Super Rugby: 5 Things We Learnt From Round 15

1     If team performances in Super Rugby between February and May were a reliable guide as to how the All Blacks, Springboks, and Wallabies will fare in the World Cup in September/October, the only sensible wager would be on New Zealand to be the southern hemisphere’s best bet to win the World Cup. After Round 15, the Hurricanes (57 points), Chiefs (44), and Highlanders (43) lead Super Rugby on log points earned, with the Waratahs the only other team not stuck in the thirties. Fortunately for Michael Cheika and Heyneke Meyer, drawing on the best of their franchises – and selecting overseas-based players – may change that landscape.

2     If the Auckland Blues boardroom members do not see the elephant in the room by now, perhaps they never will. Yet another humbling defeat must surely make their path forward abundantly clear.

3     Richie McCaw and Dan Carter may have started off the year slowly, resting, playing off the bench, starting games only occasionally, and not making an enormous contribution in some of the games they’ve played for the Crusaders, but both showed on Saturday that they’re on their way back to showing they most certainly still have what it takes to make major impact for the All Blacks later in the season and be among the star players at the World Cup.

4     Referees indulging in guessing who is infringing at scrums too often allows teams to score three points from penalty goals, which can change the course of matches and sometimes distort results of games.

5     The Hurricanes are the real deal. They were wonderful again – playing without three key backs in Conrad Smith, Cory Jane, and Beauden Barrett, and two of their best forwards, Reggie Goodes and James Broadhurst, and having to make three changes to the backline to accommodate Jane’s late withdrawal, they still played superb rugby, scored four tries, and thumped the Blues.