Road to the play-offs: Mad dash

SUPER RUGBY SPOTLIGHT: It may sound crazy, but with just two rounds remaining 14 teams still have a chance of reaching the play-offs.

Some of the teams have no more than a remote, mathematical prospect.

In reality, nine teams are vying for the five of the remaining quarterfinal places.

The Crusaders, Hurricanes and Jaguares have already booked their play-off spots.

However, the final positions have yet to be determined.

Round 16 showed just how quickly, and how dramatic, things can change.

Take, for example, the table-topping Crusaders. Before last weekend’s Round 16 fixtures they required just one point to secure first place on the standings.

Their loss to the Chiefs means they still require that point and now they have an even more desperate Rebels team arriving in Christchurch this week for their final league match of the regular season.

However, they won’t finish lower than fourth.

The Hurricanes remain the only team that can overtake the Crusaders in the top spot.

If they were to lose and not get any points against the Rebels, the winners of the South African and Australian conferences will also be placed ahead of them.

The Jaguares and the Brumbies have a bit less room to manoeuvre in their respective conferences.

The Jaguares, who can finish no lower than sixth, host the Sharks in Buenos Aires this week and the Sunwolves a week later.

They require four points from their two remaining matches to become the first foreign team to take the South African conference. Two wins will secure second place on the overall standings.

The Brumbies also require two wins to clinch the Australian conference, with both their fixtures against fellow Aussie rivals and play-off contenders.

The Canberra-based outfit requires one more point to secure a top-eight finish.

If the quarterfinal were to take place tomorrow, we would see the following scenario:

Crusaders host Sharks
Jaguares host Bulls
Brumbies host Rebels
Hurricanes host Lions

However, plenty can still change in the next fortnight and it is safe to say it will go down to the wire in Round 18 to decide the final play-off places.

* The see the current standing, CLICK HERE!

We look at each team and their remaining fixtures:

1 CRUSADERS (53 points)

Remaining matches:
v Rebels (home)
Bye

2 JAGUARES (41 points)

Remaining matches:
v Sharks (home)
v Sunwolves (home)

3 BRUMBIES (39 points)

Remaining matches:
v Waratahs (away)
v Reds (home)

4 HURRICANES (44 points)

Remaining matches:
v Lions (away)
v Blues (home)

5 LIONS (35 points)

Remaining matches:
v Hurricanes (home)
v Bulls (away)

6 MELBOURNE REBELS (34 points)

Remaining matches:
v Crusaders (away)
v Chiefs (home)

7 BULLS (34 points)

Remaining matches:
v Highlanders (away)
v Lions (home)

8 SHARKS (33 points)

Remaining matches:
v Jaguares (away)
v Stormers (away)

9 CHIEFS (31 points)

Remanding matches:
Bye
v Rebels (away)

10 WARATAHS (30 points)

Remaining matches:
v Brumbies (home)
v Highlanders (away)

11 STORMERS (30 points)

Remaining matches:
v Sunwolves (home)’
v Sharks (home)

12 HIGHLANDERS (29 points)

Remaining matches:
v Bulls (home)
v Waratahs (home)

13 BLUES (28 points)

Remaining matches:
v Reds (away)
v Hurricanes (away)

14 REDS (24 points)

Remaining matches:
v Blues (home)
v Brumbies (away)

15 SUNWOLVES (12 points)

Remaining matches:
v Stormers (away)
v Jaguares (away)

By Jan de Koning
@king365ed
@rugby365com