WATCH: Super Rugby Wrap Round 17: Jaguares win African conference but finals still way open

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With one round of Super Rugby remaining the three conference crowns have already been won but the make-up of the rest of the final eight is not a lot clearer.

With the Crusaders easy winners in the Kiwi group, the Brumbies and the Jaguares wrapped up the Australian and African conferences respectively at the weekend with their wins.

The Jaguares’ win will likely see them finish second ahead of the Brumbies, given they host the Sunwolves in the last round.

The Hurricanes are guaranteed fourth spot and a home final but the last four wildcard spots have eight teams still mathematically alive and vying for inclusion.

With a derby round to play, the African conference is certain to have at least three finalists but depending on how results unfold, the last spots could be taken by a number of teams. 

The Rebels have to beat the Chiefs at home to claim their first finals spot, or pick up a losing bonus point and rely on several other results going their way. 

The Waratahs have the faintest of heartbeats – they’d need to beat the Highlanders with a bonus point in Invercargill, rely on other teams losing and/or not picking up bonus points, and then get through on tie-breaking elements like most wins or points differential.

Here at the results and highlights from round 17.

 

JAGUARES 34 SHARKS 7

Fullback Emiliano Boffelli has scored a try in each half as the Jaguares clinched Super Rugby’s South African conference title and earned a home quarter-final with a 34-7 thumping of the Sharks in Buenos Aires.

Winger Sebastian Cancelliere also scored two tries – one set up by a brilliant jinking run by Boffelli – while Santiago Carreras crossed in the final minute for the Argentines, whose victory ensured that all four hosts for the quarter-finals were decided with one week left in the regular season.

The Crusaders sealed top spot throughout the playoffs with a 66-0 demolition of the Melbourne Rebels in Christchurch, while the ACT Brumbies clinched the Australian conference with a 35-24 win over the NSW Waratahs.

The Hurricanes, who have the second-best points tally behind the Crusaders, sealed the fourth home quarter-final with a 37-17 win over the Lions.

The Jaguares made last year’s playoffs for the first time since joining the competition in 2016 by finishing seventh.

Having taken control of the South African conference on their recent tour of Australasia when they won three of their four games, they showed they had no intention of having to leave their Jose Amalfitani base again.

They were clinical against South Africa’s Sharks, building phases and controlling possession, while they scrambled on defence and dominated the breakdown.

Jaguares – Tries: Cancelliere (2), Boffelli (2), Carreras. Cons: Diaz Bonilla (3). Pen: Diaz Bonilla

Sharks – Try: Esterhuizen. Con: Bosch

 

STORMERS 31 SUNWOLVES 18

The injury-hit Stormers have outscored the bottom-of-the-table Sunwolves four tries to two for a 31-18 Super Rugby victory.

However, the hosts missed out on a potentially vital bonus point on Saturday as they kept alive their hopes of a place in the post-season playoffs.

Bongi Mbonami, on his return from injury, and Craig Barry, in his first game of the season, scored tries for the Cape Town team as it led 14-6 at the break.

The Stormers went further ahead through Jaco Coeztee’s 52nd-minute try try but the Tokyo-based Sunwolves struck back through fullback Semisi Masirewa.

Coetzee got a second try to put the Stormers in bonus-point range with eight minutes left only for Masirewa to strike again for the visitors and keep the Stormers’ haul to four points.

The Stormers host the Sharks next week while the Sunwolves are away at the Jaguares in the final round of the regular season.

Stormers – Tries: Mbonambi, Barry, Coetzee (2). Cons: Du Plessis (3), Stander. Pen: Stander.

Sunwolves – Tries: Masirewa (2). Con: Parker. Pens: Parker (2).

 

HURRICANES 37 LIONS 17

The Hurricanes have secured a home advantage in the Super Rugby playoffs as they beat the Lions 37-17 away at Ellis Park in a convincing victory.

The Hurricanes turned up the heat in the second half on Saturday, after a 10-10 stalemate at the break, to ensure they will finish a comfortable second behind holders Canterbury Crusaders in the New Zealand Conference and play their quarter-final in Wellington.

They won despite star pivot Beauden Barratt mysteriously pulling out of the starting line-up just before the kick-off, in an unexplained withdrawal.

His absence was barely noticed as TJ Perenara and Jordie Barrett’s tactical kicking pinned back the home side in the first half and then Ben Lam and Dane Coles scored two tries each in a dominant second-half performance.

Lions – Tries: Aphiwe Dyantyi (2). Conversions: Shaun Reynolds (2). Penalties: Shaun Reynolds.

Hurricanes – Tries: Ngani Laumape, Ben Lam (2), Dane Coles (2). Conversions: Jordie Barrett (3). Penalties: Jordie Barrett (2).

BRUMBIES 35 WARATAHS 24

Brumbies coach Dan McKellar said his team is playing the sort of football to win finals after the Canberra dispatched the Waratahs in dominant fashion at Bankwest Stadium.

The Brumbies locked down the Australian conference with a week to spare, retained the Dan Vickerman Cup and all-but ended the Waratahs’ season with a 35-24 victory.

It was an emphatic statement by comfortably the best team in Australia this season side but McKellar’s men were left to rue a try on the final siren by NSW winger Curtis Rona, which served to deny the Brumbies a bonus point.

That may or may not prove to be costly given the Brumbies and the Jaguares are battling for the all-important second spot on the ladder, which can provide two home finals instead of one.

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The Brumbies will feel confident they can win at any venue, though, if they replicate the form shown against the Waratahs – certainly in the first half.

FULL REPORT HERE

Waratahs – Tries: Phipps, Ashley-Cooper, Rona. Conversions: Foley (3). Penalties: Foley.

Brumbies – Tries: Arnold, Muirhead, Simone, Fainga’a, Cusack. Conversions: Lealiifano (5).

CRUSADERS 66 REBELS 0

The Rebels will have to rebound from a horror loss in Christchurch if they are to seal a maiden Super Rugby finals spot after a 66-0 drubbing at the hands of the Crusaders.

In their worst loss in club history, the Rebels were virtual spectators for much of the second half, as the home side ran in six unanswered tries to add to their 26-0 halftime lead.

The news gets worse for the Rebels, with lock Adam Coleman suffering a shoulder injury that forced him from the field in the first half.

Their finals hopes now rest on beating the Chiefs in Melbourne next week.

Without Will Genia and with Quade Cooper starting on the bench, it was alway going to be a tough ask for the Rebels against a Crusaders team stung by their loss to the Chiefs in Fiji last week.

But the manner of their loss leaves real questions about how quickly they can bounce back to ready themselves for the most important match of their season next Friday night.

FULL REPORT HERE

Crusaders – Tries: Sevu Reece (3), David Havili (2), Braydon Ennor (3), Bryn Hall, Ryan Crotty. Conversions: Richie Mo’unga (7), Ryan Crotty.

Rebels – n/a

REDS 29 BLUES 28

All the talk had been about Samu Kerevi playing his final home match in Queensland colours but it was another departing Reds leader that stepped up to the plate to end their drought against New Zealand sides in his final super Rugby match.

While Kerevi would still not confirm that the Reds’ comeback 29-28 win against the Blues was his final home match in Queensland colours, former captain Scott Higginbotham, who will leave for French side Bordeaux at the end of the season, celebrated his final home game in style, scoring two tries to help break a 15-match losing streak to the Kiwis.

Already Super Rugby’s leading try-scorer for a forward, Higginbotham extended his mark past 40 with a brace, including the match-winner in the 76th minute.

While Bryce Hegarty had to slot the conversion to edge the Reds past the Blues, it was Higginbotham’s moment and one coach Brad Thorn was thrilled he could have in his final hitout for his state.

FULL REPORT HERE

Reds – Tries: Higginbotham (2), Tupou, Hegarty. Conversions: Hegarty (3). Penalties: Hegarty

Blues – Tries: Gibson, Tele’a, Pulu (2). Conversions: Black (4). Cards: Papalii (yellow, 67′)

HIGHLANDERS 24 BULLS 24

Jaco Visagie scored a late try to snatch a 24-24 draw for the Bulls against the Highlanders in Dunedin on Friday that effectively ended the home side’s Super Rugby play-off hopes.

Visagie’s 75th minute try, after the Bulls finally cracked the Highlanders’ defensive line in a match that was played at a high tempo, moved his side to 36 points on the table, while the Highlanders could only improve to 31.

Divan Rossouw and lock Jason Jenkins also scored tries for the Bulls, who are now fifth on the table, while the Highlanders are 10th and effectively out of contention for the top eight.

Five other teams are between 30 and 35 points and still to play this weekend.

The Highlanders face the Waratahs in Invercargill next Friday.

England-bound winger Waisake Naholo bid farewell to his adopted home town with two tries while fullback Josh McKay also crossed twice for the home side.

Highlanders – Tries: Josh McKay (2), Waisake Naholo (2). Conversions: Josh Ioane (2).

Bulls – Tries: Divan Rossouw, Jason Jenkins, Jaco Visagie. Conversions: Handre Pollard (3). Penalties: Handre Pollard.