Rugby: Super 14 Power Rankings

This week, the Rankings think that Danny Lee's got it sorted - get $17 million first, then play as a professional...

1. Chiefs (up 4)
"They don't need me anyway...anyone can play with good purpose as you could see when Dwayne Sweeney scored three tries," said Sitiveni Sivivatu. Rankings begs to differ. Sweeney or Siti? Answers on a soggy napkin, please.

2. Sharks (down 2)
"We have seven injuries and we need players back ... we need reinforcements, some of our guys have been overplayed. This is fact, not excuses. My call to everyone is to give us some breathing space, we're doing our best." Sharks coach John Plumtree sounds stressed.

3. Blues (up 3)
Rankings commends Jimmy Gopperth's first five game against the Highlanders. His slap pass made a try, he scored one with clever thinking and he later saved one by putting his body on the line in a way that Tasesa Lavea doesn't do. Who?

4. Hurricanes (no change)
Prop Tim Fairbrother says he might go to Australia, play for the Force and try for Wallaby selection (his Mum was one... Australian, not a Wallaby). Rankings suggests he strum up his dropkick skills if he wants to head off that Matt Dunning fella.

5. Bulls (no change)
Rankings wonders about Bryan Habana coming back too early as the heavily bandaged one was run down after burgling an intercept and needed his fend to score against the Brumbies. They will need The Interceptor at full pace.

6. Waratahs (down 4)
Veteran Sydney sportswriter Spiro Zavos thunders that Waratahs coach Chris Hickey must cure his team's ills. How? By stopping the 15 minutes of 'fun cricket' at the start of every training and replacing it with catching and passing lessons.

7. Crusaders (no change)
If the Crusaders can get past the Sharks overnight - not as forlorn a proposition as many people seem to think - they have one of the best run-ins of any team with their next opponents the Cheetahs, the Lions, the Reds (at home) and then a possible big-time showdown against the Blues.

8. Brumbies (up 1)
Rankings says prop Ben Alexander shapes as a top Wallaby contender for the Tri-Nations after his game against the big Bulls pack, admittedly without Truck Botha and Daddy Matfield. Alexander scrummed well and was the Brumbies' top tight forward around the paddock.

9. Highlanders (down 1)
Stomping, gobbing it off with the ref and sent off, it wasn't a great night for All Black halfback Jimmy Cowan. Stu Dickinson can be a trial, we know, but giving him a free character reading isn't very smart.

10. Force (no change)
Rankings wonders how the blame will be handed out at the end of the Force season. John Mitchell is coaching but has to mind his p's and q's with the players and the latter seem to be running the show. So who gets the electric cattle prod? Rankings' money's on Mitch.

11. Stormers (up 1)
Apparently the Stormers were playing so well that they could afford to ditch feisty little Springbok, World Cup-winning halfback Ricky Januarie. Didn't work.

12. Lions (up 1)
The Golden Lions - the home union of this mob - have released a book capturing 120 years of magical rugby moments. Rankings suspects Super 14 2009 was not amongst them. Unless it was round 1 when they beat the Cheetahs. But...nah.

13. Reds (down 2)
Rankings doesn't understand the logic of playing Hugh McMenamin - a huge game at lock last week - at flanker last night, especially as coach Phil Mooney said McMenamin "plays well when he plays a tighter game, so that's probably at lock." Doh.

14. Cheetahs (no change)
The Cheetahs raised a defiant finger in the direction of all of us - and Rankings has been particularly bad in this respect - who considered the Cheetahs had about as much show of beating the Sharks as Barack Obama buying a Portuguese water dog. Oh.