The Tight Five: This Week’s Biggest Matches on Rugby Pass

We preview the five best matches to catch on Rugby Pass this week.

Super Rugby: Chiefs vs Blues (Friday April 8, 3:35pm HKT)
Was last Saturday just a rugby fever dream, or have the Chiefs turned into the most destructive attacking juggernaut Super Rugby has ever seen? In what felt like a watershed moment in the season, the Chiefs travelled to the Brumbies’ home fortress in Canberra and put 48 points past the best defensive side in the competition. All eyes will be on them this weekend to see what kind of damage they can do to the Blues, who finally returned to the winner’s circle after grinding out a win over the Jaguares in Albany. On recent form they could face a bigger challenge just keeping the Chiefs under 50 points this week.

Super League: Warrington vs St Helens (Saturday April 9, 4:00am HKT)
The tough Easter Super League schedule – three games in ten days for most clubs – went a long way to sorting out the early season pretenders from the genuine contenders. What we’re left with a is a table topped by the Warrington Wolves, who have won 8 of their first 9 games and have a frankly ridiculous points differential of 133. They’re winning games by an average of 14.8 points! Form would dictate that they beat St Helens by that kind of margin this weekend – the red and whites have been all over the show, starting the season with 5 wins and 4 losses. But with playmaker Chris Sandow (pictured) under an injury cloud, Wolves could be due for a bump in the road.

NRL: Warriors vs Sea Eagles (Saturday April 9, 3:30pm HKT)
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck’s golden point try against the Roosters last weekend – fending off Shaun Kenny-Dowall to finish off an electric Tuimoala Lolohea break from the Warriors’ 20-metre line – could easily be the try of the NRL season. The Warriors, who started with three losses on the bounce, have now won two in a row. They still don’t look entirely convincing, but you sense the big pieces – offseason signings Isaac Luke and Tuivasa-Sheck in particular – are starting to fit. They are strong favourites to go three in a row when they host the Sea Eagles on Saturday night, but both teams go in with 2-3 records, and the Manly side have been better than their ladder position of 13th suggests.

NRL: Sharks vs Titans (Sunday April 10, midday HKT)
Nobody’s really talking about the Titans – and they remain distant competition underdogs at the bookies – but the Gold Coast side have already notched wins over the Knights, Tigers and Raiders this season, and ran the table-topping Broncos close last weekend. This Sunday’s game in Cronulla could be closer than most might predict – the Sharks are genuine contenders this season, and came out on top of a high-scoring encounter with the Tigers last week, but they’re still putting it together and could be vulnerable against a well-organised unit.

Champions Cup: Leicester vs Stade Francais (Sunday April 10, 8:45pm HKT)
It’s European Champions Cup quarter final weekend, with winner-takes-all matchups between Saracens and Saints, Wasps and Chiefs, Racing 92 and Toulon, and Leicester and Stade Francais. These two teams actually met in pool play – the Tigers topping Pool 4 with Stade Francais qualifying as the second-best runner-up – and shared the spoils in their two matches. When the two last met back in January in Paris, Stade Francais won comprehensively, although the match was a bit of a dead rubber. The French side have lost 5 of their last 6 Top 14 games, while Leicester have won 4 of their last 6 in the Aviva Premiership, including the scalps of Saracens and Chiefs.

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