Summer Tournament Finals

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Cup Final

Newcastle Falcons vs. Northampton Saints

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Kieran Read	15. Alex Goode

17. Lee Mears 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Fabien Barcella 19. Geoff Parling 20. Richie McCaw 21. Ben Youngs 22. James O’Connor 23. Aaron Cruden

Tactics

- High intensity, fast paced rugby, keeping the ball alive
- Target set piece throughout with O'Connell the master of the lineout
- Target breakdown and look to slow/tunover ball
- Set tone in front 5 with massive carrying options

- Burgess to snipe around fringes and look for space
- SBW to run hard and stright at Ford and test his defence early on with Lowe/Bowe on his shoulder
- Flood to nail anything in good range
- If lineout an issue for Saints with no leader will look to play clever balls in corner with Flood and Goode especially and POC/Read picking Saints apart

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. George Ford
03. Carl Hayman
04. Bradley Davies	11. Chris Ashton
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Ashley Beck
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane (	14. Ben Foden
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Niall Morris

16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Messam 21. Joe Simpson 22. Matt Giteau 23. Julian Savea

Tactics

- gone for a bit of an experimental side, trying to give a few of the youngsters a change and see how they are rated - in particular it would be good to get feedback on backrow combination, centre partnership, phillips and ford, and Foden on the wing. Bench also interesting as tried to fill it with impact players.

- play game at pace, keep ball in play and go through phases. Get big ball carriers over the gainline and then attack with width.

- aggressive defence led by Lawes and Lydiate.

- impact bench to come on in second half

Cup 3rd/4th place play off

Sale Sharks vs. London Irish

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Andries Bekker	12. Francois Steyn
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Jerome Schuster 17. David Paice 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Stephen Sykes 20. Peter O' Mahony 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Dean Mumm	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Matt Stevens 17. James Buckland 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

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Shield Final

Leicester Tigers vs. Gloucester

Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Tom Youngs	10. Rory Clegg
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Paul Jordaan
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Jacques Burger	14. Dom Shipperley
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Sebastian Bruno 18. Jonny Harris 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Micky Young 22. Josh Matavesi 23. Ugo Monye

Gloucester
Manager – Mat

01. Steenkamp	09. TJ Perenara
02. Gray	10. Carter
03. Mas
04. Palmer	11. Gear
05. George Robson (c)	12. Matt Scott
06. Steven Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. lapandry	14. JSD
08. Harinordoqouy	15. May

16. Wood 17. George 18. Harden 19. Gray 20. Heaslip 21. Murray. Lamb 23. Sharples

Tactics

Target lineout
Use carriers to get front foot ball
Harass sob at 8
Pressure cleft
Look to go wide to use our dynamite back 3

Shield 3rd/4th place play off

London Wasps vs. Bath Rugby

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Benn Robinson (c)	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Rhys Preistland (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Dan Bowden
06. Steve Mafi	13. George Pisi
07. Liam Gill	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Dave Dennis	15. Mike Brown

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Dan Tuohy 20. Dewald Potgieter 21. Jonah Holmes 22. Steven Myler 23. Brad Barritt

Tactics
High intensity game plan using our forwards to set out a solid platform for us to attack from. We will look to carry with plenty of support and dominate the contact area.

Preistland to play flat with Bowden being used as a playmaker and Pisi running hard lines at 13. Look to keep the ball moving in attack and offload when possible.

Target the set piece, try and gain a solid platform from the scrum and also dominate the lineout with Mafi and Dennis mixing things up at the tail.

Bath Rugby
Manager – inthefastlane

01. Charlie Faumuania	09. Richard Wigglesworth
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Charlie Hodgson
03. Davit Kubrashvilli
04. Luke Romano	11. Aurelien Rougerie
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Anthony Allen
06. Brad Shields	13Isiah Toeava
07. David Seymour	14. George North
08. James Haskell	15. Stuart Hogg

16. Cian Healy 17. Chris Brooker 18. Euan Murray 19. Sam Whitelock 20. David Pocock 21. Aaron Smith 22. Gareth Anscombe 23. Cory Jane

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---

Plate Final

Saracens vs. Harlequins

Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Lloyd Williams
02.George Chuter	10.Francois Trinh-Duc
03.Craig Mitchell
04.Flip Van Der Merwe	11.Mark Cueto
05.Ali Williams	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Joe Van Niekerk(c)	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Harry Robinson
08.Luke Narraway	15.Rory Lamount

16.Scott Spurling 17.Max Lahiff 18.Ben Tameifuna 19.Bryn Evans 20.Phil Dowson 21.Paul Hodgson 22.Ronan O'Gara 22.Chris Bell

Tactics

• Saracens to base there game around a strong defense with a high tempo set around the breakdown with players hitting rucks like there life depends on it.
  
  
• Plenty of carriers in the pack to give us some real go forth with Jauzion , Trinder and Lamount capable of smashing it up and setting the phases in the backs.
  
  
• LW and FTD to play what is in front of them whether it be territory and shifting the ball.

Can i have thoughts on
Craig Mitchell starting during internationals
Bryn Evans as a enforcer lock or would Nallet be a better choice.
JVN at 6
Jauzion/Trinder midfield

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Jerome Thion	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)(	14. Taku Ngwenya
08. Dave Denton	15. Rob Kearney

16. Matthew Rees 17. Ben Franks 18. Kieran Brookes 19. James Gaskell 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Greg Laidlaw 23. Ross Chisholm

Tactics

- Pack full of carriers to make us the hard yards of 9,10 and in the midfield.

- A strong set piece with a very powerful engine room. Bakkies and Thion to clear the rucks quickly to get us quick ball.

- Dickson and Cooper to pull the strings as to our field position and putting our carriers into gaps.

- Use a blitz defence marshalled by Wood and Roberts. Warburton to attack the breakdown.

- Ball to be sent to wide channels after defenders tied in and quick ball gained. JJ to run the channels outwide and look to put our rapid wingers into space and use Kearney joining the line.


Plate 3rd/4th place play off

London Welsh vs. Worcester Warriors

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Gavin Henson
03. Adam Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Jaco Taute
05. George Skivington	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Tom Johnson	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Tom Homer

16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Dave Wilson 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Alex Gray 21. Eric Escande 22. Owen Farrell 23. Luke Fitzgerald

Tactics

Basic tactical premise for us is to be solid defensively. We will look to win the gainline collisons and knock opposition ball carriers back targetting the ball in the tackle attempting to dislodge it and force the knock on or simply turn it over and attack. Once the play goes to ground we will look to get a couple of players to the breakdown quickly to legally disrupt and slow ball down. We will not overcommit prefering to maintain a strong defensive line, which we will blitz from. If a turnover is on at the breakdown we will go for it, however we will not overcommit in this area. The ultimate aim for us is to not allow any forward momentum and force the opposition to kick to us.

In attack we will play off 9, using big carriers off the 9 and 10's shoulders to carry close to rucks and draw defenders in. When space opens up Henson will play what he sees and we will look to get runners through the gaps with support runners on their shoulders for the offload.

Key Points

• Ball carriers will look to hit gaps rather than take contact to keep the ball alive when we attack.
  
• Strong scrummaging props and Treviranus will pack down on the tighthead flank on defensive scrums to add extra bulk to the shove with Johnson moving to 8.
  
• Big, powerful forwards through the pack to suit the gameplan.
  
• Trimble to come off his wing to punch holes in midfield.
  

As well as whatever feedback you want to give in predictions, I would be really grateful if people could answer these questions.

1. Is Chris Whitehead ok as a starter during international periods?
2. How do people rate Ofisa Treviranus?
3. Gavin Henson was widely reported to have played really well last week, how are people rating him at present?
4. Is Eric Escande a viable bench option for me during international periods?
5. Does Dean Schofield provide enough grunt at 4 (6ft 6ins and 20 stone)?

01. Nathan Catt
09. Dwayne Peel ©
02. Gary Botha
10. Tom Heathcote (k)
03. BJ Botha

04. Ollie Kohn
11. James Short
05. Jim Hamilton
12. Regan King
06. Ryan Jones
13. Matt Hopper
07. Justin Tipuric
14. Julien Malzieu
08. Mamuka Gorgodze
15. Ollie Morgan


16. Richardt Strauss 17. Paul James 18. Chris Budgen 19. Tom Savage 20. Ben Morgan 21. Eion Reddan 22. Olly Barkley 23. Rob Cook

Tactics
We are aiming to hit the ground running this season with a new and exciting brand of confrontational forwards with pace and flair in the backs. Peel is an apt captain with the experience and go-forward drive in his game

Forwards
*Heavy front row who will look to dominate the set piece and we have experience on the bench to come on and do similar,

*2nd rows are two confrontational characters who will look to get on top of the breakdown and battle hard when it comes to the lineout. We won’t go backwards with these two.

*Backrow are breakdown specialists with Jones and Tips both terrorising here and Gordogzde providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more go forward with Morgan.

Backs
* Peel to marshall and Heathcote to aim for corners when under pressure but to release King when possible, he will go for goal when in range,

* King to release Hopper who will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for Gorgodze to break through the defence, Hopper is an exciting runner and will look to take it close off King then drag the defence wide,

* A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball, on the bench we have Cook who is an excellent goal kicker and steady in defence.

Defence
*King to lead this,
*Jones/Higgs to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up,
*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece,
*No silly penalties anymore!

---

---

1. Steenkamp
2. Gray
3. Mas
4 Palmer
5 Robson
6 Ferris
7 Lapandry
8 Hari
9 TJ perenara
10 Carter
11 Gear
12 Scott
13 Kahui
14 JSD
15 May
16 Wood
17 George
18 Harden
19 Gray
20 Heaslip
21 Murray
22 Lamb
23 Sharples

Target lineout
Use carriers to get front foot ball
Harass sob at 8
Pressure cleft
Look to go wide to use our dynamite back 3

Leicester Tigers have named their side to play Gloucester in the Shield Final.

Tigers have made 9 changes to the side that beat Bath in the semi-final last week, as they aim to get each member of their squad fully fit for the first league game against London Welsh.

Tigers have given starts to youngsters Rory Clegg, Paul Jordaan and Dom Shipperley, whilst Pieter-Steph du Toit, Josh Matavesi and Jonny Harris make the bench.


Leicester Tigers
Manager – LukeLovesLuka

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Dimitri Yachvili (k)
02. Tom Youngs	10. Rory Clegg
03. Dan Cole
04. Pascal Pape	11. Paul Jordaan
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Tom Croft	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Jacques Burger	14. Dom Shipperley
08. Sean O'Brien	15. Kurtley Beale

16. Andrew Sheridan 17. Sebastian Bruno 18. Jonny Harris 19. Pieter-Steph du Toit 20. Thomas Waldrom 21. Micky Young 22. Josh Matavesi 23. Ugo Monye

Tactics

TBC

GLouceste r
Manager – Mat

01. Steenkamp	09. TJ Perenara
02. Gray	10. Carter
03. Mas
04. Palmer	11. Gear
05. George Robson (c)	12. Matt Scott
06. Steven Ferris	13. Richard Kahui
07. lapandry	14. JSD
08. Harinordoqouy	15. May

16. Wood 17. George 18. Harden 19. Gray 20. Heaslip 21. Murray. Lamb 23. Sharples

[b]Tactics


Target lineout
Use carriers to get front foot ball
Harass sob at 8
Pressure cleft
Look to go wide to use our dynamite back 3
[/quote]

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Lee Dickson
02. Schalk Brits	10. Quade Cooper
03. John Afoa
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Tom Biggs
05. Jerome Thion	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Tom Wood	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Sam Warburton (c)(	14. Taku Ngwenya
08. Dave Denton	15. Rob Kearney

16. Matthew Rees 17. Ben Franks 18. Kieran Brookes 19. James Gaskell 20. Carl Fearns 21. Karl Dickson 22. Greg Laidlaw 23. Ross Chisholm

Tactics

- Pack full of carriers to make us the hard yards of 9,10 and in the midfield.

- A strong set piece with a very powerful engine room. Bakkies and Thion to clear the rucks quickly to get us quick ball.

- Dickson and Cooper to pull the strings as to our field position and putting our carriers into gaps.

- Use a blitz defence marshalled by Wood and Roberts. Warburton to attack the breakdown.

- Ball to be sent to wide channels after defenders tied in and quick ball gained. JJ to run the channels outwide and look to put our rapid wingers into space and use Kearney joining the line.

Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Mike Phillips
02. Dylan Hartley	10. George Ford
03. Carl Hayman
04. Bradley Davies	11. Chris Ashton
05. Courtney Lawes	12. Ashley Beck
06. Dan Lydiate	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Cane (	14. Ben Foden
08. Sergio Parisse (c)	15. Niall Morris

16. Rob Webber 17. Sona Taumalolo 18. Henry Thomas 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Messam 21. Joe Simpson 22. Matt Giteau 23. Julian Savea

Tactics

- gone for a bit of an experimental side, trying to give a few of the youngsters a change and see how they are rated - in particular it would be good to get feedback on backrow combination, centre partnership, phillips and ford, and Foden on the wing. Bench also interesting as tried to fill it with impact players.

- play game at pace, keep ball in play and go through phases. Get big ball carriers over the gainline and then attack with width.

- aggressive defence led by Lawes and Lydiate.

- impact bench to come on in second half

Hopefully be in by tonight Chris

London Wasps
Manager – ‘Arry

01. Benn Robinson (c)	09. Haydn Thomas
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Rhys Preistland (k)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Matt Banahan
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Dan Bowden
06. Steve Mafi	13. George Pisi
07. Liam Gill	14. Topsy Ojo
08. Dave Dennis	15. Mike Brown

16. Nathan Morris 17. Charlie Beech 18. Rhodri Jones 19. Dan Tuohy 20. Dewald Potgieter 21. Jonah Holmes 22. Steven Myler 23. Brad Barritt

Tactics
High intensity game plan using our forwards to set out a solid platform for us to attack from. We will look to carry with plenty of support and dominate the contact area.

Preistland to play flat with Bowden being used as a playmaker and Pisi running hard lines at 13. Look to keep the ball moving in attack and offload when possible.

Target the set piece, try and gain a solid platform from the scrum and also dominate the lineout with Mafi and Dennis mixing things up at the tail.

London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Jean Baptiste Poux	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Tom Lindsay	10. Nick Evans
03. Martin Castrogiovanni
04. Matt Garvey	11. Marland Yarde
05. Johann Muller	12. Luke McAllister
06. Dean Mumm	13. Conrad Smith
07. Steffon Armitage	14. JP Pieterson
08. Pierre Spies	15. Delon Armitage

16. Matt Stevens 17. James Buckland 18. WP Nel 19. Nick Kennedy 20. Hendrie Fourie 21. Neal De Kock 22. Shane Geraghty 23. Sireli Naqalevuki

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Luke Burgess
02. Rory Best	10. Toby Flood
03. Owen Franks
04. Brad Thorn	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Paul O’Connell(c)	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. George Lowe
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Kieran Read	15. Alex Goode

17. Lee Mears 17. Paul Doran-Jones 18. Fabien Barcella 19. Geoff Parling 20. Richie McCaw 21. Ben Youngs 22. James O’Connor 23. Aaron Cruden

Tactics

- High intensity, fast paced rugby, keeping the ball alive
- Target set piece throughout with O'Connell the master of the lineout
- Target breakdown and look to slow/tunover ball
- Set tone in front 5 with massive carrying options

- Burgess to snipe around fringes and look for space
- SBW to run hard and stright at Ford and test his defence early on with Lowe/Bowe on his shoulder
- Flood to nail anything in good range
- If lineout an issue for Saints with no leader will look to play clever balls in corner with Flood and Goode especially and POC/Read picking Saints apart

Just to let everyone know I have deleted the team that I submitted Saracens and the one Driver submitted for Welsh and we will be playing as our new teams in this round of fixtures.

London Welsh
Manager – Ozzy3213

01. Alex Corbisiero	09. Morgan Parra
02. Chris Whitehead	10. Gavin Henson
03. Adam Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Jaco Taute
05. George Skivington	12. Jonathan Davies
06. Tom Johnson	13. Darren Cave
07. Thierry Dusautoir	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Tom Homer

16. Christopher Tolofua 17. Brett Sturgess 18. Dave Wilson 19. Rynhardt Elstadt 20. Alex Gray 21. Eric Escande 22. Owen Farrell 23. Luke Fitzgerald

Tactics

Basic tactical premise for us is to be solid defensively. We will look to win the gainline collisons and knock opposition ball carriers back targetting the ball in the tackle attempting to dislodge it and force the knock on or simply turn it over and attack. Once the play goes to ground we will look to get a couple of players to the breakdown quickly to legally disrupt and slow ball down. We will not overcommit prefering to maintain a strong defensive line, which we will blitz from. If a turnover is on at the breakdown we will go for it, however we will not overcommit in this area. The ultimate aim for us is to not allow any forward momentum and force the opposition to kick to us.

In attack we will play off 9, using big carriers off the 9 and 10's shoulders to carry close to rucks and draw defenders in. When space opens up Henson will play what he sees and we will look to get runners through the gaps with support runners on their shoulders for the offload.

Key Points

• Ball carriers will look to hit gaps rather than take contact to keep the ball alive when we attack.
  
• Strong scrummaging props and Treviranus will pack down on the tighthead flank on defensive scrums to add extra bulk to the shove with Johnson moving to 8.
  
• Big, powerful forwards through the pack to suit the gameplan.
  
• Trimble to come off his wing to punch holes in midfield.
  

As well as whatever feedback you want to give in predictions, I would be really grateful if people could answer these questions.

1. Is Chris Whitehead ok as a starter during international periods?
2. How do people rate Ofisa Treviranus?
3. Gavin Henson was widely reported to have played really well last week, how are people rating him at present?
4. Is Eric Escande a viable bench option for me during international periods?
5. Does Dean Schofield provide enough grunt at 4 (6ft 6ins and 20 stone)?

Folks, I am not going to be on all day tomorrow until the evening, so I will leave it open for people to get their teams in tomorrow and predictions can begin Saturday and stay open until Monday if necessary.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Marcos Ayerza	09. Danny Care
02. Guilleme Guirado	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Andries Bekker	12. Francois Steyn
06. Adam Thomson	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Fulgence Quedragao	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Louis Picamoles	15. Nick Abendanon

16. Jerome Schuster 17. David Paice 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Stephen Sykes 20. Peter O' Mahony 21. Ben Spencer 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

Saracens
Manager – Driver

01.Matt Mullen	09.Lloyd Williams
02.George Chuter	10.Francois Trinh-Duc
03.Craig Mitchell
04.Flip Van Der Merwe	11.Mark Cueto
05.Ali Williams	12.Yannick Jauzion
06.Joe Van Niekerk(c)	13.Henry Trinder
07.Ross Rennie	14.Harry Robinson
08.Luke Narraway	15.Rory Lamount

16.Scott Spurling 17.Max Lahiff 18.Ben Tameifuna 19.Bryn Evans 20.Phil Dowson 21.Paul Hodgson 22.Ronan O'Gara 22.Chris Bell

Tactics

• Saracens to base there game around a strong defense with a high tempo set around the breakdown with players hitting rucks like there life depends on it.
  
  
• Plenty of carriers in the pack to give us some real go forth with Jauzion , Trinder and Lamount capable of smashing it up and setting the phases in the backs.
  
  
• LW and FTD to play what is in front of them whether it be territory and shifting the ball.

---

Can i have thoughts on

Craig Mitchell starting during internationals

Bryn Evans as a enforcer lock or would Nallet be a better choice.

JVN at 6

Jauzion/Trinder midfield

Bryn Evans is a 4.5 for me driver. Decent lineout operator and is quite physical but not big enough to be a bakkies type enforcer. Handy in the loose though has great hands for a lock and hits a lot of rucks. Craig Mitchell definitely good enough during rc also.

01. Nathan Catt
09. Dwayne Peel ©
02. Gary Botha
10. Tom Heathcote (k)
03. BJ Botha

04. Ollie Kohn
11. James Short
05. Jim Hamilton
12. Regan King
06. Ryan Jones
13. Matt Hopper
07. Justin Tipuric
14. Julien Malzieu
08. Mamuka Gorgodze
15. Ollie Morgan


16. Richardt Strauss 17. Paul James 18. Chris Budgen 19. Tom Savage 20. Ben Morgan 21. Eion Reddan 22. Olly Barkley 23. Rob Cook



Tactics

We are aiming to hit the ground running this season with a new and exciting brand of confrontational forwards with pace and flair in the backs. Peel is an apt captain with the experience and go-forward drive in his game



Forwards

*Heavy front row who will look to dominate the set piece and we have experience on the bench to come on and do similar,

*2nd rows are two confrontational characters who will look to get on top of the breakdown and battle hard when it comes to the lineout. We won’t go backwards with these two.

*Backrow are breakdown specialists with Jones and Tips both terrorising here and Gordogzde providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more go forward with Morgan.



Backs

* Peel to marshall and Heathcote to aim for corners when under pressure but to release King when possible, he will go for goal when in range,

* King to release Hopper who will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for Gorgodze to break through the defence, Hopper is an exciting runner and will look to take it close off King then drag the defence wide,

* A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball, on the bench we have Cook who is an excellent goal kicker and steady in defence.



Defence

*King to lead this,

*Jones/Higgs to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up,

*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece,

*No silly penalties anymore!

Not sure what's happened with numbers,i lifted it from my holiday page as am packign then off to watch glos.

Sorry for the delay updating the page folks, prediction are now OPEN

Newcastle 28 Northampton 23

Falcons better throughout with Chris experimenting with Ford and Foden in there positions. Front row goes to Falcons hands down with Tonga finishing season well and Franks dominate against out of sorts Domingo. Best shades Hartley with better lineout and loose work. Locks are tight with Thorn just ahead of Davies with Thorn playing in Japan again. POC light years ahead of Lawes. Robshaw , Read and Brussouw better man for man but not a lot in this area. Not a fan of Lydiate all he seems to do is tackle? Burguss and Flood both better than opposite man although Burguss struggled a bit late on last year. Ford not ready for this league yet. Centre SBW better than Beck but think Beck could displace Roberts for Wales. Tuilagi should get some joy at running at Lowe. Back 3 Goode and Bowe better than there opposite man but Ashton better than Benjiman. Falcons have better bench to see it through.

Sale 21 Irish 20

Pretty even up front with a monster battle between the props but Guirado better than Tom Lindsey. Roterlick lacks the grunt in the Sale engine room to get the best from Bekker but is still a class above Garvey. Muller should bank his own ball at lineout. Mumm at 6 is a strange call but his mobility in the back row could pay off in right conditions. Thomson is better in this role though , Armitage shades the openside battle and Irish have a bit more turnover ball. Both 8s are similer level with Spies having a bit more impact in loose. Half backs Care and Sexton will play a high tempo but Evans shades Sexton and Care better than Dupuy. Irish midfield lacks a direct runner not a fan of Freuuen and Smith best 13 in world. back 3 Amitage and JP best on show Yarde out of depth on this league for now. Gilroy has serious talent and could be nailed on Irish wing come AI. better bench from Sale see's them steal this.

SJE i'd seriously go Hook at 10 , was sublime there last season. Nick need a better 6 for 4N/AI.

Close games this week.

Sale 24-23 Irish
Leicester 21-24 Gloucester
Wasps 25-26 Bath
Saracens 20-20 Harlequins
Welsh 23-21 Worcester

Newcastle 21 - 18 Northamtpon

Great carrying options for Newcastle in the pack besides the flankers. Gets them real go forward. Saints pack strong but form and issue for some players. Prefer the Saints outside backs besides Morris. Ford stands out a little as a weakness.

Sale 23 - 23 Irish

Irish back row isn't well balanced for me. Just doesn't look right. Lindsay a gaping hole in your pack also. Think Sale front row will struggle in the scrum I think. Good back 5 of the scrum for Sale. Sale stronger half backs, Irish London Irish stronger outside backs. Sale back 3 susceptible positionally to a good kicking game from Evans and McAllister.

Leicester 25 - 23 Gloucester

Leicester have the stronger pack. Prefer SOB at 6 but gets by at 8. Gloucester comfortably stronger in the backs so a strange game. Think Leicester will edge it with better ball to use and some nice finishers outwide.

Wasps 17 - 16 Bath

Wasps edge the pack, backrow misbalanced though. Think Bath might struggle at lineout against Wentzel. Bath sneak the backs. Bored of saying how much better Rougerie is than Toeava at 13. Wasps backs have a nice balance to then with banahan coming off the wing to do some hard yards. Wasps edge it.

London Welsh 26 - 26 Worcester

Not seen much of Ofisa Pete so can't comment on him, Packs probably just go to Worcester. Back row options really are top class Prop. Backs go to Saracens although not sure whether Taute and Homer gives you a lack of pace in the back 3. Schofield not a bad enforcer but miles off the worlds best. Escande okay option but not from the start,

Pete can you extend to tomorrow? At lords again and will struggle to do on train back ?

It is extended until tomorrow Mat, as I was late getting it updated. Will do results tomorrow at 21:00 hrs.

Leicester 21 Gloucester 24
Wasps 20 Bath 25
Welsh 23 Worcester 23

1. Is Chris Whitehead ok as a starter during international periods?
Yes

2. How do people rate Ofisa Treviranus?
He's looked okay when i'v seen him , big unit.

3. Gavin Henson was widely reported to have played really well last week, how are people rating him at present?
Needs a few decent games

4. Is Eric Escande a viable bench option for me during international periods?
Not seen enough of him to comment

5. Does Dean Schofield provide enough grunt at 4 (6ft 6ins and 20 stone)?

Yes but would struggle against likes of Romano , Etzebeth and Flip.

Falcons 22-20 saints

Front rows shaded by NZ with Franks being that much better than Hayman. Prefer Domingo to Tiny. Both have form issues. Hard to seperate best and hartley.

Falcons take second row just. Cant see Lawes as a 5 but think the saints pair has a huge work ethic and will cause problems.

Saints take the backrow easily. Brussow had a poor season and is injured again where Cane has come on leaps and bounds.

Read slightly better than PArisse but for me Lydiate is better than Robshaw. Both had great seasons but Lydiate was outstanding. Think he will cut down SBW quite a bit and make a complete nuisance of himself.

Half backs one a piece and i can actually see the saints getting the upper hand here as its burgess and Floods first game together and it takes a while to get a rhythm as a half back pairing.

Centres even and one a piece. think Beck and Tuilagi slightly stronger with Lowe out of his depth a little.

Back 3 to saints but niall morris hard to rate nd that falcons unit whilst not very exciting on paper are solid.

Where i think this game is won is the bench. Falcons have some talent that will remove the game away from saints. Saints to go ahead and then be blown out of the water when the benches are emptied.

Sale 23-22 Irish

Game of differing strengths. Sale take the pack battle and most importantly the lineout. Lindsays darts a worry but Guirado has not been great for a while.

Back row and second row to sale with Mumm no 6 and the sale locks a tower of power.

Backline of irish so much better in terms of balance and ability to mix things up.

Irish to look more dangerous but not have enough ball to win

Newcastle 25-19 Saints

Newcastle can cause problems at the set piece and get a good base from there. Backrow a slight edge to Saints with a bit more form in the flanks. Halfbacks go to Newcastle. Outside backs fairly even but Morris is a weakness at this level. Better control from Falcons and more impact from the bench see them through.

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Tigers 18-21 Glaws

Not a lot in it at the set piece but the Tigers engine room will get through a lot more work across the park. Backrow battle edges to Glaws just slightly and Carter a class above in the halfbacks. See the midfield and back 3 overall fairly even. Bit more impact from the Glaws bench. Carter to pull the strings for the win. (Better 10 and Tigers would have been looking at a draw here)

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Wasps 17-24 Bath

Looking through the sides this one is a very very even game with the back 3 being the only area I could separate with a good unit for Bath. It’s the superstar bench that seals this game but in season with EQ limits to stick too this could be a right toss up.

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Sarries 16-22 Quins

Quins can get a slight edge at the scrum and have more in the loose from the front 5. Backrow is a good battle and hard to separate. Same story at halfback but theres a bit more from 11-15 for Quins.

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Welsh 19-16 Worcester

Can see Jones getting on top of Catt at scrum time but apart from that the front 5s fairly even. Good even backrow battle. Question marks over both 10s at top level. Back 3s maybe shading to Welsh on current form but midfield is a step up in quality for Pete’s men and this swings the game.

Sarries 23 - 24 Quins
Very good forward battle, really even between the two teams. Think there is just a bit more spark in the QUins backline and really like how their 10,12,13 could work. Still not sure about Biggs on the wing, could be a bit of a weakness in some games.

Have to say Sarries half back combination is very good, but need to see a bit more of Robinson on the wing to see how good a finisher he is. Very solid defensively all over, will win a lot of games at home.

Sale 28 - 25 Irish

Would say a major issue for Irish is Lindsay at no2, think he could come unstuck in this league as most games are international level - he will be a good player, but throwing and decision making not there yet. Think this makes the difference and could allow Sale a lot of set piece ball for an excellent back line to attack and score tries - like Steyn/Freun combo.

However, Steffon Armitage is in amazing form and will be a constant threat, Irish have a great attacking team too so will definitely attack and score tries themselves. Big season for Yarde.


Leicester 27 - 26 Gloucester

This is a really tough one to call, I do think that Tigers have an advantage in starting packs, but Gloucester can bring on Heaslip and Gray which really shifts the game. Issue I would have for Tigers is that they have Clegg up against Carter, which for me is a total mismatch and Clegg isn't fulfilling his potential in the AP for me.

Tigers get more possession, but Gloucester can do more with it due to having Carter. However, Yachvilli at no9 is a great player to keep scoreboard ticking over for a narrow Tigers win.


Wasps 19-21 Bath

Think this game is completely even until the subs play their part, with the Bath options better than those that Wasps have. Wasps slightly edge the pack and I do like what Mafi and Gill would bring in the backrow, havent seen much of Dennis I'm afraid. Really like the power of the Bath backline, difficult to stop and imagine they'd play a similar style to Wales.

See Wasps winjing until final 15mins - Priestland could be a vital player for Wasps this season.


London Welsh 23 - 25 Worcester

Really good battle this, front fives are pretty even, though would say Welsh edge this. Really like the Warriors backrow, also like the options Ryan Jones brings them.

It's hard to judge Henson at the moment, need to see him play 2-3 games - he could be a very good no10. Think Prop will need to bring Barkley to no10 as Heathcote out for absolute ages now.

Newcastle Falcons 23 - 20 Northampton Saints
Sale Sharks 22 - 24 London Irish
Leicester Tigers 25 - 23 Gloucester
Saracens 19 - 20 Harlequins
London Welsh 21 - 23 Worcester Warriors

Sorry for no explanations, I've got to get writing my personal statement now, will do them later for anyone with any queries..

Wasps 22-28 BAth

Basically very even but BAth's superstar bench take the game away.

Welsh 22-24 Warriors.

Very even battle but 10 is such an important position and Henson needs to get game time. I have never liked him at ten.

great pack battle and even match ups everywhere. think Both sides could need a better 10

Schofield is a decent 4 pete. he would struggle against top class but is good good player

Sarries 22-24 Quins

Much more spark to the Quins backline sees them steal it. Good game and great backrow from quins sees them through

Results

Newcastle Falcons 26 Northampton saints 20
Sale Sharks 26 London Irish 23
Leicester Tigers 24 Gloucester 25
London Wasps 21 Bath Rugby 26
Saracens 20 Harlequins 24
London Welsh 22 Worcester Warriors 23


Prize Money

Cup
Winners - £6m - Falcons
Runners Up - £5m - Saints
3rd - £4m - Sale
4th - £3m - Irish

Shield
Winners - £5m - Gloucester
Runners Up - £4m - Tigers
3rd - £3m - Bath
4th - £2m - Wasps

Plate
Winners - £4m - Quins
Runners Up - £3m - Sarries
3rd - £2m - Worcester
4th - £1m - Welsh


Prediction bonuses

Full (£1.5m) - Steve, Mat, SJE, Chris
£0.85m (due to a mixed set, some with justifications some without) - Driver
£0.25m (no justifications) - Pooly, Arry