I freely admit to being a geek (as well as a bogan) which is why this week I sat down to figure out who has the toughest run home in Super Rugby with six rounds of the regular season left to play.

To do that I used a very simple formula (I'm a geek but a very basic one) which the NFL use to determine strength of schedule, which is essentially a combined winning percentage of a team’s opponents.

Example

The Highlanders have 5 games left against the Crusaders, Hurricanes, Kings, Jaguares & Chiefs. 

Of the 47 games those five teams have played so far this season, 25 have been victories which equates to a winning combined percentage of 53.2%.

The things that stand out for me straight away are that there is four New Zealand teams in the top five, while all six South Africans franchises are in the bottom seven.

Here is the full list from highest to lowest & includes the remaining games for each team 

(h = home, a= away) 

1) Crusaders 64% 

** 6 games v HIG (a) WAR (h) BLU (a) CHI (a) REB (h) HUR (h)

2) Waratahs 61.4%

** 6 games vs BUL (h) CRU (a) CHI (h) SUN (a) HUR (h) BLU (a)

3) Hurricanes 59.6%

** 5 games vs Red (h) HIG (h) BLU (h) WAR (a) CRU (a)

4) Chiefs 58.5%

** 5 games vs REB (h) WAR (a) CRU (h) RED (a) HIG (a)

5) Blues 57.9% 

** 6 games v LIO (a) FOR (a) CRU (h) HUR (a) BRU (h) WAR (h) 

6) Jaguares 56.1%

** 6 games v SHA (h) LIO (a) KIN (a) BUL (h) HIG (h) LIO (h)

7) Rebels 56%

** 6 games v BRU (h) CHI (a) FOR (h) STO (h) CRU (a) RED (a)

8) Sunwolves 54.3%

** 6 games v STO (h) RED (a) BRU (a) WAR (h) BUL (a) SHA (a)

9) Reds 54.2%

** 5 games vs HUR (a) SUN (h) BRU (a) CHI (h) REB (h)

10) Highlanders 53.2%

** 5 games vs. CRU (h) HUR (a) KIN (a) JAG (a) CHI (h)

11) Force 52.1%

** 5 games vs. BLU (h) REB (a) CHE (a) STO (h) BRU (a)

12) Kings 50%

** 6 games vs CHE (a) SHA (a) JAG (h) HIG (h) LIO (a) STO (a)

13) Cheetahs 43.8% 

** 5 games vs KIN (h) STO (a) FOR (h) SHA (a) BUL (h)

14) Lions 40.2% 

** 6 games vs BLU (h) JAG (h) BUL (a) SHA (h) KIN (h) JAG (a)

15) Bulls 40%

** 6 games vs WAR (a) STO (h) LIO (h) JAG (a) SUN (h) CHE (a)

16) Brumbies 34% 

** 5 games vs REB (a) SUN (h) RED (h) BLU (a) FOR (h)

17) Stormers 30.7%

** 6 games vs SUN (a) BUL (a) CHE (h) REB (a) FOR (a) KIN (h)

18) Sharks 26.1%

** 5 games vs JAG (a) KIN (h) LIO (a) CHE (h) SUN (h)

NIGEL YALDEN IS THE RUGBY EDITOR FOR RADIO SPORT & NEWSTALK ZB