Heineken Cup Round Three

 
 

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Pool 1 - Gloucester Rugby vs Leinster
Location - Kingsholm
Light Clouds, 6 degrees, 8mph South Westerly Winds

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Gloucester

01. Nick Wood	09. Colin Muray
02. Joe Grey	10. Dan Carter (K)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Tom May
05. George Robson	12. Matt Scott
06. Tom Croft	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Julian Salvi	14. Matt Banahan
08. Sam Dickinson	15. Israel Folau

16 Guthro Steenkamp, 17 Adrian Strauss, 18 Coenie Ousthuizen, 19 Tom Palmer,  20 Willem Alberts, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Berrick Barnes, 23  IainBalshaw

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Leinster

01. Jack McGrath	09. Eoin Reddan
02. Aaron Dundon	10. Ian Madigan
03. Martin Moore
04. Leo Cullen	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. Mike McCarthy	12. Gordon D'Arcy
06. Rhys Ruddock	13. Brendan Macken
07. Shane Jennings (c)	14. Lote Tuiqiri
08. Jordi Murphy	15. Zane Kirchener

Replacements: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Michael Bent, 18 Mike Ross, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Darragh Fanning.

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Pool 2 - Northampton Saints vs RC Toulon
Location - Franklin Gardens
Dark Clouds, 6 degrees, 9mph South Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints


Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Driver

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley (c)	10. George Ford (K)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Joe Launchbury	11. Tommy Bowe
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Samu Manoa	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane	14. Julien Savea
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Ben Foden

Subs: 16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Steve Luatua 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Joe Simpson 22. Ian Madigan 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics:Saints will play a high intensity/tempo'd game from the outset and take the game to Toulon. We will look to place them under pressure with a really physical, aggressive approach and defence to force errors and mistakes to exploit. We will look to win the gainline battle and the collisions with our big ball carriers and generate quick ball for our backline that will make the most of the perfect conditions to attack and score tries. Really strong pack selected to provide halfbacks with an attacking platform.

Win the forward battle: Great conditions for our forwards, Picked a mobile pack, with a lot of ball carriers and physicality to take the game to the home side and get a good platform for our halfback, will look to really hammer/target Michalek at no9 for the whole game. 

Setpiece: Will continue with the England lineout options, supported by Parisse and Manoa. We will aim to generate plenty of quick ball to attack Toulon. Use Lawes and Launch to target Toulon's throw and give them scrappy ball. Will use the scrum as an attacking platform. 

Breakdown/Backrow: Mobile and strong pack to really attack Toulon at the breakdown, Cane selected to really target turnovers and to slow down opposition ball, will look to clear him out in numbers and attack the fringes at the breakdown. Will also aim to knock Toulon back in the tackle with likes of Lawes and Manoa tostop their forward momentum and give us the advantage of hitting the rucks going forward. 

Possession/Territory: Perfect conditions for Saints, will want to get the ball in the hands of our pack who are all big ball carriers and get us over the gainline and suck tacklers in to create space outwide. Ford to put Fofana, Tuilagi and back three into space. 

Attack the Gainline/Win Collisions: Again look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to provide our backs with the platform to attack, big ball carriers in the pack - Vunipola, Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury, Parisse and Manoa can all get us over the gainline. We will really target the gainline, suck in Toulon defenders and then go out wide to our backline. 

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, putting pressure onto the Worcester halfbacks. Very good defensive pack with Lawes and Launchbury's workrates being massive for us. Will look for big hits and to force mistakes. Phillips to sweep behind and backthree to counter any loose kicks. 

Key selection points: 
Unbeaten in Europe for over a year.
Stong pack to take game to the French.
Win the collisions and gainline battle - whole pack big ball carriers. 
Perfect conditions for us to attack. 
In good form - boosted by return of Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury and Parisse to the pack.
Strong bench to bring on in the second half. 

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Toulon

01. Xavier Chiocci	09. Michael Claasens
02. Jean-Charles Orioli	10. Frederic Michalak
03. Carl Hayman
04. Jocelino Suta	11. Bryan Habana
05. Ali Williams	12. Rudolffe Wulf
06. Pierrick Gunther	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Virgile Bruni	14. Josua Tuisova
08. Joe van Niekerk	15. Drew Mitchell

Replacements: 16 Craig Burden, 17 Florian Fresia, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Juan Smith, 20 Alexis Palisson, 21 Chris Masoe, 22 Matt Giteau, 23 Martin Castrogiovanni.

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Pool 3 - Zebre vs Leicester Tigers
Location - Stadio XXV Aprile
Light Cloud, 5 degrees, 4 mph South Westerly Winds

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Zebre

01. Matias Aguero	09. Brendon Leonard
02. Tommaso D'Apice	10. Tommaso Iannone
03. David Ryan
04. Quintin Geldenhuys	11. Giovanbattista Venditti
05. Marco Bortolami (c)	12. Gonzalo Garcia
06. Mauro Bergamasco	13. Kameli Ratuvou
07. Nicola Cattina	14. Leonardo Sartoi
08. Samu Vunisa	15. Ruggero Trevisan

Replacements: 16 Andrea Manici, 17 Salvatore Perugini, 18 Luciano Leibson, 19 Emiliano Caffini, 20 Filippo Cristiano, 21 Alberto Chilloni, 22 Luciano Orquera, 23 Roberto Quartaroli

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Tom Youngs	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Pascal Pape	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Mike Brown

16. Stephen Moore 17. Gethin Jenkins 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Jacques Burger 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics:

TBC

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Pool 3 - Toulouse vs London Wasps
Location - Stade Ernest-Wallon
Misty, 5 degrees, 3mph Northerly Winds

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Toulouse

01. Schalk Ferreira	09. Sebastien Bezy
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Jean Pascal Barraque
03. Cencus Johnstone
04. Romain Millo chlusky	11. Hosea Gear
05. Joe Tekori	12. Gael Fickou
06. Yannick Nyanga	13. Yann David
07. Yacouba Camara	14. Maxime Medard
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Clement Poitrenaud

Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Gurthro Steenkamp, 18 Edwin Maka, 19 Gillian Galan, 20 Jano Vermaak, 21 Timoci Matanavou, 22 Florian Fritz, 23 Yohan Montes.

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London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Marland Yarde
05. George Skivington	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Siya Kolisi	13. JJ Englebrecht
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Jack Nowell
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Gareth Anscombe

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Paul James 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Sebastien Vahaamahina 20. Tom Johnson 21. Luke Wallace 22. Sebastien Tillous-Borde 23. Tim Nanai-Williams

Basic Game Plan
In reasonable conditions we will be looking to play a fast paced offloading game when in the Toulouse half, utilising big carriers with pacy backs on their sholders to take the offloads and hit the gaps.  We will look to shift the point of attack and keep the ball moving.  Our back row will look to support and hit rucks hard to free up quick ball.  When in our own territory we will use the boots of Farrell, Lealiifano and Anscombe to put ourself deep in the Toulouse 22.  Our intention is to utilize our strength, which is pace and mobility, and move the Toulouse pack around to tire them and create space for our runners.

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence.  Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle.  Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us.  Smith will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

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Pool 3 - Racing Metro 92 vs Newcastle Falcons
Location - Stade Olympique Yves-Du-Manoir
Light Clouds, 6 degrees, 3mph South Westerly Winds

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Racing Metro 92 

01. Davit Khinchagishvili	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Dimitri Szarzewski (c)	10. Benjamin Dambielle
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Karim Ghezal	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Fabrice Estebanez
06. Wenceslas Lauret	13. Henry Chavancy
07. Bernard Le Roux	14. Benjamin Fall
08. Jone Qovu	15. Benjamin Lapeyre

Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Eddy Ben Arous, 18 Francois van der Merwe, 19 Antoine Battut, 20 Laurent Magnaval, 21 Marc Andreu, 22 Alexandre Dumoulin, 23 Walter Desmaison.

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Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Waller	09.Ben Youngs
02.Dane Coles	10.Dan Bigger (K)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.ED Slater	11.Charlie Sharples
05.Paul O'Connell(C)	12.Brad Barritt
06.Juan Smith	13.Ben Smith
07.Heinrich Brussouw	14.Charles Pitatau
08.Dave Ewers	15.James O'Connor

16.Darren Dawiduik 17.Ryan Grant 18.Scotty Wilson 19.Yoann Maestri 20.Ali Williams 21.Ben Mowen 22.Francouis Houghaard 23.Adam Ashley-Cooper

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Pool 5 - Harlequins vs Montpellier
Location - Twickenham Stoop
Dark Clouds, 6 degrees, 7mph South Westerly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Greig Laidlaw (k)
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Freddie Burns
03. Gjorgi Jgenti
04. Hugh Pyle	11. Luke Morahan
05. Steve Borthwick (c)	12. Dan Bowden
06. Pieter Steph Du Toit	13. Florian Fritz
07. Tom Wood	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Gary Botha 17. Ben Franks 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Kruis 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Jan Serfontein 23. Santiago Cordero 

Tactics

Use our pack to get us quick ball before we look to spread the ball wider to exploit gaps. To do this we need effective rucking so we can get the quick ball as well as strong carrying (we will carry in numbers and at pace looking to win the collision)

In the backs get Burns standing flat with runners off 9 and 10 and 12 to keep the Montpellier defenders guessing. Looking to get our back three running in spaces at isolated Montpellier defenders. 

Look to control the set piece with a very strong lineout really look to pressure Hamilton and the Montpellier lineout. Also look to get the shove on at the scrum.  

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Montpellier

01. Mikheil Nariashvili	09. Jonathan Pélissié
02. Charles Geli	10. François Trinh-Duc
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Anthony Tuitavake
05. Robins Tchale Watchou	12. Wynand Olivier
06. Alexandre Bias	13. Robert Ebersohn
07. Mamuka Gorgodze	14. Rene Ranger
08. John Beattie	15. Pierre Berard

Replacements: 16 Mickael Ivaldi, 17 Maximiliano Bustos, 18 Thibaut Privat, 19 Kelian Galletier, 20 Benoit Paillaugue, 21 Yoan Audrin, 22 Benoit Sicart, 23 Naama Leleimalefaga

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Pool 6 - Edinburgh Rugby vs Sale Sharks 
Location - Murrayfield Stadium
Light Clouds, 6 degrees, 11mph South Westerly Winds

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Edinburgh 

01. Alasdair Dickinson	09. Greig Laidlaw (c)
02. Aleki Lutui	10. Harry Leonard
03. WP Nel
04. Ollie Atkins	11. Jack Cuthbert
05. Izak van der Westhuizen	12. Ben Atiga
06. Cornell Du Preez	13. Nick De Luca
07. Ross Rennie	14. Douglas Fife
08. David Denton	15. Greig Tonks

Replacements:16 James Hilterbrand, 17 Wicus Blaauw, 18 Geoff Cross, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Roddy Grant, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Sam Beard, 23 Tom Brown.

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Kieran Marmion
02. David Paice	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Phil Swainston
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Christian Day	12. Gael Fickou
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Todd	14. Sam Smith
08. Victor Vito	15. Jean Marcellin Buttin

16. Ross Harrison 17. Guilleme Guirado 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Tom Savage 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

We will play a fast paced, high intensity offloading game looking to create space for our halfbacks and to get our back three onto the ball as much possible.

- Target the scrum. Good technical front row supported by plenty of grunt will look to get on top and win penalties. 

- Isolate Nel at the scrum. He has struggled massively under the new scrum laws and Ayerza will look to seriously work him over.

- Attack from the lineout. Five genuine jumping options allows us to mix it up and really use the lineout as an attacking platform. Look to get the ball to Barrett and Eastmond with space outside. 

- Look to mix up play. Barrett & Eastmond to interchange at first receiver and change the point of attack. Marmion provides a threat snipping around the base.

- Get the back three involved. Eastmond, Smith and Buttin all to run lines looking for the inside ball or offload to get in behind the opposition defence. 

- Hit the breakdown hard. Look to our dynamic front five to clear the ruck and allow the likes of POM & Todd to really attack the breakdown.

- Straight line blitz defence focusing on a quick line speed to isolate the ball carrier before the gain line. Marmion to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

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1.wood
2. Grey
3 Mas
4 Etzbeth
5. Robson
6 croft
7 Salvi
8 Dickinson
9 Murray
10 Carter
11 May
12 Scott
13 Juan de Jongh
14 Banahan
15 Folau
16 Steenkamp
17strauss
18 ousthuizen
19 Palmer
20 Alberts
21 Robson
22 Barnes
23 Balshaw

Mark

Newcastle Falcons

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Waller	09.Ben Youngs
02.Dane Coles	10.Dan Bigger (K)
03.Paul Doran Jones
04.ED Slater	11.Charlie Sharples
05.Paul O'Connell(C)	12.Brad Barritt
06.Juan Smith	13.Ben Smith
07.Heinrich Brussouw	14.Charles Pitatau
08.Dave Ewers	15.James O'Connor

16.Darren Dawiduik 17.Ryan Grant 18.Scotty Wilson 19.Yoann Maestri 20.Ali Williams 21.Ben Mowen 22.Francouis Houghaard 23.Adam Ashley-Cooper

Saints v Toulon

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Dylan Hartley (c)
3. Carl Hayman
4. Joe Launchbury
5. Courtney Lawes
6. Samu Manoa
7. Sam Cane
8. Sergio Parisse
9. Mike Philips
10. George Ford (k)
11. Tommy Bowe
12. Weslie Fofana
13. Manu Tuilagi
14. Julian Savea
15. Ben Foden

Subs: 16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Steve Luatua 20. Billy Vunipola 21. Joe Simpson 22. Ian Madigan 23. Leigh Halfpenny

Tactics:Saints will play a high intensity/tempo'd game from the outset and take the game to Toulon. We will look to place them under pressure with a really physical, aggressive approach and defence to force errors and mistakes to exploit. We will look to win the gainline battle and the collisions with our big ball carriers and generate quick ball for our backline that will make the most of the perfect conditions to attack and score tries. Really strong pack selected to provide halfbacks with an attacking platform.

Win the forward battle: Great conditions for our forwards, Picked a mobile pack, with a lot of ball carriers and physicality to take the game to the home side and get a good platform for our halfback, will look to really hammer/target Michalek at no9 for the whole game.

Setpiece: Will continue with the England lineout options, supported by Parisse and Manoa. We will aim to generate plenty of quick ball to attack Toulon. Use Lawes and Launch to target Toulon's throw and give them scrappy ball. Will use the scrum as an attacking platform.

Breakdown/Backrow: Mobile and strong pack to really attack Toulon at the breakdown, Cane selected to really target turnovers and to slow down opposition ball, will look to clear him out in numbers and attack the fringes at the breakdown. Will also aim to knock Toulon back in the tackle with likes of Lawes and Manoa tostop their forward momentum and give us the advantage of hitting the rucks going forward.

Possession/Territory: Perfect conditions for Saints, will want to get the ball in the hands of our pack who are all big ball carriers and get us over the gainline and suck tacklers in to create space outwide. Ford to put Fofana, Tuilagi and back three into space.

Attack the Gainline/Win Collisions: Again look to win the collisions and get over the gainline to provide our backs with the platform to attack, big ball carriers in the pack - Vunipola, Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury, Parisse and Manoa can all get us over the gainline. We will really target the gainline, suck in Toulon defenders and then go out wide to our backline.

Defence: Aggressive blitz defence, putting pressure onto the Worcester halfbacks. Very good defensive pack with Lawes and Launchbury's workrates being massive for us. Will look for big hits and to force mistakes. Phillips to sweep behind and backthree to counter any loose kicks.

Key selection points:
Unbeaten in Europe for over a year.
Stong pack to take game to the French.
Win the collisions and gainline battle - whole pack big ball carriers.
Perfect conditions for us to attack.
In good form - boosted by return of Hartley, Lawes, Launchbury and Parisse to the pack.
Strong bench to bring on in the second half.

Weather up to date, will do opposing sides tonight. Are they last weeks?

In the past I've used the team from the last round of the Heino.

I wanted to check, otherwise it'd be bit of a week team for the opposing sides if they were the actual last week 23's.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Kieran Marmion
02. David Paice	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Phil Swainston
04. Dave Attwood	11. Kyle Eastmond
05. Christian Day	12. Gael Fickou
06. Peter O'Mahony	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Matt Todd	14. Sam Smith
08. Victor Vito	15. Jean Marcellin Buttin

16. Ross Harrison 17. Guilleme Guirado 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Tom Savage 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

We will play a fast paced, high intensity offloading game looking to create space for our halfbacks and to get our back three onto the ball as much possible.

- Target the scrum. Good technical front row supported by plenty of grunt will look to get on top and win penalties.

- Isolate Nel at the scrum. He has struggled massively under the new scrum laws and Ayerza will look to seriously work him over.

- Attack from the lineout. Five genuine jumping options allows us to mix it up and really use the lineout as an attacking platform. Look to get the ball to Barrett and Eastmond with space outside.

- Look to mix up play. Barrett & Eastmond to interchange at first receiver and change the point of attack. Marmion provides a threat snipping around the base.

- Get the back three involved. Eastmond, Smith and Buttin all to run lines looking for the inside ball or offload to get in behind the opposition defence.

- Hit the breakdown hard. Look to our dynamic front five to clear the ruck and allow the likes of POM & Todd to really attack the breakdown.

- Straight line blitz defence focusing on a quick line speed to isolate the ball carrier before the gain line. Marmion to sweep in behind to cover chips and grubbers.

London Wasps
Manager  Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Owen Farrell
03. David Wilson
04. Sitaleki Timani	11. Marland Yarde
05. George Skivington	12. Christian Lealiifano
06. Siya Kolisi	13. JJ Englebrecht
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Jack Nowell
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Gareth Anscombe

16. Rob Hawkins 17. Paul James 18. Martin Castrogiovanni 19. Sebastien Vahaamahina 20. Tom Johnson 21. Luke Wallace 22. Sebastien Tillous-Borde 23. Tim Nanai-Williams

Basic Game Plan
In reasonable conditions we will be looking to play a fast paced offloading game when in the Toulouse half, utilising big carriers with pacy backs on their sholders to take the offloads and hit the gaps. We will look to shift the point of attack and keep the ball moving. Our back row will look to support and hit rucks hard to free up quick ball. When in our own territory we will use the boots of Farrell, Lealiifano and Anscombe to put ourself deep in the Toulouse 22. Our intention is to utilize our strength, which is pace and mobility, and move the Toulouse pack around to tire them and create space for our runners.

In defence, as always we will be running a blitz defence. Our focus will be on the gainline collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us. Smith will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

That is a monster scrummaging front row pete

You know me Mat, love a monster front row.

Imagine if it was Castro in over Wilson.

Wilson scrummages very well at AP level not sure if he is a monster on the international stage. How is Castro getting on at Toulon?

I would have Wilson above Castro these days. Wilson is a pretty mean scrummager these days.
Never thought I would say that. He is a better scrummager than cole by quite a bit. Cole is exceptional at all the other stuff whilst also being a decent scrummager so is a top package as a tight head

Wilson has came on loads these last 2 seasons, still takes a few beatings though, at Sale for example.

Not sure if he's a better scrummager than Cole, he's better than Castro though who's really struggled this season.

Toloun have been awful this season, they've had a few good games but their team doesn't seem to have clicked at all. Been disappointed with a lot of the French clubs so far.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Greig Laidlaw (k)
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Freddie Burns
03. Gjorgi Jgenti
04. Hugh Pyle	11. Luke Morahan
05. Steve Borthwick (c)	12. Dan Bowden
06. Pieter Steph Du Toit	13. Florian Fritz
07. Tom Wood	14. Yoann Huget
08. Nick Easter	15. Rob Kearney

16. Gary Botha 17. Ben Franks 18. Kieran Brookes 19. George Kruis 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Karl Dickson 22. Jan Serfontein 23. Santiago Cordero

Tactics

Use our pack to get us quick ball before we look to spread the ball wider to exploit gaps. To do this we need effective rucking so we can get the quick ball as well as strong carrying (we will carry in numbers and at pace looking to win the collision)

In the backs get Burns standing flat with runners off 9 and 10 and 12 to keep the Montpellier defenders guessing. Looking to get our back three running in spaces at isolated Montpellier defenders.

Look to control the set piece with a very strong lineout really look to pressure Hamilton and the Montpellier lineout. Also look to get the shove on at the scrum.

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Tom Youngs	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Pascal Pape	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Mike Brown

16. Stephen Moore 17. Gethin Jenkins 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Jacques Burger 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics:

TBC

Predos Open

LukeLovesLuka wrote:Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Kahn Fotuali'i
02. Tom Youngs	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Nathan Hines	11. Ugo Monye
05. Pascal Pape	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Sean O'Brien	13. Brian O'Driscoll (c)
07. Francois Louw	14. Vincent Clerc
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Mike Brown

16. Stephen Moore 17. Gethin Jenkins 18. Cencus Johnston 19. Kearnan Myall 20. Jacques Burger 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Jonny Wilkinson 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics:

TBC

What depth burger for louw!!! Ouch

Gloucester Rugby 24-18 Leinster
Glaws showing plenty of respect with a first choice side in most positions. Their front 5 can really get at Leinster who are missing a lot of first choice backs and won’t be able to play off scraps.


Northampton Saints 25-15 RC Toulon
Comfortable Saints win with this exact Toulon side coming off a thumping last week against Stade.


Zebre 18-30 Leicester Tigers
First choice Tigers in most positions and looks like they are targeting the bonus point here this week.


Toulouse 17-24 London Wasps
Wasps take the front 5 battle here and are a massive step up at halfbacks. Don’t see Toulouse doing too well without much of a platform with the hbs on show.


Racing Metro 92 19-21 Newcastle Falcons
See Falcons struggling at the scrum here somewhat but even elsewhere in the packs. Falcons a step up in the backs though and should see an away win out.


Harlequins 26-22 Montpellier
Little more work rate from Quins front 5 and they edge the breakdown battle slightly but not a lot in it. On current form not a lot between the backlines. Bit more off the bench seals the win for Quins.

Gloucester 26-19 Leinster

Strong line up for Gloucester, score win

Northampton (Newcastle?) - Toulon

Can Hayman play for both sides?? I'll do score one clarified

Zebre 14-27 Leicester

Won't be easy but pretty much 1st choice Tigers will cruise home in the 2nd

Toulouse 21-21 Wasps

Brutal pack battle, Wasps front row very strong but Toulouse take back 5. Farrell will keep hitting the 3's but need more in backs to beat Toulouse at home

Metro 17-20 Newcastle

Metro still not clicking too well, Newcastle stronger throughout

Quins 27-26 Montpellier

Real close game, Quins just sneak at home

Edinburgh 15-23 Sale

Bit more across the board

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Northampton (Newcastle?) - Toulon

Can Hayman play for both sides?? I'll do score one clarified

Good spot Hayman for Saints is ineligible so Thomas comes in from the bench and they are a man short

Northampton 24-22 Toulon

Saints would get a bit of a mincing in scrum with Thomas at TH. rest of pack a cracking battle. Halfbacks shade to Toulon but backline a step up for Saints bar FB. Home advantage key here, different score at Toulon.

Gloucester 25 Leinster 20

Gloucester better across and Leinster the old man of european rugby. easy win for Glaws

Northampton 30 Toulon 22

Saints V good side and Toulon struggle on the road. Sevea grabs a brace.

Zebra 3 Leicester 35

Easy game for Tigers , It's a joke that teams like Zebra are in this cup.

Toulouse 17 London Wasps 20

Wasps have a better half back pairing and Farrell is a great away day fly half.

Quins 20 Montpillier 19

Mont will get some good ball and have a back line to punish Quisn but at home Quins race clear.

Edinburgh 6 Sale 19

Edinburgh are gash , sale far too good for them

Glos 25-14 Leinster
Glos simply a stronger side, a fan of their second row and back row partnerships. Leinster lose some points fielding Tuqiri who I believe is now out of contract?

Saints 22-17 Toulon
Saints lose some points for not having a full front row on bench with Hayman losing out. Saints quite a bit stronger in most places, think JVN and Habana could cause some issues but not enough impact for Toulon. Think Saints will get a good win here.

Zebre 3-32 Tigers
Tigers are simply way too strong all over the park.

Toulouse 17-20 Wasps
Tough game to call with Wasps just edging it in the front 5 which will give enough of a platform for Farrell to keep the scoreboard ticking. Snatch and grab job here.

Metro 16-20 Falcons
Falcons may struggle a little up front but are a big step up in the backs with Metro’s form not great at the moment.

Quins 20-19 Montpellier
Montpellier will run Quins close here but feel the Quins bench will take the win.

Edinburgh 9-24 Sale
Sale much stronger all over.

Can't believe I put Hayman in the team this week!

Glos 33 - 15 Leinster
Weak Leinster team there. Front row will take a pasting and a bp win for Gloucester is the only outcome here.

Zebre 10 - 40 Tigers
Easy win. Zebre been disappointing this season.

Toulouse 12-15 Wasps
Can't see any tries coming in this game, but Wasps front 5 is very good and can get them a platform, more penalties and Farrells boot wins them the game.

Metro 23-28 Falcons
Metro failed to impress this season. Do have some talent but nothing is clicking quite right for them. Newcastle have got some great combinations and great attacking threat in backline to get some tries away from home.

Quins 24-20 Montpellier
Will be a tough away fixture as Montpellier are very tough side to beat away. Quins pack will get them ball and EASter gives a lot of go forward, but Montpellier have some great ball carriers too. Will be close game but Quins at home will win.

Edinburgh 12-26 Sale
Don't rate Edinburgh at all. Only area I can see them getting parity with Sale is in the front row, but rest of the team they'll get blown out the water.

Gloucester 30 Leinster 20
Not a vintage Leinster line up, easy win for Gloucester at home.

Northampton Saints 23 Toulon 21
Closer than it would have been as a result of Chris selecting Hayman. Have just realised that this is last weeks Toulon team which is lucky, as it has always in the past been the teams from the last round of the Heino that we've used, which would have been a tougher game for Saints.

Zebre 16 Leicester Tigers 30
Not even a contest really.

Racing Metro 27 Newcastle Falcons 32
Metro hit and miss and as Newcastle have enough to snatch the win.

Harlequins 23 Montpellier 22
Montpellier look the strongest of the French line ups in this game so far and push Quins hard, but Quins have enough to nick it at home.

Edinburgh 16 Sale Sharks 25
Edinburgh are gash. This is an easy win, even away from home for Sale.

Gloucester 24-15 Leinster
Gloucester have put out a strong side and Leinster are not the force they have previously been. Half backs and front row especially find a great amount of success

Northampton 22-20 Toulon
Short bench keeps this a bit closer than it would be. Saints have also named a strong side and Toulon won't travel well enough.

Zebre 8-32 Tigers
Tigers clearly taking this seriously with another strong selection. Think they have too much all over the park for Zebre.

Toulouse 23-26 Wasps
Toulouse are another team that don't look as good as they used to. Interesting pack battle, slight edge to Wasps and their half backs seal the victory for me.

Metro 18-20 Newcastle
Not much in the forwards, dominant backs from Newcastle which gives them the win away from home

Quins 24-22 Montpelier
Both packs look strong as do the backs. Quite a difficult game to call but with a stronger bench and home advantage Quins get the win

Edinburgh 13-26 Sale
Edinburgh are not the team they were a while ago and Sale looking strong

Glos 25-23 leinster
Saints 28-24 toulon
Zebra 7-29 tigers
Toulouse 20-22 wasps
Metro 15-22 falcons
Quins 26-22 montpellier
Edinburgh 16-26 sale

Gloucester 28 - 20 Leinster
Northampton 20 - 19 Toulon
Zebre 15 - 28 Leicester
Toulouse 15 - 16 Wasps
Metro 24 - 26 Newcastle
Edinburgh 20 - 22 Sale

Gloucester 27 - 19 Leinster

Not much of a side from Leinster, particularly in the pack. Gloucs have a few weak links but not enough to exploit them from Leinster. 9 battle one to watch, 15 battle too. Overall Gloucs have a stronger side out and at home its pretty comfortable. In Ireland next week against a first choice pack will be a tougher test.


Saints 31 - 21 Toulon

Similar story here. All but reserve side from Toulon, and they struggle to impose against an all-but full strength Saints team. Bast vs Tuilagi a feast, but Fofana vs Wulf at 12 is where Saints get the real advantage. Good win here at home for Saints, but as above, Tougher text next week in France against a stronger side.


Toulouse 21 - 23 Wasps

Good front row contest that Wasps should edge. Toulouse's power in the second row gives them an advantage, whilst the back row contest looks a good one. Toulouse have some serious pack options off the bench and could get the advantage late on. HB's given to Wasps comfortably, but backs in general fairly close - maybe edge to the French. Good game, Wasps 8.9.10 gives them a great victory.


Racing Metro 19 - 26 Newcastle

Think Racing might get a nudge on up front, and the second row duos are fairly evenly matched. Newcastle with much more quality in the back row though, and because of this big gain they edge the pack. Think they take the HBs too, and in the backs look like a much better attacking unit. Think Newcastle get a good win here.


Harlequins 26 - 24 Montpellier

Decent front row battle, and similar story in the seond rows, with both front fives evenly matched. Some contest in the back row - not sure last time PSDT played 6. Really good pack battle here, fairly evenly contested overall. One apiece in the HB's, but not a lot in it. In the backs both have really dangerous players, but neither side looks significantly stronger than the other. Home advantage about all that sways this close game.


Edinburgh 18 - 25 Sale

Fairly even up front, but Sale look a little stronger in the second row. Some top players on display in the back rows but as a unit Sale a little better. One apiece in the HB's, In the backs a lot more from Sale and see them really getting on top. Think Sale have enough here to get a good win.

Northampton 29 - 19 Toulon
Zebre 15 - 40 Leicester
Toulouse 15 - 16 Wasps
Metro 24 - 26 Newcastle
Edinburgh 20 -30 sale
Quins 28-24 Montpelier

RESULTS:

Gloucester Rugby 32 (T:4 C:3 P:2)
Leinster 18 (T:2 C:1 P:2)

Northampton Saints 31 (T:4 C:4 P:1)
Toulon 20 (T:2 C:2 P:2)

Zebre 11 (T:1 P:2)
Leicester Tigers 38 (T:5 C:5 DG:1)

Toulouse 18 (T:2 C:1 P:2)
London Wasps 26 (T:2 C:2 P:4)

Racing Metro 20 (T:2 C:2 P:2)
Newcastle Falcons 30 (T:4 C:2 P:2)

Harlequins 31 (T:4 C:4 P:1)
Montpeillier 23 (T:1 P:6)

Edinburgh 15 (P:5)
Sale Sharks 30 (T:4 C:2 P:2)

Northampton Saints v Toulon

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Dylan Hartley (c)
3. Ben Teimafano
4. Joe Launchbury
5. Courtney Lawes
6. Julian Bonnaire
7. Sam Cane
8. Billy Vunipola
9. Mike Phillips
10. Ian Madigan
11. Julian Savea
12. Weslie Fofana
13. Manu Tuilagi
14. Christian Wade
15. Leigh Halfpenny (k)

Subs: 16. TPN 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Samu Manoa 20. Sergio Parisse 21. Joe Simpson 22. George Ford 23. Ben Foden

Round four thread is up already mate!

Balls - wrong round!!! Cheers.