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Super Rugby Power Rankings: Hurricanes hold on to top spot after close call with Sharks, but are the Aussies about to strike?

Bernard Foley. 2017 Melbourne Rebels v NSW Waratahs. Super Rugby round 5 match. AAMI Park, Melbourne on Saturday 24 March 2017. Photo Clay Cross / photosport.nz

We were right, just, that only one NZ team would lose last weekend. There are some major movers, though, in the Australian conference, with the Brumbies and Waratahs hitting their stride. The South African conference is looking the weakest of the three groups.

1 Hurricanes (Second in NZC)

The Hurricanes made very heavy weather of their last gasp win over the Sharks. Had they lost, they would have dropped down the power rankings. But, minus their star halves and with Jordie Barrett off his game, they found a way. They often do.

2 Crusaders (First in NZC)

Have a rest, chaps, after a job well done on your two-match tour of South Africa and Argentina. Nine competition points has taken them back to the top of the Kiwi log. They had a tough ol’ time repelling the Jaguares, but it helps to have strike weapons and opportunists like Manasa Mataele and George Bridge on the flanks.

3 Lions (First in SAC)

Madosh Tambwe. Remember the name. The wing scored four tries against the Stormers, including a hat-trick inside 15 minutes (!). He can shift. And that helped the Lions get back on track with a 52-31 shutout of the Stormers.

4 Chiefs (Third in NZC)

Even when they are not firing on all cylinders, the Chiefs can always rely on someone to pull them through in the clutch. Step forward Sean Wainui, Tyler Ardron, Brodie Retallick. Some might say they were lucky to emerge with the W against the Blues. The reality is they had all the field position in the second stanza, so they were odds-on to clinch it.

5 Rebels (First in AC)

The Rebels’ lead in the Australian conference is now under threat, thanks to the bye and the resurgent Waratahs.

6 Waratahs (Second in AC)

Off the field, the hamstrung Israel Folau continues to hog the headlines for his trenchant views on gay people, but on the field his team appear to have rediscovered its mojo, putting 50 on the Sunwolves. Taqele Naiyaravoro is again proving harder to stop than a steamroller going downhill.

7 Highlanders (Fourth in NZC)

The Highlanders will have no shortage of motivation on Saturday. Straight off the bye, they defend New Zealand’s honour against Australian counterparts, this time the Brumbies.

8 Sharks (Second in SAC)

Good tourists, those Sharks. But they will be gutted beyond belief that they allowed the Hurricanes to snatch the thriller at McLean Park. There was a lot to like about the manner in which they muscled up, proving the Blues bruising was no fluke. Curwin Bosch, Grant Esterhuisen and Louis Schreuder were top value. But rugby is an 80, or indeed 84, minute, affair against the Canes.

9 Brumbies (Third in AC)

There is life left yet in the 2001 and 2004 champs. Off the back of a mighty second spell, a few lineout drives and the talismanic David Pocock, ACT smashed the Reds 45-21. Who saw that coming?

10 Bulls (Fourth in SAC)

Fresh off the bye, the Bulls have a chance to peg the tired Sharks back this weekend in Durban.

11 Stormers (Third in SAC)

The Stormers go 3-5 after a shellacking in Joburg. There is much to work on for Kiwi skills coach Paul Feeney, but the tackle bags could, might we suggest, get an airing?

12 Blues (Fifth in NZC)

Almost unrecognisable from the mob that leaked 63 on Eden Park, the Blues came close to engineering one of the most extraordinary wins of 2018, until a late penalty try sunk them in Hamilton. They still need more out of their pack, less kickoff errors from Stephen Perofeta, and, please, can they create more space for Rieko Ioane, in whichever jersey number he wears?

13 Reds (Fourth in AC)

The Reds are now 3-3 after things got ugly in the second spell in the Oz capital. Over to you, Brad Thorn, to cook something different up for the Waratahs in a bitter reprise of the great rivalry.

14 Jaguares (Fifth in SAC)

We would like to think the Jaguares will finish the season with more than just two wins. For large tracts of their 40-14 defeat to the Crusaders, they looked muscular at set-piece and dangerous with ball in hand. But they paid for their turnovers and the scrum flaked in the clutch. Now they head for Australasia, so things will not get easier.

15 Sunwolves (Fifth in AC)

It was heartening to see former North Harbour No 12 Michael Little, a man who should be at an NZ franchise, scoring a try and setting one up against the Waratahs. But, bottom line, the Sunwolves again leaked 50 points.

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