PROFILES » The last quarterfinalist will be determined

WELLINGTON http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-justice-hill-jersey , New Zealand (AP) playoff venues decided in this weekend’s final regular-season round of Super Rugby which will highlight again the unfairness of the tournament’s conference system.Seven quarterfinalists have already been determined, four from New Zealand, two from South Africa and one from Australia.The defending champion and Christchurch-based Crusaders have sealed first place in the New Zealand conference and on the overall table, ensuring they will have home advantage as long as they stay alive in the playoffs.The New South Wales Waratahs have clinched first place in the Australian conference. First place remains up for grabs in an African conference in which the Johannesburg-based Lions, finalists in each of the last two years, are three points ahead of Argentina’s Jaguares.The Lions play the Pretoria-based Bulls and the Jaguares face the Durban-based Sharks in intra-conference matches in the last round.The African conference winner automatically qualifies for the playoffs and has home advantage until it faces a higher-ranked opponent.Of the five wild-card playoff spots available, three have been secured by New Zealand teams. The Highlanders are safe as are the Hurricanes and Chiefs, who meet Friday in the opening match of the last round.The Hurricanes have already beaten the Chiefs once during the regular season and the teams may meet again in next weekend’s quarterfinals, either in Hamilton or Wellington.The Hurricanes’ Chris Boyd is the latest coach to denounce a system that gives home advantage to conference winners even when they accrue fewer championship points than wild-card teams. The Hurricanes currently have 50 points, placing them well ahead of the Waratahs with 44 and Lions with 41.”The Crusaders are entrenched at No.1 and the Lions are going to finish top of their conference, the Waratahs are going to finish top of their conference and then the Chiefs and Hurricanes are going to finish fourth and fifth, or fifth and fourth,” Boyd told Fairfax Media.”The vagaries of the competition structure, given the pools, means that potentially both the Hurricanes and the Chiefs will finish higher, or thereabouts Ben Powers Jersey , than the Waratahs and Lions but don’t enjoy the privilege of getting the home playoff, so that’s an interesting feature of the competition.”The Dunedin-based Highlanders, with 40 points, have also secured a playoff berth ahead of their match on Saturday against the Melbourne Rebels. Their quarterfinal will be away from home but they will have to wait until the final round ends to learn whether it will be in Sydney, Johannesburg or Buenos Aires.Scrumhalf Aaron Smith said the Highlanders aren’t concerned about the quarterfinal venue.”Playoff rugby is what it’s all about,” he said. ”We’re at the crunch end of the season, we’ve set ourselves up to be in the playoffs no matter what, which is nice. It’s just a matter of where we’re flying to.”The Waratahs will end the regular season against the ACT Brumbies, who have a slight chance of making the playoffs.The Rebels or Sharks will likely take the final quarterfinal spot.A win would give the Waratahs a clean sweep of conference matches this season.”The reality is you want to win games at this time of year,” Waratahs assistant coach Chris Malone said. ”You want to go into a quarterfinal on the back of a win against a good, tough side and that’s really important for us.” Coach Matt Patricia couldn’t deliver a playoff berth in his first season with the Detroit Lions, but he gave his players the next best thing on Monday.A day off.It was Victory Monday without the victory in Allen Park, as the players didn’t have organized meetings the day before their regular day off Tuesday for Christmas Day.Patricia has had a rocky start to his tenure in Detroit, but Monday’s day off was another signal of his attempts to build rapport with players.“It’s different than a normal week,” Patricia said Monday on a conference call. “With the holiday, we’re trying to do the right thing with that and be respectful with everybody. It’s a little bit of a different day for us today http://www.ravensauthorizedshops.com/authentic-iman-marshall-jersey , but that’s OK. We tend to handle schedule change each year a lot.”It’s the latest sign of Patricia trying to gain the respect of his players despite a rocky rookie season.After Sunday’s 27-9 loss in the home finale against Minnesota, the Lions are 5-10 and clinched last place in the NFC North for the first time since 2012. Only draft positioning is on the line Sunday at Green Bay (6-8-1).The Lions are slotted at No. 5 in the draft order heading into the finale — not exactly what fans expected after former coach Jim Caldwell was fired after going 9-7 last season.Two of Caldwell’s four regular seasons as head coach ended with games against Green Bay that had playoff positioning on the line.As the long season winds down, linebacker Jarrad Davis said after Sunday’s game that Patricia had a personal message for him in the locker room.“He just told me to enjoy my family. It’s the Christmas season, we’re in the Christmas spirit,” Davis said. “This is a piece of life right now. It’s my life, but at the same time, it’s just a little small piece. So, just enjoy my family, have a good time and we’ll get back to work next week and move forward.”Patricia has often talked about how much he cares about his players, particularly when asked about injuries, which piled on his team this season at key spots.“The guys in that locker room and us as coaches, we all care about each other a lot,” Patricia said Sunday. “We certainly at least try to keep that in perspective. When you’re in situations where you have an opportunity to kind of — you just make sure everybody’s doing OK and check in.”The defense was solid for the most part on Sunday, but gave up a desperation pass to close the first half as tight end Kyle Rudolph caught a 44-yard heave from Kirk Cousins for a touchdown.The struggles for the Detroit offense continued Sunday with the Lions failing to score more than 17 points for the fifth straight game under maligned offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter.The Lions are missing wide receiver Marvin Jones and running back Kerryon Johnson down the stretch because of injuries, and leading receiver Golden Tate was traded midseason to Philadelphia.At 3,511 passing yards with one game left Trace McSorley Jersey , quarterback Matthew Stafford will likely fall short of 4,000 for the first time since 2010, when he played three games because of an injury. Stafford averaged more than 4,500 yards over the previous seven seasons and had fallen short of 4,000 twice in his first nine seasons.Stafford was 18 of 32 for 116 yards Sunday and was replaced with 4:10 left by Matt Cassel, who was welcomed by cheers at Ford Field.“I just want to win games,” Stafford said. “And when you don’t do it, it’s frustrating. We put a lot of work into it. The coaches, the players, all the support staff, we put a ton of work into this. We don’t just roll the ball out there on Sundays and hope for the best.”NOTE: Former Lions general manager Matt Millen underwent a heart transplant early Monday, according to multiple reports.The 60-year-old Millen underwent the procedure in a New Jersey hospital after waiting nearly three months for a transplant. Millen has been suffering from amyloidosis, a rare disease where an abnormal protein can attach and deposit into organs, tissues, nerves and other places in the body.Millen was with the Lions from 2001 until 2008 and presided over an 0-16 season in Detroit.