Reds plot tricky path through Suva to Super Rugby playoffs

SYDNEY : The Queensland Reds are best placed of the teams yet to secure a playoff spot heading into the final round of Super Rugby Pacific but they will need to negotiate one of the toughest trips in the competition to be sure of reaching the quarter-finals.

With the top six in the standings locked in, the Reds and Drua are two of five teams battling it out for the last two playoff spots this weekend along with the Melbourne Rebels, Otago Highlanders and Western Force.

Although the Drua are 10th in standings, they have lost only one of five matches played on Fijian soil this season with the Canterbury Crusaders and Wellington Hurricanes among their victims.

World Cup winner Brad Thorn takes charge of the seventh-placed Reds for the final time in the heat and humidity of Suva's HFC Bank Stadium on Saturday and said his players know they face a stern test.

"It's do or die," Thorn told reporters on Thursday. "There's no kidding yourself, if you fall short here, you are most likely not going through.

"The Drua are dangerous and there's going to be a good crowd. It's going to be one hell of a contest."

The competition's generous format means all but one of the 12 teams go into this weekend with quarter-finals hopes alive and the calculators might need to come out to decide the final playoff line-up.

The Waikato Chiefs are already assured of top spot and home advantage however long they last in the playoffs ahead of their trip to face Western Force on Saturday, and the Crusaders have all but locked up second place.

To overhaul the reigning champions, the third-placed Auckland Blues would need to thrash the Highlanders at Eden Park and hope a weakened Crusaders side are beaten at the Wellington Hurricanes without earning a losing