Aviva Premiership Round 3 - AI's

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Leicester Tigers vs Worcester Warriors
Welford Road
Scattered Showers - 7 degrees, 5mph Westerly Winds

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Leicester Tigers

01. Ellis Genge	09. Ben Youngs
02. Tom Youngs	10. Matt Toomua
03. Logovi'i Mulipola
04. Dominic Barrow	11. Jonny May
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Matt Smith
06. Brad Shields	13. Matthew Tait
07. Brendon O'Connor	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Sione Kalamafoni	15. Telusa Veainu

.
Subs: 16. Harry Thacker 17. Kyle Traynor 18. Pat Cilliers 19. Harry Wells 20. Mike Williams 21. Sam Harrison 22. Joe Ford 23. Manu Tuilagi
:-
Tactics:
- Solid set piece to set tone and provide solid platform
- Look to play high intensity rugby with a drift defence, not allowing for space for the opp
- BOC to attack the breakdown when it's on
- Physical pack to win collision and numerous carrying options to get us over the gain line
- Keep the intensity up with a strong bench
- Get Telusa Veainu into the game whenever possible, he's a match winner in these conditions

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1. Ethan Waller
2. Jack Singleton
3. Nick Schonert
4. Donnacha O’Callaghan
5. Guido Petti
6. Peter O'Mahoney
7. Sam Lewis
8. David Denton
9. Francois Hougaard
10. Jamie Shillock
11. Dean Hammond
12. Ryan Mills
13. Ben Te'o
14. Josh Adams
15. Chris Pennell

16. Joe Taufete'e
17. Eddy Ben Arous
18. Biyi Alo
19. Will Spencer
20. Michael Hopper
21. Jonny Arr
22. Beauden Barrett
23. Wynard Olivier


- Build around strong set piece, looking to use as platform to dominate
- Bring an intense drift defence
- Keep up the intensity off the bench
- Look for lots of big carries, keep it simple.
- Hougaard to control the game from the 9, run off him
- Bring on an all star bench late

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Newcastle Falcons vs Gloucester
Kingston Park
Sunny Intervals - 7 degrees, 8mph Westerly Winds

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Sam Lockwood	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Santiago Socino	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Callum Green	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Iain Henderson	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Steven Luatua	13. Maxine Mermoz
07. Nili Latu (c)	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Opeti Fonua	15. Alex Tait

:-
16. Kyle Cooper 17. Rob Vickers 18. David Wilson 19. Sean Robinson 20. Mark Wilson 21. Sam Stuart 22. Craig Willis 23. DTH Van Der Merwe

TACTICS


- Blitz defence with good line speed with 9 and 15 sweeping.
- Big runners carrying close to the ruck but looking to keep the ball alive with offloads to runners on their shoul

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Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Willi Heinz
02. James Hanson	10. Billy Burns
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Savage	11. Henry Purdy
05. Jeremy Thrush	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Jon Davies
07. Jacob Rowan	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Ruan Ackerman	15. Jason Woodward

_
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Ben Morgan 21. Aaron Smith 22. Owen Williams 23. Tom Marshall

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Tactics
*Look to grind them down in the front 5 with a hefty pack not afraid to do dirty work,
*Forwards to work in pods round the corner 2 phases then wide and hit gaps,
*JD2 and 12T to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Burns to look to get quick ball out, if it isn't on then tactical kicking to corners,
*Defence led by JD2 and with a back rower on Burns' shoulder to assist tackle and get over the ball,
*Look to slow them down with a well balanced back row,
*We have brought in Savage and Rowan to add options to our lineout.
*Use bench wisely with experience to come on and pace in the backs to target tired legs especially Smith who will be given a run out towards the end,
*Keep the scoreboard ticking over.

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Sale Sharks vs Northampton Saints
AJ Bell Stadium
Sunny Intervals - 7 degrees, 3mph Westerly Winds

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Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk
02. Rob Webber	10. Nicolas Sanchez (k)
03. Will Griff John
04. Bryn Evans	11. Byron McGuigan
05. Josh Beaumont (c)	12. Sam James
06. Ben Curry	13. Jack Goodhue
07. Tom Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. Mike Haley

16. Marc Jones 17. Greg Bateman 18. Rabah Slimani 19. Jono Ross 20. Judicael Cancoriet 21. Antoine Dupont 22. James O'Connor 23. Will Addison

- International quality at 9 and 10 to control the game. Du Klerk to control tempo and Sanchez to control territory and direction of attacks.

- Use our pack to get use over the gain line. Offload just before contact to help us carry over the gain line to keep momentum. Forwards to carry primarily of 9, 10 and 12.

- Look to get the ball wide when we have go forward and the Saints defence is disorganised. Create space for our outside backs in the outside channels. Try to create mismatches with opposition forwards.

- Evans, Beaumont and Curry's to pressure Saints line out at the middle and tail to prevent clean and quick ball off the top.

- Back row to attack the breakdown to turn the ball over or force penalties. Punish isolated carriers. Chop tackles to allow the first man to attack the ball.

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Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Christian Day	11. Ben Foden
05. Michael Paterson	12. Luther Burrell
06. Teimana Harrison	13. Rob Horne
07. Tom Wood	14. George North
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

.
16. Reece Marshall, 17. Paul Hill, 18. Campese Ma'afu, 19. Api Ratuniyarawa, 20. Jamie Gibson, 21. Nic Groom, 22. Piers Francis, 23. Ken Pisi

Tactics

- Use Isa as the main carrier, supported by Harrison, Haywood, Wood
- Burrell as a crash ball option and decoy runner
- Sexton to kick all pens for goal in range, otherwise go for corner
- Bring North off his wing to look for work
- Use Norths height with cross field kicks
- Goode to act as second playmaker on occasion

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Bath Rugby vs Harlequins
The Rec
Sunny Intervals - 8 degrees, 4mph Westerly Winds

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Bath Rugby team to host Harlequins...

15.Anthony Watson
14.Semseasa Rokoduguni
13.Jonathan Joseph
12.Robbie Henshaw
11.Aled Brew
10.Freddie Burns
9.Kahn Fotuali'i

1.Nick Auterac
2.Tom Dunn
3.Ramiro Herrera
4.Charlie Ewels (C)
5.Luke Charteris
6.Francois Louw (C)
7.Sam Underhill
8.Zac Mercer

16.Jack Walker 17.Nathan Catt 18.Henry Thomas 19.Dave Attwood 20.Matt Garvey 21.Max Clark 22.Chris Cook 23.Matt Banahan

• Bath have picked a big physical pack to take on bath and disrupt game.
• Plenty of carriers and work rate in pack, Underhill to target isolated runners for the turnover
• Kahn to look for the short runners following his snipe the generate quick ball to slow Saracens line speed down and isolate runners.
• Freddie Burn’s to chip the ball over the top and in behind Visser specifically to test his positioning out.
• Using a blitz defence when short on numbers to put pressure on Marcus Smith.
• Pick and Game will be effective for us today and Burns will look to put us in the corners but moving the ball when its on.
• Burns to punish Quins indiscipline’s with shots at goal.
• Charteris/Ewels to go up on Quins lineout and put pressure on

• Wind up Kyle Synclare and see how he reacts to upset the pack.
  

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Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Mark Lambert	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith (k)
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Tim Visser
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Francis Saili
06. James Chisholm	13. Joe Marchant
07. Jack Clifford	14. Marlon Yarde
08. Mat Luamanu	15. Mike Brown

:-
16. Joe Marler 17. Dave Ward 18. Will Collier 19. Ben Glynn 20. Renaldo Bothma 21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. Demetri Catrakalis  23. Alofa Alofa 


TACTICS


Breakdown:
  
Focus on clearing out Bath in the tight areas with Clifford chasing the ball as a fetcher in the wide channels. As always unit work is key


Attack:


Running threats throughout our side brought into play by our attacking 9-10, with Smith playing flat and attacking the line, with depth in our line.


Set up the platform to move the point of attack with our flair 9-10, using the power of Brown and Yarde on the carry, and pop balls to carriers like Sinckler/Coles/Luamanu.


Look to isolate Watson under the high ball against our kick chase and pressure from our international back 3, and pressurise their wingers who aren't best defending kicks.


Back up plan is to go tight with a powerful pack and Cataraliks a tight kicking 10 on the bench


Defence:


Blitz led by Saili with 9 sweeping and tight fringe defence. Luamanu looking to bully Burns.


Set Piece:


Think scrum is an area of strength, looking to stay safe on our ball and get the ball out with a little forward momentum and run moves off the back. Attack Auterac on their ball.


Marler on the bench to add further scrumming power 


Against a line with Charteris, mostly take ball off the top and keeping it basic.


Other:


Kick for tries not for points most of the time. Look to kick deep and pressurise their wings on the turn.

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London Irish vs Wasps
Madejski Stadium
Cloudy - 7 degrees, 4mph Westerly Winds

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London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Ben Franks	09. Ben Meehan
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Petrus Du Plessis
04. Franco Van der Merwe	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Johnny Williams
06. Mike Coman	13. Tom Fowlie
07. Blair Cowan	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordie Barrett

:-
16. David Paice 17. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Sebastian De Chaves 20. Max Northcote-Green 21. Scott Steele 22. Theo Brophy-Clews 23. Joe Cokanasiga

Tactics:

Target the scrum with our props, Franks to put real pressure on Paul Doran Jones, Retallick scrummaging behind him to add heft

We've got very strong carriers in Retallick, Aumua, Treviranus and Williams - use this to punch holes in their defence from the first minute, especially tight to the ruck

Once we've made some space and dragged their defenders in, Cruden/Barrett to split the field and look to spin the ball wide to get Fowlie and the wings ball in space

Target their lineout with Retallick and VDM - See if Taylor gets the yips when pressure is put on their throw

Defend with the blitz - we're not scared by their pace out wide so willing to take the chance their wings get outside us - just really look to get them on the back foot

Strong pack replacements to continue the intensity late on

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Matt Mullan	09. Dan Robson
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. James Gaskell	11. Josh Bassett
05. Will Rowlands	12. Juan de Jongh
06. James Haskell	13. Gabiriele Lovobalavu
07. Thomas Young	14. Christian Wade
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

_
16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19. Scott Barrett, 20. Sean O'Brien, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Eliott Daly

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Tactics
Attack:
- Keep it narrow initially, don't spread too much unless it's on
- Mix up our lines of attack, forwards with offloads to stretch their defence
- Build the phases, look to tie in numbers with the likes of Hughes, PDJ and, later on, Barret and Johnson.
Defence:
- Quick line speed, getting up to the 10 and putting pressure on.
- Only step out of the line for big hit opportunities.
Breakdown:
- Don't over-commit at the breakdown. If ruck is lost, leave it, fan out and back our defence  
- Be disciplined d do not give away penalties in our half - make them do something
- Compete for the turnover only if it's on
Territory:
- Tactical kicking from Robson and Gopperth to pin them back
- Only play rugby in their half and make them attack from deep
- Full back to marshall the back 3 and make sure our positioning is spot on for kick returns

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Saracens vs Exeter Chiefs
Allianz Park
Scattered showers - 7 degrees, 5mph Westerly Winds

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Mako Vuinipola	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Schalk Brits	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Will Skelton	11. Chris Wyles
05. George Kruis	12. Alex Lozowski
06. Michael Rhodes	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Schalk Burger	14. Nathan Earle
08. Billy Vuinipola	15. Sean Maitland

:-
16. Christopher Tolofua  17. Richard Barrington 18. Juan Figallo 19. Nick Isiekwe  20. Jackson Wray 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Nick Tompkins
-
Tactics:

- Strong, physical pack to set a tone in the collisions. High intensity rugby, with big carries from numerous options.
- Target Set piece and go for the jugular if a weakness is seen. Kicking for corners and territory if able to exert pressure in this area.
- Strong impact from the bench to keep intensity up.
- Typical Sarries blitz defence, squeezing the life out opposition and forcing errors.
- Play the game in the right areas of the pitch. Low error rugby and go through the phases when required.
- Farrell and Lozowski to give playmaking options and alternate at first receiver. Look to put Lozowski through gaps or mismatches and exploit his gas.
- Look to especially target the line out with Kruis looking to take apart the opposition thrower.
- Keep the intensity up throughout with a very strong bench adding impact

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Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Moon	09. Nic White
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Greg Holmes
04. Mitch Lees	11. Jack Nowell
05. Jonny Hill	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Olly Woodburn
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Lachlan Turner

. 
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Alec Hepburn, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Ollie Atkins, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Conor Murray 22. Henry Slade, 23. Phil Dollman

Look to play the real life Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack. Dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore, keeping it narrow until we create quick enough possession to feed our back line.  

- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Waldrom or Armand attached at the back. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Irish of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 
- It will be phases of carrying, running at least in pairs to help maintain a leg drive. This is the standard Chiefs style, and causes the opposition defence to be drawn into the defend through the middle, creating space out wide for our back line to exploit. 
- Half-backs to dictate the game and play for territory. Steenson to also kick available points when on offer - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 
- Devoto to act as the second playmaker and look to spread the ball wide to back three when the space is available to attack, or to take pressure off Steenson on clearances.
- Wingers to come in off their wings and look for work, and get them 1v1 on a forward to make the most of their footwork and speed to beat the slow Saracens forwards. 
- Not worried about how Sarries will play, we will chop them low and early to allow our back row to compete and slow their ball down. The game is based around us having possession for long periods and forcing Saracens to panic when they have the ball, as they will want to do something immediately with it, if they get it, and this should yield mistakes and forced opportunities for us to capatilise on.

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Mako Vuinipola	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Schalk Brits	10. Owen Farrell
03. Vincent Koch
04. Will Skelton	11. Chris Wyles
05. George Kruis	12. Alex Lozowski
06. Michael Rhodes	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Schalk Burger	14. Nathan Earle
08. Billy Vuinipola	15. Sean Maitland

:-
16. Christopher Tolofua  17. Richard Barrington 18. Juan Figallo 19. Nick Isiekwe  20. Jackson Wray 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Mallinder 23. Nick Tompkins
-
Tactics:

- Strong, physical pack to set a tone in the collisions. High intensity rugby, with big carries from numerous options.
- Target Set piece and go for the jugular if a weakness is seen. Kicking for corners and territory if able to exert pressure in this area.
- Strong impact from the bench to keep intensity up.
- Typical Sarries blitz defence, squeezing the life out opposition and forcing errors.
- Play the game in the right areas of the pitch. Low error rugby and go through the phases when required.
- Farrell and Lozowski to give playmaking options and alternate at first receiver. Look to put Lozowski through gaps or mismatches and exploit his gas.
- Look to especially target the line out with Kruis looking to take apart the opposition thrower.
- Keep the intensity up throughout with a very strong bench adding impact

Post my team after 7

Northampton Saints
Manager: StNick

01. Alex Waller	09. Cobus Reinach
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Johnny Sexton (k)
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Christian Day	11. Ben Foden
05. Michael Paterson	12. Luther Burrell
06. Teimana Harrison	13. Rob Horne
07. Tom Wood	14. George North
08. Facundo Isa	15. Alex Goode

.
16. Reece Marshall, 17. Paul Hill, 18. Campese Ma'afu, 19. Api Ratuniyarawa, 20. Jamie Gibson, 21. Nic Groom, 22. Piers Francis, 23. Ken Pisi

Tactics

- Use Isa as the main carrier, supported by Harrison, Haywood, Wood
- Burrell as a crash ball option and decoy runner
- Sexton to kick all pens for goal in range, otherwise go for corner
- Bring North off his wing to look for work
- Use Norths height with cross field kicks
- Goode to act as second playmaker on occasion

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Accidentally placed my round 4 team here when copying the code.

Bath Rugby team to host Harlequins...

15.Anthony Watson
14.Semseasa Rokoduguni
13.Jonathan Joseph
12.Robbie Henshaw
11.Aled Brew
10.Freddie Burns
9.Kahn Fotuali'i

1.Nick Auterac
2.Tom Dunn
3.Ramiro Herrera
4.Charlie Ewels (C)
5.Luke Charteris
6.Francois Louw (C)
7.Sam Underhill
8.Zac Mercer

16.Jack Walker 17.Nathan Catt 18.Henry Thomas 19.Dave Attwood 20.Matt Garvey 21.Max Clark 22.Chris Cook 23.Matt Banahan

• Bath have picked a big physical pack to take on bath and disrupt game.
• Plenty of carriers and work rate in pack, Underhill to target isolated runners for the turnover
• Kahn to look for the short runners following his snipe the generate quick ball to slow Saracens line speed down and isolate runners.
• Freddie Burn’s to chip the ball over the top and in behind Visser specifically to test his positioning out.
• Using a blitz defence when short on numbers to put pressure on Marcus Smith.
• Pick and Game will be effective for us today and Burns will look to put us in the corners but moving the ball when its on.
• Burns to punish Quins indiscipline’s with shots at goal.
• Charteris/Ewels to go up on Quins lineout and put pressure on

• Wind up Kyle Synclare and see how he reacts to upset the pack.
  

London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Ben Franks	09. Ben Meehan
02. Asafo Aumua	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Petrus Du Plessis
04. Franco Van der Merwe	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Johnny Williams
06. Mike Coman	13. Tom Fowlie
07. Blair Cowan	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordie Barrett

:-
16. David Paice 17. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Sebastian De Chaves 20. Max Northcote-Green 21. Scott Steele 22. Theo Brophy-Clews 23. Joe Cokanasiga

Target the scrum with our props, Franks to put real pressure on Paul Doran Jones, Retallick scrummaging behind him to add heft

We've got very strong carriers in Retallick, Aumua, Treviranus and Williams - use this to punch holes in their defence from the first minute, especially tight to the ruck

Once we've made some space and dragged their defenders in, Cruden/Barrett to split the field and look to spin the ball wide to get Fowlie and the wings ball in space

Target their lineout with Retallick and VDM - See if Taylor gets the yips when pressure is put on their throw

Defend with the blitz - we're not scared by their pace out wide so willing to take the chance their wings get outside us - just really look to get them on the back foot

Strong pack replacements to continue the intensity late on

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Matt Mullan	09. Dan Robson
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Jimmy Gopperth (k)
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. James Gaskell	11. Josh Bassett
05. Will Rowlands	12. Juan de Jongh
06. James Haskell	13. Gabiriele Lovobalavu
07. Thomas Young	14. Christian Wade
08. Nathan Hughes	15. Willie Le Roux

_
16. Ashley Johnson, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19. Scott Barrett, 20. Sean O'Brien, 21. Joe Simpson, 22. Danny Cipriani, 23. Eliott Daly

---

Tactics
Attack:
- Keep it narrow initially, don't spread too much unless it's on
- Mix up our lines of attack, forwards with offloads to stretch their defence
- Build the phases, look to tie in numbers with the likes of Hughes, PDJ and, later on, Barret and Johnson.
Defence:
- Quick line speed, getting up to the 10 and putting pressure on.
- Only step out of the line for big hit opportunities.
Breakdown:
- Don't over-commit at the breakdown. If ruck is lost, leave it, fan out and back our defence
- Be disciplined d do not give away penalties in our half - make them do something
- Compete for the turnover only if it's on
Territory:
- Tactical kicking from Robson and Gopperth to pin them back
- Only play rugby in their half and make them attack from deep
- Full back to marshall the back 3 and make sure our positioning is spot on for kick returns

1. Ethan Waller
2. Jack Singleton
3. Nick Schonert
4. Donnacha O’Callaghan
5. Guido Petti
6. Peter O'Mahoney
7. Sam Lewis
8. David Denton
9. Francois Hougaard
10. Jamie Shillock
11. Dean Hammond
12. Ryan Mills
13. Ben Te'o
14. Josh Adams
15. Chris Pennell

16. Joe Taufete'e
17. Eddy Ben Arous
18. Biyi Alo
19. Will Spencer
20. Michael Hopper
21. Jonny Arr
22. Beauden Barrett
23. Wynard Olivier

- Build around strong set piece, looking to use as platform to dominate
- Bring an intense drift defence
- Keep up the intensity off the bench
- Look for lots of big carries, keep it simple.
- Hougaard to control the game from the 9, run off him
- Bring on an all star bench late

Gloucester Rugby
Manager - Prop_Lyd

01. Val Ruskin	09. Willi Heinz
02. James Hanson	10. Billy Burns
03. John Afoa
04. Tom Savage	11. Henry Purdy
05. Jeremy Thrush	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Jon Davies
07. Jacob Rowan	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Ruan Ackerman	15. Jason Woodward

_
16. Richard Hibbard 17. Josh Honeck 18. Gareth Denman 19. Ed Slater 20. Ben Morgan 21. Aaron Smith 22. Owen Williams 23. Tom Marshall

---

Tactics
*Look to grind them down in the front 5 with a hefty pack not afraid to do dirty work,
*Forwards to work in pods round the corner 2 phases then wide and hit gaps,
*JD2 and 12T to play what's in front of them and look to put runners through,
*Burns to look to get quick ball out, if it isn't on then tactical kicking to corners,
*Defence led by JD2 and with a back rower on Burns' shoulder to assist tackle and get over the ball,
*Look to slow them down with a well balanced back row,
*We have brought in Savage and Rowan to add options to our lineout.
*Use bench wisely with experience to come on and pace in the backs to target tired legs especially Smith who will be given a run out towards the end,
*Keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Harlequins
Manager – CJ

01. Mark Lambert	09. Danny Care
02. Dane Coles	10. Marcus Smith (k)
03. Kyle Sinckler
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Tim Visser
05. Charlie Matthews	12. Francis Saili
06. James Chisholm	13. Joe Marchant
07. Jack Clifford	14. Marlon Yarde
08. Mat Luamanu	15. Mike Brown

:-
16. Joe Marler 17. Dave Ward 18. Will Collier 19. Ben Glynn 20. Renaldo Bothma 21. Charlie Mulchrone 22. Demetri Catrakalis  23. Alofa Alofa 


TACTICS


Breakdown:
 
Focus on clearing out Bath in the tight areas with Clifford chasing the ball as a fetcher in the wide channels. As always unit work is key


Attack:


Running threats throughout our side brought into play by our attacking 9-10, with Smith playing flat and attacking the line, with depth in our line.


Set up the platform to move the point of attack with our flair 9-10, using the power of Brown and Yarde on the carry, and pop balls to carriers like Sinckler/Coles/Luamanu.


Look to isolate Watson under the high ball against our kick chase and pressure from our international back 3, and pressurise their wingers who aren't best defending kicks.


Back up plan is to go tight with a powerful pack and Cataraliks a tight kicking 10 on the bench


Defence:


Blitz led by Saili with 9 sweeping and tight fringe defence. Luamanu looking to bully Burns.


Set Piece:


Think scrum is an area of strength, looking to stay safe on our ball and get the ball out with a little forward momentum and run moves off the back. Attack Auterac on their ball.


Marler on the bench to add further scrumming power 


Against a line with Charteris, mostly take ball off the top and keeping it basic.


Other:


Kick for tries not for points most of the time. Look to kick deep and pressurise their wings on the turn.

Exeter Chiefs 
Manager – Fluxy

01. Ben Moon	09. Nic White
02. Jack Yeandle	10. Gareth Steenson (k)
03. Greg Holmes
04. Mitch Lees	11. Jack Nowell
05. Jonny Hill	12. Ollie Devoto
06. Don Armand (c)	13. Ian Whitten
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Olly Woodburn
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Lachlan Turner

. 
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17. Alec Hepburn, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Ollie Atkins, 20. Sam Simmonds, 21. Conor Murray 22. Henry Slade, 23. Phil Dollman

Look to play the real life Chiefs style of play, a high-intensity game in both defence and attack. Dynamic carrying and rucking at the fore, keeping it narrow until we create quick enough possession to feed our back line.  

- Use the set piece as a weapon to launch attacks, especially the maul, with the likes of Waldrom or Armand attached at the back. 
- Pick & goes - in twos and threes around the fringes, to starve Irish of possession and a great weapon of the Chiefs over the years. 
- It will be phases of carrying, running at least in pairs to help maintain a leg drive. This is the standard Chiefs style, and causes the opposition defence to be drawn into the defend through the middle, creating space out wide for our back line to exploit. 
- Half-backs to dictate the game and play for territory. Steenson to also kick available points when on offer - to keep the scoreboard ticking over. 
- Devoto to act as the second playmaker and look to spread the ball wide to back three when the space is available to attack, or to take pressure off Steenson on clearances.
- Wingers to come in off their wings and look for work, and get them 1v1 on a forward to make the most of their footwork and speed to beat the slow Saracens forwards. 
- Not worried about how Sarries will play, we will chop them low and early to allow our back row to compete and slow their ball down. The game is based around us having possession for long periods and forcing Saracens to panic when they have the ball, as they will want to do something immediately with it, if they get it, and this should yield mistakes and forced opportunities for us to capatilise on.

PREDICTIONS OPEN

Still waiting for a few tactics so will update later.

Scores to Flux

Added tactics

I'll add mine now.

All in.....

Will update table and upload comments later/tomorrow morning.

Leicester Tigers 26 - 25 Worcester Warriors

Leicester Tigers 23 - 22 Worcester Warriors

Leicester Tigers 24 - 20 Worcester Warriors
Worcester have a tough but limited pack, I think they'll make life difficult early on for Tigers, but the quality will shine through later on. Tigers a lot stronger in the backs, and they'll have enough possession for the win at home,

Leicester Tigers 22 - 19 Worcester Warriors
Leicester's front 5 would be able to assert a bit of dominance to give a decent foundation to work from. Worcester's bench would have an impact, but too late imo and so Tigers hold onto the win.

Leicester Tigers 20 - 19 Worcester Warriors

Leicester Tigers 28 - 25 Worcester Warriors
A good tight contest. Leicester are strong from the start but the introduction of Hooper and Barrett will have a huge impact late on., I don't however think they have enough to claw back Leicester who get a good home win. Leicester's centre's and Worcester's winger stand out as the weak links. 

Leicester Tigers 30 - 30 Worcester Warriors
CJB is putting together a nice little side at the minute, it'll be interesting to see how he looks with his big guns out. In this one, Tigers will get themselves ahead until Worcester roll out that bench. I just think Tigers have enough to hold out for the draw. 

Leicester Tigers 22 - 21 Worcester Warriors

Newcastle Falcons 26 - 26 Gloucester Rugby

Newcastle Falcons 24 - 23 Gloucester Rugby
Franks, Luatua and Hendo make a big difference to the Falcons pack, but Hendo has to be slightly marked down following internationals. Glos have one of the best packs during ints, and will be a real tough challenge. In the end, I think home advantage swings it, with a decent set of backs for both sides more or less cancelling each other out

Newcastle Falcons 19 - 18 Gloucester Rugby
Very evenly matched teams, home advantage sneaks it for the Falcons

Newcastle Falcons 22 - 22 Gloucester Rugby
The edge in the front five goes to Gloucester. Not much in the back rows, slight preference to Gloucester. Newcastle have better set of half backs and a good unit outside of that. At home they have enough to hold onto the Gloucester coat tails. 

Newcastle Falcons 20 - 21 Gloucester Rugby

Newcastle Falcons 22 - 20 Gloucester Rugby
A very tricky game to call. Newcastle have a very big and physical pack but I feel they lack a little bit of quality. Their back line holds a lot of hit and miss players who will offer a real threat to Gloucester. Gloucester look to have a little more consistency but lack the stardust to open the game out away for Davies at 13. Newcastle need to improve at loose head and hooker whilst Gloucester will look far better with Smith starting at 9.

Newcastle Falcons 27 - 24 Gloucester Rugby
A great game on paper with Gloucester going really well in real life. I feel the additions of Henderson and Franks add some real steel to the Falcons pack and they've got plenty of pace and power in the backs to see this one home. Gloucester just come undone after an impressive start to the season. 

Newcastle Falcons 22 - 22 Gloucester Rugby

Sale Sharks 24 - 24 Northampton Saints

Sale Sharks 24 - 21 Northampton Saints
Sale need work in the front 5, but other than that they look strong all over the park. Both sides fly halves are likely to be tired after internationals cancelling each other out. Overall I don't think Saints have enough in the front 5 to get on top of a strong Sale side at home, whose very good set of backs will be dangerous

Sale Sharks 23 - 21 Northampton Saints
Another very hard game to call. Some form issues with Saints 'old guard' and Sale's bench gets them over the line. 

Sale Sharks 24 - 29 Northampton Saints 
Front fives are tight but just prefer Saints. Saints back row is very good and I think they can dominate the breakdown. Two of the strongest half back units but still prefer the Saints. Outside of that, Saints are very dangerous. 

Sale Sharks 18 - 17 Northampton Saints

Sale Sharks 25 - 26 Northampton Saints
A real humdinger! I'm really like the blend of Sale's halfbacks but they'l be in tough game tonight with their back being on the back foot. Sexton is an awesome signing for Saints and he'll get Saints ahead early. I can see Sale really getting back into the game late on with that bench, but just not enough in the pack to push for the win. 

Sale Sharks 24 - 23 Northampton Saints

Bath Rugby 28 - 27 Harlequins

Bath Rugby 22-21 Harlequins

Bath Rugby 26 - 24 Harlequins
Both sides looking good on paper, I think the Bath pack is the stronger in the back 5, and that will be the key to the victory, along with getting some rested players back in Watson/JJ

Bath Rugby 18 - 20 Harlequins
Big shift from the Quins pack. Bath's international contingent perhaps a little jaded from the AI's and Quins ' tempo exploits this. 

Bath Rugby 25 - 22 Harlequins
Front five of Bath has the slightest advantage here. Once again, it’s another small advantage for Bath in the back row. One each in the half backs but slight overall preference to Quins. Both are dangerous outside of that but Bath have enough up front to get the win. 

Bath Rugby 24 - 21 Harlequins
Bath look far stronger with internationals back in their side and at home will be very tough to beat. With quick ball their backs will be an enormous threat but as a 15 they might struggle for big carriers against an aggressive and physical defense. Quins don't have as much quality across their 15 but are a proven outfit who will really test Bath. Bath need to improve at 11 and Loose head whilst Quins will look far stronger with Marler and Robshaw back in their starting pack.

Bath Rugby 24 - 22 Harlequins
Bath's pack has a touch more about them in the back 5 and will give Quin some trouble at the breakdown. It's a good contest in the backs, Henshaw is an inspired signing from Driver and he'll fit into their team perfectly. A good close game just shading to the home side. 

Bath Rugby 23 - 22 Harlequins

London Irish 24 - 25 Wasps

London Irish 20 - 21 Wasps

London Irish 22 - 22 Wasps 
Irish have a couple of stars in front five and think they have advantage there. Wasps have the stronger back row though. One each in the half backs. Wasps can do more damage with their outside backs. The Wasps bench is so strong though and that gets them a late draw here

London Irish 25 - 25 Wasps

London Irish 19 - 22 Wasps
Irish are looking competitive and provide a stiff opposition for Wasps here who have yet to fully integrate their new signings. I think it will be tight up until the 60 when Wasps will just begin to control the game and edge themselves clear. Back row is the main area of Irish weakness whilst Wasps need to improve at starting lock (Launch and Barrett will do this nicely)

London Irish 25 - 25 Wasps
Battle of who has the poorer TH this week at the Madejski! Very good engine room for the home side gives them some go forward but it's Wasps in the backrow. Past that it's a such a tight game. Some stars on show for Irish but Wasps have more across the board. Irish at home will be tough to beat so going with the draw.

London Irish 22 - 23 Wasps 

Saracens 27 - 26 Exeter Chiefs

Saracens 26 - 27 Exeter Chiefs

Saracens 27 - 22 Exeter Chiefs
Saracens are going to be nigh on unbeatable at home this season, and they get Farrell back a week early. With the quality they have in the pack and a rested Farrell, Saracens are comfortable winners at home

Saracens 24 - 21 Exeter Chiefs
Chiefs don't do anything particularly wrong, just outclassed by Sarries in a few key areas which hinders them. 

Saracens 28 - 21 Exeter Chiefs
Saracens are just so strong all over the pitch here. Do not really see anywhere the Chiefs have an advantage

Saracens 25 - 25 Exeter Chiefs

Saracens 24 - 22 Exeter Chiefs
A great battle between the two strongest starting squads. Not a lot between the sides though I feel Saracens edge it at home. Saracens main weakness on wings whilst Exeter locks struggle in this contest (Though Hill a superb prospect)