AP Round 14

Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors
White Cloud, 6 Degrees, 10mph Winds

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. Lelia Masaga
05. Andries Bekker	12. Yann David
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Tom Brady
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Nick Abendanoon

16. Jerome Schuster 17. Agustin Creevy 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Olly Barkley 23. Sam Smith

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General Game Plan

On attack, we will look to control possession with our strong carrying game. We will look to our big carriers to get over the gain line and where possible offload to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. If running the ball is not on we will look to the boot of Cruden to put us in the right areas.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. Danny Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to run back any loose kicks.

At the breakdown, if the ball looks available we will look to seriously commit numbers to clear the ruck allowing Thomson and Quedragao to come in and secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit 1 or 2 to the breakdown and look to counter ruck legally slowing down Worcester ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.

We will look to use the set piece as a weapon throughout. We will target the scrum with a technically strong front row looking to get under and disrupt. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hook we will look to attack from the lineout. We will look to mix things up bringing the ball down into the maul or playing the ball of the top and spreading it through the backs.

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. David Flatman	09. Byron Kelleher
02. Michael Mayhew	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Danie Russouw	11. Bryan Habana
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Pat McCabe
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. Regan King
07. Craig Newby (c)	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Chris Fortey 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Kearnen Myall 20. Sebastian Chabal 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Sam Vesty 23. Shane Williams

Tactics

Forwards
Winning our ball is key here and we have a front 5 who will secure ball for us to allow the backs space and time. We will look to target their lineout with some effective lineouts jumpers and stealer's in our starting line up. In the back 3 we have players who are able to win turnover ball, both will be told to play as 6.5's as we expect the match to get quite messy and be quite negative rugby. Our 2nd rows will look to impose themselves on the opposition and cause a fiesty atmosphere. Budgen, when he comes on rarely gets beaten by opposition (see Saints last year) and Fortey is experienced enough to hold up Porter who will only learn in these situations. Gorgodze and Higginbotham will look to make ground whenever they the ball and be stood off 12-13 quite alot.

Backs
Negative rugby here, kicking for touch and putting pressure on the opposition. Steyn will look to make touch and not kick it down their throats. When the ball goes to McCabe we will look to drag it back into the 9-10 channel before quick ball to release our pacy and dangerous backline. Steyn will be controlling the backs and Kelleher will give quick service and will look to snipe when any space appears. King will do his unpredictable running and look to offload to a back rower or winger. We have a backline who are comfortable under the high ball but we won't look for a kicking duel when we know we can gain an upper hand in the lineouts. Our bench will add pace and experience to the backline.

Defence
Hard and fast blitz defence with our back 3 hanging back a bit to prevent any kick throughs. The back row will look to be at least 2nd to each ruck to look to slow ball down or turn it over. If we win turnover in our half we will kick for touch, if we win in their half we will look to spin it out wide.

Overall
*Look to dominate the lineouts,
*Drag them down to a scrappy match,
*Steyn to kick for corners,
*3 points is key and we won't leave their half without that or 7 points so a drop goal is allowed!
*Kelleher to give quick ball,
*Backs to run hard at the opponents and seek for offloads to release back 3,
*We may end up playing scrappy, negative rugby but that's what wins matches for us.

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Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers
Light Rain, 6 Degrees, 11mph Winds

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – driver - RIP 606

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Jimmy Cowen
02. Damian Valey	10. Colin Slade (k)
03. Davit Zirkashvilli
04. Julian Pierre	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. James Hudson	12. Mike Tindall
06. Ben Skirving	13. George Pisi
07. Lewis Moody	14. Vasily Artemyev
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19. Simon Shaw 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Josh Matavista 23.Matt Smith


- Keep the ball in the tight and grind Tigers down using the boots of Slade , Tindall and Pisi to ping Them in there half.

- Use our scrummaging front row to keep the scrum up and driving on when it's Tiger's feed.

- Cowen to dictate the tempo and test the Bath line with snipes , service and high hanging box kicks.

- Cowen and Slade will play what is in front of them and use what they have outside them with Tindall making the headway in the backs and Fitz, Arty and Balshaw running into the wide channels to move the Tigers defence around the pitch

- Slade to tick the board over with penalties and drop goals when in the opposition half.

- Big physical players in our pack will see plenty of big hits to put the pressure on the Tigers runners early doors.

- Have Tindall running the short line off Slades shoulder to test Jauzion.

KEY POINTS

• TO ELIMINATE POCOCK AT THE BREAKDOWN WE WILL LOOK TO DROP BEFORE THE COTACT ALLOWING A RUCK TO BE FORMED WITHOUT A DEFENDER BEING INVOLVED ALLOWING QUICK BALL AND RULING OUT A TURNOVER

• PRESSURE THE 9/10 AXIS IN CLASSENS FIRST EVER GAME FOR TIGERS AND LOOK TO HIT WILKINSON HARD AND LATE AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE MILLER OR TWELVETREES INTO STAND OFF

• TARGET JENKINS/SHERIDAN/MEARS/MOORE/FRANKS WITH NONE OF THEM RECOGNISED SCRUMMAGERS BESIDES SHERIDAN WHO IS LACKING REAL LIFE FORM. AND NO OUT AND OUT TIGHT HEAD ON THE BENCH SHOULD MAKE IT A LONG DAY AT THE SCRUM FOR LEICESTER

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Andrew Sheridan	09. Michael Claassens
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Alex Brown	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Nathan Hines	13. Florian Fritz
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Rob Miller

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Lee Mears 18. Ben Franks 19. Samu Manoa 20. Magnus Lund 21. Jordan Crane 22. Neil de Kock 23. Billy Twelvetrees

Tactics

GENERAL:

- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. We will look to our forwards to carry through the middle, and then strike out wide when the time is right.

- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Claasens sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites within range.

- Look to use our bench to win the game in the last 30 mins. New front row to come on at 50 mins to impact the game, and Manoa and Crane to come on at 50/60 mins to strengthen our carrying.

FORWARDS:

- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Claasens and Wilkinson. A.Brown to be our banker ball, supported by Horwill and Hines. We will relentlessly target Valey's throws.

- At the scrum all three front rowers to go flat out for 50 mins and then bring new front row on. Moore and Johnston to look look to really get after Crockett and Valey.

- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. Led by Waldrom, and supported by Horwill, Pocock, Hines, Jenkins, Moore and Johnston, we want our carriers running straight lines and not taking risks with the offload with the wet ball.

- Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Exeter. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

BACKS:

- Wilkinson is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our massive carrying pack and lineout ability to put pressure on Exeter, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call

- If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

- We have selected Jauzion and Fritz to give us creativity in midfield, and to keep us solid in defence.

- Our back three are told to play the each kick as they see it. When deep in our own half, with the weather as it is, we will not be silly with trying to counter too often. Both Jane and Miller are well drilled full backs, and both have good boots to get us good territory. But if a kick from Exeter is loose or short, and if it is on, we will not be afraid to run the ball back.

KEY POINTS:

- Form and Momentum - 15 wins in 17 games. Progressed in all cup competitions and 3rd in the league. Our confidence is sky high. Exeter have one victory in the league all season - look to get their heads down early.

- A massive carrying pack that should tire Exeter down to allow our pacey back line room to cause damage with their pace.

- Get after a slow and ageing back five in Exeter's pack, and with a 6/2 split bench with powerful carriers to impact the game as it progresses.

- Target the breakdown - Pocock to do all he can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use - Exeter have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here.

- Get after Slade and after Tindall - Pocock and co to really get in the face of Slade and see if he is up for a cold wet game - and our defence to rush Tindall who we expect to be a crash ball option.

- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

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Gloucester Rugby v Northampton Saints
White Cloud, 3 Degrees, 9mph Winds

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Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Steenkamp	09. Genia
02. Gray	10. Carter
03. Harden
04. Bakkies	11. Gear
05. Robson	12. Barnes
06. Burger	13. Kahui
07. Saull	14. May
08. Alberts	15. Dagg

16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Williams 20 Fasivalu 21 Lewis 22 Donald 23 JSD

Tactics

Glaws put out a strong side for the visit of saints,. Ali Williams fresh from his loan to Saints comes on to the bench for us

We have as ever gone for a pack packed with dynamism and ball carriers and will look to get front foot ball to launch our stellar backline which must be the best in the league during the 6 nations.

Set Piece.

AS ever glos have a strong front 5 and monster backrow wth Saull providing the glue between backs and Forwards and linking play.

We will look to get a nudge on and launch alberts off the back to get hard yards before releasing the backs.

Lineout

Bakkies Robson SAull and Burger are great lineout forawards and we will look to secure our own ball and steal theirs.

We will look to go Drive a lot until we have won the collisions and look to hit burger and Alberts off the back of the driving maul to create quick quick ball.

Genia and Carter will call the shots and the forwards job is to provide the platform,

We will look to play close to the ruck first half with Steenkamp, bakkies, Burger, Alberts etc getting over gain line and either off loading or setting back quick ball then the backs come into play.

Backs

Carter and Genia are the 2 best half backs in world rugby and will set the pace and control the game.

genia will look to use the ball when necessary or attack at the fringes by hitting runners and then picking and going himself where he is so so dangerous.

Carter will only get the ball when he is ready and will look to play as necessary, he will clear the ball in our own 22 and take any penalties in range but outside these areas he will play what is on.

you do not have a backline like we have and not look to attack.

Carter will try the high ball where necessary and try thr kick in behind for territory but primarily he is looking to attack.

him and barnes will interchange when necessary and will look to hit Kahui up the middle and also create one on ones out wide where our Back 3 are proven attackers of the highest order.

A back 3 of May, Dagg and Gear is quicksilver and an attacking dream they will look to counter any looseball take quick throws and generally raise the tempo.
This should put pressure on the saints kicking game. as a loose kick in deadly.

Defensively we will be looking to employ a blitz defence with Genia sweeping. we figure we can cough up ball from saints and with our backline turnover b all will be deadly.

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Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Matt Mullen	09. Joe Simpson
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Matt Giteau (c) (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Liam Messam	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Elliot Daly
08. Ryan Kankowski	15. Danny Cipriani

Subs: 16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Alexander Lapandry 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jamie Elliott 23. Matt Hopper

Tactics

Saints pick a young team that is playing with confidence after a recent bout of good form that has seen them make the QF of the Amlin Cup and the SF of the LV Cup. Will look to target the setpiece and frustrate Gloucester by disrupting the tempo of the game and pushing pressure on the Gloucester team with an aggressive defence and hard running game!

High tempo start

We will look to blitz Gloucester at the start of the game and play at a really high tempo because a lot of the Gloucester team havent been playing week in week out - our team has and has been building some momentum, so we expect a fast tempo game from the start can give us the upper hand in the opening quarter and take advantage of any rustiness.

Simpson and Giteau to control the speed of the game - with Simpson looking to attack the fringes, which will give our backline a bit more time on the ball.

Structured/Welsh Approach

When Gloucester look to be getting into the swing of the game we will adopt to a much more structured approach, that is based around a big tackling back row (Kanowski, Clark and Messam all fantastic tacklers) that knocks Gloucester ball carriers back in the tackle and a solid defence in the midfield with de Villiers and Tuilagi aiming to stop their counterparts.

Same structured approach the Welsh took against Ireland - strong backrow presence with two strong running midfielders, a play making 10 and some great finishers in the backthree.

With Clark, Lawes, Messam, Kankowski in the pack and de Villiers and Tuilagi in the backs we have got a lot of players capable of slowing down and frustrating Gloucesters attack - we know that they will throw the ball around, but we've selected these big hitting players to put doubts in Gloucester backs mind as a 50-50 ball could see them smashed.

Set Piece
Very strong lineout to compete with 4 jumpers of Gloucester - Lawes, Messam, Clark, Albacete will all work well. Will challenge the Gloucester lineout where Saints can get the advantage. Will look to generate quick ball from the lineout and attack at pace.

Saints will really look to target the Gloucester scrum and get a push on - we have got some very good scrummagers in the front row and can bring on Thomas and Domingo in the second half - during the 6Nations we feel we can attack Gloucester here.

Defence/breakdown
Will look to play an aggressive blitz defence with Simpson sweeping behind - we will look to put pressure on the Gloucester half back pair and stop opposition getting over the gainline in the midfield.

We will look for big hits and force handling errors and turnovers.

We will compete for the ball at the breakdown, even if it is just to slow the Gloucester ball down and stop any momentum building.

Key Points
* Continuity - take advantage early on and try and get some early scores
* Play similar approach to Wales
* Big tacklers to cause problems for Gloucester - tough defence to break down and speed to attack with any handling errors.
* Disrupt Gloucester tempo and slow down the pace
* Young team, not afraid to go out and play and in good form, so confidence is high.
* Don't need the big names to cause problems and will look to win.

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Harlequins v London Irish
Sunny, 3 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Karl Dickson
02. Schalk Brits (c)	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. Jerome Thion	11. Zac Guildford
05. Nathan Sharpe	12. Anthony Faainga
06. Francois Louw	13. George Lowe
07. David Seymour	14. Jonathan Joseph
08. Chris Henry	15. Freddie Burns (k)

16. Chris Brooker 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. George Skivington 20. Carl Fearns 21. Jamie Gibson 22. Tomas O'Leary 23. Felipe Contepomi

Tactics


Game plan

We are going to look to play a game based upon building pressure on London Irish and will do this by retaining the ball whenever we are outside our 22. We can do this using the strong carriers which we have in our team and we want our carriers to by dynamic in there running. Conditions allow us to play some running rugby and we will look to take the ball to Irish with a quick tempo and strong running. In defence we are looking to be aggressive and disruptive and will look to disrupt the London Irish patterns and we will always be looking for the turnover or to at least slow the Irish ball down and affect its quality.

General Tactics

Retain the ball as often as possible and use our carriers to punch holes and get us over the gain line. We are looking to move the point of attack with Cooper and Burns looking to be at first receiver either side of a ruck and they will both be looking to stand flat and put others into space. Key to our game is our strong ball carriers such as Brits, Afoa, Thion, Sharpe, Henry and Louw as well our centres and we will look to get these guys involved whenever possible. We will look to be getting quick ball and when this happens we will be looking for the ball to go into wider channels and let JJ and Guildford run at the Irish defence.

When our carriers get the ball we are looking for them to carry the ball hard and aim to win collisions and look for the offload to support which will be on their shoulder. We want our players to carry in numbers as we then are able to keep the attack flowing with offloads or quick ball.

Set Piece

We are going to look for Woodcock to really get after the WP Nel and send him backwards with Afoa looking to get underneath Soane on the other side. At the lineout we have 4 very good options and will look to shorten the line when we can with Sharpe in control of our lineout.

Defence

We will switch Cooper and Burns in defence and this allows Quade to gather up any loose kicks and run at the broken field as he does so well for the Reds. Faainga and Louw are in charge of our defensive game. We are aware of the power coming from the Irish midfield and have picked Faainga and Louw deliberately for their defensive abilities. We know that no one will get through Ant and George on a regular basis. In our back row we have 3 tackling machines playing who will chop down the Irish carriers and in Brits and Afoa we have two front row players who play more like backrowers. Look for all our back row to make a nuisance of the Irish breakdown and turnover the ball and at the very least slow it down.

Key Points

- Keep the ball in hand when not in our 22. Look to build phases with strong carriers playing of off Dickson, Cooper and Burns. Look for our 3 playmakers to move the point of attack and look for gaps and disorganization in Irish defence. Dickson always looking to attack the fringes as when it comes to sniping he is up there with the best around.

- Look for quick ball and when we get it we look to go a little wider using Lowe and our wingers in the wider channels.

- Aggressive in attack and defence with the aim of winning collisions in contact. In attack we want to look for offloads and in defence we will look to prevent them.

- Back row to look to dominate the breakdown and therefore control the speed of our ball and theres. Our 3 backrowers are very comfortable with the art of the breakdown and turnover ball.

-Get to Pienaar and we go a long way to stopping Irish. Try and make his day a misery and not give him a 2nd to think.

- We have what we consider to be a very strong bench with everyone on their either an international player or an England Saxon. We will get a real boost as these players are introduced as fresh legs in the 2nd half.

- We have a lot of players in very good real life form.

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London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. James Buckland	10. Daniel Bowden
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Bjorn Basson
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Jaque Fourie
07. Steffon Armitage	14. J.P Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Darren Fearn 19. Kieren Lowe 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Warren Fury 22. Matthew Tait 23. Juan Martin Hernandez

Tactics

- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Tonga'uhia, Nel, Garvey, Kaino, Spies, Steffon, SBW in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Quins on the backfoot. We will look for quick ball for Pienaar to use and create opportunities with.
- Kennedy will be our main lineout target and we willl look for quick ball off the top on most occasions, if not use Garvey at the front to create a maul.
- We will look to get in the face of Quade Cooper, hit him hard and not give him any time. We will not kick looes ball to him, but use Armitage, JP, Basson to run the ball back and gain yards.
- We willl look to dominate possession and tire the Quins defence. Tonga'uhia, Spies, Kaino, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and Bowden to play what is infront of them and put SBW and co into gaps and space. Our wingers will come inside and along with Fourie, look to gather the offloads from SBW, which he will only do when it is on.
- At the breakdown, we will look to use our powerful flankers and the breakdown skills of Steffon to secure quick ball and slow down opposition ball. Any turnover ball will be counter attacked.
- We will target the Quins back 3 and look to get our wingers one on one with them, especially Burns.
- Pienaar will kick all pens for goal in range. If not we will go for touch and use the lineout as a platform to attack.
- We have some good in form players and fancy our chances, and see this as a good opportunity to get an away win.

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Bath Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
White Cloud, 3 Degrees, 10mph Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09.Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. David Skrela
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. Tom Varndell
05.Sam Whitelock	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. David Marty
07. Beau Robinson	14.Isiah Toeava
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Dave Wilson 17. Joe Ward 18. Euan Murray 19. Tim Swinson 20. Will Skinner 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. EFS 23. Olly Woodburn

Tactics

Psychological
11 wins in 13 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence.

Overall
Our game plan is based on simple rugby. We will be looking for lots of big carries. We will look to use the set piece as a platform and release our back three.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Kubrashvilli will be looking to get a strong hit and drive through the front row. Lobbe will control it at the back. If we are dominant in the scrum we will look to take it as penalty option to really use our advantage. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock, Lobbe and Haskell all capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball. Look to put pressure on their lineout with Chris Schofield being the only primary caller.

Kicking
If we feel we are establishing dominance in the lineout we will look to put the ball out of touch. For penalties Kurtley Beale will look to take ones in his range. If he is struggling Skrela can take over kicking duties.

Ball in Hand
With the ball in hand we will be looking for big carries to get over the gain line. Our team is full of players capable of making big gains and we will look to use this to our advantage in these conditions. We will be looking to constantly make carries and get up and make another one. Lobbe, Whitelock, Haskell etc will be given the ball as much as possible.

Wigglesworth will be looking to provide Skrela with quick ball and he will either look to get the ball to a carrier or look to spread the ball to one of our back three. Our back three will look to be adventurous running at the Newcastle defence.


Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Newcaslte decision makers. Our defense will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.

We will be looking to isolate runners and force a turnover by getting bodies into the breakdown and use Robinson’s skill in the ground.

Replacements
Up front we have picked subs who we feel can really continue our dominance. Euan Murray is only on the bench due to his exertions in the Six Nations last week. Dave Wilson is also a good scrummager to bring on late and we feel near the end of the game we will still be dominant in the scrum. In the backs, FDP can come on a calm the ship offering quality and steady leadership. EFS will be a terror over the last 20 minutes while we feel Woodburn can also cause damage late on.

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Chris Schofield	12. Fran Steyn
06. Richie McCaw(c)	13. Conrad Smith
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. James O’Connor
08. Kieran Read	15. Adam Ashley-Cooper

16. Nathan Morris 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Nick Evans

Tactics

General – High intensity and infuriate Bath at the breakdown. Plenty of kicking options in backline to mix game up if needed.

Scrum – use scrum as restart as look for quick ball for Read to pop up and feed Pretorious, if weakness seen in opposition we will look to exploit

Lineout – quick ball off the top using Schofield as primary caller, also look to use Read at the tail and McCaw, Thorn to offer front ball.

Breakdown – Our big game plan….look to dominate breakdown with all backrow options excellent in this area. Look to slow/turnover opposition at every possible opportunity. McCaw to play more 6 role but will play breakdown as he see’s fit. Thorn to give us massive clearing out option around the park.

Backline – Steyn as go to ball and second kicking option. Look to punch holes in opposition defence and free up Conrad to bring the runners into play. JOC to step into midfield with Steyn used as decoy and JOC to hit the line fast at angles to cause opposition defensive line issues. Steyn to take pens around the halfway mark.

Franks to come after halftime to increase pressure in set piece and give us added work rate around the park. Evans at around 60mins to see out game

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London Wasps v Saracens
Sunny, 2 Degrees, 8mph Winds

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London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Luke Burgess
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Steve Mafi	11. Christian Wade
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Luke McAlister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Matt Banahan
07. Jacques Burger	14. Ugo Monye
08. Roger Wilson	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Tom Johnson 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Noah Cato

Tactics
We have picked a gritty, dynamic and physical forward pack which will hopefully get us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We feel that if we can assert ourselves physically and win the forward battle, providing our backs with a solid platform we will be able to beat Saracens. We will look to target the breakdown and the back row battle and ensure we get quick, clean ball to attack with.

We will look to our dynamic forwards to get us onto the front foot by attacking in groups with some grunt and powerful carrying, getting us over the gain line. Hopefully our carriers will suck in Saracens defenders, so we can spread the ball out wide to make use of the space on offer. We will start as we mean to go on with a high intensity, hitting the collision area hard and driving our players over the gain line.

In attack we will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Banahan running plenty of hard lines into midfield targeting Trinder. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Saracens defence and target the outside shoulder. Banahan will be our crash ball option, we will look for him to come at speed and carry hard into the Saracens defence, we will support him and look to drive him over the gain line and get quick ball to keep the momentum in our attacks. At the breakdown we will come from low to high in clearing out Saracens players to ensure Burgess has clean ball.

We will look to get our offloading game going to keep the point of attack changing and Saracens working in defence. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Saracens wingers and keep them pinned back in their own half where we can pressurize them. We will hopefully be able to build attacks from the scrum and earn some penalties for Myler to make use of. We will look to the scrum to provide us with a platform to build attacks from and keep Saracens on the back foot.

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Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Dave Attwood	11. Digby Ioane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Joe van Niekerk (c)	13. Henry Trinder
07. Tom Wood	14. Mark Cueto
08. Raphael Lakafia	15. Alex Goode

16. Gary Botha 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Nevin Spence 23. James Short

Tactics

Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.

In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. If the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.

In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.

At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.

We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and Joe van Niekerk in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.


Game Specific Tactics

• Target Christian Wade with kicking game - Lambie to drop bombs on Wade and really test him under the ball, with our wide men getting up quickly to put him under lots of pressure.
  
  
• Attack the fringes - Hougaard will be looking to snipe and/or us big carriers close to the ruck on early phases to tie in defenders and create space out wide.
  
  
• Ioane to track inside - Look to get Ioane coming in and attacking Banahan's lack of mobility in the 13 channel.
  

Key Points

• Form - We are in great form in this game whereas Wasps come in off the back of a loss last week and also a loss before that in the Amlin Cup.
  
  
• Experience of winning trophies - We are getting to the business end of things now, and in 3 seasons so far we have shown that mentally we are tough and can get the job done at this time. Wasps have not.
  
  
• Proven units in key areas - International quality decision makers at 8,9,10.
  
  
• Ball carriers in the pack - In good conditions there will not be many scrums and we've selected two props who carry well rather than being pure scrummagers as this suits the conditions.
  
  

---

---

Good work SJE, look like some decent rugby conditions this week.

Perfect

Mat, assume you are wanting to put out Ryan Lamb as your no10? If you do that I will make sure I only play Matt Giteau...

Pleased with those conditions. Quade has got out his summer boots.

Think it suits us both Steve.

it probably does. far better than the wet stuff we could have had.

Exeter make 1 change to the side who beat Bath last week with Vasily Artemyev coming in for Lachie Turner. Lachie Turner however is on stand by if Luke Fitzgerald is called into the Ireland training camp ahead of the game against France.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – driver - RIP 606

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Jimmy Cowen
02. Damian Valey	10. Colin Slade (k)
03. Davit Zirkashvilli
04. Julian Pierre	11. Luke Fitzgerald
05. James Hudson	12. Mike Tindall
06. Ben Skirving	13. George Pisi
07. Lewis Moody	14. Vasily Artemyev
08. Nick Easter (c)	15. Iain Balshaw

16. Neil Clark 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Ben Alexander 19. Simon Shaw 20.Johnnie Beattie 21.Haydn Thomas 22.Josh Matavista 23.Matt Smith


- Keep the ball in the tight and grind Tigers down using the boots of Slade , Tindall and Pisi to ping Them in there half.

- Use our scrummaging front row to keep the scrum up and driving on when it's Tiger's feed.

- Cowen to dictate the tempo and test the Bath line with snipes , service and high hanging box kicks.

- Cowen and Slade will play what is in front of them and use what they have outside them with Tindall making the headway in the backs and Fitz, Arty and Balshaw running into the wide channels to move the Tigers defence around the pitch

- Slade to tick the board over with penalties and drop goals when in the opposition half.

- Big physical players in our pack will see plenty of big hits to put the pressure on the Tigers runners early doors.

- Have Tindall running the short line off Slades shoulder to test Jauzion.

KEY POINTS

• TO ELIMINATE POCOCK AT THE BREAKDOWN WE WILL LOOK TO DROP BEFORE THE COTACT ALLOWING A RUCK TO BE FORMED WITHOUT A DEFENDER BEING INVOLVED ALLOWING QUICK BALL AND RULING OUT A TURNOVER

• PRESSURE THE 9/10 AXIS IN CLASSENS FIRST EVER GAME FOR TIGERS AND LOOK TO HIT WILKINSON HARD AND LATE AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE MILLER OR TWELVETREES INTO STAND OFF

• TARGET JENKINS/SHERIDAN/MEARS/MOORE/FRANKS WITH NONE OF THEM RECOGNISED SCRUMMAGERS BESIDES SHERIDAN WHO IS LACKING REAL LIFE FORM. AND NO OUT AND OUT TIGHT HEAD ON THE BENCH SHOULD MAKE IT A LONG DAY AT THE SCRUM FOR LEICESTER

Colin Slade in the wet and cold weather Driver?

He's from New Zealand and has spent the last year at Newcastle so i reckon he should be used to it.

Back to the AP!!

Leicester Tigers have names their side to travel to Exeter this week.

Tigers have made 11 changes to the side that comprehensively beat league leaders Newcastle last week, with a whole new pack on display. Experienced scrum half Michael Claassens comes in for his Tigers debut after joining on loan from London Wasps.

Tigers find themselves in a rich vein of form, having won 15 of their last 17 games, and will be travelling to bottom of the table Exeter expecting to keep that run going.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Michael Claassens
02. Stephen Moore	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. James Horwill (c)	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Alex Brown	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Nathan Hines	13. Florian Fritz
07. David Pocock	14. Cory Jane
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Rob Miller

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Lee Mears 18. Ben Franks 19. Samu Manoa 20. Magnus Lund 21. Jordan Crane 22. Neil de Kock 23. Billy Twelvetrees

Tactics

GENERAL:

- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. We will look to our forwards to carry through the middle, and then strike out wide when the time is right.

- Defensively we will look to blitz, with Claasens sweeping behind the defensive line to deal with any short kicks.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites within range.

- Look to use our bench to win the game in the last 30 mins. New front row to come on at 50 mins to impact the game, and Manoa and Crane to come on at 50/60 mins to strengthen our carrying.

FORWARDS:

- Attack the lineout as a weapon using the tactical kicking of Claasens and Wilkinson. A.Brown to be our banker ball, supported by Horwill and Hines. We will relentlessly target Valey's throws.

- At the scrum all three front rowers to go flat out for 50 mins and then bring new front row on. Moore and Johnston to look look to really get after Crockett and Valey.

- We have selected a massive pack for wet conditions. Led by Waldrom, and supported by Horwill, Pocock, Hines, Jenkins, Moore and Johnston, we want our carriers running straight lines and not taking risks with the offload with the wet ball.

- Pocock is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first, securing first phase possession for us and pilfering the possession of Exeter. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

BACKS:

- Wilkinson is given license to play the game as he sees it. We do ask that he uses our massive carrying pack and lineout ability to put pressure on Exeter, but if he sees an opportunity to attack out wide - that is his call

- If the game is tight and the ball isn't coming quickly, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

- We have selected Jauzion and Fritz to give us creativity in midfield, and to keep us solid in defence.

- Our back three are told to play the each kick as they see it. When deep in our own half, with the weather as it is, we will not be silly with trying to counter too often. Both Jane and Miller are well drilled full backs, and both have good boots to get us good territory. But if a kick from Exeter is loose or short, and if it is on, we will not be afraid to run the ball back.

KEY POINTS:

- Form and Momentum - 15 wins in 17 games. Progressed in all cup competitions and 3rd in the league. Our confidence is sky high. Exeter have one victory in the league all season - look to get their heads down early.

- A massive carrying pack that should tire Exeter down to allow our pacey back line room to cause damage with their pace.

- Get after a slow and ageing back five in Exeter's pack, and with a 6/2 split bench with powerful carriers to impact the game as it progresses.

- Target the breakdown - Pocock to do all he can to keep winning us ball for our backs to use - Exeter have no real 7 in their team, and we feel we can get gain a big advantage here.

- Get after Slade and after Tindall - Pocock and co to really get in the face of Slade and see if he is up for a cold wet game - and our defence to rush Tindall who we expect to be a crash ball option.

- If the game is tight, Wilkinson will look to drop into the pocket and keep the scoreboard ticking over with drop goals.

Tactics up mate

Driver - RIP 606 wrote:LOOK TO HIT WILKINSON HARD AND LATE AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE MILLER OR TWELVETREES INTO STAND OFF

Driver your replacement FH is Josh Matavesi
(at least I assume that is who you mean)

Driver - RIP 606 wrote:TARGET JENKINS/SHERIDAN/MEARS/MOORE/FRANKS WITH NONE OF THEM RECOGNISED SCRUMMAGERS

LukeLovesLuka wrote:

Driver - RIP 606 wrote:LOOK TO HIT WILKINSON HARD AND LATE AND GET HIM OFF THE PITCH AND FORCE MILLER OR TWELVETREES INTO STAND OFF

Driver your replacement FH is Josh Matavesi
(at least I assume that is who you mean)

You mean a out and out 10 rather than a full back or centre? I know what i'd rather pick....

Driver - RIP 606 wrote:TARGET JENKINS/SHERIDAN/MEARS/MOORE/FRANKS WITH NONE OF THEM RECOGNISED SCRUMMAGERS

Missed out the other half of what i said there Luke?

Its not hard to tell we are back to the league this week is it!

Nick I waiting until all squads are announced before I name my sideso could be late tomorrow. Won't be any attempt to degrade your side in the tactics if you name your's earlier.

Having secured a home Heineken Cup quarter final and a place in the Anglo Welsh Cup semi finals in recent weeks, Saracens head into this Aviva Premiership match with London Wasps full of confidence. Head coach Ozzy3213 makes 9 changes to the starting XV that beat the Dragons last week, with 6 of those changes in the pack. Despite losing a number of players to 6 Nations duty, the starting XV this week contains 13 full internationals along with current England squad members Henry Trinder and Alex Goode.

Head coach Ozzy3213 had this to say.

"We are approaching a critical time in the season now, and it is pleasing to be doing so off the back of some excellent form and qualification for the knockout stages of two other competitions. We are fortunate to have such a big squad packed with international quality players, which means we have been able to rest players like Bismarck (du Plessis) and Ma'a (Nonu) in recent weeks meaning they should remain fresh all the way through the 6 Nations period for us. It is also important that having lost an internaitonal half back pairing we can bring in another fully capped pair to replace them. We expect London Wasps to provide us with a stern test this week, but the boys are focused and in good form and confident that we can go to Adams Park and get a result."

Saracens
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtwarira	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Bismarck du Plessis	10. Patric Lambie
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Dave Attwood	11. Digby Ioane
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Joe van Niekerk (c)	13. Henry Trinder
07. Tom Wood	14. Mark Cueto
08. Raphael Lakafia	15. Alex Goode

16. Gary Botha 17. Max Lahiff 18. Brok Harris 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Luke Narraway 21. Paul Hodgson 22. Nevin Spence 23. James Short

Tactics

Our generic gameplan revolves around a high intensity attacking and defensive game.

In attack our primary gameplan is always to control possession and run the ball, utilising big carriers attacking gaps in the line, and looking to offload to support runners to continue getting over the gainline and keep the ball alive. If the offload is not on, we will take the contact and look to recycle quickly at the breakdown. If running the ball is not on we will uitilise the kicking game of one of our backs to take us into the right area of the pitch.

In defence we will look to blitz, with our scrum half sweeping behind the defensive line. Key for us is line speed, getting up to make the tackle before the ball carrier hits the gainline, and confidence and trust in the man next to you in the defensive line, meaning we will not jump out or get pulled to far away from the next defender leaving gaps that can be exploited.

At the breakdown, we will not overcommit players. If the ball is not there to be won, then we will commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow it down whilst maintaining a strong defensive line across the pitch. If the ball looks like it is there to be won, we will look to get more numbers there quickly, with the first 1 or 2 players immediately rucking past the ball to clear the opposition players who are trying to get hands on it, and the next man in will then look to get it out quickly for us to counter attack on turnover ball.

We will look to really attack the scrum, both in attack and defence. We will not be looking to drop the scrum at all, and Joe van Niekerk in his role as captain will be talking to the referee constantly to ensure that he is aware that we want to scrummage. We will look to be aggressive in this area throughout.


Game Specific Tactics

• Target Christian Wade with kicking game - Lambie to drop bombs on Wade and really test him under the ball, with our wide men getting up quickly to put him under lots of pressure.
  
  
• Attack the fringes - Hougaard will be looking to snipe and/or us big carriers close to the ruck on early phases to tie in defenders and create space out wide.
  
  
• Ioane to track inside - Look to get Ioane coming in and attacking Banahan's lack of mobility in the 13 channel.
  

Key Points

• Form - We are in great form in this game whereas Wasps come in off the back of a loss last week and also a loss before that in the Amlin Cup.
  
  
• Experience of winning trophies - We are getting to the business end of things now, and in 3 seasons so far we have shown that mentally we are tough and can get the job done at this time. Wasps have not.
  
  
• Proven units in key areas - International quality decision makers at 8,9,10.
  
  
• Ball carriers in the pack - In good conditions there will not be many scrums and we've selected two props who carry well rather than being pure scrummagers as this suits the conditions.
  
  

Sale side to entertain the visiting Worcester
* Dependant on England squad naming

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Luc Ducalcon
04. Romain Millo Chluski	11. Lelia Masaga
05. Andries Bekker	12. Yann David
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Tom Brady
08. Wycliffe Palu	15. Nick Abendanoon

16. Jerome Schuster 17. Agustin Creevy 18. Neemia Tialata 19. Christian Day 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Ben Spencer 22. Olly Barkley 23. Sam Smith

---

General Game Plan

On attack, we will look to control possession with our strong carrying game. We will look to our big carriers to get over the gain line and where possible offload to support runners breaking the defensive line and keeping our forward momentum going. If running the ball is not on we will look to the boot of Cruden to put us in the right areas.

On defence, we will use a blitz defence coming up at pace looking to isolate the ball carrier before he gets to the gain line stopping any momentum and allowing us to hit the breakdown hard. Danny Care will act as a sweeper to cover any grubbers behind the line while our back three will sit deep ready to run back any loose kicks.

At the breakdown, if the ball looks available we will look to seriously commit numbers to clear the ruck allowing Thomson and Quedragao to come in and secure us turnover ball. At all other times we will commit 1 or 2 to the breakdown and look to counter ruck legally slowing down Worcester ball allowing our defensive line more time to set.

We will look to use the set piece as a weapon throughout. We will target the scrum with a technically strong front row looking to get under and disrupt. With 5 jumping options and a reliable thrower at hook we will look to attack from the lineout. We will look to mix things up bringing the ball down into the maul or playing the ball of the top and spreading it through the backs.

---

Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Steenkamp
09. Genia
02. Gray
10. Carter
03. Harden

04. Bakkies
11. Gear
05. Robson 12. Barnes
06. Burger
13. Kahui
07. Saull
14. MAy
08. Alberts 15. Dagg


16 Wood 17 George 18 White 19 Williams 20 Fasivalu 21 Lewis 22 Donald 23 JSD



I am off to the airport to fly out to Rome at 4 am so doubt i will predict

Tactics


Glaws put out a strong side for the visit of saints,. Ali Williams fresh from his loan to Saints comes on to the bench for us

We have as ever gone for a pack packed with dynamism and ball carriers and will look to get front foot ball to launch our stellar backline which must be the best in the league during the 6 nations.

Set Piece.

AS ever glos have a strong front 5 and monster backrow wth Saull providing the glue between backs and Forwards and linking play.

We will look to get a nudge on and launch alberts off the back to get hard yards before releasing the backs.

Lineout

Bakkies Robson SAull and Burger are great lineout forawards and we will look to secure our own ball and steal theirs.

We will look to go Drive a lot until we have won the collisions and look to hit burger and Alberts off the back of the driving maul to create quick quick ball.

Genia and Carter will call the shots and the forwards job is to provide the platform,

We will look to play close to the ruck first half with Steenkamp, bakkies, Burger, Alberts etc getting over gain line and either off loading or setting back quick ball then the backs come into play.

Backs

Carter and Genia are the 2 best half backs in world rugby and will set the pace and control the game.

genia will look to use the ball when necessary or attack at the fringes by hitting runners and then picking and going himself where he is so so dangerous.

Carter will only get the ball when he is ready and will look to play as necessary, he will clear the ball in our own 22 and take any penalties in range but outside these areas he will play what is on.

you do not have a backline like we have and not look to attack.

Carter will try the high ball where necessary and try thr kick in behind for territory but primarily he is looking to attack.

him and barnes will interchange when necessary and will look to hit Kahui up the middle and also create one on ones out wide where our Back 3 are proven attackers of the highest order.

A back 3 of May, Dagg and Gear is quicksilver and an attacking dream they will look to counter any looseball take quick throws and generally raise the tempo.
This should put pressure on the saints kicking game. as a loose kick in deadly.

Defensively we will be looking to employ a blitz defence with Genia sweeping. we figure we can cough up ball from saints and with our backline turnover b all will be deadly.

best of luck chris.

Marker

01. David Flatman	09. Byron Kelleher
02. Michael Mayhew	10. Morne Steyn (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Danie Russouw	11. Bryan Habana
05. Ollie Kohn	12. Pat McCabe
06. Scott Higginbotham	13. Regan King
07. Craig Newby (c)	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Chris Fortey 17. George Porter 18. Chris Budgen 19. Kearnen Myall 20. Sebastian Chabal 21. Dwayne Peel 22. Sam Vesty 23. Shane Williams

Tactics
Forwards
Winning our ball is key here and we have a front 5 who will secure ball for us to allow the backs space and time. We will look to target their lineout with some effective lineouts jumpers and stealer's in our starting line up. In the back 3 we have players who are able to win turnover ball, both will be told to play as 6.5's as we expect the match to get quite messy and be quite negative rugby. Our 2nd rows will look to impose themselves on the opposition and cause a fiesty atmosphere. Budgen, when he comes on rarely gets beaten by opposition (see Saints last year) and Fortey is experienced enough to hold up Porter who will only learn in these situations. Gorgodze and Higginbotham will look to make ground whenever they the ball and be stood off 12-13 quite alot.

Backs
Negative rugby here, kicking for touch and putting pressure on the opposition. Steyn will look to make touch and not kick it down their throats. When the ball goes to McCabe we will look to drag it back into the 9-10 channel before quick ball to release our pacy and dangerous backline. Steyn will be controlling the backs and Kelleher will give quick service and will look to snipe when any space appears. King will do his unpredictable running and look to offload to a back rower or winger. We have a backline who are comfortable under the high ball but we won't look for a kicking duel when we know we can gain an upper hand in the lineouts. Our bench will add pace and experience to the backline.

Defence
Hard and fast blitz defence with our back 3 hanging back a bit to prevent any kick throughs. The back row will look to be at least 2nd to each ruck to look to slow ball down or turn it over. If we win turnover in our half we will kick for touch, if we win in their half we will look to spin it out wide.

Overall
*Look to dominate the lineouts,
*Drag them down to a scrappy match,
*Steyn to kick for corners,
*3 points is key and we won't leave their half without that or 7 points so a drop goal is allowed!
*Kelleher to give quick ball,
*Backs to run hard at the opponents and seek for offloads to release back 3,
*We may end up playing scrappy, negative rugby but that's what wins matches for us.

Jeez I copied and pasted my team and changes but format wrong sorry chaps.

No worries Matt

Just so you know you have to use the quote button and then copy and paste to pick up the coding

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Soane Tonga'uhia	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. James Buckland	10. Daniel Bowden
03. WP Nel
04. Matt Garvey	11. Bjorn Basson
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Jaque Fourie
07. Steffon Armitage	14. J.P Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Tonga Lea'toea 17. Neil Briggs 18. Darren Fearn 19. Kieren Lowe 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Warren Fury 22. Matthew Tait 23. Juan Martin Hernandez

Tactics

- In good conditions, play an attacking, running game.
- We will look to win the contact area and the collisions. With Tonga'uhia, Nel, Garvey, Kaino, Spies, Steffon, SBW in the side, we have some big, powerful units who will look to smash over the gain line and put Quins on the backfoot. We will look for quick ball for Pienaar to use and create opportunities with.
- Kennedy will be our main lineout target and we willl look for quick ball off the top on most occasions, if not use Garvey at the front to create a maul.
- We will look to get in the face of Quade Cooper, hit him hard and not give him any time. We will not kick looes ball to him, but use Armitage, JP, Basson to run the ball back and gain yards.
- We willl look to dominate possession and tire the Quins defence. Tonga'uhia, Spies, Kaino, Garvey will carry hard and look to make inroads. We will look for Pienaar and Bowden to play what is infront of them and put SBW and co into gaps and space. Our wingers will come inside and along with Fourie, look to gather the offloads from SBW, which he will only do when it is on.
- At the breakdown, we will look to use our powerful flankers and the breakdown skills of Steffon to secure quick ball and slow down opposition ball. Any turnover ball will be counter attacked.
- We will target the Quins back 3 and look to get our wingers one on one with them, especially Burns.
- Pienaar will kick all pens for goal in range. If not we will go for touch and use the lineout as a platform to attack.
- We have some good in form players and fancy our chances, and see this as a good opportunity to get an away win.

Best of luck Steve.

I hope everyone has seen that mat has opted to play Dan Carter in the second row this week? Big call that (do enjoy your formatting efforts, get closer every week).

Will do my team when I get in but will be along lines of:

1. Mullen
2. Whitehead
3. Hayman
4. Lawes
5. Albacete
6. Lydiate
7. Lapandry
8. Messam
9. Simpson
10. Giteau
11. Siviatu
12. De villiers
13. Tuilagi
14.
15. Cipriani

Nick, Dupuy has been drafted onto France's bench with Parra taking Yachvilli's place in the team after he has been unwell.

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Perry Freshwater	09. Luke Burgess
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Steven Myler (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Steve Mafi	11. Christian Wade
05. Marco Wentzel (c)	12. Luke McAlister
06. Rocky Elsom	13. Matt Banahan
07. Jacques Burger	14. Ugo Monye
08. Roger Wilson	15. Geordan Murphy

16. Benjamin Kayser 17. Charlie Beech 18. James Slipper 19. Stuart Hooper 20. Tom Johnson 21. Nick Phipps 22. George Ford 23. Noah Cato

Tactics
We have picked a gritty, dynamic and physical forward pack which will hopefully get us over the gain line and onto the front foot. We feel that if we can assert ourselves physically and win the forward battle, providing our backs with a solid platform we will be able to beat Saracens. We will look to target the breakdown and the back row battle and ensure we get quick, clean ball to attack with.

We will look to our dynamic forwards to get us onto the front foot by attacking in groups with some grunt and powerful carrying, getting us over the gain line. Hopefully our carriers will suck in Saracens defenders, so we can spread the ball out wide to make use of the space on offer. We will start as we mean to go on with a high intensity, hitting the collision area hard and driving our players over the gain line.

In attack we will use McAlister as a second playmaker option with Banahan running plenty of hard lines into midfield targeting Trinder. We will look to attack gaps and half gaps in the Saracens defence and target the outside shoulder. Banahan will be our crash ball option, we will look for him to come at speed and carry hard into the Saracens defence, we will support him and look to drive him over the gain line and get quick ball to keep the momentum in our attacks. At the breakdown we will come from low to high in clearing out Saracens players to ensure Burgess has clean ball.

We will look to get our offloading game going to keep the point of attack changing and Saracens working in defence. We will look to the kicking games of Myler and McAlister to put the ball in behind the Saracens wingers and keep them pinned back in their own half where we can pressurize them. We will hopefully be able to build attacks from the scrum and earn some penalties for Myler to make use of. We will look to the scrum to provide us with a platform to build attacks from and keep Saracens on the back foot.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Tony Woodcock	09. Karl Dickson
02. Schalk Brits (c)	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. Jerome Thion	11. Zac Guildford
05. Nathan Sharpe	12. Anthony Faainga
06. Francois Louw	13. George Lowe
07. David Seymour	14. Jonathan Joseph
08. Chris Henry	15. Freddie Burns (k)

16. Chris Brooker 17. Joe Marler 18. Brian Mujati 19. George Skivington 20. Carl Fearns 21. Jamie Gibson 22. Tomas O'Leary 23. Felipe Contepomi

Tactics


Game plan

We are going to look to play a game based upon building pressure on London Irish and will do this by retaining the ball whenever we are outside our 22. We can do this using the strong carriers which we have in our team and we want our carriers to by dynamic in there running. Conditions allow us to play some running rugby and we will look to take the ball to Irish with a quick tempo and strong running. In defence we are looking to be aggressive and disruptive and will look to disrupt the London Irish patterns and we will always be looking for the turnover or to at least slow the Irish ball down and affect its quality.

General Tactics

Retain the ball as often as possible and use our carriers to punch holes and get us over the gain line. We are looking to move the point of attack with Cooper and Burns looking to be at first receiver either side of a ruck and they will both be looking to stand flat and put others into space. Key to our game is our strong ball carriers such as Brits, Afoa, Thion, Sharpe, Henry and Louw as well our centres and we will look to get these guys involved whenever possible. We will look to be getting quick ball and when this happens we will be looking for the ball to go into wider channels and let JJ and Guildford run at the Irish defence.

When our carriers get the ball we are looking for them to carry the ball hard and aim to win collisions and look for the offload to support which will be on their shoulder. We want our players to carry in numbers as we then are able to keep the attack flowing with offloads or quick ball.

Set Piece

We are going to look for Woodcock to really get after the WP Nel and send him backwards with Afoa looking to get underneath Soane on the other side. At the lineout we have 4 very good options and will look to shorten the line when we can with Sharpe in control of our lineout.

Defence

We will switch Cooper and Burns in defence and this allows Quade to gather up any loose kicks and run at the broken field as he does so well for the Reds. Faainga and Louw are in charge of our defensive game. We are aware of the power coming from the Irish midfield and have picked Faainga and Louw deliberately for their defensive abilities. We know that no one will get through Ant and George on a regular basis. In our back row we have 3 tackling machines playing who will chop down the Irish carriers and in Brits and Afoa we have two front row players who play more like backrowers. Look for all our back row to make a nuisance of the Irish breakdown and turnover the ball and at the very least slow it down.

Key Points

- Keep the ball in hand when not in our 22. Look to build phases with strong carriers playing of off Dickson, Cooper and Burns. Look for our 3 playmakers to move the point of attack and look for gaps and disorganization in Irish defence. Dickson always looking to attack the fringes as when it comes to sniping he is up there with the best around.

- Look for quick ball and when we get it we look to go a little wider using Lowe and our wingers in the wider channels.

- Aggressive in attack and defence with the aim of winning collisions in contact. In attack we want to look for offloads and in defence we will look to prevent them.

- Back row to look to dominate the breakdown and therefore control the speed of our ball and theres. Our 3 backrowers are very comfortable with the art of the breakdown and turnover ball.

-Get to Pienaar and we go a long way to stopping Irish. Try and make his day a misery and not give him a 2nd to think.

- We have what we consider to be a very strong bench with everyone on their either an international player or an England Saxon. We will get a real boost as these players are introduced as fresh legs in the 2nd half.

- We have a lot of players in very good real life form.

Northampton Saints Team versus
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Matt Mullen	09. Joe Simpson
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Matt Giteau (c) (k)
03. Carl Hayman
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Jean de Villiers
06. Liam Messam	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Calum Clark	14. Elliot Daly
08. Ryan Kankowski	15. Danny Cipriani

Subs: 16. Mike Haywood 17. Thomas Domingo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Alexander Lapandry 21. Sam Harrison 22. Jamie Elliott 23. Matt Hopper

Tactics

Saints pick a young team that is playing with confidence after a recent bout of good form that has seen them make the QF of the Amlin Cup and the SF of the LV Cup. Will look to target the setpiece and frustrate Gloucester by disrupting the tempo of the game and pushing pressure on the Gloucester team with an aggressive defence and hard running game!

High tempo start

We will look to blitz Gloucester at the start of the game and play at a really high tempo because a lot of the Gloucester team havent been playing week in week out - our team has and has been building some momentum, so we expect a fast tempo game from the start can give us the upper hand in the opening quarter and take advantage of any rustiness.

Simpson and Giteau to control the speed of the game - with Simpson looking to attack the fringes, which will give our backline a bit more time on the ball.

Structured/Welsh Approach

When Gloucester look to be getting into the swing of the game we will adopt to a much more structured approach, that is based around a big tackling back row (Kanowski, Clark and Messam all fantastic tacklers) that knocks Gloucester ball carriers back in the tackle and a solid defence in the midfield with de Villiers and Tuilagi aiming to stop their counterparts.

Same structured approach the Welsh took against Ireland - strong backrow presence with two strong running midfielders, a play making 10 and some great finishers in the backthree.

With Clark, Lawes, Messam, Kankowski in the pack and de Villiers and Tuilagi in the backs we have got a lot of players capable of slowing down and frustrating Gloucesters attack - we know that they will throw the ball around, but we've selected these big hitting players to put doubts in Gloucester backs mind as a 50-50 ball could see them smashed.

Set Piece
Very strong lineout to compete with 4 jumpers of Gloucester - Lawes, Messam, Clark, Albacete will all work well. Will challenge the Gloucester lineout where Saints can get the advantage. Will look to generate quick ball from the lineout and attack at pace.

Saints will really look to target the Gloucester scrum and get a push on - we have got some very good scrummagers in the front row and can bring on Thomas and Domingo in the second half - during the 6Nations we feel we can attack Gloucester here.

Defence/breakdown
Will look to play an aggressive blitz defence with Simpson sweeping behind - we will look to put pressure on the Gloucester half back pair and stop opposition getting over the gainline in the midfield.

We will look for big hits and force handling errors and turnovers.

We will compete for the ball at the breakdown, even if it is just to slow the Gloucester ball down and stop any momentum building.

Key Points
* Continuity - take advantage early on and try and get some early scores
* Play similar approach to Wales
* Big tacklers to cause problems for Gloucester - tough defence to break down and speed to attack with any handling errors.
* Disrupt Gloucester tempo and slow down the pace
* Young team, not afraid to go out and play and in good form, so confidence is high.
* Don't need the big names to cause problems and will look to win.

Guys looking for comments with length of my tactics this time round? That better sort of length/detail than normal?

Chris Lydiate has been selected for Wales.

Bl oody Gatland ruining my plans! Thought he was going to miss the first two weeks...thanks for letting me know though!

Jenkins selected as well!

SJE could you put Sheridan in and Dermody on the bench please?

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Fabien Barcella	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Toby Flood
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Chris Schofield	12. Fran Steyn
06. Richie McCaw(c)	13. Conrad Smith
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. James O’Connor
08. Kieran Read	15. Adam Ashley-Cooper

16. Nathan Morris 17. Owen Franks 18. Alex Waller 19. Ed Slater 20. Juan Smith 21. Jonny Arr 22. Dan Hipkiss 23. Nick Evans

Tactics

General – High intensity and infuriate Bath at the breakdown. Plenty of kicking options in backline to mix game up if needed.

Scrum – use scrum as restart as look for quick ball for Read to pop up and feed Pretorious, if weakness seen in opposition we will look to exploit

Lineout – quick ball off the top using Schofield as primary caller, also look to use Read at the tail and McCaw, Thorn to offer front ball.

Breakdown – Our big game plan….look to dominate breakdown with all backrow options excellent in this area. Look to slow/turnover opposition at every possible opportunity. McCaw to play more 6 role but will play breakdown as he see’s fit. Thorn to give us massive clearing out option around the park.

Backline – Steyn as go to ball and second kicking option. Look to punch holes in opposition defence and free up Conrad to bring the runners into play. JOC to step into midfield with Steyn used as decoy and JOC to hit the line fast at angles to cause opposition defensive line issues. Steyn to take pens around the halfway mark.

Franks to come after halftime to increase pressure in set piece and give us added work rate around the park. Evans at around 60mins to see out game

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Jon Golding	09.Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. David Skrela
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Louis Deacon	11. Tom Varndell
05.Sam Whitelock	12. Anthony Allen
06. James Haskell	13. David Marty
07. Beau Robinson	14.Isiah Toeava
08. JMF Lobbe	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Dave Wilson 17. Joe Ward 18. Euan Murray 19. Tim Swinson 20. Will Skinner 21. Fourie Du Preez 22. EFS 23. Olly Woodburn

Tactics

Psychological
11 wins in 13 games is a brilliant record to have and our players are all brimming with confidence.

Overall
Our game plan is based on simple rugby. We will be looking for lots of big carries. We will look to use the set piece as a platform and release our back three.

Set Piece
Our formidable front row has been picked to win scrums. Kubrashvilli will be looking to get a strong hit and drive through the front row. Lobbe will control it at the back. If we are dominant in the scrum we will look to take it as penalty option to really use our advantage. At the lineout we have options with Whitelock, Lobbe and Haskell all capable of taking opposition ball. At the front we have Deacon offering the banker ball. Look to put pressure on their lineout with Chris Schofield being the only primary caller.

Kicking
If we feel we are establishing dominance in the lineout we will look to put the ball out of touch. For penalties Kurtley Beale will look to take ones in his range. If he is struggling Skrela can take over kicking duties.

Ball in Hand
With the ball in hand we will be looking for big carries to get over the gain line. Our team is full of players capable of making big gains and we will look to use this to our advantage in these conditions. We will be looking to constantly make carries and get up and make another one. Lobbe, Whitelock, Haskell etc will be given the ball as much as possible.

Wigglesworth will be looking to provide Skrela with quick ball and he will either look to get the ball to a carrier or look to spread the ball to one of our back three. Our back three will look to be adventurous running at the Newcastle defence.


Defence
We will look for a quick defensive line to put pressure on the key Newcaslte decision makers. Our defense will leave Beale trailing to get any deep kicks. He will be able to either return with interest or able to make a good run.

We will be looking to isolate runners and force a turnover by getting bodies into the breakdown and use Robinson’s skill in the ground.

Replacements
Up front we have picked subs who we feel can really continue our dominance. Euan Murray is only on the bench due to his exertions in the Six Nations last week. Dave Wilson is also a good scrummager to bring on late and we feel near the end of the game we will still be dominant in the scrum. In the backs, FDP can come on a calm the ship offering quality and steady leadership. EFS will be a terror over the last 20 minutes while we feel Woodburn can also cause damage late on.

Game of the week Bath v Newcastle then!

Guys

I know that SJE is very busy this weekend so won't have time on Saturday to do results, and I also have a fair bit on, so I am going to extend prediction until 20:00 on Saturday night, to give everyone time to get them in.

Would be good if we can get a full set, as it's getting to the business end of the competition and not having people predict can affect results unfairly.

Thanks

Match thread updated and predictions open

Chiefs 12-18 Tigers

Tigers will struggle to pull away with the big boots in Exeter's back line however, I think that the Chiefs targetting the scrum will be their undoing and see them struggling to get quick ball. Big fan of Tigers' centre partnership.

Glos 24-15 Saints

Saints will get some joy to begin with, with their big hitters and hard defence but think that the Glos backrow will cause massive trouble and I love their balance! Cipriani may struggle if the hard hitting defence fails.

Quins 18-18 Irish

I hate doing this but I reall can't split the two teams. Both have made right choices and have strength all over. Not going to be a pretty game but both tactics are clear and have pros and cons evening them out.


Bath 26-27 Falcons

Great backline for Bath and love the impact from the bench in their backs. Falcons centres and back row just nick this but it's not an easy match. Think Bath will work well with their big carriers but the introduction of Nick Evans will see Falcons over. Bath score the tries, Falcons kick the points in a humdinger of a match!


Wasps 7-18 Sarries

Think McAlister will do well running the show but trying to send Banahan through that Sarries centre partnership is not going to happen! Sarries win the pack battle and I can see the way they use Ioane and Trinder will see them to a victory.

Woo first to finish them!! Luckily it's quiet in work!!

Sale v Worcester
- Sale edge the front five battle and Ouedrago will do well at the breakdown for them. Palu suffering from a lack of form and Gorgodze will do Warriors well. Half back battles are close, Steyn will kick his goals, Cruden will provide some spark with Care. Plenty of pace in both back 3's and solid centre partnerships. Like Warriors tactics of making it scrappy and kicking their points but at home, the Sharks take it by a score.
24-21

Exeter v Leicester
- Very tense battle in the forwards but think Pocock will dominate an out of form Moody and provide Classens and Wilko with good ball. Both sides have solid backlines and see a tight game with not many linebreaks or chances. A kicking fest which sees Wilko sneak Slade.
9-12

Gloucester v Saints
- Very strong team throughout from Glos which will be dictated well by Genia and Carter and get them plaiyng in the right areas at a good tempo. Saints will run them close and they have some real spark in the backs with Cips, Tuilagi etc. Glos backrow edges it and gets them on front foot at Kingsholm to win.
26-21

Bath v Newcastle
- Newcastles backrow sees them edge the battle upfront and having two natural opensides will help them win the breakdown. The Falcons backs are a class above and will make the most of their opportunities, especialyl with Evans to bring on. Bath will cause problems with Beale, Toeava etc but think Falcons can pull off a good away win. just.
20-21

Wasps v Saracens
- like the Sarries Saffa front row and think lineout battle close with wentzel and borths. Prefer JVN at 8 and Lakafia not on his best form but they still compete well with Wasps unit. Sarries half backs will get better control for me and Lambie provides spark needed in these close games. Nonu/Trinder is growing on me as a combo but think Mac and Banahan run them close. Banahan running at Trinder could cause problems but Nonu in defence helps. Very tough game to call, at home Sarries take it, and with a better 10 Wasps could of.
20-20

Sale Sharks 16 - 16 Worcester Warriors

This is an interesting call. Worcester have a dogged pack and I'm not convinced that the Sale pack are necessarily going to get on top. Half backs are one a piece as I prefer Steyn and Care from either side. Both centres are even and Sale just edge the back 3. Can't call this one either way.

Exeter Chiefs 17 - 20 Leicester Tigers

Tough battle upfront with very little give in either the scrum or lineout. Not a fan of Hines at 6 at all and this brings down the advantage of having Pocock in your side a little. Overall I do prefer Leicester in the pack but it's not a big margin. I prefer Exeter at half back but I prefer the Leicester outside backs. I do not understand how Exeter get any go forward if they drop before contact, that is heavily against them here.

Gloucester 32 - 30 Northampton Saints

I see the packs rather ruining this game as I'd prefer just to watch both back lines run at each other alternately. I see the scrum going to Saints with the lineout going to Gloucester as well as the breakdown. When at full strength these to sides probably have the two best back lines in the league and even without players they are doing alright. Magic in both sides but Gloucester have the means to get the win.

Bath 24 - 23 Newcastle Falcons

Tough game here. I prefer the Bath front row, and obvious weakness in each front row but I see Golding as less of a weakness that Lindsay. Scrum should just go to Bath along with the lineout. Breakdown will be a hell of a battle with McCaw and Brussow just getting the better of JMF and Robinson. Overall I feel there is more to the Bath pack. One a piece at half back and the centres go to Newcastle, the back 3 just about to Newcastle as well. Real tough call this one.

London Wasps 26 - 28 Saracens

Another intriguing battle. I think the scrum will go to Wasps with what is a very handy set of props in the tight. Locks are a decent battle again with Borthwick and Wentzel having a great battle at the lineout. I like both back rows but think I prefer Wasps unit. The backs are a whitewash to Saracens, who are stronger in each department. I feel that although Saracens will get less ball than wasps they are more capable of making things happen and scoring points with the ball they get.

Sale 20 - 18 Worcester

Advantage Sale up front with Ducalcon getting on top of Flatman, and strong 2nd row pairing from the home side which see them winning the tight five. Great back row battle, do see Worcester coming out on top though. One apiece in the HB's. Really intersting centre battle - see David more as a 13 which might give Worcester the upper hand. Sale edge the back threes. Really tight game. Back row and Steyn mean Worcester always close, but at home Sale just enough.



Gloucester 26 - 23 Saints

Really tight in the scrum battle, not a lot of give in either lineout. Great back row battle, slight edge to the home side though. HB advantage to Gloucester, and two excellent but so different centre combos.Big advantage to the home side in the back three. Forwards are really close in this one, but Gloucester have more creative spark in the back line, although Saints will punch some seriuos holes. Enough for Gloucester at home though.



Harlequins 17 - 19 Irish

Slight advanatge up front for the home side, Tiny vs Afoa a great battle. Irish with a slight edge in the 2nd row on form, and I side with them in the back row too with Kaino the standout. One apiece in the HB's, with Irish's combo much stronger in the centres. Tight back three battle. With a great back five, and a centre combo who love to run as per Irish tactics, I think they might nick this.



Bath 22 - 22 Newcastle

Game of the week for me. Advantage Bath in the scrum with a mean front row. Tight second row battle, with the two AB's the standouts. Hell of a back row battle. Newcastle to get some advantage at the breakdown, but Bath have decent options too. Tight HB's with neither side dominating here. Better centres from Newcastle, and two great back threes. Really, really tight game all over the pitch. Apologies for sitting on the fence, but it's that close IMO.



Wasps 21 - 20 Saracens

I'm giving slight advantage to Wasps in the scrum, although a fierce battle all game. Lineout battle sees neither sidecoming out on top. Two top back rows - Wasps have so much strength there - and take a slight advantage. One apiece in the HB's, and two nice (contrasting) centre combos, maybe slight advantage Sarries. Tight back three battles too. This is a really close game, with Wasps edging the pack and Sarries edging the backs. At home, with a marginally stronger pack, Wasps with a great win.

Sale 24 Worcester 18
Gloucester 30 Saints 24
Quins 20 Irish 20
Bath 22 Newcastle 20
Wasps 19 Saracens 20

Sale 22-17 Worcester
Good game this, see the Georgian no8 causing Sale all sorts of trouble and being a human wrecking ball - but can't help feel that Worcester have set out in their tactics to be too negative and rely a little too much on Steyn's boot - with more attacking intent and at home can't see beyond a Sale win.

Exeter 15 - 15 Leicester
I think Driver has gone out with his tactics spot on, to disrupt and not let Pocock have it all his own way at the breakdown - Lewis Moody has always done a number on Pocock and see home advantage playing into Exeters hands. Whilst they might not be better man for man, I think they have good combos all over and can't see Tigers getting enough of an edge to win away from home.

Harlequins 28 - 25 Irish
Always think that in order to beat Irish you need to be able to get through their midfield - think Cooper is one of the only players who can unlock a defence as good as London Irish's and with the sunny conditions it will really suit him. A bit of mud and rain and the result would be different, but can see this being a big scoring game - going end to end, but really like the balance to Quins.

Bath 27-26 Newcastle
Massively tough one to predict here, both on top form, good runs and have very strong teams out during 6Nations. I think Lindsay and Melaumu is a mistmatch, which will really effect Newcastle at the lineout - also see that Bath have a big carrying advantage in the pack until Smith comes on - not sure if McCaw and Brussow would work in this game due to quality of Bath's backrow, but can see what Pooly is going for here. Really close game, Newcastle deserve to come out with a losing BP.

Wasps 25-24 Saracens
Really close game this - I see the packs as relatively even, though with Wentzel I think Wasps have a good platform at the lineout and also have a strong set piece. Like what Pete is doing to try and target Wade, but in these conditions I wouldnt kick it near that boy - he is lightning and the speed at which he attacks will scare any level of defence and can see Wade having a massive role for Wasps - would like to see Sarries get a back who can do some magic (little bit like Wade), as that is all tha tis missing for me.

Exeter Chiefs 12-14 Leicester Tigers

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Good front 5 battle here. Chiefs edging the scrum but good even lineout battle. Bit more to Tigers around the park though. Serious physicality to the Tigers back row. Think they can get an advantage at the breakdown and contact area.

Massive call at scrumhalf throwing Classens straight in and Chiefs can disrupt the Tigers halfbacks here while they get used to each other. Bit more quality to the Tigers backline overall though. They will get more from whatever ball they receive.

Not a high scoring game here. Tigers pack can set the platform but disruption in the halfbacks keeps this one a really tight game.

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Gloucester Rugby 23-19 Northampton Saints

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Can see Glaws using the lineout better here and getting on top there a bit. Very physical outfit in the backrow from Saints but Glaws match them all the way and edge the ball carrying battle.

Glaws are a class above at half back and can get some joy from Carter kicking in behind the wingers on the blitz. (Carter getting close to being marked down now for injury) In the backs Barnes offers a bit more control in the midfield but some good go forward for Saints. Back 3s go to Glaws though with some world class talent there.

Saints start off well here but Glaws get on top in the pack after a while and with their halfbacks pulling the strings pick up a win.

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Harlequins 18-18 London Irish

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Quins can get a bit of joy out of Nel at scrum time. Both sides should hold their own lineout while around the park both sides have some serious units in the front 5. Better balance to the Irish backrow and Armitage can win the breakdown battle for them.

Halfbacks shade to Irish for me. Better control from Pieneer and although Cooper is the better 10 he is marked down for a poor showing at the World cup. In the backs solid line up from Quins but more threat from Irish particularly in midfield.

Its a good pack battle here and both sides will see some good ball. Irish use the ball better but at home with a serious defensive unit from Quins sees a draw for me.

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Bath Rugby 22-24 Newcastle Falcons

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Scrum battle slightly edges to Falcons here for me. Golding can be got at. Both sides should hold their own lineout ball but Bath have more attacking options. Falcons can seriously dominate the breakdown here for me. Turnovers galore.

Halfbacks go to Falcons with Wiggles marked down for injuries. In the backs Falcons have more on show particularly in midfield where they can get some serious go forward.

Falcons can use the ball better here and should see some great opportunities on the turnover and pick up a good win here.

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London Wasps 16-23 Saracens

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Great set piece battle worth the admission price alone here. Sarries can do more from the lineout though. More on the flanks from Sarries but Lakafia at 8 has stalled this year.

Good playing conditions see Sarries halfbacks edge the battle with more attacking threat. In the backs not a fan of Banahan at 13. Sarries likely to get more go forward from the backline.

Sarries have enough on show to out manoeuvre Wasps away from home and pick up a decent win.

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Sale 20-18 Warriors
Close game. Edge in the scrum goes to Sale but I think Warriors will pinch a few balls. Advantage in the back row goes to Warriors. Backs about equal and the subs probably just about to Sale, very close.

Exeter 13-14 Tigers
So hard to call. Think Tigers have the forwards to win the game. Think Tigers have the better front three as well as Horwill and Pocock being the stand out players in the second row and back row. Not much in this.

Glos 25-18 Saints
Gloucester have a team here that I see dominating all over the pitch. Too many on form players and dangerous players for Saints to deal with.

Quins 23–22 Irish
At scrum time I give the edge to Quins however forwards overall go to Irish with better second and back rows. Prefer the Quins halfbacks but the Irish centres. Quins edge the back three and their subs will close the game out better imo.

Wasps 23–27 Sarries
Front five are so difficult to separate. Think Sarries have the edge in the back row though. For me it’s the Sarries backs that will get them the win. Really see them making inroads.

Sale Sharks 21 Worcester Warriors 17
Exeter Chiefs 16 Leicester Tigers 16
Gloucester 28 Northampton Saints 26
Harlequins 25 London Irish 24
Bath Rugby 24 Newcastle Falcons 22

Sorry for lack of explanations, been out all day and only just got in and had a chance to read through properly.

Sale 22-21 Worcester

Good game, Sale control the front 5 but loving Worcester's backrow. So close in the backs too with I think home advantage just sees Sale through.

Exeter 15-15 Leicester

Another tight one with not much give in the front 5's or pack in general with Tigers perhaps shading the backrow battle. Little early for Claasens but he'll add spark. Think Tigers have the edge slightly but see Exeter grinding out the draw.

Gloucester 17-14 Northampton

Not seeing much in the pack battle with some good battles throughout. Loving the Gloucester backline and they just have a little more here although Saints put up a really good fight and will be really hard to break down. See a scrappy one but Gloucester by a score.

Harlequins 17-18 Irish

How many times have these 2 played each other?!?!? See Quins getting the nudge in the front 5 but Irish backrow a class above. Think Irish have a edge in backs and will sneak this one

Wasps 16-13 Saracens

Don't see any move in the set piece or front 5 battle but Wasps just shade backrow battle. Not much in the backs with Nonu & McAllister the standouts, just think Wasps have enough to see them home.

RESULTS

Sale Sharks 28 Worcester Warriors 18
Exeter Chiefs 14 Leicester Tigers 21
Gloucester 35 Northampton Saints 21
Harlequins 24 London Irish 23
Bath Rugby 27 Newcastle Falcons 26
London Wasps 22 Saracens 26

(Will do scorers possibly tonight but more likely to be tomorrow)