Clash of the 10s styles may decide semi spot...

...Aaron Cruden and Matt Toomua bring contrasting styles to rugby's most influential position and the battle between the classic flyhalf and the modern midfield manager could decide tomorrow's Super Rugby playoff in Canberra.

Cruden at the Chiefs and Toomua at the Brumbies have both played key roles in rescuing their teams from setbacks and dragging them into the first-round of the playoffs for a re-run of last year's final.

A classic number 10, Cruden is a slender goal-kicking pivot who dictates play from the hand or boot and can carve his way through a fissure in the defensive line in the blink of an eye.

The beefier Toomua is an archetypical modern Australian playmaker, equally happy at flyhalf or as a hard-tackling inside centre and more likely to offload the ball to dangerous attacking players than make breaks himself.

Not that Toomua cannot take matters into his own hands, as he showed with his hat-trick of tries in the 47-25 rout of the Western Force last weekend that secured the Brumbies home advantage for tomorrow's clash.

It was a rampant display against a previously miserly defence that will give rugby fans in Australia's capital hopes the Brumbies can avenge the 27-22 defeat in Hamilton last year that gave the Chiefs their second successive title.

Cruden's most notable contribution of the season so far has probably been for the All Blacks, with his quickly taken penalty leading to the late try which killed off England's challenge in the first test of the June series.

Having struggled with the disruption of a broken thumb early in the Super Rugby season, Cruden improved as the series went on and returned from international duty to lead the Chiefs to wins in their last two games that got them into the playoffs.

The fractured digit meant he missed the 41-23 defeat the Chiefs suffered in Canberra in April - scrumhalf Tawera Kerr-Barlow was also absent - and the Chiefs will be a different proposition with their best halfbacks in tandem.

The prize on the line on Saturday is most likely to be a three-hour trip up the Hume Highway to face the New South Wales Waratahs in a Sydney semi-final - a prospect far more intimidating now than it has been for a good few years.

Toomua was injured for the Brumbies' 39-8 loss to the Waratahs at the end of June and he would surely relish the chance to face them again, if only to press his claim to retain the Wallabies number 12 shirt from the in-form Kurtley Beale.

He admits Cruden has had the 'wood' over him in their previous meetings after the All Blacks prevailed when they faced each other at flyhalf in the Rugby Championship two weeks after last year's Super Rugby final.

In at least one department, Cruden is bound to have more influence - good or bad - than Toomua.

The 25-year-old, who has a 68 per cent success rate from the tee this season, will undertake goal-kicking duties for the Chiefs, while Toomua is behind Christian Lealiifano, Nic White and Jesse Mogg in the list of preferred goalkickers.

- Reuters

...Perhaps too much is emphasis on one player JW but what position is more influential and crucial than standoff to a team. As pivot the whole game literally revolves around them. They're the brains, the tacticians, decision makers that control the game.

 Cruden is key to the Chiefs success with his passing and kicking game, his speed and acceleration, his vision, his ability to take the ball to the line and slip a teammate into space will make him a marked man tonight.

The importance of Aaron Cruden for the Super Rugby champions is undeniable but what may surprise during his absence was the level of decline experienced by the Chiefs' attack.

 Last season's leading scorers he started every match, they were averaging 27.8 points and 3.5 tries in six games this campaign before he was injured. Without Cruden, the Chiefs struggled for direction and penetration. Scoring was down seven points and tries dropped to four across three games.

 As a team, they were averaging 290 metres fewer without Cruden, while passes (-22), offloads (minus seven) and clean breaks (minus five) were all significantly down on season averages. 

Stats aside Cruden has been inspirational for the Chiefs and obvious that the Chiefs midseason slump in form coincided with the injury of the Chiefs captain. You could also argue with those wins over the Blues and the Canes he's played a key role in rescuing the team from that midseason setback and dragging them into the first-round of the playoffs for a re-run of last year's final. 

But it all comes down to eighty minutes and tonight Cruden will be facing a player that he may be facing in an AB jersey when the ABs and Wallabies face off. Toomua will be  wanting a big game as Beale and Foley are also vying for that Wallaby 10 jersey so he won't want Cruden making him look like an amateur....

Interesting also how both Cruden and Toomua are the same age and born within days of each other...From an astrological view they're snakes as is Folau, Willie Le Roux... so some of the best players undoubtedly born in the year of the snake. Very slippery customers and elusive. The quick thinking snake great at outsmarting their prey and predators as we've seen...

 Should be a good game though JW tonight and regardless of the result I know the Chiefs will do us proud as they have done in the past . With SBW coming back next year and talk of Hurrel the Hurrelcane joining up our future is indeed bright...Rennie's last year with the club next year so he'll want to go out with a bang...