Aviva Premiership Round Nine (AIs)

Aviva Premiership Round Nine (AI's)

Team Sheets and tactics due by Saturday (20:00)
Predictions due till Tuesday (23:00)

Bath v Harlequins
Gloucester v Sale
London Irish v Exeter Chiefs
Northampton v London Welsh
Wasps v Leicester
Worcester v Saracens

TBC, subject to int call ups etc

Bath Rugby
Manager – Bathite

01. N.Catt	09. M.Classens (c)
02. L.Mears	10. O.Barkley (k)
03. K.P-Newport
04. J.Muller	11. K.Eastmond
05. D.Attwood	12. F.Steyn (lk)
06. S.O'Brien	13. C.Laulala
07. C.Fearns	14. T.Biggs
08. S.Kalamafoni	15. R.Cook

16. A.Perenise 17. R.Batty 18. J.Golding 19. R.Caldwell 20. M.Lund 21. C.Cook 22. E.Daly 23. M.Banahan

TACTICS

General
- Coming off the back of a 24-19 victory against Harlequins away from home. We want to use this momentum at home, where we are unbeaten.

- We want to make sure that we play rugby in the opposition half and force handling errors, where we can attack the scrum. 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.

- With slow ball, look to mix up first receiver between Steyn and Barkley and then look for back row runners on inside shoulder

- 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 SOB 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. Classens sweeps up behind for counter attacks

- Big impact bench, with the likes of Perenise, Catt, Fearns, Caldwell providing ball carrying options up front. Bowe and Fearns will wreak havoc in the last 20 minutes, as the space opens up. Real advantage over the opposition in terms of bench options

Forwards
* Fearns and SOB released to play as out and out flankers, linking play. Kalamafoni provides the physicality off the back of the scrum in defence and attack
* Picked a very physical pack to make sure that we defend strongly and smash over the gainline.
* At the lineout, Muller will lead the calls as in real life and look to pressurise opposition hooker and compete at every throw.
* Use ball carriers of Catt, Attwood, O'Brien, Kalamafoni 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
* Eastmond 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 Cook on their shoulder to make the break
* Barkley to take the ball flat on the gainline, drawing defenders and buying time and space for Steyn. Steyn often used as dummy runner to keep it unpredictable
* Use the inside pass with forward runners of SOB, Attwood, Fearns 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 and Healy to clear out and Fearns to secure.
* Banahan to come on after 50/60 minutes to run straight and hard at a tired defence, particularly the 10 channel

Saracens
Manager – ChequeredJersey

01. Matt Mullan	09. Ben Spencer
02. Rob Buchanan	10. Charlie Hodgson (k/c.)
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Bakkies Botha	11. Vereniki Goneva
05. George Kruis	12. Anthony Allen
06. Will Fraser	13. Joel Tomkins
07. Jonathan Poff	14. Tom Williams
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Chris Wyles

16. Jared Saunders 17. Harry Allen 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Ollie Kohn 20. Jackson Wray 21. Joe Robinson 22. Jordan Burns 23. Sam Stanley

Tactics- TBA (weather dependent)

01. Nick Wood	09. Dimitri Yachvilli
02. Rory Best	10. Freddie Burns (k)
03. Adam Jones
04. Tom Savage	11. JSD
05. Jim Hamilton	12. Mike Tindall
06. JVN (c)	13. Henry Trinder
07. Akapusi Qera	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Luke Narraway	15. Jonny May

16. Korree Britton 17. Dan Murphy 18. Rupert Harden 19. Will James 20. Peter Buxton 21. Dan Robson 22. Ryan Mills 23. Shane Monahan

Tactics

We are looking to control the set piece today and have picked a strong pack and pack bench to do this.In heavy rain it's up to the forwards to put pressure on their pack and play up the jumper rugby for the first 20 mins. Our backs aren't frightened of confrontation and will be looking for offloads from the centres crashing it up. Yachvilli and Tindall will take the pressure off of Burns and give him the time to work his magic. Our back three can score from anywhere and we have pace on the bench to replace this too. We want nothing less than a win and we are looking for quick ball for the backs and to get a strong lead early in. Hard hitting defence and we will play what's in front of us but we have international experience all over the park and form.



Forwards

*Experienced front row who will look to dominate the set piece and Jones will be the anchor, we will go up on Jones' side and won't go backwards....we go up, forward and down but not backwards.

*2nd rows are two strong players who will look to control the lineout and to put pressure on their back 5 in the scrum with confrontational play.

*Backrow are heavy hitters Qera both terrorising here and Narraway providing brute strength off the back of the scrum and off the backs, again the bench provides more experience with Buxton. JVN will look to disrupt ball and carry a lot.



Backs

* Yachvilli to snipe when space but to release Brusn when possible, he will go for goal when in range, Burns is in great form and will look to make his unpredictability show,

* Tindall and Trinder to hit hard and will have a winger on his shoulder at all times and also look for JVN to break through the defence,

* Exciting backs here who will link well and look to constantly run at and through the Sale defence,

* A fast back 3 here who will always look for work and are strong in defence and under the high ball.



Defence

*Tindall to lead this,

*JVN/Qera to be on 10’s shoulder looking to wrap the ball up,

*Contest at the breakdown and all set piece.

Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Luke

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. Dwayne Peel
02. Rob Webber	10. Jonny Wilkinson (k)
03. John Afoa
04. Loius Deacon	11. Paul Sackey
05. James Horwill (c)	12. Sireli Naqelevuki
06. James Scaysbrook	13. Richard Kahui
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Matt Jess
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Isa Nacewa

16. Brett Sturgess 17. Neil Clark 18. Hoani Tui 19. James Hanks 20. Richard Baxter 21. Kevin Barrett 22. Ian Humphreys 23. Luke Arscott

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, Joubert, Deacon all massive jumpers. We will relentlessly target the opposition's throws.

- Massive line-breakers right throughout the side that will look to tire down the opposition defence. We will use our big carriers consistently to tire down the opposition.
The likes of Afoa, Scaysbrook, Armitage, Beast, Horwill, Joubert 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 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.Mark Lambert	09.Luke Burguss
02.Joe Grey	10.Morne Steyn (k)
03.John Smit (c)
04.Carlo Del Fava	11.George North
05.Alistair Hargreaves	12.Hudson Tonga'uhia
06.Tom Croft	13.Jared Payne
07.Hienrich Brussouw	14.James Short
08.Alex Grey	15.Nick Abendonan

16.Nathan Morris 17.Chris Budgen 18.Will Collier 19.Tom Denton 20.Jack Clifford 21.Richard Wrigglesworth 22.Sam Stuart 23.Andy Short

Tactics

Quins return to league action and know a win this weekend is vital against Bath.

Big pack to get ontop the Bath front 5 and put them under the cosh at the Scrum and rucks with plenty of impact from the bench.

Scrummage for 80 minutes with strong scrummagers on the bench to come on if need

Steyn to test BAth backs 3s position game with Kicks in behind with North and Short chasing with neither being on the small side.

Tonga'uhia to take the ball flat and look to feed Payne by pulling defenders in.

Croft to run our lineout which will Brussouw make a mess on the deck

Burguss to keep the tempo high with tap and goes and making Bath work hard in defense making tackles and tiring them out.

Blitz Defence to stop Bath's backs playing with Burguss sweeping behind

Worcester Warriors

Manager – InTheFastLane

01. Joe Marler	09. Will Genia
02. Ed Shervington	10. George Ford
03. Juan Figallo
04. George Robson	11. Marcel Garvey
05. Graham Kitchener	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Matt Kvesic	13. Matt Hooper
07. Andy Saull	14. David Strettle
08. Sam Betty	15. Luke Rooney

16. Will Radburn 17. George Porter 18. Tevita Taumoepeau 19. Gerhard Mostert 20. Jake Abbott 21. Jonny Arr 22. Dan Carter 23. Alex Grove

Overall: Look to play a strong game based on an aggressive set piece which we look to use as a platform to get our backs on the ball and worrying Sarries.

Look to be competitive at scrum time. We feel we can have a big impact here with two quality international props. Apply pressure and look to get the nudge on throughout. If we are getting an advantage from the scrum we will look to call for it as much as possible.

We also feel we have an advantage at lineout with both Kitchener and Robson capable of winning the ball. Once again if we sense an advantage we will look for corners with the boot.

As well as performing in the set piece we will be looking to get our forwards making some big carries in open play. We will be looking to get Marler/Kvesic/Robson/Betty on the ball and making gains

Look to attack the breakdown hard and fast with lots of bodies looking to slow down or turn over Sarries ball. Kvesic and Saull will both be looking to make a nuisance of themselves on the floor looking to get their hands on the ball

Strong half back combination will be looking to control the tempo of our game. Will Genia will play his natural game mixing it up with his passing and his sniping runs. George Ford will be looking to link up the play and will offer a solid kicking option if we need to alter the gameplan.

The back five will be looking to offer strong defence as well as solid carrying. JTH is a strong carrier and will look to target Hodgson with his big carries. Hooper will look to bring a spark to our backline and will be looking to bring in our back three if possible

Use a blitz defence to put pressure on Sarries. We have lots of strong defenders, such as JTH and Strettle who will look to really leave their mark on Sarries attackers. Will Genia will sweep behind the defence

We also feel we have a huge advantage coming from the bench. All players except Kohn from Sarries are born after 1990 with most having no or little Premiership experience. We have three internationally capped players. We feel our front row subs are strong with Taumepeau a great player. Mostert, a key player in t14 can come on in the second row. In the backs we have Alex Grove who can add stability in the centres and Jonny Arr who can control our tempo. Dan Carter is also on the bench and we will look to get him on for an extended period of time to control the game.

WASPS TACTICS

01. Tim Payne 09. Micky young
02. George Chuter 10. Shane Geraghty
03. Matt Stevens
04. Marco Wentzel 11. Ugo Monye
05. George Skivvington12.Billy Twelvetrees
06. Theirry Dusatoir (c) 13.Jaque Fourie
07. Julien Salvi 14.Tom Varndell
08. Thomas Waldrom 15.Richard Hauhghton

16.Brooker 17.Stankovich 18.Cannon 19.Burger 20. Davies 21. Gopperth 22.Cueto 23.Ingall

Very tough game this week against top of the table Lecister...we are strengthened by the return of Waldrom at number 8. There will be a big emphasis, on the line out and scrum this week, we will look to be very solid at the set piece, and dont want to give away easy penalties or possession. The forwards will look to carry the ball as we go through the phases, and try to break down the leicster defence. Geraghty will look to get the ball into touch when possible as we go through the lineout..the backs will carry the ball given the chance, with Monye and Varndell looking to use theiir pace to get to the try line.

London Irish

Manager – Pullthestrings

01. Max Lahiff	09. Joe Simpson
02. James Buckland	10. Brock James
03. Leo Halavatu
04. Tom Palmer	11. Sailosi Tagicakibau
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Daniel Bowden
06. Tom Guest	13. Aurelien Rougerie
07. David Pocock (c)	14. Tom Homer (k)
08. Imanol Harinordoquy	15. Delon Armitage

16. Rob Herring, 17. Paulică Ion, 18. Tom Smallbone, 19. Simon Shaw, 20. Declan Danaher, 21. Darren Allinson, 22. Quade Cooper, 23. Regan King

Tactics
- Brock James at 10 to dictate the play. Play in their half all day - there are few sides that can score against us from 60+ metres so it limits their threat straight away.

- Set a decent platform to attack from and gain some confidence. Quick ball to Quade if we're stable, Harinordoquy to pick and go if it's messy.

- In the lineout, we have plenty of options. Opt for full lineouts mostly in their half to tie in their pack, leaving more space out wide. Compete for their ball.

- Target the breakdown for possible turnovers, with Pocock staying strong on his feet. When they arise, lets use them to our advantage. If the back three are sparse, look to kick for territory. If there are mis-matches, lets have a go.

- Be disciplined at the breakdown, with a guard and bodyguard at every breakdown to stop those easy yards around the fringes. No excuses here.

- Simpson to keep the tempo high, getting the ball quickly away from the breakdown and releasing the backs. The back three to be hungry and look to get involved.

- Big efforts in defence, particularly from Bowden and Rougerie. Pocock to work his socks off getting across and chopping them down before they get momentum.

- For slow ball, look to get outside their guards and bodyguards to suck in more and more forwards at each breakdown. This will give more time to the backs.

- Homer to go for points at every opportunity.We can have a pop from anywhere in their half. Make them scared to give away penalties in their half, thus giving us more time at the breakdown.

- Bench is full of impact players to keep the intensity high and have a run at the Exeter's tired legs.

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Conditions:

The Rec - Heavy Rain, 7 Degrees, 10 Mph Winds
Kingsholm - Heavy Rain, 7 Degrees, 10 Mph Winds
The Majeski - Heavy Rain, 10 Degrees, 10 Mph Winds
Franklins Garden - Heavy Rain, 10 Degrees, 14 Mph Winds
Adams Park - Heavy Rain, 6 Degrees, 10 Mph Winds
Sixways - Heavy Rain, 7 Degrees, 7 Mph Winds

Northampton Saints
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Soane Tonga'uiha	09. Lee Dickson
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Stephen Myler
03. Brian Mujati
04. Courtney Lawes	11. Vasily Artemiev
05. Andries Bekker	12. Sonny Bill Williams
06. Stephen Ferris	13. George Pisi
07. Calum Clarke	14. Jamie Elliot
08. Roger Wilson	15. Ben Foden

16. S. Kitshoff 17. M. Haywood 18. P. Doran-Jones 19. Samu Manoa 20. Phil Dowson 21. M. Roberts 22. R. Lamb 23. S. Armstrong

Key Points

• Massive ball carriers throughout the side. We will look to get on the front foot at the contact battle. Look to keep Welsh on the back foot and tire them out faster in these conditions.

• Fantastic record at Franklins Garden. We are yet to be on the losing side there this season in the league. Welsh will need to be at their very best to take anything with a baying home crowd intimidating the ref for all 50/50s.

Tactics

We will look to control territory and apply pressure on Welsh in key areas looking to force mistakes. When in possession in the right areas, we will look to play a strong carrying game, attacking in groups so as to win the collisions and get over the gain line. Offloads will be kept to a minimum as we look to sustain pressure deep in Welsh territory. We will kick all penalties in range at goal and take the drop goal option whenever it’s available.

• In these conditions the scrum will be an important weapon. With a powerful front 5 on show we will look to keep it up and take full advantage drawing penalties from Welsh.

• With handling an issue we want to keep things simple and use Bekker, Lawes & Clark as banker ball at the lineout. We will look to bring the ball down into the maul and use the physicality of our pack to drive us into the right areas.

• We will look to blitz aggressively, playing on the edge of the offside line and coming up at pace, looking to isolate the ball carrier and stop any opposition momentum before it can get going.

• Lee Dickson will act as a sweeper and cover any chips or grubbers behind the defensive line.

• The back 3 will sit deep to cover any kicks down the line and will look to counter attack of any loose ball.

• With the blitz in operation, we will look to be at the breakdown first hitting it hard and fast. If the ball looks available we will flood it with the back row looking to get their hands on the ball.

• If the ball is not immediately available we will only commit 1 or 2 players to legally slow the ball down and instead look to strengthen the defensive line.

Sale Sharks

Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Andrew Sheriden	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Johan Goosen
03.Logovoi Mulipola
04.Matt Garvey	11.Cameron Shephard
05.Dean Schofield	12.Luther Burrell
06.Richie Vernon	13.Sam Tuitupou
07.Dave Seymour	14.Tom Brady
08.Jordan Crane	15.Nick McLeod

Subs 16.Marc Jones 17.Henry Thomas 18.Ross Harrison 19.James Gaskell 20.Andy Powell 21.Scott Mathie 22.Rob Miller 23.Will Addison[/quote]

Tactics

McLeod and Goosen to share responsibility and both look to target May under the high ball, where we beleive he has a weakness.
Lineout - Ball to be thrown to the front most of the time with both Garvey and Schofield very strong 2 jumpers. If this is not working out Vernon and Crane are good enough to be used in the lineout as well. If we are still having problems Gaskell will come on for Vernon. We will not hesitate to make this change if needed.
Scrum - Sheridan will be expected to play the full 80 mins after having a decent period of not starting, and only having cameos from the bench. We are playing 2 big 2nd rows to help stabilize our scrum. We will not look to keep the ball in the scrum for long periods of time.

We will take ALL points on offer, including going for drop goals if in there 22.

We will look to commit men to the breakdown in defence. The chances they will take advantage of this outwide are slim, and with Seymour the only breakdown specialist on the pitch it is an area we feel we can claim an advantage.

In attack we will look to pin Glaws back into there own 22 and put pressure on a back 3 that does not have the best kicking game.

Sale Sharks

Manager – LondonIrishOllie

01.Andrew Sheriden	09.Hadyn Thomas
02.Gary Botha	10.Johan Goosen
03.Logovoi Mulipola
04.Matt Garvey	11.Cameron Shephard
05.Dean Schofield	12.Luther Burrell
06.Richie Vernon	13.Sam Tuitupou
07.Dave Seymour	14.Tom Brady
08.Jordan Crane	15.Nick McLeod

Subs 16.Marc Jones 17.Henry Thomas 18.Ross Harrison 19.James Gaskell 20.Andy Powell 21.Scott Mathie 22.Rob Miller 23.Will Addison

Tactics

McLeod and Goosen to share responsibility and both look to target May under the high ball, where we beleive he has a weakness.
Lineout - Ball to be thrown to the front most of the time with both Garvey and Schofield very strong 2 jumpers. If this is not working out Vernon and Crane are good enough to be used in the lineout as well. If we are still having problems Gaskell will come on for Vernon. We will not hesitate to make this change if needed.
Scrum - Sheridan will be expected to play the full 80 mins after having a decent period of not starting, and only having cameos from the bench. We are playing 2 big 2nd rows to help stabilize our scrum. We will not look to keep the ball in the scrum for long periods of time.

We will take ALL points on offer, including going for drop goals if in there 22.

We will look to commit men to the breakdown in defence. The chances they will take advantage of this outwide are slim, and with Seymour the only breakdown specialist on the pitch it is an area we feel we can claim an advantage.

In attack we will look to pin Glaws back into there own 22 and put pressure on a back 3 that does not have the best kicking game.

We have 2 big ball carrying centres and a pack that has alot of carriers in it, and we plan to use them to help tire the Glaws defence. We will aim to get the balance of kicking for territory and keeping the ball so the Glaws defence get tired correct. [/quote]

I assume I'm too late for tactics?