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Catch up on the best of the weekend’s games on Rugby Pass, including tries galore in the Aviva Premiership, a close encounter with the Ranfurly Shield and an unlikely comeback in the Super League.
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NRL: Cowboys 26-20 Broncos
Watch: Full Game | Condensed
The Queensland derby produced yet another spectacular game of rugby league on Friday night. For the third time in four matches dating back to last year’s Grand Final the Cowboys and Broncos were inseperable after a late Johnathan Thurston penalty tied scores at 20-20. New extra time rules in place for the playoffs meant instead of the field goal frenzy of golden point the teams played five minutes either way. The deadlock was broken when – who else? – Johnathan Thurston produced a moment of brilliance to set up a try and lead his Cowboys to a Preliminary Final date with the Sharks next week.
Aviva Premiership: Bath 37-22 Worcester
Watch: Full Game | Condensed
English rugby traditionalists will be fair spewing at the gratuitous number of tries scored in the Premiership this weekend. Wasps scored ten in their 70-22 demolition of Bristol at Ricoh Arena on Sunday to come within a point of breaking their own competition points record. Saturday’s match between Bath and Worcester at the Rec only saw seven tries, as Bath overturned a 6-17 halftime deficit to win 37-22 and keep their promising start to the season rolling. Last year’s 9th placed side are now 3-from-3 to start the season, joint top of the table with Saracens and Wasps.
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Mitre 10 Cup: Waikato 20-20 Taranaki
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Any New Zealander will tell you there are few things better than a good Ranfurly Shield battle and that’s what we got on Sunday afternoon at Waikato Stadium. The match turned on a late tackle by Taranaki’s Seta Tamanivalu which saw a potential match-winning try ruled out and the All Black centre sent to the sin bin. Waikato made their man advantage pay with a late penalty to tie the game at 20-20 and secure the old Log o’ Wood – for another ten days at least. They host Canterbury on the 28th.
Super League: Warrington 28-35 Wigan
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Wolves led 28-14 and had one hand on the League Leaders’ Shield when Wigan’s Ben Flower was red carded for a late tackle in the 56th minute. The next 24 minutes saw 12-man Wigan run in four unanswered tries in one of the unlikeliest comebacks the Super League has ever seen. The League Leaders’ Shield will now be decided when Wolves play Hull FC in the final round next week.
Top 14: Racing 92 41-30 Toulon
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Racing 92 remain unbeaten at home this season after beating Toulon in a high-scoring affair on Sunday. Winger Juan Imhoff scored a hat trick and centre Casey Laulala a brace of tries as Racing 92 played their glamour rival off the park. A bad day for Toulon, who lost experienced Ma’a Nonu to a sickening head clash, and while two tries in the final ten minutes restored some respectability to the scoreboard, embattled coach Diego Dominguez could well find his head back on the chopping block this week.
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
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