Australia's prospects of supplying a Super 14 rugby finalist have dipped after the stumbling NSW Waratahs left themselves vulnerable to a quartet of New Zealand teams.

The 20-6 loss to the Bulls in Sydney on Saturday night enabled the South African visitors to move above NSW into third spot.

The Waratahs' first loss in two years and 12 games at their Sydney Football Stadium fortress was even more painful as a win would have propelled them into top spot.

The ladder-leading Sharks (30) suffered the upset of the season, thrashed 31-6 loss by the last-placed and previously winless Cheetahs in Bloemfontein but stayed three points clear atop the ladder.

NSW was held tryless in a Super game for the first time in two years as they turned over a mountain of possession and did nothing with the little ball they did hold onto.

The Waratahs' woes were compounded by a misfiring lineout and a hamstring injury to centre Rob Horne who is likely to miss next week's home clash with the Western Force.

The result in Sydney created a three-team logjam for second with the Waratahs and Bulls both on 27 points, along with the Chiefs, who held onto second on points differential despite having a bye.

The Hurricanes (24) Blues (23), and Highlanders (22) all won, while seven-times champion the Crusaders (22) had the bye, with all four teams having a game in hand on NSW.

The resurgent Brumbies (22), who also have played one game fewer than NSW, kept themselves in finals contention with a gutsy an emotional 17-10 home win over the Stormers (15).

It was their second straight win and was dedicated to teammate Shawn Mackay, who died in a Durban hospital last Monday.

"We'll dedicate every game from now on in to Macca and hopefully we can do his family proud," said Mark Gerrard who excelled at fullback and kicked three penalties.

"We'll celebrate his life by winning games of rugby."

The Hurricanes, and Blues, who scored a 36-12 home win over the Lions (14), each have three home matches to come, while the Waratahs and the Chiefs each have to play three games in South Africa.

The Sharks play all four of their remaining games at home in Durban, while the Bulls finish off with four fixtures in South Africa, three of them at home, following next week's clash with the Brumbies in Canberra.

The Waratahs play their final regular season home game next week against the injury-hit Force (19), whose own finals hopes were virtually extinguished after the Hurricanes overturned an 11 point deficit with four minutes to go, to snatch an improbable 28-27 victory in Perth with two late tries.

We've got a long turnaround, we'll get this out of our system pretty quickly and get back to work on Monday and focus on the next threat," Force coach John Mitchell said.

In-form Force winger Nick Cummins, who scored a brace of tries, will be sidelined for three to four weeks with a hairline fracture in his left leg, while centre Junior Pelesasa will miss one to two games with a torn triceps.

Wallabies back James O'Connor is expected to return after missing one week with a hamstring injury.

The Reds (13) picked up a bonus point for their 24-19 loss to the Highlanders in Invercargill, though there were question marks over all three of the home teams tries.

Queensland's winless streak away from home stretched to 20 games, but they will have halfback Will Genia back from suspension for next Saturday's tussle with the Lions in Brisbane.

Bulls lock Bakkies Botha had his hearing on a charge of striking NSW captain Phil Waugh deferred until Monday while final reports are completed.

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