Rugby

Super Rugby, today 5pm, 7.15pm, 9.40pm; tomorrow 2am, 4.10am, 6.25am; Thursday 11.25pm; Friday 7pm. Six Nations, tomorrow 3.15am/ 5.40am; Monday 3.50am.

When the final whistle is blown in tomorrow’s Stormers v Bulls battle at Newlands, all 18 Super teams will have strutted their stuff. Will the fans be any the wiser? Who knows, but at least the first round will be done and dusted and the new- look rosters will have been on show. There’s more interest this weekend, after Thursday’s opener, as the defending champion Hurricanes journey to Tokyo for what should be a romp over the Sunwolves. The Crusaders then begin their campaign at home to the Brumbies, who are seen as perhaps the middle of the pack among the five Australian teams. Today’s triple- header ends with the Waratahs in Sydney playing the Force. In the first of three games in the wee hours in the Republic tomorrow, the Lions, beaten finalists last year, are in Bloemfontein to play the Cheetahs, who won only four games last year. The Kings then host the Jaguares, before the Stormers and Bulls complete the opening round in Cape Town. In Six Nations action, forget England v Italy but there’s a couple of goodies tomorrow, as Scotland host Wales and France play Ireland in Dublin.