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This Week's Biggest Matches on Rugby Pass
By RugbyPass
We preview the best matches to catch on Rugby Pass this weekend as the Champions Cup presents all the same match-ups as last week but at different venues.
Champions Cup: Glasgow vs Racing 92 (Saturday December 17, 3:45am HKT)
If you need any more proof that the world has completely flipped on its head in 2016 just look at Champions Cup Pool 1. Pro12 battlers Munster and Glasgow top the table while Premiership heavyweight Leicester languish below. Then there’s last season’s finalists and Top 14 champions Racing 92, who have yet to register a solitary point following their surprise loss to Glasgow in Paris last weekend. Even with a game in hand, their playoff chances seem cooked; they need to take all five points on offer in Glasgow this weekend.
Champions Cup: Leicester vs Munster (Saturday December 17, 11:15pm)
Two games played, ten points in the bag – Muster are making the Champions Cup look easy so far this season. That was all achieved at Thomond Park, though; this weekend they will have to show what they can do away from home when they travel over to Welford Road. After last weekend’s 38-0 thumping they should feel pretty confident they can handle Leicester on any rugby ground in the world, but this will be a vastly different game with Leicester will be determined to right their many wrongs from last weekend. In a group which has confounded all expectations, this match has plenty riding on it.
Champions Cup: Connacht vs Wasps (Sunday December 18, 1:30am HKT)
Pool 2 has a good chance of harbouring one of the three highest-scoring second-place teams to progress to the playoffs on account of Zebre seemingly being an easy five points for anyone who plays them this season. Of the three other teams Wasps look the safe bet to top the pool, but Connacht and Toulouse aren’t far behind. This weekend’s match at Galway Sportsgrounds should see the home side give Wasps a good run for their money; it should be a lot closer than last weekend, when Wasps celebrated the long-awaited arrival of Kurtley Beale with a fairly comfortable 32-17 win at Ricoh Arena.
Champions Cup: Clermont vs Ulster (Sunday December 18, 11:05pm HKT)
Last weekend’s match in Belfast was the game of the tournament so far – nine tries, seven lead changes, and a well-deserved five points for Ulster. But can they do it again at Clermont’s fortress Stade Marcel-Michelin? The odds will be heavily stacked in favour of the home side, whose position at the top of the Top 14 table is built on a solid strategy of never losing at home. They still have a firm grip at the top of Pool 5, and a win here would all but see them through to the playoffs. After the quality on show last week this should be a fun game to watch regardless of the outcome.
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Latest Comments
A few comments. Firstly, I am a Bok fan and it's been a golden period for us. I hope my fellow Bok fans appreciate this time and know that it cannot last forever, so soak it all in!
The other thing to mention (and this is targeted at Welsh, English and even Aussie supporters who might be feeling somewhat dejected) is that it's easy to forget that just before Rassie Erasmus took over in 2018, the Boks were ranked 7th in the world and I had given up hope we'd ever be world beaters again.
Sport is a fickle thing and Rassie and his team have managed to get right whatever little things it takes to make a mediocre team great. I initially worried his methods might be short-lived (how many times can you raise a person's commitment by talking about his family and his love of his country as a motivator), but he seems to have found a way. After winning in 2019 on what was a very simple game plan, he has taken things up ever year - amazing work which has to be applauded! (Dankie Rassie! Ons wardeer wat jy vir die ondersteuners en die land doen!) (Google translate if you don't understand Afrikaans! 😁)
I don't think people outside South Africa fully comprehend the enormity of the impact seeing black and white, English, Afrikaans and Xhosa and all the other hues playing together does for the country's sense of unity. It's pure joy and happiness.
This autumn tour has been a bit frustrating in that the Boks have won, but never all that convincingly. On the one hand, I'd like to have seen more decisive victories, BUT what Rassie has done is expose a huge number of players to test rugby, whilst also diversifying the way the Boks play (Tony Brown's influence).
This change of both style and personnel has resulted in a lack of cohesion at times and we've lost some of the control, whereas had we been playing our more traditional style, that wouldn't happen. This is partially attributable to the fact that you cannot play Tony Brown's expansive game whilst also having 3 players available at every contact point to clear the defence off the ball. I have enjoyed seeing the Boks play a more exciting, less attritional game, which is a boring, albeit effective spectacle. So, I am happy to be patient, because the end justifies the means (and I trust Rassie!). Hopefully all these players we are blooding will give us incredible options for substitutions come next year's Rugby Championship and of course, the big prize in 2027.
Last point! The game of rugby has never been as exciting as it is now. Any of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Argentina, Scotland, England & Australia can beat one another. South Africa may be ranked #1, but I wouldn't bet my house in them beating France or New Zealand, and we saw Argentina beating both South Africa and New Zealand this year! That's wonderful for the game and makes the victories we do get all the sweeter. Each win is 100% earned. Long may it last!
Sorry for the long post! 🏉🌍
Go to commentsWouldn’t mind seeing that grounding in slow mo there. Too much to ask?
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