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We preview the best matches to catch on Rugby Pass this week.
Super Rugby: Hurricanes vs Highlanders (Friday May 27, 3:35pm HKT)
The last round before Super Rugby presses pause for a month promises to be a cracker, with the marquee game being this rematch of the 2015 final at Westpac Stadium. In a stroke of scheduling genius both sides had the bye last week, so everyone should be primed for a crucial battle in the context of the tight New Zealand conference. Both sides have near-identical season records, and their Round 2 match, which the Highlanders won 17-16 in Dunedin, suggests there’s still very little separating them on the field.
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NRL: Dragons vs Cowboys (Saturday May 28, 5:30pm HKT)
With State of Origin looming on Wednesday, an abridged Round 12 of the NRL (only four games this week) throws up some interesting match-ups. The Cowboys, with five Origin reps sitting out, head to Sydney as surprise underdogs in their clash with the Dragons. Their win over the Broncos last weekend was the third match in a row between those teams to be decided by a single point, and they looked out on their feet in the final ten minutes. The Dragons will be relatively fresh after playing the Thursday night game last week, and only lose two players to Origin duties. Even so, will that be enough for them to conquer an understrength Cowboys?
Aviva Premiership: Saracens vs Chiefs (Saturday May 28, 10:00pm HKT)
Saracens made light work of Tigers in their Aviva Premiership semifinal last week, running out 44-17 winners to give themselves every chance of achieving the Champions Cup / Premiership double, and become the first back-to-back Premiership winners since Tigers in 2010. They are on a seemingly unstoppable run and head to Twickenham as short-odds favourites to beat Chiefs, who held off Wasps for the second time this month in the other semifinal. You have to go back more than a year to find the last time they beat Saracens – both encounters this season have been won by the London club, and it will take something special from Chiefs to stop it from happening again.
Top 14: Bordeaux vs Brive (Sunday May 29, 12:30am HKT)
There’s a scramble in the middle of the Top 14 table with two rounds to go until the playoffs, and these two sides are right in the thick of it. Sitting 7th and 8th on the table respectively, they’re just outside the top six who will progress to the playoffs. Bordeaux will at least qualify for the Champions Cup if they retain 7th, but with only a point separating them from 6th place Castres they’ll have their eye firmly on the playoffs. But Brive arrive on the back of a big win over Grenoble last weekend, and could pinch Bordeaux’s Champions Cup spot with another victory this weekend.
International: England vs Wales (Sunday May 29, 10:00pm HKT)
The inaugural edition of the Old Mutual Wealth Cup kicks off at Twickenham on Sunday. The prestigious-sounding trophy might not inspire quite the same intensity of England and Wales’ previous encounters in the World Cup and Six Nations, but at the very least it’s valuable game time for both sides to get their acts together before they embark on their respective tours to Australia and New Zealand.
