Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson concedes the high‑risk, high‑reward style of game favoured by New Zealand’s Super Rugby teams is confounding Australian sides.
The gap between New Zealand and Australia at Super level has never been greater. With one round to go in the regular season, Australian teams have won just three of 24 games against Kiwi opposition.
On the weekend four Australian teams lost to New Zealand sides, conceding 203 points between them, including the Waratahs’ 28‑17 loss to the Hurricanes in Sydney last Saturday night, a result that has all but ended their hopes of making the playoffs.
With the Brumbies’ 40‑15 loss to the Blues at Eden Park in Auckland last Friday night, the Waratahs had a splendid opportunity to finish on top of the Australian conference and gain automatic entry to the playoffs.
But now the Waratahs must beat the Blues with a bonus point to have any chance of finishing on top of the conference unless the Brumbies suffer a major upset loss to the Western Force in Canberra on Saturday night.
Eight teams will play in the Super Rugby quarter finals next week.
The top team from each conference will make the top four teams while the remaining four teams will come as the best qualifiers.
Four New Zealand teams will contest the Super Rugby playoffs.
The Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders and Hurricanes have all qualified and attention will quickly turn to an intriguing final round this weekend which will confirm the final standings and the first week of the playoffs next week.
The Lions still lead the points table with 52 points, the Chiefs are second with 51 points, the Stormers are third with 46 points, the Brumbies are fourth with 39 points, the Crusaders are in fifth place with 50 points, the Highlanders at sixth with 48 points, the Hurricanes at seventh place with 48 points while the Sharks are in eighth place with 39 points.
The Blues play the Waratahs at 7.35pm Friday.
The Crusaders play the Hurricanes at 5.15pm Saturday while the Highlanders take on the Chiefs at 7.35pm.
