Canterbury Crusaders , who dominated the early seasons of Super-12, have taken a big step towards finishing on top of the southern hemisphere's world again. The New Zealanders racked up a record 10th successive win with a comprehensive 48-20 defeat of the Hurricanes in Wellington.
The Crusaders, who won the competition three years running from 1998, have an unassailable seven-point lead in the league with one round of matches remaining, guaranteeing them top seeding in the play-offs.
Their nearest rivals, Australia's New South Wales Waratahs , saw their hopes of overhauling the Crusaders end when they suffered a 31-24 defeat to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane yesterday. That defeat ensures the Crusaders will have a home semi-final draw.
The Reds also hold on to third spot, five points behind the Waratahs, but still need to win their final match to be assured of a place in the semi-finals with four teams jostling for the last two spots. The Reds are a point clear of the champions, Australia's ACT Brumbies and New Zealand's Otago High landers , with Auckland Blues a further four points adrift. Queensland could still miss out on the semi-finals if they lose their final match against Otago.
Neath will almost certainly clinch the third and final Welsh-Scottish League title if they defeat Swansea at St Helen's tomorrow after a weekend when everything went right for the Welsh All Blacks who two months ago would have been satisfied with a top-five finish.
If Neath overcome Swansea, only Llanelli could catch them on points but Neath have a vastly superior try count and the only hope Cardiff and Newport have of winning the title lies in the top two losing.
Neath defeated Pontypridd 47-16 at the Gnoll at the weekend while Llanelli were suffering a Heineken Cup hangover in Edinburgh where they crashed 40-8. Cardiff lost at Swansea on Saturday evening to put Neath's fate very much in their own hands.
"We have not won anything yet," said the Neath coach Lyn Jones. "Swansea have found their form in recent weeks and it is never an easy ground to play at. We have built up some momentum in the last month but it now all boils down to one match."
Third-placed Newport put themselves back in contention with a 28-26 victory at Glasgow on Friday night and, with two home matches remaining, would probably be the main beneficiaries if Neath slipped up.
