With New Zealand's top 2 sides now home and more South African teams hitting the road, round 5 of the Super 14 could well shed some light on how the competition is going to look.
The Crusaders and Blues both face key matches this weekend as Barry Guy reports.
"The table-topping Crusaders host the Cheetahs and while the Crusaders will want to improve on their last performance they should still be too strong for the South African side."
The Blues are coming off a loss and will again be well tested by the Western Force, who appear to be the best side from Australia. Tonight the Chiefs host the Stormers with that again likely to be a tense one for the Hamilton faithful, while the Hurricanes face a stern test from a new look Brumbies in canberra. The champion Bulls are back in winning form and should beat the Reds in Brisbane, while the unbeaten Sharks should win at the Lions. The Waratahs and Highlanders have a bye.
