The Boar Sport Weekend Preview: 24-25 October

Shingi Mararike

Rugby World Cup Semi-Final: New Zealand v South Africa – ITV 1, Saturday, 4pm

The greatest rugby team ever assembled. That’s what they’re calling the 2015 iteration of the fearsome All Blacks, that’s what South Africa are up against. In a semi-final clash of epic proportions two of rugby’s traditional super powers go head to head at Twickenham. It doesn’t get any bigger, the stakes don’t get any higher. Reigning world champions New Zealand have proceeded to dominate world rugby since they clinched the Webb Ellis trophy at home four years ago. Their post 2011 World Cup record stands at a whooping 47 wins 2 draws and 3 defeats. Coming off the back of a quarter-final demolition of France, they go into the tournament’s final two rounds favourites to walk away champions. This is the biggest meeting between the two nations since the 1995 World Cup Final, the memory of that fateful afternoon in Johannesburg looms large. That day the Springboks managed to hold off New Zealand and seal a win in extra time. Will history repeat itself, will South Africa survive? We’ll just have to wait and see. This one is mouth watering.

The Webb Ellis Trophy, currently in New Zealand’s possession.

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Sam Nugent

Premier League Football: Manchester United v Manchester City- Sky Sports 1, Sunday 2pm 

Since 2008, the Manchester Derby has been able to boast the level of football that its billing always promised. Seven years on from the day the noisy neighbours struck oil, the blue side of Manchester has certainly caught up with, and some would say overtaken, the historically superior red. From Kompany’s title-deciding header to Rooney’s spectacular overhead kick, these games now invariably produce something special each time the titans collide and this weekend should be no different. As title favourites, City face a trip to Old Trafford without star players David Silva and Sergio Aguero, United seem to have found a new potential talisman in young Antony Martial. Far from the panic buy many expected from a wet-panted Ed Woodward, the Frenchman has shown power, poise and pace in the face of tremendous pressure. However, City new boy ‘King’ Kevin de Bruyne isn’t having many problems adjusting to life in Lancashire either, having been directly involved in over a goal a game since his arrival. Which of these newly emerged giants of Mancunian football comes out on top remains to be seen, but one thing’s for sure: it’s going to be a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

The vicious cross city rivalry as embodied by two pot bellies.