1
We preview the best matches to catch on Rugby Pass this week.
Super Rugby: Highlanders vs Crusaders (Friday May 13, 3:35pm HKT)
The top two teams in Super Rugby at the moment – at least according to Scotty Stevenson’s Power Rankings – meet under the roof in Dunedin for Friday night’s match of the round. The Crusaders cruised against the Reds last week, winning 38-5 despite only having around 30% possession. The Highlanders are the kings of winning without the ball, and might be favourites on the back of last week’s clinical performance against the Chiefs.
ADVERTISEMENT
They also have the most to play for – sitting five points behind the Crusaders and Chiefs in the New Zealand conference with time winding down on the regular season, a win this weekend would set them back on course for home advantage come playoffs time.
Asian Championship: South Korea vs Hong Kong (Saturday May 14, 11:00am HKT)
There’s probably an argument to be made that the Asian Championship is the toughest competition in rugby – a tri-series where the third-placed team faces a relegation playoff. With Japan beating South Korea 85-0 and Hong Kong 38-3 in the last two weeks the winner seems a foregone conclusion, making this weekend’s game the first of two relegation battles. South Korea have a significant points differential stacked against them, and need to win to have any chance of avoiding the dreaded playoff.
Super League: Wigan vs Hull FC (Saturday May 14, 3:00am HKT)
Is there a more evocative, more quintessentially Super League sounding fixture than ‘Wigan vs Hull’? The big names have returned to their rightful place near the top of the table after 13 weeks of competition – both have 18 points and sit just a game behind the leaders Wolves. Hull come into this match with the momentum after a 28-26 win over Catalans last time out, while Wigan slumped to a 40-10 defeat to Wolves. If the first three months of Super League are anything to go by (ie wildly unpredictable) you’d put your money on Wigan this weekend.
NRL: Storm vs Cowboys (Saturday May 14, 3:30pm HKT)
The NRL is back from the international break with the Indigenous Round, the single greatest week of the season for fans of snazzy special edition jerseys. The game’s greatest indigenous player, Johnathan Thurston, will lead the Cowboys against the Storm in what shapes as the game of the round, the first half of a double-header at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night. It’s a top of the table clash with both teams currently sitting on 14 competition points. It’s a tally they also share with the Sharks and the Broncos, who play the Sea Eagles in the second game of the night.
Champions Cup: Saracens vs Racing 92 (Saturday May 14, 11:55pm HKT)
The pinnacle of European club rugby is upon us, with the most dominant club in England this season facing one of the richest clubs in France. Saracens have been in a rich vein of form in recent months, winning their last five Aviva Premiership matches to finish top of the table. Racing 92 have hit the skids in the Top 14, losing again last weekend to fall to fourth on the table, but their Champions Cup form has been something else, and they head into this match as the narrowest of favourites. Like most finals it probably won’t be the prettiest display of rugby we’ll see all year, but it should go down to the wire. Who’s better at drop goals: Dan Carter or Owen Farrell?
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments on RugbyPass
Naaaww boys will be boys! Now run along ya wee scamp! Don’t let us catch you at again😏
1 Go to commentsGreat to have Ethan Blackadder back in the Crusaders in the last few weeks. One of the best all round loose forwards around. He played so well last week against the Rebels. Fantastic attitude Ethan has and his comments are spot on.
2 Go to commentsThe author is 100% right. The Springboks know that they don't have near the natural attraction, mana, skill and mystic the All Blacks have. So, Chasing the sun 1 & 2 was concocted to overblow the Boks image on the back of a corruptly obtained “win". It's marketing ploy to force the Boks delusion as the World's Best. I guess World Rugby is also not to be believed when it came out with an apology about how the final was officiated. And if the 2023 final such a superb game by the Boks, then the Boks crying about Referee Bryce Lawrence for decades is also deserves a laugh. Chase the sun and get burned like a moth. A very well written literary piece that tore the Boks and Chasing the sun farce to shreds. 🖤All Blacks🏉
142 Go to commentsI’d say France was far more hard done by in the 2011 final than the All Blacks in this game. Joubert simply refused to call a penalty against the All Blacks in the last quarter even directing an All Black to drop a ball he picked up in an offside position rather than penalizing him. This article also totally discounts the efforts of PSTD. Ask Jordie how well he played. Or the backup flank who played hooker for the entire game. Siya was also a brilliant tackle by Richie from scoring a blinder. Pollard was also fantastic. Look I don’t like the boks style but the only thing more questionable than the content of this article is the timing of it. Get over it already
142 Go to commentsDad Marty was also a handy rugby player for Linwood back in the day. Great bloke. Sensational softball career.
2 Go to commentsWhat ifs are always dangerous. If you look at the game before Sam cane got sent of SA was dominating. You could make the argument the going down to 14 men rallied the troops and made them have to play to win which is always dangerous.
142 Go to commentsOmg… you are bruised And battered Benny. Stop crying … the scoreboard speaks. What a pathetic lover you are.. 🤣🤣🤣
142 Go to commentsPacific Lions, cry me a river
142 Go to commentsThis is the single worst piece of journalism I have ever seen since your last one. As a neutral, who really states that there should be an asterisk next to a win? You are an utter embarrassment to real AB fans, journalism and that joke of a house which pays you for this nonsense. Get a life, Ben.
142 Go to commentsGuys. Cancel the World Cup champions after this analysis. It changes everything. Ben knows. We’ll have to unengrave the Bokke off the trophy and hand it to the ABs, now that I’ve been enlightened about this illegitimate win. This needs to be done. Now!
142 Go to commentsBen is right here though, Springboks were woefully poor with the advantage they had throughout this game. The France match was heroic because that was an even contest this match had it taken place in Rugby Championship would have been an easy win for NZ. If anything this match should tell the Bok coaches that a lot of this team should be changed. They beat this same NZ team by record margin with the same circumstances but with a different core. They bring back the tried and tested guys and they nearly botch this game.
142 Go to commentsI knew who wrote this article from the first few words in the headline…lol. The red card actually did the ABs a favour. It galvanized them, only then did they step up a gear. Before that there was zero momentum.
142 Go to commentsFirstly the foul on Bongi was a planned move just like the NZ master plan with Bryce Lawrence you kiwis are filthy fux perhaps try to play a cleaner game next time I doubt that’s possible tho but don’t worry world rugby is on yr side they trying to take away all the BOKS strengths to help all you weakling as Jeremy Clarkson would say LA OO ZA ERR..🤣
142 Go to commentsAbsolutely spot on Ben. I certainly wouldn't gloat over a win like that. Frustrating as it is it's done and dusted and history will forever show the result.
142 Go to commentsHo hum.
142 Go to commentsNo question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
142 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
142 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
142 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to comments