Aviva Premiership Round Seventeen

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Sale Sharks vs Northampton Saints
AJ Bell Stadium
Light Rain, 8 degrees, 10mph South Westerly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Faf De Klerk
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Bernard Foley
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Reece Hodge
06. Sean McMahon	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Matt Garvey 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Quade Cooper 23. Kyle Eastmond

Attributes:
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it.
Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.  

Attack: We will be playing a high intensity phased attacking game. Look to use a rugby league shape with runners on the gain line and out the back door to force the opposition into making defensive decisions. Numerous playmakers across the back line allows us to constantly change the point of attack and restructure our attacking phases. De Klerk to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

Breakdown: Quick ball is the aim on attack. Mobile pack and physical back line to clear out rucks and ensure we get it. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to give a target to hit. Defensively when the initial contact is won we will look to commit numbers and get over the ball turning it over or at least slowing opposition ball up. Otherwise we will strengthen the line.

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. De Klerk will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Foley & Bendy to cover the background dropping deep to cut off the green grass available to kick into.

Scrum: Strong scrummaging unit in the front row with the support of a powerful 4-8 will look to get the better of the opposition and build a strong attacking platform. We will look to put a slight wheel on where possible to take the opposition backrow out of play and then attack the space available and look for one on ones in the backline.

Lineout: Five mobile, athletic jumpers allows us to genuinely mix it up on attacking ball. Primarily looking to get the backs on the ball in space. Defensively Attwood to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball while Retalick marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

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Northampton Saints
Manager: Dammit Chris

01. Mako Vunipola	09. Joe Simpson(c)
02. Ashley Johnson	10. Lima Sopoaga (k)
03. Ramiro Herrera
04. Paul Jedrasiak	11. Julian Savea
05. Vaea Fifita	12. Wesley Fofana
06. Schalk Burger	13. Adam Ashley-Cooper
07. David Pocock	14. Rieko Ioane
08. Billy Vunipola	15. Ben Foden

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Replacements
16. Schalk Brits 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Jake Cooper Wooley 19. Michael Paterson 20. Faconda Isa 21. Jamie Shillcock 22. Matt Giteau 23. Manu Tuilagi

Attributes:
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.

Tactics
Will look to take Sale on and get an advantage in the front 3 (especially with M Vunipola being released back to Sarries in real life as a boost) and back row, where we can start to look at getting better front foot ball for our backline to exploit. See Retailick as the major threat and will look to double up and mark him out of the game, with our two locks who were rested last week. We have picked an extremely physical pack, with strong ball carriers to win the collisions and gain line, to provide Simpson and Sopoaga with good front ball to attack with.

Set Piece & Pack
Aim is to place Sale under pressure in the scrum, with Herrera and the more physical presence of AJ, to target Taylor and Sio. Will look to get penalties and launch Vunipola at the Sale midfield. Have recalled Fifita to give us more of a mobile option in the lineout, but our aim is to keep the ball in play and use the physicality of our pack to get the advantage in the game. Sale have a strong back row but will look to use our experience

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Sale defence to suck in players and create space out wide for our strike runners to exploit. Lucky to have Mako available and have chosen to play Ashley Johnson to give us another big carrier to test the Sale defensive line. This is an area we feel we can gain an advantage on and set our game plan around getting our backline on the front foot by winning the collisions and physical battle with our big ball carriers. Will target Foley in the Sale defensive line.

Breakdown/Backrow
See attributes, great breakdown battle, will be very even but will look to use the experience of Pocock and Burger here and then a huge impact with Isa from the bench.

Attack
- Use Mako, AJ, Jedrasiak, Burger and BV to get us over the gainline and get us on the front foot
- Look for Pocock to win the turnover battle and secure quick ball for our backs to exploit
- Sopoaga controlling the midfield, bringing in our strike runners, Fofana, Ioane, Savea, AAC and Foden.
- Impact bench to up the tempo in the final 20 minutes.
- Simpson and Sopoaga to put the ball high at Roko and test out his defence.

Kicking
- Will need to ensure kicking game spot on but will mostly target Roko's wing, test out his defence and make the most of our strong kick chase
- Sopoaga to keep the scoreboard ticking over

Defence
Picked a strong defensive lineup in the 10-13 channel to combat the strike runners of Sale. Blitz defence, we want to get at the Sale 9, 10, 12 and will look for AAC to marshall Fekitoa to stop him passing out to the danger in the Sale back three.

Simpson sweeping behind defence to deal with any kicks etc.

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Bath Rugby vs Wasps
The Rec
Light Rain Showers, 8 degrees, 12mph South Westerly Winds

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Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Steven Kitchoff	09. Aaron Smith
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nepo Laulala
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Will Skelton	12. Damian De Allende
06. Liam Squire	13. Jesse Kriel
07. Liam Gill	14. Juan Imhoff
08. Josh Beaumont	15. Alex Goode

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16. Ellis Genge 17. Leni Asipai 18. Scott Wilson 19. Mitch Lees 20. Dan Lydiate 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill 23. George Moala

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby and put Wasps under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries looking to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench 

Scrum: Use the set piece to get quick ball to restart our play. We will look to get more power from our back five. Beaumont will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Beaumont, Skelton, Squire and Kitchener options in the lineout. Beaumont will run the line out. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul. We think we can dominate here against a poor set of jumpers. Skelton will offer quick ball option at the front. 

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Gill is brilliant at the breakdown and we will also look to get the rest of the pack looking to help and clear out. Really work Wasps hard here and look to tire them out as a pack

Defence: Run a blitz defence. Smith to drift behind expecting kicks.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Smith will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Barrett will play flat and use his creativity to bring in the back line and make plays. He will be given a freedom to be creative. Look to bring in the rest of the back line, especially De Allende and Moala who we would like to get running at defenders.  Wade and Goode are very skilful and if the ball gets to them will look to draw in defenders. The pack will also be involved when we have the ball for a prolonged period. We have strong carriers who excel in the loose. Look to get the ball in the hands of EBa, Kitch and Squire in order to break the line and make yards. Throughout them team look to Keep the ball alive and look for offloads. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Exploit the holes we create and look to tire out Wasps which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

Kicking: Barrett will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Smith, Imhoff and Goode all have the boots necessary to try and put us in a good position territorially if need. 

Substitutes: Keep a high tempo off the bench.

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Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Marcos Ayerza	09.Sebastien Tillous Borde
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Bryan Habana
05. Dom Barrow	12. Brad Barritt
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Henry Slade
07. Fulgence Quedraogo	14. Marland Yarde
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Tim Nani-Williams

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16. Harry Thacker, 17. Dave Wilson, 18. Fraiser Bailmen, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Will Owen, 21. Mitchell Drummound, 22. Nick Evans, 23. Anthony Watson

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Tactics
Attack:
- Good mobility in the back row to get round the park
- Mix up forward runners off 9 and 10 to give go forward and tie in defence. When space opens up, go wide and utilise pace of back three.
Defence:
- Nullify the midfield threat, looking for big hit opportunities and wrap tackles to prevent the offloads
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence
Breakdown:
- Be disciplined at the breakdown and do not give away penalties in our half
- If ruck is lost, don't compete and fan out in D
Bench:
- Good quality on the bench with a number of options.

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Gloucester Rugby vs Harlequins
Kingsholm Stadium
Light Rain, 9 degrees, 13mph South Westerly Winds

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Gloucester 
Caretaker Manager - Fluxy

01. Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira	09. TJ Perenara
02. Adriaan Strauss	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Juan Figallo
04. Eben Etzebeth	11. Israel Dagg
05. Elliott Stooke	12. Ryan Crotty
06. Tom Croft	13. Tevita Kurindrani
07. Ardie Savea	14. Charlie Walker
08. Willem Alberts	15. Israel Folau

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Replacements: 16. Titi Lamisotele, 17. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 18. Coenie Ousthuizen, 19. Tomas Lavanini, 20. Yacouba Camara, 21. Dan Robson, 22. Dan Carter, 23. Will Addison

Defence

• Drift Defence: Your side is known for the drift and maintaining the line and excels at it.
  
• Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty. 
  
  Attack
  
  
• Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
  
• Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
  

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Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Luke McGrath
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Joe Tomane
05. George Kruis	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Damien Chouly	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damien McKenzie

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16. Rob Webber 17. Cian Healy 18. John Afoa 19. Luke Romano 20. Jack Clifford 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Steven Myler 23. Mike Haley

Tactics

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 

Game Plan

• Look to control the tempo using McGrath and Jantjies with McKenzie and JMH also acting as a first receiver. Look for Jantjies to stand flat and bring our pack onto the ball at pace in the midfield. We want to offer numerous threats to Gloucester's defence with forwards carrying off 9 10 and 12.
  
  
• A back line who are all comfortable with ball in hand and offer numerous kicking options to control territory. Plenty of experience in how to manage a game in wet conditions. With this with dynamic, mobile and physical pack who will be solid at the set piece and we feel we have the combination to control the game.
  
  
• Use Jantjies, Hernandez and McKenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field and put territorial pressure. Use Cordero's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Gloucester back three under the high ball. 
  
  
• Look for forwards to carry with support, and look for the offload out of contact if it is on or to recycle the ball quickly for the next attack. Conditions will be slippery so we know that we need to set a good platform with strong carries from our packs working in pods. 
  
  
• Use Du Toit, Kruis and Chouly to put huge pressure on the Gloucester's line out, not allowing easy ball at the line out. Also look for Hooper to attack the breakdown at every opportunity.
  
  
  
  
  • We have electric pace in our back line. If we can use the carriers in our pack to get us across the gain line and get Leicester's defence on the back foot and allow us to attack them on the front foot. Despite slippery conditions, we still offer enormous threat through our creative midfield and the pace of our back 3. 
    
  
  
  

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Leicester Tigers vs Exeter Chiefs
Welford Road
Light Cloud, 8 degrees, 12mph South Westerly Winds
MLeicester Tigers
Manager – Fluxy

01. Gethin Jenkins	09. Francois Hougaard
02. Stephen Moore	10. Francois Trinh-Duc
03. Owen Franks
04. Samu Manoa	11. Henry Purdy
05. Don Armand (c)	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Liam Messam	13. Mathieu Basteraud
07. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe	14. Sean Maitland
08. Thomas Waldrom	15. Kurtley Beale (k)

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Subs: 16. Dave Ward 17. Mikheil Nariashvili 18. Max Lahiff 19. Pascal Pape 20. Calum Chick 21. Nick Phipps 22. Freddie Burns 23. Tom Parton

Tigers Attributes
Defensive:

• Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
  
• Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. 
  Attacking:
  
• Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid.
  
• Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
  

In decent conditions we will be looking to play a possession based game, working through the phases. Looking to make ground carrying close to the ruck and recycling quickly, with offloading and forward inter-play to keep the ball off the ground and moving, preventing a ruck and defensive line being set. Trinh - Duc will take the ball to the line and tempt the Exeter Chiefs defence to jump out of the defensive line, creating holes for our back line to exploit. Multiple play-makers to come in at first receiver, either side of the ruck to stretch the Gloucester defence in an attempt to create an overlap, or to provide the opportunity of grubber or high ball in behind the wings. Ideally we want to be putting the ball through the hands to stretch the defence. 

In defence, as always we will be running our hard blitz defence - looking for us to win the gain line battle as we will cause the Chiefs carrier to make negative metres. Our focus will be on the gain line collisions and driving back in the tackle. Line speed and no dog-legs will be key components for us. Houagaard will sweep in behind the defensive line to counter any chips/grubbers.

Specifics

• Line-out: Nothing flash. Hit our front and middle jumpers and ensure that we secure our ball. We will also mix it up, shortening the line-out and using our back row as crash ball options off the top. On Chiefs ball put pressure on; by getting Bird up at the front and Armand up in the middle to compete. 
  
  
• Scrum: Get low and underneath their props and drive straight. Really test their props technical abilities rather than get in to a battle of strength. This is an area this week, where we believe we can manipulate the scrum in directions we require, to get Waldrom doing his best carrying at the try line. 
  
  
• Breakdown: When we carry in, we will flood the breakdown rucking well past the ball to free it up quickly, so that Hougaard can feed the ball quickly to forwards, the first receiver, or snipe through a hole. In defence, if we have made a passive tackle and the carrier has momentum we will not over commit, but will maintain a strong defensive line. If we win the collision and knock the carrier back we will look to get the second man in hard over the ball to slow up momentum, or turn over possession. Key for us is being selective, and only committing men to a contestable ruck. 
  
  
• Attacking Play: We will be looking to play a fast offloading game, with the ball shifted on to the support runner just prior to the point of the tackle with the defender already committed. However this will only be implemented within the opposition half. We will also utilise the pick and go, meaning their defensive line cannot blitz efficiently. We will then we will look to exploit the delay in their blitz that results. We will then look to shift the direction of play and pull their defenders out of position to create gaps. Hougaard to also look to snipe around the fringes, to keep the defence honest and keep us going forwards all the time.
  
  
• Tactical Kicking: If we kick, we will look to kick in behind their wingers and get them on the turn going back towards their own line, with our wingers on the kick chase to really target them defensively. Trinh-Duc/Beale/Twelvetrees who can take the ball to the line and kick in behind the defence, to get our wingers either on the end of the grubber, or pin back Chiefs. 
  
  
• Look to use the bench to freshen the impetus - especially with the 'finishers' in the forwards. 
  

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – StNick

01. Jefferson Poirot	09. Greg Laidlaw
02. Dane Coles	10. Alex Lozowski
03. Ben Tameifuna
04. James Horwill	11. JP Pietersen
05. Juandre Kruger	12. Ma'a Nonu
06. Dave Ewers	13. Maxime Mermoz
07. Marcell Coetzee	14. Chris Ashton
08. Teimana Harrison	15. James Lowe

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Subs: 16. Tom Youngs, 17. Nathan Catt, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Kane Douglas, 20. Brad Shields, 21. Chris Cook, 22. Richie Mo'unga, 23. Stuart McCloskey

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch.
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line.

We will play a forward based and territory based game to get in the right positions of the pitch.

We have picked the players to do this. Big carriers and a mobile back and hard working back row. Laidlaw is the perfect controlling 9 and will give good service to Lozowski. Lowe is in at 15 for his huge boot.

We have picked a big pack and are targeting the forward battle as key to the win. We have a solid scrum to build from and two big locks who are both good lineout options.

The set piece will be important and we will look to use this as a weapon to attack from and gain territory. Our back row are all big carriers and we will use them all to gain hard yards and tire out Tigers defenders. Ewers, Coles, Ben T, Coetzee, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lozowski to work with.

In the backs we will use Nonu as a crash ball option and a decoy runner to open up space for the likes of Mermoz, Lowe and JP Pietersen to exploit. Laidlaw will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

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Worcester Warriors vs Bristol Rugby
Sixways Stadium
Light Cloud, 9 degrees, 12mph South Westerly Winds

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Worcester Warriors
Manager - Prop

01. Luca Noguera Paz	09. Bryn Hall
02. Ross Batty	10. Owen Williams (k)
03. WP Nel
04. Mike Williams	11. Sergeal Petersen
05. Leone Nakawara	12. Anton Leniert-Brown
06. Jackson Wray	13. Jarrad Payne
07. Matt Todd (c)	14. Waisake Naholo
08. Ben Morgan	15. Brice Dulin

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16. Codie Taylor 17. Val Ruskin 18. Henry Thomas 19. Tom Savage 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Gareth Davies 22. Jules Plisson 23. Mathew Tait

Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle
*We have gone with a different centre pairing of ALB-Payne to tackle the centre pairings with Payne's ability to hit hard at the tackle.
*We hare aware of the Italian tactic and, if this is adopted Hall will look to snipe using the forwards close to him.
*Looking for a high tempo game with Hall and Williams playing heads up rugby.

-We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Bristol danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Williams will look for territory,
-Big carriers up front looking to offload if the conditions allow possible although being mindful of the encroaching defence and we will have support runners on their shoulders,
-Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Todd bringing the turnover attribute,
-The breakdown is likely to be scrappy and the first man there will look to go for the ball using our turnover attribute. If it is obviously lost we will fan out. If Bristol under-commit we will look to drive through them for the turnover,
-Look to not commit too much to their breakdown if the ball is lost and use blitz defence led by Payne allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Bristol playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off ALB and Payne, we will use Petersen and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
-When nothing is on  go for territory and also use  'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
-We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep them guessing and allow us the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
-We have selected a huge bench which will be used for impact and to maintain a high tempo game running against tired legs,
-Take all kickable penalties.

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Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. James Slipper	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth(k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Sam Carter	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Grant Gilchrist	12. Piers Francis
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

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16. Mike Ross 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Loni Uhila 19.  Luke Charteris 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Kyle Godwin 23. Nick Tompkins

Tactics:
Attributes:

Attacking:
1) Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
2)  Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Defending:
1) Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. 
2) Breakdown - Organised Ruck defence: with guards and body guards set, allowing the rest of the line to set off them.

Tactics:

Breakdown: As usual we will approach the breakdown as a unit using our twin fetchers in Robshaw and Van Der Flier supported as needed by the rest of the pack to keep hitting the breakdown to slow opposition ball and keep our own ball quick, with one always chasing the ball. Add numbers to the ruck based on what is needed - we are a team that plays heads up rugby. We know that Worcester target turnovers this season, and rely on Todd to do this, and we will be looking to force him to tackle to stop him from doing so, as he doesn't quite utilise the McCaw bounce up and compete post tackle but rather comes in as the first man

Attack: our usual approach of picking and going and going for short passes to our big carriers on slow ball, also very willing to using attacking kicks with a strong kicking lineup, opportunistic kick-chase wingers and Naholo being a potential target. The grubber through with an unpredictable bounce and to our rapid clinical finishers on the wing will be a particularly useful option near the opponent line.

With faster ball, once built up,  we will run together an incessant run of quick phases using our twin playmakers, with everyone coming into the line at challenging angles and moving the focus of attack alla the Championship winning Quins team until space opens outwide for our pacemen.

If this struggles against a good blitz defence we will start to utilise the chip over the top, the grubber through and the snipe at the fringes.

Defence: We will press with a blitz with Cubelli sweeping, and know Worcester use a lot of offloads in their attacking plan. With players like Sharples and Taylor on the pitch, we will look to pick these off. This may leak a break or try as it gives Naholo space, but I think will provide us with some points against the run of play, making their attack into our attack as well. Our fringe defence will be tight as ever led by Carter, and with quite callow hlafbacks for Worcester we will look to smash them and bully them out of the game

Scrum: a real strength for Worcester here - we will compete legally on their ball and keep in the referees ear, looking to use our hooking to take the ball agaionst the head. On our ball, and any we turnover here, we will get it out as quickly as possible and then run off 8 or short pass onto a carrier down Todd's channel to make him tackle.

Lineout: here we can target them, with both locks not lineout specialists and no Vito like option in the backrow. We will pressure in the air all game and look to make the lineout a weapon for us on their ball. On our ball, we will mix up our options with 4 strong jumpers and look to spread the ball wide and attack early where we have the extra space due to the lineout offside line

Other: We will take on any points on offer, and look to kick deep with a chase from our fast wingers and Taylor, looking to kick low and into space to really pressurise their back 3 with the bounce of the ball.
Our subs bench has a lot of carrying power as well as playmaking clever backs  to bring on once the game starts to break up

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Newcastle Falcons vs Saracens
Kingston Park 
Light Cloud, 7 degrees, 13mph South Westerly Winds

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Will Chudley
02. Camille Chat	10. Gareth Anscombe
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Elliot Dixon	13. Sam James
07. Pablo Matera	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Ricky Riccitelli 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Callum Clark 21. Dave Lewis 22. Ian Madigan 23. Luke Marshall

Attributes
Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown: Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it

Game plan


Target Hill in the scrum - see how he gets on against Mullan with a big pack behind him

Put pressure on the breakdown, we think we have an edge in quality in the back 5 of the pack to really put the pressure on - look to chop tackle Denton as he doesn't offload then have Read/Matera going over the ball

Target the wings with kicks in behind and in the air, we think they lack a kicking game and want to win the territorial battle - cut off the pass to Armitage/Sanchez as the easy clearing option

Set piece - Look to really put their props under maximum pressure with our strong front row, we've got a great scrummaging lock pairing to help. If no weakness, use as restart. On their ball, mark their second rows and force long throws. On our ball, use the back row options to mix it up.

Breakdown - Back row and hooker to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. Our openside is charged with keeping their main breakdown threat off our ball, and target turnovers if one of their carriers gets isolated

Kicking - Options throughout the backs . Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man. Challenge wings positioning, Wings free to drop back for the counter off their kicks

Attack - Run our attack off 9 who sets the tempo, constantly change the point of attack and get our 10 quick ball.. Challenge their 10 defensively with our power backs cutting in running hard lines at his channel with the full back coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at 10/12 all day long to put them on the back foot off first phase, see how they handle it.  

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use the blitz defence to put them on the back foot,  

Bench - Big carrying forwards throughout and talented, pacy backs to see us home

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Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Paul Hill
04. Ed Slater	11. Teddy Thomas
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. John Hardie	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Dave Denton	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Alex Waller 18. Ben Franks 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Underhill 21. Lee Dickson 22. Ollie Devoto 23. Pat Lambie

Tactics:

Defensive:
Blitz Defence - Get in the face of the opposition and allow them very little time on the ball.
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Attacking:
Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch
Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid

TARGET FALCONS HALFBACKS - Put pressure on Falcons halfbacks from the off with physical runners and off the base. Look to put off game.   

TARGET CENTRES - Look to get big runners and decoys into the Falcons midfield to draw them apart. and get wingers coming in and attacking the 13 channel.  

IF RAINING...... - Look to use the kicking quality of our halfbacks to keep Falcons pinned back and force errors. Devoto and Lambie to come on and offer more options in the 2nd half. Lambie to FB if heavy raining in the 2nd with Armitage to wing offering numerous kicking options.

General - We'll be playing a structured physical game from the off, look to get at the opposition and target the breakdown. We'll look to tie the opposition in with our physical pack/carrying options and then get at their outisde backs, more so in their half. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work. Looking to bring in the opposition pack and then use big carrying options to punch holes through their defence. Look to control the tempo and areas we play with kicking options at halfback.

Scrum - Look to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Strong front 5 with big locks will look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back. Our TH and Hooker will look to target LH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow LH to work on TH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out – Look for safe ball with world class line out options and experience. Will allow SH good clean ball and have big carriers running off the 9 at angles. Look to target opposition throw and put pressure on the hooker.

Defence - Blitz defence with high intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player if the ball hits the deck. physical pack that can look to get at the collision and breakdown allowing a chance to slow down/steal ball. Put pressure on SH's basics and force him into errors. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp 22 territory. Scrum half to dictate play from the breakdown and runners on his shoulder. Huge carrying pack to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Midfield to run angles off the 9/10, allowing us gain line breakers. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Wingers will look to track the midfield combo.

---

Saracens
Manager – Pooly

01. Dylan Smith	09. Morgan Parra
02. Richard Hibbard	10. Nicolas Sanchez
03. Paul Hill
04. Ed Slater	11. Teddy Thomas
05. Sam Whitelock	12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg
06. Guy Thompson	13. Conrad Smith
07. John Hardie	14. Telusa Veainu
08. Dave Denton	15. Delon Armitage

:-
16. Scott Spurling 17. Alex Waller 18. Ben Franks 19. Geoff Parling 20. Sam Underhill 21. Lee Dickson 22. Ollie Devoto 23. Pat Lambie

Tactics:

Defensive:

Blitz Defence - Get in the face of the opposition and allow them very little time on the ball.

Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty

Attacking:

Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch

Offloading in the tackle: Moving the point of attack preventing a defence to set and keeping play fluid

TARGET FALCONS HALFBACKS - Put pressure on Falcons halfbacks from the off with physical runners and off the base. Look to put off game.   

TARGET CENTRES - Look to get big runners and decoys into the Falcons midfield to draw them apart. and get wingers coming in and attacking the 13 channel.  

IF RAINING...... - Look to use the kicking quality of our halfbacks to keep Falcons pinned back and force errors. Devoto and Lambie to come on and offer more options in the 2nd half. Lambie to FB if heavy raining in the 2nd with Armitage to wing offering numerous kicking options.

General - We'll be playing a structured physical game from the off, look to get at the opposition and target the breakdown. We'll look to tie the opposition in with our physical pack/carrying options and then get at their outisde backs, more so in their half. Look to keep it tight in the forward pack and grind through work. Looking to bring in the opposition pack and then use big carrying options to punch holes through their defence. Look to control the tempo and areas we play with kicking options at halfback.

Scrum - Look to get a platform from the off with a strong scrummaging unit. Strong front 5 with big locks will look for the big push once the ball is in and drive the opposition back. Our TH and Hooker will look to target LH and try to get between him and Hooker to allow LH to work on TH If no weakness seen will use as restart.

Line out – Look for safe ball with world class line out options and experience. Will allow SH good clean ball and have big carriers running off the 9 at angles. Look to target opposition throw and put pressure on the hooker.

Defence - Blitz defence with high intensity and big hits, looking to drive past the ball player if the ball hits the deck. physical pack that can look to get at the collision and breakdown allowing a chance to slow down/steal ball. Put pressure on SH's basics and force him into errors. Scrum half to sweep behind the defensive line.

Attack - Keep things simple in our own half then look to unleash backs in opp 22 territory. Scrum half to dictate play from the breakdown and runners on his shoulder. Huge carrying pack to get us over the gain line after front 5 set a platform. Midfield to run angles off the 9/10, allowing us gain line breakers. Look to keep opposition guessing with clever lines through midfield. Wingers will look to track the midfield combo.

Lads, I'm away for the rest of the week. Doubt I'l be able to change side if any call-ups as unsure of internet.

Bath Rugby
Manager – CJB

01. Steven Kitchoff	09. Aaron Smith
02. Mikey Haywood	10. Beauden Barrett
03. Nepo Laulala
04. Graham Kitchener	11. Christian Wade
05. Will Skelton	12. Damian De Allende
06. Liam Squire	13. Jesse Kriel
07. Liam Gill	14. Juan Imhoff
08. Josh Beaumont	15. Alex Goode

16. Ellis Genge 17. Leni Asipai 18. Scott Wilson 19. Mitch Lees 20. Dan Lydiate 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Sam Hill 23. George Moala

Overall: We are gonna be looking to play front foot rugby and put Wasps under immense pressure with our energy. Look for big carries looking to create space and break the defense. Attack the set piece where we expect to be dominant and finish strongly off the bench 

Scrum: Use the set piece to get quick ball to restart our play. We will look to get more power from our back five. Beaumont will look to attack off the quick ball he gets.

Lineout: We will look to switch up the lineup with Beaumont, Skelton, Squire and Kitchener options in the lineout. Beaumont will run the line out. Look to get up into the air quickly and down for a quick maul. We think we can dominate here against a poor set of jumpers. Skelton will offer quick ball option at the front. 

Breakdown: Look to generate quick ball for our backs to take advantage of. Gill is brilliant at the breakdown and we will also look to get the rest of the pack looking to help and clear out. Really work Wasps hard here and look to tire them out as a pack

Defence: Run a blitz defence. Smith to drift behind expecting kicks.

Attack: Our half backs will control our rugby. Smith will set the tempoand play what he sees in front of him. Outside of him, Barrett will play flat and use his creativity to bring in the back line and make plays. He will be given a freedom to be creative. Look to bring in the rest of the back line, especially De Allende and Moala who we would like to get running at defenders.  Wade and Goode are very skilful and if the ball gets to them will look to draw in defenders. The pack will also be involved when we have the ball for a prolonged period. We have strong carriers who excel in the loose. Look to get the ball in the hands of EBa, Kitch and Squire in order to break the line and make yards. Throughout them team look to Keep the ball alive and look for offloads. Look to play with a high tempo and get the ball moving across the back line. Exploit the holes we create and look to tire out Wasps which can help nullify their offensive threats. 

Kicking: Barrett will be our chosen place kicker. We will chuck in the occasional grabber to chase. Smith, Imhoff and Goode all have the boots necessary to try and put us in a good position territorially if need. 

Substitutes: Keep a high tempo off the bench.

Just realised, some great clashes this week in the league!

Exeter team to face Leicester Tigers

1 Jefferson Poirot
2 Dane Coles
3 Ben Tameifuna
4 James Horwill
5 Juandre Kruger
6 Dave Ewers
7 Marcell Coetzee
8 Teimana Harrison
9 Greg Laidlaw
10 Alex Lozowski
11 JP Pietersen
12 Ma'a Nonu
13 Maxime Mermoz
14 Chris Ashton
15 James Lowe

16 Nathan Catt
17 Tom Youngs
18 Harry Williams
19 Kane Douglas
20 Brad Shields
21 Chris Cook
22 Richie Mo'unga
23 Stuart McCloskey


Territorial Kicking: Looking to pin back sides and kick for open spaces or touch.
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line.

We will play a forward based and territory based game to get in the right positions of the pitch.

We have picked the players to do this. Big carriers and a mobile back and hard working back row. Laidlaw is the perfect controlling 9 and will give good service to Lozowski. Lowe is in at 15 for his huge boot.

We have picked a big pack and are targeting the forward battle as key to the win. We have a solid scrum to build from and two big locks who are both good lineout options.

The set piece will be important and we will look to use this as a weapon to attack from and gain territory. Our back row are all big carriers and we will use them all to gain hard yards and tire out Tigers defenders. Ewers, Coles, Ben T, Coetzee, Harrison are all good strong ball carriers and will look to get us front foot ball for Lozowski to work with.

In the backs we will use Nonu as a crash ball option and a decoy runner to open up space for the likes of Mermoz, Lowe and JP Pietersen to exploit. Laidlaw will kick all pens for goal if in range and if not look to kick deep to gain territory.

Weather Conditions updated

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Lads, I'm away for the rest of the week. Doubt I'l be able to change side if any call-ups as unsure of internet.

No Ints this weekend, no? So shouldn't matter

I don't think he realised that mate. 

Although unless I throw out quick set of injuries... 

Bristol Team 
Manager: CJ

01. James Slipper	09. Tomas Cubelli
02. Manuel Montoya	10. Jimmy Gopperth(k)
03. Sekope Kepu
04. Sam Carter	11. Craig Gilroy
05. Grant Gilchrist	12. Piers Francis
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Duncan Taylor
07. Josh Van Der Flier	14. Charlie Sharples
08. Victor Vito (c)	15. Chris Pennell

:-
16. Mike Ross 17. Rob Buchanan  18. Loni Uhila 19.  Luke Charteris 20  Carl Fearns 21. Ben Spencer 22. Kyle Godwin 23. Nick Tompkins

Tactics:
Attributes:

Attacking:
1) Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
2)  Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Defending:
1) Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set. 
2) Breakdown - Organised Ruck defence: with guards and body guards set, allowing the rest of the line to set off them.


Tactics:

Breakdown: As usual we will approach the breakdown as a unit using our twin fetchers in Robshaw and Van Der Flier supported as needed by the rest of the pack to keep hitting the breakdown to slow opposition ball and keep our own ball quick, with one always chasing the ball. Add numbers to the ruck based on what is needed - we are a team that plays heads up rugby. We know that Worcester target turnovers this season, and rely on Todd to do this, and we will be looking to force him to tackle to stop him from doing so, as he doesn't quite utilise the McCaw bounce up and compete post tackle but rather comes in as the first man

Attack: our usual approach of picking and going and going for short passes to our big carriers on slow ball, also very willing to using attacking kicks with a strong kicking lineup, opportunistic kick-chase wingers and Naholo being a potential target. The grubber through with an unpredictable bounce and to our rapid clinical finishers on the wing will be a particularly useful option near the opponent line.


With faster ball, once built up,  we will run together an incessant run of quick phases using our twin playmakers, with everyone coming into the line at challenging angles and moving the focus of attack alla the Championship winning Quins team until space opens outwide for our pacemen.

If this struggles against a good blitz defence we will start to utilise the chip over the top, the grubber through and the snipe at the fringes.

Defence: We will press with a blitz with Cubelli sweeping, and know Worcester use a lot of offloads in their attacking plan. With players like Sharples and Taylor on the pitch, we will look to pick these off. This may leak a break or try as it gives Naholo space, but I think will provide us with some points against the run of play, making their attack into our attack as well. Our fringe defence will be tight as ever led by Carter, and with quite callow hlafbacks for Worcester we will look to smash them and bully them out of the game

Scrum: a real strength for Worcester here - we will compete legally on their ball and keep in the referees ear, looking to use our hooking to take the ball agaionst the head. On our ball, and any we turnover here, we will get it out as quickly as possible and then run off 8 or short pass onto a carrier down Todd's channel to make him tackle.

Lineout: here we can target them, with both locks not lineout specialists and no Vito like option in the backrow. We will pressure in the air all game and look to make the lineout a weapon for us on their ball. On our ball, we will mix up our options with 4 strong jumpers and look to spread the ball wide and attack early where we have the extra space due to the lineout offside line

Other: We will take on any points on offer, and look to kick deep with a chase from our fast wingers and Taylor, looking to kick low and into space to really pressurise their back 3 with the bounce of the ball.
Our subs bench has a lot of carrying power as well as playmaking clever backs  to bring on once the game starts to break up

 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Bambam

01. Matt Mullan	09. Will Chudley
02. Camille Chat	10. Gareth Anscombe
03. Vincent Koch
04. Guido Petti	11. Charles Piutau
05. Lood De Jager	12. Jan Serfontein
06. Elliot Dixon	13. Sam James
07. Pablo Matera	14. David Strettle
08. Kieran Read (c)	15. Ben Smith

:-
16.Ricky Riccitelli 17.Alec Hepburn 18. Charlie Faumuina 19. Matt Symons 20. Callum Clark 21. Dave Lewis 22. Ian Madigan 23. Luke Marshall

Attributes
Counter Attacking: Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces.
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown: Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.
Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it

Game plan


Target Hill in the scrum - see how he gets on against Mullan with a big pack behind him

Put pressure on the breakdown, we think we have an edge in quality in the back 5 of the pack to really put the pressure on - look to chop tackle Denton as he doesn't offload then have Read/Matera going over the ball

Target the wings with kicks in behind and in the air, we think they lack a kicking game and want to win the territorial battle - cut off the pass to Armitage/Sanchez as the easy clearing option

Set piece - Look to really put their props under maximum pressure with our strong front row, we've got a great scrummaging lock pairing to help. If no weakness, use as restart. On their ball, mark their second rows and force long throws. On our ball, use the back row options to mix it up.

Breakdown - Back row and hooker to lead the way on turnovers. Others focus on strong clear outs and maintaining a strong defensive line. . On our ball, smash them off the ball, use pod system to ensure support if they are having success. Our openside is charged with keeping their main breakdown threat off our ball, and target turnovers if one of their carriers gets isolated

Kicking - Options throughout the backs . Kick in behind the wings for territory, aim for space not the man. Challenge wings positioning, Wings free to drop back for the counter off their kicks

Attack - Run our attack off 9 who sets the tempo, constantly change the point of attack and get our 10 quick ball.. Challenge their 10 defensively with our power backs cutting in running hard lines at his channel with the full back coming into the line. Big carrying forwards to set a platform, run at 10/12 all day long to put them on the back foot off first phase, see how they handle it.  

Defence - no weak links in the backline, use the blitz defence to put them on the back foot,  

Bench - Big carrying forwards throughout and talented, pacy backs to see us home

1. Luca Paz
2. Ross Batty
3. WP Nel
4. Mike Williams
5. Leone Nakarawa
6. Jackson Wray
7. Matt Todd (c)
8. Ben Morgan
9. Bryn Hall
10. Owen Williams
11. Sergeal Petersen
12. Anton Leniert-Brown
13. Jarrad Payne
14. Waisake Naholo
15. Brice Dulin

16. Codie Taylor 17. Val Ruskin 18. Henry Thomas 19. Tom Savage 20. Warren Whiteley 21. Gareth Davies 22. Jules Plisson 23. Mathew Tait

Season's Attributes-
Offloading in the Tackle
Breakdown (Turnovers)
Blitz Defence
Choke Tackle
*We have gone with a different centre pairing of ALB-Payne to tackle the centre pairings with Payne's ability to hit hard at the tackle.
*We hare aware of the Italian tactic and, if this is adopted Hall will look to snipe using the forwards close to him.
*Looking for a high tempo game with Hall and Williams playing heads up rugby.

-We have selected a heavy, hard working pack looking to nullify the Bristol danger from their big carriers and set piece,
-We will play a controlled game, offloading-only when on. Williams will look for territory,
-Big carriers up front looking to offload if the conditions allow possible although being mindful of the encroaching defence and we will have support runners on their shoulders,
-Back row looking to be balanced with carrying, tackling and Todd bringing the turnover attribute,
-The breakdown is likely to be scrappy and the first man there will look to go for the ball using our turnover attribute. If it is obviously lost we will fan out. If Bristol under-commit we will look to drive through them for the turnover,
-Look to not commit too much to their breakdown if the ball is lost and use blitz defence led by Payne allowing the chance to apply the choke tackle to stop Bristol playing a quick tempo game,
-Backs to play what is in front of them, runners off ALB and Payne, we will use Petersen and Naholo as a strike runner and know the pace of our back three to put pressure with quick ball,
-When nothing is on  go for territory and also use  'bombs' to challenge and turn their backlline,
-We will the wingers to come into the line and switch things up to keep them guessing and allow us the chance to hit from deep at times and not be predictable,
-We have selected a huge bench which will be used for impact and to maintain a high tempo game running against tired legs,
-Take all kickable penalties.

Sale Sharks
Manager – SJE

01. Scott Sio	09. Faf De Klerk
02. Tommy Taylor	10. Bernard Foley
03. Davit Zirakishvilli
04. Brodie Retalick	11. Nemani Nadolo
05. Dave Attwood	12. Reece Hodge
06. Sean McMahon	13. Malakai Fekitoa
07. Sam Cane	14. Semesa Rokoduguni
08. Duane Vermulean	15. Nick Abendanon

Subs:
16. Malcolm Marx 17. Ross Harrison 18. Martin Moore 19. Matt Garvey 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Kieran Marmion 22. Quade Cooper 23. Kyle Eastmond

Attributes:
Phase Attack: Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises.
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it.
Breakdown - Slowing up ball: The defenders can get over the ball to slow it up and prevent the attack from building momentum and allowing your defence to set.  

Attack: We will be playing a high intensity phased attacking game. Look to use a rugby league shape with runners on the gain line and out the back door to force the opposition into making defensive decisions. Numerous playmakers across the back line allows us to constantly change the point of attack and restructure our attacking phases. De Klerk to keep the fringe defence honest with his snipping runs.

Breakdown: Quick ball is the aim on attack. Mobile pack and physical back line to clear out rucks and ensure we get it. We will look to get over the gain line off all carries to give a target to hit. Defensively when the initial contact is won we will look to commit numbers and get over the ball turning it over or at least slowing opposition ball up. Otherwise we will strengthen the line.

Defence: Straight line blitz defence focused on winning the gain line collisions and driving the ball carrier back. Line speed is crucial. De Klerk will sweep behind the line to cover chips and grubbers. Foley & Bendy to cover the background dropping deep to cut off the green grass available to kick into.

Scrum: Strong scrummaging unit in the front row with the support of a powerful 4-8 will look to get the better of the opposition and build a strong attacking platform. We will look to put a slight wheel on where possible to take the opposition backrow out of play and then attack the space available and look for one on ones in the backline.

Lineout: Five mobile, athletic jumpers allows us to genuinely mix it up on attacking ball. Primarily looking to get the backs on the ball in space. Defensively Attwood to get up in the air at the front and challenge on opposition ball while Retalick marshals the middle looking to make it as messy as possible.

Harlequins
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Richard Barrington	09. Luke McGrath
02. Agustin Creevy	10. Elton Jantjies
03. Kieran Brookes
04. Pieter Steph Du Toit	11. Joe Tomane
05. George Kruis	12. Juan Martin Hernandez
06. Damien Chouly	13. Jonathan Joseph
07. Michael Hooper (c)	14. Santiago Cordero
08. Mamuka Gorgodze	15. Damien McKenzie

16. Rob Webber 17. Cian Healy 18. John Afoa 19. Luke Romano 20. Jack Clifford 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Steven Myler 23. Mike Haley

Tactics

Attributes

Phase Attack - Attacks build momentum until an opportunity arises. 
Counter Attack - Receiving the ball down field, your players will look to attack with ball in hand, thriving in the broken field and open spaces. 

Breakdown (Turnover Possession) -  Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty
Chop Tackle: Tacklers look to get low and chop down attackers before gaining momentum or metres over the gain line. 


Game Plan[/b][/b][/b]

[/b][/b][/b]

• Look to control the tempo using McGrath and Jantjies with McKenzie and JMH also acting as a first receiver. Look for Jantjies to stand flat and bring our pack onto the ball at pace in the midfield. We want to offer numerous threats to Gloucester's defence with forwards carrying off 9 10 and 12.
  
  
• A back line who are all comfortable with ball in hand and offer numerous kicking options to control territory. Plenty of experience in how to manage a game in wet conditions. With this with dynamic, mobile and physical pack who will be solid at the set piece and we feel we have the combination to control the game.
  
  
• Use Jantjies, Hernandez and McKenzie's boot to play in the right area of the field and put territorial pressure. Use Cordero's ability under the high ball to put pressure on the Gloucester back three under the high ball.
  
  
• Look for forwards to carry with support, and look for the offload out of contact if it is on or to recycle the ball quickly for the next attack. Conditions will be slippery so we know that we need to set a good platform with strong carries from our packs working in pods.
  
  
• Use Du Toit, Kruis and Chouly to put huge pressure on the Gloucester's line out, not allowing easy ball at the line out. Also look for Hooper to attack the breakdown at every opportunity.
  
  
  
  
  • We have electric pace in our back line. If we can use the carriers in our pack to get us across the gain line and get Leicester's defence on the back foot and allow us to attack them on the front foot. Despite slippery conditions, we still offer enormous threat through our creative midfield and the pace of our back 3.
    
  
  
  
  

Northampton Saints Team
(limited internet here)

1. Mako Vunipola
2. Ashley Johnson
3. Ramiro Herrera
4. Paul Jedrasiak
5. Vaea Fifita
6. Schalk Burger
7. David Pocock
8. Billy Vunipola
9. Joe Simpson (c)
10. Lima Sopoaga (k)
11. Julian Savea
12. Wesley Fofana
13. Adam Ashley Cooper
14. Rieko Ioane
15. Ben Foden

Replacements
16. Schalk Brits 17. Wyatt Crockett 18. Jake Cooper Wooley 19. Michael Paterson 20. Faconda Isa 21. Jamie Shillcock 22. Matt Giteau 23. Manu Tuilagi

Attributes:
Breakdown - Clearing: Ensuring the possession is clean and quick with quick support to the breakdown
First phase attack/strike moves: Will look to break the defence, with either a bust through or a clever move to create a gap.

Blitz Defence: Your side is known for Blitz and excels at it
Breakdown - Turnover possession: Your side is recognised to pick off turnovers at the breakdown, by getting the ball and gaining the penalty.

Tactics
Will look to take Sale on and get an advantage in the front 3 (especially with M Vunipola being released back to Sarries in real life as a boost) and back row, where we can start to look at getting better front foot ball for our backline to exploit. See Retailick as the major threat and will look to double up and mark him out of the game, with our two locks who were rested last week. We have picked an extremely physical pack, with strong ball carriers to win the collisions and gain line, to provide Simpson and Sopoaga with good front ball to attack with.

Set Piece & Pack
Aim is to place Sale under pressure in the scrum, with Herrera and the more physical presence of AJ, to target Taylor and Sio. Will look to get penalties and launch Vunipola at the Sale midfield. Have recalled Fifita to give us more of a mobile option in the lineout, but our aim is to keep the ball in play and use the physicality of our pack to get the advantage in the game. Sale have a strong back row but will look to use our experience

Gain-line/Physical Battle
Like Saracens in real life we'll look to send big runner after runner at the Sale defence to suck in players and create space out wide for our strike runners to exploit. Lucky to have Mako available and have chosen to play Ashley Johnson to give us another big carrier to test the Sale defensive line. This is an area we feel we can gain an advantage on and set our game plan around getting our backline on the front foot by winning the collisions and physical battle with our big ball carriers. Will target Foley in the Sale defensive line.

Breakdown/Backrow
See attributes, great breakdown battle, will be very even but will look to use the experience of Pocock and Burger here and then a huge impact with Isa from the bench.

Attack
- Use Mako, AJ, Jedrasiak, Burger and BV to get us over the gainline and get us on the front foot
- Look for Pocock to win the turnover battle and secure quick ball for our backs to exploit
- Sopoaga controlling the midfield, bringing in our strike runners, Fofana, Ioane, Savea, AAC and Foden.
- Impact bench to up the tempo in the final 20 minutes.
- Simpson and Sopoaga to put the ball high at Roko and test out his defence.

Kicking
- Will need to ensure kicking game spot on but will mostly target Roko's wing, test out his defence and make the most of our strong kick chase
- Sopoaga to keep the scoreboard ticking over

Defence
Picked a strong defensive lineup in the 10-13 channel to combat the strike runners of Sale. Blitz defence, we want to get at the Sale 9, 10, 12 and will look for AAC to marshall Fekitoa to stop him passing out to the danger in the Sale back three.

Simpson sweeping behind defence to deal with any kicks etc.

Wasps
Manager - Pullthestrings

01. Marcos Ayerza	09.Sebastien Tillous Borde
02. Bismark Du Plessis	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Frans Malherbe
04. Jim Hamilton	11. Bryan Habana
05. Dom Barrow	12. Brad Barritt
06. Jerome Kaino	13. Henry Slade
07. Fulgence Quedraogo	14. Marland Yarde
08. Nazeem Carr	15. Tim Nani-Williams

_
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Dave Wilson, 18. Fraiser Bailmen, 19. Andrew Kitchener, 20. Will Owen, 21. Mitchell Drummound, 22. Nick Evans, 23. Anthony Watson

---

Tactics
Attack:
- Good mobility in the back row to get round the park
- Mix up forward runners off 9 and 10 to give go forward and tie in defence. When space opens up, go wide and utilise pace of back three.
Defence:
- Nullify the midfield threat, looking for big hit opportunities and wrap tackles to prevent the offloads
- Good line speed to put pressure on their handling and ability to go round our blitz defence
Breakdown:
- Be disciplined at the breakdown and do not give away penalties in our half
- If ruck is lost, don't compete and fan out in D
Bench:
- Good quality on the bench with a number of options.

Sorry guys, manic weekend and Friday. 

Can you get predictions to me by 2000 tomorrow evening please.

Sale Sharks 25 - 24 Northampton Saints

Sale  Sharks 27 - 23 Northampton Saints
Probably the leagues best two sides going head to head. Sale edge the front 5, especially the 2nd row. Saints have a good backrow which will give them good ball but home advantage and a strong bench sees Sale home.

Sale Sharks 28 - 27 Northampton Saints
Classic clash in the pack especially, where Saints have the better in form scrum, good lineout battle but Sale edge it with the best lock in the world and then the back row battle is amazing - either could come up on top in the carrying or the breakdown so tactics are vital here - probably a little more clarity for saints. Attacking class at HB, where the edge in experience at 10 helps Sale, directness in attack from both sides, but with that impact and the pace both sides have, Sale's out of the backdoor approach will cause some damage. Centre battle is fascinating.
Overall I'd give the edge to Saints, just, with the backrow key and them just edging it and having huge carrying ability, but Sale are strong enough mentally at home to hold out with some lightning on the bench

Sale Sharks 22 - 21 Northampton Saints

Sale Sharks 26 - 25 Northampton Saints

Sale Shark 27 - 26 Northampton Saints

Sale Sharks 25 - 24 Northampton Saints

Bath Rugby 21 - 20 Wasps

Bath Rugby 21 - 19 Wasps
Not much in the front 5's with both sides lacking quite a bit of form in some of their big players. Athletic v power in the backrows with power just taking it in the conditions. Bath just take the halfbacks and centres and have a little more out wide. With home advantage, that's enough to take a tight one. 

Bath Rugby 32 - 29 Wasps
So much quality in both sides, difficult to see why they are low in the league. prefer Wasps front row but the rest of the pack even. Bath take the HB's with a top class combo. great running threats in both backlines but Bath slightly stronger.

Bath Rugby 30 - 28 Wasps
I prefer Bath right now in the set piece, and they just edge a tight forwards battle. The Wasps backline works so well together and perfectly fits their tactical style and Bath's defence in the backline isn't a a strength so good teams can always make ground against them, but the attacking magic Bath have out wide makes up for it and they win a contest that scores more highly than the weather would expect

Bath Rugby 23 - 22 Wasps

Bath Rugby 24 - 25 Wasps

Bath Rugby 23 - 24 Wasps

Leicester Tigers 24 - 24 Exeter Chiefs

Leicester Tigers 23 - 24 Exeter Chiefs
Exeter can get some some joy in the scrum and a tough more in the engine room to back this up. Good balance form both sides in the backrow although Harrison lacks a bit of power to be an effective 8. One a piece in the halfbacks but prefer the Tigers combo. Exeter a step up in the backline. Really tough one to call but I just think the away side have enough carrying options and gain line breakers to get them on the front foot early on. 

Leicester Tigers 21 - 20 Exeter Chiefs
Tigers try to make the scrum a technical duel, but Poirot is a pretty good scrummager to combat Franks and I'm not sure Jenkins is at the top of his game any more, so this is very risky. Their team effort at the breakdown is a good move though and tehy will get some love here and facilitate Houghard's understated quality at 9. Important for their style of play in the backs utilising lots of playmakers. Chiefs' specialisation at lock gives them an advantage there. Both pairs of HBs compliment each other. Solid carrying and using direct play and then wide runners for Chiefs contrasts with the varying foci of Leicester's attacks.Very close one, just giving it to the home side.

Leicester Tigers 20-21 Exeter Chiefs

Leicester Tigers 25 - 24 Exeter Chiefs

Leicester Tigers 24 - 24 Exeter Chiefs

Worcester Warriors 22 - 21 Bristol Rugby

Worcester Warriors 26 - 23 Bristol Rugby
Small edge for the home team in the front 5 but Nel becoming increasingly hard to rate of late. I like the make up of both backrows and they'll cancel themselves out somewhat around the fringes. Prefer the Bristol halfbacks but it's mostly Worcester from there with some dangerous runners.

Worcester Warriors 20 - 17 Bristol Rugby
Low scoring game for me here. ALB and Naholo the strengths for Worc. Bristol missing that spark in the backs. Gopperth gives them solidity as do the likes of Robshaw and VDF, but not enough to win at Worc.

Worcester Warriors 24 - 23 Bristol Rugby

Worcester Warriors 20 - 19 Bristol Rugby

Worcester Warriors 24 - 25 Bristol Rugby

Newcastle Falcons 26 - 25 Saracens

Newcastle Falcons 24 - 26 Saracens
Falcons struggle at HB for me here. Sarries a real step up. Bit more on Sarries bench to nick it late on.

Newcastle Falcons 22 - 21 Saracens
Tough one to call in the set piece, but the carrying in the front row for Falcons is pretty good. Some excellent workrate and breakdown work for the SAracens flankers, and Falcons have an excellent perfectly balanced backrow which possibly sets them ahead. I really love the Falcons backrow here, classy and works well together in every area. Saracens have the better controllers at HB, and the centres neutralise each other and the back 3s have a couple of livewires each. Another tough match, getting harder to call this league! Falcons at home just have an edge

Newcastle Falcons 20 - 20 Saracens

Newcastle Falcons 20 - 19 Saracens

Newcastle Falcons 21 - 20 Saracens

Gloucester Rugby 20 - 20 Harequins
Some form issues for the Quins props with the Gloucester trio just getting on top. Prefer the Quins back 5 with some form issues at 6/8 for Gloucester costing them getting in to this one from a physical contest. Walker aside (who's a weakness at this level), I prefer the Gloucester balance in the backline, not sure they have enough for the win though.

Gloucester Rugby 23 - 25 Harlequins
If Glos had tactics they could have sneaked this. Strong side on paper although the backrow needs work. Quins have a good backline and with front foot ball take the away win.

Gloucester Rugby 29 - 34 Harlequins
Gloucester remain good at TH and Hooker but Beast I think is on the wane, and both tight heads will get on top of their looseheads - I'd think Gloucester just barely win teh scrum, but with most scrums a bit of a mess. THe hooker duel is a good one, but for quality and balance Quins have the edge from 4-8, and I'm just not convinced by the Gloucester backrow's balance. They do have some utter class at HB and are lethal outwide with quick ball, perfectly suited to Ardie Savea's linkplay and Cipriani at 10. So much attacking class for Quins too though, and with their edge in the pack, I think they sneak an away win at a Gloucester who just lack balance in a couple of key areas, that can be brought back with not too much effort. Both benches add solidity and experience. Tactics sway things further

Gloucester Rugby 24 - 25 Harlequins

Gloucester Rugby 21 - 22 Harlequins

Gloucester Rugby 23 - 24 Harlequins