Super 12 cream goes to the top of NPC

By CHRIS RATTUE

Spot the Super 12 franchise bases.

It has taken six rounds but the cream has finally floated to the top of the NPC.

The five Super 12 base unions now sit atop the NPC first division, the two best "outsiders" Taranaki and North Harbour are in the middle, and most pundits' promotion-relegation candidates, Bay of Plenty, Southland and Northland, are at the bottom.

The only side in a position to disrupt the Famous Five, Taranaki, were found seriously wanting against Wellington as they crashed 46-17 yesterday and dropped from fourth to sixth.

Last week, when asked about the advantage franchise bases have, Northland coach Bryce Woodward commented: "Taranaki have done well, but I think the jury is still out on them."

With Southland, Canterbury and North Harbour to play, Taranaki are not out of the hunt.

But after opening wins against Auckland and Otago, they have been out-gunned against Waikato and now Wellington in the past month.

The form book says they will not make the semifinals for a third time in five seasons.

What the weekend really showed was that heavyweights Canterbury and Otago are finding their urgency, Waikato need to rediscover their early season formula, Auckland may finally be building their way out of uncertainty and slumber, and Wellington remain a dangerous wildcard.

The big winners, though, were Bay of Plenty.

It has been a great few weeks for them, finding a major sponsor and now scoring their first win of the season to give themselves a real chance of avoiding the promotion-relegation game.

In their case, it is a boom and bust cycle that works.

When they have been in the hunt, Bay of Plenty have either nabbed a bonus point or two or, in Saturday's case against Southland, scored a win.

In between, they were belted by Auckland and Taranaki, but when it comes to bonus points it often does not matter whether you get beaten by eight or 48.

If they beat Northland in Whangarei on Saturday evening, Bay of Plenty are safe and sound for another season.

Significant losers were Counties Manukau, as they were beaten by East Coast after failing against Hawkes Bay in the previous round of the second division.

Just a year after dropping from the top grade, their supporters will be increasingly despondent about the Steelers' chances of even figuring in the promotion-relegation game - a match loaded in the first division side's favour anyway.