NZ Super 12 hopes hinge on Highlanders
by Huw Turner
May 12, 2001

The Friday night failure of both the Chiefs and Hurricanes to secure any championship points puts added pressure on the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday evening.

Peter Sloane's men must secure the maximum five points against the Crusaders if they are to have any chance of progressing to the semi finals. But even if they do score four tries in overcoming last year's champions, they will still have to rely on the Waratahs overturning the Reds in Sydney later in the evening.

New Zealand rugby followers find themselves in unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory. Having dominated the five previous seasons, when the Blues were champions twice and the Crusaders three times, there is a very real possibility of this year's play offs being dominated by Australian and South African sides. The Brumbies, Sharks and Cats have already secured their places, with the Highlanders now in a desperate scrap with both the Reds and the Stormers for the fourth place.

Both the Chiefs and Hurricanes went into the start of round twelve with mathematical chances of advancing further, but both came unstuck away from home. The Chiefs found the Brumbies in irresistible form in Canberra and the Hurricanes were still suffering the effects of their defeat the previous week to the Chiefs as they went down in the Eden Park quagmire to the Blues.

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