Super Rugby power rankings: It's cold and wet so it's Crusaders time

Ominous Crusaders do the double over Blues as Chiefs let it slip.

Beat Blues 15-3. Record: 8-3. Up 2. Table position: 4

If it’s cold and wet outside it’s time for the Crusaders to really get into their work and they did it comprehensively against the Blues in Christchurch. They weren’t as clinical on attack as they liked but they were ruthless everywhere else and they knew exactly what the Blues’ kicking strategy would look like. They out-thought them, then outplayed them. It was a playoffs-ready performance.

Beat Chiefs 25-22. Record: 5-6. Up 9. Table position: 7

“We defended like a pack of dogs,” Reds halfback Tate McDermott said after this surprise victory in New Plymouth, the Reds’ first in New Zealand for 10 years. After watching them defend 27 phases in the final moments as they desperately defended their line, that sounds about right. It was a hugely impressive performance and they’re suddenly in the playoff mix, not that they’re likely to win a post-season game.

Beat Highlanders 48-32. Record: 9-2. Up 4. Table position: 2

Wobbled in the second half as they went to and fro with the Highlanders in Canberra, but comfortably got it done through their strike weapons after discipline issues.

Beat Moana Pasifika 71-22. Record 8-3. Up 4. Table position: 3

A big bonus point victory which kept the Hurricanes in the top three and boosted their points differential significantly. Suspicions remain about their true quality, however, and what better way to prove it than against the Chiefs in Hamilton next Saturday?

Beat Fiji Drua 34-14. Record: 4-7. Up 7. Table position: 8

The Force caught the Drua, perhaps still thinking about their victory over the Hurricanes in Suva, on the hop. A big win for a side thrashed by the Crusaders a week earlier.

Beat Rebels 38-20. Record: 5-6. No change. Table position: 6

A regulation win for the Waratahs who found themselves 0-14 down to the Rebels after as many minutes.

Lost to Brumbies 32-48. Record: 3-8. Up 3. Table position: 11

An impressive performance which ran out of steam in the second half in Canberra. Thomas Umaga-Jensen was a standout in the Highlanders’ midfield.

Lost to Reds 22-25. Record 10-1. Down 7. Table position: 1

Experience can help teams thrive under pressure and unfortunately for the Chiefs, missing Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick, among others at Yarrow Stadium, they wilted. The defeat, which broke a 10-match winning streak, will be a good learning experience for the Chiefs but that will apply to their opponents in the playoffs, too. They have lost Bryn Gatland for the rest of the season due to an arm injury but are likely to take the field against the Hurricanes next Saturday with an entirely different attitude.

Lost to Waratahs 20-38. Record: 3-8. No change. Table position: 10

Dropped the ball defensively in Sydney. A poor performance from the Rebels.

Lost to Crusaders 3-15. Record: 7-4. Down 5. Table position: 5

The Blues, stifled by the Crusaders’ defence, failed to fire an attacking shot until the second half when Beauden Barrett’s normal golden touch with the bouncing ball failed him in favour of Will Jordan, a potential rival for the All Blacks’ No.15 jersey. It said it all, really. The Blues’ mental and physical blocks against the big teams continues.

Lost to Force 14-34. Record: 4-7. Down 9. Table position: 9

A coach killer of a result which takes them out of the top eight.

Lost to Hurricanes 22-71. Record: 0-11. Down 8. Table position: 12

After getting so close to a precious victory over the Blues at Eden Park only to lose by a penalty try after the final siren a week earlier, this result probably wasn’t unexpected.