KEY POINTS:
Home advantage looms as the crucial factor in an increasingly tight battle for semifinal berths as the Super 14 heads into the money rounds.
All six round 10 matches went the way of the hosts, with the Stormers and Chiefs the big movers after victories over fellow contenders.
Just three points separate fourth from ninth in what is shaping as one of the most evenly contested seasons in Super Rugby history.
The Chiefs' fifth straight win, an impressive dismantling of the previously unbeaten Crusaders, suggests they might well be the real deal. Their abject opening-round defeat by the Blues, when their scrum was crushed and loose forwards smashed out of sight, is now a distant memory.
Playmaker Stephen Donald's vastly improved goal-kicking and generalship has been a boon for the Chiefs and he took the honours from his head-to-head battle with Stephen Brett on Friday night.
Brett at times showed blinding pace and threatened to be the solution as the Crusaders fought desperately to solve the riddle of the Chiefs' unexpected superiority. But Donald proved more adept at dictating play.
The Chiefs have also been boosted by the return to form of No 8 colossus Sione Lauaki. Quite why Lauaki was so badly out of shape at the start of the campaign hasn't been fully explained, but the Chiefs are now enjoying the benefits of his return to something approaching his menacing best.
With a final home match against the Reds this Saturday before winnable away fixtures against the Force and Lions, the Chiefs' final-round match against the Sharks in Durban has every chance of being a semi-final decider.
The Sharks garnered valuable points against the Hurricanes and Highlanders on the first New Zealand leg of their Downunder tour but their second-half meltdown against the Brumbies in Canberra added to suspicions that they are a declining force.
The second-placed Sharks still have a four-point buffer over the fifth-placed Chiefs but they have tough assignments over the next fortnight. They meet the Waratahs in Sydney on Saturday before backing up against the Crusaders the following Friday night in what will be the fifth match of an extremely arduous tour.
The Stormers, who lost their first three matches, are now shaping as the biggest threat among the South African sides as they lap up the comforts of home. They already sit fourth thanks to a hard-earned victory over the Hurricanes in Capetown and should consolidate their playoff spot against the hapless Highlanders on Saturday.
With home advantage over the Brumbies and Waratahs before a final-round visit to the lowly Cheetahs, they must be favoured to make the semis.
The Hurricanes, on the other hand, are ruing the two-point loss from their draw against the Sharks in Wellington. But if they can get past the Cheetahs in Kimberley on Saturday, they have two home matches ahead of a final-round trip to Auckland.
Whether the Crusaders' slip-up is more than just a blip will be determined on Friday night when they host the Blues in what is a must-win for David Nucifora's creaking side.
Coming off their bye week, the Blues remain seventh, just two points away from fourth.
While the Crusaders should be boosted in coming weeks by the return of veteran All Blacks Daniel Carter, Leon MacDonald and Reuben Thorne, the Blues won't enjoy such luxuries. Their best hope appears to lie with the bye having recharged the batteries of players who have looked increasingly jaded and uninspired.
