Super Rugby Pacific enters quiet time with mid-season byes

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Super Rugby Pacific will snooze through its mid-season siesta over the next three weekends with only four matches in each of the next three rounds, none of major significance to the championship.

The reduced schedule means all 12 teams will get a bye over the next three rounds.

The match between the second-place Hurricanes and sixth-place Highlanders on Saturday is likely the best of the seventh round. The Hurricanes and Chiefs will meet the following weekend in what might be a top-of-the-table clash if current standings remain.

Few other matches this weekend will have a major impact on the standings. The fourth-place Crusaders play last-place Moana Pasifika and the third-place ACT Brumbies play the eighth-place Queensland Reds on Friday; the Hurricanes and Highlanders meet Saturday before the fifth-place Blues take on the ninth-place Melbourne Rebels.

Few of the contests this weekend or next will send pulses racing. Super Rugby has cut across and gradually diminished the great rivalries that existed in provincial or state rugby in Australia and New Zealand prior to its inception. The tournament has few must-see matches and in the second half of the season particularly an increasing number of games become inconsequential.

Live audiences suggest fans increasingly are turning to other sports which provide more compelling viewing week to week.

The match between the Dunedin-based Highlanders and Hurricanes offers some possibility of excitement because both teams are free-running. The Wellington-based Hurricanes have traveled under the radar this season because most media focus in New Zealand is on the Blues and Crusaders at the expense of the better-performed Hurricanes and Chiefs.

The Hurricanes are the most improved team of the current season and less encumbered by All Blacks than the Christchurch-based Crusaders or Auckland-based Blues. That has allowed them to field a more consistent lineup throughout the season.

All Blacks flyhalf Richie Mo’unga will play his 100th Super Rugby match for the Crusaders on Friday against Moana Pasifika. It also will be one of his last as he is heading to Japan at the end of the season.

Mo’unga is the third consecutive star flyhalf the Crusaders have fielded after Andrew Mehrtens and Dan Carter.

“He’s a winner. He knows how to win, he knows how to close games out,” coach Scott Robertson said. “He knows how to be brave in big moments. It’s gone along and every time he’s had the opportunity he’s fronted for us.”

The Brumbies and Reds face off days after Australia's new head coach Eddie Jones named his first squad Wallabies squad of the season, containing six new caps. Matches such as Friday’s all are part of Jones’ selection process.

“There’s a lot more motivation for some of the boys to put out a good performance against the Brumbies,” said Reds centre Josh Flook, who is one of those uncapped players. “They are at the top of the Australian (section) at the moment and they deserve to be there.

“We’ve had some good matches against them in the past. We’re able to compare ourselves against them and we’re all fighting for jerseys and higher honors above that. It’s a lot of talented boys playing against each other, so it brings the best out of each other.”

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