Friday 5 September 2014 09:00, UK
We look ahead at all 13 rugby clashes coming to you live on Sky Sports this weekend
This week Sky Sports brings you a bumper weekend full of action from five different competitions from across the world of rugby.
Our ITM Cup coverage gets underway with the clash between Tasman and Waikato on Friday morning. A win for Tasman would see them top the table while Waikato will be looking to continue their impressive form away from home after confidently beating a strong Wellington outfit 37-22 in the opening round of the competition.
Our second game between Northland and Hawkes Bay follows immediately thereafter with both teams in desperate need of a win. The ITM Cup Championship table is already quite congested, with teams winning and losing in equal amounts. Can either of these two teams mount a charge for league domination?
Tasman v Waikato, live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Friday from 7am
Northland v Hawkes Bay, live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Friday from 9am
The All Blacks host Argentina in the first of our highly-anticipated Rugby Championship clashes. Both teams’ sets of forwards managed to dominate their counterparts in the opening two rounds of competition, so expect the clash up front to dictate proceedings in the initial exchanges of this encounter. Argentina have shown remarkable improvements in the way they’ve played their rugby this season and have matured from a one-dimensional side into a team able to attack threateningly from all corners of the field. New Zealand will look to continue their stranglehold on the IRB rankings with another clinical display in Napier, and will be incredibly wary of the threat up front from a fired up Argentine pack. Have the Pumas improved enough to become only the second team to defeat the All Blacks since the 2011 World Cup? Beauden Barrett runs on in the fly-half role and Israel Dagg has his chance to impress with a rare start after being pushed out of the starting XV by the in-form Ben Smith.
Our second game sees Australia take on the Springboks in the wake of a record defeat to the All Blacks in Round Two of the competition. Ewen McKenzie’s men will be hurting from the Trans-Tasman thrashing they suffered at Eden Park on Saturday but they have no time to recover as they host the next-best team in the world this weekend. South Africa have struggled to hit their best form and will need to win this game if they have any hope of laying claim to the Rugby Championship trophy this year. Traditionally this fixture is decided by either the Australian backs or the South African forwards, but the Bok pack was shoved around by Argentina and it was their backline who had to get them out of jail last weekend so expect the Springbok backs to play with renewed confidence while the Wallaby forwards try to obtain some rare dominance over South Africa. There are host of exciting head-to-heads in the Perth match, including Israel Folau taking on Willie le Roux and Adam Ashley-Cooper up against Bryan Habana in his 100th Test Match for South Africa.
New Zealand v Argentina, live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Saturday from 8am
Australia v South Africa, live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Saturday from 10.30am
We bring you four Currie Cup encounters, starting with the return match between Western Province and the Eastern Province Kings on Friday night as well as Mpumalanga’s visit to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon. The fortunes of our Friday teams are on opposite sides of the scale this season. While Western Province remain the only unbeaten team in this year’s Currie Cup, the Kings have yet to register a victory. Can they turn their season around in Cape Town?
The Pumas pulled off an impressive win last weekend against this year’s defending champions the Sharks, and will be looking to capitalise on Free State’s shaky start to the 2014 campaign. Later on Saturday the Sharks will be hoping to get their title hopes on track when the host the Griquas in Durban. Our final match see the Golden Lions – this year’s surprise package - travel to Pretoria determined to repeat their 41-13 thrashing of the Bulls in the reverse of this fixture earlier in the season. Johan Ackerman’s men have impressed with their unity and though the season is young, they look like genuine contenders for a place in the semi-finals in October.
Western Province v Easter Province, live on Sky Sports 2 (Red Button) on Friday from 6.10pm
Cheetahs v Pumas, live on Sky Sports 1 (Red Button) on Saturday from 2pm
Sharks v Griquas, live on Sky Sports 4 HD on Saturday from 4pm
Blue Bulls v Lions, live on Sky Sports 1 (Red Button) on Saturday from 6.10pm
The Guinness Pro12 finally gets underway after weeks of speculation, excitement and pre-season build up. First up we bring you the highly anticipated showdown between last season’s quarter finalists Ulster and Welsh powerhouse Scarlets on Saturday. Both teams are packed full of international stars from all over the globe. Ulster made the quarter-final of last year’s Heineken Cup and the semi-final of the Pro12, and no doubt will be looking to better that this season. Scarlets, on the other hand, are in possession of a young team with big hopes; their youthful stocks are genuine contenders for international rugby at the end of the year, and will be using highly-contested European rugby to prove their worth.
Our second Guinness Pro12 encounter is a repeat of last year’s final which was won by Leinster. This time instead of relying on home advantage they will be traveling to Glasgow to take on a team full of determination to prove they’re better than the May’s final score-line suggested. Glasgow have up until recently played second fiddle to neighbours Edinburgh in Scottish rugby stakes, but these days they are deserving of their talks of title contention. Eager to show that last season was far from a fluke, beating Gregor Townsend’s troops will be a difficult task for the visiting Irishmen.
We head to France on Friday night to bring you Top 14 action when we bring you a replay of last season’s Top 14 semi-final. In May an ambitious Castres team travelled to Montpellier and defeated them to advance to the final against Toulon. Falling at the penultimate hurdle hurts teams but what will have stung even more for Montpellier was the fact that they lost in front of their home support. This weekend they have a chance to reclaim bragging rights over Castres as well as regain the faith of their supporters.
Our Saturday rugby action is rounded up with a Bordeaux-Begles visit to Toulon. Though it’s defending champions against new arrivals, anyone who predicts easy wins in the French league does so at their peril. The new boys on the block will be keen to earn their stripes by toppling a giant in the form of big-spending Toulon, who are embarking on their first season without Jonny Wilkinson. That’s not to say that there will be a shortage of stars on show in the south of France – the European champions will want to show that their double last season was more than a one-man effort.
We round up our bumper weekend of rugby action with the English Championship encounter between promotion hopefuls Bristol and Worcester. Bristol made it all the way to the promotion playoff last season before agonising home and away losses to eventual Premiership additions London Welsh. Ambitious coach Andy Robinson was widely tipped to make the leap at the end of last season and will not be happy with the reality of waiting another year for top flight rugby. But in order to get there they first have to win their regular season games, and this match-up with a resiliant Worcester team will prove costly if they don't take it seriously. On the other hand, do Worcester have the personnel to execute an upset?
Bristol v Worcester, live on Sky Sports 3 HD on Sunday from 2.30pm
