Fantasy Heineken Cup Round Three

Heineken Cup Round Three

P1 Munster Rugby v Gloucester

Munster

01. Dave Kilcoyne	09. Conor Murray
02. Mike Sherry	10. Ian Keatley
03. BJ Botha
04. Donncha O'Callaghan	11. Simon Zebo
05. Paul O'Connell	12. James Downey
06. Donnacha Ryan	13. Casey Laulala
07. Sean Dougall	14. Doug Howlett (c)
08. Peter O'Mahoney	15. Denis Hurley

16. Damien Varley 17. Marcus Horan 18. Stephen Archer 19. Billy Holland 20. Paddy Butler 21. Duncan Williams 22. JJ Hanrahan 23. Felix Jones


Gloucester
Manager – Mat

01. Nick Wood	09. Will Genia
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter(K)
03. Nicola Mas
04. Tom Palmer	11. Jonny May
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Willem Alberts	13. Richard Kahui
07. Andy Saull	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Israel Dagg

[/quote]

16. Guthro Steenkamp 17. Adriaan Strauss 18. Rupert Harden 19. Eben Etzebeth 20. Immanol Harinordoquoy 21. Dan Robson 22. Juan de Jongh 23. Iain Balshaw

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P1 Racing Métro 92 v Edinburgh Rugby

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P2 Saracens v Benetton Treviso

Saracens
Manager – Mike Driver

01. Max Lahiff	09. Lloyd Williams
02. Hika Elliot	10. Paddy Jackson (K)
03. Phil Swainston
04. Tim Swinson	11. Tim Visser
05. Lionel Nallet	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Phil Dowson	13. Chris Bell
07. Rhys Ruddock (C)	14. Harry Robinson
08. Luke Narraway	15. Elliot Daly

16. Efion Lewis Roberts 17. George Chuter 18. Hoani Tui 19. Rob Simmons 20. Rocky Elsom 21. Will Chudley 22. Tom Catterick 23. Ben Smith


Benetton Treviso

01. Michele Rizzo	09. Tobias Botes
02. Leonardo Ghiraldini	10. Kristopher Burton
03. Lorenzo Cittadini
04. Antonio Pavanello (c)	11. Tomasso Iannone
05. Francesco Minto	12. Alberto Sgarbi
06. Manoa Vosawai	13. Tomasso Benvenuti
07. Alessandro Zanni	14. Giiulio Toniolatti
08. Robert Barbieri	15. Luke McLean

16. Enrico Ceccato 17. Alberto de Marchi 18. Ignacio Fernandez Rouyet 19. Valerio Bernabo 20. Simone Favaro 21. Marco Filippucci 22. Fabio Semenzato 23. Andrea Pratichetti

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P2 Toulouse v Ospreys

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P3 Zebre v Newcastle Falcons

Zebre

01. Salvatore Perugini	09. Luca Martinelli
02. Carlo Festuccia	10. Luciano Orquera
03. Luca Redolfini
04. Quintin Geldenhuys	11. Matteo Pratichetti
05. Mike Van Vuren	12. Daniel Halangahu
06. Filippo Ferrarini	13. Gonzalo Garcia (c)
07. Mauro Bergamasco	14. Giovanbattista Venditti
08. Dries van Schalkwyk	15. Ruggero Trevisan

16. Andrea Manici 17. David Ryan 18. Carlo Fazzari 19. Emiliano Caffini 20. Filippo Cristiano 21. Tito Tebaldi 22. Alberto Benettin 23. David Odiete


Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Jimmy Cowan
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Ed Slater	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Scott Wiliams
06. Kelly Brown(c)	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Miles Benjamin
08. Jackson Wray	15. Jared Payne

16. 17. Scott Wilson 18. Alex Waller 19. Will Carrick Smith 20. Juan Smith 21. Luke Burgess 22. Henry Slade 23. James O’Connor

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P3 Northampton Saints v Biarritz Olympique

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Sona Taumalolo	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. Jean de Villiers
06. Calum Clark	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Loti Mulipola 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Mike Phillips 22. George Ford 23. Julian Savea

Tactics:

- To play a fast, attacking game from the outset, punching holes in the Biarittz defence with powerful runners in the pack and through Jean de Villiers and Manu Tuilagi in the backline. Get over the gainline and then put our backthree into try scoring positions.

- Lineout with Harri-ordinary meant that we have rested Julian Bonnaire and will use Lawes, Albacete, Clark and Parisse to attack the Biarittz lineout and force mistakes.

- Picked Cane and Clark as flankers to give us some power at the breakdown and this is an area we will look to assert a lot of control.

- Will use the setpiece to allow Simpson to attack and to also put de Villiers and Tuilagi into the Biarittz midfield - can see a lot of joy here.

- Aggressive blitz defence led by Lawes and then midfield brick wall with de Villiers and Manu. Again placing Biarittz under immense pressure and forcing mistakes - got a very dangerous backthree on turnover ball.

- Will play an expansive game to tire Biarittz and then unload our bench, which is packed with big ball carriers both Vunipolas, Launchbury, Phillips and Savea who will all be used and place Biarittz defence under real pressure and will aim to.


Biarritz Olympique

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Yann Lesgourgues
02. Benoit August	10. Jean-Pascal Barraque
03. Francisco Gomez Kodela
04. Erik Lund	11. Aled Brew
05. Pelu Taele	12. Damien Traille (c)
06. Magnus Lund	13. Seremaia Borotu
07. Wenceslas Lauret	14. Takudza Ngwenya
08. Raphael Lakafia	15. Ian Balshaw

16. Arnaud Heguy 17. Thomas Synaeghel 18. Eugène Van Staden 19. Thibault Dubarry 20. Benoit Guyot 21. Julien Peyrelongue 22. Marcelo Bosch 23. Benoît Baby

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P4 Leicester Tigers v Ulster Rugby

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Simon Shaw	11. Ugo Monye
05. Pascal Pape	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Jonny Harris 17. Sebastian Bruno 18. Brian Mujati 19. James Horwill 20. Jordan Crane 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Clement Poitrenaud


Ulster Rugby

01. Tom Court	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Paddy Jackson
03. John Afoa
04. Johann Muller (c)	11. Andrew Trimble
05. Dan Tuohy	12. Paddy Wallace
06. Iain Henderson	13. Darren Cave
07. Chris Henry	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Nick Williams	15. Jared Payne

16. Rob Herring 17. Callum Black 18. Adam Macklin 19. Lewis Stevenson 20. Mike McComish 21. Paul Marshall 22. Luke Marshall 23. Craig Gilroy

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P4 Glasgow Warriors v Castres Olympique

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P5 Scarlets v London Irish

Scarlets

01. Phil John	09. Tavis Knoyle
02. Matthew Rees	10. Rhys Priestland
03. Samson lee
04. George Earle	11. Andrew Fenby
05. Johan Snyman	12. Scott Williams
06. Aaron Shingler	13. Gareth Maule
07. Josh Turnbull	14. George North
08. Rob McCusker (c)	15. Liam Williams

16. Ken Owens 17. Shaun Hopkins 18. Deacon Manu 19. Tomas Vallejos 20. Jon Edwards 21. Gareth Davies 22. Aled Thomas 23. Morgan Stoddart


London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matt Stevens	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Elton Jantjies
03. WP Nel
04. Dean Mumm	11. Paul Sackey
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Shane Geraghty
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Will Fraser	14. Bjorn Basson
08. Keegan Daniel	15. Anthony Watson

16. Grant Shiells 17. James Buckland 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Matt Garvey 21. Neal De Kock 22. Luke McAllister 23. Zane Kirchner

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P5 ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leinster Rugby

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P6 Harlequins v Toulon

b]Harlequins[/b]
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Freddie Burns
03. Ben Franks
04. Jerome Thion	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick (c)	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Dave Denton	13. Florian Fritz
07. Michael Hooper	14. Jonathan Joseph
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Hugh Pyle 20. Chris Henry 21. Karl Dickson 22. Greg Laidlaw 23. Zac Guildford

Tactics

Usual stuff. We use our pack to get us on the front foot with quick ball and to suck in defenders, we then look to get the ball wide when its on. look to control the collisions, carry in numbers and at pace at to look for the offload when its on. Forwards to carry of 9 and 10.

Burns to kick the goals when we can and put us into the right areas as the conditions are likely to be slippery. Got Contepomi to help Burns and Dickson control the game. At the set piece we will look to control both the scrum and the lineout. Front 5 packed with experience.

In defence we control the breakdown with Hooper and Denton and Fritz will be in charge of our backline defence.

Key Points

- French teams don't travel well. We are in top form and sit 2nd in the AP.

- We will look to win the game. Have to kick the points when they are on and Burns has to boot to punish Toulon.


Toulon

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Frederic Michalak
02. Mickael Ivaldi	10. Jonny Wilkinson (c)
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Bakkie Botha	11. David Smith
05. Jocelino Suta	12. Matt Giteau
06. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Vincent Martin
08. Chris Masoe	15. Delon Armitage

16. Jean-Charles Orioli 17. Andrew Sheridan 18. Carl Hayman 19. Pierrick Gunther 20. Maxime Mermoz 21. Nick Kennedy 22. Nicolas Durand 23. Simon Shaw

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P6 Cardiff Blues v Montpellier

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Zebre...bring it on!

Northampton Saints

Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Sona Taumalolo	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. Jean de Villiers
06. Calum Clark	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Chris Ashton
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Ben Foden

16. Rob Webber 17. Mako Vunipola 18. Loti Mulipola 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Mike Phillips 22. George Ford 23. Julian Savea

Tactics:

- To play a fast, attacking game from the outset, punching holes in the Biarittz defence with powerful runners in the pack and through Jean de Villiers and Manu Tuilagi in the backline. Get over the gainline and then put our backthree into try scoring positions.

- Lineout with Harri-ordinary meant that we have rested Julian Bonnaire and will use Lawes, Albacete, Clark and Parisse to attack the Biarittz lineout and force mistakes.

- Picked Cane and Clark as flankers to give us some power at the breakdown and this is an area we will look to assert a lot of control.

- Will use the setpiece to allow Simpson to attack and to also put de Villiers and Tuilagi into the Biarittz midfield - can see a lot of joy here.

- Aggressive blitz defence led by Lawes and then midfield brick wall with de Villiers and Manu. Again placing Biarittz under immense pressure and forcing mistakes - got a very dangerous backthree on turnover ball.

- Will play an expansive game to tire Biarittz and then unload our bench, which is packed with big ball carriers both Vunipolas, Launchbury, Phillips and Savea who will all be used and place Biarittz defence under real pressure and will aim to.

Tough double header against ulster.

Which sides will we be playing? Sides who played last weekend?

I'd assume the teams per the last round of Heino games Steve mate. Thats what Pete usually does I think?

Saracens
Manager – Mike Driver

01.Max Lahiff	09.Lloyd Williams
02.Hika Elliot	10.Paddy Jackson (K)
03.Phil Swainstone
04.Tim Swinson	11.Tim Visser
05.Lionel Nallet	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Phil Dowson	13.Chris Bell
07.Rhys Ruddock (C)	14.Harry Robinson
08.Luke Narraway	15.Elliot Daley

16.Efion Lewis Roberts 17.George Chuter 18.Hoani Tui 19.Rob Simmons 20.Rocky Elsom 21.Will Chudley 22.Tom Catterick 23.Ben Smith

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Matthew Rees	10. Freddie Burns
03. Ben Franks
04. Jerome Thion	11. Tom Biggs
05. Steve Borthwick (c)	12. Felipe Contepomi
06. Dave Denton	13. Florian Fritz
07. Michael Hooper	14. Jonathan Joseph
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Hugh Pyle 20. Chris Henry 21. Karl Dickson 22. Greg Laidlaw 23. Zac Guildford

Tactics

Usual stuff. We use our pack to get us on the front foot with quick ball and to suck in defenders, we then look to get the ball wide when its on. look to control the collisions, carry in numbers and at pace at to look for the offload when its on. Forwards to carry of 9 and 10.

Burns to kick the goals when we can and put us into the right areas as the conditions are likely to be slippery. Got Contepomi to help Burns and Dickson control the game. At the set piece we will look to control both the scrum and the lineout. Front 5 packed with experience.

In defence we control the breakdown with Hooper and Denton and Fritz will be in charge of our backline defence.

Key Points

- French teams don't travel well. We are in top form and sit 2nd in the AP.

- We will look to win the game. Have to kick the points when they are on and Burns has to boot to punish Toulon.

Leicester Tigers have named their side to play Ulster at Welford Road.

Tigers have made seven changes to the side that beat Bath 27-22 last week, with six of those changes being in the pack - as they look to remain fresh. Only Andrew Sheridan and Ernst Joubert remain from the victory over Bath, whilst Billy Twelvetrees is the only change in the back line, as he replaces Maxime Mermoz.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Simon Shaw	11. Ugo Monye
05. Pascal Pape	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Jonny Harris 17. Sebastian Bruno 18. Brian Mujati 19. James Horwill 20. Jordan Crane 21. Micky Young 22. Brock James 23. Clement Poitrenaud

Tactics:

TBC

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matt Stevens	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Elton Jantjies
03. WP Nel
04. Dean Mumm	11. Paul Sackey
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Shane Geraghty
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Will Fraser	14. Bjorn Basson
08. Keegan Daniel	15. Anthony Watson

16. Grant Shiells 17. James Buckland 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Matt Garvey 21. Neal De Kock 22. Luke McAllister 23. Zane Kirchner

Lads, head's up for some of you: 7 eq starters remember!!

don't think it is mate?

I'm sure it was for 1st 2 rounds.

10 total EQs, 7 starting.

7 EQ starters was what was agreed on for Europe before the season started.

I got lucky in previous 2 rounds then as didn't know that. Just picked 7 by accident. Will edit side later. Just tried on phone and it us impossible I see how Matt has trouble.

Glaws xxiii
Manager – Mat

01.Nick wood	09.Will Genia
02.Joe grey	10.Dan Carter(K)
03.Nicola Mas
04.Tom Palmer	11.Johnny May
05.George Robson	12.Berrick Barnes
06.Willem Alberts	13.Richard Kahui
07.Andy Saull	14.Charlie Sharples
08.Jamie Heaslip	15.Israel Dagg

[/quote]

16 Guthro Steenkamp 17 Adriaan Strauss 18 Rupert Harden 19 Eben Etzbeth 20 Immanol harinprdoquoy 21 Dan Robson 22 Juan de Jongh 23 Iain Balshaw

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Jimmy Cowan
02. Lee Mears	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Ed Slater	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Scott Wiliams
06. Kelly Brown(c)	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Miles Benjamin
08. Jackson Wray	15. Jared Payne

16. Rory Best 17. Scott Wilson 18. Alex Waller 19. Will Carrick Smith 20. Juan Smith 21. Luke Burgess 22. Henry Slade 23. James O’Connor

You've named Burgess twice Pooly

Cheers mate

Match thread updated, predictions are OPEN

I didn't know Mears was suspended Pete, my bad.

Had hardly any signal this week (in Norfolk) so struggled to keep up with any rugby news, only just got team in

No drama mate, I suspect you would win this game with no bench at all to be honest.

Munster 17 - 19 Gloucester
Tough place to go and win, but I don't think Munster are the taem they once were and they aren't going to dominate Gloucester in the pack. For me they wont take advantage of Grey at no2, as their front row isn't great. Mat wins it in the 8, 9, 10, 12 positions where they have so much control. Probably best in the league with that.

Sarries 25 - 16 Treviso
Sarries have got some players coming into good form now and will be too strong for Treviso, who have been playing some nice stuff recently, but just havent got the results.

Zebre 3 - 21 Falcons
Pooly hasnt taken his strongest team out to Italy and no doubt that they are going to win, but would have been by more if more of his first team had travelled. Easy win, but Zebre are pretty handy at stopping other teams play. Will be an absolute cricket score next week though!

Tigers 20 - 16 Ulster
Too strong at home, would like to see a bit more creativity and speed somewhere in the 9, 10, 12 and 13 shirts as that stops Tigers running away with games at the moment.

Scarlets 12 - 18 Irish
Irish have the pack to win this and gainline breakers in the backline. Priestland's form also an issue for me.

Quins 24 - 19 Toulon
Toulon don't always play as well as they could do away, will be different next week, but Quins on good form and will win this one, but Wilko will keep the game relatively close.

Munster 17-18 Gloucester

Good team selection from Matt, just enough to win a tough away game.

Saracens 28-12 Treviso

Routine win

Northampton 25-15 Biarritz

V strong Saints team, Biarritz really hard to beat but Saints ease through

Tigers 24-23 Ulster

Game of round, Ulster form team in NH but Tigers strong and also great form, just enough

Scarlets 22-30 Irish

Enough pack control to keep Scarlets at bay

Harlequins 20-19 Toulon

Another cracker, Toulon win at home but Quins have enough

Munster 15-19 Glos
Quality at 9-10 takes this.

Sarries 28-17 Treviso
Treviso are playing good rugby at the moment but Sarries will have too much.

Zebre 12-23 Falcons
Weak-ish Falcons side and Zebre performing well at home at the moment.

Saints 25-17 Biarritz
Saints pack wins this.

Tigers 22-20 Ulster
Great game here but Tigers edge the back row battle and form will see them home.

Scarlets 14-18 Irish
Impact bench wins this for Irish.

Quins 18-17 Toulon
Stupidly strong Toulon side but Quins at home wins this, going to be tough next week.

Munster 21 - 38 Gloucester

Munster not the side they were. Gloucester have a strong side out and take a comfortable win.

Saracens 19 - 17 Treviso

Not all that comfortable for Sarries. Definite banana skill next week. Saracens front 5 would really struggle here.

Zebre 10 - 30 Newcastle

Tough in Italy but Newcastle do have enough to win with a BP. Zebre could have been a banana skin but not here.

Northampton 29 - 17 Biarittz

Easy at home for Saints. Strong side out and plenty in the tank.

Leicester 18 - 15 Ulster

Narrow win for Leicester but they have enough to win it. Next week a much tougher test.

P1 Munster Rugby 15-19 Gloucester
Not much between the front 5s but Glaws are a class above in most positions past that. Thomond isn’t quite the fortress it once was.

P2 Saracens 17-13 Benetton Treviso
Bit of inexperience for Sarries in the front row and halfbacks. Jackson playing well but Williams not so much so. More quality in the backrow and more danger in the backs though and a decent bench to see the game out.

P3 Zebre 12-30 Newcastle Falcons
Just a bit more quality throughout from Falcons and they will pick up the bonus point.

P3 Northampton Saints 23-15 Biarritz Olympique
Strong pack from Saints not far off first choice will set the platform. Not much creativity from the 10-12-13 channel but see them on the front foot throughout.

P4 Leicester Tigers 19-18 Ulster Rugby
Game of the weekend here. Slight edge to Tigers at scrum time but Ulster will cause a few problems at the lineout. Cracking backrow battle. Bigger names for Tigers but Ulster with the stronger form. Halfbacks to Tigers. Jackson in decent form but Wilko a level above still. Midfield is tight but Ulster shade the back three on current form. Very tough game to call. Tigers halfbacks give them just enough to squeak through but Ravenhill will be some challenge for Lukes men.

P5 Scarlets 17-23 London Irish
Nothing between the set piece really but Irish have more around the park in the pack. 11-15 overall is fairly even on current form but Pieneer at 9 give Irish the control that the Scarlets seem to be lacking. Massive impact of the bench see Irish close this one out late on.

P6 Harlequins 19-24 Toulon
Not an awful lots difference between the set pieces but Toulon are arguable stronger man for man in the backrow at the moment. Nothing between the sides from 11-15. Good form for Quins at halfback but better form and more control for Toulon. Toulon have more impact of the bench as well. Toulon will give their halfbacks the easier ride here and see them picking up a big win for their European ambitions this year.

Munster 19-23 Gloucester
Gloucester just have too many world class players on the field

Saracens 16-9 Treviso
At home, enough from Sarries for a relatively comfortable win

Zebre 13-26 Newcastle
I think whatever senior team any of our teams put out will go over the Italian teams

Saints 25-11 Biarritz
Very strong Saints team here

Tigers 22-21 Ulster
Both teams real quality throughout and good form for both. Home adv settles it

Scarlets 17-22 Irish
Patchy form and stronger bench from Irish wins this for me

Quins 22-20 Toulon
Too much at home, can see this being a great contest

Munster 20 - 24 Gloucester

Big advantage to Glos in the scrum, but Munster hold the advantage for me in the 2nd row. Decent back row contest that Glos just about edge. Glos take the HB battle with their strong unit. Decent centre battle with two decent units. SLight edge to Glos in the back threes. Think Gloucester just have enough here to get a good win


Saracens 33  - 19 Treviso

Boringly one sided.


Zebre 12 - 29 Newcastle Falcons

Yawn...


Saints 26 - 18 Biarritz

Saints are stronger in every area and Biarritz can't play away...


Scarlets 22 - 24 Irish

Irish ever so slightly stronger in the front row, but take the 2nd row battle comfortably. Nyanga barely met half his team, but slight advantage to Irish in the back row overall. Decent HB battle, one apiece for me. Again one apiece in the centres, slight edge to Scarlets in the back three. Pack advantage gives Irish really good win.


Harlequins 23 - 25 Toulon

Good scrum battle that Quins should just about edge. Just about prefer Toulons second row, and its a similar story in thew back row with Toulon edging it on form. Toulon take the HB's with sensational form, whilst the centre battle is tight. Tight back three contest too. Think Toulon's advantage in the back row and HBs sees them with a great win.

Quins 20-23 Toulon
Saints 27-21 biaritz
Zebra 9-22 falcons
Saracens 30-15 treviso
Munster 16-18 glos

Quins 21- Toulon 20 back 3 of Quins and home advantage squeak it. Burns in such form also

Saint 25-20 Biarritz

Saints pack lay platform and make this fairly routine

Zebre 3 - 20 falcons routine win. Falcons not strongest team out as evidenced by Backrow but way too much for Zebre

Saracens 35-12 Treviso as easy a win as there is. Helps Saracens get some momentum for league maybe

Scarlett's 27-32 Irish open game Irish too much in pack but scarlet will score points with that backline

Munster 20 Gloucester 24

Munster have decent pack and tough to beat at home but Gloucester a big step up in class in the half back positions.


Saracens 22 Benetton Treviso 16

Not the cakewalk some might suggest, Treviso would be tough and nuggety here. Next week tougher out in Italy.


Zebre 10 Newcastle Falcons 45

Not the strongest Falcons team, but still way to strong for a poor Zebre side right across the board. Easy win.


Northampton Saints 30 Biarritz Olympique 18

Biarritz in some poor form right now and Saints have way to much for them at home.


Scarlets 20 London Irish 23

Irish just enough quality in the pack to get over the line away from home.


Harlequins 24 Toulon 24

Can't split them, sorry. Toulon backs for me could cut loose, but I think the Quins pack has enough about it not to lose at home, so have to go for the draw.

Munster 21 - 23 Gloucester

Munster pack are dangerously good at home, and with a flimsy looking second row from Glos the game will be taken to them. The strong backrow will recover them a bit. Backs are a massive step up for glos and can score from nowhere. The strong bench the will rescue some late momentum, but Munster's early domination could have been capitalised on it O'Gara was in the team

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Saracens 25 - 21 Benetton Treviso

Treviso are a great unit, but can't quite match up to the power and grit of Sarries, and away from home just asking a little too much.

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Zebre 12 - 38 Newcastle Falcons

Possibly one of the easiest teams to play for Falcons; and a prime chance for Pooly to rotate some players, could have been a lot worse for the home team.

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Leicester Tigers 29 - 27 Ulster

Can see why Tigers are top of the league, cracking team. But what a game this would be. Up front just edge it to Tigers at home. Halfbacks would just edge to Tigers again, but Pienaar will drag Ulster around and keep them close. I just think that experience of Wilko will benefit Tigers in such a tight close game at home.

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Northampton Saints 22 - 20 Biarritz Olympique

Biarritz don't quite have their strongest team out, but still hard to beat. Only just enough grit from the Saints team to breakdown BO.

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Scarlets 18 - 19 London Irish

This one is very, very close. Irish obviously rotated here, but just enough to sneak over the line.

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Harlequins 32 - 29 Toulon

Saving grace here for Quins, is the form of the Toulon front row - it's not the best atm. What a back five from Toulon, it will test Quins. The back three for Quins have enough to torture the Toulon unit for me. Despite a resurgence from Toulon late on - Quins should take this one

Munster 15 Gloucester 22
zebra 15 Newcastle 37
leicetser 20 Ulster 20
Northampton 23 Biarritz 14
Scarlets 20 Irish 24
Quins 9 Toulon 5

Leicester 21-20 Ulster

Just enough from leicester sees them
Home.

Not much mobility in Leicester front 5 could trouble them but wilko and yach experience wins it

For information only predictions that were in prior to the cut off time have been used to determine results. (Not me being arsey, just I did the results yesterday morning but was waiting for the conlcusion of all games to post them.)

RESULTS

P1 Munster 18 (6P) Gloucester 28 (3T 2C 3P)
P1 Racing Metro 19 (2T 3P) Edinburgh 9 (3P)

P2 Saracens 31 (4T 4C 1P) Benetton Treviso 15 (5P)
P2 Toulouse 30 (5T 1C 1P) Ospreys 14 (2T 2C)

P3 Zebre 10 (1T 1C 1P) Newcastle Falcons 33 (4T 2C 3P)
P3 Northampton Saints 31 (4T 4C 1P) Biarritz Olympique 17 (2T 2C 1P)

P4 Leicester Tigers 26 (3T 1C 3P) Ulster Rugby 20 (2T 2C 2P)
P4 Glasgow 6 (2P) Castres Olympique 9 (3P)

P5 Scarlets 19 (1T 1C 4P) London Irish 28 (3T 2C 3P)
P5 ASM Clermont Auvergne 15 (4P 1DG) Leinster 12 (4P)

P6 Harlequins 25 (3T 2C 2P) Toulon 24 (3T 3C 1P)
P6 Cardiff Blues 24 (7P 1DG) Montpellier 35 (3T 1C 6P)

Will try to get tables updated tonight but could well be tomorrow before I have time to get them done.