Rugby: NZ teams placed to push for playoff spots

The Crusader's are one of the four New Zeland teams with a genuine chance of finishing in the top four. Photo / Getty Images.

Any number of New Zealand teams are emerging as genuine contenders just as the Super 14 rugby competition nears the business phase of the season.

The 10th round finished today with the Chiefs snatching the competition lead on points differential, a bonus point 28-10 success against the Cheetahs lifting them atop the table on 31 points.

Sitting alongside them on the same number are the Sharks, who surprisingly went down 10-13 to the Crusaders today in Durban, enabling the Christchurch-based franchise to cling on to their playoff aspirations.

The Crusaders are in eighth place but they remain only three points outside the top four, the tightly-packed field ensuring a bun fight over the next month to identify the qualifiers.

The Hurricanes weathered the Stormers in Wellington last night, a decisive 34-11 win lifting them to fourth place, just two points adrift of the Chiefs.

The sole New Zealand franchise to go backwards were the Highlanders, who produced their worst performance of the season, a limp effort gifting the Blues a 26-6 victory in Auckland on Friday night.

The Blues are very much in the mix as well, in fifth place on 28 points.

Few predicted Todd Blackadder's Crusaders had it in them to inflict the third loss of the year on the Sharks, who have now dropped two matches in succession.

Instrumental in the upset was captain Richie McCaw, who celebrated his return from injury with a man-of-the-match performance.

Sidelined for six weeks due to a medial ligament strain, the All Blacks openside flanker produced an 80-minute display of courage and commitment.

The Crusaders had to defend desperately in the final minutes as the Sharks moved the ball to both sides of the field in a desperate bid to break down a stonewall defence.

McCaw's loose forward colleagues, Thomas Waldrom and Kieran Read, helped form a lethal combination and appropriately all featured in the move which gave McCaw his try in the 28th minute.

Read slipped an overhead pass to Waldrom, who split the defence and put an unmarked McCaw over by the goalpost.

Halfback Andrew Ellis landed a dropped goal to give his side a six-point lead after they had been ahead 0-7 at halftime.

In Kimberley, the Chiefs made hard work of the first match of their South African tour but the score line accurately reflected a contest where they dominated possession and territory on the high veldt.

Trailing 6-7 at the break, the New Zealanders scored all their tries in the second half as they proved they could prosper without injured wingers Sitiveni Sivivatu and Lelia Masaga.

Captain Mils Muliaina relished a rare win on South African soil as the Chiefs came off the bye to keep their winning run alive with tries to reserves Hika Elliot, Serge Lilo and Mike Delany.

"We're pretty stoked and I take my hat off to the bench, they were probably the difference today," Muliaina said.

"We were a little bit frustrated in that first half but we felt we needed to be patient and wear them down, and we did that.

"We were unfortunate not to get that bonus point try but I'm pretty stoked with how the boys went. We haven't won in South Africa for a very long time so we'll definitely enjoy tonight."

In other matches, the Western Force completed the Australian derby "slam" by beating the Waratahs 15-14 in Sydney last night.

The Force kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a two-tries-to-one win which capped a 25-16 victory over the Brumbies in round three and a 39-7 mauling of the Reds a fortnight ago.

- NZPA