Summer Cup Semi Finals

Teamsheets due by Saturday evening.
Results due Tuesday morning.


Cup Semi Finals

Leicester Tigers v Waikato Chiefs

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Sgt_Pooly

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Ben Youngs
02. Bismark du Plessis	10. Berrick Barnes
03. Dan Cole
04. Richie Gray	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. James O’Connor
06. Maurie Fa’asalavu	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Sam Warburton(c)	14. Christian Wade
08. Sergio Parisse	15. Rob Kearney

16. Tom Youngs 17. Aaron Jarvis 18. Marco Ayerza 19. Ed Slater 20. Luke Wallace 21. Karl Dickson 22. Toby Flood 23. Jordan Turner-Hall

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Chiefs
Manager –

01. Sona Taumalolo	09. Tawera Kerr-Barlow
02. Hika Elliot	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Asaeli Tikoirotuma
05. Michael Fitzgerald	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Tanerau Latimer	13. Richard Kahui
07. Sam Cane	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Liam Messam	15. Tim Nanai Williams

16. Toby Smith 17. Mahonri Schwalger 18. Ben Afeki 19. Craig Clarke 20. Kane Thompson 21. Brendon Leonard 22. Jackson Willison 23. Andrew Horrell

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Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Luke

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Loius Deacon	11. Gonzalo Camacho
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Tom Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Richard Kahui
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Tendai Mtawarira 17. Neil Clark 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics

We will play a structured game built around our massive ball carriers, the strength of our set piece and getting our lightning backline into space.

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Look to really get the shove on.

- Use Wilkinson's boot to attack our strong lineout with Horwill, Deacon and Johnson. We will relentlessly target the opposition's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Quins defence. We will use our big carriers consistently to tire down Quins .
The likes of Afoa, Trev, Armitage, Horwill, Johnson and Naqelevuki used off the shoulder crashing through the opposition defence.

- Armitage is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

- Box kicks from Peel and up and unders from Wilkinson to give the opposition problems in the air.
Lightning back line to really get the chase on.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs, getting the likes of Lowe, Kahui and Nacewa on the ball when we can.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. If isolated all have good kicking games, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.

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Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Corbisero	09.Luke Burgess
02.Joe Grey	10.Owen Farrell
03.James Johnstone
04.Eben Etzebeth	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Wesley Fofana
06.Chris Robshaw(C)	13.Jared Payne
07.Hienrich Brussouw	14.Adam Ashley-Cooper
08.Willem Alberts	15.Nick Abendanon

16.Jason Harris-Wright 17.John Smit 18.Chris Budgen 19.Mauritz Botha 20.Craig Newby 21.Richard Wrigglesworth 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Scott Hamilton

Tactics

- Use our mobile pack to play the game at a high tempo and put Exeter under pressure from the off. With Farrell kicking the ball deep from the kick off using our pacy back row to get there and pressure the reciever and force Wilkinson to kick deep to North , AAC and Abendanon who are all fantastic counter attackers.

- From the lineout look to hit our big runners in the midfield to really get us over the gainline with Fofana looking to use his footwork to get the better of Naqa in defence and use North and AAC coming from behind the midfield to exploit holes.

- Blitz defence with Burguss sweeping to cover any kicks through and line breaks.

- Brussouw to target the breakdown and look to cause a mess there with Robshaw running round and linking play up in the loose between forwards and backs.

- On our throw we can throw to Etz , Hargreaves , Alberts and Robshaw and target the Chiefs throw by putting Hargreaves up at 2 and look to push him down the channel with out the lifters stepping into the tunnel. (Which is 100% legal)

- Farrell to kick behind the wings with North and AAC chasing to put pressure on and force a error which could prove vital.

- Farrell to kick for goal and put the opposition under pressure by stretching the lead when in range.



Plate Semi Finals

Northampton Saints v London Irish

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Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Chris Ashton
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sonny Bill WIlliams
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood	14. Jamie Elliot
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. Steven Kitshoff 17. Richardt Strauss 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. Samu Manoa 20. Phil Dowson 21. Martin Roberts 22. Stephen Myler 23. Scott Armstrong

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London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Joe Simpson
02. Tatafu Polota-Nau	10. Quade Cooper
03. Euan Murray
04. Tom Palmer	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Tom Homer (k)
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Delon Armitage

16. James Buckland, 17. Max Lahiff, 18. Paulica Ion, 19. Tom Guest, 20. Darren Allinson, 21. Brock James, 22. Regan King, 23. Alesana Tuilagi

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Saracens v Stormers

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Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Morgan Parra
02. Schalk Brits	10. Shane Geraghty
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Charlie Matthews	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Anthony Allen
06. Chris York	13. Conrad Smith
07. Richie McCaw (c.)	14. Leigh Halfpenny (k.)
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Alex Goode

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Carlos Nieto 19. Hugh Vyvvan 20. Will Fraser 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Leonard 23. Chris Wyles

Tactics- to our eyes, the Stormers have a big, nasty pack and some very dangerous backs but are vulnerable at 9 and 10. Parra is a great controller of the game and will aim to make their life difficult with help from McCaw and York. As ever, we will keep slow ball with the pack's carriers until an opportunity arises then McCaw will attack the ruck and the resulting fast ball will be kept alive in the backs where Goode will join the line and Mitchell will come off his wing frequently. I think we can compete with them at the breakdown and set-piece, but if we struggle on the former we will bring on Fraser and move McCaw to 6 to use 2 fetchers and if the latter falters Nieto and Vyvvan are experienced options to add in.

Defence- big ball carriers in that Stormers pack. Neutralise any momentum with our blitz defence, disrupt the HBs with aggressive tackling and with this pressure on, Smith and Allen should shut down their backs.

Attack- Parra to call the plays, when he releases Geraghty the aim will be to half-break with either himself or Allen then have C. Smith recycle the ball in support to bring the back 3 in.

Subs- See above, otherwise changes only to be made when necessary

Back 3- Ideal to counter any kicking game as all 3 are International Fullbacks. Try and attack off kicks if possible, if not make sure the chase on the return kick is good.

Other- Parra and Halfpenny will take on all 3-point opportunities between them, the key is to ensure they are attacking off the back foot at all times. The likes of Smith, Halfpenny and Goode to keep an eye on JP at all times.

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Stormers
Manager –

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. Tiaan Liebenberg	10. Peter Grant
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Bryan Habana
05. Andries Bekker	12. Jean De Villiers
06. Schalk Burger	13. Juan De Jongh
07. Siya Kolisi	14. Gio Aplon
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Joe Pietersen

16. Deon Carstens 17. Deon Fourie 18. Brok Harris 19. De Kock Steenkamp 20. Rynhardt Elstadt 21. Louis Schreuder 22. Burton Francis 23. Gerhard van den Heever

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Bowl Semi Finals

Leinster Rugby v Bath Rugby

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Leinster Rugby
Manager –

01. Cian Healy	09. Issac Boss
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Mike Ross
04. Leo Cullen	11. David Kearney
05. Brad Thorn	12. Fergus McFadden
06. Kevin McLaughlin	13. Brian O'Driscoll
07. Sean O'Brien	14. Isa Nacewa
08. Jamie Heaslip	15. Rob Kearney

16. Heinke Van Der Merwe 17. Sean Cronin 18. Nathin White 19. Devin Toner 20. Shane Jennings 21. Eoin Reddan 22. Ian Madigan 23. Luke Fitzgerald

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. C.Healy	09. M.Classens
02. L.Mears	10. J.Hook
03. O.Franks
04. J.Muller	11. M.Banahan
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn (k)
06. C.Fearns	13. C.Laulala
07. F.Louw (c)	14. T.Biggs
08. S.O'Brien	15. I.Dagg

16. A.Perenise 17. C.Tolufua 18. N.Catt 19. R.Caldwell 20. M.Lund 21. M.McMillan 22. K.Eastmond 23. O.Woodburn

TACTICS TBC

General
- Going full strength for the win, no more experimentation!
- We want to make sure that we play rugby in the opposition half and force handling errors, where we can attack the scrum and use the boot of Steyn to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Use the physicality of our pack to our advantage, keeping the ball tight in the middle section of the pitch to retain possession and build a platform to attack from. In our third clear to touch and challenge for the ball at lineout.
- Look to interchange 10 and 12 as the situation sees fit. Utilise Hook as a playmaker on the wrap around and Steyn as a physical threat and cannon of a boot.
- Hook and Steyn to ensure we play sensible rugby in the right areas, kicking long for touch in our 22, using the up and under in the centre of the pitch and delicate grubbers in behind centres to chase and force kickable penalties.
- Steyn leads the rush defence, with Louw/Fearns flying up to cramp 10 for time and space and ensuring he takes the ball deep behind the gainline and starving their outside backs of ball.

Forwards
* Franks to target LH in the scrum. Look to draw penalties for Steyn to gain position and points. Look for a yellow card early on.
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline. O'Brien to lead pack from base of scrum making hard yards and setting up the ruck for Louw and Fearns to clear out. SOB to mark opposite 8 in defence to prevent charges from base of scrum
* At the lineout, Muller will lead the calls and look to pressurise oppoistion hooker and compete at every throw
* Louw is a breakdown specialist and will look to stay on his feet at the ruck and slow opposition ball down. Fearns and Lund to guard to the fringes of the ruck
* Use ball carriers of Franks, Louw, Tolufua, O'Brien, Fearns to make hard yards up the pitch and draw defenders into the ruck area, looking to create space around the fringes for Laulala to exploit

Backs
* Dagg given free rein in attack, looking to come into the line either side of Laulala. Laulala to look for the half gap with power and offload (only if on), with the pace of Biggs and Woodburn on their shoulder to make the break
* Hook to take the ball flat on the gainline, drawing defenders and buying time and space for Steyn in the 2nd playmaker role. Steyn not afraid to bosh it up if nothing on and set up the ruck.
* Vary the point of attack with 10/12 interchanging, look to keep it unpredictable on the gainline + difficult to defend against. Use the inside pass with forward runners of Franks, Caldwell, SOB to keep the inside shoulder honest and force the 10 to make tackles.
* Get Laulala on the ball early on and encourage a very pacy back three to run off his shoulder. Only offload if it is on, otherwise, crash it up and use SOB, Fearns, Caldwell to clear out and Louw to secure.
* Banahan is a huge physical threat. Encourage him to run into the 10 channel early on and test 10 and creates gap behind. Eastmond to come on for last 30 mins in a free role, acting as 2nd receiver, popping up wherever to use his pace, step and get more experience

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Ulster Rugby v London Welsh

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Ulster Rugby
Manager –

01. Tom Court	09. Ruan Pienaar
02. Rory Best	10. Paddy Jackson
03. John Afoa
04. Johann Muller	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Dan Tuohy	12. Paddy Wallace
06. Stephen Ferris	13. Darren Cave
07. Chris Henry	14. Andrew Trimble
08. Pedrie Wannenburg	15. Jared Payne

16. Paddy McAllister 17. Nigel Brady 18. Declan Fitzpatrick 19. Lewis Stevenson 20 Willie Faloon 21. Paul Marshall 22. Niall O'Connor 23 Adam D'Arcy

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London Welsh

Manager – Fluxy

01. Paul James	09. Paul Hodgson
02. David Paice	10. Nick Evans (k)
03. David Wilson
04. Dean Mumm	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Paul O'Connell (C)	12. Gavin Henson
06. Jamie Gibson	13. Dominic Waldlouck
07. Matt Kvesic	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Nick Easter	15. Hugo Southwell

16. Rhys Gill 17. Tom Mercey 18. Tom Lindsay 19. George Robson 20. Chris Hala'ufia 21. Joel Hodgson 22. Steven Shingler 23. Ben Ransom

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Shield Semi Finals

Gloucester Rugby v London Wasps

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01. Nick Wood ©	09. Dimitri Yachvilli
02. Darren Dawiduk	10. Pat Lambie (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Sam Whitelock	11. Johnny May
05. Alex Brown	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Alisdair Strokosch	13. Henry Trinder
07. Sam Cane	14. Charlie Sharples
08. JVN	15. Ollie Morgan

16. Scott Lawson 17. Dan Murphy 18. Sean Knight 19. Tom Savage 20. Luke Narraway 21. Rory Lawson 22. Freddie Burns 23. JSD

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London Wasps
Manager – Stnick88

01. Tim Payne	09. Danny Care
02. George Chuter	10. Morne Steyn
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Matt Garvey	11. Tom Varndell
05. George Skivington	12. Luke McAllister
06. Thierry Dusatoir(c)	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Jaques Burger	14. Ugo Monye
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Mike Brown

16 Zak Tau'lafo 17 Chris Brooker 18 Ben Broster 19 Marco Wentzel 20 Julian Salvi 21 Micky Young 22 Jimmy Gopperth 23 Billy Twelvetrees

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Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors

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Sale Sharks
Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Andrew Sheridan	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Johan Goosen
03.Matt Stevens
04.Dean Schofield	11.Mark Cueto
05.James Gaskell	12.Jonathon Davies
06.Schalk Burger	13.Jaque Fourie
07.Dave Seymour	14.Tom Brady
08.Jordan Crane	15.Rob Miller

Subs – 16.Marc Jones 17.Davit Kubriashvilli 18.Logovoi Mulipola 19.Kearnan Myall 20.Richie Vernon 21.Scott Mathie 22.Aaron Cruden 23.Jonny Leota

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Joe Marler	09. Will Genia
02. Stephen Moore	10. Dan Carter
03. Tevita Tauempeau
04. Gerhard Mostert	11. David Strettle
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Brad Barritt
06. James Haskell	13. Maa Nonu
07. Michael Hooper	14. Marcel Garvey
08. Ben Morgan	15. Kurtley Beale

16 Ed Shervington 17 George Porter 18 Oliver Tomaszcyzk 19 James Percival 20 Andy Saull 21 Shaun Perry 22 Matt Hopper 23 Luke Rooney

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No patients in GP. Bored

Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Morgan Parra
02. Schalk Brits	10. Shane Geraghty
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Charlie Matthews	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Donnacha Ryan	12. Anthony Allen
06. Chris York	13. Conrad Smith
07. Richie McCaw (c.)	14. Leigh Halfpenny (k.)
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Alex Goode

16. Mako Vunipola 17. Rob Buchanan 18. Carlos Nieto 19. Hugh Vyvvan 20. Will Fraser 21. Ben Spencer 22. Harry Leonard 23. Chris Wyles

Tactics- to our eyes, the Stormers have a big, nasty pack and some very dangerous backs but are vulnerable at 9 and 10. Parra is a great controller of the game and will aim to make their life difficult with help from McCaw and York. As ever, we will keep slow ball with the pack's carriers until an opportunity arises then McCaw will attack the ruck and the resulting fast ball will be kept alive in the backs where Goode will join the line and Mitchell will come off his wing frequently. I think we can compete with them at the breakdown and set-piece, but if we struggle on the former we will bring on Fraser and move McCaw to 6 to use 2 fetchers and if the latter falters Nieto and Vyvvan are experienced options to add in.

Defence- big ball carriers in that Stormers pack. Neutralise any momentum with our blitz defence, disrupt the HBs with aggressive tackling and with this pressure on, Smith and Allen should shut down their backs.

Attack- Parra to call the plays, when he releases Geraghty the aim will be to half-break with either himself or Allen then have C. Smith recycle the ball in support to bring the back 3 in.

Subs- See above, otherwise changes only to be made when necessary

Back 3- Ideal to counter any kicking game as all 3 are International Fullbacks. Try and attack off kicks if possible, if not make sure the chase on the return kick is good.

Other- Parra and Halfpenny will take on all 3-point opportunities between them, the key is to ensure they are attacking off the back foot at all times. The likes of Smith, Halfpenny and Goode to keep an eye on JP at all times.

Same as last round Johnny

Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. C.Healy	09. M.Classens
02. L.Mears	10. J.Hook
03. O.Franks
04. J.Muller	11. M.Banahan
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn (k)
06. C.Fearns	13. C.Laulala
07. F.Louw (c)	14. T.Biggs
08. S.O'Brien	15. I.Dagg

16. A.Perenise 17. C.Tolufua 18. N.Catt 19. R.Caldwell 20. M.Lund 21. M.McMillan 22. K.Eastmond 23. O.Woodburn

TACTICS TBC

General
- Going full strength for the win, no more experimentation!
- We want to make sure that we play rugby in the opposition half and force handling errors, where we can attack the scrum and use the boot of Steyn to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Use the physicality of our pack to our advantage, keeping the ball tight in the middle section of the pitch to retain possession and build a platform to attack from. In our third clear to touch and challenge for the ball at lineout.
- Look to interchange 10 and 12 as the situation sees fit. Utilise Hook as a playmaker on the wrap around and Steyn as a physical threat and cannon of a boot.
- Hook and Steyn to ensure we play sensible rugby in the right areas, kicking long for touch in our 22, using the up and under in the centre of the pitch and delicate grubbers in behind centres to chase and force kickable penalties.
- Steyn leads the rush defence, with Louw/Fearns flying up to cramp 10 for time and space and ensuring he takes the ball deep behind the gainline and starving their outside backs of ball.

Forwards
* Franks to target LH in the scrum. Look to draw penalties for Steyn to gain position and points. Look for a yellow card early on.
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline. O'Brien to lead pack from base of scrum making hard yards and setting up the ruck for Louw and Fearns to clear out. SOB to mark opposite 8 in defence to prevent charges from base of scrum
* At the lineout, Muller will lead the calls and look to pressurise oppoistion hooker and compete at every throw
* Louw is a breakdown specialist and will look to stay on his feet at the ruck and slow opposition ball down. Fearns and Lund to guard to the fringes of the ruck
* Use ball carriers of Franks, Louw, Tolufua, O'Brien, Fearns to make hard yards up the pitch and draw defenders into the ruck area, looking to create space around the fringes for Laulala to exploit

Backs
* Dagg given free rein in attack, looking to come into the line either side of Laulala. Laulala to look for the half gap with power and offload (only if on), with the pace of Biggs and Woodburn on their shoulder to make the break
* Hook to take the ball flat on the gainline, drawing defenders and buying time and space for Steyn in the 2nd playmaker role. Steyn not afraid to bosh it up if nothing on and set up the ruck.
* Vary the point of attack with 10/12 interchanging, look to keep it unpredictable on the gainline + difficult to defend against. Use the inside pass with forward runners of Franks, Caldwell, SOB to keep the inside shoulder honest and force the 10 to make tackles.
* Get Laulala on the ball early on and encourage a very pacy back three to run off his shoulder. Only offload if it is on, otherwise, crash it up and use SOB, Fearns, Caldwell to clear out and Louw to secure.
* Banahan is a huge physical threat. Encourage him to run into the 10 channel early on and test 10 and creates gap behind. Eastmond to come on for last 30 mins in a free role, acting as 2nd receiver, popping up wherever to use his pace, step and get more experience

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Luke

01. Brett Sturgess	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Loius Deacon	11. Gonzalo Camacho
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. Tom Johnson	13. George Lowe
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Richard Kahui
08. Ofisa Treviranus	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Tendai Mtawarira 17. Neil Clark 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. James Scaysbrook 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Paul Sackey

Tactics

We will play a structured game built around our massive ball carriers, the strength of our set piece and getting our lightning backline into space.

- Attack the scrum as a weapon - and call when we can. Look to really get the shove on.

- Use Wilkinson's boot to attack our strong lineout with Horwill, Deacon and Johnson. We will relentlessly target the opposition's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down Quins defence. We will use our big carriers consistently to tire down Quins .
The likes of Afoa, Trev, Armitage, Horwill, Johnson and Naqelevuki used off the shoulder crashing through the opposition defence.

- Armitage is the man charged with reaching the breakdown first and look to turnover possession. We will always look to attack quickly off turnover ball.

- Box kicks from Peel and up and unders from Wilkinson to give the opposition problems in the air.
Lightning back line to really get the chase on.

- Look to play attacking rugby in the backs, getting the likes of Lowe, Kahui and Nacewa on the ball when we can.

- Our back three are encouraged to do what they do best - counter attacking and running the ball back. If isolated all have good kicking games, but the counter is what we ask them to look for.

- Wilkinson to kick all penalites.

Harlequins

Manager – Driver

01.Alex Corbisero	09.Luke Burgess
02.Joe Grey	10.Owen Farrell
03.James Johnstone
04.Eben Etzebeth	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Wesley Fofana
06.Chris Robshaw(C)	13.Jared Payne
07.Hienrich Brussouw	14.Adam Ashley-Cooper
08.Willem Alberts	15.Nick Abendanon

16.Jason Harris-Wright 17.John Smit 18.Chris Budgen 19.Mauritz Botha 20.Craig Newby 21.Richard Wrigglesworth 22.Tom Heathcote 23.Scott Hamilton

Tactics

- Use our mobile pack to play the game at a high tempo and put Exeter under pressure from the off. With Farrell kicking the ball deep from the kick off using our pacy back row to get there and pressure the reciever and force Wilkinson to kick deep to North , AAC and Abendanon who are all fantastic counter attackers.

- From the lineout look to hit our big runners in the midfield to really get us over the gainline with Fofana looking to use his footwork to get the better of Naqa in defence and use North and AAC coming from behind the midfield to exploit holes.

- Blitz defence with Burguss sweeping to cover any kicks through and line breaks.

- Brussouw to target the breakdown and look to cause a mess there with Robshaw running round and linking play up in the loose between forwards and backs.

- On our throw we can throw to Etz , Hargreaves , Alberts and Robshaw and target the Chiefs throw by putting Hargreaves up at 2 and look to push him down the channel with out the lifters stepping into the tunnel. (Which is 100% legal)

- Farrell to kick behind the wings with North and AAC chasing to put pressure on and force a error which could prove vital.

- Farrell to kick for goal and put the opposition under pressure by stretching the lead when in range.

Oops...

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Johnny Sexton
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Chris Ashton
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sonny Bill WIlliams
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Tom Wood	14. Jamie Elliot
08. Kieran Read	15. Ben Foden

16. Steven Kitshoff 17. Richardt Strauss 18. Paul Doran-Jones 19. Samu Manoa 20. Phil Dowson 21. Martin Roberts 22. Stephen Myler 23. Scott Armstrong

Can you use same team as last week please?
Will only be able to rpedict tonight!!

Sorry for not posting a team, having a romantic weekend in Bournemouth... Yawn.

Cup Semi Finals

Tigers 21 - Chiefs 20

Tigers edge the front row and the scrum. Edge the second row too. Just scrape past in the back row overall but not quite at the breakdown (v close). Chiefs better at 9/10, on form significantly better in fact. Centres evens (JOC injured but probably as good as SBW overall if fit and SBW showed errors in judgment last match, Kahui better than Manu but out and Manu v effective if used well). B3 --> advantage Tigers. Overall attack v close, Tigers just win in the forwards.

Exeter 18 - Quins 24

About evens in the tight 5, Quins just ahead 1-3, Ex 4-5. V. good backrow from Ex but Quins win there win a very Physical back row excelling in all areas. Ex ahead at 9/10, but Quins more class in the backs and Farrell equipped to counter Johnny in a kicking duel.

pullthestrings wrote:Sorry for not posting a team, having a romantic weekend in Bournemouth... Yawn.

Sounds fun! Girlfriend is away for the next 2 weeks so no such probs here (

No worries Pull mate took it form last weeks page as its only friendlies

Plate-

Saints 25 - 28 Irish

Edge to SAints in scrum and F3, slight edge in SR too. Slight (bare) advantage to Irish in Back row and breakdown, both sides bloody strong there. As ever, Irish's HBs fantastic in attack but flaky in defence, covered well by Rougerie and Bowden though. V close in centres but maybe slight edge in B3 to LI. LI's attack better, Saints' defence better. I think Irish just edge it, sorry SJE

Bowl- Leinster 21 - 29 Bath

Bath take front 5 and scrum, mostly thanks to Franks, who had a great game this weekend. They also win the back row and breakdown. Leinster take 9/10 and the back 3 but Bath just get 12/13. Bath have too much even in Ireland here.

Ulster 16- 18 Welsh

Front row to Ulster, SR just to Welsh. Backrows close, maybe just to Welsh. 9/10 to Welsh then v. close in the outfield. Welsh just win it because I see Paddy and Paddy struggling.

Shield

Gloucester 30 - 26 Wasps

Front row to Gloucester, locks and lineout even, scrum to Glos. Back row to Wasps in general but Glos probably take the breakdown points. Even if somewhat opposite HB pairings, actually, tiniest edge to Glos. Centres to Wasps, just. B3 to Wasps. Ironically two of the tastiest sets of outbacks around behind one of the most conservative 9s and 10s around respectively! But I still think some tries will be scored, with attack definitely better than defence for both sides. Gloucester have better forwards and win it

Sale 18- 19 Worcester

FR to Wuss, SR equal, backrow to Wuss just, HBs to Wuss, Centres and B3 to Sale. Wuss just win it

Tigers 23-21 Chiefs
Exeter 18-23 Harlequins
Saracens 21-19 Stormers
Leinster 24-22 Bath
Ulster 17-21 Welsh
Glaws 25-21 Wasps
Sale 20-23 Worcester

Tigers 23 Chiefs 20
Saints 22 Irish 21
Saracens 18 Stormers 17
Leinster 20 Bath 20
Ulster 15 Welsh 20
Glaws 27 Wasps 21
Sale 21 Worcester 22

Saints 24 Irish 23
Saracens 18 Stormers 17
Leinster 18 Bath 18
Ulster 12 Welsh 17
Glaws 24 Wasps 20
Sale 22 Worcester 23
Exeter 18 Harlequins 21

will do mine tomorrow morning SJE, still haven't gotten near my laptop!

Leaving this open till 11 so get predictions in if you want your 1m bonus

am or pm?

11am

Tigers 24 - 22 Chiefs

Saints 20 - 19 Irish

Saracens 23 - 23 Stormers

Leinster 29 - 21 Bath

Ulster 18 - 24 Welsh

Gloucester 27 - 23 Wasps

Sale 23 - 23 Worcester

Tigers 22 - 24 Chiefs

Saints 21 - 17 Irish

Saracens 18 - 22 Stormers

Exeter 24 - 21 Quins

Ulster 23 - 21 Welsh

Gloucester 27 - 18 Wasps

Sale 20 - 23 Worcester

Tigers 23 - 22 Chiefs

Exeter 17 - 20 Quins

Saracens 15 - 19 Stormers

Leinster 28 - 23 Bath

Ulster 16 - 21 Welsh

Gloucester 18 - 17 Wasps

Sale 13 - 15 Worcester

Alright to whip mine in quickly Just woke up!

Go on so quickly Fluxy mate will knock up results after yours are in

leicester Tigers 16 - 17 Chiefs

Northampton Saints 24 - 20 London Irish

Exeter Chiefs 17 - 18 Harlequins

Saracens 19 - 18 Stormers

Leinster 25 - 23 Bath

Gloucester 21 - 18 London Wasps

Sale Sharks 16 - 15 Worcester Warriors

Predictions closed

Results:

Leicester Tigers 24-22 Waikato Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs 19-24 Harlequins

Northampton Saints 25-22 London Irish
Saracens 21-20 Stormers

Leinster Rugby 26-23 Bath Rugby
Ulster Rugby 17-23 London Welsh

Gloucester Rugby 29-21 London Wasps
Sale Sharks 20-23 Worcester Warriors


Prediction Bonus:

Bathite, Luke, Driver, Pooly, Pull, Fluxy, SJE & CJ

That's the missing one!!!!

MARK!!!!