Hurricanes, Blues tussle for top spot in Super Rugby Pacific

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The league-leading Hurricanes and second-place Blues will meet Saturday in the 12th round of Super Rugby Pacific, in a match which likely will decide which team carries first placing into the playoffs.

Top ranking at the end of the regular season is a valuable prize: the team that starts the playoffs in first place retains home advantage as long as they remain in contention. The second-place team enjoys home advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs but loses that advantage in the final if the top team qualifies.

The Auckland-based Blues and Wellington-based Hurricanes each have to play the fourth-place Chiefs before the end of the regular season, and that could potentially upset the contest for first place. But Saturday’s outcome will go a long way to deciding which finishes atop the table.

The Hamilton-based Chiefs are at home Friday to Moana Pasifika and should hold onto fourth spot, though they’ll be without flyhalf Damian McKenzie who is recovering from a head knock. The Chiefs play significantly less well without McKenzie to steer them and that might come as some consolation to the Blues and Hurricanes.

The Canberra-based Brumbies will travel to play the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday in a match which is unlikely to shake their hold on third place.

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The fifth-place Queensland Reds face the sixth-place Melbourne Rebels Friday in an important derby match which could switch those placings. Neither team is in immediate danger of dropping out of the playoffs zone.

The seventh-place Highlanders are up against the Christchurch-based Crusaders whose late-season rally fizzled with last weekend’s loss at home to the Reds. The defending champion Crusaders must win Saturday to have any chance of reaching the playoffs but the possibility is looking increasingly remote.

The eighth-place Fijian Drua have a good chance of remaining inside the top-eight when they play the last-place Western Force in Perth, though their form away from home is poor.

The clash of the Hurricanes and Blues remains the focal point of the round; a preview of a possible final and an unofficial All Blacks trial. Captain Billy Proctor might be in the selection spotlight after a stellar season at center for the Hurricanes.

“I just focus on playing my best footy for the Hurricanes, that is all I can do,” Proctor said. “The rest is up to, I don’t know, whoever it is to make those decisions.

“It is out of my control. All I can control is my own performance. That is all I have been focusing on, so see where it goes.”

Hurricanes fullback Ruben Love and flyhalf Brett Cameron also will be closely watched by All Blacks coach Scott Robertson as he weighs his playmaking options.

McKenzie remains the leading candidate to wear the All Blacks No. 10 jersey this season. But he will be sidelined for 12 days under concussion protocols after sustaining head knock in last weekend’s match against the Force.

McKenzie was not wearing a smart mouthguard in the Force match which means his stand-down is longer than it might have been otherwise.

“We have spoken at length around the pros and cons of not wearing one, or wearing one,” Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan said. “But ultimately it’s a player’s personal choice.

“And we back our medical staff to make good decisions around all of our players, injured or not.”

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby