Hurricanes lead NZ hopes

IMPRESSIVE: Nehe Milner-Skudder of the Hurricanes charges forward during their match against the Blues at Eden Park on Saturday night.PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

There are three weeks to go in Super Rugby's regular season and few things about the play-off picture are clear, given 10 teams are still in the hunt to claim six spots.

Here's what the respective conference leaders have done to put themselves in a good position as the play-offs loom.

The Hurricanes are the competition front-runners with 12 wins from 13 matches and they hold a 13-point lead over the Chiefs in the New Zealand conference. Chris Boyd's side look likely to secure home advantage throughout the post-season, providing they can win one of their final three games.

They have built their campaign around improved forward play and tight defence but, as the season has worn on, they have shown an impressive ability to score tries.

The Hurricanes average a league-leading 3.5 tries per match, while they also top the competition in metres per game with 532.5 and defenders beaten (23). Assistant coach John Plumtree has played a major role in the evolution of their forward pack and the Hurricanes have the best scrum success in the competition at 96 per cent, while their 95 per cent success at rucks trails only the Force (96 per cent).

The Hurricanes also make 88 per cent of their tackles, the best figure in Super Rugby, alongside the Lions and the Chiefs.

The Waratahs lead the Australian conference by three points over the Brumbies and they could still fall out of the play-off race, but the defending champions have shown the ability to get up for the big games this year.

They are the only team to have beaten the Hurricanes.

Keeping the ball in hand has been the key to success for the Waratahs this season. They have plenty of powerful ball-runners and they do not like to kick possession away.

The Waratahs average only 15.9 kicks from the hand per game, the lowest figure in the competition, while they make the second-most carries per outing with 122.8, only slightly behind the Melbourne Rebels (122.9).

The Waratahs also rank highly in metres per game (fourth), passes (second) and offloads (second).

Coach Michael Cheika has instilled a belief in his team that running the ball will lead them to success and it is pushing them back towards the play-offs.

The Stormers lead the South African conference with 38 points, but the Lions (36) and the Bulls (35) are within striking distance.

Accurate goal-kicking has helped the Stormers this season and they lead the competition with an 81 per cent success rate, while they also average the most scrum steals with 0.8 per game.

Surprisingly, the Stormers have the lowest tries-per-game average, alongside the Western Force, with 1.8, but they have shown impressive discipline.

NZME.