This Week's Biggest Matches on Rugby Pass
Three top quality Top 14 matches and two mouth-watering English derbies as the singular Anglo-Welsh Cup returns.
Anglo-Welsh Cup: Bath v Gloucester (Saturday, January 28, 3.45am HKT)
After a year off so the rugby schedule could accommodate the World Cup, the 45-year-old cross-border Anglo-Welsh Cup is back. The third round of the tournament features a derby double that kicks off with this always mouth-watering fixture. David Humphreys Gloucester head to the Rec riding the wave of a three-match winning run that started with the shellacking of Worcester earlier this month and continued with a European Challenge Cup charge to the quarter finals with wins over Benetton Treviso and Bayonne. They will be looking to continue that run here – but, despite losing their first two games in the competition, Todd Blackadder’s Bath will not want to concede an inch against one of their oldest rivals.
Top 14: Toulon v La Rochelle (Saturday, January 28, 9.45pm HKT)
Mike Ford’s Toulon may have escaped the frying pan last week – scraping the losing bonus point they needed at Saracens to reach the European Champions Cup quarter finals as the eighth-placed side – but they find themselves right back in the Top 14 fire with a tough match against second-placed La Rochelle. The two sides could not be separated when they met earlier this season at Stade Marcel Deflandre. Expect this game to be equally tight with both sides hit by international call-ups ahead of the Six Nations, which kick off next weekend.
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Anglo Welsh Cup: Leicester v Northampton (Saturday, January 28, 11pm HKT)
Back to the Anglo-Welsh Cup for Saturday’s final match – and the second match of the day’s derby double – where the pressure on Aaron Mauger’s Leicester tyros will be immense following last week’s European Champions Cup 43-0 humiliation at home to Glasgow. There were no positives for the Tigers to take from that encounter – the first time they had been nilled since 1976. Now it’s up to their young guns, who generally make their first team bow in this tournament, to restore a little pride and belief among the Welford Road faithful.
Top 14: Castres v Montpellier (Sunday, January 29, 1.30am HKT)
These two sides must be getting bored of each other. This is the fourth time they have met this season, with the results so far in favour of Montpellier, who have two wins to Castres’ one. Both those wins came at Montpellier’s Altrad Stadium. This week, Jake White’s side head to Stade Pierre Antoine, where the hosts have not lost since the second round of the Top 14 – nine matches, eight wins and one draw ago. This is a genuine clash of styles, as big, brutish, direct Montpellier face a Castres side that prefer an unstructured, open game. The last time the two sides met here, in the European Champions Cup, Castres edged it 29-23. It’s likely to be as close again.
Top 14: Bordeaux v Clermont (Sunday, January 29, 11.45pm HKT)
Another fourth encounter of the close kind is likely as the Top 14 and European Champions Cup pool rivals meet yet again. Interest in this match is so big that Bordeaux have moved it from their regular home of Stade Chaban-Delmas to the larger Matmut Atlantique stadium, which was built for soccer’s 2016 European Championships. League leaders Clermont have the wood on their hosts, having won all three of their meetings this season. But their last encounter – in the Champions Cup – was an unusually dour affair, which Clermont won 9-6. Given that 138 points were fairly evenly spread between the previous two encounters, it’s a fair bet the European result will be proven something of an anomaly.
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
17 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
7 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
17 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
4 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
4 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
26 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
17 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
26 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
17 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
4 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
17 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
14 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
17 Go to comments