Knockouts Round 2

Knockout Cup

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Crusaders

01. Vincent Debaty	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Tom Taylor (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Dominic Bird	11. Zac Guildford
05. Luke Romano	12. Scott Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Ryan Crotty
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Tom Marshall
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Marcus Ayerza 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Sam Whitelock 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Mitchell Drummond 22. Dan Carter 23. Israel Folau

Set piece - keep it simple, scrummage hard and use the power of the 2nd row to get a nudge on. Hartley to use the safe option in the lineout, and maul with our big front 5. 

Breakdown - back row are all excellent breakdown players, want them to work as a trio with the front 5 focusing on clearing out and carrying down the throat of the opposition. Both flankers to get over the ball at every chance, play to the ref using our experience as all 3 have international captaincy experience. Target the Sharks 7 for strong clearing out, and make sure to ruck past the ball. 

Attack - front 5 to carry up the gut, Robshaw to use his skills at first receiver to shift the point of attack and take pressure off the fly half. Get our centres running at Cooper, send Romano and Franks down his channel all day long to force their back row to keep tight. Piutau to line up at first receiver to act as a running threat, with Taylor on the other side to spread the ball wide. Guildford to stay out wide, with Marshall to pop up where he can.

Defence - all about the breakdown, make the hit and get the guy down to give our back 3 a big chance to turn the ball over. Williams to help Taylor in defence, with Pelissie covering his inside channel. Kick the ball deep, but try to keep it infield. Target the wings with high ball and chase hard. Piutau to offer himself as a kicking option, and Pelissie to box kick for territory.

Bench - great impact off the bench, Gorgodze to take on the carrying duties against the tiring defence and Folau to add to our attack, Carter to help close out the game

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 The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. Freddie Michalak
02. Stephen Moore	10. Patric Lambie
03. Lourens Adriaanse
04. Joe Launchbury	11. George North
05. Pieter-Steph du Toit	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Sam Warbuton	13. Paul Jordaan
07. Willem Alberts	14. Marland Yarde
08. Ryan Kankowski	15. James O'Connor

16. Sebastien Bruno 17. Cian Healy 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Franco van der Merwe 20. Keegan Daniel 21. Charl McLeod 22. Francois Steyn 23. JP Pietersen

TACTICS

We will play a traditional South African gameplan in the forwards, being ultra physical and looking to dominate the collisions in attack and defence.  We are aiming to control possession by running the ball in great conditions, using the pack and big backs off first phase ball, with support runners on the ball carriers shoulder for the offloads in or just prior to contact.  We will be looking to play our game at a high tempo. Lambie will play flat with the outside backs coming from positions of depth to gain momentum.  In defence we will employ the blitz and look to hit the ball carrier before he hits the gainline to stop Crusaders getting any momentum.  Danny Care will act as a sweeper behind the defensive line.

• Breakdown.  In attack we will put numbers in rucking past the ball to free it up quickly to go again.  If on Michalak will snipe to keep us going forwards.  In defence we will be selective.  If it is on to clear out and turn ball over we will throw numbers in to do so, otherwise we will keep a strong defensive line.
  
• Spaces not faces.  Our runners will target the gaps in the defensive line rather than defenders and look to breach the gainline regularly.  
  
• Wingers. North and Yarde to track the play off their wings looking for the offloads to go through gaps in midfield.
  
• Bench. We have a bench containing 8 full internationals, who can all provide great impact in the final quarter of the game.
  

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StadeToulousian
DOR: Driver
 

01. Guthro Steenkamp	09. Jano Vermaak
02. Tom Youngs	10. Remi Tales
03. John Afoa
04. Yoann Maestri	11. Hosea Gear
05. Patrico Albacete	12. Christian Leialiffano
06. Thiery Dusitour (c)	13. Florain Fritz
07. Michael Hooper	14. Tommy Bowe
08. Louise Pickamoles	15. Leigh Halfpenny (K)

16.Christopher Tauloufa 17.Vasil Kokovan 18.Cencus Johnstone 19.Romain Milo-Chulski 20.Yannick Nyanga 21.Ruan Pienaar 22.Luke McCallister 23.Maxime Medard

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ASMClermontAuvergne

Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01. Joe Marler	09. Ludovic Radosavljevic
02. Corey Flynn	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Manu Samoa	11. Julien Malzieu
05. Julien Pierre	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Julien Bardy	13. Regan King
07. Gerhardt Vosloo	14. Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. JMF Lobbe (c)	15. JM Buttin

16. Thomas Domingo 17. Tio'o Paulo 18. Ben Tameifuina  19.    Jamie Cudmore 20. Sam Cane 21.  Morgan Parra  22. Brock James 23. Matthieu Bastareaud

Tactics:

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Knockout Shield

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Racing Metro

Bathite

01. Ryan Grant	09. Maxime Machenaud
02. Dimitri Szarzewski (c)	10. Jean Marc Doussain (k)
03. Juan Figallo
04. Juandre Kruger	11. Juan Imhoff
05. Joe Tekori	12. Jamie Roberts
06. Bernard Le Roux	13. Marcelo Bosch
07. Wenclas Lauret	14. Alex Cuthbert
08. Toby Faletau	15. Ben Smith

16. Adam Jones 17. Andries Strauss 18. Soane Tonghu'ia 19. Brodie Retallick 20. Francois Louw 21. Ben Youngs 22. Jonathon Sexton 23. Benjamin Fall

TACTICS
With this confidence and in perfect running conditions, we'll look to play with a bit more possession in the middle third. After some big games, we've freshened up the pack giving full internationals Le Roux, Lauret, Tekori and Szarzewski a game

We'll play a simple game plan. Using left and right flankers to challenge at the breakdown and big men to clear out. With quick ball we'll play flat and on slow ball, mix it up with Roberts/Bosch to truck it up


- Mobile back row to slow ball and force turnovers. Le Roux and Lauret to play as left/right flankers
- Roberts to lead the blitz defence, aiming to tackle high with the choke and prevent offloads. We'll looking to isolate individuals and allow back row to compete for turnovers. Machenaud to sweep up
- Use Doussain flat on the gainline, drawing defenders, with Bosch and Roberts offering short pops and Faletau, Tekori offering the inside ball to keep them narrow. Smith and Bosch both encouraged to come into the line either before Roberts or on his shoulder, looking for the offload.
- Truck Roberts and Bosch down the 10 channel all day
- In the backs, we are incredibly solid defensively and have a nice mix of power (Roberts, Imhoff, Cuthbert), pace (Smith, Cuthbert, Youngs) and guile (Sexton, Smith and Bosch)
- Many teams have targeted Roberts defensively, so we will use Roberts to draw in defenders on the dummy run and bring Smith into the line. Use Doussain on the wrap around loop and also interchange Bosch and Roberts to keep them guessing.
- Use Szarzeswki, Figallo, Faletau, Tekori as our big ball carriers around the fringes to keep the defence narrrow. Machenaud to snipe and look for mismatches against forwards to keep them honest.

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RC Toulon

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Sebastian Tilous Borde
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Dan Cole
04. Ali Williams	11. David Smith
05. Jocelina Suta	12.Wesley Fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire (c)	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Justin Tipuric	14. Bryan Habana
08. Steffen Armitage	15. Drew Mitchell

16. Kyle Cooper 17. Gethin Jenkins 18. Carl hayman 19. Bakkies botha 20. Jamie heaslip 21. Aaron smith 22. Butch James 23. Adam Ashley-cooper
Tactics
We will play an tight game today and have selected a big pack to win us ball in tough conditions for a tight game. Wilko will stand deep and play territory for our lineout to challenge, the pack will carry a lot as will our centres for quick ball. Strong front row with immense power to come on and a 2nd row who are used to driving players back come scrum time. We have selected a centre partnership who will make good breaks and look for quick recycling of the ball to keep them on the back foot and under constant pressure. Forwards will look to carry a lot in first 20 punching the holes before moving to running off of 12-13.

*9-10 combo-we have tillous borde to Wilko who will then look to play a controlled kicking game especially from turnover ball and using tight runners off 2nd phase ball.
*Bench-Our bench is full of impact and will look to dominate the end of the game.
*Defence-we have strong defensive leaders in Wilko and mermoz and will look to slow down/turnover a lot of ball with tips and steffon.
*Set Piece-power is key today at scrum time and in the lineouts using Bonnaire's leading skills to get good ball.
*Breakdown-look to nullify the metro here and use our abrasive pack to do this with heavy carrying and tactical breakdown slowing.

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Leicester Tigers

01. Boris Stankovich	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. George Chuter	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Ben Robinson
04. Paul O'Connell	11. Miles Benjamin
05. Geoff Parling	12. Matt Smith
06. Tom Croft	13. Anthony Allen
07. Pablo Matera	14. Cory Jane
08. Juan Manuel Leguizamon (c)	15. Juan Martin Hernandez (K)

Replacements: 16.Hawkins 17.Scuhster 18.Castro 19.Deacon 20.-21.Hook 22.Tuilagi 23.Ashton

We want to play through our forwards today and have picked a big forward unit, with power also on the bench. We want to really attack the lineout and steal oppo ball and look to counter with the ball. Leguizamon will drive his troops forward and look to carry ball over the gain line. Laidlaw will box kick in search of territory further up the field for the backs to get good ball. Jane will use his pace in search of the ball and hernandez will kick the points

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Stormers

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. Scarra Ntubeni	10. Peter Grant (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Nathan Hines	11. Julian Savea
05. James Horwill	12. Jean De Villiers (c)
06. Rynhardt Elstadt	13. Jaco Taute
07. Siya Kolisi	14. Christian Wade
08. Damien Chouly	15. Gio Aplon

16. Tian Liebenburg 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Patric Geldenhueys 19. Ed Slater 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Louis Schrouder 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Chelsin Kolbe

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Apologies for the delay in getting this up!

ASMClermontAuvergne

Manager
= ChequeredJersey

01.  Joe Marler	09.  Ludovic Radosavljevic
02. Corey Flynn	10.    Aaron Cruden
03. Frans Malherbe
04.  Manu Samoa	11. Julien Malzieu
05.  Julien Pierre	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Julien Bardy	13.   Regan King
07. Gerhardt Vosloo	14.  Sitiveni Sivivatu
08. JMF Lobbe (c)	15. JM Buttin

16. Thomas Domingo 17. Tio'o Paulo 18. Ben Tameifuina  19.    Jamie Cudmore 20. Sam Cane 21.  Morgan Parra  22. Brock James 23. Matthieu Bastareaud

Tactics:

When do tactics have to be in Flux?

01. Mako vunipola	09. Sebastian tilous borde
02. Richard Hibbard	10.    Johnny Wilkinson(k)
03. Dan cole
04. Ali Williams	11. David smith
05.  Jocelina Suta	12.Wesley fofana
06. Julien Bonnaire (c)	13. Maxime mermoz
07. Justin tipuric	14.  Bryan habana
08. Steffen armitage	15. Drew Mitchell

16. Kyle Cooper 17. Gethin Jenkins 18. Carl hayman 19. Bakkies botha 20. Jamie heaslip 21. Aaron smith 22. Butch James 23. Adam Ashley-cooper
Tactics
We will play an tight game today and have selected a big pack to win us ball in tough conditions for a tight game. Wilko will stand deep and play territory for our lineout to challenge, the pack will carry a lot as will our centres for quick ball. Strong front row with immense power to come on and a 2nd row who are used to driving players back come scrum time. We have selected a centre partnership who will make good breaks and look for quick recycling of the ball to keep them on the back foot and under constant pressure. Forwards will look to carry a lot in first 20 punching the holes before moving to running off of 12-13.

*9-10 combo-we have tillous borde to Wilko who will then look to play a controlled kicking game especially from turnover ball and using tight runners off 2nd phase ball.
*Bench-Our bench is full of impact and will look to dominate the end of the game.
*Defence-we have strong defensive leaders in Wilko and mermoz and will look to slow down/turnover a lot of ball with tips and steffon.
*Set Piece-power is key today at scrum time and in the lineouts using Bonnaire's leading skills to get good ball.
*Breakdown-look to nullify the metro here and use our abrasive pack to do this with heavy carrying and tactical breakdown slowing.

TIGERS

01.Benn Robinson
02.George Chuter
03.Boris stankovich
04.Paul O'Connell
05.Geoff Parling
06.Tom Croft
07.Pablo Matera
08.Juan Manuel Leguizamon (c)
09.Greig Laidlaw
10.Francois Trinh-Duc
11.Miles Benjamin
12.Matt Smith
13.Antony Allen
14.Corey Jane
15.Juan Martin Hernandez (k)

Replacements: 16.Hawkins 17.Scuhster 18.Castro 19.Deacon 20.Weepu 21.Hook 22.Tuilagi 23.Ashton

We want to play through our forwards today and have picked a big forward unit, with power also on the bench. We want to really attack the lineout and steal oppo ball and look to counter with the ball. Leguizamon will drive his troops forward and look to carry ball over the gain line. Laidlaw will box kick in search of territory further up the field for the backs to get good ball. Jane will use his pace in search of the ball and hernandez will kick the points

CF, you do know that Robinson is a loosehead don't you?

yeah i put them the wrong way round lol il edit it in a bit

Stankovich is also a loosehead.

Stormers

01. Steven Kitshoff	09. Dewaldt Duvenage
02. Scarra Ntubeni	10. Peter Grant (k)
03. Nicolas Mas
04. Nathan Hines	11. Julian Savea
05. James Horwill	12. Jean De Villiers (c)
06. Rynhardt Elstadt	13. Jaco Taute
07. Siya Kolisi	14. Christian Wade
08. Damien Chouly	15. Gio Aplon

16. Tian Liebenburg 17. Alex Corbisiero 18. Patric Geldenhueys 19. Ed Slater 20. Siya Kolisi 21. Louis Schrouder 22. Elton Jantjies 23. Chelsin Kolbe

Crusaders

01. Vincent Debaty	09. Jonathan Pelissie
02. Dylan Hartley	10. Tom Taylor (k)
03. Owen Franks
04. Dominic Bird	11. Zac Guildford
05. Luke Romano	12. Scott Williams
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Ryan Crotty
07. Richie McCaw (c)	14. Tom Marshall
08. Kieran Read	15. Charles Piutau

16. Ben Funnell 17. Marcus Ayerza 18. Nepo Laulala 19. Sam Whitelock 20. Mamuka Gorgodze 21. Mitchell Drummond 22. Dan Carter 23. Israel Folau

Set piece - keep it simple, scrummage hard and use the power of the 2nd row to get a nudge on. Hartley to use the safe option in the lineout, and maul with our big front 5.

Breakdown - back row are all excellent breakdown players, want them to work as a trio with the front 5 focusing on clearing out and carrying down the throat of the opposition. Both flankers to get over the ball at every chance, play to the ref using our experience as all 3 have international captaincy experience. Target the Sharks 7 for strong clearing out, and make sure to ruck past the ball.

Attack - front 5 to carry up the gut, Robshaw to use his skills at first receiver to shift the point of attack and take pressure off the fly half. Get our centres running at Cooper, send Romano and Franks down his channel all day long to force their back row to keep tight. Piutau to line up at first receiver to act as a running threat, with Taylor on the other side to spread the ball wide. Guildford to stay out wide, with Marshall to pop up where he can.

Defence - all about the breakdown, make the hit and get the guy down to give our back 3 a big chance to turn the ball over. Williams to help Taylor in defence, with Pelissie covering his inside channel. Kick the ball deep, but try to keep it infield. Target the wings with high ball and chase hard. Piutau to offer himself as a kicking option, and Pelissie to box kick for territory.

Bench - great impact off the bench, Gorgodze to take on the carrying duties against the tiring defence and Folau to add to our attack, Carter to help close out the game

.

Tekori + Doussain haven't been confirmed ..

I got the bonus confirmed from flux. It's all good

When do teams need to be in by? I am running around like a loony this weekend.

Sorry, I meant not confirmed by Driver on confirms. Cash is fine

The Sharks make a number of changes for this weeks trip to New Zealand to take ont he Crusaders. Despite resting a number of key players, such as Courtney Lawes, Sergio Parisse, Quade Cooper and Conrad Smith, the Durban based franchise send out a matchday 23 where only rising star Paul Jordaan is uncapped.

The Sharks
DoR: Ozzy3213

01. Tendai Mtawarira	09. Freddie Michalak
02. Stephen Moore	10. Patric Lambie
03. Lourens Adriaanse
04. Joe Launchbury	11. George North
05. Pieter-Steph du Toit	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Sam Warbuton	13. Paul Jordaan
07. Willem Alberts	14. Marland Yarde
08. Ryan Kankowski	15. James O'Connor

16. Sebastien Bruno 17. Cian Healy 18. Jannie du Plessis 19. Franco van der Merwe 20. Keegan Daniel 21. Charl McLeod 22. Francois Steyn 23. JP Pietersen

TACTICS

We will play a traditional South African gameplan in the forwards, being ultra physical and looking to dominate the collisions in attack and defence.  We are aiming to control possession by running the ball in great conditions, using the pack and big backs off first phase ball, with support runners on the ball carriers shoulder for the offloads in or just prior to contact.  We will be looking to play our game at a high tempo. Lambie will play flat with the outside backs coming from positions of depth to gain momentum.  In defence we will employ the blitz and look to hit the ball carrier before he hits the gainline to stop Crusaders getting any momentum.  Danny Care will act as a sweeper behind the defensive line.

• Breakdown.  In attack we will put numbers in rucking past the ball to free it up quickly to go again.  If on Michalak will snipe to keep us going forwards.  In defence we will be selective.  If it is on to clear out and turn ball over we will throw numbers in to do so, otherwise we will keep a strong defensive line.
  
• Spaces not faces.  Our runners will target the gaps in the defensive line rather than defenders and look to breach the gainline regularly.  
  
• Wingers. North and Yarde to track the play off their wings looking for the offloads to go through gaps in midfield.
  
• Bench. We have a bench containing 8 full internationals, who can all provide great impact in the final quarter of the game.
  

Updated the sides. 

Only indiscretion I could see was that Weepu is still injured for Tigers and they are a many short on the bench as a result.

When is limit on tactics or is it passed?

Should have been Midnight Friday, so you have had an extra 24 hrs ish!

Well I didn't put any forward as Driver hasn't put forward a team! No matter

When's the predo deadline? Wednesday 9am?

Yeah I was wondering the same thing actually

Crusaders 22 Sharks 19
Toulouse 17 Clermont 14
Tigers 19 Stormers 20

Might not do full predictions, as getting on plane to Japan tomorrow

Crusaders 23 - 19 Sharks
Setpiece- scrum and lineout both marginally to Crusaders
Breakdown- also to Crusaders with great flanker combo
Power- Goes to Sharks, just
Control- evens
Attack- marginally more dangerous in Sharks
Overall- enough for home win

Metro 21 - 20 Toulon
Setpiece - Scrum evens but with Steffon at 8 Toulon ball can be disrupted, lineout just to Toulon
Breakdown- edge to Toulon
Power- unbalanced backrow sees edge to Metro
Control - edge Toulon
Attaclk - Edge Metro
Overall- close but Metro are at home and hold on

Tigers 20 - 19 Stormers
Setpiece- scrum easily to Stormers as Tigerrs have 2 LHs! Lineout - Tigers have a ridiculously good unit here
Breakdown- evens
Power- Stormers
Control - Tigers who look well set here
Attack - would be even by Allen at 13 means just to Stormers
Overall- At SA Stormers would certainly win, but here I can just see a Tigers win

Toulouse 22-20 Clermont
Feel that Toulouse have that extra edge in the back line and they can make quicker ball available with their back row. Evens in the front 5 like the Clermont locks.

Tigers 20-19 Stormers
Stormers are resting a few here and come up against a good tigers side apart from the 2 loose heads starting! Feel the rest of the tigers pack are quite formidable and their halfback pairing will get the back line moving more than the Stormers pairing. Tigers need to look at playing people in the right position because their home advantage and having tactics helps this.

Toulouse 23-22 Clermont

Set piece - evens in scrum, Toulouse stronger at TH, equal at LH, and Flynn>Youngs in scrum IMO. Prefer Toulousej jumpers in lineout.

Breakdown - Toulouse playing their first choice side, strong settled combination. ASM rotating, bit less about their back row for me. Edge to Toulouse

Attack/carrying - prefer ASM backs from 10-14, Toulouse better at 9/15. Bit more carrying power for Toulouse with that big pack, although Clermont no mugs.

Overall - given no tactics, although I understand why for CJ, I have to go on the sides on paper. As Toukouse have their first choice side, I have to give them a narrow win.

Racing 23-26 Toulon

Set piece - very even in the scrum, two solid front rows with no real weakness. Line outs I think Bonnaire gives Toulon a slight edge.

Breakdown - Toulon have Tips and Armitage on the field, and Racing have gone with 2 more all round flankers. Racing will be strong, but I think Toulon has an advantage in speed to the breakdown, and 2 guys who are very good on the floor, with Cole no slouch here either. Edge Toulon

Attack/carrying - Doussain has only just arrived, and is making his debut against the experience of Wilko. Have to give the Toulon halfbacks an advantage. Rest of the back line is fairly even, but I fancy Fofana to give Roberts a tough afternoon. Edge Toulon

Up front, Mako and Hibbard are very strong carriers around the fringes, while Armitage will do a good job in wider channels, as will Tips. Faletau stands out for Racing, but my own lack of knowledge makes it hard for me to rate the flankers in terms of carrying. Call it evens

Overall, edge in the lineouts, breakdown and halfbacks is enough for a good away win for Toulon

Crusaders 32 - 31 Natal Sharks 
The toughest test Sharks have come up against, even despite their rotated squad. Sharks are left slightly rudderless without Lawes leading the line out, and Debaty has enough to slightly wobble the Sharks set piece. Around the park however Sharks pack are monsters and give their backs real go forward. Although Saders can match the forward carrying and give the Sharks pack a real test of their ability. 
Backs again is a real close affair, both sets of half backs on their days are imperious but can be got at a little defensively. Both sets of backs can attack each other with the forward momentum but Sharks can carry some real threats with their physicality in their backs. In the end home advantage and a bit more on their bench means the Saders can cause a real upset in the Sharks form this season.

Toulouse 24 - 22 Clermont Auvergne
The front fives are both terrifyingly strong and the backs row are both brilliant units, but Toulouse can edge this battle slightly with their carrying. Cruden controls the pace of the game for ASM, but there is more of a cutting edge in the Toulouse back three which can exploit some defensive frailties in ASM backs. 
At the end of the day home advantage again nicks this battle of the french sides.

Racing Metro 23 - 25 Toulon
New signings slightly upset momentum of the Metro side, but they maintain a real powerful physicality throughout. There is bit more guile and pace in the toulon pack though and they can get a bit of an edge on the deck and turnover some decent possession for their backs. Metro have a brilliant set of attacking backs but can be got at defensively and this allows Toulon into the game. The benches are strong, but Wilkos boot secures a massive away win.

Leicester 17-20 Stormers

Set piece - despite getting rated well last week with Castro at 3, for some reason I can't fathom, they are back to playing 2 looseheads at prop. Lineout goes to Tigers with their excellent jumpers.

Breakdown - evens for me. Kolisi is an excellent flanker, well backed up by Choluy and Erstadt. Hines and the front row will do some damage clearing out. Tigers lack physical presence, with Croft and Parling a bit too finesse, and Stankovich/Chuter just not good enough.

Attack/carrying - HBs stronger for Tigers, but I don't like the centre combo, Allen should be at 12. JDV is the standout centre, and the Stormers back 3 is deadly. No tactics hurts Tigers too.

Carrying about evens up front, Stormers better in the tight but Tigers will have joy in the wider channels.

Overall, a hard fought win for Stormers

Crusaders 22-24 Sharks
Overall I can’t split the packs here with both teams bringing advantages in key areas. 9 to Crusaders but 10 to Sharks. Feel at present in the outside backs the Sharks bring more and a good power bench although Crusaders backs replacements will power them into the game.
Tactics: Crusaders are set up for Cooper and he isn’t playing, not sure they’ll get much targeting Alberts as Warburton will step in then. Use their impact bench well thought. Sharks playing the right tempo and, if Michalak gets quick ball to their backs then that’ll be enough to get a good win.

because i haven't made it clear when these will close, predos need to be in by 9pm this evening.

Crusaders vs Sharks : 24-18

Tolouse vs Clermont: 18-25

Metro vs Toulon: 17-12

Absolutely no chance I will get mine in today. Sorry, am really tucked up at work.

Scores anyone?

If we are closed I can get them done later today

They are closed.

RESULTS:

Crusaders: 27 -  23 Sharks
Tries: Robshaw, Williams, Folau // Yarde, O'Connor, Alberts
Conversions: Taylor x3 // Lambie
Penalties: Taylor x 2 // Michalak, Lambie

Toulouse: 23 -  21 Clermont
Tries: Vermaak, T Youngs, Gear// Flynn, Buttin
Conversions: Halfpenny // Cruden
Penalties: Halfpenny x 2 // Cruden x 2, Parra

Metro: 22 -  22 Toulon EXTRA TIME
Tries: Doussain, Cuthbert, Faletau// Fofana, Tipuric, Habana
Conversions: Doussain x 2 // Wilkinson x 2
Penalties: Doussain // Wilkinson

Leicester: 20 - 21 Stormers
Tries: Jane, O'Connell // Wade, Chouly
Conversions: Hernandez x 2 // Grant
Penalties: Hernandez x 2, Trinh-duc// Grant x 3

Metro: 22 - 22 Toulon EXTRA TIME

With this game going into extra time I would like everyone to predict from 22-22.

Predos for this open until 11pm tonight.

Metro 31 - 29 Toulon

I'm assuming a full set of replacements will be made by each side-

Therefore subs are key as is fatigue.

I reckon Metro edge the pack subs and Toulon the backs, I can still just see metro on top

Racing 30 - 27 Toulon

Given Racing's stronger ball carriers in the forwards, coupled with home advantage and the likes of Sexton and Youngs to bring on in the half backs to control the game, I fancy them to see it out over the extra period.

Exciting finish!

Metro 22. Toulon 28

Looks like a tight finish, if anyone wants to work it out.

It's still 29-29 with correct rounding

I want to watch this game!!

So do we go to penalties   

Racing Metro 32 - 31 Toulon

Although both benches are world class, I can see just a little more game changing impact from Metro and this will secure a massive home win in such a close game.