Saturday 22 June 2019 16:31, UK
Sky Sports pundits Sean Fitzpatrick, Thinus Delport and Michael Lynagh run the rule over the Super Rugby quarter-finals and look at what we can expect in next week’s semi-finals.
The Crusaders remained on course for a third-straight Super Rugby title with a comfortable 38-14 win at home to fellow New Zealanders the Highlanders.
They face another of their compatriots in Christchurch this Saturday in the Hurricanes, who emerged 35-28 victors in a much closer-fought contest with the Bulls.
Scott Robertson's Crusaders side are now unbeaten in their last 29 matches at Rugby League Park and have beaten their semi-final opponents twice during the regular season.
But Fitzpatrick believes the Hurricanes' battling display against the Bulls will stand them in good stead, and the former All Blacks hooker sees John Plumtree's side as the best placed to challenge the Crusaders' supremacy.
"The Hurricanes will be the better for it and they've got a huge game against the Crusaders," Fitzpatrick said.
"Ultimately, they're the one team who could potentially give the Crusaders a bit of trouble.
"That was a huge Bulls line-out they had there and they secured all their ball, which is good in terms of coming up against a very good Crusaders line-out."
The win over the Bulls saw the Hurricanes ruthlessly exploit any errors made by the visitors as well, and Delport sees that as an area where the Crusaders will have to be wary.
"This is where the Hurricanes are so dangerous," Delport said. "If you make any mistakes, they will pounce on you."
Maverick scrum-half TJ Perenara is something of a talisman for the Hurricanes and the Wellington outfit will be looking to him to provide that spark as they aim to topple the defending champions.
There is a school of thought which says one way to nullify the threat posed by Perenara is to try to antagonise him and exploit the more fiery side of his personality.
But former South Africa international Delport countered that his aggressiveness is what makes the 27-year-old tick.
"You could potentially get under his skin, but he is very aggressive, he likes to mix it up and it's great to have that personality as a nine," Delport said.
"You've got to manage those big forwards in front of you as well as those big forwards coming at you, but TJ Perenara definitely does not step back.
"Sometimes he can be a bit hot-headed, but that's what you want from an energetic number nine like that."
The Brumbies are through to the Super Rugby semi-finals for the first time in four years thanks to a 38-13 win at home to the Sharks in the last of the weekend's quarter-finals.
Having built up a 24-6 lead at half time, the hosts were then on the defensive for a long period of the second half as the South African side tried to find a way back into the contest.
Their stoicism was rewarded in the closing stages when tries from Joe Powell and replacement Matt Lucas put the seal on a win.
Former Australia fly-half Lynagh knows the Canberra side will need to produce more of the same when they make the trip to Buenos Aires to play the Jaguares in the semis.
"In the second half, when the Sharks started to come back, it was their defence," Lynagh said.
"They just stood strong and the Sharks didn't offer huge amounts of versatility or variety in their attack, but the Brumbies were very solid in defence.
"It's a big task in front of them next week, but it was a very good win and what I was most impressed about was the experienced guys really played well."
Once again, home advantage proved all-important during the Super Rugby quarter-finals, with all four of the teams playing on their own patch emerging victorious.
That meant an end to South African participation in this year's competition, with the only winners from the South African conference being Argentinian side Jaguares.
They earned home advantage for both the quarter-finals and semis thanks to finishing top of the conference, with the Bulls and Sharks both having to travel for their knockout matches, and will feel confident of making more history with the home crowd behind them against the Brumbies.
"It [home advantage] is very important and that's why, from the South African conference, we don't have a South African winner," Delport said.
"As soon as you start travelling in Super Rugby, you're always going to be on the back foot."
Lynagh expects the Argentinians to pose a much different threat with the ball in hand to the one the Brumbies faced in their quarter-final win over the Sharks as well.
"Jaguares will offer a little more variety in their attacks than the Sharks did in the second half," Lynagh said. "They were relying on the Brumbies to miss a tackle and use their physicality.
"The Jaguares, particularly at home, are quite a good attacking team. They use the ball and they run it really well."