Five weeks into the Super Rugby season, it is becoming increasingly clear how important winning conference derbies are your end of season playoff hopes. 

Over in New Zealand, the Blues and Highlanders have struggled against fellow Kiwi opposition and already find themselves chasing wins during the middle part of the season to stay in touch with the sides at the top of their conference.

The Stormers' opening week win over the Bulls has given them complete control of the "Africa 1" conference, while matches between the Lions, Sharks and Jaguares will be vital in what looks like a three-horse race in "Africa 2".

Over in Australia, victories against New Zealand sides are looking close to impossible, making derby wins vital for any chance of finishing top of the pile in Oz. 

Waratahs come back from the death to stun Rebels and Brumbies fall at home to Highlanders

On Friday evening in Melbourne, the Waratahs fought back from the brink to hand the Rebels their fourth straight loss, scoring a last minute try in their 32-25 win.

The Rebels were utterly dominant in the opening half, building a 25-6 advantage at the break, with inside centre Reece Hodge scoring a brace of tries to go alongside ten points from the kicking tee. Hodge’s fellow centre Tom English also crossed for a five-pointer with NRL import Marika Koroibete playing a key role in everything that went well for the Rebels.

The second half which ensued was stunning to say the least, with the Waratahs scoring four tries without response to turn the game on its head and to gain their second win of the campaign. Flanker Ned Hanigan was first to cross, scooting over in the corner before Reece Robinson dived over on the opposite flank ten minutes later to cut the deficit to seven.

With three minutes left on the clock, the Rebels had retained their seven point lead, but from the moment Colby Fainga’a was sent to the sin bin for an indiscretion close to his line it all went wrong for Tony McGahan’s men.

David Horwitz spots a gap to score the game's winning try (image source: Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Bernard Foley converted Michael Wells' 78th minute try to draw the sides level, before David Horwitz spotted a gap in the 14-man defence to crash over and complete the incredible comeback win, breaking Rebel hearts in the process.

The following evening in Canberra, the Brumbies fell to their third defeat of the season, going down 18-13 to the touring Highlanders.

A Wharenui Hawera penalty goal was followed by a smart set piece score from Chris Alcock to put the Brumbies 10-0 ahead early on, before their Kiwi opponents got on the board with debutant Sio Tomkinson going over in the corner following an exquisite pass from Richard Buckman.

Hawera added another penalty to extend the hosts lead, which Marty Banks then ate into with a pair of long-range goals after replacing Fletcher Smith at the break.

Two points down heading into the final ten minutes, the Highlanders started to turn the screw and were finally rewarded following exerted pressure close to the home side’s line with replacement prop Aki Seiuli burrowing over from close range. It was then the Brumbies turn to attack and despite controlling possession for the final few minutes they were unable to cross the whitewash and handed the Highlanders their second win of the season.

Blues and Crusaders claim comfortable bonus point wins against underwhelming tourists

The opening game of round five saw the Crusaders claim their fifth successive win to open the season, defeating the Force 45-17 at AMI Stadium.

Playing against his countrymen, Australian winger Digby Ioane opened the scoring just two minutes into the game, taking a pass from scrum-half Mitchell Drummond before racing over the line. It was then Matt Todd’s turn to cross the whitewash soon after, before Force debutant Alex Newsome intercepted an errant pass to race away for the visitors first try.

Digby Ioane opens the scoring for the Crusaders (image source: Kai Schwoerer/Getty Images)

Newsome’s try didn’t deter the Crusaders and they closed out the half in fine style, with the beanpole duo of Scott Barrett and Luke Romano each claiming five-pointers, before Chance Peni scored the Force’s second try after the halftime hooter.

There was no need for a dramatic comeback from the Crusaders this week, but that didn’t stop them dominating proceedings after the break and they claimed their first try bonus point of the campaign thanks to second half scores from Codie Taylor, David Havili and Ben Funnell.

On Saturday evening, the Blues got back to winning ways following a 38-14 triumph over the Bulls in Albany.

Since blazing a trail in their opening round win in Melbourne, Tana Umaga’s charges had found wins much harder to come by but started like a house in fire at QBE Stadium, with some slick handling setting away Augustine Pulu for a second minute try.

The South African tourists hadn’t enjoyed the best of starts either with just one win under their belts, however they responded well to the early setback with prop forward Lizo Gqoboka ploughing his way over the line to level things at seven apiece.

That scoreline remained the same all the way through to the opening stages of the second half, before Matt Duffie skipped his way through the Bulls defence to put the Blues back ahead, and they never looked back from that point on.

Duffie’s second try of the evening came after he jumped highest for a cross-field kick, with replacement fly-half Ihaia West diving over to stretch the lead to 17 soon after. The home side began to turn on the style, and after Matt Moulds scored their fifth try, a length of the field effort finished off by Melani Nanai capped a perfect half of rugby.

Lions and Sharks maintain strong starts to set up tantalising round six clash

In the first of the round’s South African derbies, the Lions never really got out of first gear during their 42-19 win over the Kings in Port Elizabeth.

It was the Kings who took a surprise lead in the first minute when Andisa Ntsila charged down a kick before having just enough pace to dot down, but the Lions soon got into their groove and scored three tries in quick succession through Michael Tambwe, Malcolm Marx and Elton Jantjies to surge ahead.

Jaco Kriel on the charge for the Lions (image source: Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Yaw Penxe finished off a break from Ntsila to score a debut try for the Kings, before Tambwe and Jaco Kriel responded once more for the Lions who didn’t have to be at their best to claim the win. Another smart finish from Malcolm Jaer saw the Kings grab their third try of the afternoon, but the Lions assured themselves of a try bonus point with Harold Vorster’s score five minutes from time.

Another supreme kicking performance from teen back Curwin Bosch led the Sharks to a 38-30 victory over the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

Bosch kicked 18 points for the Sharks who have now won four on the bounce as they surged away in the second half to hand the Cheetahs their third loss of the season. Kobus van Wyk scored a pair of tries for the visitors, with Lwazi Mvovo and Daniel du Preez also crossing, while JW Jonker, Raymond Rhule and returning captain Francois Venter scored tries for the Cheetahs.

Stormers continue unbeaten start in Singapore and Jaguares win in Buenos Aires once more

The Stormers have now won four from four this season following a 44-31 defeat of the Sunwolves in Singapore.

The Japanese outfit started excellently, and tries from Shota Emi, Derek Carpenter and Liaki Moli had them leading 24-10 in the 26th minute. The Stormers began to tighten things up in the closing stages of the first half, and after Rynhardt Elstadt crashed over, a Robert du Preez penalty left them trailing by just four at the break.

Seabelo Senatla breaks for the Stormers (image source: Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images)

It was the Sunwolves who crossed for the game’s next try however, with Carpenter capping a fine team score for his second of the encounter but the hosts soon faded away under a barrage of Stormer attacks. Front rowers Wilco Louw and Bongi Mbonambi each went over from close range, with scrum-half Dewaldt Duvenage and Bjorn Basson also crossing as the Stormers scored 24 unanswered points to stretch their lead in the Africa 1 conference.

Over in the Africa 2 conference, the Jaguares joined the Lions and Sharks on four wins from five games following a 22-8 win over the struggling Reds in the Argentinian capital.

Ramiro Moyano scores a stunning try for the Jaguares (image source: Daniel Jayo/STR/Contributor/Getty Images)

A pair of first phase tries from inside centre Jeronimo de la Fuente plus a stunning effort from flying winger Ramiro Moyano put the Jaguares in command against a Reds side who crossed once through Scott Higginbotham but had little chance of claiming victory following first-half yellows to Eto Nabuli and Kane Douglas as they crashed to their third successive defeat.

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