Rugby-New Zealand dominance goes unrewarded in playoffs

MELBOURNE, July 20 (Reuters) - The Super Rugby playoffs have never been entirely meritocratic but the dominance of New Zealand teams this season have lent an added air of unfairness to the quarter-finals kicking off this weekend.

Under the vagaries of a conference system that will barely change when the competition reverts to 15 teams next year, the Wellington Hurricanes must travel to face the ACT Brumbies on Friday despite boasting a far superior record to the Canberra side.

The twice-champion Waikato Chiefs are also condemned to an away quarter-final on Saturday, against the Cape Town-based Stormers, who won 14 fewer championship points than the New Zealanders.

Underlining the New Zealand supremacy, the seven-times champion Canterbury Crusaders host the Otago Highlanders in Christchurch on Saturday.

The top-seeded Lions face the Durban-based Sharks at home in the other all-South African quarter-final on Saturday and will carry hosting rights to the final if they advance that far.

They may feel the advantage is deserved after finishing top of the overall standings, even if they avoided playing a single New Zealand team in the regular season due to a quirk in how the fixtures were selected for the 18-team format.

"A title for them will be a victory for a lop-sided, ill-conceived format," rugby pundit Gregor Paul fumed in the New Zealand Herald.

Despite the inequities, such is the quality of New Zealand rugby that three of the conference's four participants in the playoffs could ultimately end up in the semi-finals.

The Chiefs may have the toughest assignment but also have fine memories of last year's quarter-final at Newlands when they destroyed the hosts 60-21.

The Stormers hit back with a 34-26 win over the Chiefs earlier in the season, however, and went through undefeated by New Zealand opponents in Cape Town.

ACKERMANN FAREWELL?

The winner will face either the Crusaders or Highlanders, who face off in a mouth-watering clash at Rugby League Park.

The Crusaders will be smarting after their quest for a perfect season was ended by the Hurricanes last week, the loss also costing them the top seeding in the playoffs.

They will also bring a refreshed and fearsome pack after resting key forwards against the Hurricanes but if the Highlanders can achieve parity at the set-piece, they will fancy their classy backline to produce a winning score.

Last year's runners-up, the Lions will defend a 13-game unbeaten run at Ellis Park when they host the Sharks in Johannesburg and are heavy favourites to advance, having beaten their opponents 27-10 in Durban last weekend.

The game could be Lions coach Johan Ackermann's last in charge before he heads off to Gloucester but he said he would not let the pressure of knockout rugby affect his game-plan.

"We want to play an exciting brand," he told reporters. "We haven't changed that mind-set in any game and we will still do it on Saturday."

Should they win, the Lions will return to Ellis Park and would likely face the reigning champion Hurricanes, who should have too much firepower for the Australian conference-winning Brumbies.

The Brumbies rested a string of players from their last start, an away defeat to the Chiefs, and they will play with emotion when they welcome Christian Lealiifano back, less than a year after the 29-year-old back was diagnosed with leukaemia.

They will need to become the first Australian team to beat a New Zealand side in 26 attempts this season, however, and the Hurricanes may be the toughest to break down.

Brilliant flyhalf Beauden Barrett returns to the starting side after missing the Crusaders' clash, while his All Blacks team mate and world class hooker Dane Coles is in line for his first game in four months after a long battle with concussion symptoms and other injuries. (Additional reporting by Nick Said in Cape Town; Editing by John O'Brien)