Power Rankings: Super 15

Rank	Team	Change	Last Week	Comment
1	1-0		No rank	Word out of the Chiefs is that a third senior player will be leaving. The oil is that it is Tanerau Latimer - who came off the bench in Dunedin and was superb. That's the strength of the Chiefs - they have quality on the bench - the kind other teams would pay top dollar for - which one presumably has, which is why this mystery third player is leaving.
2	1-0		No rank	When will the Boks realise that in Francois Hougaard they have a world class halfback who could make them a deadly force? Presumably sometime in the next few weeks if his form for the Bulls continues as is.
3	0-0		No rank	A gauge of the commitment levels within the Crusaders. This week Dan Carter relocated his heavily pregnant wife from Auckland to Christchurch. He'll want to follow that up by indulging in the quintessentially Cantabrian act of hammering the Blues and then winning a Super Rugby title. Seriously, what's the betting if you cut him open he'll actually bleed red?
4	2-0		No rank	Hollywood actor Michael Keaton, sorry Brumbies coach Jake White [oh come on, you must have noticed] has a golden touch. The Brumbies look like playoff contenders and Canberra. For the record, Keaton doesn't have a golden touch, other than Batman has he been good in any other role?
5	1-0		No rank	No one rated the Blues coming into round one. They won and did so by playing sensible and simple rugby. No one rates the Blues coming into round two - a point John Kirwan will have laboured to his troops - explaining it like this: keep winning...people might start to rate you.
6	1-1		No rank	Mike Harris has been dropped by the Reds, who are finding, a bit like the GC, that the Kiwi invasion of Queensland can sometimes make for tough viewing. Harris shouldn't feel bitter. Coach Ewen McKenzie has to make political choices - say he dropped Rob Simmons, he'd be open to accusations of picking on the side's token Aussie.
7	1-0		No rank	The Sharks are the new Chiefs in that they are the masters at the late run. Judging them now is dangerous other than to say they are likely to be more consistently threatening without Freddie Michalak at No 10.
8	0-1		No rank	Unable to live with the pace and width the Chiefs created, the Highlanders are hoping the return of 34-year-old hooker Andrew Hore and 38-year-old tight lock Brad Thorn will fix that. Strangely, it might, if they win more ball and give it to Hosea Gear who needs to stop being so inactive for such long periods.
9	0-1		No rank	The Western Force announced they had signed Eaton on a short term contract this week. That would explain why Eaton was missing for 80 minutes last weekend at the Caketin - he was, as it turned out in Perth. Oh hang on...apparently the Force have signed halfback Chris Eaton. So where was Jason last Saturday?
10	0-1		No rank	New Waratahs supremo Michael Chieka is supposedly the sort of coach some players don't like because he's brutal, honest and challenging. After the Waratahs first outing, it might be more accurate to believe that players often don't like him because he's just not a very good coach.
11	0-1		No rank	How come the Cheetahs always get a bum draw? By the end of March they will have played just two home games. By that point their season will be over, because despite being a competent and adventurous side, they won't win a game until they face the Rebels in Bloemfontein on March 30.
12	0-1		No rank	The Stormers spent big to bring Bryan Habana to Cape Town a few years back. The deal will only make sense should they ever pass him the ball. More than once a game. Could be a long hard season for them, especially if Elton Jantjies can't stop staring into the headlights.
13	1-0		No rank	Sign up to Super Rugby and receive one complimentary victory was obviously the offer Sanzar made to the Kings. Will they win another? Probably not and get used to reading the headline 'Once were Kings'.
14	1-1		no rank	The Rebels have ditched the Dad's Army brigade who were maybe holding them back and Danny Cipriani who was definitely holding them back. Yet they remain more rabble than rebel. Perhaps their purpose in life is to be a permanent reminder that Australia just doesn't have the depth of talent for five teams.
15	0-2		No rank	Other than the Brumbies, the only franchise that has enjoyed success working exclusively with offcuts and scraps is McDonalds. But good luck to the Force, they are giving 'fusion' rugby a try: taking crap players from Australia and mixing them with unwanted players from New Zealand. So far so bad and things will only get worse in Pretoria.