The NSW Waratahs are in a mad scramble with five other teams chasing just three remaining semi-final berths after the penultimate round of the Super 14 further blurred the playoff picture.

While six-times champions the Crusaders sealed the minor premiership and a May 23 semi-final in Christchurch with a last-gasp 27-21 victory over the Queensland Reds in Brisbane on Saturday night, their title rivals clamoured for positions in the top four across three countries on another frenetic weekend of action.

The Waratahs can still host a semi-final at the Sydney Football Stadium - where they are six from six this campaign - despite dropping behind the Hurricanes into third spot with a 13-13 draw in Cape Town early Sunday.

The Tahs need to beat the Reds in their annual derby on Saturday night at Suncorp Stadium and hope the sixth-placed Blues knock over the Hurricanes in the all New Zealand showdown in Auckland on Friday night.

Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie, though, was more intent on simply qualifying for the playoffs with success over the Reds, who were desperately unlucky not to have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in Super rugby history when they let slip a 21-8 second-half lead.

"We're not getting bogged down in the mathematics," McKenzie said.

"We've been like that all year. We've just got to pay attention to the detail and execute on the night."

The Hurricanes grabbed an all-important spot in the top two at the expense of NSW with a 21-10 win over the Western Force in Wellington on Friday night, the loss extinguishing the Perth outfit's slim playoff chances.

The Blues stayed alive after gaining maximum points with a 40-15 thumping of the Highlanders in Dunedin on Saturday night.

The Hurricanes-Blues blockbuster now shapes as a virtual quarter-final, with the losers unlikely to make the playoffs.

Clinging to a narrow points differential advantage over the fifth-placed Sharks, the fourth-placed Stormers take on the lowly Lions in Johannesburg on Saturday night.

A 33-14 bonus-point triumph over the Cheetahs in Durban overnight kept the Sharks in contention, but they probably require another big home win against the Chiefs in the very last match of the regular season next Sunday morning AEST to stay in the hunt.

Among the realistic finals aspirants, the Chiefs were the big losers on the weekend, their 33-27 defeat in Johannesburg at the hands of the bottom-placed Lions leaving coach Ian Foster too confused to contemplate an escape route to the finals.

Their second consecutive loss left the Chiefs in an almost impossible position to reach the playoffs after their season had looked so promising during a five-match winning streak which included the prized scalp of the Crusaders.

Even if they cause an upset against the Sharks, the Chiefs must depend on the Blues and the Stormers both being rolled.

Like the Force, the Brumbies were put out of their misery with a 28-17 loss to the Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday.

There is still much at stake for the Force and Brumbies when they clash in Perth on Friday night.

"Local derbies are very important and certainly bragging rights between us and the Force and positions on the ladder will be most important," Brumbies coach Laurie Fisher said.

"While not playing for finals, the players will be certainly playing for pride and for Test positions, so I'm sure it will be on for young and old."

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