Fantasy Aviva Premiership Round Twelve

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Newcastle Falcons vs. Bath Rugby
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 15 mph winds.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. Lee Mears	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Owen Franks
04. Brad Thorn	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Richie McCaw(c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Kieran Read	15. Alex Goode

16.Augustin Creevy 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Tom Croft 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Henry Slade 23. Miles Benjamin

Tactics

HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES.....GAME CHANGERS IN BACKLINE IN CRUDEN, YOUNGS, BOWE, SBW

HOME ADVANTAGE - WON EVERY GAME IN OVER 2 YEARS

In damp conditions will look to control possession and play in play in right areas of pitch. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off with high tempo and physical defence. Cruden will play flat and look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.

Set piece:

In the damp conditions look to get the ball in and out for Youngs/Cruden to attack with. Look for fast ball off the top of the lineout with Kruger making the calls. If weakness seen in either set piece we’ll look to exploit.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on in conditions. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot.

DEFENCE:

Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow out backrow to dominate affairs. Thorn/Robshaw in particular will look to hit the ruck hard and remove attempted turnovers from the equation allowing us to ruck over the ball and control the breakdown. Robshaw/McCaw will look to target the opposition scrum half early on and pressure his ditribution. Youngs to sweep in behind the defensive line.

Backs:

Basically get the backs into play whenever possible with Cruden the spark. Goode will act as second playmaker and come into the line to mix things up. Look to get Bowe & Cuthbert into the game whenever possible. Youngs to play on instinct around the fringes and look to get SBW in on the draw and release to use his power through the middle.

POINTS:

SCRUM & LINEOUT – Target throughout, if weakness seen go for the jugular
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through opposition
BREAKDOWN – Backrow to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball
FORM – We are in great form in the league with a great away win over Gloucester last week
BACKS – World class running options and finishers, big game players and finishers to see us through at home
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
SBW – For those knocking him for lack of form he last played Int rugby 25 Aug and was arguably the best 12 in world rugby
Bath backline – Look to get big runners down the Bath 10 channel and in between Allen/Hogg


Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Ben Alexander	09. Aaron Smith
02. Chris Brooker	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvili
04. Graham Kitchener	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. Stuart Hogg
07. David Pocock	14. Nopolini Nalaga
08. Juan Martin Fernando Lobbe	15. Cory Jane

16. Jon Golding 17. Euan Murray 18. Will Tanner 19. Luke Romano 20. Tom Guest 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Aurelien Rougerie 23. Luther Burrell

• Look to punish the Newcastle scrum with Alexander and Kubs

• Look to target the lineout. Whitelock, Lobbe, Haskell and Kitchener makes for a formidable lienout combo. If we gain a solid advantage, look to kick to corners

• Look for big carries from the forwards

• Smith and Hodgson look to really get the ball moving and control the tempo. Look to let our backs get their hands on the ball and run at Newcastle

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Harlequins vs. London Irish
Light Rain, 12 degrees, 14 mph winds.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Zac Guildford
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Michael Hooper	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Joe Marler 18. Ben Franks 19. George Kruis 20. Dave Denton 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Tom Biggs

Tactics

Look to control possession and keep the ball in hand, especially in the Irish half. Use big carriers off 9 and 10 to tie in defenders before we send the ball wide. Look for players to carry the ball into contact at pace with the aim of winning the collisions. We will carry in numbers and look for the offload if its on but if not we will look to get quick ruck ball and attack again.

In the forwards we will look to control the set piece and make everything difficult for Irish. We will look to put the pressure on at the scrum and lineout as well as at the breakdown where we want Hooper and Warburton to control things. We need our forwards to do a lot of donkey work and allow our backs the chance to play.

In the backs we want Burns to stand flat and bring others into the game. Roberts will run his usual lines at 12 tieing in defenders and allowing Burns an easy option before sending the ball to JJ and our back 3.

In defence we will enforce a quick linespeed and will look to put a lot of pressure on the key decision makers in the Irish side. Roberts and Warburton will control this.


London Irish
Manager – pullthestrings

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Keegan Daniel	15. Delon Armitage

16. Deon Fourie 17. Grant Shiells 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Will Fraser 21. Jack Moates 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Anthony Watson

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Leicester Tigers vs. Gloucester
Light Rain, 11 degrees, 16 mph winds.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Geoff Parling	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Tom Youngs 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Simon Shaw 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Frederic Michalak 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics:

In wet, windy conditions we will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game, the power of our side and the strength in our set piece.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole andSheridan to look to really get into the opposition. Lots of scrums in wet weather and an area we will look to dominate.

- Attack at all lineouts using Moore's darts. Use Joubert at the front and Parling off the top as our two key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option. Joubert at the front on Gloucester throws putting real pressure on Grey.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Gloucester defence. The likes of SOB, Louw, Pape, Moore and Joubert to be used to crash through the 9/10 channel.

- Look to win battle at 7 with Louw vs Lapandry - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Louw, and the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

- No overly ambitious passing - In wet conditions we will either look to kick to gain territory or look to keep ball in hand and take it through the middle.

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first recievers in Wilko and Beale. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- Use boxkicks and up and unders to target Nacewa vs Sharples. Lightning back three to get the chase on, and look to steal the ball or win turnovers with isolated recievers.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Yachvili to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the second half.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Weather Conditions
In wind and rain, our side is at its best. Controlling, tactical HB's, and a massive pack full of carriers. Play to our strengths, and play to the weather, and force Gloucester into mistakes for Wilko to take the points.

Form and Momentum
Gloucester have not been the same team they were last year, whereas we have 10 wins out of 11 in the league. We are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. Particularly at Welford Road, we feel unbeatable.

Breakdown Advantage
We are placing huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today. With breakdown expert Francois Louw - supported by the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial. Any opportunity that we get, we will look to win turnover ball.


Gloucester
Manager - Mat

01. Gurthro Steenkamp	09. Dan Robson
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Jonny May
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06. Stephen Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Imanol Harinordoquoy	15. Israel Dagg

16. Tim Payne 17. Adrian Strauss 18. Rupert Harden 19. Tom Palmer 20. Jamie Heaslip 21. Conor Murray 22. Iain Balshaw 23. Ryan Lamb

Glaws tactics

We have come here today to play a controlling game and to push Leicester around the park. Kicking will play a large part as will keeping the ball through the forwards. Basically they need to get us in to the right positions and then we can look to kick for position or set it up again off backs running the angle. If it is on we will look to play but conditions mean that methodical structured rugby is the key.

Key points

- huge scrummaging unit for glos with 2 huge current international props. Front row are also all good carriers and mobile
- 5 top line out forwards- this will secure our own ball in conditions but also allow us to attack moores throw. Moore has had a poor season and is no longer first choice for country we see our pressure here as key. We will be kicking in behind Leicester lots and he will be expected to throw in under extreme pressure
- lots of ball carrying off back of rucks. We will make sure we have numbers to edge the ball around the park and manipulate field position. We will send numbers in to Rucks to win good quick ball
- drive lots of line out ball to suck life out Leicester and then launch runners off the back.
- see our pack as having more ball carriers. These conditions made for the pack selected

- have a great controlling spine Hari Robson carter Barnes and gear allows us control.
- packed with kickers Robson carter Barnes and dagg all great kickers and in form. Beale is not really made for these conditions and will be targeted heavily.
- blitz defence. Aim to pressure wilko and yach to shovel ball on. Lack of kicking in centres for Leicester allows us to stifle them behind gainline

- we aim to turn this into a territory and possesion game where we think we will
triumph.
- when there is the opportunity we will shift it wide but generally will be disciplined and play the conditions

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London Welsh vs. London Wasps
Cloudy, 11 degrees, 17 mph winds.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. Dave Wilson
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Digby Ioane
05. James Hanks	12. Patric Lambie
06. Tom Johnson	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Thierry Dusautoir (c)	14. Bryan Habana
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Jaco Taute

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Adam Jones 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Wallace 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Darren Cave 23. James Simpson-Daniel

Key Points

• Form/Momentum. Our form over the last 5 matches is DWWWW so we come into this game in form, full of confidence and with great momentum.
  
• Experienced internationals in key position (2,8,9,10) who know how to control a game, and in the case of our 8,9,10 axis their most recent top level (international) form is excellent.
  
• 10-12 ability to interchange and keep the Wasps defence guessing. Can split left/right off the back of rucks leaving the defence unable to confidently target either.
  
• Solid defenders throughout the team mean that it will take something special to score points against us.
  
• Wasps decision to employ a drift defence will give our ball carriers momentum as they will be across the gainline before the tackle is made, which will give us a lot of control in the game.
  

Basic Game Plan
Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisions 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 however be looking for gaps rather than contact and looking to offload to support runners. We will look to apply pressure to Wasps 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 Wasps make.

Specifics

• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• Ioane and Habana to both be tracking inside ball and coming off their wings looking for offloads from the ball carrier.
  
• Keep the scoreboard ticking over by taking all penalties on offer.
  
• 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. Parra will sweep in behind.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, counter rucking and hitting on the break. If it is not on to win the ball, we will send in a couple of players to legally slow it, and get our defensive line set quickly and strongly a la France in the World Cup. We want to control the gainline in defence and attack.
  

London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Robinson	09. Nick Phipps
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Stephen Myler
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Dan Tuohy	11. Geordan Murphy
05. Samu Manoa	12. Brad Barritt
06. Donnacha Ryan	13. Casey Laulala
07. John Barclay	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Jordan Crane	15. Mike Brown

16. Sean Cronin 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Dave Dennis 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Jamie Elliot

Tactics
The Kassam has been a bit of a fortress and we want to make it difficult for Welsh so we will look to win, or keep the scores close through out to keep us in reach of a LBP. We look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every opportunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, therefore Myler will look to keep us penned in the Welsh 22. If Welsh are to score against us they will have to run the ball 80+ metres. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. Slow ball we will look to set up pods and runners off Myler, as this will drag Welsh defenders further apart and produce wholes or mismatches. Welsh have some prominent players at the ruck, so we will look to set and clear rucks quickly and to always have a man on the shoulder. Either to offload quickly or set the before a man can jackal on the ball.

Tactics

• Solid scrummagers on and off the bench, we will look to secure our own ball and at least pressure the Welsh feed. Sometimes look to legally wheel their feed to cut of the scrum-half from the backline.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Ryan will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Tuohy jumping in the middle. Look to run full number lineouts to tie in the opposing pack.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks, allowing them no time on the ball, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes.
  
  
• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines and moving the point of attack. Myler will direct traffic with the use of quick pods systems outside the guards of the rucks.
  
  
• Myler to use Barritt and Laulala to get over the gainline, quick ball will be span out to the backs in the next phase.
  
  
• Brown to look to come into play like he does for Quins and take quick ball of the back of rucks snipe, Murphy in the team can cover his runs at the back.
  
  
• We will run a slow drift line in defence, with Phipps sweeping. We won't look to blitz, as Welsh have only the obvious few who will carry to the line. If they begin to look to kick, a blitz can be deployed later on.
  
  
• The defence will look to gang up on the carriers and use the 'choke' tackle to prevent quick ruck ball and slow down the guys that are good at the ruck for Welsh.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game. To get an advantage in the scrum, and collisions with big impact players.
  
  
• Myler kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Welsh should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With; Parra, Farrell and Lambie in the side, there is a bit of mixture of gameplans, so we won;t give them time as this will cause confusion and mistakes leading to scrums for us to use to attack
  
  
• With; Parra and Farrell Welsh will to kick a bit. Therefore any poor kick can be returned with interest or punished by our clever footballing backthree.

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Sale Sharks vs. Worcester Warriors
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 15 mph winds.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Andries Bekker	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Dave Attwood 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

Key Points

• Momentum. We are on a roll with 4 wins from 4 while Worcester come off the back of a painful home defeat to Welsh. Winning breeds confidence and we have it in abundance at the moment.

• Attack the scrum from the start. BJ Botha has struggled for Munster in recent weeks so Schuster comes in to get at him. Keep the pressure on the scrum as the inexperienced Worcester bench come in.

• Test the lineout. Strauss has struggled throwing in since the start of the AIs and Worcester are lacking a top lineout jumper to hit. Bekker, POM & Quedragao will look to dominate the skies and remove the threat of Morne Steyns boot. If we are dominating here Sexton and Franny Steyn will look to keep the game in Worcester’s 22.

Tactics

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 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. If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Sexton & Steyn and force Worcester to come at us from deep.

• 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 room as possible to attack from.

• In Worcester 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.

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Warriors momentum before it can get going.

• Care will act as a 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 ball.

• 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 Quedragao looking to get his 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.

Worcester Warriors
Manager - prop_lyd

01. Paul James	09. Eion Reddan
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. James Short
05. Jim Hamilton (c)	12. Pat McCabe
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Ian Whitten
07. Scott Higginbotham	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Olly Morgan

16. Korree Britton 17. Nathan Catt 18. Fraser Balmain 19. Tom Savage 20. Justin Tipuric 21. Kerr Barlow 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Jon Clarke

Tactics

In light rain we have picked a pack who will play up the jumper rugby and a confrontational game before releasing our backs. Our pack is one of the strongest we have fielded all season and this will give us an advantage come scrum time. Strong runners in the backrow will make the holes for our 10-12 link-up who will control the game. Steyn will be looking to stand flatter today to give the ball on the gainline.

Forwards
*Front row to concentrate on the scrum and get the upper hand from the hit. We will look to get the edge on them on their feed to open a clearer route for Morgan and Gorgodze to run at their attack,
*2nd row-lineouts is key today and we have jumpers who will look for quick ball and to disrupt their ball. Hamilton and Kohn will look to get under their skin and Higginbotham is the extra jumper,
*Back-row have international all across and are players who will bring power to the game and be strong carriers over the pitch, we will use both Higgs and Gorgodze to aim to hit every other defensive ruck to look for the turnover or disrupt their plan of getting quick ball,
*Experience and impact on the bench.

Backs
*Quick ball from Reddan and Steyn will play what's in front of him, he will look to run quite a bit of ball if there is space ahead and the defence are disorganised but if not he'll pin Sale back deep INTO TOUCH and we will challenge their lineouts. Go for goal when the opportunities are there,
*Strong centres with McCabe looking for the offload to a forward runner or to Whitten who will look to get across the gainline before releasing the strong running back 3,
*On the wings we have players who are proven scorers, Short and Garvey will both bring pace, both will look to come off their wing's for work. *We have further pace on the bench with Heathcote who can fill in and play a kicking game if the clock needs to be wound down, Kerr-Barlow will look to snipe against tired legs.

Defence
*Banana-blitz defence with McCabe leading this and Reddansweeping,
*If we get turnover ball by committing 2 players at the ruck then we will go for it and play with our heads up,
*Defence inside-out making sure that the pillar's are protected.

Overall
*Control the set piece,
*Put pressure by kicking deep and if it's on, use our strong backs to break the line and offload when it's on,
*This is a massive game and we know we have to win this and have picked a strong set of players to do so with a useful impact bench.

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Saracens vs. Northampton Saints
Light Rain, 10 degrees, 17 mph winds.

Saracens
Manager – Mike Driver

01. Matt Mullen	09. Jean-Marc Doussain
02. Hika Elliot	10. Ian Humphreys
03. Jannie Du Plessis
04. Flip Van Der Merwe	11. Tim Visser
05. Rob Simmons	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Phil Dowson	13. Ma'a Nonu
07. Joe Van Niekirk	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Luke Narraway	15. Mark Cueto

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. Matt Giteau
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Chris Ashton
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Julian Savea
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Replacements
16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Webber 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Liam Messam 21. Mike Phillips 22. Ben Botica 23. Matthew Tait

Key Points
•Gainline breakers - we have a team that is full of gainline breakers who can put us in great attacking positions and give Simpson frontfoot ball.
•Impact bench - all 5 forwards big, aggressive ball carriers.
•Aggression - have picked a team that is strong in defence, can put in big hits and will be very combative at the breakdown. Will look to make it a really physical game and force Saracens into mistakes and turnovers.
•Test the lineout - with light rain we will target the lineout and attack Saracens ball with Launch, Albacete and Bonnaire.

Tactics
With the conditions we will look to play a game that is dominated by big ball carriers and getting over the gainline to generate front foot ball for our backs and ensure that Saracens are doing the majority of the tackling. Giteau will direct play at 10 and is the creative spark to put Fofana, Tuilagi and Savea into space - Ashton to track the runs of the gainline breakers and feed off the chances they create. Giteau and Halfpenny will also target Cueto's positioning at fullback and put him under pressure.

•Powerful forward pack that can generate good ball from both set pieces to attack with. Will look to generate quick ball from lineouts in the Sarries half, whilst contesting opposition lineouts to force errors.
•Have chosen an out and out 7 in Cane and will look to win the battle at the breakdown. Will smash the Sarries team off the ball and will put numbers in if the ball is there to be won. If not we will look to slow down the ball legally and reset the defence.
•We will play an aggressive blitz defence with a big battle in the centres - Fofana and Tuilagi provide a great defence to prevent the threat of the Sarries 12/13 channel, and Nonu playing out of position could sway the battle our way - Simpson to sweep behind to cover any kicks or linebreaks.
•If Sarries start to play a kicking game we will bring Ashton or Savea back to support him and then counter attack as players 9-15 are all try scorers who can win a game with one bit of magic.
•Look to empty the bench during the game and up the intensity over final 25mins or so.

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Tigers v Gloucester is a bit cheeky

Off the back of a solid away win at Sixways and some excellent for over the past few weeks London Welsh name an unchanged starting XV to face London Wasps at the Kassam Stadium this weekend.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. Dave Wilson
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Digby Ioane
05. James Hanks	12. Patric Lambie
06. Tom Johnson	13. Jonathan Davies
07. Thierry Dusautoir (c)	14. Bryan Habana
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Jaco Taute

16. Chris Whitehead 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Adam Jones 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Wallace 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Darren Cave 23. James Simpson-Daniel

Key Points

• Form/Momentum. Our form over the last 5 matches is DWWWW so we come into this game in form, full of confidence and with great momentum.
  
• Experienced internationals in key position (2,8,9,10) who know how to control a game, and in the case of our 8,9,10 axis their most recent top level (international) form is excellent.
  
• 10-12 ability to interchange and keep the Wasps defence guessing. Can split left/right off the back of rucks leaving the defence unable to confidently target either.
  
• Solid defenders throughout the team mean that it will take something special to score points against us.
  
• Wasps decision to employ a drift defence will give our ball carriers momentum as they will be across the gainline before the tackle is made, which will give us a lot of control in the game.
  

Basic Game Plan
Basic tactical premise for us to control possession and be solid defensively. Focus will be on winning the gainline collisions 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 however be looking for gaps rather than contact and looking to offload to support runners. We will look to apply pressure to Wasps 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 Wasps make.

Specifics

• Support runners to ruck past the ball quickly if the carrier goes to ground in order to secure quick ball to go again.
  
• Ioane and Habana to both be tracking inside ball and coming off their wings looking for offloads from the ball carrier.
  
• Keep the scoreboard ticking over by taking all penalties on offer.
  
• 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. Parra will sweep in behind.
  
• We will not overcommit to the breakdown. If a turnover is on, we will go for it, counter rucking and hitting on the break. If it is not on to win the ball, we will send in a couple of players to legally slow it, and get our defensive line set quickly and strongly a la France in the World Cup. We want to control the gainline in defence and attack.
  

Leicester Tigers have named their side to play Gloucester at Welford Road this week.

Tigers make two changes to the side that beat London Irish 25-20 away last week. Andrew Sheridan returns from injury to replace Gethin Jenkins, and Maxime Mermoz comes in for Billy Twelvetrees.

Tigers face Gloucester, who are the only side to beat Tigers this season, when they won 25-24 on the 26th October at Kingsholm. Tigers will no doubt be looking to get revenge for that defeat, and tackle Gloucester in a rich vein of form having just beaten London irish away whilst Gloucester have just lost at home to Newcastle.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Dimitri Yachvili
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Isa Nacewa
05. Geoff Parling	12. Maxime Mermoz
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Gethin Jenkins 17. Tom Youngs 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Simon Shaw 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Frederic Michalak 22. Billy Twelvetrees 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics:

In wet, windy conditions we will play to our strengths and play a game built around our intelligent HB's controlling the game, the power of our side and the strength in our set piece.

- Attack at all scrums with our huge pack - Cole andSheridan to look to really get into the opposition. Lots of scrums in wet weather and an area we will look to dominate.

- Attack at all lineouts using Moore's darts. Use Joubert at the front and Parling off the top as our two key options.
Shortened lineouts with Louw in midfield as crash or decoy option. Joubert at the front on Gloucester throws putting real pressure on Grey.

- Gigantic pack made up of massive line-breakers, used in the tight to tire down the Gloucester defence. The likes of SOB, Louw, Pape, Moore and Joubert to be used to crash through the 9/10 channel.

- Look to win battle at 7 with Louw vs Lapandry - huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today and we will always look to turnover possession. With Louw, and the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial today.

- No overly ambitious passing - In wet conditions we will either look to kick to gain territory or look to keep ball in hand and take it through the middle.

- In attacking play, we will play with the option of 2 first recievers in Wilko and Beale. We want to control the game, mixing up the point of our attack and looking for where the gaps are.

- Use boxkicks and up and unders to target Nacewa vs Sharples. Lightning back three to get the chase on, and look to steal the ball or win turnovers with isolated recievers.

- We will look to employ a blitz defence, focusing on a quick line speed to hit the ball carrier before he gets to the gainline. We have aggressive forwards to carry out this instruction. Yachvili to sweep behind with an eye on short kicks.

- Unload our powerful bench to impact the game in the second half.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.


Key Points:

Weather Conditions
In wind and rain, our side is at its best. Controlling, tactical HB's, and a massive pack full of carriers. Play to our strengths, and play to the weather, and force Gloucester into mistakes for Wilko to take the points.

Form and Momentum
Gloucester have not been the same team they were last year, whereas we have 10 wins out of 11 in the league. We are absolutely flying at the minute and have so much confidence - sitting top of the league. Particularly at Welford Road, we feel unbeatable.

Breakdown Advantage
We are placing huge emphasis on our work at the breakdown today. With breakdown expert Francois Louw - supported by the likes of SOB, Cole and BOD, we feel our breakdown play could be crucial. Any opportunity that we get, we will look to win turnover ball.

01. Paul James	09. Eion Reddan
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. James Short
05. Jim Hamilton (c)	12. Pat McCabe
06. Mamuka Gorgodze	13. Ian Whitten
07. Scott Higginbotham	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Olly Morgan

16. Korree Britton 17. Nathan Catt 18. Fraser Balmain 19. Tom Savage 20. Justin Tipuric 21. Kerr Barlow 22. Tom Heathcote 23. Jon Clarke

Tactics

In light rain we have picked a pack who will play up the jumper rugby and a confrontational game before releasing our backs. Our pack is one of the strongest we have fielded all season and this will give us an advantage come scrum time. Strong runners in the backrow will make the holes for our 10-12 link-up who will control the game. Steyn will be looking to stand flatter today to give the ball on the gainline.

Forwards
*Front row to concentrate on the scrum and get the upper hand from the hit. We will look to get the edge on them on their feed to open a clearer route for Morgan and Gorgodze to run at their attack,
*2nd row-lineouts is key today and we have jumpers who will look for quick ball and to disrupt their ball. Hamilton and Kohn will look to get under their skin and Higginbotham is the extra jumper,
*Back-row have international all across and are players who will bring power to the game and be strong carriers over the pitch, we will use both Higgs and Gorgodze to aim to hit every other defensive ruck to look for the turnover or disrupt their plan of getting quick ball,
*Experience and impact on the bench.

Backs
*Quick ball from Reddan and Steyn will play what's in front of him, he will look to run quite a bit of ball if there is space ahead and the defence are disorganised but if not he'll pin Sale back deep INTO TOUCH and we will challenge their lineouts. Go for goal when the opportunities are there,
*Strong centres with McCabe looking for the offload to a forward runner or to Whitten who will look to get across the gainline before releasing the strong running back 3,
*On the wings we have players who are proven scorers, Short and Garvey will both bring pace, both will look to come off their wing's for work. *We have further pace on the bench with Heathcote who can fill in and play a kicking game if the clock needs to be wound down, Kerr-Barlow will look to snipe against tired legs.

Defence
*Banana-blitz defence with McCabe leading this and Reddansweeping,
*If we get turnover ball by committing 2 players at the ruck then we will go for it and play with our heads up,
*Defence inside-out making sure that the pillar's are protected.

Overall
*Control the set piece,
*Put pressure by kicking deep and if it's on, use our strong backs to break the line and offload when it's on,
*This is a massive game and we know we have to win this and have picked a strong set of players to do so with a useful impact bench.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northampton Saints team versus Saracens
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Dylan Hartley(c)	10. Matt Giteau
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Chris Ashton
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Julian Bonnaire	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Julian Savea
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

Replacements
16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Webber 18. Logi Mulipola 19. Courtney Lawes 20. Liam Messam 21. Mike Phillips 22. Ben Botica 23. Matthew Tait

Key Points
•Gainline breakers - we have a team that is full of gainline breakers who can put us in great attacking positions and give Simpson frontfoot ball.
•Impact bench - all 5 forwards big, aggressive ball carriers.
•Aggression - have picked a team that is strong in defence, can put in big hits and will be very combative at the breakdown. Will look to make it a really physical game and force Saracens into mistakes and turnovers.
•Test the lineout - with light rain we will target the lineout and attack Saracens ball with Launch, Albacete and Bonnaire.

Tactics
With the conditions we will look to play a game that is dominated by big ball carriers and getting over the gainline to generate front foot ball for our backs and ensure that Saracens are doing the majority of the tackling. Giteau will direct play at 10 and is the creative spark to put Fofana, Tuilagi and Savea into space - Ashton to track the runs of the gainline breakers and feed off the chances they create. Giteau and Halfpenny will also target Cueto's positioning at fullback and put him under pressure.

•Powerful forward pack that can generate good ball from both set pieces to attack with. Will look to generate quick ball from lineouts in the Sarries half, whilst contesting opposition lineouts to force errors.
•Have chosen an out and out 7 in Cane and will look to win the battle at the breakdown. Will smash the Sarries team off the ball and will put numbers in if the ball is there to be won. If not we will look to slow down the ball legally and reset the defence.
•We will play an aggressive blitz defence with a big battle in the centres - Fofana and Tuilagi provide a great defence to prevent the threat of the Sarries 12/13 channel, and Nonu playing out of position could sway the battle our way - Simpson to sweep behind to cover any kicks or linebreaks.
•If Sarries start to play a kicking game we will bring Ashton or Savea back to support him and then counter attack as players 9-15 are all try scorers who can win a game with one bit of magic.
•Look to empty the bench during the game and up the intensity over final 25mins or so.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Zac Guildford
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Michael Hooper	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Andre Taylor

16. Rob Buchanan 17. Joe Marler 18. Ben Franks 19. George Kruis 20. Dave Denton 21. Karl Dickson 22. Quade Cooper 23. Tom Biggs

Tactics

Look to control possession and keep the ball in hand, especially in the Irish half. Use big carriers off 9 and 10 to tie in defenders before we send the ball wide. Look for players to carry the ball into contact at pace with the aim of winning the collisions. We will carry in numbers and look for the offload if its on but if not we will look to get quick ruck ball and attack again.

In the forwards we will look to control the set piece and make everything difficult for Irish. We will look to put the pressure on at the scrum and lineout as well as at the breakdown where we want Hooper and Warburton to control things. We need our forwards to do a lot of donkey work and allow our backs the chance to play.

In the backs we want Burns to stand flat and bring others into the game. Roberts will run his usual lines at 12 tieing in defenders and allowing Burns an easy option before sending the ball to JJ and our back 3.

In defence we will enforce a quick linespeed and will look to put a lot of pressure on the key decision makers in the Irish side. Roberts and Warburton will control this.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Ben Alexander	09. Aaron Smith
02. Chris Brooker	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvili
04. Graham Kitchener	11. George North
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. Stuart Hogg
07. David Pocock	14. Nopolini Nalaga
08. Juan Martin Fernando Lobbe	15. Cory Jane

16. Jon Golding 17. Euan Murray 18. Will Tanner 19. Luke Romano 20. Tom Guest 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Aurelien Rougerie 23. Luther Burrell

• Look to punish the Newcastle scrum with Alexander and Kubs

• Look to target the lineout. Whitelock, Lobbe, Haskell and Kitchener makes for a formidable lienout combo. If we gain a solid advantage, look to kick to corners

• Look for big carries from the forwards

• Smith and Hodgson look to really get the ball moving and control the tempo. Look to let our backs get their hands on the ball and run at Newcastle

Conditions listed as Light Rain, 10 Degrees, 15mph Winds for Friday at 15.00 according to the Beeb

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Andries Bekker	12. Francois Steyn
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. David Strettle
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Ross Harrison 17. Darren Dawdiuk 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Dave Attwood 20. Alex Tulou 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Will Addison

Key Points

• Momentum. We are on a roll with 4 wins from 4 while Worcester come off the back of a painful home defeat to Welsh. Winning breeds confidence and we have it in abundance at the moment.

• Attack the scrum from the start. BJ Botha has struggled for Munster in recent weeks so Schuster comes in to get at him. Keep the pressure on the scrum as the inexperienced Worcester bench come in.

• Test the lineout. Strauss has struggled throwing in since the start of the AIs and Worcester are lacking a top lineout jumper to hit. Bekker, POM & Quedragao will look to dominate the skies and remove the threat of Morne Steyns boot. If we are dominating here Sexton and Franny Steyn will look to keep the game in Worcester’s 22.

Tactics

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 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. If for whatever reason we aren’t getting quick ball, we will look to take control of territory with the boots of Sexton & Steyn and force Worcester to come at us from deep.

• 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 room as possible to attack from.

• In Worcester 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.

• We will play an aggressive blitz on defence, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any Warriors momentum before it can get going.

• Care will act as a 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 ball.

• 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 Quedragao looking to get his 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.

Do you want to just keep tactics basic CJB??

Waiting for Matt's side for my tactics.

01. Guthro steenkamp	09. Dan Robson
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter
03. Juan figallo
04. Eben Etzbeth	11. Johnny May
05. George Robson	12. Berrick Barnes
06.stephen Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Immanol Harinordoquoy	15. Israel Dagg

Replacements
16 Payne
17 Strauss
18 Harden
19 palmer
20 heaslip
21 Connor murray
22 Iain Balshaw
23 Ryan lamb

Will get tactics in later or tomorrow morning. Bit hectic with Xmas and relatives etc

Spooky...

Should be a good one Matt.

London Wasps

Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Robinson	09. Nick Phipps
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Stephen Myler
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Dan Tuohy	11. Geordan Murphy
05. Samu Manoa	12. Brad Barritt
06. Donnacha Ryan	13. Casey Laulala
07. John Barclay	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Jordan Crane	15. Mike Brown

16. Sean Cronin 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Mouritz Botha 20. Dave Dennis 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Jamie Elliot

Tactics
The Kassam has been a bit of a fortress and we want to make it difficult for Welsh so we will look to win, or keep the scores close through out to keep us in reach of a LBP. We look to impose ourselves from the off and let the opposition know how we are going to play the game and how we want to dictate the pace of the game. Our brand of rugby is physical and fast, however we won't just run the ball at every opportunity. We will only play in the right areas of the paddock, therefore Myler will look to keep us penned in the Welsh 22. If Welsh are to score against us they will have to run the ball 80+ metres. We will look to go through simple phases to reproduce quick ball to cut the defence open. Slow ball we will look to set up pods and runners off Myler, as this will drag Welsh defenders further apart and produce wholes or mismatches. Welsh have some prominent players at the ruck, so we will look to set and clear rucks quickly and to always have a man on the shoulder. Either to offload quickly or set the before a man can jackal on the ball.

Tactics

• Solid scrummagers on and off the bench, we will look to secure our own ball and at least pressure the Welsh feed. Sometimes look to legally wheel their feed to cut of the scrum-half from the backline.
  
  
• With a strong lineout, Ryan will lead the lineout and use himself as banker ball at the front of the line with Tuohy jumping in the middle. Look to run full number lineouts to tie in the opposing pack.
  
  
• The backrow will target the halfbacks, allowing them no time on the ball, which will lead to them rushing and making handling errors and mistakes.
  
  
• We will look to keep the ball alive, preventing them from setting any defensive lines and moving the point of attack. Myler will direct traffic with the use of quick pods systems outside the guards of the rucks.
  
  
• Myler to use Barritt and Laulala to get over the gainline, quick ball will be span out to the backs in the next phase.
  
  
• Brown to look to come into play like he does for Quins and take quick ball of the back of rucks snipe, Murphy in the team can cover his runs at the back.
  
  
• We will run a slow drift line in defence, with Phipps sweeping. We won't look to blitz, as Welsh have only the obvious few who will carry to the line. If they begin to look to kick, a blitz can be deployed later on.
  
  
• The defence will look to gang up on the carriers and use the 'choke' tackle to prevent quick ruck ball and slow down the guys that are good at the ruck for Welsh.
  
  
• Look to use our strong bench for impact later in the game. To get an advantage in the scrum, and collisions with big impact players.
  
  
• Myler kick all points, he can kick from within their half, so this indicates that Welsh should be wary of giving away penalties.
  
  
• With; Parra, Farrell and Lambie in the side, there is a bit of mixture of gameplans, so we won;t give them time as this will cause confusion and mistakes leading to scrums for us to use to attack
  
  
• With; Parra and Farrell Welsh will to kick a bit. Therefore any poor kick can be returned with interest or punished by our clever footballing backthree.

---

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Ben Youngs
02. Lee Mears	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Owen Franks
04. Brad Thorn	11. Alex Cuthbert
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Richie McCaw(c)	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Kieran Read	15. Alex Goode

16.Augustin Creevy 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Alex Waller 19. Paul O’Connell 20. Tom Croft 21. Jimmy Cowan 22. Henry Slade 23. Miles Benjamin


Tactics

HIGH TEMPO, POSSESION, BIG CARRIES.....GAME CHANGERS IN BACKLINE IN CRUDEN, YOUNGS, BOWE, SBW

HOME ADVANTAGE - WON EVERY GAME IN OVER 2 YEARS

In damp conditions will look to control possession and play in play in right areas of pitch. We’ll look to hit the ground running and hit the opposition fast from the off with high tempo and physical defence. Cruden will play flat and look to get our backline into the game whenever possible and keep the high tempo going throughout.

Set piece:

In the damp conditions look to get the ball in and out for Youngs/Cruden to attack with. Look for fast ball off the top of the lineout with Kruger making the calls. If weakness seen in either set piece we’ll look to exploit.

Pack & Breakdown:

Look for strong carries from our pack, tying in the opposition forwards. We’ll be looking to keep the ball alive and look for the offload when on in conditions. Our backrow will target the breakdown and look to get in a second tackler to tie up the opposition carriers. Youngs will wait for the call and look to sweep up any turnover ball getting us on the front foot.

DEFENCE:

Look to neutralise the opposition early on and allow out backrow to dominate affairs. Thorn/Robshaw in particular will look to hit the ruck hard and remove attempted turnovers from the equation allowing us to ruck over the ball and control the breakdown. Robshaw/McCaw will look to target the opposition scrum half early on and pressure his ditribution. Youngs to sweep in behind the defensive line.

Backs:

Basically get the backs into play whenever possible with Cruden the spark. Goode will act as second playmaker and come into the line to mix things up. Look to get Bowe & Cuthbert into the game whenever possible. Youngs to play on instinct around the fringes and look to get SBW in on the draw and release to use his power through the middle.


POINTS:

SCRUM & LINEOUT – Target throughout, if weakness seen go for the jugular
PHYSICAL PACK – Win the collosion and target rucks to drive through opposition
BREAKDOWN – Backrow to work their magic and Youngs to monitor to attack on turnover ball
FORM – We are in great form in the league with a great away win over Gloucester last week
BACKS – World class running options and finishers, big game players and finishers to see us through at home
ROLLING MAUL – With our big front 5 look to get the rolling maul going off selected lineouts and eat up the ground
SBW – For those knocking him for lack of form he last played Int rugby 25 Aug and was arguably the best 12 in world rugby
Bath backline – Look to get big runners down the Bath 10 channel and in between Allen/Hogg

Only 9 EQs Pooly.

Nah has 10 I think Luke. Henry Slade is EQ.

I am pretty sure that pull is away, so submitted on his behalf...

London Irish
Manager – pullthestrings

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Keegan Daniel	15. Delon Armitage

16. Deon Fourie 17. Grant Shiells 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Will Fraser 21. Jack Moates 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Anthony Watson

Lol thought it was Colin Slade!

Yer my tactics will be basic Pooly, xmas period still a bit mad for me.

Match thread is updated, predictions are OPEN

Glaws tactics

We have come here today to play a controlling game and to push Leicester around the park. Kicking will play a large part as will keeping the ball through the forwards. Basically they need to get us in to the right positions and then we can look to kick for position or set it up again off backs running the angle. If it is on we will look to play but conditions mean that methodical structured rugby is the key.

Key points

- huge scrummaging unit for glos with 2 huge current international props. Front row are also all good carriers and mobile
- 5 top line out forwards- this will secure our own ball in conditions but also allow us to attack moores throw. Moore has had a poor season and is no longer first choice for country we see our pressure here as key. We will be kicking in behind Leicester lots and he will be expected to throw in under extreme pressure
- lots of ball carrying off back of rucks. We will make sure we have numbers to edge the ball around the park and manipulate field position. We will send numbers in to Rucks to win good quick ball
- drive lots of line out ball to suck life out Leicester and then launch runners off the back.
- see our pack as having more ball carriers. These conditions made for the pack selected

- have a great controlling spine Hari Robson carter Barnes and dagg allows us control.
- packed with kickers Robson carter Barnes and dagg all great kickers and in form. Beale is not really made for these conditions and will be targeted heavily.
- blitz defence. Aim to pressure wilko and yach to shovel ball on. Lack of kicking in centres for Leicester allows us to stifle them behind gainline

- we aim to turn this into a territory and possesion game where we think we will
triumph.
- when there is the opportunity we will shift it wide but generally will be disciplined and play the conditions

Falcons 23 - 21 Bath
Great backrow battle here, both great for the conditions - bit more power in Bath's but McCaw and Read top rate combination. Would say pack battle is swayed by Bath having Brooker at no2, but Hodgson in top form in real life - would have probably started Rougerie at 13 away at Falcons and can't see the home team losing their impressive home record. Close game though.

Quins 31 - 29 Irish
High scoring game with great finishers all over the park - can see both 10s playing well, but see the Quins pack just getting an edge and getting a bit more ball to play with. Nick Easter's form also has a big impact.

Tigers 21 - 20 Gloucester
Close, really physical game - not many teams will get the better of Tigers at Welford Road as they have so much power throughout the team and control in the 9/10 channel. I do see a slight lack of creative spark as an issue for them, but the conditions and tactics suit them. Gloucester do have tries in them and with Carter at 10 they will stay close in every game, but think Yachvilli could cause issues for Robson.

Welsh 19 - 15 Wasps
See this game being mainly won by the boot, but Welsh have that bit more in the backline and will score the decisive try out wide. The Wasps tactics are there to spoil Welsh building momentum and Fluxy has done a good job here with them. Bit more class in key positions for Sarries (2,8,9 and 10).

Sale 24 - 21 Worcestor
Bruising battle in the pack, where it is very even - if the weather was worse and the heavens had opened then the game would have gone very much in the Warriors favour. But Sale have too much in the backline and with even ball they will cause more damage and get the win.

Falcons 22-17 Bath
Set Piece: Falcons have more power, both will hold their lineouts.
Breakdown: Edged to Falcons.
HB's: Like the Bath pairing here, both sets in good form.
Attack: SBW will provide a bit more go forward here.
Defence: Good defence from both sets.
Tactics: Feel Newcastle provide a bit more information of where they're looking to exploit.

Quins 19-16 Irish
Set Piece: 2 strong pairings with Lindsay the weakness here.
Breakdown: Prefer the Irish group but Quins won't give much away.
HB's: Quins take this on form.
Attack: Quins' centre's work with their tactics, Irish's ooze quality.
Defence: Neither will give anything.
Tactics: Quins having them helps!

Tigers 22-20 Glos
Set Piece: Neither front 5 will give anything at the scrum. Feel Glos have more for lineout.
Breakdown: Breakdown to Tigers but Glos have the carriers.
HB's: 2 very good 9-10's on show but Yachvilli's international experience will help.
Attack: Feel Tigers bring more in centres here but Glos have good finishers.
Defence: Very hard to break through Tigers.
Tactics: Tigers have an incredible bench and I feel that Glos' tactics of pushing them around won't work today. Tigers will use Beale and Wilko well to take a win.

Welsh 24-20 Wasps
Set Piece: Scrum to Welsh but it's level here at the lineout.
Breakdown: More breakdown specialist's from Welsh help slow Wasps' ball.
HB's: Control from Wasps but flair from Welsh, still not Farrell's biggest fan but he does the job against Myler.
Attack: Again steady from Wasps but Welsh more potent.
Defence: Wasps excel here with their centres and will be hard to break through.
Tactics: Wasps have good tactics using their centres as battering rams here. Welsh are right to use their pack, maybe look to alternate Farrel/Lambie depending on ball coming back? Welsh have enough but Wasps' tactics keeps it closer.

Sarries 19-24 Saints
Set Piece: More from Saints here. Sarries will keep their own lineout.
Breakdown: Evens with good carriers from both.
HB's: Simpson doing well, Gits been playing at 12 lately I think, Sarries pair steady.
Attack: Can't split it but Thompstone the standout weakness.
Defence: Same as above.
Tactics: No tactics hurts Sarries and Saints using an impact bench and ball carriers helps. No bench from Sarries?

After recent conversation's on the homepage, I've put a lot of emphasis on tactics and making sure they are fully read and not just skimmed. This has altered quite a few results for me here. I've also changed the way I set out my predictions to make it clearer.

Newcastle 23 - 22 Bath

Packs equal. Half backs to bath and outside backs to Newcastle. great game by think Newcastle just have that bit more spark and at home they win.

Leicester 27 - 26 Gloucester

Prefer the tigers pack but not by much. Gloucester have the advantage in the backs with great runners and halfbacks which can get them running. control of tigers halfbacks enough to sneak the win.

London Welsh 19 - 17 London Wasps

Great packs. Few more stars in the Welsh 8 which gets them slightly on top. Backs dead level. Wasps set up to be a night mare to play and Welsh won't score many tries. home as advantage and Parra win it for Welsh.

Sale 20 - 18 Worcester

Packs great contest. Back 5 to warriors. Half backs to sale. neither set of outside backs suited To rain. Overall sale just do enough. Think Worcester will be safe come.may.

Saracens 24 - 26 Northampton

Good contest but saints have the extra quality across the pitch. Back line is elecric and pack gets them enough ball to make the difference

Harlequins 19-19 Irish

Very close front 5's here and no advantage for either side. Backrow shades to Irish though with some better form, not sure of Hooper at 6 Steve.

Nothing in the halfbacks with some cracking recent form from the 10's. Better centre combo for Irish with Smith the class act of the 4, back 3's close but Yarde a bit of a weakness at this level. Irish have a bit more in the pack and backs but without direction just don't have enough for the win.

Leicester 24-20 Gloucester

Tigers win the front row battle and one a piece in the engine rooms with both secure on line out ball. Tigers again stronger on the flanks but Hari a step up at 8 for Gloucester.

Tigers halfback combo stronger, big fan of Robson but not sure he's up for this level of game, Carter helps though. Tigers sneaking the centre combo again and back 3's. Tigers a bit more throughout, especially in the backline and home advantage sees them through.

London Welsh 19-17 Wasps

Not much in the front rows but a step up in Wasps engine room. Flanks close as combo's but a bit more for Sarries with Vermeulen at 8.

Halfbacks side to the home side with just a little more in eack position. Prefer the Wasps centre combo as a unit with Lambie not a 12, JD makes it a good contest though. Welsh a step up on the wings, not sure of Murphy on wing but Brown a step on Taute. Another close one but home advantage seals a win for Welsh.

Sale 25-22 Worcester

Not much in the front rows but Sale edge engine room with a better combo. Bruising backrow battle with Worcester stronger on the flanks but Pics bringing a bit more from 8. Great pack battle.

Step up at halfback for Sale with Sexton in good form. Similar story in the backs where Sale just have that little more class and seal the win.

Saracens 20-20 Northampton

Not much in the front 5 units, see both sides holding set piece ball. Similar story in the back rows with decent form on both flanks but Narraway shading 8.

Sarries shade the halfbacks in the conditions with a bit more nous, Gits loses a bit at 10 for me especially in the poor conditions. Bruising centre combo's, bit more for Saints but see Sarries fronting up well. Little bit more in the back 3 for Saints but again a good Sarries combo. Not much in this one, would fancy Saints at home but Sarries strong and can't see Saints halfbacks controling the game for the win.

Quins 28-22 Irish
Baptism of fire for Pull. Really love the Quins forwards and think they have an advantage here. Quality half backs on show from both sides. just too much overall at home I feel.

Tigers 23-21 Gloucester
Game of the week for me. Front row to Tigers, second row to Glaws. Back row to Tigers. Backs are about even overall

Welsh 24-20 Wasps
Slight edge to Welsh in the front row, second row goes to Wasps but the back row gives the edge to Welsh. Better set of backs from Welsh although not sue about Lambie at 12.

Sale 22-18Worcester
Worcester have the slight advantage in the front row but the second row definitely goes to Sale. Back row is close but slight edge to Worcester. Sale have a great set of backs and that gives them the win at home

Sarries 18-25 Saints
Front five for me goes to Saints. Back row, not much in it. Similar at the half backs but edge to Saints. Back five goes to Saints

Newcastle Falcons 25 Bath 20
Harlequins 27 Irish 24
Leicester 20 Gloucester 15
London Welsh 23 London Wasps 17
Sale Sharks 26 Worcester 20


Sorry for no descriptions.

Newcastle 16-15 bath
Close close game. Newcastle squeak the front row. Franks not been great for a while but still good enough to get on top of Alexander who is more of a 3. Biggest difference is at hooker with Brooke's a weakness. Second rows to bath and the Backrow just to falcons by slimmest margin.
Half backs to bath with Hodgson in fine form and cruden known to struggle whenever it's wet.

For me bath could have won this with rougerie in the centre as think he would have embarrassed Lowe who for me gets zero rating.

Back 3 just to bath in what is probably the biggest lineup of wingers ever. Home advantage wins this. An opportunity missed for Bath

Quins 22- 19 Irish basically I think the sheer number of carrying options in the Quins pack take this. Scrums fairly even although Castro a faded force in the loose these days. Quins also benefit from nearly every member of there pack being in gun form. Burns has shown he can play the conditions although Evans still better here. Think the lack of kicking options in wet conditions hampers Quins but still too much quality

Welsh19-16 wasps wasps set out well and in proper rain will be a mare. For
Me welsh have more class in key positions and home advantage. Foreign window and getting some eq in will help wasps

Sale 19-17 Worcester Worcester take front row sale walk second rows and Worcester take Backrow just. Think sale halfbacks extra class and home advantage see them win. Worcester hard to beat and may have been a reverse at six ways

Sarries 17-27 saints routine win for saints who are better in almost every unit. Think saints half backs not strongest and against other teams Gits would lose it however Gits Is a better 10 than Ihumph despite not playing there for a while. Also lack of tactics from sarries hinders further

Ps if tactics are in for sarries game and I missed them sorry

Newcastle 23-15 Bath
Decent battle at scrum time edges to Falcons with Thorn helping to lock down the scrum. Both sides should hold their own lineout. Two decent back rows but more form sees Newcastle get an edge. Halfbacks tight perhaps just shading to Falcons but not a big gain. 2 cracking back threes but Falcons with more in midfield. Falcons bench looking a bit weaker than normal but much more detailed game plan left to guess the Bath game plan somewhat. Pack on top and better structure see Falcons win.

Harlequins 27-24 London Irish
Good even pack battle here and neither side will get on top in any area. Halfbacks tight think both combos could work in the conditions. Not much between the back threes but Irish stronger in midfield. With tactics this had draw written all over it but Quins with a structure in place get the win.

Leicester Tigers 24-17 Gloucester
Both sides to hold their own lineout but slight edge to Tigers at the scrum. Good back row battle but Tigers with a bit more form get an edge. Tigers capable of making a mess of Gloucesters ball at the breakdown. Halfbacks as a combo go to Tigers who are well suited for the conditions and gameplan. Midfield edges to Glaws. Both 13s have form issues but Barnes brings a bit more at 12. Back threes edge to Tigers with more on the wings. More impact of the Tigers bench. Tigers that little bit stronger in the forwards and on a good roll at the moment pick up a big win for their title ambitions.

London Welsh 17-10 London Wasps
Nothing between the front 5s and the set piece battle will be a real ding dong affair. Welsh though are stronger in the back row and will make themselves a real nuisance. Welsh are stronger through the backline and the Lambie/Farrell interchange works well. Welsh haven’t the ball carriers to punish the slow drift for me but see them fixing the defence at times with the left/right split tactic and their wingers are capable of getting past on the outside.

Saracens 15-19 Northampton Saints
Good front 5 battle and neither side will edge the set piece. Decent back row battle but a better balance to Saints. See them nicking a ball or two at the breakdown but Sarries are full of grafters and will get some decent platforms. Decent halfback battle but Saints are stronger through the rest of the backline. Sarries would be better defensively with the centres the other way around. No game plan hurts Sarries and don’t see how they can counteract the Saints backline without them.

Newcastle 28 - 25 Bath

Harlequins 21 - 18 Irish

Welsh 22 - 21 Wasps

Sale 26 - 23 Worcester

Saracens 20 - 26 Saints

Newcastle Falcons 22 - 18 Bath

Great up front contest, , both anchored by a good TH, lineouts are both brilliantly even. Falcons for me to just edge up front with a bit more grunt in the front five and a bit more of a game plan in the conditions. Two talented back lines. Bath can create something out of nothing, but Falcons are controlled and can unleash when they want. Slight mark up against Hogg, as the combo in midfield feels slightly undercooked, although they have to start somewhere. At home in the conditions, Falcons will grind out the result.

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Harlequins 32 - 27 London Irish

Very good contest up front, both strong front rows, anchored by some good second rows. Lineouts are also strong but inclined to give it a bit more to Quins with Borthwick in good form and some good options in the line. Around the park, the Quins back row will be devastating, but Irish are no slouches. They way they are set up Quins will look to dominate up front. Great in form halfbacks for Quins, but the brilliance of Evan will claw Irish close, but Dickson guiding some good forwards will allow Burns to get the best out his back line. To me Roberts is bit of an obvious player so than can be got at by some clever tackling and isolation. But Irish have a bit more creativity out wide. Both benches strong but Quins will win at home.

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Leicester Tigers 27 - 21 Gloucester
With tactics and personnel in question I can't see past Tigers up front, as they will grind down Glos in these wet conditions. Their halfbacks are perfectly suited to the game plan and will direct traffic for them. Out wide Tiger are well balanced and will take their chances, but there is more flash and bang to come from Glos as they have a massive razor edge backline. In the end the Tigers bench will continue to dominate up front and Wilkinson will kick them to victory.

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Sale Sharks 19 - 18 Worcester Warriors

Up front its evens, as both are solid units. Lineout wise Warriors will suffer, but they won't go to far backwards in any mauls or rucks. Great carrying from warriors and I think Sharks might struggle at times. Pickles won't get the head of steam he would usually expect against some big units. Good control from the Warriors halfbacks, but Sharks pair shouldn't be underated, I just feel that F Steyn gives a bit more over the Warriors centres and will help relieve pressure from the big carrying Warriors packs. Bit more from the Sharks back three, but there is some tries to come from a Garvey and co. For me Hook coming on and F Steyn will kick Sharks to pinch a late victory.

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Saracens 22 - 22Northampton Saints
For me Sarries can get at the Saints front row with Hartley and Kepu the best technicians against a solid front row. Good power from each front five and back rows, and the line outs will be a close affair but slightly edged by Saints. I can't see Saints eclipsing Sarries though, as there is more of a dog and grunt factor from the boys in black and will look to carry close to rucks. Where I'm not sure Saints have the personnel to match that in attack. This for me will unsettle their halfbacks and cause some mistakes where Sarries can control the ball. Out wide Sarries are solid and will take their chances, but Saints are incredibly potent, but going backwards and under pressure it'd be difficult. With tactics this could've been a win, but I can see that this Sarries side has been set up well.

Newcastle Falcons 22 Bath Rugby 21

Overall the teams are very even, few more star names for Falcons, some better form for Bath evening it out. Home advantage the clincher here.


Leicester Tigers 24 Gloucester 23

Game of the round and at Kingsholm goes the other way. Tigers half backs right to control the game and can deny the stunning Gloucester backline enough possession to take the win.


Sale Sharks 20 Worcester Warriors 18

Tough call this one, but form of the Sale half backs and good balance to the pack the clincher for me. As the weather gets worse Worcester will start to pick teams off with the right team selections.


Saracens 18 Northampton Saints 24

Jauzion spent and Nonu not a 13 for me. Saints backs could carve them up a bit for a good away win.

Not predicting Quins vs. Irish as I submitted the Irish team.

LBP against Quins first game with no tactics - will take that. Onwards and upwards for Irish.

I thought I had the LBP in the bag

Strange week results wise really with only 1 team getting the LBP. Most weeks this season almost everyone has got something from their game.

Same here Fluxy!!

ANd three 19-27 results too!

Pooly, Fluxy - where do you guys think I need to improve on to win games like that - saw that Sarries didn't have a subs bench, so just looking for some tips where I can improve really - is it front row, or somewhere else? Cheers!

dammit_chris wrote:Pooly, Fluxy - where do you guys think I need to improve on to win games like that - saw that Sarries didn't have a subs bench, so just looking for some tips where I can improve really - is it front row, or somewhere else? Cheers!

Explanations are there in predo's, think I pretty much said what I thought you lacked.

Packs where close, you had the backline but not really the halfbacks to win away from home in the conditions against a good kicking unit. Giteau not a 10 for me and I'm not a fan of Simpson's basics which are key in the poor conditions.

You'd have won at home.

Is there any emphasis on a bench though? Been trying to build a good impact one to make a bit of a difference really.

Will most likely be changing my halfbacks for the next game, back to Phillips and Hernandez if the weather is poor - though SImpson's form over the last month makes it tough to ignore him!

Simpson more a fair weather scrum half, bit of a maverick. He'd be fine with a solid kicking 10 but Giteau isn't a 10. You just lacked a bit of direction.

It was a close game but Doussain and Humphreys can really dictate a tempo off a solid platform.