Blues and All Blacks lock Patrick Tuipulotu has been ruled out of rugby for the rest of the year after opting for surgery on a developmental defect with his hips.

The Crusaders are in a precarious tussle for the playoffs and surprisingly, are top of the pile in one department.

Highlanders wings Waisake Naholo and Patrick Osborne showed their class as they scored tries during their team's 36-9 win over the Chiefs during the weekend, but where do they rank among the competition's best tackle-busters?

Watching Robbie Deans lead the Barbarians to a good win over a strong Ireland side made me think - we could do much worse than getting him back into New Zealand's coaching system.

Into the spotlight for the Highlanders and exit stage left.

The Blues' finals hopes were dashed weeks ago but, presumably refreshed from their bye week, they still have an important role to play in terms of the final standings.

Daniel Carter, after a season of inching forward, took a giant step in the right direction against the Hurricanes in Nelson.

I have to be honest, when Chiefs assistant coach Tom Coventry rang me a couple of weeks ago I was more than a little surprised, writes Ross Filipo.

On a night that hearkened back to the franchise's formative years, the Highlanders created a little slice of history and remained right in the hunt for another.

Join us here for tonight's live blog of the Super Rugby clash between the Highlanders and the Chiefs in Invercargill.

With All Blacks on his inside going through injury-disrupted campaigns, Charlie Ngatai's chase for higher honours has made him the rock of the Chiefs' backline.

Join us for all the action from the Super Rugby clash between the Crusaders and Hurricanes from Trafalgar Park in Nelson.

Messam will miss tomorrow night's game against the Highlanders after a knock to his left shoulder during last weekend's win over the Bulls.

With three rounds of the Super Rugby regular competition remaining, our experts answer some of the vital questions that will define the season.

It's taken time but the Hurricanes are more than competitive and have led the charge in the competition this year with 12 wins from 13 games under new coach Chris Boyd.

With three rounds to go in Super Rugby, the Herald checks out the remaining contenders and rates their title chances.

Conrad Smith can board a plane to France at the end of the year knowing the future of the Hurricanes is in safe hands.

Heavyweight New Zealand Rugby censure followed Charles Piutau's announcement he was heading to play rugby in Ulster.