Strong rivals poised to topple Sharks
With five points separating four teams, Waratahs and Crusaders have golden opportunity to unseat South African leaders
The Coastal Sharks face being toppled as Super Rugby leaders this weekend with the New South Wales Waratahs and Canterbury Crusaders both having a golden opportunity to overtake them.
While all South African teams have a bye as the Springboks play Scotland, it opens the way for a change at the top in the tightly packed competition where only five points separate the leading four teams.
The Australia and New Zealand conferences resume after their June test window with the second-placed Waratahs, just two points behind the Sharks, eyeing the outright lead if they put away the ACT Brumbies in Sydney on Saturday.
The key is to make sure they understand where the moments are in the game that they need to take advantage of, how can they recognise the opportunities
However, a slip by the Sydneysiders would give the lead to the Crusaders, who are four points in arrears, if they beat the Wellington Hurricanes.
In the battle to fill out the top six, the fourth-placed Brumbies and Hurricanes in sixth are in a must-win situation as they both have a bye in the remaining three rounds.
Close behind them, the seventh and eighth-placed Western Force and defending champions Waikato Chiefs, respectively are in line for promotion to a play-off position if they win and other results go their way.
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika has made one change to the starting side that beat the Chiefs in their last outing four weeks ago, with Wallaby prop Sekope Kepu starting at tight-head in place of Paddy Ryan.
The win over the Chiefs completed a successful four-week run into the test break for the Waratahs with Israel Folau moving to 11 tries for the season, four more than his nearest challenger.