Waratahs Must Sink Sharks in Super D-Day
The Waratahs still control their semi-final destiny thanks to a rugged 18-10 win over the last-placed Cheetahs in Bloemfontein which has them joint fifth on a congested leaderboard.
But the Sharks present a far more formidable challenge.
NSW are locked on 32 competition points with the team that beat them in last year's final, the Crusaders, and the resurgent Brumbies who thumped Queensland 52-13 in Brisbane on Saturday night.
They sit three points behind the fourth-placed Sharks (35), who ended a three-week lull with a crucial 23-15 win over the Highlanders as all top four teams consolidated their play-off chances with round 12 triumphs.
The competition leading Hurricanes (39) sit in prime position for a home final after a 45-27 thumping of the Blues (31), the Chiefs (37) jumped to second with a vital late bonus-point try in their 28-14 win over the Stormers and the Bulls (37) all but ended the Western Force's (30) hopes with a thrilling 32-29 win.
NSW are sweating on the availability of Test winger Lote Tuqiri who suffered a minor knee dislocation in the first half of their two-tries-to-one win, which forced a backline reshuffle which saw Kurtley Beale play fullback.
League recruit Timana Tahu had arguably his best game in the 15-man code starting at outside centre and coach Chris Hickey has a major dilemma how to best structure his backline without Tuqiri.
A leapfrogging win over the Sharks would have the Waratahs well placed for a semi-final berth as they are drawn against the lowly Lions in Johannesburg in the final round.
NSW - who hold a 7-4 record, the same as the attack-minded Chiefs - have been criticised for their conservative, forward-oriented style and have suffered for a lack of four-try bonus points but tried their best to run the Cheetahs ragged.
Finishing precision again let them down, with Hickey demanding more ball-playing patience in their season-defining clash.
"I think that's the area we need to keep working on," he said. "We're creating opportunities and we created plenty (against the Cheetahs), but we just need to finish off a little better."
The Waratahs will have support from Brumbies and Crusaders fans with all three able to jump into the top four with a Sharks loss.
The Chiefs could also become vulnerable with a defeat in their blockbuster home match against the Hurricanes in Hamilton on Saturday.
The Brumbies bounced back brilliantly from their record 56-7 loss to the Hurricanes with a 107-point turnaround against the bumbling, injury-riddled Reds and coach Andy Friend fancies their chances with tough matches against the Blues and Chiefs ahead.
"We played some footy there which was good and there's a lot of belief in what they're about and the skill set they've got and when you've got a group together which we are you can achieve things," he said.
The Force are hanging by their fingernails after losing to the Bulls, needing bonus-point wins over the Stormers in Cape Town and Highlanders at home and other results to go their way.
Super 14 Results and Standings-Round 12
HURRICANES 45 (Tamati Ellison 2, Ma'a Nonu 2, Conrad Smith, Scott Waldrom tries William Ripia 6 cons pen) bt BLUES 27 (Dean Budd, Rene Ranger, Joe Rokocoko, Anthony Tuitavake tries Jimmy Gopperth 2 cons pen) at Westpac Stadium. Referee: Chris Pollock (NZL).
CRUSADERS 32 (Stephen Brett, Daniel Perrin, Isaac Ross, Brad Thorn tries Leon MacDonald 3 cons 2 pens) bt LIONS 20 (Johan Christaan van Deventer, Anton van Zyl, Jano Vermaak tries Andre Pretorius con pen) at Ellis Park. Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (RSA).
NSW WARATAHS 18 (Luke Burgess, Lachlan Turner tries Daniel Halangahu con 2 pens) bt CHEETAHS 10 (Jacobus Jonker try Naas Olivier con pen) at Vodacom Park. Referee: Marius Jonker (RSA).
BRUMBIES 52 (Stephen Hoiles 2, Ben Alexander, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Francis Fainifo, Gene Fairbanks, Peter Kimlin tries Stirling Mortlock 7 cons pen) bt QUEENSLAND REDS 13 (Will Genia 2 tries Quade Cooper pen) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Ian Smith (AUS).
SHARKS 23 (Jacques Botes, Steven Sykes tries Rory Kockott 2 cons 3 pens) bt HIGHLANDERS 15 (Jimmy Cowan, Jason Rutledge tries Matthew Berquist con pen) at ABSA Stadium. Referee: Philip Bosch (RSA).
BULLS 32 (Bryan Habana, Zane Kirchner, Werner Kruger tries Morne Steyn con Steyn 4, Burton Kenvin Francis pens) bt WESTERN FORCE 29 (Ryan Cross, Drew Mitchell, Cameron Shepherd, Josh Tatupu tries Matt Giteau 3 cons pen) at Loftus Versfeld. Referee: Stuart Dickinson (AUS).
CHIEFS 28 (Toby Morland 2, Richard Kahui, Liam Messam tries Stephen Donald 3, Michael Delany cons) bt STORMERS 14 (Willem de Waal, Sireli Naqelevuki tries de Waal, Peter Grant cons) at Newlands Rugby Stadium. Referee: James Leckie (AUS).
Super 14 Ladder P W D L PF PA PD BP Pts
- Hurricanes 11 8 0 3 335 235 100 7 39
- Chiefs 11 7 0 4 312 221 91 9 37
- Bulls 11 8 0 3 282 225 57 5 37
- Sharks 11 8 0 3 244 196 48 3 35
- NSW Waratahs 11 7 0 4 187 167 20 4 32
- Crusaders 11 6 1 4 184 173 11 6 32
- Brumbies 11 7 0 4 267 280 -13 4 32
- Blues 11 5 0 6 311 317 -6 11 31
- Western Force 11 5 1 5 271 222 49 8 30
- Highlanders 11 4 0 7 204 209 -5 7 23
- Stormers 11 3 0 8 182 203 -21 7 19
- Lions 11 3 0 8 234 359 -125 7 19
- Queensland Reds 11 3 0 8 218 311 -93 6 18
- Cheetahs 11 2 0 9 171 284 -113 3 11
Top point scorers (tries, conversions, field goals, penalty goals, points):
Morne Steyn (Bulls) 1 19 4 25 130
Rory Kockott (Sharks) 2 23 1 17 110
Stephen Donald (Chiefs) 1 30 - 13 104
Matt Giteau (Force) 1 23 1 14 96
Jimmy Gopperth (Blues) 3 22 - 9 86
Mark Gerrard (Brumbies) 3 6 1 14 72
Andre Pretorius (Lions) - 17 3 9 70
Stirling Mortlock (Brumbies) 3 18 - 6 69
William Ripia (Hurricanes) 1 18 - 8 65
Peter Grant (Stormers) 2 11 - 9 59
Jacques-Louis Potgieter (Cheetahs) 1 12 - 10 59
LEADING TRYSCORERS
7: Cameron Shepherd (Force)
6: Ma'a Nonu (Hurricanes), Tamati Ellison (Hurricanes), Henno Mentz (Lions), Isaia Toeava (Blues), Anthony Tuitavake (Blues), Joe Rokocoko (Blues), Sitiveni Sivivatu (Chiefs), JP Pietersen (Sharks)
5: Lachlan Turner (NSW Waratahs), Digby Ioane (Reds), Richard Kahui (Chiefs), Jongi Nokwe (Cheetahs), Wynand Olivier (Bulls), Pierre Spies (Bulls), Jaque Fourie (Lions), Conrad Smith (Hurricanes), Zac Guildford (Hurricanes)
