European Challenge Cup

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Newcastle Falcons vs Bordeaux-Begles
Thomond Park
Thick Cloud, 13 degrees, 11mph Westerly Winds

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 Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Sam Lockwood	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Santiago Socino	10. Toby Flood
03. David Wilson
04. Callum Green	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Iain Henderson	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Steven Luatua	13. Maxine Mermoz
07. Mark Wilson (c)	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Rob Burrows	15. Alex Tait

:-
16. Kyle Cooper 17. Rob Vickers 18. Jon Welsh 19. Sean Robinson 20. Will Welch 21. Sam Stuart 22. Craig Willis 23. DTH Van Der Merwe

TACTICS


- Blitz defence with good line speed with 9 and 15 sweeping.
- Big runners carrying close to the ruck but looking to keep the ball alive with offloads to runners on their shoulder.

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Bordeaux-Begles

01. Ravai Kovekalou	09. Gauthier Doubrere
02. Ole Avei	10. Ben Volavola
03. Marc Clerc
04. Cyril Cazeaux	11. Blair Connor
05. Pierre Gayraud	12. Julien Rey
06. Cameron Woki	13. Pablo Uberti
07. Kitione Kamikamica	14. Iban Etcheverry
08. Jandré Marais	15. Geoffrey Cros

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Replacements: 16 Florian Dufour, 17 Thierry Paiva, 18 Lasha Tabidze, 19 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 20 Johan Aliouat, 21 Jules Gimbert, 22 Romain Lonca, 23 Metuisela Talebulamaijaina

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Sale Sharks vs Lyon
Galway Sportsground
Light Rain, 12 degrees, 17mph South Westerly Winds

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 Sale Sharks
Manager – Steven_Sharks

01. Ross Harrison	09. Faf Du Klerk (k)
02. Rob Webber	10. AJ MacGinty
03. Halani Aulika
04. Bryn Evans	11. Will Addison (c)
05. Pieter Steph Du Toit	12. James O'Connor
06. Jono Ross	13. Sam James
07. Tom Curry	14. Denny Solomona
08. Josh Strauss	15. Mike Haley

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16. Marc Jones 17. Will Griff John 18. Alex Tarus 19. Josh Beaumont 20. TJ Ioane 21. Ben Curry 22. Will Cliff 23. Johnny Leota

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Lyon

01. Hamza Kaabèche	09. Jonathan Pélissié
02. Deon Fourie	10. Mike Harris
03. Clément Ric
04. Josh Bekhuis	11. Jone Tuva
05. Francois van der Merwe	12. Adrien Seguret
06. Julien Puricelli	13. Thibaut Regard
07. Theophile Cotte	14. Toby Arnold
08. Tai Tuifua	15. Delon Armitage

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Replacements: 16 Enzo Pakihivatau, 17 Tornike Mataradze, 18 Stéphane Clement, 19 Felix Lambey, 20 Dylan Cretin, 21 Pierre-Louis Barassi, 22 Lionel Beauxis, 23 Baptiste Couilloud

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Agen vs Gloucester Rugby
RDS Arena
Thick Cloud, 12 degrees, 15mph Westerly Winds

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Agen

01. Quentin Bethune	09. Ricky Januarie
02. Paula Ngauamo	10. Hugo Verdu
03. Vakhtangi Akhobadze
04. Denis Marchois	11. Clément Laporte
05. Corentin Braendlin	12. Alban Conduche
06. Antoine Miquel	13. Johann Sadie
07. Marco Kotze	14. Loris Tolot
08. Akapusi Qera	15. Florian Denos

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Replacements: 16 Clément Martinez, 17 Morgan Phelipponneau, 18 Kamaliele Tufele, 19 Christiaan Van der Merwe, 20 Yoan Tanga, 21 Paul Abadie, 22 Pierre Fouyssac, 23 Mathieu Lamoulie

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Gloucester Rugby

01. Cameron Orr	09. Ben Vellacott
02. Mot'u Ma'atu	10. Billy Burns (k)
03. Gareth Denman
04. Tom Savage	11. Henry Purdy
05. Jeremy Thrush (c)	12. Mark Atkinson
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Henry Trinder
07. Lewis Ludlow	14. Ollie Thorley
08. Ben Morgan	15. Tom Marshall

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16. Richard Hibbard 17. Fraser Balmain 18. Paddy McAlister 19. Franco Mostert 20. Ruaan Ackerman 21. Aaron Smith 22. Owen Williams 23. Tom Hudson

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Edinburgh Rugby vs London Irish
Parc y Scarlets

Light Rain, 11 degrees, 19mph Westerly Winds

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Edinburgh Rugby 

01. Rory Sutherland	09. Sean Kennedy
02. Neil Cochrane	10. Jaco van der Walt
03. Murray McCallum
04. Fraser McKenzie	11. Duhan van der Merwe
05. Lewis Carmichael	12. Chris Dean
06. Magnus Bradbury	13. James Johnstone
07. Jamie Ritchie	14. Damien Hoyland
08. Cornell du Preez	15. Darcy Graham

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Replacements: 16 Cameron Fenton, 17 Kevin Bryce, 18 Matt Shields, 19 Viliame Mata, 20 Luke Crosbie, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Blair Kinghorn, 23 Junior Rasolea

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London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Ben Franks	09. TJ Perenara
02. Sala Fainga	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Tadgh Furlong
04. Sebastian De Chaves	11. Joe Cokanasiga
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Johnny Williams
06. Mike Coman	13. Tom Fowlie
07. Sam Cane	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordie Barrett

:-
16. Asafo Aumua 17. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Franco Van Der Merwe 20. Max Northcote-Green 21. Scott Steele 22. Theo Brophy-Clews 23. Ben Ransom

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Connacht Rugby vs Worcester Warriors
Scotstoun Stadium
Light Rain, 11 degrees, 15mph Westerly Winds

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Connacht

01. Denis Buckley	09. James Mitchell
02. Shane Delahunt	10. Jack Carty
03. Finlay Bealham
04. Ultan Dillane	11. Matt Healy
05. Quinn Roux	12. Bundee Aki
06. Cillian Gallagher	13. Pita Ahki
07. James Connolly	14. Cian Kelleher
08. Eoghan Masterson	15. Darragh Leader

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Replacements: 16 Tom McCartney, 17 Peter McCabe, 18 Conor Carey, 19 James Cannon, 20 John Muldoon, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Tom Farrell, 23 Tiernan O’Halloran

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Worcester Warriors
Manager: CJB

01. Ethan Waller	09. Jonny Arr
02. Matt Williams	10. Jamie Shillcock
03. Biyi Alo
04. Donnacha O'Callaghan	11. Dean Hammond
05. Andrew Kitchener	12. Ryan Mills
06. Alafoti Fa'Osilivia	13. Wynard Olivier
07. Sam Lewis	14. Bryce Heem
08. GJ Van Velze	15. Chris Pennell

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16. Jack Singleton, 17. Eddy Ben Arous, 18. Nic Schonert, 19. Christian Scotland Williamson, 20. Ted Hill, 21. Peter Stringer, 22. Beauden Barrett, 23. Will Butler

London Irish
Manager – Bambam

01. Ben Franks	09. TJ Perenara
02. Sala Fainga	10. Aaron Cruden (k)
03. Tadgh Furlong
04. Sebastian De Chaves	11. Joe Cokanasiga
05. Brodie Retallick (c)	12. Johnny Williams
06. Mike Coman	13. Tom Fowlie
07. Sam Cane	14. Alex Lewington
08. Jake Schatz	15. Jordie Barrett

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16. Asafo Aumua 17. Danny Hobbs-Ayowemi 18. Ollie Hoskins 19. Franco Van Der Merwe 20. Max Northcote-Green 21. Scott Steele 22. Theo Brophy-Clews 23. Ben Ransom

Bam, Paice is banned for another 4 weeks.

Didn't even know he was banned, cheers

yeh, horrendous no arms charge on Heinz the other week. Faingaa is fit now and playing so his rating might go up for you if he shows up well.

01. Cameron Orr	09. Ben Vellacott
02. Mot'u Ma'atu	10. Billy Burns (k)
03. Gareth Denman
04. Tom Savage	11. Henry Purdy
05. Jeremy Thrush (c)	12. Mark Atkinson
06. Ross Moriarty	13. Henry Trinder
07. Lewis Ludlow	14. Ollie Thorley
08. Ben Morgan	15. Tom Marshall

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16. Richard Hibbard 17. Fraser Balmain 18. Paddy McAlister 19. Franco Mostert 20. Ruaan Ackerman 21. Aaron Smith 22. Owen Williams 23. Tom Hudson

Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Ozzy

01. Sam Lockwood	09. Sonatane Takulua
02. Santiago Socino	10. Toby Flood
03. David Wilson
04. Callum Green	11. Sinoti Sinoti
05. Iain Henderson	12. Juan Pablo Socino
06. Steven Luatua	13. Maxine Mermoz
07. Mark Wilson (c)	14. Vereniki Goneva
08. Rob Burrows	15. Alex Tait

:-
16. Kyle Cooper 17. Rob Vickers 18. Jon Welsh 19. Sean Robinson 20. Mark Wilson 21. Sam Stuart 22. Craig Willis 23. DTH Van Der Merwe

TACTICS


- Blitz defence with good line speed with 9 and 15 sweeping.
- Big runners carrying close to the ruck but looking to keep the ball alive with offloads to runners on their shoulder.

1. Ethan Waller
2. Matt Williams
3. Biyi Alo
4. Donnacha O’Callaghan
5. Andrew Kitchener
6. Alafoti Fa’osilivia
7. Sam Lewis
8. GJ Van Velze
9. Jonny Arr
10. Jamie Shilock
11. Dean Hammond
12. Ryan Mills
13. Wynard Olivier
14. Bryce Helm
15. Chris Pennell

16. Jack Singleton
17. Eddy Ben Arous
18. Nick Schonert
19. Christian Scotland Williamson
20. Ted Hill
21. Peter Stringer
22. Beauden Barrett
23. Will Butler

Newcastle Falcons 34 - 24 Bordeaux-Begles
A great game in real life, Falcons too much and look strong. 

Newcastle Falcons 25 - 18 Bordeaux-Begles
Falcons a well put together unit, and with a rugged pack and flair outwide will win this, especially the class of Sinoti and Goneva.

Newcastle Falcons 27 - 26 Bordeaux-Begles

Newcastle Falcons 24 - 23 Bordeaux-Begles

Newcastle Falcons 27 - 22 Bordeaux-Begles
Falcons will make the most against a relatively weak Bordauex side. The back five of the scrum key in getting good momentum and providing a platform.

Sale Sharks 30 - 27 Lyon
The French sides look great on paper this season but really like the blend of that Sale team. Good pack and so much in the backs. 

Sale Sharks 24 - 19 Lyon
Weaker team for Sale, but still key players like Du Kerk and Curry there, and JOC at 12 a better position for him. Lyon are a good outfit but not enough

Sale Sharks 19 - 18 Lyon

Sale Sharks 30 - 29 Lyon

Sale Sharks 26 - 24 Lyon
Sharks face one of the tougher sides in this round, but have the creativity in midfield and the power up front, to build a lead and stay in front at the final whistle.

Agen 26 - 28 Gloucester Rugby
Not an easy one on the road but Gloucester looking pretty good through the backbone and enough to get the win. 

Agen 21 - 25 Gloucester Rugby
Gloucester have a tough fight in the backrow, where Agen are strong, but have enough grit these days and attacking ability to steal a win

Agen 30 - 31 Gloucester Rugby

Agen 25 - 29 Gloucester Rugby
Agen, probably the weakest French side out in the competition this weekend. Not to say this would be an easy game, but Glaws have some levels of firepower above topponentsenets.

Edinburgh Rugby 21 - 34 London Irish
I've seen Edinburgh a few times this season and they look improved. That is a cracking Irish side though and I think they'll blow them away in the 2nd. 

Edinburgh Rugby 20 - 30 London Irish
Irish have strengthened hugely, class spine at 15, 10, 9, 7 and 3 with a great lineout leader and decent enough support to contest even the best teams, which Edinburgh are not

Edinburgh Rugby 27 - 28 London Irish 

Edinburgh Rugby 28 - 29 London Irish

Edinburgh Rugby 26 - 28 London Irish
A narrow margin of victory for Irish, their world class players helping them provide a platform, but they need to improve the pperipheriesto challenge the better sides.