Australia will have at least two teams playing Super Rugby Pacific finals with a third spot still up for grabs heading into the last round of the regular season.
The Chiefs have locked down top spot but there’s still plenty of jostling for the finals-bound top eight, with Australia tipped to have three teams led by the Brumbies.
After their 31-21 loss to the Hamilton-based Chiefs, the Brumbies sit in fourth place with the top four teams hosting the next four in week one of play-offs.
Certain of finishing sixth, the NSW Waratahs are also assured of a spot but will be sweating on the Brumbies snatching third position from the Blues to avoid a dreaded trip across the Tasman.
No Australian side has ever won a finals match in New Zealand but that would be the Waratahs’ mountain-sized challenge to keep their season alive if the Blues finish third.
The fourth-placed Brumbies can leapfrog the Blues – and host the Waratahs in a sudden-death quarter-final – with a bonus-point victory over the Melbourne Rebels in Canberra on Friday night and the Auckland-based outfit fail to post a bonus-point win over the Highlanders.
Coach Stephen Larkham is remaining upbeat despite his side conceding three soft tries against the Chiefs to suffer their second straight defeat.
“It’s one that slipped away from us … we’ve got to build on this game,” Larkham said.
Queensland, the Western Force and even the 11th-placed Rebels are all still a finals chance.
Melbourne need plenty to fall their way but after trouncing the Force 52-14 and only losing to the Brumbies 33-26 in round 11, coach Kevin Foote fancies their chances of an upset.
“We’ve had some crackers in Canberra so I love the challenge and we’ll be right up for it,” Foote said.
The Waratahs’ four-game win streak came to a shuddering halt with a 42-18 loss in Christchurch against the Crusaders, who sit second on the ladder.
The good news for the Tahs is that they can’t be dislodged from sixth spot regardless of their result against last-placed Moana Pasifika on Saturday.
Limping towards the finals with some serious injuries, Queensland could finish anywhere from seventh to 11th.
They face a tough trip to Fjii to face the Drua, who are 10th but also still in the finals hunt, and the Reds will be without flanker Conner Vest, who fractured his neck in their last-gasp loss to the Highlanders.
Liam Wright’s season is over after he dislocated his shoulder while his fellow co-captain Tate McDermott is in major doubt through concussion.
Coach Brad Thorn acknowledged the Fiji clash as an early elimination match.
“It’s finals come early, which is good, it’s an easy one to sell,” Thorn said.
The Force did themselves no favours leaving Melbourne without even a bonus point to sit in ninth spot, trailing the Highlanders by one point.
However they may get a reprieve with the Chiefs likely to rest many of their stars from the trip to Perth, where the Force are unbeaten this season.
Coach Simon Cron said his team was eager to make amends for their performance against the Rebels and could even climb to seventh on the back of other results.
“The Chiefs are a great rugby side and I think any side in Super Rugby on their day can go at each other, but it’s about what we do,” Cron said.
“I’d like it to be tomorrow, rather than wait after a performance we’re not happy with.
“We go home, the boys love it there and we get to go to work.”
By Melissa Woods, Alex Mitchell and Murray Wenzel in Melbourne
