The China Mail - Kiss admits NZ sides have the edge as Super Rugby playoffs begin

Four New Zealand teams finished in the top six, who will contest the playoffs starting next weekend.

Wellington Hurricanes, the Reds and the defending champion Auckland Blues recorded big wins to secure positions four, five and six respectively.

The Hurricanes crushed Moana Pasifika 64-12 to deny their opponents a first trip to the knockout stage.

They will meet the third-placed ACT Brumbies in Canberra while the Reds, who outclassed Fijian Drua 52-7, have to travel to New Zealand to face second-ranked Canterbury Crusaders in Christchurch.

The Blues kept their title defence alive by beating the New South Wales Waratahs 46-6, setting up a clash with the table-topping Waikato Chiefs in Hamilton.

New Zealand teams have dominated Super Rugby Pacific since it relaunched post-Covid in 2022, providing both teams in all three finals.

The last time a non-New Zealand side won a full edition of the championship was 2014 when the Waratahs triumphed.

Kiss, who will take over as head coach of the Wallabies next year, conceded it would be a tall order for the Reds or Brumbies to upset the traditional pecking order.

"A couple of them have found their mojo, haven't they?" Kiss said of the New Zealand teams.

"When you see the way Chiefs are playing at the moment, anyone would be worried around the world.

"They're all in form so we've just got to go and do our best, haven't we?

"That's the deal we have. We've just got to make sure we control what we can control and let's see what happens."

Under a new finals format, the three winners next week will advance to the semi-finals, along with the highest-ranked loser.

While the Reds lost heavily to the Crusaders in March, Kiss was buoyed by last year's upset victory in Christchurch, breaking a 25-year hoodoo in New Zealand for his side.

"I think last year should give us confidence that we can go there and do it," he said.

"It was a long drought before we got that one. They're a very, very good side, particularly at home."

Kiss said the big win over the Drua in wet conditions was one of their best performances of the year, highlighted by four tries to winger Lachie Anderson, all scored in the first half.

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson is in doubt for the Crusaders clash after the loose forward suffered a wrist injury which Kiss said would require scans.

O.Yip--ThChM