio Parisse and Manu Tuilagi all return to the starting line up for Northampton Saints. In addition Patricio Albacete and Juan Martin Hernandez make their first appearances of the season after returning from the Rugby Championship. Sam Cane takes his place on the bench.

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. Juan Martin Hernandez (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Christian Wade
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Julian Salvi	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Ben Foden

Subs:
16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Sam Cane 21. Mike Phillips 22. Matt Giteau 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics:

- Conditions cloud and sunshine, so will play a high tempo, aggressive game and look to get over the gainline and provide our backline with plenty of attacking ball. We will look to build on recent good form and take the game to a Newcastle team that is playing quite a few squad players.

- Look to use the set piece as a platform to attack - especially the lineout now we have Lawes, Albacete, Bonnaire and Parisse as options. Will look at Lawes to disrupt Falcons throw ins, like he has been doing so well for Saints in real life.

- See Saints having an advantage in terms of ball carriers in the pack and can gain a lot of good front foot ball for backs to exploit. Especially as we rested a lot of the forwards for the trip to Zebre last week.

- Simpson to snipe around the fringes and set a high tempo for backline.

- Will look at getting backthree running off the midfield and getting into space, Wade and Ashton on great try scoring form. Will look to score tries and put Newcastle under pressure.

- Target breakdown with form player in the AP Julian Salvi, plus using Lawes, Bonnaire, Parisse, Fofana and Tuilagi to clear out Falcons players and get Saints quick ball. Important area so selected Sam Cane and Joe Launchbury on the bench to keep pressure on 2nd half.

- Look to put Flood on the backfoot where he isn't anywhere near as effective and this could impact upon the whole Falcons backline.

- Selected strong defensive 10-12-13 to stop the threat of SBW. Tuilagi to target Lowe and force mistakes.

- Look to swap Wade and Ashton around on the wings, give them both a chance to run at Benjamin, who hasn't played in months and could be a defensive weakness to exploit.

- Home advantage, form of key players and strong bench gives opportunity to lay down a big marker against Newcastle and get some revenge for home defeat earlier in the season.

Same issue which not great when only have phone!

Guys happy to put the teams into right format tomorrow morning if you wanted - got a meeting cancelled so have to pass the time somehow in the office!

[td]07. Andy Saull

01. Nick Wood	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Johan Goosen(k)
03. Nicola Mas
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. JSD
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willem Alberts	13. Richard Kahui
14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy	15. Johnny May

Subs:
16. Guthro Steenkamp 17. Adriaan Strauss. 18. Rupert Harden 19. Richie Gray 20. Steven Ferris 21. Dan Robson 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Zac Guildford
[/quote]

What an earth have i done to the formatting?

Falcons make a number of changes that beat an impressive Biarritz side last week. Pooly:

"We've looked to freshen up a bit and give some of the fringe players a run out to keep them match fit. Ed Slater comes in for his first start of the season and will give us some serious grunt around the park and in the set piece. We've looked to name a mobile side but have packed down plenty of carrying options with the chance of a bit of rain, especially in the backline which is one of the biggest I've put out for a while with SBW, Benjamin and Cuthbert all huge guys.

We normally do quite well at Franklins so this should be a good contest after beating them a few weeks back. They'll be up for a bit of revenge and the games are usually a great spectacle with both teams usually looking to throw the ball around a bit, should be a cracker.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Ed Slater	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Kelly Brown(c)	13. George Lowe
07. John Barclay	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. Alex Goode

16. Lee Mears 17. Clement Ric 18. Alex Waller 19. Juandre Kruger 20. Heinrich Brussow 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Jaque Fourie 23. Ben Williams

Tactics:

(Think the weather is cloudy and chance of rain???)

- Look to keep ball alive, fast tempo and high intensity (if weather allows)

- If Starts raining look to go through phases and put ball in corner to target lineout

- Target Wade with crossfield ball with Cuthbert

- SBW to run angles of Flood and target Saints defensive issues in midfield (positional rather than individual)

- Look to get Cuthbert 1 on 1 against Wade and target defence

- Flood to play flat and get SBW into line to set up quick ball for Burgess, use Decoy as game opens up

- Target breakdown with strong backrow. Look to ruck past ball and allow Barclay hands on the ball.

- Look to hinder Saints lineout with Parling reading calls.

- Use rolling maul to tie forwards in and give space to attacking back line

- Use Goode as 2nd intelligent kicking option if needed to mix game up

POINTS:

- Hernandez isn't the FH to set Saints back alight with him usually opting to kick
- Non passing midfield.....with two centres who play similar games as in running the ball, we'll look to narrow up the defence and look for the turnovers

Chris, whats your thoughts on just doing points for tactics, say 10 or so??

I'm struggling to get on and with 3G playing up all the time it's driving me mad!

Happy with that, sounds like everyone is having issues with 3G at the moment!

GLOUCESTER

Manager - Matt the format king

01. Nick Wood	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Johan Goosen(k)
03. Nicola Mas
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. JSD
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willem Alberts	13. Richard Kahui
07. Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy	15. Johnny May

Subs:
16. Guthro Steenkamp 17. Adriaan Strauss. 18. Rupert Harden 19. Richie Gray 20. Steven Ferris 21. Dan Robson 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Zac Guildford

Canny, I'll get some up in a bit. Won't be anything too over the top tbh

Cheers Pooly. What did i do wrong?

I think you had a few tr's and td's missed out between Saull and Sharples

Steve

Who you playing at 3 and 18 mate?

Have amended it pete just this minute.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:GLOUCESTER

Manager - Matt the format king

01. Nick Wood	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Johan Goosen(k)
03. Nicola Mas
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. JSD
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willem Alberts	13. Richard Kahui
07. Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoqouy	15. Johnny May

Subs:
16. Guthro Steenkamp 17. Adriaan Strauss. 18. Rupert Harden 19. Richie Gray 20. Steven Ferris 21. Dan Robson 22. Ryan Lamb 23. Zac Guildford

Glos look to play high intensity and target BP win.

Packed with carriers and dynamism. Glos will look to win forward
Battle before opening up. Goosen will look to interchange with Barnes and ignite backline.

Glos will use their awesome bench to close out BP win

Teams are all in, so predictions are now OPEN

Gloucester 37 - 20 Racing

comfortable here for Gloucester. Strong pack and a good backline see's them home quite easily. Racing aren't a bad side but no match for Gloucester here.

Saracens 20 - 19 Ospreys

Very close game this which in the end comes down to home advantage in the end. Saracens edge the pack but only just. Ospreys the stronger half back pair and Sarries marginally take the outside backs but really only due to the finishing skills of Visser and Thompstone.

Northampton 28 - 23 Newcastle

Good battle as you'd expect. Overall the Saints take the forwards battle as I think they have a little more in the scrum and the loose with lineout pretty even. Breakdown will also be an even battle. Reckon half backs are pretty even but the outside backs are certainly to Saints. They will use the ball well and I expect them to score some tries.

Castres 22 - 24 Leicester

Its not a convincing win for tigers as France is never easy. They have a good pack and a okay backline but I think that this would be a real close one with the boot Teulet keeping it very close indeed.

London Irish 27 - 27 Clermont

Think Clermont will control the scrum with Stevens and Lindsey Struggling. The back 5's of the pack goes to Irish but not by much. Lineouts will be well contested. Half backs are tight but Pienaar edges it to Irish. Outside backs are very very tight with perhaps a slight edge to Clermont. So so tight I can't call it.

Gloucester 32 - 20 Racing
Gloucester have got a really strong pack and will get a lot of ball for their back three, which has a lot of tries in it. Racing wont come away with anything from this.


Saracens 23-22 Ospreys
Home advantage will just see Sarries home here - not sure how their young midfield would do against bigger centres or in wet conditions. Do like the Sarries pack.

Castres 19 - 25 Leicester
Castres is a really tough place to go and play, but the Tigers have a very strong front five that will take the game to the French and give them a platform to build on. I don't think Castres are the best of French teams, so Tigers to continue their great form of late.

London Irish 23-23 Clermont
Really tough game to call - think Clermont do have an advantage in the pack and that is really needed for an away game, but Irish have some good form players and a backline that will get them over the gainline. Home advantage ill get them a draw, but really not sure with Lindsay at this level yet.

Montpelier 13 - 19 Quins
Will be an attritional game here, but that isn't Montpeliers best team put out and Quins have a forward pack that will cope, especially with the form of Vunipola, Easter, Henry and Borthwick. Freddie Burns also form English no10 and gives them that something in the backline.

Gloucester 26 - 20 Racing

Pretty decent battle up front, Metro might get the upper hand here. Glaws take the advanatge in the second row though, and have more about them in the back row too. Decent HB battle but Glaws have a bit more quality. Beyond there its advantgage Gloucester, but Racing have some very decent options that will cause problems for the home side. Good game, but Glaws too strong.


Saracens 25 - 24 Ospreys

Slight adavantage Ospreys up front with Jones and Hibbard on top. Decent second row battle with no clear winnre.Similar story in the back row with two decent units that will be a good contest. Two 10s in decent form sees no real advantage here, and a similar story in the centres with two exciting combos. Slight adavanatge Sarries in the back threes but not a lot in it. Really, really tight game this one. Home advanatge swings it.


Saints 32 - 28 Newcastle

Great front row battle, PDJ's lack of form maybe swings it to Saints. Give Saints the advanatge in the second row with two strong players. Tight back row battle that Saints maybe just edge but not a lot in it. Give Newcastle the advanatge in the HBs with JMH not playing great, great center battle, one apiece here. Not a lot in the back threes. Think Saints have a bit more in the pack, and have enough in the backs to take the win at home.


Irish 25 - 26 Clermont

Advantage Clermont in the front row, and one apiece in the second row. SLight edge to Irish in the back row. Don't see either side getting n top with their pack. Prefer the Clermont HBs, whilst the centre battle is a really good one with no clear winner. Tight in the back threes too. For me Clermont have a bit more quality, and think they have enough to take a great win.


Montpellier 18 - 27 Harlequins

With this not being Montpellier's best side, and Quins naming a strong outfit, this is pretty straightforward for Quins, even if it is away on France.

Glos v Metro
- See Glos getting on top in all areas, especially at home. bonus point win/
32-20

Saracens v Ospreys
- Smallest edge to Ospreys upfront, even in the backs, Fickou debut is a slight hinderence but good player. Sarries bench claws them back in for the win.
18-17

Saints v Falcons
- At home saints take the pack battle and have a backline that can scare any team. Falcons seem to of rotated a bit and come up short at Franklins.
30-25

Castres v Tigers
- Dont know alot about Castres but they are decent at home, but not decent enough to stop this Tigers winning run.
20-24

Montpellier v Quins
- Straight forward win for Quins despite being away. Quins stronger all over.
20-30

Gloucester 30 - 23 Racing
Glos have too much upfront and will give their backs better ball. Barkley and JMH will keep Racing in it.

Saracens 22-20 Ospreys
O's edge the pack but Sarries have the more prolific finishers and home advantage.

Northampton 34-30 Newcastle
Pack edged to Saints but Falcons backrow will cause problems and slow up ball. 9-10 even here. Feel the Saints backline will get a bit more g0-forward but Falcons'll sneak some cheeky tries to keep it close at the end. High scoring game here.

Castres 19-21 Leicester
Good, strong front 5 for Tigers will get them more go-forward ball. Backs may not be overly sharp but will get enough to get the win in France. Castres not easy to beat at home so they'll keep it close.

London Irish 25-23 Clermont
Edge to Clermont in the front 5 here but Irish take the backrow so will slow up any good ball Clermont get. 9-10 even and the backline both have good finishers and crash ball players. It's the Irish bench which will set up a last minute drop goal.

Montpellier 15-23 Quins
Weakened Montpellier side will see Quins' front 5 having the rub of the green. Back rows will be a good hard battle, Quins have too many game changers in their backs to go home empty handed so take a good win.

Gloucester 38-12 Racing

Racing not great outfit and often dire away

Saracens 28-25 Ospreys

Good pack battle but Sarries home advantage sneaks it

Casters 22-28 Tigers

Decent win for Tigers

Irish 29-26 ASM

Irish have enough to shade it, home adv key

Mont 21-29 Quins

Quins set out pretty well and enough to seal win

Gloucester 27-14 Racing

Metro a decent side but don’t always travel the best and a strong Gloucester side should pick up a good win.

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Saracens 22-20 Ospreys

Tight affair with two fairly even packs and not a lot of difference in the backs. Home advantage is the key decider in this one

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Northampton 24-22 Newcastle

More form for Saints in the front 5 and they should get the edge here but not a lot between the backrows. Half backs shade to Falcons. Back 3s are fairly even. Little more for Saints in midfield but their back 3 won’t always see a lot of ball. Home advantage and a stronger platform from the front 5 see Saints take a good win.

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Castres 15-21 Leicester

Not the strongest Castres side on show and feel Tigers have the pack to win away in France.

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London Irish 16-17 ASM Clermont Auvergne

See Clermont really dominating the scrum in this one with Stevens/Lindsay struggling. Bit more for Irish in the backrow but they won’t dominate. Clermont with a little more at halfback but the backlines are fairly even. Irish bench will make an impact in the last 15 minutes but feel they will have a big deficit to overturn and won’t quite do it.

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Montpellier 12-26 Quins

Pretty much a 2nd choice Montpeiller pack won’t be able to keep up with a decent Quins unit.

Saracens 22-20 Ospreys

Tight affair with two fairly even packs and not a lot of difference in the backs. Home advantage is the key decider in this one.agree SJE


Northampton 28-22 Newcastle

Saints dominate front 5 and to win away you need to get a foothold here which falcons don't. Obvious that pooly is not targetting Heino as he could play a better side. Pdj in miserable form and is a weakness.

Lineout even with both reliant on one man. Saints second row powerful but albacete over the hill these days. Slater underrated but maybe not this class.

Backrow even as are half backs. Outside backs a landslide for Chris with most falcons backs struggling for form. Bench also to saints with only Kruger with any form for falcons.

Castres 15-17 Leicester

Not the strongest Castres side on show but they are massively hard to beat at home. Leicester win pack battle which sneaks it. Leicester backs not best lineup but will edge win


London Irish 17-18ASM Clermont

Irish front 5 will get slayed here. Clermont maybe the best side in tournament. Garvey and Lindsay out of their depth for me. Don't understand the stick Stevens gets. He would be fine here.

Back row Irish and half backs even. Backline even but front 5 domination sneaks this. Game of round
Montpellier 12-29 Quins

Montpellier 2nd team and they are not interested in heino

Gloucester 28 - 15 Racing Metro
Saracens 25 - 22 Ospreys
Northampton 25 - 23 Newcastle
Castres 14 - 15 Leicester Tigers
London Irish 18 - 20 Clermont
Montpellier 15 - 25 Quins

I've gotten lucky with the Montpellier team here. There side v Sale tomorrow is excellent!!

Gloucester 34 Racing Metro 20
Northampton 23 Newcastle 23
Castres 12 Leicester Tigers 15
London Irish 15 Clermont 15
Montpellier 10 Quins 23

Gloucester 28-21 Metro
Sarries 22-18 Ospreys
Saints 25-23 Falcons
Castres 16-23 Tigers
Irish 16-20 Clermont
Montpellier 12-26 Quins

Gloucester 30 Racing Metro 18
Glaws with a point to prove after last weeks result.

Saracens 20 Ospreys 18
Sarries come out just on top with home advantage in a bit of a slugfest.

Northampton Saints 27 Newcastle Falcons 23
saints with that little bit more across the board for a comfortable win.

Castres Olympique 20 Leicester Tigers 38
Castres is a tough place to go but all the momentum is with Tigers in this game right now and they have the quality to go and win this one.

London Irish 19 ASM Clermont Auvergne 26
Really feel for nick here as ASM are in serious form and just have quality throughout whereas there a re question marks over form with Stevens, Lindsay and Kennedy.

Montpellier 16 Harlequins 26
Routine win for Quins.