Rules putting the Super back in Super 14

OPINION: Rugby's Super 14 has come to life.

If anyone doubted the effect of new refereeing interpretations at the breakdown, they must surely have been won over by a weekend of rugby that produced a series of matches that were as dramatic as they were entertaining.

From the Hurricanes' 26-26 Friday night draw with the Crusaders, David Hill's matchwinning drop goal on fulltime for the Force, to the Sharks' comeback 30-28 win in Durban yesterday, the Super 14 is living up to its moniker.

The Waratahs have surged to the top of the points table with their fifth straight win, 40-17 over the Cheetahs in Sydney where prop Al Baxter scored his first Super try in 100 matches.

The impressive Blues handed the Bulls their first defeat in 13 matches, their 32-17 win in Auckland making for thrilling viewing.

The Crusaders are third, one ahead of the Stormers, while the Reds, Chiefs, Brumbies and Blues are in mid-table.

The Hurricanes have dropped to ninth place and along with the Sharks have hopeful rather than likely semifinal aspirations, while the Highlanders are languishing hin 11th place after their 27-21 loss to the Chiefs at Mt Maunganui.

What is clear is the quality of rugby has steadily improved as a spectacle and a contest.

Simply by cracking down on the tackler's ability to slow down or steal the ball, referees have swung the balance back toward the attacking side and reinvigorated what was rightly decried as a stagnant spectacle less than year ago.

Kicking has been discouraged by the fact that territory and tries can be earned through ball retention and hard running, while the rolling maul has made a welcome return for those teams which are good enough to execute it.

Most interesting has been the effect on the form of players.

Ball-in-hand is back in vogue and players such as Blues centre Rene Ranger and No8 Villiame Ma'afu and Hurricanes No8 Victor have come into their own.

Scavenging specialists such Hurricanes openside Karl Lowe and to some extent even Crusaders and All Blacks captain Richie McCaw have been less influential.

Wings are becoming wings again, and veteran Joe Rokocoko has been among those to impress in a less kick-and-catch-heavy environment.

The Blues were the most impressive of the New Zealand teams in week eight, reinvigorating their faltering campaign to move to eighth place, one point behind the Chiefs and one ahead of the Hurricanes.

The Blues outmuscled the Bulls up front where Ma'afu, fellow flanker Serge Lilo and unheralded prop Charlie Faumuina were outstanding.

The Bulls' rolling mauls were negated the old-fashioned way by the Blues under the guidance of ever-improving first-five Stephen Brett.

He had a huge influence, contributing 22 points from an eight-from-nine goalkicking return.

On form, Brett is clearly the second best first-five in New Zealand rugby behind Dan Carter.

On that note, Stephen Donald had one of his strongest matches of the season for the Chiefs, at second-five outside Mike Delany.

Why coach Ian Foster has not used the combination all season is a mystery, but regardless the Chiefs broke a three-game losing streak and are now sixth, just four points outside the top four.

The Hurricanes' semifinal hopes are all but gone, ninth on the points table and winless since week three.

They are not helped by the fact that of the eight teams ahead of them, seven have played one less match.

In the other match at the weekend, the Sharks came from 21-9 down to beat the Reds in Durban thanks to second-half tries to Odwa Ndungane, Jacques Botes and Springboks winger JP Pietersen.

- © Fairfax NZ News