WELLINGTON Frank Ragnow Jersey , New Zealand (AP)The last quarterfinalist will be determined and playoff venues decided in this weekend’s final regular-season round of Super Rugby which will highlight again the unfairness of the tournament’s conference system.Seven quarterfinalists have already been determined, four from New Zealand, two from South Africa and one from Australia.The defending champion and Christchurch-based Crusaders have sealed first place in the New Zealand conference and on the overall table, ensuring they will have home advantage as long as they stay alive in the playoffs.The New South Wales Waratahs have clinched first place in the Australian conference. First place remains up for grabs in an African conference in which the Johannesburg-based Lions, finalists in each of the last two years, are three points ahead of Argentina’s Jaguares.The Lions play the Pretoria-based Bulls and the Jaguares face the Durban-based Sharks in intra-conference matches in the last round.The African conference winner automatically qualifies for the playoffs and has home advantage until it faces a higher-ranked opponent.Of the five wild-card playoff spots available, three have been secured by New Zealand teams. The Highlanders are safe as are the Hurricanes and Chiefs, who meet Friday in the opening match of the last round.The Hurricanes have already beaten the Chiefs once during the regular season and the teams may meet again in next weekend’s quarterfinals Marvin Jones Jersey , either in Hamilton or Wellington.The Hurricanes’ Chris Boyd is the latest coach to denounce a system that gives home advantage to conference winners even when they accrue fewer championship points than wild-card teams. The Hurricanes currently have 50 points, placing them well ahead of the Waratahs with 44 and Lions with 41.”The Crusaders are entrenched at No.1 and the Lions are going to finish top of their conference, the Waratahs are going to finish top of their conference and then the Chiefs and Hurricanes are going to finish fourth and fifth, or fifth and fourth,” Boyd told Fairfax Media.”The vagaries of the competition structure, given the pools, means that potentially both the Hurricanes and the Chiefs will finish higher, or thereabouts Darius Slay Jersey , than the Waratahs and Lions but don’t enjoy the privilege of getting the home playoff, so that’s an interesting feature of the competition.”The Dunedin-based Highlanders, with 40 points, have also secured a playoff berth ahead of their match on Saturday against the Melbourne Rebels. Their quarterfinal will be away from home but they will have to wait until the final round ends to learn whether it will be in Sydney, Johannesburg or Buenos Aires.Scrumhalf Aaron Smith said the Highlanders aren’t concerned about the quarterfinal venue.”Playoff rugby is what it’s all about,” he said. ”We’re at the crunch end of the season, we’ve set ourselves up to be in the playoffs no matter what, which is nice. It’s just a matter of where we’re flying to.”The Waratahs will end the regular season against the ACT Brumbies Matthew Stafford Jersey , who have a slight chance of making the playoffs.The Rebels or Sharks will likely take the final quarterfinal spot.A win would give the Waratahs a clean sweep of conference matches this season.”The reality is you want to win games at this time of year,” Waratahs assistant coach Chris Malone said. ”You want to go into a quarterfinal on the back of a win against a good, tough side and that’s really important for us.” Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford has never played on an NFL team that didn’t have Calvin Johnson or Golden Tate on the roster for him to complete passes with.That will change this Sunday as Tate is now a member of the Philadelphia Eagles following the Lions decision to deal the veteran receiver ahead of the trade deadline on Tuesday. Johnson and Tate have been Stafford’s two favorite targets throughout his 10-year career in Detroit. Now Stafford is trying to look ahead as he looks to push the Lions forward without Tate around anymore.鈥淭he biggest thing for me is just moving forward with what we鈥檝e got, and that鈥檚 all I can do,鈥?Stafford said, via Dave Birkett of the聽Detroit Free Press. 鈥淚 try to go out there and prepare each week, whether somebody鈥檚 hurt or somebody鈥檚 traded, whatever it is Jarrad Davis Jersey , not available to play that week. 鈥楢ll right, let鈥檚 go be successful with what we鈥檝e got.鈥?And this week is no different from that standpoint.鈥漁f Tate’s 416 receptions with the Lions over the last four-plus seasons, 411 of those passes were thrown by Stafford for a total of 4,695 yards and 29 touchdowns. Tate caught at least 90 passes in each of his four full years with the Lions are eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark in three of those four seasons. He was on pace to accomplish both tasks again in 2018 before the trade on Tuesday to the Eagles.Stafford said he wasn’t consulted by General Manager Bob Quinn or head coach Matt Patricia about the trade, but he did say he understood what the deal was trying to accomplish.鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to do what they think is best for the team,鈥?Stafford said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not my decision to see who stays, who goes. That鈥檚 not my job. And I understand that Teez Tabor Jersey , and I think they know that and respect that, too, so just let them do their job and I鈥檒l deal with whatever comes.鈥
