Kiwi trio seal spots in Super top six
ONE round of Super Rugby’s regular season remains and the tricky task of calculating which teams may meet in the playoffs has already begun.
The Hurricanes, courtesy of their 56-20 shellacking of the Highlanders in Napier on Friday night have won the minor premiership and are guaranteed a home semifinal regardless of the result against the Chiefs in New Plymouth next weekend.
That means the Wellington-based side, who haven’t qualified for the postseason since 2009, are guaranteed a weekend’s leave before hosting the semi on the final weekend in June.
This is not great news for the Chiefs and Highlanders.
They have no chance of securing the coveted No 2 spot on the log – and that means there is no way they can be granted a weekend’s leave pass to rehabilitate their battered bodies before possibly hosting a semi.
Under the Sanzar competition rules the next two spots are reserved for the conference winners from South Africa and Australia.
With just two points separating the Waratahs, Stormers and Brumbies, these teams will do everything they can to win their respective matches against the Reds, Sharks and Crusaders next weekend to earn the right to skip the ‘‘quarterfinal round’’ and automatically qualify for a semifinal.
If the competition standings were to remain the same after next weekend’s games, the Hurricanes and Waratahs would earn the right to sit on the couch to watch the Stormers play the Brumbies in Cape Town and the Chiefs face the Highlanders in Hamilton.
The Chiefs secured the their place in the playoffs with a 24-3 win over the Reds in Brisbane. Hours later the Waratahs – assisted by fullback Israel Folau scoring a hat-trick of tries – thumped the Cheetahs 58-33 to give themselves a shot at defending their crown and, in the process, knocked the Crusaders out of the title race.
The death of Jerry Collins and his wife Alana Madill in a car accident in France rocked the rugby world and Chiefs captain Liam Messam said the former All Blacks tough nut was in his players’ thoughts as they ran out onto Suncorp Stadium.
‘‘We tried to honour him as best we could,’’ Chiefs captain Liam Messam said.
‘‘The way he played defence was the way we played tonight.’’
Collins’ former All Blacks teammates Conrad Smith and Richie McCaw also expressed their shock following their matches.
Flanker David Pocock snared a hattrick of tries, two off the back of rolling mauls, during the Brumbies’ 33-20 win over the Force in Perth.
Once again a match was marred by a controversial TMO call, this time by Australian Ian Smith who refused to award the Bulls a try in their 21-20 loss to the Rebels in Melbourne.
Bulls midfielder Burger Odendaal crashed over the line for what looked like a legitimate touchdown but Smith ruled it out – much to the South Africans’ annoyance.
The Stormers’ 19-all draw with the Lions in Cape Town gave the men from the Western Cape an unassailable lead in the South African conference, and they will be the Republic’s sole representatives in the finals.