1
This week's biggest matches to watch on Rugby Pass
By RugbyPass
No Six Nations, no worries – between the Top 14 and Premiership, Super Rugby and the return of the NRL, there’s more than enough oval ball to watch this weekend.
ADVERTISEMENT
Super Rugby: Chiefs vs Blues (Friday March 3, 2:35pm HKT)
All eyes will be on this match come Friday as Super Rugby fans continue to test the unlikely theory: are the Blues actually good this year? Round 1 was inconclusive – sure they beat the Rebels 56-18 and looked pretty good in doing so, but until we see them play a fellow New Zealand conference side we just can’t know for sure. Enter the Chiefs, whose own season got off to a decent enough start with a hoodoo-breaking win over the Highlanders down in Dunedin. More than a few questions look set to be answered in Hamilton on Friday night and whatever the outcome we should see some exciting footy along the way.
NRL: Titans vs Roosters (Saturday March 4, 6:00pm HKT)
If the good folks at the NRL know anything it’s how to schedule a footy competition. Round 1 has mouthwatering matchups across the board – take your pick from Sharks vs Broncs on Thursday night, Bulldogs hosting the Storm on Friday, or the huge Cowboys vs Raiders clash on Saturday. One low-key intriguing matchup pits the Titans against the Roosters, both sides tipped for big seasons who’ll want to get off on the right foot. The Titans’ young talent looked exciting in the back end of last season and with a full preseason behind Jarryd Hayne we could be in for some fireworks. But the Roosters showed at the Auckland Nines, they’re not to be taken lightly.
Top 14: Castres Olympique vs Clermont (Saturday March 4, 9.45pm HKT)
Two of the Top 14’s best attacks – and defences for that matter – meet in a fourth-versus-first encounter of the epic kind. A trip to the southwestern town of Castres is tough for any side – even free-scoring top-of-the-table Clermont, whose victory at Stade Pierre Antoine last season was their first in 40 years and 22 visits, and only their third since 1960. Clermont’s challenge, which they have to accept whether they like it or not, has been made all the more difficult as they have been shorn of seven players to Six Nations duty.
[rugbypass-ad-banner id=”1485479950″]
Aviva Premiership: Bath vs Wasps (Saturday, March 4, 11:00pm HKT)
Another league, another fourth-versus-first meeting as Bath entertain Wasps at the Rec in the Aviva Premiership. And it’s another encounter in which something has to give. The hosts have lost just one game at home since April 2016, while Wasps have won seven of their last eight games on the bounce … and have won four of the last five meetings between the two sides. More pressingly for the hosts, however, is the fact their hold on fourth place and the final play-off spot is perhaps best described as precarious – fifth-placed Leicester are breathing down their necks.
Aviva Premiership: Worcester Warriors vs Bristol (Sunday March 5, 11:00pm HKT)
This relegation dogfight got real for Worcester last week after Bristol beat Westcountry rivals Bath thanks to the boot of the perma-tanned Gavin Henson. That victory was only Bristol’s third in the Aviva Premiership this season and their first under new consultant Alan Solomons, but it coincided with Worcester’s 11th defeat of the campaign – and moved today’s bottom-of-the-table visitors to within just two points of their hosts. Tense much at Sixways this weekend?
Top 14: Toulouse vs La Rochelle (Monday March 6, 12:00am HKT)
One of two late, late matches in the French Top 14 this weekend pits one of the league’s traditional giants against the new kids on the block. Toulouse may have much more silverware and a prouder history than their rivals from the Atlantic coast, but reputation means nothing to La Rochelle this season. The visitors have lost only four of their 18 Top 14 matches this season to sit in second behind Clermont on points difference only. For eighth-placed Toulouse, the unthinkable could be on the cards – with eight weeks remaining and tough trips to Brive, Bordeaux, Toulon and Castres to come, they could fail to finish in the top six. Out of the play-offs and out of next season’s Champions Cup. Make no mistake, this match matters to Toulouse.
ADVERTISEMENT
