Super Rugby Pacific: Quarter-final match-ups

After months of some fantastic Antipodean clashes, we have finally arrived at the business end of the Super Rugby Pacific competition with the imminent quarter-final round soon to play out. 

The final and eighth position on the ladder was not confirmed until the very last match of the regular season when the Highlanders secured a losing bonus point in a 30-31 loss to the Rebels in Melbourne to edge out the Western Force for the last quarter-final place on a higher aggregate points difference from all matches.

The rules for the Finals series dictate the following match schedules:

• Quarterfinals – 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5 with the top-ranked team hosting
• Semi-Finals – top-ranked quarter-final winner hosts against lowest-ranked quarter-final winner & 2nd highest ranked quarterfinal winner hosts 3rd highest ranked winner
• Final – top-ranked semi-final winner hosts the other semi-final winner.

The quarter-finals rankings are:

1. Blues
2. Crusaders
3. Chiefs
4. Brumbies
5. Hurricanes
6. NSW Waratahs
7. QLD Reds
8. Highlanders

The round will commence on Friday 3 June with the Crusaders hosting Brad Thorn’s Reds at Orangetheory Stadium - a repeat of last week's fixture. The Crusaders have enjoyed a typically strong season thus far which has yielded 11 victories from 14 outings which landed them in second place on the overall standings. The Reds managed 8 victories from their fixtures and will be up against it in Christchurch. A look at the Round 15 highlights: 

The Chiefs will tackle the visiting Waratahs at Waikato Stadium in the second of the quarters. The Chiefs finished third on the log with 10 victories yielding 45 points. The Tahs finished in 6th spot with a total of 38 points. The sides met in the regular season on 23 April where the Tahs felt the Chiefs' wrath with a final score of 51-27: 

The third match of the round takes the form of a juicy New Zealand derby as the Blues host the Highlanders at Eden Park. The Blues have strung together a remarkable set of results of late which has seen them notch up a whopping thirteen victories on the trot which catapulted them to the top of the log. The 8th-placed Highlanders face a tough assignment ahead of them in this outing. The Blues had the better of Tony Brown’s men in the regular season with a 12-point victory back in March: 

The last of the quarters fixtures sees the Brumbies hosting the Hurricanes at GIO Stadium in what should be an evenly=matched contest as the teams finished in fourth and fifth spot respectively. While the Brumbies managed to rack up five more log points than the Canes and will also enjoy the familiarity of their home turf, they will be made to sweat for victory against one of New Zealand’s most combative sides, who will also be out for revenge of their 42-25 defeat to Dan McKellar’s men on 1 May: