Six rounds into the Super whizz bang-bang for your buck series and the best teams are pushing out performances to balance the mediocre.
No one would dispute the Chiefs, Highlanders, Crusaders and Hurricanes are bringing games to sit comfortably in the top rung of the series. The quality of their rugby - skill level, game plans, fitness, rugby intelligence, coaching flexibility - is a notch up from most.
Their performances rival most of the work the Brumbies and Rebels are producing at the top of the Australian conference and the Stormers and Sharks have shown to lead their South African conferences.
However the conference series rather than a round-robin tournament means New Zealand teams will cannibalise each other. When finals time rocks around in late July, it will need some miracle for four NZ sides to qualify.
Conference systems reward political and commercial partners rather than performance. Geography decides which teams get a free pass to the playoffs.
