Halfway through the competition and three Australian teams are positioned to qualify for the Super Rugby finals for the first time in history.
The Brumbies in 2004 and Queensland Reds in 2011 are the only Australian sides in the past decade to have won a Super championship, but now the NSW Waratahs and Western Force are threatening to challenge for maiden titles after climbing into playoff contention.
Runners-up last year to New Zealand’s Chiefs, the Brumbies (25 points) are second overall in the standings and clinging to a one-point lead over NSW in the hotly-contested Australian conference following the Waratahs’ gritty 19-12 win over the Bulls on Saturday night.
The Waratahs (24) leapfrogged the fifth-placed Force (23) into fourth with the Perth-based outfit’s 22-16 loss to the Melbourne Rebels earlier in round 10.
The Rebels (16) and Reds (16) are each six points adrift of the top six but not completely without hope of pushing for the playoffs, with both teams set for a series of “eight-point” derbies over the final eight rounds of the home-and-a-way season.
The Rebels have four derbies to come, including two showdowns with the Reds, presenting the underdogs with a big opportunity to climb the Australian conference ladder if they’re good enough.
The Waratahs’ hosting of the Brumbies in the penultimate round could decide conference honours, while the Force’s home game against the Reds the following week may well determine if Australia boasts three finalists for the first time.
NSW coach Michael Cheika has been eyeing a top-two finals spot since the pre-season and believes the Waratahs are on course after beating the Bulls.
“We don’t have a buffer, but we’re on track,” Cheika said.
“We’re five (wins) and three (losses), we’ve got a few bonus points, we’ve got a (win) away from home in our pocket, we’ve (won) all our home games.”
While three Australian teams are sitting pretty at the halfway point, South African sides, with the exception of the table-topping Sharks, are struggling to make an impact.
The Sharks (31) shot six points clear of the second-placed Brumbies with their 19-8 derby win over the Cheetahs in Durban and the Chiefs’ 18-17 home loss to the Crusaders in Hamilton earlier on Saturday.
The Chiefs (26) remain third, and top of the New Zealand conference, with the Crusaders (22) nudging above the Hurricanes (20) into the top six.
The Sharks are the only South African team in the top half of the table, with the Bulls, Lions, Stormers and Cheetahs all languishing.
44bottles
Guest
He's an aussie mocking a kiwi, by clinging to the 'mystical black jersey' of the all blacks.
SA conference table, conference matches only. Team, played, log SHARKS 5 19 BULLS 4 9 LIONS 6 8 CHEETAHS 3 5 STORMERS 2 4
Jerry, since 2011 NZ has always had 2 teams In the play offs, never been a "weak conference" SA had two every year bar 2012 when they had 3 in the play offs, this year though, they won't have two teams in the play offs. OZ was "weak" in 2012, other years they had two teams. Besides that, there are two facets to a weak conference. One, cross conference results. Two, conference results.
:D missed the comma mate, well actually was to lazy to correct it.
soapit
Guest
having a strong national team means your super rugby conference isnt weak?
Jerry
Guest
Oops, the Bulls are on 19. Still, they're 3 points outside the 6 with less games to play. They're on equal points (though behind on the table) with the Highlanders who have played 2 games less than them.
richard
Guest
Point taken ( in ref. to the Cruds and Chiefs).
Jerry
Guest
4 years in and it's looking like all 3 teams will have had a go as the 'weaker conference'. It's cyclical. I still don't like a comp where all the teams don't play each other at least once though. Partial round robins are always gonna throw up inequitable anomalies.
Jerry
Guest
There's no consistently weak conference, but the Bok conference is certainly appearing to be the weakest this year (at least so far). Four teams in the bottom half of the table despite 3 of those sides having played an extra match.
Jerry
Guest
All four teams are equal on points, but the Bulls and Lions have played an extra game.
44bottles
Guest
You really need to step up your satire game. That was just poor
44bottles
Guest
Australia's 3 strong teams still have the majority of their overseas games to play (8/12), whilst the crusaders + chiefs have 2 overseas games left. Consider where they are on the table after having taken most of their tours, and the late season boost (particularly the crusaders) they get.
44bottles
Guest
The reds and rebels 'are not without hope of pushing for a finals spot,' yet the bulls and lions, who are ahead of them on the table, are 'struggling to make an impact?' Makes perfect sense.
Zero Gain
Guest
There is no weak conference, there are just weaker and stronger teams in each conference. Sharks, Chiefs, Brumbies, Tahs, Bulls or Crusaders could all win.
Zero Gain
Guest
Yeah, fall to pieces, won it in 2011 and runner up in 2013.
Justin3
Guest
True enough, there was plenty of missing re the reds success too
Boomeranga
Guest
I think it comes up because it was used so often as a stick to beat us with while the expansion of the Rebels was bedding in. Now that the Australia conference is not particularly weak, it gets used as a stick to return a few whacks.
Geoff Brisbane
Guest
Still a way to go imo earlier I said the Blues, Reds and Stormers would finish bottom of their respective conferences. Imo the Sharks (obvious), Brumbies and Chiefs will finish top of their respective conferences and someone else can sort out the other 9 :)
ohtani's jacket
Guest
I like what the Hurricanes have been doing of late. They'll probably finish third in the NZ conference, but they're playing much better. The Highlanders are better than last season but have terrible end of game management.
RobC
Roar Guru
Its not just about Aussie teams. With large personnel and team changes, its understandable why SA isn't crowding the leaderboard. NZ over relies on Chiefs, Crusaders to take up leadership. Both seems to be undergoing some kind of transition. But will probably bounce back strongly. It is good to see Wellington and Dunedin making significant improvement.