Chiefs seek win over Highlanders to keep heat on Hurricanes

MELBOURNE, May 14 : The Waikato Chiefs will look to keep the pressure on the leading Wellington Hurricanes with victory over the Otago Highlanders on Friday as the playoffs race heats up in Super Rugby Pacific.

Five points behind Wellington with three rounds to play in the regular season, the second-placed Chiefs have already locked up a berth in the finals but will be eyeing the Hurricanes' top spot with envy.

Finishing number one would give the Chiefs a path to a home Grand Final, and having lost the last two away, Jono Gibbes' team will be desperate to bring the championship match to Waikato Stadium.

A bonus-point victory over Jamie Joseph's seventh-placed Highlanders would help the cause but the Chiefs will likely need a couple more big wins and for the machine-like Hurricanes to slip up in their last three matches.

Like the Chiefs, who face the Canterbury Crusaders away and the Blues at home in the last two rounds, the Hurricanes have a tough road ahead, starting with a trip to Eden Park to take on the third-placed Auckland Blues on Saturday.

Back home after a stinging defeat away to the defending champion Crusaders, Vern Cotter's chastened Blues will look to flyhalf Beauden Barrett to spark their attack in place of Stephen Perofeta.

Australia's teams can only wish to be part of the top-of-the-table battles, with the fifth-placed ACT Brumbies on a bye and the Queensland Reds two points behind the Canberra side before their trip to Western Force on Saturday.

The Reds can leapfrog the Brumbies into fifth with a win and bridge the gap to the fourth-placed Crusaders, who are five points ahead and resting with a bye week.

As it stands, though, all signs point to a top-four lockout by New Zealand teams for the first time since