KEY POINTS:
Rub your eyes or check your hearing. It won't make any difference. It is no illusion or fictitious announcement.
A resurgent Blues are a beacon for New Zealand at the top of the Super 14 while they are being chased by a clutch of South African sides after
the latest round of crazy results.
There was no sign of Suzy, instead there was self-inflicted damage from the Crusaders, Hurricanes and Chiefs as the rise and rise of South African sides continued with the Sharks still the only unbeaten team in the series.
The South Africans are boasting a 70 per cent success rate, New Zealand 43 per cent and Australia 35 per cent against teams from the other two countries. The customary offshore collapse from the South Africans has not been apparent as the Lions, Bulls and Stormers have made strong starts to their road trips.
For the second successive weekend, Australian sides failed to win while the Blues were the lone New Zealand victor as the bite of players on conditioning programmes seemed to tell.
How else do you explain the brain explosion from the Crusaders after the siren, which changed a meritorious victory into a depressing defeat against the Sharks? Instead of kicking the ball out to retain their lead, the Crusaders chased an irrelevant third try and conceded victory from a turnover.
Had senior Crusaders been in Durban, that mindless waste would not have occurred.
It was a brain explosion to rival that of Sam Norton-Knight when the Waratahs replacement tapped a penalty instead of giving Peter Hewat a shot at goal to break the deadlock against the Force. No wonder Lote Tuqiri saw whatever he saw and abused and pushed Norton-Knight.
The Waratahs have form, though, for this sort of wackiness.
Remember prop Matt Dunning dropping a goal late in a match when his side needed a try for victory, a move which spawned the headline Dumb and Dunning.
You have to flick back to February 17, to find the last win for an Australian side when the Brumbies lurched past the Reds in a dreadful 6-3 kickfest.
Meanwhile, the growing prosperity of the South African teams suggests they could host a semifinal for only the third time in the 12- year history of the competition.
The Sharks lead that quest after being gifted their latest win by the Crusaders while the Lions have the confidence of four straight victories to bring to their next challenge against the Blues at Eden Park.
Despite their weekend gaffes, the Crusaders and Hurricanes will believe they can make the playoffs when their All Blacks return.
Their concern will be that, in the interim, they have lost too many games and will be forced to make the long journey to South Africa for a semifinal.
The Chiefs return from that road trip today, still winless in the series and no doubt ruing the latest match which got away from them in Bloemfontein. They had a strong lead against the Cheetahs but that evaporated until they needed Stephen Donald's coolness to kick them to a draw.
Skipper Tom Willis ordered the successful overtime shot and with all the other erratic results, the Chiefs remain in touch with the other playoff contenders though they have to start winning after this week's bye.
