This Week's Biggest Matches On Rugby Pass

We preview the best matches to catch on Rugby Pass this weekend, including Wasps looking for their first win at Welford Road in eight years, a pressure game for Toulon, the battle for The Rugby Championship wooden spoon and NRL FINALS FOOTY(!!!!).

NRL: Raiders vs Sharks (Saturday September 10, 3:35pm HKT)
Finals footy is finally here, and Saturday offers a double-header made in rugby league heaven. The first match sees the Sharks travel to Canberra to face the surging Raiders at their GIO Stadium fortress. It seems a long time ago that the Sharks were on their 15-game unbeaten streak – they lost 4 of their last 5 games to end the regular season third on the table, including a 26-6 hiding from the Storm in the Minor Premiership decider last week. The Raiders brought up their own 10-match winning streak with a 52-10 demolition of the Tigers, reinforcing their credentials as the best attacking team in the comp. On form the Raiders win this by 20 points, but this is Finals footy – strange things can happen under pressure.

TRC: New Zealand vs Argentina (Saturday September 10, 3:35pm HKT)
The Rugby Championship is back after a week off and to everyone’s relief there are some different match-ups to sink our teeth into. The All Blacks’ last test against the Wallabies was, if we’re honest, a bit of a stinker – an ill-tempered affair littered with scrum resets and penalties. They will be motivated to put in a tidier performance against Los Pumas in Hamilton; for their part, the Argentinians will be boosted by their win over the Springboks in Salta two weeks ago and should fancy themselves a chance of a massive upset. As always, it will be up to their forward pack to slow down and frustrate the home side – if Los Pumas have a good day the result could be a lot closer than many are picking.

TRC: Australia vs South Africa (Saturday September 10, 6:05pm HKT)
The two losers from Round 2 of The Rugby Championship meet in the weekend’s second game at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. Australia’s international losing streak now stretches back a full calendar year, starting with the World Cup final 11 months ago. After a series whitewash to England and a brace of defeats to the All Blacks, the Springboks represent their best shot at ending the streak at a half dozen. The South Africans are struggling this year too – they came perilously close to losing a home series to an understrength Ireland in June, and suffered a late loss in Argentina two weeks ago. Prediction: whoever comes out on the wrong side of this one gets the wooden spoon in The Rugby Championship this year.

Aviva Premiership: Leicester vs Wasps (Saturday September 10, 10:00pm HKT)
Big things are expected from Tigers and Wasps this season and both clubs got their Aviva Premiership seasons off to a winning start in Round 1. Leicester did it the hard way, overturning a 24-point deficit in the second half at Gloucester. They are back at Welford Road this weekend, where they host a Wasps side who also had to come from behind last weekend. Dai Young’s side trailed 8-20 to Chiefs early in the second half at Ricoh Arena before a couple of tries and the assured boot of Jimmy Gopperth saw them home to a 25-20 win. As always home advantage means Tigers go into this as favourites – last time Wasps won at Welford Road was back in 2008.

Top 14: Toulouse vs Toulon (Sunday September 11, 10:15pm HKT)
French glamour side Toulon’s season has not started how they would have anticipated. After three rounds the only win they have to their name is a 22-18 victory at Pau in Round 2 – either side of that result are losses to Bayonne and Brive. Another loss this early in the season will go down approximately as well a cup of cold sick at the club, and there’s a sense of urgency about this weekend’s visit to Toulouse. Getting a win at Stade Ernest-Wallon won’t be easy, though – Toulouse have had a bright start to the season, winning both their opening home games against Montpellier and Bordeaux before a 28-14 loss at Racing 92 last weekend brought them back down to earth.