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Toulon are European Rugby Champions Cup holders and boast a star-studded stable of international players. Photo: AP
SportRugby

Cream of Super 15 and European rugby ‘to clash in Hong Kong’

New Zealand’s Highlanders set to face French giants Toulon in February 2016 exhibition match

Super Rugby 2016
Reuters
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The Super Rugby-winning Highlanders are set to take on European Rugby Champions Cup holders Toulon in Hong Kong early next year, the French Top 14 club announced on Wednesday.

The match, which is an agreement in principle at this stage, would be played on February 6, shortly before the 2016 Super Rugby season begins.

It would also coincide with the first weekend of the 2016 Six Nations Championship.

The two clubs "have reached an agreement to organise" the game with organisers SL Events "in charge of obtaining all the authorisation needed from World Rugby".
Toulouse and Racing 92 fought out a hugely entertaining exhibition game at Aberdeen Stadium in 2013. Photo: Edward Wong/SCMP
It will be the first time a European side have returned to the city since Toulouse clashed with Top 14 rivals Racing 92 in a privately organised exhibition game in 2013.
Then the clubs competed for the inaugural Natixis Cup at Aberdeen Stadium and engaged in a week-long "festival of French rugby", which included school visits and coaching clinics.

Toulouse prevailed 19-12 in a blood-and-thunder clash. The event was a huge success and organisers had promised more.

“It’s a significant opportunity and it would be the first time the Highlanders have matched up against a European side,” European rugby administrator Roger Clark said in a statement on Thursday.
Part of the "festival of French rugby" in 2013 included open training sessions and coaching clinics. Photo: AP
“It’s fair to say the coaching group are excited by the prospect. While there are still a number of operational and compliance issues to work through we do have agreement in principle.”

The Highlanders captured their first Super Rugby title in July, beating the Hurricanes 21-14, while Toulon won their third successive Euro title with a 24-18 victory over Clermont Auvergne in May.

Plans for similar matches between the southern and northern hemisphere club champions over the last two years have fallen through.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Showdown of rugby giants in Hong Kong
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