Super Rugby will go right down to the wire in 2015 as the battle for conference honours and the remaining three playoff spots was taken to a whole new level in Round 11.
Home victories were the order of the day in six of the seven matches played.
On Friday the Chiefs won 35-27 against a gutsy Force outfit at the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton in a game where the Chiefs threatened to break loose plenty of times but they were held in check by some gritty defence by the Force.
The Chiefs were also aided when Force scrumhalf Ian Prior got his marching orders for a wreckless and ugly tip-tackle after 29 minutes. The Chiefs held onto second place in the New Zealand Conference and fourth place on the overall log with 37 points after the bonus-point victory.
The Brumbies thumped the Highlanders 31-18 at the GIO Stadium in Canberra as they ripped the heart out of the Highlanders inside the first stanza when they racked up 31 points that included the bonus point and it took Brumbies flanker David Pocock 35 minutes to notch up a hat-trick.
The Highlanders scored two tries in the second half but they were dead and buried by then. The Brumbies are in pole position in the Australian conference and second place on the overall log with 31 points, while the Highlanders dropped down to sixth place on the overall log with 28 points.
On Saturday the Crusaders kept their playoff hopes alive with a 29-10 victory over the struggling Blues at the AMI Stadium in Christchurch in a match where they scored four tries.
The Waratahs snuck home 18-16 against the Rebels at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney to also keep their hopes of defending their title alive.
The rejuvenated Lions hung on for a splendid 34-29 victory over the Cheetahs at Emirates Airlines Park in Johannesburg in a open game where both teams showed plenty of willingness and enterprise to give the ball some air.
Two tries in the space of three minutes first by right-wing Ruan Combrinck and then by outside centre Lionel Mapoe just after the break broke the back of the Cheetahs.
Flyhalf Elton Jantjies and inside centre Harold Vorster combined masterfully as they sometimes tore the defence from the Cheetahs to shreds with the angles they ran.
With the victory the Lions also kept their playoff aspirations and their hopes of clinching the South African Conference very much in play.
At Newlands in Cape Town the Stormers won 15-13 in a total war of attrition. Eighthman and captain Duane Vermeulen produced a colossal performance in which he pilfered ball at the breakdown, defended like a trojan and took the ball up strongly and he also vitally charged down a drop-goal attempt by Bulls flyhalf Handré Pollard three minutes from time and all of that proved to be the difference between the sides on the night.
The Stormers edged past the Bulls and into pole position in the South African Conference and third place on the overall log with 30 points after the victory. The Bulls dropped down to second place in the South African Conference and fifth place on the overall log with 29 points.
On Sunday the Hurricanes proved to strong for the hapless Reds in winning 35-19 on Anzac Day at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The bonus-point victory helped the Hurricanes atop the New Zealand Conference and also the overall log with 38 points.
The action from the past weekend tantalised the taste buds of the fans even more for what is to come in the tournament.
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