Rugby -Waratahs top but Super Rugby playoff picture still fuzzy

By Nick Mulvenney SYDNEY, July 6 (Reuters) - New South Wales Waratahs looked every inch champions-elect as they locked up top spot in the Super Rugby standings on Sunday but the playoff picture beneath them was not much clearer after the penultimate week of the regular season. Fullback Israel Folau's 12th try of the campaign helped the Waratahs to a dominant 44-16 victory over the Otago Highlanders that gave them an unassailable 53 points and guaranteed them home advantage for the semi-finals, and potentially the final. The Waratahs and South Africa's Sharks were already assured of topping their national conferences before the weekend and the Canterbury Crusaders were the only other team to join them in the post-season. The Crusaders top the New Zealand standings with 46 points after Dan Carter, returning from his sabbatical, helped them to a 21-13 victory over the Auckland Blues on Saturday that earned them playoff rugby for the 13th straight season. That leaves three places still up for grabs in the final weekend of the regular season, which is followed by the four-team wildcard playoffs. The Highlanders, who have 42 points, could still overtake the Crusaders and win the New Zealand conference if they can prevail in a South Island showdown with the seven-times champions in Christchurch next weekend. They could also see their first playoff campaign in 12 years go up in smoke if they lose, though, with the defending champion Waikato Chiefs, Wellington Hurricanes, ACT Brumbies and Western Force all still in the hunt. The Hurricanes, who have 41 points, are most likely to be squeezed out as they finish the regular season with a bye-week, which last year would have earned them four points but in 2014 gets them nothing. They were 24-16 losers in Hamilton on Friday as the Chiefs wrenched themselves out of a tailspin of three defeats to keep their hopes of a third straight title alive - although they could have done with two more tries and a bonus point. SURPRISING FORCE The Chiefs are now tied on 40 points with the Brumbies and the surprise package Force, who outlasted the Queensland Reds 30-20 in Perth to remain on track for their maiden playoff campaign. The Brumbies had a bye over the weekend and return to action against the Force in Canberra next Friday in a crunch encounter with a place in the wildcard round on the line. Jake White led the Brumbies to the final last year but his current charges, the Sharks, did major damage to their hopes of a first Super Rugby title when they were stunned 27-20 by the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday. Having lost the 2012 final after a travelling 55,000 km over the playoff campaign, the Durban-based Sharks are more aware than most of the advantage of playing at home at the business end of the season. They will definitely be South Africa's only representatives in the knockout stage, though, after the three-times champion Bulls crashed out of playoff contention with a 16-0 defeat to the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday. It is to Newlands and a match against the in-form Stormers next weekend that the Sharks take their bid for a top-two finish, which would ensure they skip the wildcard round and have home advantage in one of the semi-finals the following week. With the Waratahs having up sewn up the top spot, the Sharks, tied on 46 points with the Crusaders, will have to at least match whatever Todd Blackadder's side achieve against the Highlanders and improve their points differential. (Editing by John O'Brien)