Early peek at weekend internationals

Yours Truly is off to the lakes of northern Ontario early Friday morning for weekend wilderness hijinks, beyond range of cell-phones and other electronic media. Shame, 'cos there's a pantload of international rugby action happening and I'll miss all of it ~ at least 'til Tuesday when I'll sit down for a long afternoon of replays. Until then I'll be keeping my fingers poked tightly in my ears. No spoilers, please!

Rugby Planet ordinarily has their match previews online morning-to-midday Friday, so be sure to check out their main page for starting line-ups, kick-off times, predictions and all the other pertinent details of Saturdays' major test match action.

Here's the live online broadcast schedule ~ ALL MATCHES ON SATURDAY, JUNE 2nd ~ all times EDT (Toronto, New York):

New Zealand All Blacks vs. France
Mediazone Rugby Channel
LIVE kick-off : 03:35 AM ET

Australia Wallabies vs. Wales
Mediazone Rugby Channel
LIVE kick-off : 06:00 AM ET

South Africa Springboks vs. England
Mediazone Rugby Channel
LIVE kick-off : 09:00 AM ET

Churchill BOWL Final (5th/6th place play-off final)
USA vs. Canada, 11:30
Setanta Sports North America (Broadband 2)
LIVE kick-off : 06:30 AM ET

Churchill Cup CONSOLATION (3rd/4th place play-off final)
Ireland 'A' vs. Scotland 'A'
Setanta Sports North America (Broadband 2)
LIVE kick-off : 08:30 AM ET

Churchill Cup CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
England Saxons vs. New Zealand Maori
Setanta Sports North America (Broadband 1)
LIVE kick-off : 11:30 AM ET

Argentina Pumas vs. Ireland
WARNING! Setanta Sports has this test listed at 17:00 ET (5:00 PM ET) on Broadband 1, but does not list it as live, and does not specify if it's Test #2 or a taped replay of last weekends' First Test nailbiter won by Argentina. Caveat emptor!

*Reminder: Mediazone Rugby Channel and Setanta Sports both require registration!

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