A complaint by assistant referee Sheldon Eden-Whaitiri over sideline abuse from the Stormers could be costly for the South African franchise.

Chiefs coach Dave Rennie is furious at the backing of the television match official's actions in awarding two tries to the Rebels against his side at the weekend.

Leading New Zealand sides the Chiefs and Blues have run into a bit of a Super 15 lull.

Each day this week nzherald.co.nz looks at the progress of the NZ Super Rugby franchises at the business end of the season. Today: Gregor Paul on the last-placed Highlanders.

The blues latest plucky 18-17 win against the Stormers has now given them a quintet of triumphs in this tournament.

If the Hurricanes look a long way into the distance they might be able to make out the Super Rugby playoffs.

The Blues have been careful not to brand 2013 a development season, even though it has been.

Five points safely in the bag and yet the Chiefs left Melbourne with questions unanswered about their defence and a sense of confusion about the TMO rulings.

Israel Dagg's drop to the bench for today's match between the Crusaders and Brumbies speaks to a bigger, wider problem worrying a lot of rugby folk lately: the poor form of many All Blacks.

The Highlanders will have slept well last night despite, finally, winning their first game of the season after eight consecutive losses.

After racking up eight straight losses this season it is time for the Highlanders to move on, start afresh, and blaze some new trails.

Shortly after Dan Carter expressed his delight at returning to the Crusaders' starting line-up against the Brumbies, he mentioned how once again the men from Canberra are the team to beat, just as they were at the start of his career.

Younger All Black prospects will get their chance at several training camps this month. But when that group is cropped for the June test series against France, all the established All Blacks will be picked to restate their international credentials.

Controversial Wallaby back Kurtley Beale made a stirring return to Super 15 action as the Chiefs defence of their Super 15 crown kept moving forward in an unconvincing fashion in Melbourne last night.

The Blues held on for a gritty 18-17 win over the Stormers at North Harbour Stadium tonight.

Join us here for our live blog of the Super 15 clash between the Blues and the Stormers from North Harbour Stadium in Auckland.

Tracey Nelson looks the key statistics ahead of this week's Super 15 fixtures as the Blues look to end a losing run against the Stormers.

In a post-GFC world most of us are working to a budget. If you're using the same philosophy for your Fantasy team you might want to consider the following backs.