Game on for Canes

PHIL REID/The Dominion Post

PLENTY OF TREAD: Hurricanes halfback Piri Weepu admits he has been carrying a spare tyre around his waist this year as he regains fitness following off-season knee surgery, but he's quickly closing in on peak condition.

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There was a time when this game was easy to call.

The Hurricanes would trundle up to Auckland, or watch the Blues jet in to Wellington, all the time suspecting that there was only one team who would win.

It wasn't them.

Times have changed.

The Blues might have won the Super 12 in 2003 but they have been in a whirlpool ever since, finishing fifth in 2004, seventh in 2005 and eighth in 2006, emerging briefly late last year to reach the semifinals.

During that time they've also gone from being the Hurricanes' bogey team, with eight consecutive wins, to a side the Hurricanes know they can beat.

It started with the 26-26 draw in 2004, gathered pace when they had their first win a year later and should carry through to Eden Park tonight.

Halfback Piri Weepu suggested this week that they liked to "sneak in under the radar", popping up only when "it comes to the crunch at the end of the season".

Weepu's wrong. Those days are gone too.

If they beat the Blues tonight the Hurricanes will be in the Super 14 playoffs for the fourth time in six years and will probably host their second semifinal in three years.

The Hurricanes go into tonight's match at Eden Park second on the table, while the Blues need a late, desperate revival to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.

Weepu grudgingly admits the Hurricanes have earned the right to be a team to watch.

"Being in the semis four times - if we get there this year - we could be regarded as one of the top teams. We used to get up-and-down games during the season, but now things are steady and we are combining quite well, so we should be able to put in a solid performance."

Though they are second, the Hurricanes could fall as far as sixth by Sunday if they don't win tonight.

The Blues are still a team with the ability to punish a complacent opposition. They have a good scrum, a short but reasonable lineout, good loose forwards and dangerous backs.

But the same can be said of the Hurricanes - good scrum, okay lineout, brutal loosies and talented backs.

The return of an angry Jerry Collins will give the Blues a few things to ponder as they sort through the angles of their attack.

 SEMIFINALS RACE

If the Hurricanes get:

Five points (win, score four tries): Home semi guaranteed.

Four points (win): Home semi unless Waratahs win by massive margin.

Three points (draw but score four tries): Home semi unless Waratahs win. Still in playoffs.

Two points (draw, or lose by seven or fewer, and score four tries): Can be overtaken by Waratahs, Stormers, Sharks.

One point (lose by seven or fewer, or score four tries but lose by more than seven): Can be overtaken by Waratahs, Stormers, Sharks; matched by Blues.

No points (lose by eight or more): Can be passed by Waratahs, Stormers, Sharks, Blues.

Points: Crusaders 52, Hurricanes 40, Waratahs 39, Stormers 37, Sharks 37, Blues 36, Chiefs 34. 

- © Fairfax NZ News