Fixtures - 4

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Exeter Chiefs vs. Leicester Tigers

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Exeter Chiefs
Manager – Driver

01. Eiffion Lewis-Roberts	09. Nick Phipps
02. Gary Botha	10. Steven Myler
03. Juan Pablo Orlandi
04. James Hudson	11. Iain Balshaw
05. George Skivington	12. Dan Hipkiss
06. Declan Danaher	13. Regan King
07. Shane Jennings	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Carl Fearns	15. Luke Arscott

16.Benjiman Kayser 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Juan Gomez 19.Simon Shaw 20.Gareth Delve 21.Charlie Pilgrim 22.Derrick Houghard 23.Ollie Smith

Tactics

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Leicester Tigers
Manager – Lukelovesluka

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Micky Young
02. Sebastien Bruno	10. Dave Walder
03. Census Johnston
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Tom Biggs
05. Chris Jack ©	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Jordan Crane	13. Florian Fritz
07. Magnus Lund	14. Isa Nacewa
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Matt Thompson 18. Jonny Harris 19. Alex Brown 20. Johnathon Poff 21. Scott Mathie 22. Rob Miller 23. Charlie Amesbury

Tactics

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Gloucester vs. London Wasps

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Gloucester
Manager – anonmattyt

01. Nick Wood	09. Dave Lewis
02. Deon Fourie	10. Stephen Donald
03. Rupert Harden
04. James Hanks	11. Joe Rokocoko
05. George Robson	12. Johnny May
06. Mauri Fa’asivalu	13. Matt Horne
07. Andy Saull	14. James Simpson-Daniel
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Charlie Sharples

16. Tim Payne 17. Jamie George 18. Julian White 19. Danie Roussouw 20. Brett Deacon 21. Ryan Lamb 22. Scott Hamilton 23. Lesley Vianikolo

Tactics

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London Wasps
Manager – Arry

01. Perry Freshwater ©	09. Michael Classens
02. Steve Thompson	10. Jimmy Gopperth
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Stuart Hooper	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Mark Chisholm	12. James Downey
06. Deon Stegmann	13. Jon Clarke
07. Tom Johnson	14. Noah Cato
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Benn Robinson 18. James Slipper 19. Dan Ward-Smith 20. James Haskell 21. Luke Burgess 22. Rory Clegg 23. Olly Morgan

Tactics

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Harlequins vs. London Irish

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Harlequins
Manager – steven_sharks

01. Joe Marler	09. Byron Kelleher
02. Schalk Brits	10. Freddie Burns
03. Brian Mujati
04. Jerome Thion	11. Jonathan Joseph
05. Tom Donnelly	12. Shaun Berne
06. James Gaskell	13. George Lowe
07. Phil Dowson	14. Peter Hynes
08. Chris Henry	15. Ben Blair

16. Rob Vickers 17. Matias Aguero 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Erik Lund 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Lee Dickson 22. Gareth Steenson 23. Ross Chisholm

Tactics

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London Irish
Manager – stnick88

01. Matias Aguero	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Neil Briggs	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. WP Nel
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Paul Sackey
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Dan Bowden
06. Jaques Botes	13. Mathieu Bastareaud
07. Hendre Fourie	14. JP Pietersen
08. Xavier Rush	15. Matthew Tait

16 Tonga Lea'toea 17 James Buckland 18 Duncan Bell 19 Matt Garvey 20 Steffon Armitage 21 Neal De Kock 22 Gonzalo Tiesi 23 Joe Maddock

Tactics

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Saracens vs. Worcester Warriors

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Saracens
Manager – LDCPete

01. Matt Mullan	09. Paul Hodgson
02. George Chuter	10. Owen Farrell
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Rynhard Elstadt	11. Rene Ranger
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Joe van Niekerk	13. Nevin Spence
07. George Smith	14. Isaia Toeava
08. Luke Narraway	15. Alex Goode

16. Tom Cowan-Dickie 17. Alex Waller 18. Tom Mercey 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Jacob Rowan 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Tim Visser 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics
- Saracens will be taking a pragmatic approach to this game and using the boots of Farrell, Twelvetrees and Goode to ensure that we play in the right areas of the field. If it is on93 we will run from deep, but in the main we want to dominate territory and play our offloading game in the Worcester Warriors half of the field.

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Worcester Warriors
Manager – prop_lyd

01. George Porter	09. Jordi Pasqualin
02. Richard Strauss	10. Nicky Robinson ©
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. Phil Chesters
05. Marco Wentzel ©	12. Lee Thomas
06. Kearnan Myall	13. Stirling Mortlock
07. Martyn Williams	14. Leila Masaga
08. Sebastien Chabal	15. Rob Cook

16. Koree Britton 17. John Andress 18. Yann Thomas 19. Hayden Smith 20. Ben Morgan 21. Dan White 22. Julien Malzieu 23. Greig Tonks

Tactics

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Sale Sharks vs. Northampton Saints

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Sale Sharks
Manager – SirJohnnyEnglish

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Nicholas Bezy
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Werner Kruger
04. Steven Sykes	11. Nick Abendanon
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner-Hall
06. Matt Todd	13. Robbie Freuan
07. Michael Lipman	14. Tom Brady
08. Victor Vito	15. Luke Rooney

16. Lee Imolek 17. Guilleme Guirado 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Andries Bekker 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Danny Care 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

Tactics
Come in to this one with a very strong front 5 and will look to target the set piece to build ourselves a base to attack from. Gone with a very mobile front 5 who will look to get around the park as well working the fringes. We will look to the target the breakdown with the front 5 clearing the rucks and our 2 specialist opensides getting in there and poaching the ball. On attacking play we will look to the speed and creativity of our half backs to open up the opposition and the power and offloading of our in form midfield unit to burst through the opposition

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Northampton Saints
Manager – Dammit_Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Carl Hayman
04. Dave Attwood	11. Sitiveni Sivivatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Willie Mason
06. Calum Clark	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Leigh Halfpenny
08. Simon Taylor	15. Lionel Beauxis

16. Dylan Hartley 17. Dave Wilson 18. Matt Stevens 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Messam 21. Ryan Kankowski 22. Mike Phillips 23. Casey Lualala

Tactics

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Newcastle Falcons vs. Bath Rugby

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Newcastle Falcons
Manager – Sgt Pooly

01. Boris Stankovich	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. William Servat	10. Nick Evans
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Geoff Parling	12. Luke McAlister
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Jared Payne
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Miles Benjamin
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Sean Maitland

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Fabien Barcella 19. Juandre Kruger 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Brad Barritt 23. Ben Smith

Tactics
Tactics as per last week....contest in set piece and attack with pace with Pretorious/Evans pulling the strings.

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Bath Rugby
Manager – Inthefastlane

01. Salvatore Perugini	09. Fourie du Preez
02. Keven Mealamu	10. Steve Shingler
03. Aaron Jarvis
04. Louis Deacon	11. Ugo Monye
05. Isaac Ross	12. Anthony Allen
06. Sean O’Brien	13. David Marty
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Maxime Medard
08. Tom Guest	15. Tim Nanai-Williams

Kane Newport, Joe Ward, Petrus Du Plessis, James Cannon, Will Skuse, Richard Wigglesworth, Dominic Waldouck, Kurtley Beale

Tactics

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Top man Pete

Luke will be fielding my RWC team

I'll do the same Driver - we've got each other first game....

I shall also be fielding a potential WC team, although there will be 1 or 2 in there who are borderline might go players, but nobody who is certain to be on the plane to NZ.

Exeter Chiefs 23 to face Leicester Tigers

1.Efion Lewis-Roberts
2.Gary Botha
3.Juan Orlandi
4.James Hudson
5.George Skivington
6.Declan Danahar
7.Shane Jennings
8.Carl Fearns

9.Nick Phipps
10.Steven Myler
11.Iain Balshaw
12.Dan Hipkiss
13.Regan King
14.Adam Thompstone
15.Luke Arscott

16.Benjiman Kayser 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Juan Gomez 19.Simon Shaw 20.Gareth Delve 21.Charlie Pilgrim 22.Derrick Houghard 23.Ollie Smith

Saracens team to face Worcester Warriors

15. Alex Goode
14. Isaia Toeava
13. Nevin Spence
12. Billy Twelvetrees
11. Rene Ranger
10. Owen Farrell
9. Paul Hodgson

1. Matt Mullan
2. George Chuter
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Rynhard Elstadt
5. Steve Borthwick
6. Joe van Niekerk
7. George Smith
8. Luke Narraway

16. Tom Cowan-Dickie 17. Alex Waller 18. Tom Mercey 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Jacob Rowan 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Tim Visser 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics

- Saracens will be taking a pragmatic approach to this game and using the boots of Farrell, Twelvetrees and Goode to ensure that we play in the right areas of the field. If it is one we will run from deep, but in the main we want to dominate territory and play our offloading game in the Worcester Warriors half of the field.

Strong team Pete

Plenty of calm heads in the back line to make up for lack of experience.

Tigers team to play Exeter:

1. Wyatt Crockett
2. Sebastian Bruno
3. Cencus Johnston
4. Jarrad Hoeata
5. Chris Jack (c)
6. Jordan Crane
7. Magnus Lund
8. Ernst Joubert

9. Micky Young
10. Dave Walder (k)
11. Tom Biggs
12. Yannick Jauzion
13. Florian Fritz
14. Isa Nacewa
15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Clarke Dermody
17. Matt Thompson
18. Jonny Harris
19. Alex Brown
20. Johnathon Poff
21. Scott Mathie
22. Rob Miller
23. Charlie Amesbury

(Fingers crossed Crockett and Hoeata are not included in the WC squad....)

I'm crossing fingers that Toeava, Chuter and JdP don't make it to NZ as well Luke.

Luke mate would say Crockett is doubtful but expect Hoetea to be involved now with Boric injured. Been very impressed with him this year.

Sale Side for Northampton

Going for a potential world cup starting team. I love Graham Henry!
A few internationals on the bench then...

1. Jerome Schuster
2. David Paice *
3. Werner Kruger (fingers crossed!)
4. Steven Sykes
5. Christian Day *
6. Matt Todd
7. Michael Lipman *
8. Victor Vito

9. Nicholas Bezy
10. Aaron Cruden
11. Nick Abendanoon *
12. Jordan Turner Hall *
13. Robbie Freuen
14. Tom Brady *
15. Luke Rooney *

16. Lee Imolek * 17. Guilleme Guirado 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Andries Bekker 20. Matt Kvesic * 21. Danny Care * 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

Tactis:
Come in to this one with a very strong front 5 and will look to target the set piece to build ourselves a base to attack from. Gone with a very mobile front 5 who will look to get around the park as well working the fringes. We will look to the target the breakdown with the front 5 clearing the rucks and our 2 specialist opensides getting in there and poaching the ball. On attacking play we will look to the speed and creativity of our half backs to open up the opposition and the power and offloading of our in form midfield unit to burst through the opposition

I'm hoping that Kruger makes the WC SJE, increases the chances of JdP being left at home!

One of us will be praising P Divvy and his fantastic selections in a few weeks anyways

1 wood
2 fourie
3 harden
4 robson
5 hanks
6 fasivalu
7 saull
8 Ashley Johnson
9 Lewis
10 Donald
11 rococo
12 may
13 horne
14 jsd
15 sharples
16 Payne
17 George
18 White
19 roussow
20 deacon
21 lamb
22 Hamilton
23 vainokolo

Pete have you considered Toeava at 12/13?

1. Thomas Domingo
2. Rob Webber
3. Carl Hayman
4. Dave Attwood
5. Patricio Albacete
6. Calum Clark
7. Alexandre Lapandry
8. Simon Taylor
9. Joe Simpson
10. Danny Cipriani
11. Siti Siviatu
12. Willie Mason
13. Manu Tuilagi
14. Leigh Halfpenny
15. Lionel Beauxis

16. Dylan Hartley
17. Dave Wilson
18. Matt Stevens
19. Joe Launchbury
20. Liam Messam
21. Ryan Kankowski
22. Mike Phillips
23. Casey Lualala

Sgt_Pooly wrote:Pete have you considered Toeava at 12/13?

Yeah, will have a look at it over the summer, just remember some comments in predos before about him not having great hands so wouldn't want to get marked down for that playing him in the midfield.

Not many AB's don't have decent hands....lol. Offers a good linebreaking option playing off a more flair type player. I think I've seen him play 13 in the past and he's very good. Just never put his club form into the AB shirt, I'm not really keen on him as winger think he's very effective from 15 and centre.

Quins

1. Joe Marler
2. Schalk Brits (c)
3. Brian Mujati
4. Jerome Thion
5. Tom Donnelly
6. James Gaskell
7. Phil Dowson
8. Chris Henry
9. Byron Kellaher
10. Freddie Burns
11. Jonathan Joseph
12. Shaun Berne
13. George Lowe
14. Peter Hynes
15. Ben Blair

16. Rob Vickers
17. Matias Aguero
18. Kieran Brookes
19. Erik Lund
20. Jamie Gibson
21. Lee Dickson
22. Gareth Steenson
23. Ross Chisholm

This is what my world cup team would be if the tournament started tomorrow and all my players who could be selected were selected.

I would like to know whether people prefer

My backrow combo.

Would people prefer:
6. Gaskell 7. Gibson 8 Dowson
6. Gibson 7. Dowson 8. Henry
or any other combo

the Thion/Lund or Thion/Donnelly Combo

Kellaher or Dickson

Steenson or Burns

Cheers

Kelleher.....Thion/Donnelly, not a fan of Gaskell at 6 but still a decent option, all relitive to who they're up against.

Great pack Steve, 10-15 isn't the strongest

I need the likes of Flutey, morahan and heymans or huget to be left behind. Got nothing at 12 at all!

Could maybe do a cheeky loan mate....

Can't see Morahan foing with Aus options

Wasps team to face Gloucester

1. Perry Freshwater (c)
2. Steve Thompson
3. Carlos Nieto
4. Stuart Hooper
5. Mark Chisholm
6. Deon Stegmann
7. Tom Johnson
8. Roger Wilson

9. Michael Claassens
10. Jimmy Gopperth
11. Drew Mitchell
12. James Downey
13. Jon Clarke
14. Noah Cato
15. Mike Brown

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau
17. Benn Robinson
18. James Slipper
19. Dan Ward-Smith
20. James Haskell
21. Luke Burgess
22. Rory Clegg
23. Olly Morgan

1 Matias Aguero
2 Neil Briggs
3 WP Nel
4 Mouritz Botha
5 Nick Kennedy
6 Jacques Botes
7 Hendrie Fourie
8 Xavier Rush
9 Julien Dupuy
10 Juan Martin Hernandez
11 Paul Sackey
12 Dan Bowden
13 Mathieu Bastereaud
14 JP Pieterson
15 Matthew Tait

16 Tonga Lea'toea
17 James Buckland
18 Duncan Bell
19 Matt Garvey
20 Steffon Armitage
21 Neal De Kock
22 Gonzalo Tiesi
23 Joe Maddock

1. Boris Stankovich
2. William Servat
3. Paul Doran-Jones
4. Dean Schofield
5. Geoff Parling
6. Chris Robshaw(c)
7. Heinrich Brussow
8. Duane Vermeulen

9. Sarel Pretorious
10. Nick Evans

11. Topsy Ojo
12. Luke McAlister
13. Jared Payne
14. Miles Benjamin
15. Sean Maitland

16. Tom Lindsay
17. Owen Franks
18. Fabien Barcella
19. Juandre Kruger
20. Chris York
21. Jonny Arr
22. Brad Barritt
23. Ben Smith

Tactics as per last week....contest in set piece and attack with pace with Pretorious/Evans pulling the strings.

1. George Porter*
2. Richardt Strauss
3. BJ Botha
4. Ollie Kohn*
5. Marco Wentzel (c)
6. Kearnan Myall*
7. Martyn Williams
8. Sebastian Chabal

9. Jordi Pasqualin*
10. Nicky Robinson (k)
11. Phil Chesters*
12. Lee Thomas
13. Stirling Mortlock
14. Lelia Masaga
15. Rob Cook*

16. Koree Britton*
17. John Andress
18. Yann Thomas*
19. Hayden Smith
20. Ben Morgan*
21. Dan White*
22. Julien Malzieu
23. Greig Tonks*

1 Salvatore Perugini
2 Kevin Mealamu
3 Aaron Jarvis
4 Louis Deacon
5 Isaac Ross
6 Sean O’Brien
7 Steffon Armitage
8 Tom Guest
9 Fourie Du Preez
10 Steve Shingler
11 Ugo Monye
12 Anthony Allen
13 David Marty
14 Maxime Medard
15 Tim Nanai Williams
Kane Newport, Joe Ward, Petrus Du Plessis, James Cannon, Will Skuse, Richard Wigglesworth, Dominic Waldouck, Kurtley Beale

seeing steffon armitage in someone elses team is a little hurtful! treat him well geez!

I will, him + Robinson means i'm in pretty good shape

Conditions: Summer rugby
Location: Millenium Stadium

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Exeter Chiefs vs. Leicester Tigers

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Exeter Chiefs

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Manager – Driver

01. Efion Lewis-Roberts	09. Nick Phipps
02. Gary Botha	10. Steven Myler
03. Juan Orlandi
04. James Hudson	11. Iain Balshaw
05. George Skivington	12. Dan Hipkiss
06. Declan Danahar	13. Regan King
07. Shane Jennings	14. Adam Thompstone
08. Carl Fearns	15. Luke Arscott

16.Benjiman Kayser 17.Brett Sturgess 18.Juan Gomez 19.Simon Shaw 20.Gareth Delve 21.Charlie Pilgrim 22.Derrick Houghard 23.Ollie Smith.

Tactics
Insert text here

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Leicester Tigers

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Manager – Luke

01. Wyatt Crockett	09. Micky Young
02. Sebastian Bruno	10. Dave Walder (K)
03. Cencus Johnston
04. Jarrad Hoeata	11. Tom Biggs
05. Chris Jack ©	12. Yannick Jauzion
06. Jordan Crane	13. Florian Fritz
07. Magnus Lund	14. Isa Nacewa
08. Ernst Joubert	15. Clement Poitrenaud

16. Clarke Dermody 17. Matt Thompson 18. Jonny Harris 19. Alex Brown 20. Johnathon Poff 21. Scott Mathie 22. Rob Miller 23. Charlie Amesbury

Tactics
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Gloucester vs. London Wasps

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Gloucester

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Manager – Anonymatt

01. Wood	09. Lewis
02. Fourie	10. Donald
03. Harden
04. Robson	11. Rococo
05. Hanks	12. May
06. Fasivalu	13. Horne
07. Saull	14. James Simpson-Daniels
08. Ashley Johnson	15. Sharples

16. Payne 17. George 18. White 19. Roussow 20. Deacon 21. Lamb 22. Hamilton 23. Vainokolo

Tactics
Insert text here

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London Wasps

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Manager – Arry

01. Perry Freshwater (c)	09. Michael Claassens
02. Steve Thompson	10. Jimmy Gopperth
03. Carlos Nieto
04. Stuart Hooper	11. Drew Mitchell
05. Mark Chisholm	12. James Downey
06. Deon Stegmann	13. Jon Clarke
07. Tom Johnson	14. Noah Cato
08. Roger Wilson	15. Mike Brown

16. Tatafu Polota-Nau 17. Benn Robinson 18. James Slipper 19. Dan Ward-Smith 20. James Haskell 21. Luke Burgess 22. Rory Clegg 23. Olly Morgan

Tactics
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Harlequins vs. London Irish

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Harlequins

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Manager – Steve

01. Joe Marler	09. Byron Kellaher
02. Schalk Brits	10. Freddie Burns
03. Brian Mujati
04. Jerome Thion	11. Jonathan Joseph
05. Tom Donnelly	12. Shaun Berne
06. James Gaskell	13. George Lowe
07. Phil Dowson	14. Peter Hynes
08. Chris Henry	15. Ben Blair

16. Rob Vickers 17. Matias Aguero 18. Kieran Brookes 19. Erik Lund 20. Jamie Gibson 21. Lee Dickson 22. Gareth Steenson 23. Ross Chisholm

Tactics
Insert text here

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London Irish

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Manager – Stnick

01. Matias Aguero	09. Julien Dupuy
02. Neil Briggs	10. Juan Martin Hernandez
03. WP Nel
04. Mouritz Botha	11. Paul Sackey
05. Nick Kennedy	12. Dan Bowden
06. Jacques Botes	13. Mathieu Bastereaud
07. Hendrie Fourie	14. JP Pieterson
08. Xavier Rush	15. Matthew Tait

16 Tonga Lea'toea 17 James Buckland 18 Duncan Bell 19 Matt Garvey 20 Steffon Armitage 21 Neal De Kock 22 Gonzalo Tiesi 23 Joe Maddock

Tactics
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Saracens vs. Worcester Warriors

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Saracens

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Manager – LDC Pete

01. Matt Mullan	09. Paul Hodgson
02. George Chuter	10. Owen Farrell
03. Jannie du Plessis
04. Rynhard Elstadt	11. Rene Ranger
05. Steve Borthwick	12. Billy Twelvetrees
06. Joe van Niekerk (c)	13. Nevin Spence
07. George Smith	14. Isaia Toeava
08. Luke Narraway	15. Alex Goode

16. Tom Cowan-Dickie 17. Alex Waller 18. Tom Mercey 19. Graham Kitchener 20. Jacob Rowan 21. Haydn Thomas 22. Tim Visser 23. Henry Trinder

Tactics
- Saracens will be taking a pragmatic approach to this game and using the boots of Farrell, Twelvetrees and Goode to ensure that we play in the right areas of the field. If it is one we will run from deep, but in the main we want to dominate territory and play our offloading game in the Worcester Warriors half of the field.

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Worcester Warriors

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Manager – Prop

01. George Porter	09. Jordi Pasqualin
02. Richardt Strauss	10. Nicky Robinson (k)
03. BJ Botha
04. Ollie Kohn	11. Phil Chesters
05. Marco Wentzel	12. Lee Thomas
06. Kearnan Myall	13. Stirling Mortlock
07. Martyn Williams	14. Lelia Masaga
08. Sebastian Chabal	15. Rob Cook

16. Koree Britton 17. John Andress 18. Yann Thomas 19. Hayden Smith 20. Ben Morgan 21. Dan White 22. Julien Malzieu 23. Greig Tonks

Tactics
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Sale Sharks vs. Northampton

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Sale Sharks

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Manager – SJE

01. Jerome Schuster	09. Nicholas Bezy
02. David Paice	10. Aaron Cruden
03. Werner Kruger
04. Steven Sykes	11. Nick Abendanoon
05. Christian Day	12. Jordan Turner Hall
06. Matt Todd	13. Robbie Freuen
07. Michael Lipman	14. Tom Brady
08. Victor Vito	15. Luke Rooney

16. Lee Imolek 17. Guilleme Guirado 18. Luc Ducalcon 19. Andries Bekker 20. Matt Kvesic 21. Danny Care 22. James Hook 23. Keith Earls

Tactics
Come in to this one with a very strong front 5 and will look to target the set piece to build ourselves a base to attack from. Gone with a very mobile front 5 who will look to get around the park as well working the fringes. We will look to the target the breakdown with the front 5 clearing the rucks and our 2 specialist opensides getting in there and poaching the ball. On attacking play we will look to the speed and creativity of our half backs to open up the opposition and the power and offloading of our in form midfield unit to burst through the opposition.

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Northampton

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Manager – Chris

01. Thomas Domingo	09. Joe Simpson
02. Rob Webber	10. Danny Cipriani
03. Carl Hayman
04. Dave Attwood	11. Siti Siviatu
05. Patricio Albacete	12. Willie Mason
06. Calum Clark	13. Manu Tuilagi
07. Alexandre Lapandry	14. Leigh Halfpenny
08. Simon Taylor	15. Lionel Beauxis

16. Dylan Hartley 17. Dave Wilson 18. Matt Stevens 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Liam Messam 21. Ryan Kankowski 22. Mike Phillips 23. Casey Lualala

Tactics
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Newcastle Falcons vs. Bath

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Newcastle Falcons

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Manager – Pooly

01. Boris Stanovich	09. Sarel Pretorious
02. William Servat	10. Nick Evans
03. Paul Doran-Jones
04. Dean Schofield	11. Topsy Ojo
05. Geoff Parling	12. Luke McAlistair
06. Chris Robshaw	13. Jared Payne
07. Heinrich Brussow	14. Miles Benjamin
08. Duane Vermeulen	15. Sean Maitland

16. Tom Lindsay 17. Owen Franks 18. Fabien Barcella 19. Juandre Kruger 20. Chris York 21. Jonny Arr 22. Brad Barritt 23. Ben Smith

Tactics
Tactics as per last week....contest in set piece and attack with pace with Pretorious/Evans pulling the strings.

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Bath

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Manager – 207

01. Salvatore Perugini	09. Fourie Du Preez
02. Kevin Mealamu	10. Steve Shingler
03. Aaron Jarvis
04. Louis Deacon	11. Ugo Monye
05. Isaac Ross	12. Anthony Allen
06. Sean O’Brien	13. David Marty
07. Steffon Armitage	14. Maxime Medard
08. Tom Guest	15. Tim Nanai Williams

16. Kane Newport 17. Joe Ward 18. Petrus Du Plessis 19. James Cannon 20. Will Skuse 21. Richard Wigglesworth 22. Dominic Waldouck 23. Kurtley Beale

Tactics
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Sorry to steal your thunder Pete

but loads of time on my hands today but probaly not over the weekend so did the above comment with the coding. So I cant get predos in. If you hit the quote button you can copy the coding and paste it into your main subject

Exeter Chiefs 17 22 Leicester Tigers

In the front 5s a very strong unit for Luke that will see them with the upper hand at the set piece in this one. Backrow Leicester shading it overall but Jennings will get some joy at the breakdown up against Lund.

Halfbacks shade to Exeter with Phipps having a good year. Neither 10 is awe inspiring but Myler stronger than Walder. In the backs Leicester have probably the best world cup unit going in the league. Wouldn’t want to be playing them. Think the Chiefs midfield would look stronger with Hipkiss at 13 and King at 12. King to provide the creative spark for the Chiefs backline. On the bench Chiefs with the better impact players to come in for the last 15/20 minutes.

Leicester with the upper hand in the pack will be on the front foot in this game and with there backs can’t see past a win for Luke

Gloucester 13 18 London Wasps

In the front 5s can see Wasps getting on top in the scrum here. Advantage at the lineout too with Hooper and Chisholm looking to challenge Fourie’s throwing. Bit more mobility from glaws though across the park. In the back row it’s a tight battle with Glaws maybe shading it for overall quality but not a lot in it really.

In the half backs prefer Classens at 9. Donald the better flyhalf but Gopperth had the better season so even for me. In the backs think the Wasps real life combo will be on top with Horne lacking game time. Back 3 to Glaws though with a very effective attacking unit. Wasps bench will have an impact with a lot of internationals on board this week (Happy Robinson isn’t making the world cup I bet Arry!!)

Wasps for the win here. Upper hand at the set piece will see them with better quality ball and think their midfield combo will be on top of Glaws in this one.

SJE

have just been sat typing that all out having not refreshed the page and seeing that you'd done it!!!

Harlequins 14 17 London Irish

Irish on top in the scrum for me. Marler still developing in the scrum. Brits not the strongest either. Will be interesting to see how Mujati gets on during the world cup think Hartley and Tonga are a big part of that scrum so be intrigued to see how Mujati does without them as he has been pretty average before last year. Bit more form in the Irish engine room with Donnely relegated to the bench in the Super 15 but Thion is the outstanding lock on show. Gaskell will help the lineout. In the back row better carrying options from Quins but lacking the breakdown expertise. Fourie to have a good game here.

Halfbacks I’m going to call even although Irish have the more star quality. Kelleher in poor form but JMH has barely kicked a ball in recent times. In the backs Berne is the serious weakness (See Steve has picked up Kefu on loan to cover that for the world cup though). Irish midfield on top because of this. Back 3s fairly even. Not an awful lot between the two benches.

Similar to Wasps, Irish to pick up the win due to better quality ball, with the stronger set piece and better break down artists, and their midfield getting on top in this one.

Pete!!

After doing it just there I know how much effort that takes!!

Saracens 22 16 Worcester Warriors

Scrum is a fairly even battle here with Worcester maybe just shading it but not in a telling way. Engine room is a step up to Sarries. Elsadt a great talent. Lineout will be an interesting battle between Borthwick and Wentzel, two students of the game, neither side on top. Backrow looking an important factor for Pete during the world cup. That selection like I’ve said the last few weeks isn’t far off a lot of starting combos in this league.

Halfbacks 1 a piece for me. While in the backs Sarries with a very strong lineup. Liking the potential in that midfield combo (my favorite 1 of your world cup options Pete). Solid midfield for Worcester (Thomas to get better ratings as the Top 14 gets going with Lyon looking to do well). Back 3 unfortunately a weakness though with Chesters not up to standard for this league yet and Cook not the strongest. Benches fairly even with Sarries maybe shading but again not telling.

Winning the back row battle is crucial for Sarries in this one and with the better backline would expect them to score more then Worcester

SJE, you said halfbacks one apiece in my game, can you let me know which ones please mate?

Newcastle Falcons 20 14 Bath Rugby

Scrum to the Falcons here with Jarvis not the man to anchor Bath’s scrum. Engine room shading to Bath due to Parlings lack of form. In the back row SOB the outstanding player on show [great coup 207 in terms of getting predictions from me!! ] Armitage level with Brussow currently due to a lack of game time again. Been very impressive when he has played though! While Duane is a level up at 8. Good even battle in the back row in this one.

Halfbacks to Newcastle (best world cup combo). FDP still one of the best in the world but Pretorious outshone him this year while Shingler is not yet a 1st team regular. In the backs I have the back 3 fairly even but the Falcons All Black midfield shading the form battle in midfield. Newcastle with the better impact on the bench with a serious scrum to come on.

A good even pack battle in this one with neither side on top from the start. Falcons halfbacks are the difference with them doing more damage when in possession and the subs then to come in and close the game out

Hodgson over Pasqulin mate and Robinson over Farrell. Flyhalf battle alot closer then the scrummie battle though

I thought it was probably that way round mate, just wanted to check.

Quick question for you as a gauge of opinion for when the season starts...

Farrell or iHumph at 10?

Ian Humphries without a doubt. Farrell is a better 12 imo

Me personally Humph mate. Been great for Ulster who are improving all the time. great set of youngsters up there now.

Think Hodgson's management and Humphs attacking flair would go very well together. And would do well in my predictions. Would have won you the halfback battle in my predictions this week.


Think farrell may be prefered by a few others though. Not sure how much everyone sees of Ulster while Farrell gets alot of coverage at Sarries

definitly humphreys.

Yeah, I tend to agree with what you're saying there SJE. Having said that, I am contemplating differing styles of play at home and away in the World Cup period and am considering using iHumph at home to really play an attacking running game, and Farrell away from home to go more tactical and get the team playing in the right areas. For me Farrell is also the better defender of the two which if we are kicking a bit more away from home will be useful in terms of defence if teams run the ball back.

What do people reckon?

I am really looking forward to the World Cup period in this game and having to try to get my tactics spot on in order to upset a couple of sides with bigger names in the team than I will have.

I'm all for being more expansive at home and more conservative away from home.

Home games i'll more than likely go Phipps and Myler and away games O'Leary and Houghard

Again depends on the opposition Pete mate. Wouldnt fancy kicking alot of ball to say Lukes back 3 during the world cup could cause yourself a lot of problems but is definately something to consider.

I wont be placing as much an emphasis on hom advantage next season. Put too much on this year. places like the Shed and Welford Road will see an advantage but not every ground is intimadating as that. If a side works up a good home record though that will be taken into account say like my unbeaten record last year

See that me and Nick both have Aguero in our sides. Can people consider Ceri Jones to be my replacement LH

Exeter 21-23 Leicester

Got Leicester shading the front 5 with a touch more form getting them through. Lineout would be a good battle. Slightly preferring Exeter backrow, Crane a no a 6 for me.

Exeter halfbacks stronger but Leicester backs have more recent form. Exeter centre combo has potential if Hipkiss starts well at Bath. Close game but Leicester sneak it.

+ Exeter positives - strong halfbacks and competitive pack
- not much form in the backs but should be ok once AP starts

+ Leicester positives - very competitive front 5 and strong backline
- not sure of backrow balance, halfbacks a little fragile

Gloucester 14-29 Wasps

Wasps dominate the front 5 man for man and can see them dismantling the Gloucester scrum. Fourie is an erratic thrower but Robson is good in this area and will be a good battle. Backrow all Wasps again, Not a game for AJ who's a great player on front foot but adds little behind a beaten pack.

Closer half back battle. Claassans a fair bit stronger than Lewis but Gopperth/Donald a good
contest. Good backs battle....Downey over May by some distance and Clarke/Horne around level. See Roko giving Cato issues and similar with Mitchell JSD although closer. Brown a better FB than Sharples.

Tough outing for Gloucester but better working out combo's now than in the AP. See them getting stuffed in the pack and although closer, Wasps take backs too.

Wasps
+ extremely competitive pack and halfbacks to use platform
- nit pick but Johnson better at 6 and Stegman at 7

Gloucester
+ very attacking backrow with front 5 superiority, lovely back 3

- pack suffers in this one, esp front 5. Not a strong set piece front row