Canes beating Chiefs has put spanner in

the works as now by all accounts one of the Bulls or Sharks will drop out of the top 6

Saffex

Not necessarily.   All it means is that the Bulls and Sharks will have to win their games.  If that heppens and the Reds missed out on a four try bonus point - the Reds and Hurricanes will be out.   The Hurricanes can still end up 8th on the log      Interesting position since anyone of the teams at present 3 to 8 can still fall off the boat insofar as the play-offs are concerned.   Even the Brumbies could be out - if the Reds manage to score 4 tries and win - and if the Brumbies loses without a bonus point.- they can lose out on their lead in the Australian Conference and fall down to below the other teams.    Taking the potential wins by the Reds and the Sharks - the end result could be that the Brumbies miss out completely. I do not think that is likely though.

I watched every minute of the game - very attractive rugby - but too many mistakes in the process.   I think that the Hurricanes played very well and their forwards took command of the game in the last 15 minutes.    The Chiefs fave a fabulous backline - but they are still somewhat short in the  forwards.

Yes if the Bulle and Sharkies win with a 4 pointer and the Reds win with a five pointer (Against the warts) then they will all be on the same points but Reds will have won more matches - by 1. Then it boils down to a points differential and then the sharkies would probably lose out. Safest therefore for bulle and sharkies to win with five pointer and they are home regardless.

The Canes must be commended on their composure to take the win in the end!

I reckon the Bulls would have fluffed that with some forced pass or silly grubebr kick after phase 4 or 5.

I think it was 21 phases in the end for the canes that won it for them!

Bulls and Sharks need to win and if the Reds dont win with four tries, Canes and Reds are out. If Bulls and Sharks get bonus point wins, they are guarenteed their spot irrespective of what happens in the Reds game.

But what a great game between the Canes and Chiefs and a very brave TMO decision in the end as I didn't see that ball on the ground???

Stormers, this is your tournament to lose....dont even need a bonus point against the Rebels.

Spanner in what works. Maybe a spanner in the works of having the most number of SA teams in the finals. But not a spanner in the works of winning the S15....which surely has to be our objective. No SA team will travel to NZ and win this thing.......it doesn't happen. Likewise it's hard for NZ teams to do the same in SA, although that possibility is not zero.

This win has given us a genuine chance of the Stormers winning this thing.....we had no chance before.

So far from a spanner in the works....we should use the spanner to tighten up some loose Sapp screws.

Can't see the Stormers beating any of our top three sides. You have to be able to score tries to win and the Stormers have proven they can't do that whereas the Kiwi teams consistantly score bonus point tries. Multiple indicators that the Kiwis have the edge and will take the title.

Actually I gain more pleasure in seeing 3 of our sides in the top 6. Our sides are good enough to win the title away from home anyway.

Brycy there is more of a chance for a NZ team away....but it's still a slim chance.

And Sapp you don't want to maximize the chances of winning.....what a loser's philosophy!

Brycy

I love the way the New Zealand teams play with ball in hand - but they do have a number of serious problems that do not count in their favour.   In both the Chiefs-Crusader and Chiefs-Hurricanes game there were too many lose balls and bad passing - as well as too many transgression penalties - to make games comfortable.   The Chiefs also have a serious forward problem that caused them losing the past two games.

There is about a 10% chance that New Zealand would have two teams in the play-offs - the only potential qualifier is the Crusdaers - even with the Hurricanes winning this morning they are likely to be out of the play-offs - unless two of the teams rated higher than them loses.   The teams that could upset the applecart are the Crusaders - if they lose they are out - and so would be the Bulls, the Reds and the Sharks.   The four teams mentioned are all playing weaker teams tomorrow and it is unlikely that there would be further upsets coming along.

I will watch and see what happens tomorrow and then start thinking about likely outcomes in the play-offs.

Moz I have no affiliation to a side, just SA sides in general, so the more in the top 6, the better I say.

I also firmly believe that our top 3 sides are good enough to win the title away from home, so yes, I want to see our 3 sides in the top 6

 We have seen it so many times where the lower teams beat one of the top teams, causing them to either miss a home semi or miss out completely. Both the lions and the cheetahs have done this in the past. They play piss poor against foreign teams but when it comes to SA teams they all of a sudden transform into a world class team. I would like to see 3 SA teams in the play-off's. That means SA will have 3, NZ 2 and Aus 1. We would make up 50% of play-off treams. Which is great for bok rugby, but the best is if the Stormers can play with a bit more freedom and play some decent rugby for a change and come away with a postive game. 

Although, the Rebels has caused a few upsets and they have beaten the Crusaders this year. So I wouldn't take any of the games lightly. They guys need to show their metal and killer instinct. This is the business end of the season and its time to show convincing wins. 

The only down side is that 2 of our teams will have to travel and that would make it very hard to have 2 SA teams in semis and final. 

I had this conference format crap.