WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — The league-leading Hurricanes and second-place Blues will meet Saturday in the 12th round of Super Rugby Pacific, in a match which likely will decide which team carries first placing into the playoffs.
Top ranking at the end of the regular season is a valuable prize: the team that starts the playoffs in first place retains home advantage as long as they remain in contention. The second-place team enjoys home advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs but loses that advantage in the final if the top team qualifies.
The Auckland-based Blues and Wellington-based Hurricanes each have to play the fourth-place Chiefs before the end of the regular season, and that could potentially upset the contest for first place. But Saturday's outcome will go a long way to deciding which finishes atop the table.
The Hamilton-based Chiefs are at home Friday to Moana Pasifika and should hold onto fourth spot, though they'll be without flyhalf Damian McKenzie who is recovering from a head knock. The Chiefs play significantly less well without McKenzie to steer them and that might come as some consolation to the Blues and Hurricanes.
The Canberra-based Brumbies will travel to play the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday in a match which is unlikely to shake their hold on third place.
The fifth-place Queensland Reds face the sixth-place Melbourne Rebels Friday in an important derby match which could switch those placings. Neither team is in immediate danger of dropping out of the playoffs zone.
The seventh-place Highlanders are up against the Christchurch-based Crusaders whose late-season rally fizzled with last weekend’s loss at home to the Reds. The defending champion Crusaders must win Saturday to have any chance of reaching the playoffs but the possibility is looking increasingly remote.
The eighth-place Fijian Drua have a good chance of remaining inside the top-eight when they play the last-place Western Force in Perth, though their form away from home is poor.
The clash of the Hurricanes and Blues remains the focal point of the round; a preview of a possible final and an unofficial All Blacks trial. Captain Billy Proctor might be in the selection spotlight after a stellar season at center for the Hurricanes.
“I just focus on playing my best footy for the Hurricanes, that is all I can do,” Proctor said. “The rest is up to, I don’t know, whoever it is to make those decisions.
"It is out of my control. All I can control is my own performance. That is all I have been focusing on, so see where it goes.”
Hurricanes fullback Ruben Love and flyhalf Brett Cameron also will be closely watched by All Blacks coach Scott Robertson as he weighs his playmaking options.
McKenzie remains the leading candidate to wear the All Blacks No. 10 jersey this season. But he will be sidelined for 12 days under concussion protocols after sustaining head knock in last weekend’s match against the Force.
McKenzie was not wearing a smart mouthguard in the Force match which means his stand-down is longer than it might have been otherwise.
“We have spoken at length around the pros and cons of not wearing one, or wearing one,” Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan said. “But ultimately it’s a player’s personal choice.
“And we back our medical staff to make good decisions around all of our players, injured or not.”
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Rob Valetini of the Brumbies is tackled by Peter Umaga-Jensen of the Hurricanes during the Super Rugby in Canberra, Australia, Saturday, April 27, 2024. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP)
Ryan Louwrens of the Melbourne Rebels kicks the ball as Scott Barrett of the Crusaders attempts to charge it down during their Super Rugby match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Friday, April 26, 2024. (John Davidson/Photosport/AAP Image/ via AP)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary.
Hungarian police received a report late Saturday night that a man had been found with a head injury on the shore of the Danube near the town of Veroce, around 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital, Budapest. The bodies of a man and a woman were later discovered nearby.
Hours after police began their search, they discovered a damaged boat in the water, which they towed to shore. They are still searching for five adults — three men and two women — who they believe were on the boat.
Police said they determined that a river cruise boat had been in the area at the time of the accident. They stopped a cruise boat with a damaged hull near the town of Komarom, more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) further upriver.
Hungarian public television station M1 reported that the cruise boat, Heidelberg, is a 109-meter (357-foot) Swiss craft that can accommodate 110 people. No passengers on that boat sustained injuries, M1 said.
The Danube at Veroce is roughly 1,500 feet (460 meters) wide and is in the center of an area called the Danube Bend where the river makes a sweeping, nearly 90-degree turn to the south. The area is a popular recreational and boating destination and is on a route often used by cruise boats between Budapest and the Austrian capital, Vienna, some 140 miles (230 kilometers) upriver.
The deadly accident comes five years after at least 27 people were killed in Budapest when a river cruise boat collided with a smaller tourist vessel, sinking it in seconds.
The tourist boat Hableany, carrying 35 people who were mostly South Korean tourists, was overtaken from behind by the much larger cruise boat, Viking Sigyn, beneath Budapest's Margit Bridge, in May 2019.
The Ukrainian captain of the Viking Sigyn was last year found guilty of negligence leading to a fatal mass catastrophe and sentenced to five years and six months in prison. He has appealed the decision.
Police on Sunday said they have initiated criminal proceedings against an unknown perpetrator on suspicion of endangering water transport and causing the death of several people.
A spokesperson for the Directorate General for Disaster Management told Hungarian news agency MTI that a group of nearly 90 people from several regional disaster management agencies were conducting the search for the missing from the land, water and sky.
Twelve boats and three drones are involved in the search, and two rescue divers are also involved, Imre Doka said.
Police investigators examine the bow of a river cruise ship after an incident, in Komarom, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. Hungarian police received a report late Saturday night that a man had been found with a head injury on the shore of the Danube near the town of Veroce, around 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital, Budapest. (Csaba Krizsan/MTI via AP)
This photo provided by BRFK Facebook shows a damaged boat at the northern edge of Budapest where it was towed, after being discovered in the water by police following a boat collision on the Danube River Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say people have died and several are missing. (BRFK Facebook via AP)
his photo provided by BRFK Facebook shows a damaged boat at the northern edge of Budapest where it was towed, after being discovered in the water by police following a boat collision on the Danube River Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say people have died and several are missing. (BRFK Facebook via AP)
A car of the diving service of the fire brigade is parked behind the closed gate of a military port where rescuers search for victims of a boat accident in Northern Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Last night a motor boat with eight persons onboard crashed with a large river cruise ship on River Danube, north of Budapest. One person has been rescued with serious injuries, two bodies have been recovered and five passengers of the boat are looked for. (Peter Lakatos/MTI via AP)
A car of the diving service of the fire brigade is parked behind the closed gate of a military port where rescuers search for victims of a boat accident in Northern Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Last night a motor boat with eight persons onboard crashed with a large river cruise ship on River Danube, north of Budapest. One person has been rescued with serious injuries, two bodies have been recovered and five passengers of the boat are looked for. (Peter Lakatos/MTI via AP)
A view of the damage of the bow of a river cruise ship after an incident, in Komarom, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. Hungarian police received a report late Saturday night that a man had been found with a head injury on the shore of the Danube near the town of Veroce, around 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital, Budapest. (Csaba Krizsan/MTI via AP)
Police officers stand on the deck of a river cruise ship after an incident, in Komarom, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. Hungarian police received a report late Saturday night that a man had been found with a head injury on the shore of the Danube near the town of Veroce, around 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital, Budapest. (Csaba Krizsan/MTI via AP)
Police look at a river cruise ship after an incident, in Komarom, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. Hungarian police received a report late Saturday night that a man had been found with a head injury on the shore of the Danube near the town of Veroce, around 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital, Budapest. (Csaba Krizsan/MTI via AP)
The bow of a river cruise ship is examined by police experts after the ship was stopped in Komarom, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Last night the ship crashed with a motor boat with eight persons onboard on River Danube, north of Budapest. One person has been rescued with serious injuries, two bodies have been recovered and five passengers of the boat are being looked for. (Csaba Krizsan/MTI via AP)
Police investigators examine the bow of a river cruise ship after an incident, in Komarom, Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. Hungarian police received a report late Saturday night that a man had been found with a head injury on the shore of the Danube near the town of Veroce, around 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the capital, Budapest. (Csaba Krizsan/MTI via AP)
Damage is seen on the front of the cruise ship which was involved in a Danube River accident earlier in Budapest Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Damage is seen on the front of the cruise ship which was involved in a Danube River accident earlier in Budapest Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
Damage is seen on the front of the cruise ship which was involved in a Danube River accident earlier in Budapest Hungary, Sunday, May 19, 2024. Police say two people have died and five are missing following a boat collision on the Danube River in Hungary. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)
