This Week’s Biggest Matches On Rugby Pass

We preview the best matches to catch on Rugby Pass this weekend including the Four Nations final, Australia in France and Ireland vs New Zealand: The Rematch.

Autumn International: England vs Fiji (Saturday November 19, 10:30pm HKT)
14 months ago these two sides ran out onto Twickenham to play the opening game of the 2015 World Cup, a game which Fiji probably still feel like they maybe could have won if only a first half TMO call had gone their way. England eventually won comfortably, 35-11, but it ended up being the only good thing that happened to them in the whole tournament. Since then you might have heard that England have gone on an 11-match winning streak, while Fiji have returned to the familiar inter-World Cup obscurity faced by the Pacific rugby nations. They won’t take a backwards step when they face up against Eddie Jones’ side on Saturday, and even if they get blown off the park it should be nothing short of entertaining to watch.

Autumn International: Scotland vs Argentina (Sunday November 20, 1:00am HKT)
The day Bernard Foley hangs up his boots can not come soon enough for Scottish rugby fans. Just over a year since his late penalty kicked them out of the World Cup, the Wallabies flyhalf did it again, converting a late Tevita Kuridrani try to snatch Australia’s second straight one-point victory over Scotland. On the bright side, the home side did lead for the best part of 75 minutes and handful of young players had big games, not least two-try centre Huw Jones. Argentina spent the weekend in Cardiff where they hung in gamely and almost got the better of Wales. If both teams replicate those performances this weekend we should have a tough, competitive game on our hands.

[rugbypass-ad-banner id=”1475535264″]

Autumn International: Ireland vs New Zealand (Sunday November 20, 1:30am HKT)
This is it, the big match the rugby world has been waiting for for a whole two weeks. Ireland’s historic first win over the All Blacks in Chicago was achieved by a team who had a gameplan and executed it to perfection, but can they do it twice? The New Zealanders certainly won’t be taking anything for granted at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Saturday, and will probably field a significantly stronger team – first-choice locking pair Sam Whitelock and Brodie Rettalick are back and a midfield combo of Malakai Fekitoa and Anton Lienert-Brown could cause plenty of headaches. But after Chicago there’s no longer anything to fear about the black jersey for Ireland. For what feels like the first time this year we are going into an All Blacks test not feeling like we already know the result, and that is exciting.

Autumn International: France vs Australia (Sunday November 20, 4:00am HKT)
The Guy Novès revolution looked to be going pretty good for France against Samoa last weekend, although there was one big casualty in the 52-8 victory with François Trinh-Duc suffering a fractured forearm. A stauncher test will arrive this weekend in the form of a Wallabies side who will be taking nothing for granted after the only narrowly got out of jail against Scotland at Murrayfield. Last time these sides met in 2014 France came out on top 29-26 at the Stade de France, and Australia haven’t won a game in France since 2010. They should be the favourites to end that run this weekend, but it might be closer than you think.

Four Nations: Australia vs New Zealand (Sunday November 20, 10:30pm HKT)
Should we just save everyone 80 minutes and give the Four Nations trophy to Australia now? The final sure seems a mere formality after last weekend, when Australia eased past England and New Zealand blundered to an embarrassing 18-18 draw with tournament rookies Scotland. The Kangaroos are overwhelming favourites going into the weekend’s match at Anfield, but that is exactly how the Kiwis seem to like it. Their World Cup final win in 2008 and Four Nations final win in 2010 both came out of similarly hopeless situations. As long as Shaun Johnson is on the field and in a black jersey, you can’t write the New Zealanders off.