What To Expect From The Last Weekend of the 2018 June Tests
- 3708
The final weekend of June Test rugby is a lineup of mouth-watering encounters that could persuade any rugby fanatic to either stay in all day on Saturday or spend the day at their favourite bar.
The High Flying Fijians face off against Tonga
The weekend kicks off with a Pacific Islands' clash that will see recently crowned Pacific Nations Cup Champions, Fiji, face off against Tonga.
Fiji edged Samoa 24-22 before dispatching Georgia 37-15 on their way to the title.
In doing so Fiji ended Georgia's 7 match unbeaten run and are yet to lose a test since facing Ireland in November last year.
The Fijians head into the match without Semi Radradra, who was extremely impressive on debut, and will be wary of strong Tonga side who narrowly lost to Georgia before beating Samoa last week.
Clash of Tier 2 Big Guns
Georgia will be licking their wounds following a second-half Fijian blitz last weekend and will front up against a spirited Japanese side.
Japan claimed a Tier 1 scalp just two weeks ago beating Italy 34-17 before going down to the Italians 22-25.
Japan will feel fairly confident heading into the match while Georgia will look to make a statement after their 7 match unbeaten run came to an end.
An Entertaining Dead Rubber?
New Zealand and France face off in a dead rubber at Forsyth Barr after the All Blacks sealed the Series win last weekend.
The test provides a fantastic opportunity for a number of All Blacks to stamp their mark on test rugby, while France will look to end their long season on a high before taking a much-needed break.
The game is set to take place under the Forsyth Barr roof and one can expect a fantastic attacking game of rugby.
The Weekend's Headliner
The match of the weekend will be a Series decider between Australia and Ireland.
Ireland go in search of their maiden Series Down Under.
Australia will be up against it with star halfback Will Genia ruled out of the fixture, while Ireland looked much stronger with Jonny Sexton running the show in the second test.
Joe Schmidt has made a number of changes due to his side's injuries and will be wary of the threat Michael Chieka's side possess.
A Sentimental Dead Rubber
Reports from South Africa suggest that this could be the final test match at the renowned Newlands Stadium.
One of the oldest test stadiums in South Africa will host its 54th test match on Saturday.
Both coaches have picked flyhalves that have points to prove in the test arena and will look to do so in weather that historically doesn't suit them.
The Springboks will be looking to give Newlands a good send off while England will want to avoid equalling their record for the most consecutive losses (7) in their history.
The Soaring Eagles against the wounded Canucks
USA and Canada will face off for the 60th time this weekend.
Historically Canada has been the more dominant side winning 38 of those 60 encounters but more recently America has won seven of the last eight encounters between the two sides.
Gary Gold's men will be confident after a historic win over Scotland last weekend and have won all 7 of their matches in 2018.
Canada have had contrasting form this year securing just two wins over Russia and Brazil.
The Canadians will be looking to end their poor run of form with the World Cup Qualification coming up and there is no better side to do against than their North American rivals.
Hourcade's Final Test
Daniel Hourcade's reign as the Los Pumas head coach will come to an end this weekend against Scotland.
Hourcade will hope to go out on a high after winning just two of his last 17 matches in charge of Argentina.
It will not come easily for Hourcade as his side faces off against a Scottish side looking to redeem themselves following their narrow loss to USA.
