SYDNEY : The Waikato Chiefs have a chance to go back on top of the Super Rugby Pacific standings in the penultimate round of the regular season this weekend but to do so they will have to find a way to end Moana Pasifika’s remarkable winning streak.
Inspired by All Blacks loose forward Ardie Savea, Moana have moved into playoff contention for the first time in their short history on the back of wins over Fijian Drua, the Otago Highlanders and the Auckland Blues in their last three matches.
Moana are determined to cling onto a top-six spot and qualify for post-season play but will have to do it the hard way with Saturday’s visit to Hamilton followed by another tough trip to face the Wellington Hurricanes in the final round.
“Why not go even further?” ever-confident captain Savea said after the win over the reigning champion Blues.
“We’re in control and that’s the great thing, no one else can tell us what to do. Everything’s on us, and how we turn up every day.”
The Chiefs, coming off a bye that saw them slip to second in the standings, will be equally determined to move back above the ACT Brumbies and have named a side almost unchanged from that which beat the third-placed Canterbury Crusaders two weeks ago.
The Crusaders host New Zealand’s South Island derby in Christchurch on Friday night against the Highlanders, who retain a mathematical chance of qualifying for the playoffs despite being bottom of the standings.
Only the Fijian Drua, who have a bye along with the Brumbies and Blues this weekend, and Western Force, who host the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday night, are out of playoff contention going into round 15.
A nine-point gap from the Crusaders in third, the last position that guarantees home advantage in the first round of playoffs, and the Queensland Reds in fourth might not be insuperable but would require a string of unlikely results.
The Reds will in any case have a fight on their hands just to retain fourth place as they take on the resurgent Hurricanes, who trail them by two points, in Brisbane in Friday’s second match.
With the highest-ranked loser from the first round of playoffs getting a slot in the semi-finals under this year’s new format, Friday’s match could turn out to be crucial for both teams’ title hopes.
“We want to go deep in the finals,” said Reds number eight and Wallabies captain Harry Wilson, who returns from more than a month on the sidelines with a fractured arm.
“We’ve showed we can beat (the top teams) but … we need to ice those big moments, and it’s an opportunity to do that this week.”