The 2009 Super 14 is an unofficial lottery after another round of shocks, despair and record-setting rugby across the southern hemisphere.

The Hurricanes soared to the top of the ladder with a 56-7 demolition of the injury-ravaged Brumbies in Wellington as the Western Force emerged as the most likely Australian side to squeeze into the playoffs.

The Force climbed from ninth to sixth with their 55-14 bonus-point triumph over the Lions at Subiaco Oval on Friday night.

Not even confirmation that Wallaby Drew Mitchell was heading to the Waratahs next season could dampen the spirit of the Force, who ran in eight tries to post their highest score and biggest-ever win.

The victory was just the tonic ahead of the Force's make-or-break tour of South Africa.

The Force realistically need to topple the second-placed Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday and then the unpredictable but out-of-contention Stormers in Cape Town before returning to Perth for a last-round encounter with the Highlanders.

"It's an intriguing competition so we are still alive, but we can only take it one game at a time," Force coach John Mitchell said.

The Force are likely to welcome back influential No.8 Richard Brown from an ankle injury for the crunch game with the Bulls and will no doubt be feeling better about their finals prospects than the Brumbies, who slumped to ninth after suffering their worst-ever Super defeat.

The Brumbies' heavy loss raised the stakes for Saturday night's derby with Queensland, who will fancy their chances after pulling off the upset of the season in Auckland on Saturday.

The Reds placed the Brumbies on high alert when they snapped a three-year, 20-match road drought with a stunning 31-24 win over the Blues.

"We've got some question-asking to happen over the course of the next few days," Brumbies coach Andy Friend said.

"The Reds have obviously done pretty well to go to Auckland and have that win and it will lift their confidence and they will be a formidable side next week.

"We need to pick ourselves up after that loss and make sure we're ready."

Friend said there was "every chance" the Brumbies would regain the services of key backs Gene Fairbanks and Mark Gerrard.

"We will wait and see on the medicals on Monday," he said.

Despite the heavy loss, the Brumbies are still very much in the playoff hunt with just seven points separating the top eight teams entering the final three rounds.

Nostradamus would struggle to predict the final make-up of the top four.

In a complete reshuffle at the top over the weekend, the Bulls moved to second and relegated the Chiefs from first to third when they broke the New Zealanders' six-match winning streak with a 33-27 home success on Sunday morning Australian time.

The Sharks dropped from second to fourth and the NSW Waratahs from sixth to seventh as they enjoyed the last two byes of the tournament.

The Waratahs, with four losses from their last six games, will resume their faltering campaign on Saturday against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein.

They probably need to become the first overseas team to win three Super matches in South Africa in a season to be secure of a finals berth.

The last-placed Cheetahs will be anything but pushovers after putting a massive dent in the Crusaders' playoff hopes with a 20-13 boilover.

The unexpected win ended the Crusaders' five-match winning streak and left the defending champions in eighth spot, four points adrift of the four.

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