The Canterbury Crusaders, riled by a ”soft” tag, lead the Super 14 field this weekend into a high-stakes final round before the play-offs with six teams still in contention for the last four.
The ”soft” jibe was fired by Waikato Chiefs skipper Jono Gibbes ahead of their crucial showdown on Friday which the fifth-placed Chiefs which they must win to keep their hopes alive.
It is the first of two local derbies -‒ the second-placed Coastal Sharks face the Western Stormers in Cape Town -‒ that headline the round in which New Zealand and South Africa are poised to have two sides each in the semis.
The Auckland Blues and Northern Bulls, who are also in the mix, rest their season on match-ups with the Western Force and Queensland Reds.
Should either of the two Australian sides pull off an upset, then it would propel the sixth placed ACT Brumbies into the top four, provided they can beat the Otago Highlanders in Dunedin.
It will be a tough task for the Chiefs to overturn the Crusaders, the defending Super 14 champions who haven’t lost at home for 26 games.
But Gibbes has tried to unsettle the competition leaders with the accusation that they made ”soft” attempts to quell the Brumbies in last week’s 6-15 loss.
Crusaders coach Robbie Deans refused to rise to the bait, saying the comment had not been discussed at training, but he conceded there was a lack of intensity ”and that was a contributing factor to our demise”.
The return of All Blacks lock Chris Jack from hamstring problems will reinforce the Crusaders pack, but the side will be without flyhalf Dan Carter who has a shoulder injury.
The Sharks, currently in second place, only need a win against the lowly Stormers to ensure a home semifinal, but there is also the possibility that a loss could abruptly end their season.
”We, however, aren’t in the semifinals yet and with all the teams having a game to play a lot can still happen,” said captain John Smit.
”We simply have to keep concentrating because a loss now could mean we lose out completely.”
Although the Stormers are out of play-off contention, they have much at stake, including the prospect of being the only South African side to beat the Sharks.
Four weeks ago the Blues looked on track to lead the competition into the play-offs but three consecutive defeats since has pushed them down to third and a loss to the Force could put them out of the race.
In yet another shake up, coach David Nucifora has relegated Keven Mealamu to the bench, meaning prop Tony Woodcock is the only one of four Blues in the All Blacks reconditioning squad to make the starting 15.
”We have to win, that’s the bottom line,” Nucifora said of his selections.
The Force still have the remotest of chances of making the final four — they need to win by a margin of 42 points, and earn a bonus point as well as hope for a series of upsets.
Of the top four contenders the Northern Bulls, equal on points to the Blues, have the easiest final round, at home to bottom of the table Queensland Reds.
If they overtake the Blues on the points table, they will secure third spot and the probability of a semifinal against the Sharks — should the Crusaders beat the Chiefs.
Lying two points outside the top four are the ACT Brumbies who front the Highlanders in Dunedin.
Other matches see the Wellington Hurricanes at home to the NSW Waratahs, while the Lions play the Cheetahs in Johannesburg. ‒ Sapa-AFP