Super Rugby R12: Is New Zealand conference on the decline?

In a weekend full of big results, it was the Crusaders shock draw with the Sharks that stole the headlines, while the Chiefs and Highlanders played a thrilling draw of their own.

Trailing for much of the match, Mitchell Hunt's converted try after the siren got the Crusaders out of jail after Shark's Curwin Bosch made the Crusaders pay for their poor discipline.

Elsewhere, there were wins for the Hurricanes, Brumbies, Bulls, Reds and Jaguares.

Read on as we review some of the big talking points from Round 12.

AUSTRALIAN CONFERENCE

Yellow and red and yellow again...

Just a week after the Waratahs were reduced to 13-men in their loss against the Sharks, we saw another card game played out during the Reds win over the Sunwolves on Friday night. Two red cards and four yellows were flashed with the game reduced to a 14-man Reds side against a 12-man Sunwolves at one stage. The game quickly turned into a farce.

The most ill-disciplined side in the competition, the Sunwolves added another 17 penalties to their stat sheet as they seemed determined to test referee Angus Garner's resolve when it came to the offside line and cynical play. Despite several warnings the Sunwolves continued to push the envelope and saw two yellow cards before halftime. It took just 10 minutes into the second half for the first red to come out of Gardner's pocket. If there were any fans left in the stands by the 70th minute, they would have witnessed the embarrassing spectacle of a further two yellows to the Sunwolves with Reds' Harry Hockings receiving a red.

Gardner is well known for being quick to the pocket when it comes to cynical play, and six cards in one game seems excessive, but when faced with repeated infringements at the offside line and cynical play, are you not forcing the referee's hand?

Reds coach Brad Thorn was quick to defend the under fire referee after what is understood to be a record number of cards handed to one team.

"It must be hard. He's a really good man, the referee, and the guys he works with. You're in charge of this game and you're trying to officiate it but you're also trying to have a game happen.

"It could be an awkward responsibility out there. You're trying to send a message around infringements but if it keeps happening, where does it get to? You end up with 12 men, it's less than a league team."

Sunwolves coach Tony Brown had a far different view point of the Australian referee's performance.

"There's [Rugby] World Cup spots coming up; they're all wanting to do well. It was one of the first times I've seen Angus Gardner under pressure in a game of rugby and he didn't handle it well.

"I think he'll look back at that game and hopefully learn from it and be better, no different from any rugby player."

It's hard to be sympathetic to the Sunwolves' plight, however, when they've notched up a total of 124 penalties in 12 rounds and 10 players have sat in the naughty chair.

Similar to a week earlier, conversation following the Reds game quickly turned to the laws around cynical or dangerous play and referees interpretations of the lawbook. Reds lock Hockings saw red when he looked to have stamped on Rahboni Warren-Vosayco's head -- Warren-Vosyaco received a yellow for his involvement in the play -- while Semi Masirewa was given his marching orders for repeated cynical play -- a marginally high tackle and illegally killing the ball. But if we hope to clean the game up, get rid of the dangerous play or cynical behaviour, cards are a necessary evil. At what stage should we start asking the players to be better?

Poor discipline has been a crucial factor in the Australian conference with the Rebels and Brumbies second and third for most players sin binned in 2019. The Rebels have seen seven players sent from the field and it's proven costly for the Aussie conference ladder leaders.

It was a mixed bag of results for the Aussies across the conference with the Waratahs slumping to the Bulls and the Rebels undone by the Hurricanes, while the Brumbies rumbled to their win over the Blues.

The win proved crucial for their playoff hopes. After last week's loss to the Jaguares, a win over the Blues saw them draw level with the Rebels at the top of the Aussie conference. Sitting on 24 points each, the Rebels remain top through points difference, but with the Rebels falling to their third-straight loss and looking uncertain, the Brumbies could solidify their playoff spot.

Unfortunately, the biggest headline of the weekend came out of the Rugby Australia headquarters where Israel Folau sat through 15 hours of evidence at his Code of Conduct hearing, only to have the hearing extended to Tuesday.

Reportedly offered $1million (AUD) to step away from the game, Folau rejected the money and instead will continue to fight for his contract. With no end in sight, the Folau controversy could go on for years.

There is a understanding that either way the result falls there will be an appeal from either camp, and as the hearing continues to drag on, rugby in Australia risks falling into a hole. It has been reported RA is facing financial ruin if Folau wins the multimillion dollar case, with RA set to lose more than $12 million.

NEW ZEALAND CONFERENCE

Is the New Zealand conference in decline?

For years the New Zealand conference has been chock full of formidable sides that, when given a sniff, would take you to the cleaners and back again. But in 2019, it appears to be a different story, with what looks like just two true title contenders

Ladder leaders and reigning champions the Crusaders -- while still with just the one loss for the year -- looked flat and underdone in their draw against the Sharks, while the Blues continue to tally up loses on the road. The Hurricanes scored a win over the Rebels, but it was far from pretty.

Maybe most telling is that the biggest games of the round were two draws. As Steve Hansen said following the All Blacks-British & Irish Lions drawn series: "A drawn game is like kissing your sister".

While the Crusaders scored the game's only tries and were without several All Blacks, the Sharks showed there are cracks in the Crusaders' armour. The Sharks were hailed for their stranglehold on the game and their gutsy effort, while the Crusaders were lucky to scrape through the match with a draw.

The Crusaders were clearly frustrated with the Sharks game plan, it's not often the Crusaders find themselves working so hard to move down field or on the back foot, but the Sharks were relentless in defence and eventually forced the Crusaders into errors they so rarely make. They struggled to build phases and couldn't build up the tempo in the way they're known for.

After the game, captain Kieran Read took aim at the Sharks scrum tactics in a clear show of frustration. Pinged three times at the set piece, the Crusaders were brought undone by the Sharks tactics and the frustration clearly leached into their game.

The Blues meanwhile, are yet to secure a win away from Auckland, and while the loss may not have come as a surprise to many, the manner of it will.

Struggling to find any consistency, the Blues' scrum was in near disarray by the end of their clash with the Brumbies, while the lineout maul defence was shambolic, giving away the hat-trick of tries to Folau Fainga'a.

Only a few weeks ago, some had touted the Blues as playoff certainties, with Akira Ioane and Ma'a Nonu leading the charge. But the story is much different after Round 12. Easily starved of possession and territory, the Blues struggled to get into the game, while the Brumbies embarrassed the Blues scrum and maul. It doesn't get any easier either, as they are set to face the Hurricanes, Chiefs and Crusaders in the next three rounds.

While the Chiefs and Highlanders hammered each other to play out a thrilling draw. Both sides have found it difficult to make their mark on the competition in 2019, and while both sides will be happy to come out of Saturday's clash with some points, it's wins they're desperate to secure.

Shockingly the Chiefs still sit at the bottom of the New Zealand conference, trailing the Blues by two points, and while they've turned their season around following a four game losing run to start the season, their playoff hopes are very much in the balance. With the loss of Damien McKenzie for the season, this draw could prove crucial.

SOUTH AFRICAN CONFERENCE

Is Curwin Bosch a 10 or 15, and does it matter?

There has been much talk about Curwin Bosch in South Africa since Friday, after his strong performance for the Sharks against the Crusaders, asking whether he is playing himself into the Springboks squad as a valuable back-up option.

It's a fair question.

It is a question we posed this season in Super Rugby Rebooted; Round 8, after Bosch had made his first start of the season and produced a star performance as fullback for the Sharks against the Lions at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. He was named Man of the Match, and we noted that his "decision making, the calm assessment of the situation at hand, was central to his performance".

Fair to say Bosch didn't match the boom in the Sharks' following two games-- none of the Sharks did as the Durban-based side produced anaemic performances in home defeats by the Jaguares and the Reds -- but he's certainly back in the limelight since being moved from fullback to fly-half on tour.

He was good and key as the Sharks defeated the Waratahs in Western Sydney last week, and then he was among the visitors' best with a fine display of game management in the draw against the Crusaders in Christchurch in Friday; two fine performances to be sure, and Bosch and the Sharks likely will be wondering until kick-off in Hamilton on Saturday how and why they did not defeat the hat-trick-seeking reigning champions.

Bosch kicked seven of eight penalty kicks as the Sharks all but completed a boilover they richly deserved on Friday evening; it says much about the visitors' performance that Bosch kicked all their points, that they rarely threatened to score a try, and conceded three converted scores, the last 31 seconds after the siren, that few spectators other than home fans with the most red-and-black-tinted spectacles would have begrudged them the full complement of competition points.

Bosch was pivotal to that performance, making solid tactical decisions and keeping the visitors on the front foot, and it's no surprise to see the plaudits being thrown his way; given that many rugby people in South Africa, likely including the player himself, feel he is a better fly-half than fullback, it'll be less of a surprise to see him retain the Sharks' No. 10 jumper for the remainder of the season.

No one is suggesting that Bosch is playing himself into the Springboks No. 10 jumper, for Handre Pollard, the incumbent, is in sublime form and stands head and shoulders above the other South African playmakers, and the Lions' Elton Jantjies is equally likely considered to be as far ahead again of the third choice.

But Bosch displayed a calm and assured "Test match temperament" in Christchurch and, like the Stormers' Damian Willemse, he offers the ability also to cover fullback. The choice of Bosch or Willemse maybe depends on your sympathies for the Sharks or the Stormers, but Bosch has given Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus something to consider and watch in the coming weeks.

Yet there's still a thought that Bosch's greatest asset is his elusive running and his eye for a gap and a support runner -- not unlike Chiefs star Damian McKenzie, who's still yet to prove as effective from the front line as he is from the back with a full view of the broken field. And for all that Erasmus likely wants another game manager with a boot as a third-choice No. 10 -- and doesn't Bosch possess a boot, from hand and tee, alike -- he's ironically going to want to see his third-choice pivot show more on the front foot. To that end, to this point, it may just be advantage Willemse.

And there remains a question mark about Bosch's defence.

D has always been held as the mark against Bosch's name, and those who want to find fault with his efforts will point to his inability to stop Mitch Hunt as the Crusaders flyhalf scored the hosts' crucial third and final try in Christchurch on Friday. They may have a point, too, as Bosch's attempt to stop Hunt wasn't hugely convincing, but the line run by Hunt was all but perfect and replacement Sharks scrum-half Cameron Wright, inside his flyhalf in the defensive line, was more culpable in failing to get across to the Crusaders' playmaker; we'd cut Bosch some slack and give him the benefit of the doubt, but still...

Interesting, Bosch said after his Test debut, against Argentina in Port Elizabeth in 2017, "whether it's 15 or 10, that question will be answered in the future".

Now, nearly two years later, it's a key question that still doesn't have a totally convincing answer; Bosch has five more weeks plus maybe the playoffs to convince Rassie Erasmus.