.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
.vresize.36.36.medium.0.png){kind=small}
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) The Johannesburg-based Lions and Christchurch-based Crusaders meet Sunday in a replay of last year's Super Rugby final, although neither team is the force it was last year.
While the Crusaders are atop the New Zealand conference and the Lions lead the South African conference after six rounds, both teams have sustained losses this season which suggest their roads to another final meeting may be rocky.
The Crusaders won 14 straight games last season and lost only once of their way to their eighth Super Rugby title. The Lions matched that 14-1 record during the regular season and also had one defeat before losing 25-17 to the Crusaders in the final in Johannesburg.
But the Crusaders have already lost twice in five games this season, beaten by the Hamilton-based Chiefs and Wellington-based Hurricanes in consecutive games before stopping the losing streak in last weekend's home match with the Pretoria-based Bulls.
The Lions have two losses in six games, defeated at home to the Auckland-based Blues and away last weekend to Argentina's Jaguares.
On paper the Crusaders are just as strong, if not stronger than last season with 18 current or former All Blacks on their roster, and their form this season may be an indication that the tournament has become tougher since it was reduced from 18 to 15 teams.
Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said a winning run such as last year's is not possible in this season's 15-team competition.
''Obviously we would have loved to have replicated (last year), had one loss and gone on the run,'' Robertson said. ''But it is different, it is new. There have been some challenges, and there will be some great lessons for us as we go along.''
The Lions started the season impressively with wins over the Sharks, Bulls and Jaguares but have now lost two of their last three games. They still hold a six-point lead over the Cape Town-based Stormers in the South African conference and are second behind the Melbourne Rebels on the overall table.
The Lions' form downturn appears to coincide with the loss to injury of captain Warren Whiteley and coach Swys de Bruin said the team is not panicking.
''There is nothing that is specifically wrong,'' de Bruin said. ''We're still second on the log with four wins from six games and if you look at our stats you'll see we're in good shape in a lot of departments.''
The Rebels have the best record (4-1) of any team in a competition in which, after the Highlanders' loss to the Hurricanes last weekend, there are no longer any unbeaten sides. But their ability will be put to a test this weekend when they take on the 2016 champion Hurricanes.
The Rebels, who finished last with only one win in 2017, won their first three matches this season - a start unprecedented in the club's history - before losing 51-27 to the New South Wales Waratahs. They returned to winning form last weekend with a 46-14 win over the Durban-based Sharks but Friday's game in Melbourne is their first real test against a top team from another conference.
The Rebels are also charged with trying to break the embarrassing losing streak of Australian teams against New Zealand rivals which stretches back more than 25 games to 2016.
Part of the Rebels's game plan Friday will be to try to contain Hurricanes and All Blacks flyhalf Beauden Barrett.
''He's the best player in the world, probably,'' Rebels coach Dave Wessels said. ''He links the inside and outside of their attack together pretty well.''
In other seventh-round matches, the Chiefs host the Highlanders on Friday at Waikato in a New Zealand derby. On Saturday, the Blues and Sharks play in Auckland, the ACT Brumbies host New South Wales in Canberra and the Bulls play the Stormers at Pretoria.
The Jaguares, Queensland and the Sunwolves have weekend byes.
