Parties can wait for Super title hopefuls

The Super Rugby end-of-season parties are about to spark up.

Silly dress codes, a boombox blaring out Sweet Caroline and maybe, later in the night, some rapscallion will jig around the dance floor with a lampshade on his head. All the faves, sorrows to be drowned.

Just 80 more minutes of footy before the Sunwolves, Blues, Reds, Bulls and Stormers drop the blade on their season. They won’t be alone, either.

1 Ten doesn’t go into eight. Which teams are most at risk of missing the cut for the quarterfinals?

The Brumbies and Sharks. They need wins, in Sydney and Durban respectively, and also require other results to go their way. Both should be desperate. And to be honest, the Brumbies’ chances seem remote. If your social calendar isn’t busy, you could do worse than to tune into these games. A couple of feisty contests are guaranteed.

The Rebels are also pirouetting on thin ice. They must beat the Highlanders in Dunedin to drag themselves into the safe zone, without having to rely on other results.

2 You could power through a packet of wine gums while discussing possible permutations. Yawn. Let’s cut to the chase. Here’s what we think the likely quarterfinal games will be.

QF 1: Crusaders (1) to host the Rebels in Christchurch (8). QF2: Waratahs (2) v Jaguares in Sydney (7). QF3: Lions (3) v Highlanders (6) in Johannesburg. QF 4: Hurricanes (4) v Chiefs (5) in Wellington.

3 So the Hurricanes will play the Chiefs two weeks in a row?

Indeed. Looks like that quarterfinal will be in Wellington. At stake is the top wild card spot outside the three conference winners, and the Canes are five points ahead of the Chiefs.

Which means the Crusaders will probably play either one of those Kiwi teams in the semifinal in a fortnight’s time.

4 Messi, Aguero and the rest of the Argentina football team fell on their faces at the Fifa World Cup in Russia. Can the Jaguares direct a few rays of sunshine into their countrymen and women’s hearts by doing something special in their first appearance in the playoffs?

The Jaguares could get as far as the semis, which would be better than what Messi and co did up north.

If the Jaguares beat the Sharks on Sunday morning, and the Lions lose to the Bulls, the South Americans will host a quarterfinal in Buenos Aires. If they win that, quite possible given their impressive record at home this season, they would likely advance to a semi in New Zealand against either the Chiefs or the Hurricanes. That’s a toughie.

5 The Crusaders are hot faves for the title, but anyone else worth keeping an eye on? Watch out for the Waratahs. If they finish second overall by beating the Brumbies, and in doing so claim a cleansweep of their Australian counterparts, they are guaranteed a home berth in the quarters and semis (if they get that far). And, possibly, the final if the Crusaders were to spin out of title contention.

Sanzaar rules state that the winner of QF3 hosts the winner of QF4 in the semi. The Waratahs could meet the Lions or the Highlanders, both would have to travel if their quarterfinal was in Jo’burg, in Sydney. There’s no place like home in the playoffs. Things, so far, have turned out OK for the Tahs.