Champions Cup - Round Five

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Harlequins vs Ulster Rugby 
Twickenham Stoop
Sunny, 5 degrees, 12 mph North Westerly Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Luke McGrath
02. Scott Baldwin	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Luke Romano	11. Keelan Giles
05. Ultan Dillane	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Damien Chouly (c)	13. Bundee Aki
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Yoann Huget
08. Jack Clifford	15. Mike Haley

. 
16. Rob Webber 17.Ethan Waller 18. John Afoa 19. George Kruis 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Ben Youngs 22.Elton Jantjies 23. James O'Connor

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. [/b]

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Ulster

01. Kyle McCall	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Wiehahn Herbst
04. Alan O’Connor	11. Louis Ludik
05. Franco van der Merwe	12. Stuart McCloskey
06. Iain Henderson	13. Luke Marshall
07. Chris Henry	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sean Reidy	15. Charles Piutau

|
Replacements: 16. Rob Herring, 17. Andrew Warnick, 18. Rodney Ah You, 19. Kieren Treadwell, 20. Clive Ross, 21. Paul Marshall, 22. Darren Cave, 23. Jacob Stockdale

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Newcastle Falcons vs Castres Olympique
Kingston Park
Sunny, 3 degrees, 14 mph North Westerly Winds

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Will Chudley
02. Camille Chat	10. Owen Farrell
03. Charlie Faumuina
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Matt Symons	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Elliot Dixon	13. Sam James
07. Callum Clark	14. David Strettle
08. Jordi Murphy (c)	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.George McGuigan 17.Matt Mullan 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Lood De Jager 20. Kieran Read 21. Rhys Webb 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Ben Smith

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

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Castres Olympique

01. Mihaita Lazar	09. Rory Kockott
02. Marc-Antoine Rallier	10. Benjamin Urdapilleta
03. Damien Tussac
04. Loic Jacquet	11. Horacio Agulla
05. Victor Moreaux (c)	12. Florian Vialelle
06. Yannick Caballero	13. Afusipa Taumoepeau
07. Steve Mafi	14. Julien Caminat
08. Anthony Jelonch	15. Geoffrey Palis

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Replacements: 16. Brice Mach, 17. Tudor Stroe, 18. Yohann Montes, 19. Thibault Lassalle, 20. Alexandre Bias, 21. T.Antoine Dupont, 22. Julien Dumora, 23. Pierre Berard

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Scarlets vs Sale Sharks
Parc y Scarlets
Light Rain Showers, 7 degrees, 16 mph North Westerly Winds

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Scarlets

01. Rob Evans	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ken Owens (c)	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Samson Lee
04. Jake Ball	11. Steff Evans
05. Tadhg Beirne	12. Scott Williams
06. Aaron Shingler	13. Hadleigh Parkes
07. Will Boyde	14. DTH van der Merwe
08. John Barclay	15. Liam Williams

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Replacements: 16. Ryan Elias, 17. Wyn Jones, 18. Werner Kruger, 19. Lewis Rawlins, 20. Josh Macleod, 21. Jonathan Evans, 22. Aled Thomas, 23. Gareth Owen,

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Faf De Klerk
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Bernard Foley
03. Martin Moore
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Iain Henderson	12. Charlie Ngatai
06. Sean McMahon	13. Joe Marchant
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. CJ Stander	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Atu Moli 19. Christian Day 20. Steven Luatua 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Quade Cooper 23. Seta Taiminavula

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. De Klerk 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. De Klerk will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Zebo & Bendy 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.

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RC Toulon vs Wasps 
Stade Mayol
Sunny, 11 degrees, 13 mph North Westerly Winds

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Toulon

01. Xavier Chocci	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Pierre Bernard
03. Levan Chilachava
04. Romain Taofifenua	11. Bryan Habana
05. Mamuka Gorgodze	12. Ma’a Nonu
06. Charles Ollivon	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Juandre Kruger	14. James O'Connor
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Leigh Halfpenny

|
Replacements: 16. Jean Charles Orioli, 17. Florian Fresia, 18. Marcel Van der Merwe, 19. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20. Jocelino Suta, 21. Maxime Mermoz, 22. Eric Escande, 23. Samu Manoa,

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Ben Moon	09. Sebastian Tillous Borde
02. Harry Thacker	10. Rhys Priestland(k)
03. Dave Wilson
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Josh Charnley
05. Dom Barrow	12. Luther Burrell
06. Blake Gibson	13. Semu Kerevi
07. Fulgence Quedraogo	14. Max Malins
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Tim Nani Williams

_
16. Tatafu Polota Nau, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Milco Louw, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Tom Wood, 21. Will Homer, 22. Paul Jordaan, 23. Marland Yarde

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Tactics
Attack:
- Good athleticism in the pack. Looking for them to be mobile and get around the park, ensuring good numbers at every breakdown to give clean ball
- Mix up forward runners off 9 and 10 to give go forward and tie in defence. When space opens up, go wide and utilise pace of back three.
Defence:
- Ensure guards and body guards at every breakdown, no gaps in midfield.
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence

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Northampton Saints vs Toulouse
Franklin Gardens
Sunny, 3 degrees, 14 mph North Westerly Winds

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Joe Simpson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Lima Sopoaga (k)
03. Zander Fagerson
04. Joe Launchbury (c)	11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray	12. Manu Tuilagi
06. Schalk Burger	13. Elliot Daly
07. James Davies	14. Adam Ashley-Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Jamie Shillcock

.
Replacements
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Logi Mulipola 18. Jake Cooper-Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Faconda Isa 21. Conor Murray 22. George Ford 23. Wesley Fofana

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
To play the game at a high tempo and speed from the outset, looking to pressurise the French team who have not been the best travelling team and look to stretch their defence early. We've picked a very physical pack, but have opted to play James Davies for his link up play as we want to move the big French pack around and create space outwide - Sopoaga and Tuilagi get starts as we will use Tuilagi to punch the ball up the middle and create space for Daly, AAC and Savea to exploit. Opted to start one of the most exciting backs - Jamie Shillcock - at no15 and given him license to attack from the back.

Place the French hooker under pressure at the setpiece and not let the away side get any good ball to play off of. Will look to really up the tempo and physicality as we unload our bench in the second half.

Our pack recalls 4 players to combat the French power and will look to really make use of this freshness to pull the French pack all over the place and make them unable to play at our pace.

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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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Racing 92 vs Saracens
Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir,
Light Cloud, 4 degrees, 8 mph Westerly Winds

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Racing 92

01. Viliamu Afatia	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Camille Chat	10. Johan Goosen
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Gerbrandt Grobler	11. Marc Andreu
05. Francois van der Merwe	12. Anthony Tuitavake
06. Wenceslas Lauret	13. Casey Laulala
07. Chris Masoe	14. Teddy Thomas
08. Leone Nakarawa	15. Brice Dulin

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Replacements: 16. Dimitri Szarzewski, 17. Eddy Ben Arous, 18. Cedate Gomes Sa, 19. Thibault Dubarry, 20. Antonie Claassen, 21. Xavier Chauveau, 22. Benjamin Dambielle, 23. Joe Rokocoko

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Tom Taylor
03. Tom Francis
04. Marcos Kremer	11. Hosea Gear
05. Geoff Parling	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Guy Thompson	13. Robbie Fruen
07. Sam Underhill	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Dave Denton	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Simon McIntyre 18. Paul Hill 19. Bradley Davies 20. Thierry Dusatoir 21. Lee Dickson 22. Lionel Mapoe 23. Nathan Earle

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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Ulster

01. Kyle McCall	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Paddy Jackson
03. Wiehahn Herbst
04. Alan O’Connor	11. Louis Ludik
05. Franco van der Merwe	12. Stuart McCloskey
06. Iain Henderson	13. Luke Marshall
07. Chris Henry	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Sean Reidy	15. Charles Piutau

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Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Andrew Warnick, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Kieren Treadwell, 20 Clive Ross, 21 Paul Marshall, 22 Darren Cave, 23 Jacob Stockdale

Castres Olympique

01. Mihaita Lazar	09. Rory Kockott
02. Marc-Antoine Rallier	10. Benjamin Urdapilleta
03. Damien Tussac
04. Loic Jacquet	11. Horacio Agulla
05. Victor Moreaux (c)	12. Florian Vialelle
06. Yannick Caballero	13. Afusipa Taumoepeau
07. Steve Mafi	14. Julien Caminat
08. Anthony Jelonch	15. Geoffrey Palis

|
Replacements: 16.Brice Mach, 17.Tudor Stroe, 18.Yohann Montes, 19.Thibault Lassalle, 20.Alexandre Bias, 21. T.Antoine Dupont, 22.Julien Dumora, 23.Pierre Berard,

Scarlets

01. Rob Evans	09. Gareth Davies
02. Ken Owens (c)	10. Rhys Patchell
03. Samson Lee
04. Jake Ball	11. Steff Evans
05. Tadhg Beirne	12. Scott Williams
06. Aaron Shingler	13. Hadleigh Parkes
07. Will Boyde	14. DTH van der Merwe
08. John Barclay	15. Liam Williams

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Replacements: 16.Ryan Elias, 17.Wyn Jones, 18.Werner Kruger, 19.Lewis Rawlins, 20.Josh Macleod, 21.Jonathan Evans, 22.Aled Thomas, 23.Gareth Owen,

Toulon

01. Xavier Chocci	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Guilhem Guirado	10. Pierre Bernard
03. Levan Chilachava
04. Romain Taofifenua	11. Bryan Habana
05. Mamuka Gorgodze	12. Ma’a Nonu
06. Charles Ollivon	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Juandre Kruger	14. James O'Connor
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Leigh Halfpenny

|
Replacements: 16.Jean Charles Orioli, 1.7Florian Fresia, 18.Marcel Van der Merwe, 19.Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, 20.Jocelino Suta, 21.Maxime Mermoz, 22.Eric Escande, 23.Samu Manoa,

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

|
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

Racing 92

01. Viliamu Afatia	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Camille Chat	10. Johan Goosen
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Gerbrandt Grobler	11. Marc Andreu
05. Francois van der Merwe	12. Anthony Tuitavake
06. Wenceslas Lauret	13. Casey Laulala
07. Chris Masoe	14. Teddy Thomas
08. Leone Nakarawa	15. Brice Dulin

|
Replacements: 16.Dimitri Szarzewski, 17.Eddy Ben Arous, 18.Cedate Gomes Sa, 19.Thibault Dubarry, 20.Antonie Claassen, 21.Xavier Chauveau, 22.Benjamin Dambielle, 23.Joe Rokocoko,

Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola 09. Joe Simpson
02. Schalk Brits 10. Lima Sopoaga (k)
03. Zander Fagerson
04. Joe Launchbury (c) 11. Julian Savea
05. Jonny Gray 12. Manu Tuilagi
06. Schalk Burger 13. Elliot Daly
07. James Davies 14. Adam Ashley Cooper
08. Billy Vunipola 15. Jamie Shillcock
.
Replacements
16. Ashley Johnson 17. Logi Mulipola 18. Jake Cooper-Wooley 19. Paul Jedrasiak 20. Faconda Isa 21. Conor Murray 22. George Ford 23. Wesley Fofana

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
To play the game at a high tempo and speed from the outset, looking to pressurise the French team who have not been the best travelling team and look to stretch their defence early. We've picked a very physical pack, but have opted to play James Davies for his link up play as we want to move the big French pack around and create space outwide - Sopoaga and Tuilagi get starts as we will use Tuilagi to punch the ball up the middle and create space for Daly, AAC and Savea to exploit. Opted to start one of the most exciting backs - Jamie Shillcock - at no15 and given him license to attack from the back.

Place the French hooker under pressure at the setpiece and not let the away side get any good ball to play off of. Will look to really up the tempo and physicality as we unload our bench in the second half.

Our pack recalls 4 players to combat the French power and will look to really make use of this freshness to pull the French pack all over the place and make them unable to play at our pace.

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Alec Hepburn	09. Will Chudley
02. Camille Chat	10. Owen Farrell
03. Charlie Faumuina
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Matt Symons	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Elliot Dixon	13. Sam James
07. Callum Clark	14. David Strettle
08. Jordi Murphy (c)	15. Rob Miller

:-
16.George McGuigan 17.Matt Mullan 18. Davit Kubriashvili 19. Lood De Jager 20. Kieran Read 21. Rhys Webb 22. Paddy Jackson 23. Ben Smith

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

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Alex Waller	09. Morgan Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Tom Taylor
03. Tom Francis
04. Marcos Kremer	11. Hosea Gear
05. Geoff Parling	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Guy Thompson	13. Robbie Fruen
07. Sam Underhill	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Dave Denton	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Simon McIntyre 18. Paul Hill 19. Bradley Davies 20. Thierry Dusatoir 21. Lee Dickson 22. Lionel Mapoe 23. Nathan Earle

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

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Luke McGrath
02. Scott Baldwin	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Luke Romano	11. Keelan Giles
05. Ultan Dillane	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Damien Chouly (c)	13. Bundee Aki
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Yoann Huget
08. Jack Clifford	15. Mike Haley

16. Rob Webber 17.Ethan Waller 18. John Afoa 19. George Kruis 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Ben Youngs 22.Elton Jantjies 23. James O'Connor

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. [/b]

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Jack McGrath	09. Faf De Klerk
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Bernard Foley
03. Martin Moore
04. Dave Attwood	11. Simon Zebo
05. Iain Henderson	12. Charlie Ngatai
06. Sean McMahon	13. Joe Marchant
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. CJ Stander	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Atu Moli 19. Christian Day 20. Steven Luatua 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Quade Cooper 23. Seta Taiminavula

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. De Klerk 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. De Klerk will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Zebo & Bendy 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.

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Ben Moon	09. Sebastian Tillous Borde
02. Harry Thacker	10. Rhys Priestland(k)
03. Dave Wilson
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Josh Charnley
05. Dom Barrow	12. Luther Burrell
06. Blake Gibson	13. Semu Kerevi
07. Fulgence Quedraogo	14. Max Malins
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Tim Nani Williams

_
16. Tatafu Polota Nau, 17. Marcos Ayerza, 18. Milco Louw, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Tom Wood, 21. Will Homer, 22. Paul Jordaan, 23. Marland Yarde

---

Tactics
Attack:
- Good athleticism in the pack. Looking for them to be mobile and get around the park, ensuring good numbers at every breakdown to give clean ball
- Mix up forward runners off 9 and 10 to give go forward and tie in defence. When space opens up, go wide and utilise pace of back three.
Defence:
- Ensure guards and body guards at every breakdown, no gaps in midfield.
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence

The pun will catch up in a moment, but as I've been snowed under at work. I have forgotten to organise if someone else could do results this weekend and the threads next week - as I'm away skiing next week (for the first time!   )

I don't mind doing results if every one could wait a week, unless someone else is happy to take the PM results and update. 

Regarding threads next week, likewise I can get them up now, but won't be updated until I'm back, hence pushing results back a little. I'm not worried if we eat into the Anglo Welsh cup too much, obviously we can catch up relatively quickly once I'm back!

Predictions open and to me please guys.

Harlequins 34 - 33 Ulster Rugby

Harlequins 32 - 28 Ulster Rugby

Harlequins 25 - 24 Ulster Rugby

Harlequins 30 - 22 Ulster Rugby
Barrington and Armitage aside, it's a very good pack for Quins and they'll get on top early. Nice backline and enough to see off the game with a tbp.

Harlequins 22 - 20 Ulster Rugby
Looks like a bruising game, Quins can be got at in the front row, whilst Ulster halfbacks could give them an edge there, but home advantage will be key. Backlines look very well matched, Piutau is the standout back but Quins backrow more mobile and Huget in good form. 

Harlequins 26 - 27 Ulster Rugby

Harlequins 30 - 29 Ulster Rugby

Harlequins 28 - 21 Ulster Rugby
Tough game and one that is nip and tuck. Can see pack being 50/50. Think quins win this from. The bench with them having game changers. Myler is a real issue for quins at the top level but that aside they have strength in depth to win this.

Harlequins 27 - 24 Ulster Rugby
Quins pack just too strong even though the Ulster side have some good forwards. Behind the scrum, Quins quality will tell

Newcastle Falcons 26 - 25 Castres Olympique

Newcastle Falcons 30 - 23 Castres Olympique

Newcastle Falcons 27 - 26 Castres Olympique

Newcastle Falcons 29 - 20 Castres Olympique
Not the strongest line up for Falcons but more than enough to see this one home. It may take a bit of time to get on top, but once there, they'll put the points on. 

Newcastle Falcons 28 - 16 Castres Olympique
Farrell is in such great form at the moment and best no10 in Europe by a distance. With the power in the home sides pack, he'll put them in the right areas and keep the scoreboard ticking over. With the impact they get from Read, De Jager and Smith this will be a strong win, but Castres will cause problems at the scrum.

Newcastle Falcons 30 - 29 Castres Olympique

Newcastle Falcons 23 - 22 Castres Olympique

Newcastle Falcons 35 - 34 Castres Olympique 

Newcastle Falcons 36 - 5 Castres Olympique
Castres real mis match and castre don't travel well. Really sharp Newcastle side with Murphy not the best at 8. As game gets older and benches come on then the gulf increases with Newcastle having a top bench 

Scarlets 25 - 24 Sale Sharks

Scarlets 27 - 28 Sale Sharks

Scarlets 26 - 27 Sale Sharks

Scarlets 19 - 26 Sale Sharks
Some fantastic results for Scarlets lately but I can't see Sale suffering the same fate. Scarlets don't have a combo better on the pitch so it'll be hard night for them.

Scarlets 21 - 23 Sale Sharks
Scarlets playing very well in Europe this season and Sale have gone with a weakened backline, which could struggle defensively. Sale pack is too strong though, with Stander being the key to getting through the Scarlets defensive line. 

Scarlets 27 - 28 Sale Sharks

Scarlets 20 - 21 Sale Sharks

Scarlets 22 - 23 Sale Sharks 

Scarlets 23 - 23 Sale Sharks
Can't separate the teams here. Scarlets are great at home and have a style that works. Sale pick a weakened pack and struggle to get on top. Think scrum wise the sale pack will struggle with Moore and Taylor. Sale take second rows. Backrow even with kvesic not playing well this year and the scarlet backrow being a unit that works for them they will be better on the deck than sale.

In the backs again hard to split with Half backs one a piece scarlet midfield better but not as good back 3.


Scarlets 20 - 32 Sale Sharks
Sale the best side in our league, and far too strong for a poor looking Scarlets pack. Sale dominate this and win with ease on the road

RC Toulon 28 - 27 Wasps

RC Toulon 25 - 24 Wasps

RC Toulon 23 - 22 Wasps

RC Toulon 26 - 21 Wasps
Toulon not at their best but they're a wounded animal at home. Wasps just taking it a bit lightly with plenty of changes which will cost them.

RC Toulon 28 - 18 Wasps
Toulon pack is too powerful for Wasps and can't see the away sides backline getting a good supply of ball. Toulon backs have a lot of go forward and Wasps defence will do well to keep them out. 

RC Toulon 23 - 24 Wasps

RC Toulon 26 - 25 Wasps

RC Toulon 24 - 23 Wasps 

RC Toulon 28 - 20 Wasps
Toulon have quality and experience everywhere and despite struggling this year have too much. Wasps get to blood English players and charnley etc get experience but with them also resting players they will get nothing from this game.

RC Toulon 26 - 24 Wasps
Toulon pack is as strong as ever, and Wasps are improving fast but just come up a bit short up front. A stronger Wasps backline may have made the difference

Northampton Saints 28 - 27 Toulouse

Northampton Saints 28 - 27 Toulouse

Northampton Saints 16 - 15 Toulouse

Northampton Saints 28 - 24 Toulouse
Saints have been a little up and down of late but will have too much for a solid Tolouse side. Hard to rate Manu in an otherswise good looking line-up.

Northampton Saints 26 - 25 Toulouse

Northampton Saints 22 - 21 Toulouse

Northampton Saints 29 - 28 Toulouse 

Northampton Saints 32 - 12 Toulouse
Toulouse have a weakened side out and nothing to play for. Can see them giving a typically French performance. Saints super strong and favourites for the cup in my view with their strong English contingent. Question playing tuilagi who I struggle to rate anymore


Northampton Saints 34 - 24 Toulouse
The euro specialists dominate the tackle area against a poor looking French back row. Despite some form issues, the backs have enough class to take advantage

Racing 92 26 - 27 Saracens

Racing 92 23 - 24 Saracens

Racing 92 22 - 21 Saracens

Racing 92 29 - 24 Saracens
Racing looked very strong this weekend and will out power and muscle the away sides pack, Sarries resting a few players and the impact from the Racing bench will see them through at the end. 

Racing 92 30 - 31 Saracens

Racing 92 22 - 22 Saracens

Racing 92 26 - 25 Saracens

Racing 92 21 - 15 Saracens 
Close game again. Racing not been great this year but have a great team and players in key positions that sees them win at home. Saracens chosen to rest players and playing people like Denton and underhill who are hard to rate having been out so long.

Front 5 taken fairly easily by racing and this sets the platform. Racing shade backrow due to Saracens players being out so long but it is a poorly balanced racing backrow but one with power. Backs fairly even with machanaud vs parra a great battle.

Saracens have more kicking options which will help in the game. Although devoto in middle of a really poor season in Exeter he does offer better balance. Back 3 even with racing having better attacking threat but sarries defensively better. Bench to sarries but the better pack sees racing win more ball and the game

Racing 92 27 - 24 Saracens
Game of the round. Racing not been at their best, but Sarries look a bit weak in the front 5 which is never helpful in France. Tough ask on the road in France, and Racing hold on

I sent in predos fluxy..

"underhill who are hard to rate having been out so long"

MOTM against Falcons last week, think he's been back about 2/3 months.

Has he had much game time though? Every time I've seen Ospreys play they start Tipuric as he's in such good form, with Underhill on the bench apart from when they've rested Tipuric, who has got to be in line for a Lions spot if he keeps playing that well.

He was motm against Falcons at the weekend.

Not having a go, just pointing out hes not currently injured.

Could get him a better team to be motm against though

Great that Bath signed him, looking forward to seeing him in the AP, backrow of Louw, Underhill and Falateau is some unit.

Better than the mighty Falcons? I think you'll struggle.

He's some prospect, very unique for an English flanker. Lets see how he goes next season, Eddie has said he's off to Argentina in the Summer.

Glos will regret every letting underhill go.
Great prospect.

Still very young and yet has played quite a lot of top
Class rugby.
Think he will get less
Injuries as he grows in to his body.

Meant to have a
Superb attitude. Every coach who has ever worked with him praises him: