Champions Cup Round Two

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Saracens vs Racing 92
Allianz Park
Sunny Intervals, 12 degrees, 9mph North Easterly Winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Lee Dickson
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Tom Taylor
03. Paul Hill
04. Bradley Davies	11. George North
05. Geoff Parling	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Guy Thompson	13. Lionel Mapoe
07. James Haskell	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Simon McIntrye 18. Ben Franks 19. Marcos Kremer 20. David Denton 21. Brad Weber 22. Robbie Fruen 23. Hosea Gear

Tactics:

Defensive:

Blitz Defence - Get in the face of the opposition and allow them very little time on the ball.

Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Attacking:

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch

Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid

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Racing 92

01. Eddy Ben Arous	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Camille Chat	10. Johan Goosen
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Leone Nakarawa	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Manuel Carizza	12. Anthony Tuitavake
06. Wenceslas Lauret	13. Henry Chavancy
07. Yannick Nyanga	14. Joe Rokocoko
08. Chris Masoe	15. Brice Dulin

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Replacements: 16 Virgile Lacombe, 17 Viliamu Afatia, 18 Cedate Gomes Sa, 19 Francois van der Merwe, 20 Thibault Dubarry, 21 James Hart, 22 Remi Tales, 23 Albert Vulivuli

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Toulouse vs Northampton Saints
Stade Ernest-Wallon
Light Cloud, 17 degrees, 11mph Easterly Winds

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Toulouse

01. Cyril Baille	09. Sébastien Bézy
02. Christopher Tolofua	10. Jean-Marc Doussain
03. Census Johnston
04. Richie Gray	11. Paul Perez
05. Joe Tekori	12. Yann David
06. Francois Cros	13. Florian Fritz
07. Piula Faasalele	14. Yoann Huget
08. Carl Axtens	15. Maxime Médard

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Replacements: 16 Julien Marchand, 17 Vasil Kakovin, 18 Dorian Aldegheri, 19 Edwin Maka, 20 Gregory Lamboley, 21 Talalelei Gray, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Gael Fickou

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Connor Murray
02. Dylan Hartley	10. George Ford
03. Zander Fagerson
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Manuel Montero
05. Jonny Gray	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. Luke Wallace	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

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Replacements
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Logi Mulipola 18. Jake Cooper-Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Faconda Isa 21. Joe Simpson 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Rieko Ioane

Attributes:
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.

Tactics
Look to continue momentum by playing the game at a high intensity, looking to put Toulouse under pressure from the kickoff and test their defence and hit them hard up front. Look to beat them upfront, dominate the physical battle and breakdown and give our backline some good front ball to attack with. Impact from the bench and Halfpenny's boot to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but we will look for tries and to spread the ball wide when we can.

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Sale Sharks vs Scarlets
AJ Bell Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 12 degrees, 10mph Westerly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Keith Earls
05. Iain Henderson	12. Charlie Ngatai
06. Matt Garvey	13. Joe Marchant
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Tommy Taylor 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Christian Day 20. Steven Luatua 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Curwin Bosch 23. Ruan Combrinck


Attributes:
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it.
Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.  

Attack: We will be playing a high intensity phased attacking game. Look to use a rugby league shape with runners on the gain line and out the back door to force the opposition into making defensive decisions. Numerous playmakers across the back line allows us to constantly change the point of attack and restructure our attacking phases. Care to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

Breakdown: Quick ball is the aim on attack. Mobile pack and physical back line to clear out rucks and ensure we get it. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to give a target to hit. Defensively when the initial contact is won we will look to commit numbers and get over the ball turning it over or at least slowing opposition ball up. Otherwise we will strengthen the line. 

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. Marmion will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Bendy & Earls to cover the background dropping deep to cut off the green grass available to kick into.

Scrum: Strong scrummaging unit in the front row with the support of a powerful 4-8 will look to get the better of the opposition and build a strong attacking platform. We will look to put a slight wheel on where possible to take the opposition backrow out of play and then attack the space available and look for one on ones in the backline.

Lineout: Five mobile, athletic jumpers allows us to genuinely mix it up on attacking ball. Primarily looking to get the backs on the ball in space. Defensively Hendo to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball looking to make it as messy as possible.

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Scarlets

01. Wyn Jones	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ken Owens (c)	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Samson Lee
04. Jake Ball	11. Steff Evans
05. David Bulbring	12. Scott Williams
06. Aaron Shingler	13. Jonathan Davies
07. James Davies	14. DTH van der Merwe
08. John Barclay	15. Liam Williams

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Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Luke Garrett, 18 Werner Kruger, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Jonathan Evans, 22 Dan Jones, 23 Hadleigh Parkes

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Wasps vs RC Toulon
Ricoh Arena
Light Cloud, 12 degrees, 10mph North Easterly

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Wasps
Manager - Driver

01. Joe Marler	09. Aaron Smith
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Nick Evans (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Sebastian Vahaamahina	11. Marland Yarde
05. Alun Wyn Jones (c)	12. Brad Barritt
06. Tom Wood	13. Henry Slade
07. Fulgence Ouedraogo	14. Anthony Watson
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Rob Kearney

_
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Davey Wilson, 19. Dom Barrow, 20. Sean O'Brien, 21. Sebatien Tillous-Borde, 22. Rhys Priestland, 23. Bryan Habana

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Toulon

01. Florian Fresia	09. Sebastien Tillous-Borde
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Francois Trinh Duc
03. Levan Chilachava
04. Samu Manoa	11. Bryan Habana
05. Mamuka Gorgodze	12. Ma’a Nonu
06. Charles Ollivon	13. Matt Carraro
07. Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe	14. Josua Tuisova
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Leigh Halfpenny

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Replacements: 16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Xavier Chiocci, 18 Manasa Saulo, 19 Liam Gill, 20 Mathieu Bastareaud, 21 Pierre Bernard, 22 Eric Escande, 23 Romain Taofifenua

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Castres Olympique vs Newcastle Falcons
Stade Pierre-Antoine
Sunny Intervals, 12 degrees, 13 mph South Easterly Winds

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Castres Olympique

01. Antoine Tichit	09. Antoine Dupont
02. Jody Jenneker	10. Benjamin Urdapilleta
03. Daniel Kotze
04. Victor Moreaux	11. David Smith
05. Rodrigo Capo Ortega (c)	12. Robert Ebersohn
06. Mathieu Babillot	13. Thomas Combezou
07. Steve Mafi	14. Remi Grosso
08. Alex Tulou	15. Geoffrey Palis

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Replacements: 16 Brice Mach, 17 Mihaita Lazar, 18 Damien Tussac, 19 Thibault Lassale, 20 Anthony Jelonch, 21 Rory Kockott, 22 Maxime Javaux, 23 Florian Vialelle

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Will Chudley
02. Jamie George	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Matt Symons	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Callum Clark	13. Sam James
07. Pablo Matera	14. David Strettle
08. Jack O'Donaghue	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.George McGuigan 17.Nic Auterac 18. Vincent Koch 19. Guido Petti 20. Francois Louw 21. Rhys Webb 22. Owen Farrell  23. Luke Morahan

Attributes
Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown: Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it

Set piece - Look to really put their props under maximum pressure with our strong front row, we've got a great scrummaging lock pairing to help. If no weakness, use as restart. On their ball, mark their second rows and force long throws. On our ball, use the back row options to mix it up.

Breakdown - Back row and hooker to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. Our openside is charged with keeping their main breakdown threat off our ball, and target turnovers if one of their carriers gets isolated

Kicking - Options throughout the backs. Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man. Challenge wings positioning, Wings free to drop back for the counter off their kicks

Attack - Run our attack off 9 who sets the tempo, constantly change the point of attack and get our 10 quick ball.. Challenge their 10 defensively with our power backs cutting in running hard lines at his channel with the full back coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at 10/12 all day long to put them on the back foot off first phase, see how they handle it.  

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use the blitz defence to put them on the back foot,  Serfontein to set the tone in defence, putting pressure on their midfield

Bench - Big carrying forwards throughout and talented, pacy backs to see us home

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Ulster Rugby vs Harlequins
Kingspan Stadium
Sunny Intervals, 12 degrees, 13mph South Easterly Winds

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Ulster

01. Andy Warwick	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Rodney Ah You
04. Alan O’Connor	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Franco van der Merwe	12. Stuart Olding
06. Iain Henderson	13. Luke Marshall
07. Clive Ross	14. Andrew Trimble (c)
08. Sean Reidy	15. Jared Payne

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Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Kyle McCall, 18 Ross Kane, 19 Pete Browne, 20 Roger Wilson, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Jacob Stockdale, 23 Rob Lyttle

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cian Healy	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy (c)	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Ultan Dillane	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Bundee Aki
06. Jack Clifford	13. Robbie Henshaw
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Damien Chouly	15. Damien McKenzie (k)

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16. Rob Webber 17. Richard Barrington 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Bundee Aki

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Connor Murray
02. Dylan Hartley	10. George Ford
03. Zander Fagerson
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Manuel Montero
05. Jonny Gray	12. Weslie Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. Luke Wallace	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Leigh Halfpenny(k)

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Replacements
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Logi Mulipola 18. Jake Cooper-Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Faconda Isa 21. Joe Simpson 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Rieko Ioane

Attributes:
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.

Tactics
Look to continue momentum by playing the game at a high intensity, looking to put Toulouse under pressure from the kickoff and test their defence and hit them hard up front. Look to beat them upfront, dominate the physical battle and breakdown and give our backline some good front ball to attack with. Impact from the bench and Halfpenny's boot to keep the scoreboard ticking over, but we will look for tries and to spread the ball wide when we can.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Danny Care
02. Malcolm Marx	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Dave Attwood	11. Keith Earls
05. Iain Henderson	12. Charlie Ngatai
06. Matt Garvey	13. Joe Marchant
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Tommy Taylor 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Christian Day 20. Steven Luatua 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Curwin Bosch 23. Ruan Combrinck


Attributes:
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it.
Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.  

Attack: We will be playing a high intensity phased attacking game. Look to use a rugby league shape with runners on the gain line and out the back door to force the opposition into making defensive decisions. Numerous playmakers across the back line allows us to constantly change the point of attack and restructure our attacking phases. Care to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

Breakdown: Quick ball is the aim on attack. Mobile pack and physical back line to clear out rucks and ensure we get it. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to give a target to hit. Defensively when the initial contact is won we will look to commit numbers and get over the ball turning it over or at least slowing opposition ball up. Otherwise we will strengthen the line. 

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. Marmion will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Bendy & Earls to cover the background dropping deep to cut off the green grass available to kick into.

Scrum: Strong scrummaging unit in the front row with the support of a powerful 4-8 will look to get the better of the opposition and build a strong attacking platform. We will look to put a slight wheel on where possible to take the opposition backrow out of play and then attack the space available and look for one on ones in the backline.

Lineout: Five mobile, athletic jumpers allows us to genuinely mix it up on attacking ball. Primarily looking to get the backs on the ball in space. Defensively Hendo to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball looking to make it as messy as possible.

Conditions and teams up to date.

Mark

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Cian Healy	09. Ben Youngs
02. Agustin Creevy (c)	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Ultan Dillane	11. Jack Nowell
05. George Kruis	12. Bundee Aki
06. Jack Clifford	13. Robbie Henshaw
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Damien Chouly	15. Damien McKenzie (k)

16. Rob Webber 17. Richard Barrington 18. Tadhg Furlong 19. Pieter Steph Du Toit 20. Jaco Kriel 21. Luke McGrath 22. Juan Martin Hernandez 23. Bundee Aki

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 

Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Lee Dickson
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Tom Taylor
03. Paul Hill
04. Bradley Davies	11. George North
05. Geoff Parling	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Guy Thompson	13. Lionel Mapoe
07. James Haskell	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Simon McIntrye 18. Ben Franks 19. Marcos Kremer 20. David Denton 21. Brad Weber 22. Robbie Fruen 23. Hosea Gear

Tactics:

Defensive:

Blitz Defence - Get in the face of the opposition and allow them very little time on the ball.

Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Attacking:

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch

Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Will Chudley
02. Jamie George	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Davit Kubriashvili
04. Matt Symons	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Callum Clark	13. Sam James
07. Pablo Matera	14. David Strettle
08. Jack O'Donaghue	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.George McGuigan 17.Nic Auterac 18. Vincent Koch 19. Guido Petti 20. Francois Louw 21. Rhys Webb 22. Owen Farrell  23. Luke Morahan

Attributes
Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown: Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it

Set piece - Look to really put their props under maximum pressure with our strong front row, we've got a great scrummaging lock pairing to help. If no weakness, use as restart. On their ball, mark their second rows and force long throws. On our ball, use the back row options to mix it up.

Breakdown - Back row and hooker to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. Our openside is charged with keeping their main breakdown threat off our ball, and target turnovers if one of their carriers gets isolated

Kicking - Options throughout the backs. Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man. Challenge wings positioning, Wings free to drop back for the counter off their kicks

Attack - Run our attack off 9 who sets the tempo, constantly change the point of attack and get our 10 quick ball.. Challenge their 10 defensively with our power backs cutting in running hard lines at his channel with the full back coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at 10/12 all day long to put them on the back foot off first phase, see how they handle it.  

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use the blitz defence to put them on the back foot,  Serfontein to set the tone in defence, putting pressure on their midfield

Bench - Big carrying forwards throughout and talented, pacy backs to see us home

Round Two Results

Saracens 27 - 24 Racing 92
Toulouse 20 - 30 Northampton Saints
Sale Sharks 36 - 20 Scarlets
Wasps 24 - 24 Toulon *match point deducted
Castres Olympique 22 - 28 Newcastle Falcons
Ulster 24 - 31 Harlequins

Saracens 25 - 21 Racing 92
Saracens back row bringing something extra compared to Metro, Haskell becoming tough to rate. Front 5 pretty close lineout will be even. Half backs- not a lot between the pairings. Think Sarries could get some joy in centres and North's form helps them out wide. The blitz defence attribute sees them over the line stopping Goosen getting the ball away quick.

Saracens 24 - 22 Racing 92

Saracens 22 - 24 Racing 92
Hard game for Saracens against second best side in Europe. Think racing dominate front 5 and get the edge needed to win away. Backrow even with Haskell hard to rate. Having all 3 wasps could be good unit for poorly in time. Thompson still learning sarries patterns.
Half backs easy to racing with int players. Dickson not at this level and neither taylor. Lucky it's not carter playing as he is in real life.Centres equal. Devoto been poor for chiefs and mainly 13. Mapoe great for lions but dreadful for SA.Back 3 equal with north on fire and veianu a threat. Armitage not a top player anymore. Imhoff and Dulin stand out for them. Good game but front 5 control and better half backs make the away side win.

Saracens 27 - 26 Racing 92
Racing can match Sarries in the scrum with these lineups, and their props carrying can really test Saracens. However, Saracens outmatch them elsewhere in the pack, with a big advantage in the lineout and breakdown. Racing just edge the halfbacks in this one, and the back 3s equal each other out. The centres just go to Saracens.At home and with a great bench, Sarries win but will need tactics away. 

Saracens 17 - 15 Racing Metro
French team could stifle Sarries, but then they should get an edge in the front five and have more in the setpiece. Metro have the better players in key positions although the impact the home side's bench gives them wins it. 

Saracens 27 - 25 Racing
Racing stronger in the front row with an excellent trio, Sarries have the advantage in the back 5 though. Halfbacks favour Racing, Saracens better in the backs and have more to come off the bench. At home, Sarries edge it

Saracens 23 - 25 Racing
Racing stronger in the pack overall for me and halfbacks. Saracens a step up 11-15 but have no 10 cover and can see them coming unstuck late on.

Saracens 25 - 24 Racing 92
Sarries just have enough quality to pull the game away from Racing, who will be subject to the worse of all French traits, and struggling away from home. Close victory in the end, and will definitely require some back up from Sarries away from home.

Toulouse 22 - 28 Northampton Saints
Saints front row and back row will be too much for Toulouse to handle today. Better ball helps the Saints half backs to dictate the tempo and out wide Saints bring some great form and will be way too much for Toulouse to handle.

Toulouse 18 - 23 Northampton Saints

Toulouse 20 - 27 Northampton Saints
Saints steamroller up front. Ferguson and mako form props in Europe. Ferguson looks special. Add in Billy and schalk and saints walk it. Kolkovin and gray been good for Toulouse but that aside they are an old over the hill pack. Back line a similar mismatch but Toulouse at home always competitive

Toulouse 19 - 30 Northampton Saints
Saints win the set piece battles And have a much better backrow. The work of the back 5 in the Saints pack and their impact in the loose is amazing. The saints backline is nigh on perfect and just lacks a little heft in the midfield. Toulouse might make some inroads, but overall Saints score a load

Toulouse 23 - 25 Northmapton Saints
Not an easy place to travel but Saints packed out well and will eventually come away with the win. Only possible issue for Saints is the scrum with 2 not great scrummaging props and no real line out presence, which could be an issue against better sides. 

Toulouse 23 - 28 Northampton Saints
Toulouse not the force they once were, and just can't see them matching a strong Saints pack in any area. This will set the platform, and Saints backs are superior all round, and its only home advantage and the possibility of an arm wrestle that keeps the score this close

Toulouse 15 - 21 Northampton Saints
Big forward effort allows the Saints halfbacks to control this one.

Toulouse 21 - 28 Northampton Saints
A game where the squad of Northampton will help pull apart the big Toulouse pack late on in the game. The impact from the bench and the backs will be too much to handle for the home side, however they will pose a threat with some dangerous ball runners.

Sale Sharks 30 - 24 Scarlets
Front row even, Sale a step up in the second row. Will be a good back row battle but Sale will edge this with a step up in quality. 9 to Scarlets, 10 to Sale. Centres even with Williams-JD2 pairing up well. Out wide I think Sale will get the better and cleaner ball from their pack to cause Scarlets issues throughout the game.

Sale Sharks 30 - 21 Scarlets

Sale Sharks 29 - 23 Scarlets
Great game very open. Sale dominate pack lose backs easily. Scarlets score a few from deep but sale control

Sale Sharks 36 - 17 Scarlets
Scarlets breakdown heavy backrow can test Sale but lose out in the carrying stakes to a more well
Balanced Sale backrow. Sale otherwise crush the pack, with some great carrying power in the second row and a dominant scrum. Care a bit out of sorts, but the Sale centres look an intriguing combo very testing in attack. Scarlets have a good backline but Sale definitely exceed them and win


Sale Sharks 33-20 Scarlets
Good contest but Sale will eventually get on top of a spirited Scarlets side and get the win. Some slight form issues in the Sale halfbacks to be concerned about.

Sale Sharks 35 - 25 Scarlets
Will be an open game and Sale are one you don't want to give them space. Scarlet will score tries and exploit defences issues in the Sale midfield - bp win all the way, so many great attacking options. 

Sale Sharks 34 - 24 Scarlets
Scarlets have a good backline, but the pack is just powderpuff up against the quality that Sale possess. Easy home win.

Sale Sharks 31 - 24 Scarlets
A similar story to the Saints game, but Sharks just have too much up front for the Scarlets to cope with. This will affect the quick possession that they can give their back line and limit their input on the game. Sharks much rotated, but just enough quality for the bonus point victory.

Wasps 24 - 23 Toulon
Wasps will get some joy in the front row, second row is slightly closer and back row even. Half backs not alot between them but out wide I think Toulon could cause some issues even with Barrit's defense. Not sure which way to call this, looking at bench Wasps may just sneak past.

Wasps 23 - 23 Toulon

Wasps 22 - 22 Toulon
No manager so draw

Wasps 26 - 18 Toulon
Toulon give Wasps a tough fight from 4-8 but Wasps get a vital edge in the front row. I like Smith - Evans as a combo, and Toulon's combo seem stifled for them. Wasps edge the centres with a bit more imagination and have a world class back 3 and win at home though will need tactics against them away or against the slightly more imaginative French sides

Wasps 25 - 27 Toulon
Toulon not fully firing, but against a rudderless Wasps they will take the win. 

Wasps 20 - 22 Toulon

Wasps 23 - 23 Toulon
Toulon still have a pack to go toe to toe with anyone, and I don't see Wasps being able to dominate them here, and will pretty much cancel each other out. The backs are very well matched, and its difficult to split them without any tactics

Wasps 24 - 21 Toulon
Bit more quality at halfback although no 9 cover (Tillous Borde playing for Toulon) and a good scrum advantage enough for Wasps

Wasps 23 - 24 Toulon
Toulon would be looking to get their campaign back on track and with their powerful forwards, make if difficult for the Wasps pack to compete. The Wasps back line have bags of magic to pull something out of nothing, but with little quality possession, struggle to make more of a winnable game.

Castres 18 - 28 Newcastle Falcons
Great front 5 will provide the platform for a solid back row from Falcons to play some heads up rugby. Controlled half backs will give good ball to a very exciting backline bringing great form and a great victory for Falcons here.

Castres 19-18 Falcons

Castres 19 - 26 Newcastle Falcons
Mismatch up front and Falcons centre partnership aside which does not work better all over. Great away win

Castres 17 - 26 Newcastle Falcons
Castres are outmatched  by the Newcastle pack, with a few players that can match a few of Newcastle's but lacking overall quality. They have danger in the backs but with a good 10, a star in Piutau and a better platform, Newcastle win.

Castres 27 - 24 Newcastle Falcons
I'm not sure Falcons have quite enough in the pack and halfbacks to get the win here. Castres are a tough outfit at home and I can't see Falcons seeing enough of the ball. 

Castres 23 - 22 Newcastle Falcons
Hardest place to go and get a win. If Farrell started think they would have won it. 

Castres 21 - 30 Newcastle Falcons
Quality of the Newcastle bench sees them pull away late on to make this comfortable.

Castres 23 - 26 Newcastle Falcons
Rearguard action in this one for Falcons, as their constant graft from the forwards, runs the big Castres pack off their feet. It's not all their own way, however they have just enough to hold on for a big away victory in their pool.

Ulster 22 - 26 Harlequins
Quins pack will be too strong for Ulster. Half backs go to Ulster but they won't get the good ball they need. Pretty even outside this but I think that Quins will nick a good win.

Ulster 25 - 23 Harlequins

Ulster 21 - 24 Harlqeuins
Ravenhill tough place to play. Healy hard to rate but that aside quins better in pack man for man. Backs a bit more even but quins back 3 more potent and score the winners.

Ulster 15 - 35 Harlequins
Ulster's pack works better than the sum of its parts but Quins have far more class and flair. They should edge every forward battle. The backlines are closer with a good Ulster backline, but Quins have quality attacking halfbacks and game breakers all over the pitch and smash them

Ulster 29 - 30 Harlequins
Real nail biter this one. If Ulster were the side of 2 years ago, they'd take this one by at least a score, but it's a really tight game. Big form problems for Quins at 1, 6, 7 which really drags them down to a dog fight. The Quins backs bar the 10 are quite special though and will just allow them to steal a thrilling win. 

Ulster 20 - 18 Harlequins
Ulster do look very hard to beat at Ravenhill, not sure the Quins 9/10 combination works, as no10 needs a bit more control and win territory battle. Great centre combination. Also named Aki twice, so man down on the bench. 

Ulster 28 - 33 Harlequins
This would be a great game to watch, both teams have excellent backlines, but Quins will eventually just take a stranglehold on the game with the strength of their pack. I'd back Ulster to get a few tries, but Quins will ease to a win late on

Ulster 20 - 30 Harlequins
Going through the sides only Henderson, Pienaar and Jackson would trouble the Quins starting side. Comfortable win even with the bench short (Aki named twice)

Ulster 28 - 31 Harlequins
The tie of the round, and a high scoring one of that too. Quins have a better set piece, the ability of the Ulster back line to create chances, just means you can't pin them down. The control of Hernandez of the bench will help settle the Quins nerves and steer them towards a big away win.

Round Prediction Bonuses:

Full: Fluxy, Matt, Prop, Bam, Chris, SJE, Pooly, CJ
Score: Nick
None: Steve, Driver and CJB