It is likely that only one Australian conference team will make the final eight, and with the Brumbies and Waratahs tied on 39 points, and the former hosting the troubled Force next weekend while the Sydney-siders travel to Auckland to play the Blues, it appears the men from Canberra are in the box seat.
The Stormers, who have not had to play a New Zealand team this season, is the other South African team confirmed in the playoffs, with the Sharks, who host the woeful Sunwolves, a possibility for the eighth and final place.
The Crusaders bounced back from their defeat to the Chiefs in Suva to embarrass the injury-hit Rebels 85-26 in Christchurch, a humiliation which threatened to break their record 96-19 victory over the Waratahs in 2002. The Reds were similarly humbled 50-5 by the Chiefs in Brisbane in a weekend which perfectly illustrated the gap between the New Zealand conference and the rest of the competition.
All five of the New Zealand teams showed an ability to make decisions under pressure and full array of skills which were on a different level to the opposition. In putting six tries past a tired-looking Brumbies, who contained half a dozen Wallabies but few attacking ideas, the Blues finally fulfilled their potential after pushing the Crusaders and Hurricanes close.
The Chiefs blew the Reds away despite the absence of key forward Brodie Retallick, rested for bigger matches to come, and the Crusaders did likewise without All Blacks skipper Kieran Read, the Rebels defending as poorly as any Super Rugby team in recent history.
Chris Boyd's Hurricanes were in the closest contest of the Kiwi teams, but pulled away from the Waratahs in Sydney with relative ease in the second half, the home side's lineout disintegrating along with their composure.
At Estadio Jose Amalfitani, the Highlanders backed up their big victory over the Kings in Port Elizabeth with a similarly comprehensive win over the Jaguares, who also had big lineout problems despite being effectively a Pumas test team in disguise.
Fullback Ben Smith was a constant threat on the counter after being rested last weekend, with second-five Rob Thompson also having a match to remember.
The match, which finished in a 34-8 victory for Jamie Joseph's men, was also memorable for the unique response from television match official Santiago Borsani who was asked to rule on a possible Patrick Osborne try by referee Angus Gardner in the final minutes.
Osborne clearly put a foot on the touchline when diving into the corner, but Borsani told Gardner: "You may award the try."
Gardner, who had a good game in often trying conditions and was watching the replay on a big screen, said: "Hold on Santiago, let's look at that again."
The try was not awarded.
Final round:
Friday: Blues v Waratahs, Eden Park
Reds v Rebels, Suncorp Stadium
Saturday: Sharks v Sunwolves, Kings Park
Crusaders v Hurricanes, AMI Stadium
Highlanders v Chiefs, Forsyth Barr Stadium
Brumbies v Force, GIO Stadium
Sunday: Stormers v Kings, Newlands
Cheetahs v Bulls, Toyota Stadium
Jaguares v Lions, Estadio Jose Amalfitani
